Spirit Taming

Chapter 439: Hazy Awakening

"I think we should make him clean all the clothes for the next week, no, three weeks." Isa was the one making her list of punishments after assessing Clark's bright ideas. She was very unhappy that he had gotten himself poisoned, passed out due to lack of energy, and left them to carry him out during a dangerous situation.

"His plan did work though, he managed to get every single one of the big shark beasts incapacitated before we had to leave. He did that to get us out. It just came at a price." Maria mumbled a little while she tried to defend Clark. She was sure that everyone was going to be very unhappy with him but for now, the group was focused on guarding the entrance to the third floor.

While Isa, Ella, Maria, and Clark had returned outside the dungeon, the others had heard the alarm from the healers. The healers had sent them to help defend the second floor since any escaping monsters could kill the regular glow sting jellyfish that made up the dungeon. Having them all die off would greatly harm the healers overall. It would be the loss of an entire dungeon.

"Or you could all just accept that I did it for a good reason. We got the herbs that we needed." one moment before, Clark had been sitting on a temporary bed in another stone house. He had not been asleep for long but after a healer used a special skill to replenish spiritual energy, Clark had begun to wake up. He had woken up hearing the girls talking.

"I assume that Ella took the herbs to Pia so they could start treating her brother?" Clark looked at the two girls and saw that this was exactly what had happened. Their faces told him everything he needed to know.

"Then I need to get over there. I had you all grab that iridescent heart flower for a reason." Now this was what the three girls had wondered about. They had heard Clark yell to Ella to grab it if they could find it and Ella had done her best to do so. She hadn't managed to find just one either. She had found three on a single small stock of thicker brown twigs.

The plant had almost seemed dead except for the small glowing leaves that burst out of the dried bark.

The flower, however, had been the very same that Clark had said. It looked like a bleeding heart flower that would normally just be decorative. Yet, there was a glow around it and the center had a secondary layer that appeared to fill the normal split in the flower. It was very odd and from what they believed, it had to be very valuable to whatever Clark needed it for.

When Maria took the flowers from her spatial ring, Clark saw that the system reacted properly.

'Quest- Luminescent swarm- completed

The third floor of the glow sting swarm dungeon has been uncovered after being hidden by herbs and rockets many years ago. The beasts within will sense the new hunting grounds and begin to flow out.

Requirement: survive the small swarm that escapes and delve in to the third floor to retrieve the luminous heart flower.

Reward: 10 basic gotcha tickets, 1 large ice crystal, 1 large fire crystal.'

The rewards had appeared in his spatial ring too and he could sense them. They were exactly what he needed, but he was not expecting that there would be a follow up quest appearing.

'Quest- unsettled energy

The goal of this adventure has been healing for some time. Use a luminous heart flower, one large fire crystal, and one large ice crystal to forcefully balance and alter the energies of the living thorn beast so that the energies within the tamer are balanced as well.

Requirement: assist the head healer in healing the beast and tamer.

Reward: medium spiritual crystal, medium poison crystal, crystal carving method (temporary).'

While Clark was trying to wrap his head around everything, he realized that he was wasting too much time trying to sit here and understand what the system was trying to do. It had given him a reward, but also two more materials that he could use to help Leo. If Leo was healed, then Ella would be able to relax and refocus. Then they could proceed to grow stronger.

She would also be able to guarantee more help from her brother in the future.

What Clark had realized was that he also wanted this. Leo had helped Maria with a unique physical training method. That had caught her up to the rest of the group significantly. It also put her in her own league as a battle healer instead of the basic healers or basic assassin type fighter. It was literally helping Maria carve her own path.

This had gone without a thank you so far, now it was more than just a thank you in that respect.

"Come with me, let's go and help Ella." Clark got up and flinched a little. His head felt hazy still since he had just been freed from the poisons. His body was still processing things and it would naturally leave some temporary drawbacks. Just because a poison was non lethal, did not mean that there wouldn't be any side effects.

Clark could feel the headaches and the dehydration as two larger side effects.

"You don't have to go there just yet, they needed time to prepare." Maria tried to grab Clark and pull him back to where he should be resting. Isa had the same worry on her face. She still wanted to yell at him but she had been reminded that he shouldn't be up and running around just yet either.

"No, we are going to help." Clark pushed his way out. He did feel bad for throwing aside the worry for himself from those that cared for him. But when he showed them that he was fine, he knew that they would understand.

The healers were understandable by moving with a lot of worry. They had made sure to find the four guards that the group had arrived with and paid them to help with the dungeon defenses. They had also prepared a blockade from the third to fourth floor.

This was just an additional defense along with their preparations to heal whoever was injured by the few beasts that had already tried to escape the third floor.

Upon entering the stone healing building and finding Ella, she looked at Clark with slightly wise eyes. The healer team was rushing around mixing the medicines as Ella's brother showed clear pain. Having the healers take over the process was certainly more valuable. Clark could tell that the pain was managed well along with the small injuries because completely healed already.

"We have already finished the nutrient loading process. We are going to begin healing soon. I will need everyone to maintain silence in this room." Pia was fully focused and was moving step by step. She didn't even notice that more people had entered. This was just how she would have acted regardless of the patient. That was what a true healer would do.

"I will be adding energy to help Leo's beast to adapt and grow. It is in a state that needs certain influences. Just work as you would while I add what needs to be added." Clark surprised Ella and Pia with this. The other healers also gave him skeptical looks. But when they saw the iridescent heart flower, they were all put down. Their thoughts about anything being wrong had been pushed aside.

"You managed to get a very valuable ingredient. I assume you are trying to increase the energy bonding between the two while the beast undergoes some form of rapid growth?" Pia knew the exact used of the iridescent heart flower. Clark had also read the analysis and understood as well.

'Iridescent heart flower- rare

This rare flower is one that mutated from a bleeding heart flower. It has many different elemental energies within it due to the natural growth of any plant. However, its spiritual energy is very unique. It is able to facilitate the growth of bonds and sharing of fluid energy between a beast and tamer.

This is only able to be used during specific situations such as; rapid beast growth, rapid tamer growth, evolution of beasts, …'

There was much more that Clark could read in to but he saw why it was used. He also understood that it would only bloom under specific situations. Therefore, this rare flower was going to be the blessing that Ella's brother needed. Especially since the energies that were running wild within both of them were going to be enhanced as well.

Ella was calm because she trusted Clark, even seeing the ice and fire crystals appear too, she trusted him. She wasn't sure what the large energy crystals would do or really what the flower was for. But she knew that Clark would do his best to help her and her brother. That was just the trust all of them in their group had for one another.