Spirit Taming

Chapter 55: Cause Of Mutations

Clark made a direct line to his room. He wanted Crim to be able to eat the demented hobgoblin to grow larger and build himself a better body. He also wanted to rest for the first time in a while. He could not stay awake any longer without causing himself to become sick.

Devi was roughly the same shape as Clark. Tired and in need of good rest. The three were overall exhausted and before they knew it, they were facing the rising sun. Clark, Devi. and Crim had managed to rest all night without a single problem. They could feel the refreshing atmosphere around them.

"Crim…where's the hobgoblin?" What astounded Clark was that when he woke up, there was no sight or scent of the demented hobgoblin body he had left for Crim to snack on. Instead, there was a slimy pile of what appeared to be undigested meats.

"I left you alone all night and you managed to eat it all…you are a monster. How will I keep feeding you if you ever develop a real appetite?" Crim didn't seem phased by Clark's worries. As a slime dragon, he lacked the need to actually eat since he didn't feel hunger. The only benefit to eating was increasing his slime to become a bigger dragon.

From what Clark could see, there were no obvious changes in Crim's body. He was not larger or had additional body parts like spikes or defined wings. Instead, it seemed that the scales the slime formed were darker. "So you used the nutrient within the demented goblin to become denser. That should mean you have a slightly stronger hit and higher defense. Good."

Knowing what the changes were in Crim was very important. Crim would need to do more training to get used to the added power and defenses he had. While Clark needed to remember the new limits that Crim had so that there would be no issue when in a battle. Clark was not foolish to believe that he would be spared from sparring practice any time soon.

"You know you are going to clean up your mess right?" As much as Cark wanted to take responsibility for his tamed beasts' mess. He was not going to let Crim think that he was the cleaning person for every mess he made. It was important that Crim learned not to just leave messes around. It was a habit that would make him a better tamed beast in the long run.

A hurried knocking came from Clark's door, "Clark, we are going to be late! Professor Wright will punish us if we are late!"

"Ehm, thank you for the wake up call." Clark had forgotten the timing of classes and would have completely missed it if Maria had not knocked to warn him. The pair rushed toward their lecture hall so that they could hear what professor Wright had in mind for them.

"It appears the lost ones have shown up at last. You are just barely on time. Be thankful that I did not start early." Just because they had not been early, professor Wright had singled them out. Luckily, they were not being punished so Clark just let it roll off him.

"After the trials yesterday, we have decided to allow each student to pass this event. The area was not as safe as it should have been due to unknown occurrences. Many of you have been found to have battled mutated goblins of various species and strengths. This changed the information you could gather." The classroom was instantly in a buzz. They had not been to the novice area they expected.

"The mutations that happen in the wilds are random. However, they increase based on the reproductive cycles of beasts. Especially those that go through more cycles within a short time. That means what?" Professor Wright pointed directly at Clark.

"It means that there were more small mutations causing the strength of the goblins to become higher than the weak ones we expected. It also meant that there were more tribes fighting. And to top it all off, we had the random strong mutated goblins causing trouble."

"Exactly. Due to these factors, the third years should have been able to handle it if they were alone in their own groups. With our class there, they were held back. Some were even lost or injured. This teaches us what lesson?" Professor Wright pointed at Maria this time.

"That the wilds are always changing and to never expect things to be as we have studied!" Her response was loud and true. She had learned this lesson clearly herself and did not want to be caught unaware again.

"Good, now that we all understand that, we will have a last minute change in lesson plan. We will go in to detail on breeding cycles and possible changes to a beast when they are influenced by such cycles. Take clear notes there will be a quiz on this after class."

The remainder of the class went by quickly. Clark absorbed the information about how beasts would radically change attitudes and behaviors when they were defending their young or looking for a mate. Some normally peaceful beasts would become incredibly violent.

"Clark, are you going to train again." Maria wanted to be able to train a little after their class. She thought it would be best to ask Clark.

"I was thinking of heading to the arenas so that I can see some beasts I have not seen before. I also want to participate with Crim in a battle or two." Getting the mental bestiary skill was top of Clark's to do list. Any training that could be done alongside it was all the better.

"That's a good idea! I will come too." Maria found that she had been too one sided in her thinking. If she just trained and didn't broaden her knowledge then she would find herself defeated easily. There was also the fact that she had spent a long time thinking about what she could and could not do. She had Lit, but Lit might not be enough to defend her while she fought.

She either needed to get a second tamed beast or she would have to help Lit improve faster.

The arena would be the best place to find out more about both options by seeing how others battle. The fourth year students would usually not hold themselves back. From what Maria had heard, they would sometimes fight with all their tamed beasts at once so that they could improve their coordination.

"It seems pretty busy right now. I wonder why." Clark found that there was a crowd outside.

"What do you mean you wonder why?" A student heard Clark speak his mind out loud.

"It's a first year, he hasn't heard yet. There are two graduates from the academy here along with the fourth year top students. They are training for everyone to watch." The two students that educated Clark on this seemed more excited than the others. They soon created a path to the front before pushing toward a seat in the crowd.

"I guess we were lucky to get to the front but, where are…" Maria trailed off once she was able to get a good look at the crowd.

"Clara?" Clark was surprised to see Clara standing in the middle of the arena. Unfortunately, this was not why Maria had trailed off. She was staring at one of the fourth year boys who were listening intently. The boy was glaring at Clara as if he was waiting to fight to the death.