Spirit Taming

Chapter 519: On His Own

"Excuse me?" The tone that Maria took was enough to make Clark's blood feel a little colder. It was just the sort of tone that any man would recognize. The kind of tone that said they messed up and that they messed up very badly.

"There's something that I need to do. I need to go handle it before I can rejoin everyone. I promise that it is important and that I will be back before three days. But that's the same for everyone here. Everything and everyone needs to be back at this spot before three days pass. That's the rule.

Regardless of the situation."

With Clark building his courage and remaining first, Maria sighed. She wasn't going to stop him from getting stronger. However, she hated that he was keeping secrets again and rushing off on his own. The way that Clark worked always made Maria even more stressed.

"We all have healing potions to drink and plenty of food and water. We should be fine to handle these things. I trust everyone." Clark took a step forward while everyone else watched. They knew that if Maria didn't convince Clark not to head off that it was something more important than they could realize.

"He is the only student I have that has a dragon type beast. They are unique. I assume there is something similar to a dragon ruin, a connection with the dragon lands, or even a material that only dragons can take. That's why he said Crim." Professor Wright did her best to remedy the mood. She also had her theories since she knew dragon tamers to a degree.

Dragons were a unique kind of beast. They were very wide in variety since their blood allowed them to grow in many ways. They were powerful and had a deep rooted instinct to gain strength and stand tall. That was what had made many dragon tamer's act in the past.

What Professor Wright didn't know was that the system had given Clark quests and that he was completely immune to some instinctive drive to learn things or to push towards dragon oriented treasures. Crim also seemed to have gained this random effect from the system even though it was unintended.

Stepping toward the gate caused the dungeon to open. Clark knew it was the volcanic eruption dungeon and already understood that the heat would grow. That was why Crim had taken on the armor form yet again. But there were also wisps of feint dragon energy that had reached him as the gate opened.

The scarlet cardinals began to chirp and fly from their little nests. They were ecstatic to feel the fire energies. They could feat on the fire energies flowing from the dungeon. This was why they had waited here. They could not enter the dungeon but they could wait for others to do so and allow them to gain a lot of energy.

Clark's first steps were in to an even more intimidating landscape. The lava fields were tough because they were on top of a lava lake. However, this landscape was that of age old stone. The small bursts of erupting lava out of small holes proved to be the dangers that Clark had expected from reading the analysis of the dungeon.

On top of all this, the fumes were somewhat toxic. Ralph would have to take the lead in a place like this since he was the only one of the group behind Clark that could properly handle the toxins. It also meant that Maria would be doing a lot of healing and purifying to the main group. Clark was naturally resistant because of Crim and Devi.

Shy had to retreat completely because she was not equipped to handle the degree of heat with shadows. Especially since there were very few shadows on this lava filled mountain to hide in. if she came out of the taming space, it was a certainty that she would take some form of damage and need to recover.

Devi floated around looking for any sign of danger. But just after a few moments, Clark managed to spot the main mountain volcano. It wasn't the lava flowing from the top that signaled that it would be the strongest and the most likely to have what he was after. It was the fact that he could spot places where large chunks of the mountain had been broken off in battle.

Signs that battle had been done there was enough proof that this would be the dwarven forces fighting the beasts that took residence in such a place. The level of which would be higher than most beasts Clark had ever taken on. But that was fine. He knew his current strength and how he would be able to use it. Especially since he had Crim and Devi ready to battle.

With a flap of the wings that Crim created in the armor form and his powerful steps, Clark was gone from the spot in just a few moments. He didn't fail to notice the evidence of where guards had seemingly started to follow a path made by others. Most likely those that came out with rare materials that drew the guards in at some point.

"That really just happened?" Isa stomped her foot down. That brat always rushes off alone and tries to act so cool. Here look, I found an item with unique effects. Or look, this beast egg was labeled wrong.

Oh look, I got ten times stronger in just a single day because I'm amazing." Isa's grumbling came from the fact that she knew Clark would show up with some amazing new strength or would manage to find something great while the group was left behind.

"That's just the way he is. He gets a feeling and chances it. The same way I am going to chase down those guards and drag them back so we can get some answers about this place. They also will have to hand over their materials too." Ralph sounded a little evil when he spoke, but he wanted to beat Clark back to the entrance after finding the guards.

"You want to race?" Brad caught on to what Ralph was thinking and took a stance next to Ralph. He was all for it.

"Jerold, you need to start tracking and scouting the way. You trained that, right? We are going to beat Clark in and out with better items than him." Reese naturally started pushing too. The three boys looked like they were ready for a brutal battle.

"I can't argue with them. It's better to focus on our own task. Let's go." Grace was the sweetest out of everyone when it came to Clark running off. She hadn't doubted him for a second. She also wouldn't want to run after him either. She preferred to stick with the others since she was better trained for teamwork than individual combat.

It was just where her strengths were.

"That means I will take the lead role. Everyone, formation. The heat will be stronger, that means Ralph is the front line. Brad, be ready to defend me since I am the healer dealing with injuries. Jerold, remain on scouting but escape at any hint of trouble. Reese, you and Grace will be protecting the sides.

Ella and Isa will be taking long range attacks and messing with the beasts we face using illusions or spiritual skills."

Maria perfectly set up the formation. Professor Wright watched and silently praised the change after they had watched Clark leave. While she knew that there was something more going on with this being an independent space where other worlds were connected, she also knew that Clark wouldn't send them in if it wasn't safe enough to survive.

He was a very good leader at times and Maria had easily grown to be the ideal secondary leader.

The group followed Clark's lead and stepped in to the dungeon causing more scarlet cardinals to fly around in excitement. By the time everyone stepped through the gate, they were greeted with the very same sight of mountains and erupting lava flows. It was a scene that took them a few moments to accept since it was vastly different from the large lava fields.

"Above!" Maria drew her bow and fired a single arrow at the beast she sense swooping down above them. Her arrow flew true and pierced the wing of a beast that was not exactly normal to anyone.

"That was a flying fire lizard and it is not beaten. They are small but they will be vicious. When it comes back, we should kill it." Isa noticed the familiar beast she had seen before. They could rarely be tamed because of their temper.

"No, it is dead." Jerold had followed it when the arrow had hit it and the flying flame lizard had landed. Before it could take to the air again, he had dashed and stabbed it. "I will hide and scout for now." Jerold dropped the flying flame lizard and the group fell in to formation. They could already tell there was a path to follow that others had taken before.