Spirit Taming

Chapter 625: Good Training Grounds

The dungeon entrance appeared not to change whatsoever. Clark almost felt that he was being tricked by the system. That was until he saw a slight hue of color appear on the stairs and the stones. It was just enough to prove that something was odd and something different was happening.

What he was a little annoyed with, was that the system was not letting him use the analysis. Therefore, he felt that this was something to do with the odd nature of the change. The unique method might be beyond what he could understand and this was just the way that the system allowed for him to avoid that stress.

Regardless, he stepped through with the rest of the group behind him.

The chill that got them all was something that Clark blessed the system in his mind for. He could tell without even seeing the full dungeon that they had just made their way to a new place. One that was ideal for finding the herbs that they might need to begin helping Grace.

"It's cold here." Grace responded the moment she went inside the dungeon. Normally, she would not be affected by the cold. Her first finch and her were very resistant to wind and ice energies. Yet, the soul chill illness was making her feel that it was colder than it really was for her body. Her resistances and body were weaker overall.

"Stay closer to the dragon welp. It is letting more fire energy out of its body to help you keep your balance." Ralph was worried. His face was full of wrinkles while glancing back and forth at Grace.

Meanwhile, Clark had finally been able to use the analysis on the dungeon.

'Frost hammer grove- uncommon

This is a winter dungeon that was broken off of an old dwarven forest due to a large scale war between two different dwarven kingdoms. Due to this, the area was embroiled in striking cold and striking heat. It caused massive damage to the space itself. Hence why the dwarven lands are all full of many places that can not be traveled.

This grove was forced to grow to adapt to the cold. It holds many remnants of dwarven weapons that have become unique beasts. The frost forged war hammers have gained some sentience and attack many people, the undead dwarven skeletons fight anything living, and the broken ice golems are remnants from the battles that happened here.

Various herbs have taken root and altered themselves over many years of growth. This caused them to be able to have unique extracts, mutations, and various other details related to them. It will be considered a rare item just because of the fact that they have formed in this unique environment.

The overall dungeon is very small due to the unique nature of it. This small grove surrounds a slightly large opening that used to have a flowing stream and was an ideal camp for some dwarven forces…'

Clark's surprise grew the more that he saw all of this. He had no idea that there would be so much that he could not understand when it came to the dwarves.

While many people knew that where Dwarves lived was full of multiple dwarven kingdoms, they also understood that they were under a major alliance that allowed them to study and grow. This meant that there were no real major wars happening. Small battles, yes, wars, no.

Therefore, there was no need to think that the place the dwarves lived would be under such poor conditions. "This seemed to be a ruined area from the dwarven lands. It's different from what was on the map, but we were lucky that it happened." Clark didn't hide that this dungeon was different from what they should have gone in to. He knew that the group would catch on as a whole.

"That means we will be able to harvest unique herbs for Ella. Clark, you might not look it, but you are trying to be humble and hide that you knew something was off here?" Ella saw right through Clark's intentions. However, he shook his head.

"I knew this would be different, but not ideal for Grace. It was really just luck." He knew very well that the system had somehow influenced the key he had gotten and that the odds were high that it had specifically done so because it knew that Clark needed the herbs here.

"It's fine if it isn't even the best place, we got here and we can make a change. What beasts might we find here." Isa was very focused. Everyone noticed that Reese was right there with her ready to take on the challenge of fighting beasts that might be around the herbs they needed. He clearly expected that she would be out of energy again.

Isa had been overtaxing herself lately by melding with her beasts temporality.

"I can't pick up any tracks near the entrance. That means nothing comes here often. Is this some sort of dungeon with flying beasts?" Jerold did a quick look close to where they all were. He was surprised not to see a single thing that could tip him off about what beasts might be here.

"We might find beasts similar to Reese's spirit steel sword. There should be dwarven hammers that absorbed the energies here and became beasts. The same for golems that were created from remnants of dwarven golems that were broken and gained some intelligence. Then undead. Bodies of fallen dwarves that came back to life based on their own resentments." None of this made the group feel good.

However, they all understood that a broken ice golem would most likely be a very weak opponent that might not be able to attack or defend properly. An easy beasts to beat. A hammer was a hammer. It would be tough, but it could be defended against and worked around. Then the undead were simple.

Weak defenses and a clear weakness to exploit since they would not be fully armored or ready to fight since they had become undead over longer periods of time.

"That makes sense why there are two hammers hanging in the tree there. They both have leather straps hanging from small broken branches." Brad saw the danger ahead of them. He had a sense that it was an ambush for foolish people to walk in to.

To prove this, there were piles of bones sticking from the snow beneath the tree. "If we fight them and break them, the metals could be repurposed for forging. I might be able to make something able to store herbs that we can not use right away but they have to be maintained at very cold temperatures."

Ralph's idea was to make the more delicate herbs that might have trouble when removed from this place a better storage. The spatial rings would be fine, but what about when the herbs were removed from them? It might lose the important qualities that were needed too quickly to help Grace as much as needed.

"Then I will obtain them." Brad didn't hesitate. Clark had said that they would easily be able to handle this area.

When Brad neared the tree, the two hammers fell down with a lot of force. Their spiritual affinity was allowing them to float to some degree. However, the metal, and noticeably strong ice affinity they had, allowed them to gather ice on their war hammer forms.

When one swung upward through the air, Brad used the shield of his possessed armaments to block it. The resounding clang of metal and the shattering sound of ice made him flinch slightly. It appeared that more than just a sound was made. Metal and spiritual energy was released which caused slight damage to whatever was struck. But Brad was much tougher.

The ice tried to form again as the hammer that struck wanted to attack again. But the second hammer seemed to want to attack as well. It swung out toward Brad who deftly slammed the shield down again. It caused the ice on the hammer to shatter again before he slammed it again.

During the changes to become a beast, the metal had degraded. Only if it was unkempt properly would it have been able to handle the years passing and the additions of ice elemental energies. Because this was not an ideal place for the dwarven war hammers to grow, they had remained weaker and weaker. They had only been able to defeat the dwarven skeletons because the skeletons were so weak.

The second hammer attempted to attack again, but Brad was too strong and quick. He also could sense that his body was more or less recovered from using his berserker skill that his partner provided him. Therefore, he easily slammed the shield down again to shatter another hammer. The two had been reduced to cold metal shards and a few pieces of rotting leather.

"Those two were in fact weak. Just materials to be used. I am unsure if they will be useful at all though." Brad still helped Ralph collect the metal shards. Clark was very glad that these beasts were around. They were an ideal worry for ambush that they would need to focus on. Ideal training