Spirit Taming

Chapter 574: In To A Hole?

No one noticed Clark's slight smirk as the gotcha started to spin. It might have been a basic gotcha, but that was enough for him. He knew that the basic gotcha wheel could have many different good things in it. He had already received a few!

'The basic gotcha is spinning…

Alchemy formula gotcha ticket has been won! Congratulations on gaining the current hidden prize of the basic gotcha wheel!

The alchemy formula gotcha is now spinning…'

Clark was very surprised to see this. He had not expected that there was a hidden reward like this. If he had known this, he would have had his fingers crossed for such a reward this entire time. But that meant there might be other hidden rewards in the future.

"What has you smiling like that?" Maria walked closer to Clark wondering what was pushing him to be so happy all the sudden.

"I was just thinking about all the things that I gathered. There might be some old alchemy formulas in the mix of things. I am thinking about whether it is what makes me feel a sense of familiarity with the jungle and the herbs and other ingredients around here." Clark played it off as the system wheel spun.

'Basic binder formula- rare

The basic binder is a formula that can be used in any form of alchemy. Mostly it is used for powdered ingredients within a formula to help them easily bind to other ingredients, often liquids that do not mix well with powders.

This formula uses the slime from a clear light slime, purified water, and charcoal dust. It is heated to…

This can be used to make many medicines last longer because of a stronger bond. It can boost the shelf life by a significant margin. It is also great for making powdered items last longer and easier to take since the powder will be held within the binder.

The best use of this is when using fresh herbs and powders together. The fresh herbs may not easily mix and can not be ground together. Therefore, the fresh herbs will be able to handle the process of mixing while using a mortar and pestle.'

While Clark glazed over the instructions on how to heat the ingredients along with how to cut and prepare them, he was very impressed. He had thought that he might get something wildly higher ranked with his luck getting a hidden reward from the basic gotcha. Yet, this was amazing within its own right.

"Here, it's called a basic binder formula. I can't do much with it, but I bet that your jade worm will be able to better help you with its energy. Ralph should also be able to join you in controlled heating like it says in these instructions. I just thought that you might need it if you are going to be practicing with making potions or medicines with the brilliant snail shells."

"Oh!" Maria's surprise was clear. She didn't see this as amazing until she read it. "They are all basic and easy ingredients for this formula, but it has great effects. The clear light slime is very common and we already have it as a burn healing supplement. It works like some desert plants that have healing properties for sun burns.

We bought some since Ralph needed them in case he handles something beyond his strength."

This was clearly not Ralph who asked for it since when he overheard this he looked like he had smelt something bad. But Grace blushed slightly while looking away. It was very easy to tell she had been the one to ask for this out of worry for Ralph's health and safety within the forge.

"This will work just fine." Maria started to mumble to herself while also looking at Clark like she suspected more.

"I just happened to have it." Clark tried to get her not to look at him but he realized that she had seen this as more than just another thing he found and gave to her. But that was fine by him. He was more than glad to have her a little happier than what she had been before.

"So, now that we have a bit of an awkward campo set up, what's the plan? That dungeon looks like a hole in to some unknown hell. Do we really just hop down the rabbit hole?" to be fair, Jerold had a good point. The idea of hopping down a hole that steam rose from was very odd.

"I second that. How do we know we aren't just dropping down in to a hole?" Reese's question would have been fine and dandy. However, at that moment, a larger burst of steam shot up from the steaming plains dungeon entrance.

'Steaming plains dungeon

The steaming plains is a dangerous dungeon because of the odd mix of water and fire. It is not purely one or the other but is a perfect balance between the two. It is easily considered a massively beneficial dungeon since it provides and receives benefits through the flow of cool air and steamy air in and outside of it.

Therefore, it is not a dungeon that will disappear as most other new and randomly appearing dungeons are.

The geysers that cause water and as it shoots higher in the air, steam, are the dangers of this dungeon because of the high temperatures that everyone must deal with that enters this dungeon. Unique species of beasts such as steam toads, geyser trout, and leech flies live within. There are other beasts, but none as unique as the previously mentioned three.

It is highly recommended that those who wish to survive within such a place have high resistances to heat and moisture. Pure fire type beasts and pure water type beasts will suffer due to the mixture of opposing energies.'

"I would say that we aren't in too much danger for the most part. But let's remain on the focus of what we know." Clark got everyone's attention. They all had some tasks they could do regardless if this was a place that they could or could not go.

"You better not be about to tell us that we can't all go in there. I could care less if it might be harder to handle it. But I will get tougher no matter what." Brad looked ready to Fight Clark. But to be fair, he had been carrying heavier weights and put a lot of effort in to his resistance training. This was an ideal chance to gain more of the same training.

"I was going to say that. This is a lot of water and a lot of heat. It's a dungeon that we know has two opposing energies in balance. That means a lot of hot water or energetic encounters." Clark looked around. The worst match ups for this were Ralph and grace. The fire and ice typing was rough for both of them.

"Ralph, you rely on fire. That means you might be at a disadvantage. Grace, your frost finch relies on ice and wind. That might not help you." The two of them looked at Clark without speaking.

"But you can both fight without your beasts and just like Brad, work on your endurance in this environment. But we don't know the level of danger that will be here. So, it is up to you." Clark knew that this was the right decision to make since he was being open with his worries for the danger they were about to encounter.

"I learned enough to handle every weapon that us girls know. Don't worry about me." Grace huffed a little. Ralph just raised an eyebrow since he was beaten to speaking and Grace had already topped anything he could say. After a shrug, Ralph just waited to see what was next.

"Then that's that. We don't know what beasts might be around, but we know that this was once a decent camp area for people that investigated these closer parts of the violent jungle. That's why we haven't seen much in terms of dangerous beasts. So, keep that in mind as we go in and out of this dungeon. I am thinking about three days here."

"That should be fine. We are heading in deeper after that, right?" there was an immediate agreement with Isa who thought it would be valuable to gather as many new materials from this dungeon which hadn't been touched for years.

"I doubt there will be anything that valuable. This dungeon would have remained popular if the materials were rare. However, in theory, this dungeon was made popular for research at one time. The reason might have been materials like herbs that only grow over longer periods of time." Ella made everyone realize that this was a unique situation.

This dungeon being untouched for this amount of time might have different results than anyone had researched. Herbs or beasts that were barely seen or too well hunted before might have recovered by now. That made this a very interesting exploration.