Spirit Taming

Chapter 514: Hermits

'Flame burst hermit- uncommon

The flame burst hermit is a hermit crab like monster that will attach hot lava rocks to their backs as a shell. They will spend weeks, even years, to make themselves these shells. If they can not find the right rock to attach to themselves, they are known to attack other flam burst hermits.

They are known as the flame burst because of the powerful fire balls that they will use to attack their opponents. They are an ambush predator that will wait and pretend it is a rock. They will then flip themselves over and fire a large fire ball with all of the fire energy they have. If they fail, they will latch on to the ground and pretend to be a stuck rock.

Often, they will succeed and spend as long as they need consuming the prey they have hunted. They have a stomach full of super heated acids that allows them to consume rotting flesh without any issues. However, they rarely have the chance to finish their prey since there are often many other beasts that can steal it away after just a few hours of eating.

They can…'

Clark carefully explained the dangers of the flame burst hermit. It had a decent ability for one hit attack. That was the reason it would be able to easily defeat something or someone. Unfortunately, if someone knew it was there, then it lost already. The only way that it was able to survive was because of the tougher lava rocks that made up its shell.

That was the protection that allowed it to hide and tire out the predators after it.

"So we just need to go forward? Easy." Ralph walked right ahead to the surprise of the group. They all knew him to be blunt and headstrong. But was he really that dumb?

"Just let him go. I know he will be fine." The only one that didn't show any worry at all was Grace. She had been working with Ralph in the forge and was much happier to know that he was using the skills he used there to help here.

"I know he trained against fire much more than the rest of us, but he's still not perfectly resistant." Clark's own idea of how tough Ralph was against flames was pretty clear. But he knew that a powerful burst of fire that a beast saved up the energy for would not just have heat. It would have a significant force.

Before Ralph got close, his molten boar moved next to him. Just as the pair seemed to be pretending to walk casually, the flame burst hermit clicked and showed its softer shell. The legs were longer than any of them expected along with its beady black eyes which stared at its potential prey.

The single fireball that it shot out was vibrant red and much larger than Brad's torso. Yet, the molten bopar stepped forward, opened its mouth, and chomped down on it like a small snack. The flames did absolutely nothing to it.

In return, Ralph jumped forward prompting the flame burst hermit it rush and flip itself back over. Naturally, it clamped down on the harder lava rock ground. It refused to move. "Ha!" Ralph laughed a little as he raided his ax and slashed downward. There was a sick cracking of stone before the sound of the flame burst hermits being split totally in half was heard.

"This thing thought that my flame tempered ax couldn't break the small little lava rocks. Does it think that it is a legendary beast worth that?" Ralph just picked up the lava rocks that the flame burst hermit had used as a shell. "And the reason it picked up these rocks is because there are small ores in them. That's why they are perfect.

You should check all your details before you give us your analysis."

The small taunting tone was directed at Clark who had not seen that some of these flame burst hermits enjoy finding rocks with small metal ores in them. This is because they have a slight chance of mutating and having a very weak thirst affinity, the metal affinity.

This potential mutation was exceedingly rare, but to Ralph, it was clear. He could tell that this flame burst hermit had metal ores in the lava rocks from a glance. It wasn't the shapes of the stone, but the energies it gave off. Because Ralph worked in the forge and had a beast that was fire, metal, and slightly poison typed, he had the senses to pick up on all of this.

"How did you molten boar eat the flames? That was an entire fireball!" Reese's mind was elsewhere. Eh was still trying to figure out how the molten boar had easily eaten an entire attack from a wild beast.

"How? Because he does it in the forge. The other day I was experimenting with a mixed alloy. It had a large air bubble in it. When it exploded, the metal and flames went everywhere. It was a great snack for my partner.

So now he is on duty to eat the flames and broken mistakes. Plus, he makes it in to another ingot for later."

"That's a good way to save money on ingots and metals. I approve." Isa had her own opinions on how Ralph and his partner would be able to reuse scrap metal or failed creations. Especially since she had purchased way too many ores and metals for him to work on. But that was the investment that she had to make for Ralph to be able to forge full weapons and armors one day.

It just begged the question of, when?

"Well, whatever the reason, you can handle the next five." Clark pointed out the next five flame burst hermits that were sitting ahead of them in their own small territories. The odd way that they were spaced was their natural instincts to take over a space and make it just their own. Anyone with some skill would notice the oddly perfect way that the stones were placed apart from one another.

With a surprised look, Ralph noticed the beasts in hiding before he shrugged. His ax in hand and his molten boar by his side, they started to go after the beasts in their way. It took only an hour to defeat them and claim anything valuable, but it was a good show. It also cleared the path in a way that didn't draw too much attention.

There was also the added bonus that the molten boar appeared to be happier than ever.

As the molten boar had grown a lot since Ralph had delved deeper in to forging, it had been showing off more of its strength and control over heat. This had been a direct result of it absorbing the metal energies and fire energies in the forge.

By comparison, it had also developed more of the weaker poison affinity since it had been creating acids and fumes within its body due to the creation of ingots or metal alloys within its stomach.

This control was what it easily took the flames from the flame burst hermit as its own. This fire energy showed off how the molten boar could disperse the fire energy through its entire body. Small cracks of its growing body released the built up heat.

But more than that, the group could take notice of the fact that the molten boar was easily half a foot taller than it had been before it had reached this environment.

The fire and earth energies in the lava fields were great for him. The fire was able to make him show off his real strength without worries that maintaining the state of heat was necessary. The earth energies were not his to use, but that meant metal energies would be around. Some of which he had already found. In direct relation to that he was able to foster the poison type energy in his body.

This entire palace was ideal for the molten boar to be fully comfortable for the first time in its life. Especially after it had nearly lost its life and forcefully mutated to become a molten boar. "Ralph, keep it up. I think your partner will benefit from this trip more than anyone else. You might have wanted to stay in the forge, but the wilderness is more valuable to you right now."

As much as Ralph didn't want to admit it, he nodded in agreement. He could feel the glee that his partner felt and watched as his molten boar easily walked through some fo the hotter spots were small bits of lava were pushing up through the dense lava rock ground. It was clear that it was in its environment.

"I know there might be more flame burst hermits here, but what should we do about the misty weather coming in? Will it make things harder?" Grace looked up as her frost finch had chirped to warn them of the rain becoming a little stronger around them. It was just enough that it would cool the area slightly. But slightly was enough to cause some trouble. The storm was still around in a sense.

Just not directly on top of them any more.