Spirit Taming

Chapter 428: Variable Growth

"Clark?" Ella eventually got up when the carriage was stopping for everyone to eat. She knew that her friends had been making themselves busy for the time being and that they were beginning to get in to a denser forest. She wanted to make sure she asked Clark for his opinion before they all had to be on watch for danger.

The denser forest that was said to be the equivalent to a frozen jungle made everyone on edge. It wasn't that they were worried about beasts but more so the fact that this would be new terrain. Ella wasn't going to be next to her brother so that she would be able to walk along the carriage as well. Making sure the trail was safe was all that mattered.

Especially to the carriage driver who needed to ensure that he used all his skills to keep the carriage rolling.

"What's going on? Is everything alright?" Clark saw that Ella was a little off but knew that it was due to worry over her brother's safety.

"I want you to look at my brother. Look at his vine beast. It went dormant when it covered his wounds and sealed everything. But I can tell that it has a lot of stored energy. If he can also get stronger when he's healed… you should know, right?" She trusted Clark's eyes the most. No one even flinched hearing her say that she wanted his opinion.

"I can, but shouldn't his beat be in a taming space? Wouldn't that… Ah, I see." The thought that the vine beast would prefer to stay in the armor form at all times never occurred to him. Clark knew that many beasts would be able to remain in certain forms similar to the armored chameleon that Jerold used.

But since the vine beast was an older student's beast, Clark had assumed it would just go in and out of a taming space more often.

When he followed Ella back in to the carriage, Cklakr was not surprised to see that her older brother was pale and wrapped up with multiple blankets and some fabric bandages. It was clear that he had more wounds than just his arm. As if something had intentionally cut him here and there on the face and body after he had been attacked by a monster. It proved that the lie was all that much greater.

Lit was floating just above him while healing the deeper cuts. Maria had been good to let Lit work on healing here. It was ideal for Lit's training but also for Ella's brother. It was better than they had imagined though. The small burns and cuts had already been healed which greatly reduced any risk of infection.

This alone was a great way to keep someone safe but it also kept pain down for any patient.

"You know you and all of us call your brother's beast a vine beast. That's the general species but it's really a living thorn beast. It shouldn't be so much like these smoother vines. Do you know what I mean?" Clark knew this would be a little harder to hear but had to say it.

"It means that the thorns his beast naturally has were forcefully cut off by the beast itself. That was to help cover his arm here. It's barely even in its armor form. It has literally harmed itself and forced itself in to a form that it couldn't be in so that it can help the one person it cares for." Strong bonds were always proof that a beast was well cared for and always getting stronger.

This kind of bond was beyond this.

For a spirit beast that was willing to lose all of itself or greatly reduce any potential of getting stronger for its tamer was not unheard of. But since this was the case for Ella's brother, Leo, then it made sense that the living thorns would be harmed for a much longer time than they all realized. Yet, when Clark used the analysis from the system, he saw the opposite.

' variable thorns- unranked

The variable thorns are a dramatically unstable beast in the midst of a forced pause on its growth and evolution. Due to the high amount of energy saved between it and the tamer it is bonded with, the living thorns had begun to change due to extreme conditions. Multiple elemental energies foreign to it have permeated its body causing these changes.

The variable state is due to the unstable effects of its growth currently and upon the start of the sudden evolution. Normally the stored energy and current form would affect the outcome. If this state is not remedied soon then the outcome could be tainted by more negative energies. This could cause the birth of a monster.

The best way to calm the energies is to assist the tamer in returning to consciousness and also allowing them to balance the energy between beast and tamer. This evolution must be done together at this point. If not only the worst could happen.'

"Ella, we should leave now. I won't say that the worst is going to happen but this will be bad. It's also an amazing state to be in. We need to heal your brother and I can guarantee that his beast will become a much higher level than it was." Clark knew that the living vines were an ultra rare beast before this. To get stronger it could only become a legendary or a mythical beast.

The odds that it would be legendary were very high. He would not hesitate to help with this.

When it came to the statement that there were multiple energies that had become involved with the sudden evolution of the living thorn beast, it made sense. The ice type energies that had been in the dungeon would definitely cause issues. But since the oldest Mourne family member was the cause of this, his fire type salamander beast would definitely have put fire energies around too.

That meant that the living thorns had the natural influence of plants and earth along with fire and ice. A dramatic and hard combination of energies to meld together. It definitely caused things to be chaotic along with the loss of balance when it came to energies between Leo and itself. Overall, it would normally have caused multiple issues for any beast and tamer.

This was just another perfect example of chaos when things went poorly.

"Is it that bad?" there was a slight crack in Ella's voice. Her normal calm and cool depression had become crumpled.

"Yes and no, for now, we are going to operate on the basis that we will get to the dungeon and begin the whaling process. I assume we will need to get materials for the healing. This will be a higher class healing than we expected. But you know we can do that. Just stay here and make sure that everything is good. I want to know if there is any change in youtube brother or his beast at all.

Even the slightest changes are important."

While Clark understood that this was a dramatic take and would negatively affect Ella, he had to ensure that there was a careful observation. If the beast lost this battle, the tamer would become a monster. This was the same thing they had witnessed with the blood moon cult. Monsters or people on the cusp of being monsters. Nothing good would ever come of that.

Especially since it was a sure thing that Ella would witness the loss of her brother while seeing the remaining thing left behind.

"Let's get moving, we have a short while to get to the healers and then we have materials to gather. The faster we move the better. I expect that we will make faster time than before." Clark got out of the carriage and everyone jumped to work. The guards didn't hesitate, they were always ready to move.

But when it came to their group, everyone knew that Clark wasn't playing around. It was a sure thing that he was saying this for a good reason. He wouldn't be saying this because there were no issues. "Isa, Maria, and I will be taking the chance to prepare for some healing item purchases. I know the white robed healer will want knowledge so we will need to bargain for things.

But I have a feeling we will be going deeper in to the dungeons than we expected."

This alone made everyone understand even more. The materials needed for Lit were now a secondary expectation. This showed them that healing Ella's brother would be a much tougher thing. It also showed that they would need to be ready for battle when they got there. Entering a dungeon right away might sound foolish after travel, but situations were never perfect.

Now all they had to handle was the changing terrain. The large icy tree roots that seemed to easily cut through the frozen ground. Long and half frozen vines that now grew from trees and the ground. Align with the fact that some plants appeared to be growing icy spines that could cut through their clothes and skin. The frozen jungle was no joke.