Spirit Taming

Chapter 701: Various Threats

The situation with the venom wyvern made the group feel even weaker than before. They knew well that resisting the poisons and venoms of beasts would be tough. They were not some omnipotent group that could resist any and all things.

Therefore, Clark began to think about how they could keep growing safely. But before he could start to put together more theories, the winged horror began to arc down toward the ground. They had surpassed the violent jungle. This time much faster than when they had walked in to it.

"This is the end of the line. I will be returning to my family territory in a few hours. I know that all of you have an important goal in mind. Do not feel the need to wait for me to depart." The nighthawk family guide carefully started to feed the winged horror and the mushroom. Both had unique foods of their own, but he clearly knew exactly what they liked.

"It was nice doing business with you. You should consider expanding your family business to work with Aphelion City a little more as it develops. Soon, the academy there will welcome students from every single surrounding city. It would be a good way to progress." Isa made it clear that she wished the Nighthawk family to do this.

Having a family already known for transportation over dangerous deeper wilderness areas would be very beneficial. The cities from further away would feel more comfortable allowing their young to travel this way. A regular wilderness carried fewer risks than the deep wilderness that the Nighthawk family was used to.

Furthermore, Aphelion would be looking for many transportation services. The materials moving in and out would be numerous because of the boom in business. This would also show that the city was able to handle the increase in business and eventually the major increase in populations.

Whether it was expected now or later, there were already people working on plans for the expansion. The farming areas would need to be expanded significantly. The same with the architecture of larger buildings and homes. It was just a major part of becoming a better and more open city.

Seeing that Isa was finishing her business, the group looked at Clark. "Jerold, I would like to tell you to scout ahead, but I don't see us having the time. You can move ahead of the group, but we will be running behind you. It's not like we have the luxury to walk safely." Clark and the others sighed at this.

They were always rushing and running now. They had lost the chances to be able to roam freely. To explore due to all the dangers in the world. Not the beasts, but the damn blood moon cult that was trying to turn everything and anything in to monsters.

Looking around them, Jewroold nodded. "I will sprint ahead and keep a look out on the terrain. I know that we already have maps and will be using the natural beast paths. There won't be many merchant paths because they are too few and far between. Not enough can travel the area."

With this, the group saw Jerold start to blend in to the surroundings and move ahead. It would be good to have him following their proposed path. While it avoided the major dangers that we're always around, they still had to be careful.

The group knew that the taller grasses held the dangers of this area well. The beasts that would hunt thought this area would use the grasses as cover. They would ambush or they would set some form of traps.

Some beasts were smart enough to use the ground as trip hazards. This was not uncommon. This was used by many beasts like the sand trap beetles or the trap hole spiders. These were scary beasts that would make themselves dangerous traps to live in and hide in. but it also reminded the group of the spiders that hid in the trees or the hollows of trees within the violent jungle.

Just because they were not in those areas, did not mean beasts wouldn't use this area to their advantage.

Knowing that they could not just run straight through the plains made it rough. They had to travel around some landmarks, some of which they could already make out.

One such was an outcropping of rocks. While it seemed to just be a part of nature, it was actually the nest of a large group of beasts. "That's the plain termite nest. Those rocks were dragged up by hundreds of smaller beasts. If we see one of their soldier termites, we will need to avoid it." Clark pointed out the large tower of mud and rocks.

Everyone had studied the suggested route while on the back of the winged horror.

"That means that the cursive streams are nearby to the left. We have to avoid those too, right?" Grace remembered the odd name of the streams that were to the left of the nest that they could not go near as well.

"Yes, if we have to fight the spear trout in those streams, then we will leave with injuries. They are a suicidal beast. They don't think, they just attack. This also causes the streams to become windy with all their movement and the constant cutting of their sharp snouts." Maria had also seen these basts before.

The thin bodies of the spear trout were like that to spear the mud crabs they liked to eat. Thes Mud crabs were a smaller and weaker beast compared to the other similar beasts. All due to the environment they lived in. However, the spear trout were not smart due to the way their bodies developed.

Their brains grew smaller because of the pointed shape of their heads. This led them to forget to hold back at all. They would speed through the water and use their snouts to stab at anything and everything. This led to those beasts that wandered too close to the waters for a drink to be pierced as well. Even if the spear trout and their beast perished, it still happened.

This wasn't necessarily bad though. Many other beasts took advantage of these foolish spear trout. They were able to rummage around for defeated beasts and the spear trout that threw themselves out of the waters. It was a great way for the weaker beasts to grow and eat a little more safely than hunting. Not that they could do this their entire lives. It was just one way to survive when they were young.

"Then we just stay to the right. Fine, right?" Ralph wasn't sure how they had not started moving at a faster pace yet. He wanted to make their move a lot faster so that they could rest or get to the elven city and warn them. From there, he could see what he could learn from the elven blacksmiths known for their elegant and light metal work.

"So you just want to walk right in to the waving mantis fields without any risks? They will slash you to pieces." Reese actually wanted to meet this beast. The waving mantis was a praying mantis beast that had gained the name waving mantis by living and moving like the long grasses in the wind.

Its body could copy the color of the grass it lived in while it hid. It would ambush prey by slashing out with its wind affinity scythe like claws. It was a very deadly opponent that was also very useful for training sword techniques. Some people even developed their own techniques while they fight such a beast. But not many people could come here and be able to challenge beasts like that.

"If you kill one, give me the materials. Even with their wind affinity, they have some metal that they build up in their body from hunting the brass flies." Ralph remembered the brass flies. A metal and wind type beast that the waving mantis hunted. They would eat the small rocks in the planes which contained various metals.

Eventually making them gain a brass color that helped them survive the winds of the plains.

"All of you need to stop focusing on the beasts we need to avoid. We can defend against them. We should focus on the fact that half the plains we can see are not green. They are turning brown." Clark nodded toward Brad who had picked up on the greatest danger. Ella also made a note of this in her journal.

"That means that the green grasshoppers will be changing sooner than we imagined. We will have various brown locusts to deal with. Some might already be here trying to eat anything and everything." Clark made sure that everyone understood the tone of his words. This was the danger that they had to prevent the most.

"So let's get moving." Maria took the lead. Brad was in the middle so that he could act as a shield for everything. Their pace was not slow. Their training had been very worthwhile.