Spirit Taming

Chapter 507: Lava Pools

While there was only one beast that seemed to have been left behind by a tamer to guard the border, Clark easily took note of other places that beasts might like. Small pools of lava here and there were perfect to hide in. let alone the many black lava stone formations that would be perfect to keep hidden from the rain that was still misting down in the hot landscape.

The temperature had been growing as the group followed the marked pathway. It may have been misty and rainy this entire time, but that didn't help anything. The coolness of rain was absolutely lost when it came to the fact that the mist wasn't even hitting the ground before it heated and became a steamy fog.

This was the source of the fog all over the fields nearby. Why the Lunar Academy city was always covered in fog except for when the air would cool down at night allowing the fog to sink lower and show off the clear starry sky and brilliant moon.

This was almost poetic in a way. A beautiful thought that made this a wonderful place that Clark could consider living in for some time if he wasn't focused on his own goals. Not that he wanted to settle down anywhere. He was thinking that he would keep exploring even after he completed his goals.

"So this entire place is just a larger rock formation on top of an entire lava or magma lake?" Reese tapped the ground slightly wondering what it must look like underneath here.

"More than that, there are beasts that purposefully cool the magma or flowing lava to create tunnels and homes within the lake. It is a massive environment that even allows unusual dungeons to form within the lake itself. Whenever they are discovered by Solar Academy city forces, they are documented and cleared for resources.

They might disappear at any moment." With Ella's general knowledge, it was easier for them to begin putting some puzzle pieces together.

"That's not just it though, Ella knows the basics, but as a merchant, the materials that are harvested are always more valuable. That's because the dungeons formed in the magma lake are temporary, even if they aren't found. They break down. This kind of place is harder for them to exist. Unless they are a type of matching dungeon. Like the islands of flames dungeon."

The way that Ella and Isa were bonding over the details made it clear that the magma lake was considered a very good and bad place. The dungeons here would naturally be hard to find and hard to deal with before they might degrade due to the harsh environment.

However, they had valuable materials and some dungeons would remain at all times. The dungeons that had fire energy and beasts that survived within that kind of place were perfect. They matched everything and could leave the dungeons to survive in this magma lake. Therefore, Solar Academy had to care even more about these dungeons appearing often because the outbreak could be ridiculous.

The fact that Lunar and Solar Academy were always at war with one another was a massive wrench in this. Solar Academy clearly had a massive downside when it came to these things. They had to expend more energy and time to handle the damages that would come from all of the beasts that flowed from the depths of the lava lake.

Let alone the tunnels they formed since they could make homes within the very things that would kill the tamers by venturing in to it.

"The heat is pretty good." Ralph started to scratch. A few cracks from his joints made the rest of the group look at him with odd stares. He hadn't been in this sort of environment before other than the forge.

The fact that his molten boar was metal and fire, with a focus on the fire side of energy. It meant that this was the first time that the two of them had been in an ideal environment where they could fully relax and use the fire energies to better boost themselves. Just being here was a step in their growth.

"Mhm, my little flame sprite is very excited. If I let him run away then he wouldn't want to come back until he found the best materials." Isa could share the sentiment of being more comfortable. Especially since she had connections with fire too. "My winter witch won't want to deal with this though, especially when the rain fully stops."

Now this was a concern. Not having any water type beasts was a massive downside. The cloud sprite that Ella could call out to help them was also put on hold. She wouldn't let her beast deal with the intense heat here too much. If it was the Lunar Academy city territory, then it would be fine. But this was too hit and would negatively influence the water type energy that it manipulated.

"We are limited, that's all. We can handle it and make up for the downsides as we move. Don't worry about what we don't have. Worry about what we do." It wasn't much, But Clark saw that Jerold, Reese, and Brad all reacted with a nod. The three of them had become stronger as well.

Jerold was more reclusive with his strength, but he had been training his ability to hide and scout while also strengthening his resistances to scout more dangerous environments.

While Jerold may not have noticed it, Clark had noticed the fact that Jerold had not started to sweat at all. Therefore, he had been doing some intense heat training that helped him and his armored chameleon became tough enough to resist the growing heat here more than most of their group.

The sudden flurry of dragon energy in his body made it clear that Crim had realized just what was going on. Clark mentally praise Crim since the dragon energy would radically help him protect himself from the heat that was growing around them. The dragon energies would massively resist heat or any change in temperature.

"Ah, there are a few guards doing a patrol up ahead. Feel free to watch them fight." Professor Wright spotted a good learning opportunity ahead. From what she was seeing, she could tell that the guards were just finishing up a battle with a few beasts that had thought themselves strong enough to ambush from the nearby lava pool.

'Magma eel- uncommon

The magma eel is a smaller beast that can only survive in extreme heat. Just touching its overheated body will cause severe burning and cause fires to bloom. They are considered one of the faster fire type beasts even though they are often too weak to cause much damage to those that have tough defenses.

The magma eel will rarely attack unless it is in a larger group of five or more. Then it will gain courage to ambush and take bites out of prey. It will often run after this. If they can not turn, they will bite with their needle like teeth and try to wrap around the limbs of their prey to properly harm them or make their prey run.

They can grow in to multiple forms but often are not given the chance due to the extreme rarity of the materials needed for their growth. Not many beats plans exist for them which is often thought for the better since they can be hunted for food.

The meat is very good for young…'

The guards had used swords to force the magma eels to wrap around while they went out of their way to pull secondary short swords or daggers to finish them off. The swords used to trap them were heating up but still holding their shape. Something that Ralph watched carefully. It was a forging technique that he would have to learn at some point since he was unsure what made them so resistant to heat.

"I know they are baiting the eels to grab on, but they shouldn't be moving so slowly. They are attracting more trouble to them by doing that." Ella's calm and simple analysis made the group understand that she wasn't looking at the eels at all. She was looking at the very odd formation of bubbles in the lava pool next to the guards patrolling and hunting the eels.

"You are correct. That's what I had hoped you would notice. Those guards are clearly a younger generation and lack the understanding of symbiosis and dependent natures. The magma eels often live around dual earth and fire beasts since they can move fast enough not to be harmed or eaten by them.

Specifically, they will hide around the crag salamanders, an offshoot of the magma, or fire salamander species."

Once Professor Wright finished her short lesson, the group watched a scaled rocky claw reach up and lift a larger body on to the harder cooled stone. Lava flowed off its back presenting the larger and sharper scales all over its back which seemed to pour out lava like small volcanoes.