Spirit Taming

Chapter 363: Break It Down!

Although he saw it coming from the tamer and demonic dryad fusion before him, Clark was still taken back when a larger tree was pushed together by all the roots and vines. Even the moss that had been creeping around the arena seemed pulled toward it.

'Fallen dryads dwelling- rare

The dryad's dwelling is normally a tree that they will stay within for their entire life. When the tree dies, so do they which is why they normally make the tree become an entire connected forest or grove.

Unfortunately, this fallen dryad is tainted by demonic energy. Instead of abandoning the tree completely, it retired and forced the rotting tree back to life. It then fused the tree in to its body again while also fusing it with its tamer. Now the three are one being to a degree and slowly becoming more connected by the day.'

The tree was a twisted mess of rotting branches and broken wood. The moss on it seemed to both be part of it while also eating away at it. But what was worse was that the tamer and demonic fallen dryad had become part of the tree as well.

What truly shocked everyone was that the tamer's body had been separated amongst the branches and base of the tree. The eyes still looked out but the face had been covered in moss and bark. The mouth screamed out in silent rage, but everyone heard the bending and twisting branches as if they were the cries of a maddened monster.

Branches flung out toward Clarkn at a much faster rate than before. The strange energy on them seeming to be toxic to even the air since it was making his instincts scream to dodge. His instincts proved correct as the branches slammed to the arena when he moved. Dark patches of rot had appeared where they struck. The very ground becoming tainted by them.

Clark heard Devi screech and his head turned to find that he was cutting apart branch after branch attaining Illia with his claws. The dark decaying effects seemingly doing nothing to him because of the death energy within him. However, his ghostly claws could only smash so many times and the full strength brought out by the spirit drive skill could only last so long.

Crim was the same, the places he had tried to burn had been many. He had used flames too many times to ensure that he could be able to keep Illia safe. The energy he had left could barely be used for one last burst of flames. "Crim, attack my spear!" Clark wanted the last bit of energy for the black lightning spear to be able to attack.

He had to activate the black lightning skill that the spear had so that he could completely obliterate the monster before him.

Before the flame had even reached Clark, Illia let out a cry. The glacial serpent had wrapped around her and the cold energy in the air was rapidly decreasing. When she had said she was giving it everything, Clark had not paid much attention. He had vaguely heard her words through his own focus on the battle at hand.

Now he could tell that she had reached a limit and she was about to lose her consciousness.

"Damn it, I need to stop that thing." Crim's burst of flames landed right on the spearhead of the black lightning spear. Clark immediately started moving again to dodge the shape branches angled down at his head. More and more attacks were rampaging toward him as the twisted monster of a tree appeared to be breaking itself apart to attack more.

The wear and tear of moving as fast as he possibly could was taking its toll on Clark. He might not have been struck by any attacks, but the cost of pushing his body was starting to show and be felt. It was the same with Maria before. Their bodies were young, they could not constantly fight at the maximum strength possible. Their muscles were tearing without being properly repaired.

It would lead to permanent damage if either of them could not stop a battle in time.

The weakness that Clark felt and the lessening cold energy as easily sensed by the demonic fallen dryad. A darker energy surged around the branches and over twenty struck out at the same time. Clark could only brandish his spear and prepare to take a hit before he launched a last ditch attack to attempt to kill this monster. He had no choice.

His teeth gritted as the branches neared him. However, they could not touch him or even move an inch in the air. Thousands of strands of shadow strings had covered the ground and even the air. They had wrapped the branches and even the roots of the fallen dryad.

"Shyama!" Clark growled out pride as he dashed forward. The small bits of lighting surged on the black lighting spear as he poured his own energy in to it. Barely anyone could see through the mess of shadows and branches what was happening. Only a few saw the flick of black lightning. Even the most experienced tamers could barely understand where the shadow strings had come from.

Just as Clark used all his energy to stab forward with a falling moon pierce, the black lightning spear released all the pent up energy it had greedily absorbed. The flash of black lighting was hot and brilliant. Many saw it as the shadow strings disappeared. No one noticed that Shy had fallen to the side. They did notice that Clark was standing next to the tree which had been cut in half.

A large hole had been burned through by the lighting leaving an empty slot where the face of the tamer had been.

The entire spot Clark had attacked had been reduced to a fine white ash. It was as impressive that the entire tree had not been destroyed. Even some of the larger branches had been shattered by his attack. But that was all, the dryad had managed to protect itself a bit leaving a substantial amount of tree left.

The collapsing wood was twitching here and there at rotting sap oozed out. It tainted the ground and made the air smell like death had walked through the arena. Devi had released the spirit drive skill and greedily absorbed the spiritual and death energy left behind by the demonic fallen dryad. The only thing he avoided were the strange waves of demonic energy that dissipated in to the air.

Everyone that had the senses felt them and did their best to remain far from them.

Clark's body screamed out for him to lay down right there and call it quits. His last strike had been to the pique of his strength. His shoulders had already started to turn purple due to the torn muscles.

"Illia, that's that." Clark stood by the girl who could barely keep her eyes open. He reached a hand out and she took it before they raised it together.

"Stronger than you look." Illia mumbled as she let go of Clark's hand.

"Says the girl that just froze half the arena against some monster. Right." Clark looked at the ice he was sure would take a lot of time to remove. It was all beyond the normal ice he had seen. It was tough and held a deeper blue color similar to the strong glacial ice that was depicted in books.

"Take the point. I'm done." Illia got this out before Clark gave her a tap on the shoulder. The referee instantly called an end to the battle as many tamers rushed forward to check the body of the beast and tamer left behind. They knew well that it was no longer a human nor a beast. It was a disgusting thing that needed to be researched.

Many came to check on Clark who was calling Crim and Devi back. He was even picking up the unconscious Shy who had used all the shadow energy she had to help in an instant. The cost was still unknown, but Clark knew he would be unable to wake her up for some time. She deserved the rest though.

While the audience shouted angry words to the remaining students of ethereal academy, one instructor from there glared down at Clark. No one but the higher up tamers could see it but they knew that he had something to do with what they had just witnessed. Whether there was evidence or not, it was clear.

Unfortunately, no one could act without evidence and the referee could only announce Nova academy winning the first year tournament.

Clark left the arena only to be caught by Ralph before he was even halfway off. "You are a stubborn fool. Burn you won so we will tolerate it." Ralph sounded annoyed but it was clear he was impressed. Clark had shown a great battle against a monster of greater strength. The timing had been right but it had come at a cost. Now Clark needed a healer and Ralph wasn't going to let him escape that.