Spirit Taming

Chapter 53: Changed Plan

There was only a short time before Devi returned with an extremely sluggish appearance. He had done exactly what Clark had asked and proceeded to feed on the remaining soul energy from the goblins. They had been too caught up battling each other to be able to resist his attacks.

"It's time to go back and rest. The moon is already pretty high in the sky." Clark knew that the bodies of the goblins were too risky to go after. There were still many goblins around the area that had been attracted by the sounds of fighting. There was also the fact that there were more being attracted by the scent of blood.

Retracing his steps was easy. Crim didn't even need to be told to lead the way since he was better at following their scent. Devi was barely able to lean on Clark's shoulder because of the high effort he had given in battling. However, Clark could feel that Devi had been able to more than achieve the goal. So much so that If he did not sit to meditate with Devi tonight it would be a massive loss.

When the camp came in to sight, Clark found that things had changed. There were fewer of his and the third years classmates awake. They had all shifted in to night watch positions so that they were able to learn a little more. However, Professor Brune and Professor Wright were in the center by the main fire waiting. Waiting for Clark.

"Come and sit. We have a few words." There was no asking for Clark to do so, it was an order. It felt to Clark, that he was about to be punished.

"I returned to the area you showed me on the map and found the battle sites. There were plenty of goblins that had decided to fight for the free food leading to a large scale battle between tribes. If you or your classmates had remained you would have met a goblin chief. Brains of a shaman and strengths of a hobgoblin. They lead large tribes of goblins. Usually around fifty each."

From what Clark understood, they had attracted a big fish. One that he would have never even been able to think about beating at his level. Hence why the professors were there with them and the third year students.

"You understand the danger, correct? When Professor Brun found them, they had already consumed the bodies of the goblins, students, and each other. We will not pass that area tomorrow and instead head to a secondary meeting location to return to the academy." Professor Wright closed the lecture of professor Brune. She was not happy to hadveto change plans.

"I understand. It is not worth risking the lives of every student here to return the way we came. I am just grateful that we do not need to risk going against them again. I have learned a lot from my first wilderness encounter." Clark mumbled slightly showing that he was being affected by the tiredness of his outing.

He had to ensure that the two professors sent him off to rest for the remainder of the night.

"From what I can see, you will be one of the students those around you strive to beat. Do not set a poor example. Go and rest until the morning. You will help with breakfast. Your teammates already said you would handle the bodies of goblins defeated and split the rewards. Do not forget this." Professor Brune placed the last of the rules down and Clark gave a heavy nod.

The tent that Clark found had been set up for the students was very large. However, he did not go to t. Instead, he moved toward an open portion of the camp to set up his one small tent that had been left for the students to learn with. It was tougher in the dark, but worth the privacy and experience.

Luckily, Clark was not a novice. He had paid attention in life while learning. If he had not listened to these small lessons growing up then he would have been unable to follow the written steps in the firelight. Before long, he had the small tent set up properly while Crim and Devi leaned on him.

"Now for the important part. Crim, I want you to go over every step we took. Focus on how we fought, how we snuck through the area. You should be able to imagine every step we took while thinking of how you could have improved." Clark knew the importance of looking back at how one performed. If Crim did not do so then he would find himself with endless flaws.

"Devi, I know you are tired but you need to process the energy. Feel the difference in the energies you absorbed and start to understand them." Clark was going to be doing the same thing with the phantom meditation technique. He could already begin to feel the energy already flowing between him and Devi.

Unlike the previous meditation sessions, Clark found that Devi moved right in to his open hands. He was extremely serious at the moment since Clark had been so specific. The moment that Clark fell in to the familiar meditation state, he felt the weight of the energy that Devi had forced himself to store instead of immediately process.

The soul energy of a creature was not as simple as just one energy. There was the profound spiritual energy that every being possessed whether they could control it or not. From what Clark could tell, Devi had received very little from the goblins. The main reason that Clark could find for this was that the goblins were not spiritual beings.

He did, however, find that Devi had managed to absorb a decent amount of dark energy. The feeling of this kind of energy separating from the spiritual energy was odd. Clark could feel that there was more behind it than he could grasp. It did feel the same way as the air. The night felt that it had a lot of this dark energy floating about. An energy that one could wander around silently in.

Devi was feeling the same. He was using every ounce of focus to separate these energies until both he, Clark, and Crim felt a chilling sensation surround them. Normally Crim would not feel this sort of energy. He had been born from it in a way though. Slimes were living creatures created from many different energies. For Crim, it was death and dragon essence.

He could feel the deathly cold come around them.

As soon as Devi focused on this deathly energy it was as if he had found something he was missing. With great Greed, Devi started to pull the energy within him and circulate it. This way, Clark also processed it feeling that his own soul was being shaped by it.

The feeling of Crim's bite held the same chilling sensation, however, this energy was more powerful. While Clark could feel his body being strengthened, he noticed that Devi was changing slightly. The shape that could have been called cute to a degree was changing. Devi was gaining more wispy energy around him.

The shape that Clark knew as a ghostly orb was harder to focus on. More mysterious. Colder. The rough shape of Devi's mouth and eyes was further enhanced while the golden glow gained a tinge of red. Yet just as they grasped the cold energy, Clark felt his mind snap away. His own energy had pushed back at it.

"Hmm…I wonder why." The mumbled was lost to the fact that Clark realized the sun had started to rise. A single ray of sunlight had broken through the tent chasing away the cooler energy that had surrounded him. He noticed his body was deathly cold and he was shivering. "Death energy is nothing to fool around with. The unknown risks of trying to understand this energy became clear to him.

Without either of them realizing it, the energy they had tried to understand had been used up. Devi had grown decently larger from the experience while Clark could tell that his body was stronger. His muscles were slightly more defined. His senses expanded to feel more things around him.

The feeling that caught him was the cat that he had a slight feeling nagging at him. One that knew that something was approaching his tent, "Clark? You're awake right?" Maria had come right outside his tent after realizing that Clark had returned at some point in the night. Clark had been able to sense her coming but he wasn't sure how.

"Yes, I am awake." Devi returned to an invisible state and Crim pushed himself up. "I was meditating. I will handle the goblin bodies when we return to the academy." Clark was slightly on autopilot after not sleeping. He was still hung up on the strange feeling as people walked by. He could tell they were coming like a sixth sense.

"Professor Wright said we are leaving early and that we need to get cleaned up. She said that we are moving as one class group because the goblin tribes are acting up." Maria told Clark with a worried expression. She understood that there was too much danger in the goblin cemetery to move in small groups again.