Spirit Taming

Chapter 347: Get Allies

"You made it back?" Maria looked a little tired compared to how she had been before. She had clearly used a lot of energy with Lit to help heal Ralph before the professional healers took over.

"I managed to win and keep some hidden cards for later. We'll have to head to Terra academy and visit sometime. How's Ralph doing?" There was some worry that Ralph had processed too much energy and potentially harmed himself a little too much.

"He'll be fine. He just overexerted himself. He's supposed to stay out of fights but knowing him he might fight in the next battle. I think he should get a second beast." It was easy to see that Maria was coming from a good place. She had seen how Ralph's current beast could weaken him and itself when using the strongest skill they had. It was a very dangerous position to be in when in the wild.

"I think he should too, but the last time we said anything he was angry that it was suggested. He even has his own taming space now. If he is forced to get another beast, it has to perfectly fit in to the metal, fire, and potentially poison typings." Clark knew this sounded harder than it really was. With his analysis, he could look at every beast and find an ideal beast that fits these things.

"His body just needs to be stronger. Look at me, I will be way ahead of him as soon as my little midnight eel is at another growth stage." Maria had a good point. It was coming from worry for her team, but also for those that had promised to stay by their side and help them take down the corruption that was filling their home. Those that would be helping to make a better place for everyone to live.

"I will try to speak with him when he is back on his feet. Just don't blame me if he can't be convinced." Clark just glanced at Maria for a moment before he saw that Jerold was approaching. "What do you need?" It was strange that Jerold was trying to speak with him. It wasn't time for another fight and there shouldn't be any reason for him to interject.

"The next battle. I will fight first. I saw them. When I was on my way here. I saw them." There was a slow look of understanding on Clark's face as he grasped what this meant.

"So this is what caused you to get serious and learn hope to keep your own life." Jerold nodded slightly. He seemed embarrassed but he had definitely changed because of what he had experienced alone.

"Details?" As Clark asked this, Reese and Brad came over as well. Since Ralph was being helped and Grace was still shaken up on a nearby bed, they were the only ones that could listen normally. Everyone wanted to include Grace, unfortunately, she wasn't yet prepared to hear all of this and respond properly.

Yet, she did have her head turned toward Ralph with many wrinkles on her forehead showing off how she felt about where she and he sat right now.

"Professor Wright gave me a map and some rules to follow. I didn't know she had her beast following me until I came across blood. A lot of it." Jerold took a deep breath and everyone could see how he buried his emotions deeper than before.

"I couldn't tell who or what the bodies had been. A hand here or a leg there but they were dead. Very dead and rotting. It was easy to avoid beasts with my partner but when I found all of the bodies… I ran right away. But they heard me too. Those taller students of Ethereal academy were leading the group of younger ones." It was easy to see that they had murdered the others.

But the question was, why had they done so?

"I thought that the path I was told to take would have fewer beasts but there were a lot. They were all covered in weird smelling water or sap or something too. They were just charging around without touching those guys. So I had to hide but I kept getting hit. That's why my partner started to eat and grab random beast… random parts to block attacks and help me keep hiding.

I thought I was being torn apart but it was actually a forced growth. That was when we finally could hide together."

This encounter would have made Jerold realize that there was more than just a few dangers out. That alone would have managed to make him understand that he had to think things through without fear. "I almost lost it all because I was running and hiding. I didn't even fight…" That was where Jerold had truly learned though.

He felt the pain his partner had gone through to protect him while he panicked and let his emotions control him without basis.

"They didn't let you get away…did they?" Maria saw that there was more in Jerold's eyes than he was saying.

"No, they could follow me. They knew tracking easily. Professor Wright's beast got me away as soon as I wasn't able to handle it." Jerold started to show off the cuts and scrapes on his arm that had been healed with a powerful healing potion. "Without the pack that Professor Wright gave me, I would be dead, or worse."

Now that they all knew what had actually happened, it was clear that Jerold had learned in the worst possible way. He had literally been hunted all the way to Nebula. "You got the new gear from the bodies too, didn't you?" Clark could tell that the clothes Jerold had been wearing that were different than what he had left with must have come from somewhere. They were too worn out to be his.

After a nod from Jerold, Clark released a short sigh. "Then we have some worse things to handle in the last round. Wherever these people want to do by using Ethereal academy's name, we need to beat them. No holding back and no letting them off. They will kill us. I will go find Nebula academy students tonight." Clark made this promise.

He was sure that Nebula would want to keep Ethereal from potentially winning here. If they did, it would be an insult and stain on their entire city and the joint academy tournaments.

"Isa, go find Ella and have her speak with her older brother. Brad, Reese, and Maria can handle the second years. We have to be united on this front." Clark quickly began giving everyone jobs. He knew that Jerold would be preparing to get some revenge. But also to get rid of these people who had clearly caused trouble to many before.

"I can't say that I didn't expect this sort of thing. I just thought that we would be dealing with the Mourne family lackeys first. But now we have to deal with two sides of this fight. One was the corruption from their own home and the other was an unknown force that was going to be causing them issues for who knew how long.

But the best bet was to keep an eye on both and let the other cities help them deal with the problem of Ethereal academy.

The situation was not looking good. But there was a bonus, Clark couldn't be the only one that ways thinking of these things. There had to be more people that had figured this out so far. It was just the evidence that was the problem. If these people had managed to get monsters in to a frenzy, evidence of their crimes was impossible to find.

However, it also meant that there was a whole new crime that could be found. Causing a monster wave to form from a dungeon break. That was a true crime against every city.

"I am going to head out. Just stay vigilant of everything and everyone. And remember, Professor Wright is watching." Clark had felt the assassin beetle get on his shoulder as soon as he had finished his battle. It was Professor Wright's way of saying that she was watching. That there were many people prepared to protect them if things went south.

"He's gone. And he's already jumping in to things even though he didn't let me fully heal him." Maria clenched her fists in annoyance. She was sure that Clark would have at least waited longer. But he had rushed ahead with only some minor healing from his fight.

"You should understand a little better. Clark is kind of a wild card. He knows more about what's going on than he lets even us know about until he's sure. Once he finishes his goal he might actually calm down and retire a bit. Then we can all have a chance to breathe." Isa just shrugged. She felt the same about every merchant she met.

This was just how these things went in the life of business. Maria just hadn't seen it before.