Spirit Taming

Chapter 264: Injured Moles

Allowing Crim to hold back, Clark heard the single ambush that Crim needed to take down the steel clawed mole that he would return to pick up later. It was a simple task for Crim. He had the advantage since the mole was not able to feel Crim while he was using his wings to fly a little. All that was needed were a few moments of flight to ensure that Crim was basically invisible.

That was a major downside to relying on the vibrations of the earth for sight.

"I was wondering, aren't mole beasts usually reliant on scent? I heard that from another tamer that passed through my street once." Jerold had asked this question just in general. He felt that it was more important to learn as much as he could about the beasts he might face in the long run. There was also the fact that he needed to catch up and knowledge would help him in that endeavor.

"Yes, you are correct. Moles are often a species of beast that requires scent along with earth vibrations. However, the steel clawed moles focus on the close relationship with the earth elemental energies. That had led them to focus solely on the vibrations and less on scent.

I would assume it is still a strong sense of theirs though so I would not work up a sweat." Ella seemed to find her joke very funny since she was sure that Jerold and Brad would be sweating as soon as they faced their first beast.

"Speaking of moles, there is one up ahead. But it doesn't look good." Maria had noticed the mole above ground. This was more unusual since they would not normally rest anywhere out in the open.

As the group approached the cave which was widening as they walked, the mole seemed to feel them but could only slowly move away. "It looks injured, I would bet that it was dug up by a hammer tailed lizard. Brad, the shield and short sword. Beat it in one minute. Go." Clark's sudden strict challenge didn't perturb Brad in the least.

He had a feeling this sort of thing would happen since Clark was so serious.

The mole had a broken claw which clearly was the reason it was unable to dig anywhere with any form of speed. This worked to Brad's advantage since it could only swipe at him with one claw. The sharp needle like teeth were something that scared Brad backwards and in to raising his shield.

"Keep pushing forward. You have a helm and a shield. Block then attack. Those teeth are for cutting through things, not eating you." The slight pushing of Clark's words made Brad push forward. The clang of metal claws on a metal shield made them all cringe slightly. But the follow up swing of Brad's short sword cut right by the shoulder of the undamaged clawed arm.

The mole let out a soft screech of fear as it tried to retreat again. But it was not in any condition to escape. Feeling the opportunity, Brad used his instincts and charged forward, the shield slammed in to the broken claw of the mole as it raised it to block itself. This just harmed the mole more.

In the reflexive jerk back that the mole had from pain, Brad used all his force to slash. The downward motion of his short sword hit the skill of the mol and cut in to the bone. After a moment of squirming, Brad dislodged the short sword and watched the mole perish before him. He glanced back to see Clark nodding approvingly.

"You have better battle instincts than I thought. I also saw that your help helped you make the decision. The possessed helm happens to heighten your battle senses. If I am right about that, when it grows in to a full set of living armor or more, you will be double as effective as a warrior." Hearing this only brought more fire in to Brad's eyes.

"Now for Jerold. He has to handle that mole up there. It is somewhat less harmed by whatever lizard came through here but it should still be unable to get away with that broken leg." Maria gave Jerold a hard push. He couldn't believe that he was being forced in to battle.

But Jerold couldn't fear long, he had been pushed right in to the area that the mole with the broken leg could sense him. Now he was the target of an injured beast in fight or flight mode. The problem was, Jerold was facing a fight response.

"Where is your partner? Can you silence your footsteps like your chameleon can to a degree? Where are your daggers? Will you pull your spear like you wanted to do and learn from Clark? Show us." Maria showed a harsher side than Clark had expected. But this was just proof of her resolve to eradicate her former family and grow a new family that was going to outlive and help many more people.

" I can't beat this-" Jerold found himself dodging the slashes of metallic claws while the mole fell after trying to stand on a broken leg. He could barely manage to stay away from it now that it was close. But what they didn't expect was that Jerold would be taking out a spear and not following the idea that he could become a dagger wielding assassin type attacker as Maria wanted to train him.

The spear that came out of his storage ring was flimsy. To say the least, it was cheap, as cheap could be, and most certainly provided by the academy. It was something that most people would return and pretend they had never used. However, Jerold had no money or any materials. He had absolutely no choice but to use this basic free weapon in battle.

What Clark saw as the most interesting though, were Jerold's movements. Instead of being stiff and sharp like the spear techniques he knew as the moonlight spearmanship, Clark saw something different.

The way Jerold moved made the spear bend and arch toward the mole. Especially when blocking the claws. Thai caused the spear tip to swig around and graze the mole leaving small cuts everywhere it struck.

"So that's the whipping spear technique. I have wondered if it was still used. Most people will read about it but won't use it because it focuses on drawn out battles." Ella seemed to have read about it somewhere. Clark was very interested to compare this with his spearmanship. It seemed to have merit, especially if Clark was training someone to be able to withstand many hits.

"And there he goes." Jerold was caught off guard by a charge from the mole. He didn't suffer much damage, but he was sent flying. The only thing that saved him was the independent movement of the rainbow chameleon which had walked on the side of the cave wall. It shot its tongue out and slapped the mole right by its eye.

The slap was not damaging but it had delivered some poison to a very sensitive place on the moile's body.

The mole may have been blind, but it still had eyes. They were a perfect weak point that was left exposed at all times. The poison seeped in and started to slow the mole. Just enough for Jerold to get back up and be stopped by Maria. "Use the daggers and slash it a few times. That spear is not for you.

You are not a person that can absorb damage. Get stronger first and maybe you can use that spear again." This was what anyone should have said to Jerold.

"That was a good decision." Clark approved of Maria's insight and Ella gave her own nod of approval.

"I just didn't want to see him die when I just started helping him." Maria felt her cheeks turn red from the praise while watching Jerold panic.

Since Herold only knew the bare minimum when it came to dagger techniques, he was very clumsy. But the mole was poisoned and it had too many openings to fail. The claw attacks slashed the ground more than they got near Jerold. This allowed Him to dash forward in a panic fueled attack.

The shot that came with this attack would surely echo through this unexplored brave, but it was what Jerold needed to overcome his fear. It was what Jerold needed to stab two daggers deep in to the neck of the steel clawed mole and retreat back as it bled out by his feet.

"I did it…I did-"

"Shut up! You just alerted all of the beasts near us that we are here. Crim, come here and get ready. A big one might be coming." Clark and the others felt a bunch of movement in the ground. They could tell that deeper in the unexplored cave that something was stirring. Something had heard the echo of voices and knew that there were other things within its territory.

The real fighting would start soon. Along with the real teaching.