Spirit Taming

Chapter 572: Hiding Mist

"Why the hell is this just getting worse?" Ralph grumbled as they walked forward. He felt that the entire area was annoying. But to be fair, everyone felt that way with the amount of mist that was here.

"I thought that the mist was back near Lunar City. but this is a whole new level." Isa also felt that This was worse than expected.

"This is a wilderness area. I guess this is one reason it stays wilderness." Grace's casual attitude seemed to smooth things out a little since having the somewhat positive tone could calm Ralph down a bit.

"It makes sense though. In the later day, this will be warmer and the mist might not be around. But since it isn't warm enough yet, the mist is still very low. That makes it harder. But if we wait, then we would be traveling in to the darkness. By morning, the most will be around causing us to be lost in front of predators." Clark reminded them that this was the best time for them to travel.

However, that did not take away the eerie feeling as they walked in. just having a harder time to see in front of them was enough to cause them all to be on edge. However, the mist was warmer and caused them to all have a slick coating of sweat and moisture on their bodies.

The feeling was definitely uncomfortable but also came with some other downsides. They would have a harder time grasping their weapons because of it. Therefore, having something dry to wipe their hands free of this mist would have been better. Not that it was really possible since they were all surrounded by mist.

"Why can't Grace just use her first finch to move it. Wouldn't Ella's living mist be able to do something too? This is literally mist." Reese caught on to something he thought would be an ideal solution. Unfortunately, he didn't realize what that meant.,

"If Grace caused too large of a movement in the mist, many sensitive beasts would be alerted to our position. we would be calling them all towards us. It would be very unfortunate to die by a beast swarm that we created." Ella stomped out one idea quickly, but then considered the second one for a moment.

"I believe that my cloud sprite will be able to control the mist slightly. However, that could be what we need." Ella had thought of this and had been thinking it better to stop her cloud sprite from using too much energy. It had worked hard before, but it was sure that it could do something.

As the cloud sprite left the taming space, the mist around the group slowly condensed in to a ring that was harder to see though. The living mist slowly adjusted itself to make the mist change density and shape as it slowly pushed it away without making any breezes or wind ripples.

After five minutes of this, the group found that their visibility greatly increased while the mist around them seemed easier to see though. "My partner made sure to slowly change the density of mist. It is an interesting skill, but because of its control, we are effectively more camouflaged. The mist blocks sight to us but we can see better through it."

"That's great, and we can already speak a little louder because the mist is dampening sound." Maria was sure that Ella had thought of this too. With Ella's intelligence and her unique beasts, they all knew that this was something that not many people were capable of.

"Is that why we can make out the color of the mosses we are walking on? Why are they red?" Brad had been somewhat silent. He was very impressed by the way that the mist blocked the sounds of his beast moving as Brad walked. But now he was curious how they had missed such a vibrant red color when the mist was around their bodies.

'Bleeding moss- uncommon

Do not eat this moss at any cost. It is called bleeding moss because it produces a red sap within itself. However, that red sap causing massive internal bleeding because it is very acidic to the insides of a body. There is only one beast that is known by researchers to be able to consume it. However, that beast was thought to have been hunted to death because of its vibrant red fur…'

Clark wanted to warn everyone not to touch or even consider anything else to do with the bleeding moss. But just as he did, he noticed the slimy looking beast that was moving around the bleeding moss and even gathering the sap around and on its body.

'Brilliant snail- uncommon

The brilliant snail is a beast known to be extinct by many races because it rarely is seen in the open. Therefore, this was led it to be thought as extinct after the massive hunting of the brilliant snail so that its shells could be used as medicinal powders once dried.

The brilliant snail uses the bleeding moss sap as food. This causes it to also use it to cover its body and more easily move around the jungle floor. It can not be eaten by beasts but it is cannibalistic and will eat opposing snails of its own species.

It is known as brilliant because it will slowly explore any containment it is put in, then find ways to use its body to escape. Even leaving behind its shell and being forced to grow a new one. But this causes it to severely weaken and often die.

The shell is gathering a high amount of nutrients. If ground up with a crystalized ginger root, it is able to nourish the brain and cause a small boost in mental faculties. This was why these were hunted excessively at one point in time. Fortunately, those who cause such an event have long perished along with their foolish ideas on cheap ways to become geniuses.'

"Bleeding moss is toxic to eat so try not to touch it. The sap will make you bleed internally and only that brilliant snail can handle it. We can catch it but it was thought to be extinct. We should be glad that we are seeing one at all.' Clark made sure that everyone understood what they were looking at.

"You mean the snail that's worth more gold coins than any other? The other snail type beasts, even the mammoth snail shell is worth almost nothing compared to a brilliant snail shell. Some people have them saved as relics of beasts that don't live any more. They are considered fossils or ancient medicine now. Not that they are ancient." Isa was very energetic.

This Was a massive boon if they were to capture it.

"Should we killed the only…" Maria was going to raise the important question that they should all ask themselves. Should they kill the potentially last brilliant snail? That was until they all noticed that the one that Clark had spotted was not just one.

There were easily fifty of the small brilliant snails moving slowly around them. Their slimy bodies covered in brilliant red sap that made them nearly blend in to the bleeding moss. "The mists hid them perfectly. we didn't even know that we were stepping on them or through their food." Ralph laughed a little. They had all been fooled by such a small thing.

It was too comical to really admit, but he had to.

"Alright, now I think that we might have attracted some attention." Reese held his partner ready to fight. The spirit steel sword vibrated in preparation to strike down the many little beasts that might threaten their group. They were covered in toxic sap that could make them all bleed easily. Naturally this would put them all more on edge.

"I would say we can keep a few. The snails can grow their shells back, so give me some gloves. I will remove some of the shells and leave them here where they can grow them back if they fight enough. But I am surprised. They are known to eat one another, but fifty are here without issues." Clark's curiosity made Ella's eyes grow wider.

"I understand. There just has been a large increase in population due to ideal living conditions for the moss and for them. That means that there must have been a recent hatching of over a few thousand eggs. This is known as a population boom."

There were not enough to eat the moss, so the moss grew. Then the snails had a lot of food because they lacked competition due to being almost extinct. Now they are growing a lot. Plenty of snails, plenty of food. It's going to be like that until the food runs out. Then they will turn on one another." Ella had read about such events.

Seeing it was very different from the books she read. However, she knew that it was inevitable that these beasts would turn against one another at some point.