Spirit Taming

Chapter 304: Burst Of Ice

"Shy, don't let any of them get away. This one might be it." Even Clark could sense the denser ice energy from the den they had found. It was the fourth one and this one seemed to have more of the white rabbits within it. There were also many more tracks surrounding it which was further proof of this.

Since they had already had Shy go in the last few, Clark wanted to try a new strategy. "Just send your threads in and let them hook what they can. Lead what you hook out and we will use that to lure the rest out." Shy understood everything that Clark asked.

Since she had been using her shadow threads so much, the skill's proficiency had been increasing. For Shy, it was like using another limb. She was getting better and better as she became clear on what she could and could not do. Lark could also see this and beamed with pride. He was literally watching his family grow before his eyes.

Ella and Grace were another story. They were both watching carefully. From what they could see, the shadow threads would be impossible to resist for the weakest of beasts. But if Shy had used the shadow threads on them, they could easily resist and break free of them. This just made sense since Shy was clearly too weak at the moment. But it was fearsome how strong she already was.

Little black threads of shadow snuck in to the den. Shy only sat above it for a moment before there was a small squeal. It sounded like one of the white rabbits had just attacked another before leaving. However, Clark was not prepared to see one leave the den with a large piece of ice sticking out of its body.

"There's a mother white rabbit here!" The ice shards he had seen so far from the white rabbits attacking each other and even throwing attacks at the once they escaped the dens had been small. So small that they could easily break and leave only a scratch. This was just the downside of being too weak compared to where the group was right at that moment. They were well ahead of the white rabbits.

But the larger spear of ice that pierced the white rabbit before it collapsed was intimidating. It came from the mother white rabbit that had lived for much longer. That she absorbed much more ice energy and had masters dit more.

The spear of ice was not so much a spear. It could better be called a javelin or an icicle, but that was just terminology. Clark didn't stay focused on it because he could hear an angry squealing as the mother pawed her way out of the den. She was completely immune to the shadow threads.

However, the small ice rabbit she had just killed had been controlled by Shy and inflicted a little damage to one of her legs where it had bitten.

Since Clark knew that Shy could only distract it, he prepared his spear. Ella and Grace had backed away. Ella would be protecting Grace since she knew that grace was not in the best position to fight right at the moment. Grace was too focused on bringing out her partner's best and would be distracted from a real battle.

There was a sense of dread that Calrk felt for just a moment. He threw himself back just as a spear of ice shot out of the den and an angry squeal revealed the mother white rabbit. Clark had sensed the attack coming somehow and managed to dodge it. He could only put it on the fact that he would have died if it had landed.

This could be a sixth sense from Devi now that he had focused on absorbing death energy.

"Shy, trip it up!" Clark lowered his body and rushed toward the mother white rabbit. It was furious that it had been attacked and that there were multiple enemies outside its den. Yet, it felt that it was being slowed down and constantly fought the many shadow threads appearing around its legs.

The proficiency that Clark had with the ghostly steps had only increased. He was getting so adept at using them in every situation that he was nearly leaving a ghostly after image behind. It was spooky but perfectly able to distract enemies when it was complete. For now, he just appeared to be a blurry shape in the white rabbit's eyes.

The formation of another ice spear was happening before Clark's eyes. The ice energies moved around the white rabbit's mouth as it formed them which showed how an ice type beast could store the ice energy within its body and bring it out at any time. It was amazing to see. Unfortunately for the mother white rabbit, Clark was not going to let it attack again.

The black lightning spear struck out as Clark used the strength of his legs to propel him in a harder leap with the falling moon pierce. The ice that was forming shattered and the spear went right in to the mouth of the mother white rabbit. There wasn't even a chance for it to squeal in defeat or anger. The battle was over just like that.

"And that should keep the fur perfect for us to sell later. Well, unless we will need more clothes for the north. Maybe we should make it in to something." Clark was thinking about how cold he felt but knew that others probably had it worse. Reese, Brad, and Ralph didn't have any resistance to the cold at all. But at least he had some resistance after experiencing Devi's chilling bite.

It wasn't necessarily ice but it chilled the soul so it helped resist real cold.

"I agree, the method was very precise. Good job." Ella only agreed as she watched Shy attempt to get more out of the den that the mother white rabbit had just emerged from. But after a few minutes, there was no reaction at all.

"I believe that it is your turn Grace. There are sure to be more ice crystals in there radiating denser ice energies. Release your partner inside and let it claim all the energies. The crystals we have found so far will be placed outside as a seal." Ella had already understood Clark's plan and removed the ice crystals they had found so far.

Grace didn't hesitate to release the lid of the box. All the group saw was a flash and shine of ice as the wind whistler's new body fell in to the den. They all felt the sudden change in pressure though. The ice energy was literally stolen from around them. The wind whistler had been ready to lock in the changes to itself for days but it had just waited and refined the ice as Grace had told it to.

The biggest change was in Grace. Clark and Ella watched as she lost focus. The ice energies entering her body were much more powerful than before. She was experiencing her own changes. Although, she was also feeling the return of her sense to feel the movements in the wind, but stronger.

Before, Grace had the power to sense things even with her eyes closed. She couldn't make out shapes or anything but it worked. Now, she was able to fully encompass things with her senses of the wind. She could feel that Clark was taller than her and that he held a spear in his hand. She could feel that there were other shapes nearby hiding in the snow afraid of her.

The ability to sense things with wind and in the air was ideal for tracking and remaining safe in the wild or a dungeon. Grace could feel that she had been improved by leaps and bounds. But that wasn't all. She felt the jubilation of her partner as it cried out and broke free of the frozen den where the mother white rabbit had just been.

Shards of ice crystals fell around them all as the glittering frost finch showed itself. Instead of the formless wind whistler from before, now it had a body. It could still fall and revert back to the wind whistler if it was damaged very badly, however, that was not very likely.

The ice that had been condensed was very strong. The wind whistler had done well creating the frost finch body. The last addition of dense ice energy had locked it all together many times better than if it had just broken free from the box it had been in creating its body alone.

"You're great! I can finally hug you!" the pure joy that Grace had was almost able to be felt in the air. She had never had a beast that could be touched like others. All their years of growing, she had an invisible guardian she could only see when the wind energies were strong enough. For the first time ever, she and her partner were able to feel each other physically.

Their bonds could only increase because of this.