Spirit Taming

Chapter 288: Paying Respects

Clark moved ahead of the others and knelt on one knee in front of the corpse on the throne. The spindly limbs of the rotten guardian wrapped around the body and the head looked at them with lifeless eyes.

The rotten wooden face would have had more details but they had clearly degraded. All that was left was what was better described as a wooden skill wrapped by rotting wooden vines. This was the face of a harvest guardian that had refused to move on when their partner perished. It could have become one with nature again instead of rotting here.

The rotten guardian froze as it saw the familiar act of praying for a passed on soul. Clark even lowered his head and copied the movements of those in the mural perfectly. This made the rotten guardian direct its attention to the three that were not moving.

Quickly, Maria moved to copy Clark. She saw what he was doing and where his inspiration came from. The rotten guardian was clearly old and powerful. But it was something they could have defeated together. However, Maria felt that Clark was making the right choice. It would be wrong to defeat a beast that was clearly remaining to protect someone it loved.

With a slight hesitation, Brad and Reese followed Maria and Clark. As soon as they did, the rotten guardian lowered its head and remained still. Clark followed the remaining motions from the murals and then stood. The guardian only flinched when he took a step forward but when he took a step to the side it did nothing but watch.

"It doesn't care about treasures or whatever is in the chests. Just remain respectful of the priest at rest here and we should be fine." Clark ensured that Brad and Reese heard him clearly. The two were who he was most worried about.

There was a also the added bonus of Devi watching the rotten guardian carefully. While Devi attacked, Clark could easily call out Crim. if the worst happened, he would even call out Shy to attack as well. But that was not his plan. Instead, he wanted to leave this beast be until it passed on with its partner.

The chest that Calrk touched crumbled in his hands. It had rotted away and was only preserved by the stillness of the dead end. If a single breeze had gotten in here, he was sure that it would have crumbled long ago.

Upon seeing the chest crumble. The rotten guardian wrapped tighter around the priest's body for fear that it would lose its partner to the same crumbling touch chest did. But that wasn't the case and Clark made no further moves.

After sifting through the rotten wood and rust, Clark found a few carved ceremonial items. A dagger, a small shovel, and even some candlesticks. These would be items that researchers could only find value in unless they were melted down for the silver and gold they were made from. However, Maria whistled slightly to get Clark's attention.

She was having trouble with a full metal chest that was more ornate than others.

When Calrk made a move to help, the rotten guardian flinched again. This had to be a sign that what was inside would be valuable to its deceased partner. The only thing he could ask himself was, what would be valuable to a priest? Naturally, that would be the scriptures.

"I can't open it." Brad and Reese were still afraid to move forward. They knew that if Clark and Maria saw the rotten guardian as dangerous, then they should see it as impossible. Clark didn't bother changing their perspective, they were weaker than he and Maria were.

"Let me see." Clark saw that Maria had used a lot of strength to attempt to open the lid of the chest. With all his might Clark pulled on the lid only to feel nothing change. He had to look closer.

The ornate drawings on the outside of the chest seemed to have a small glow to them. When Calrk used his shirt to wipe off the dust he found that they were runes. The runes were keeping the chest from rotting at all.

Tracing the runes with his finger brought Clark to the back side of the chest where it had a single round circle without runes. The moment that his finger touched it, he felt his energy leave his body for a moment. A single click echoed slightly in the room causing the rotten guardian to flinch again.

The lid popped open presenting an entire chest full of books. Specifically, books written in a language they had never seen before. "I can't read any of these covers or the words inside, but I bet these are all scriptures." Clark felt that this had been too simple. But then realized this was all just the first floor of the old dungeon.

The first floor held a beast that he had not seen before, nor that anyone had seen before. There was a secret passageway that held secrets of the harvest based religion of the old city. And furthermore, he was faced with the fact that they still had multiple other floors to traverse before they found what he wanted to find.

' side quest- old prayer book- completed

The old prayer books left behind have all rotted due to the open air in the main sections of the first floor, old temple basement. But there are safe points where any self respecting religious organization would seal their items for safety.

Requirement: discover the hidden prayerbook and defeat the guardian there.

Reward: location of stairs to second floor.'

'The first floor map has been sent to the host's spatial ring.'

The system notified Clark that they had found what they were looking for. The last thing they had to do was leave. Therefore, Clark stored the entire chest away. It was a valuable item that could prevent rotting of whatever was inside and itself. This could really help him out with materials in the long run.

The murals showed that the people would always leave things to honor the dead. When Calrk saw this he believed that it was only fitting to leave something related to nature. What was inside his spatial ring was mostly materials, beast eggs, and supplies. But the supplies were exactly what he needed right now. Who wouldn't get fresh fruits and vegetables for when they went on a long journey?

jerky was not all someone needed to preserve their strength.

The apples that Clark took from his ring were handed to Reese, Brad, and Maria. He got down on one knee again and left the apple in front of the dried corpse. The rotten guardian reacted instantly seeing the apples placed down.

Four tendrils of rotting vines wrapped around them and a green mist seemed to bleed from the apples that rotted away before their eyes. The rotten guardian seemed to shake a little as the vines retracted. Just before Calrk stood, he thought he heard the slight sound of crying. But as he continued to back out of the room with the others behind him, the rotten guardian seemed to be changing.

The rotten harvest guardian had been with its barter for many years after his death. The sight of fresh fruit had shown it what it looked like. Proved that it was also not among the living. It had missed the partner it was bound to for so long that it had become far from the harvest and nature it represented.

In an act of atonement, it wrapped its body around the dried corpse completely. The mass of rotten wood slowly seemed to crumble revealing a single seed that soon took root. The speed of this was not enough to make Clark run away but fast enough to show that the beast had still kept some life.

Underground dungeons or spaces in general would miss the light that plants need. Yet, the beast had finally rotted away before Clark's eyes and a little seedling had bloomed.

'Dungeon rose- ultra rare

The dungeon rose is useless. It is a remnant of a beast that lived and thrived on plant type natural energies. It is only formed when one willing returns its energy to nature. It does not require sunlight or any other nutrients. It will bloom and wilt in moments but shows true beauty of nature. It is a sight to see.'

The analysis was nothing special. Clark wouldn't rush back to take the item. However, his heart felt lighter. As if it had just experienced an uplifting moment. "I guess you could say we were lucky enough to have a better journey than anyone else today." Clark couldn't imagine forgetting the hidden portion of the first floor old underground dungeon. He had never expected this event.

One that would showcase the pure and unfiltered caring of beasts for their partners. One that could even span a hundred years.

"It was beautiful. That's the word you should use when you tell the others about it. Beautiful." Maria filled in the blanks for Clark before they left the passageway entirely.