Spirit Taming

Chapter 702: Small And Large Problems

"Ugh! Another one is stuck to my clothes!" Isa found that she was having the worst of luck in the tall grass. What none of the group had realized were the other plants hiding in the grasses.

The tall semi dried grasses were just basic. They were always in the plains because they were a core part of the environment. While some unique grasses popped up here and there, it was rare.

What were seemingly less rare, were the thistles that were growing within the semi dried grass. They had once been green and had long dried out. This left sharp barbs that latched on to clothing and scraped the skin.

'Pink thistles- uncommon

The pink thistle is known for the large round pink flowers that it has when it is in the early spring. The warmer and wetter the ground, the better they grow. This leads them to have varying blooming based on the seasonal rains and temperature.

The spines will rarely cause issues when the plant is green. Its water affinity allowing it to be more lax when it had adequate water energy flowing in and out of the plant as a whole.

However, when the slightest change in heat and the dryness happens toward the end of the season, they latch on to the water energies within their roots so that they can survive when the snow falls.

This causes the flowers to lose their petals and the spikes on them to harden. The seeds inside are transported when they stick to a beast's fur and are scratched off elsewhere. This is the main way for them and other beasts to grow and eat them. But it is considered very annoying to the beasts that have to deal with them as unwilling transport…'

The pink thistles appeared to have a good year. That was both a good and a bad thing as Clark explained what the plant bothering Isa was. They did not have these around their home city.

"That would allow us to draw a few conclusions." Ella slowed the group as she began her theory.

"As we know, the green grasshoppers will breed and grow more when they have enough food. Since we have seen a decent few of these pink thistles and they are something you said will grow more or less depending on the warmth and the rainy season, we can assume the worst. That the green grasshoppers had a lot of food due to positive growing conditions this year."

"That means you think that there will be even more of the brown locusts come the next few weeks when the food sources are even smaller. That also means that there will be more materials that are used for the blood moon cult to make monsters." Grace finished Ella's thoughts. It made them all begin running much more. Isa no longer caring about the pink thistles.

Before they could get very far, they found that Jerold was standing frozen in place. He was not even moving a single step. The group knew that Jerold was not just stopping for no reason. He was careful and had taken the proper time to train in scouting.

"What is it?" Reese prepared to allow his partner to float around and attack if need be. The spirit steel sword vibrating slightly.

"Just stepped on a small beast. But I was warned of it since I asked around a few of the other scouts. They told me all about the more dangerous beasts to anger when in certain areas. Basics, but important because they all had these experiences."

"One of the scouts that had gone with Alexander's group when he ventured to the Elven city said they had a lot of trouble with one beast in particular because it was matching the dried grasses before it goes in to hibernation for the winter."

"I see it now, let me think about the best way to handle it since it is very resistant to poisons." Clark saw that the waving grass in the small breeze had an odd shape that was not matching the way that the grass moved. It also appeared to have been aggravated and was purposefully staring down Jerold.

'Yellow stalk snake- common

The yellow stalk snake grows and hides within the grass stalks. Their scales shed and change color depending on the season. However, it always has some yellow in it to match the color of dying grass. This is because it is the best place to hunt for the smallest insect type beasts.

However, because of the small insect type beasts they hunt and their smaller size, they developed a venom that will allow them to even threaten the larger beasts that attempt to hunt them. They also have a small set of rough scales that they can use to scrape away the softer skin and fur of other beasts if they coil around them. This serves as a further warning against threats.

They will only react negatively if they are accidentally jostled, stepped on, or harmed in any way. This will often lead to the attacker being bitten and most likely dying due to the unique nature of the venom.

The yellow stalk snake may stare down the attacker if it does not feel too bothered. This can lead to an odd standing if the one being stared down does not slowly move away. If the yellow stalk snake coils around them, it is best to hum or softly growl to show that the point is made.

The skin of the…'

"Softly growl. It is trying to use its scales to scrape your skin as a warning not to step on it. Or hum. It will show that you don't like the pain and understand that you are being hurt for a reason. It's not a cruel beast, but wants to show you your errors." Clark's calm voice made the frozen Jerold feel that he was hearing something normal.

Yet, the words and actions needed felt odd. Not that he was a fool. He just wished he had been told a better way to handle these beasts than to just avoid them or kill them. Especially since it was risky to be the one in this situation and try to kill the cause of that situation. He could get bitten just by moving too much.

As he started to hum, the yellow stalk snake stopped grinding its scales on the boosts that Jerold wore. After a few more seconds, it started to slither away exceptionally quickly through the grass. Keeping track of it would be a task only for those with very sharp eyes.

"Well… that was too much." Jerold took a large breath and sighed. He felt that this was not at all what he expected to run in to.

"I'm just glad that we caught up fairly fast." Clark patted Jerold on the back.

"There's more you should know. I ran more ahead than I was. I just got stuck here on my way back." The tone that Jerold used made everyone feel a little bit of a chill. They knew very well that he was about to explain something that would definitely make all of their journey much harder.

"You can see it just up here." The smaller hill of the plains was enough elevation just to see a little bit of a distance away from where they were.

"That's not an accidental fire." Brad huffed a little seeing that there were large circles of burnt grass. It had clearly been done intentionally, multiple times at that, just to kill the grasses and plants of the plains.

"That's what I thought. And if this area is rarely traveled, no one is around to see it or stop it. Even if they were, what could they do against the blood moon cultists? Clearly many of them did this." With Jerold also supporting these thoughts, everyone was making their own predictions of what damage this would cause.

"We have less time then. The green grasshoppers will both be used to make monsters and as a human made beast tide. It is terrible, but the elven city is the target. We know that." Ella spoke more loudly than usual. There was a hint of anger in her eyes.

To her, this was a land very few people had studied because of the dangers that were on the way here. Therefore, these plains should be valued and studied with respect to record their history and life. Yet, here they were, finding that a cult had purposefully destroyed them so they could continue making more evil and death in the world.

"We should see what we can find. Maybe there is evidence." Ralph knew that his molten boar might be able to sniff out any metal pieces or little evidence that are related to fire. That was one of the perks of working around a forge all the time. Plus, it had a fire typing too.

"Then we will take a look before we start moving again. Be careful, many beasts might be angry with this." Clark felt that they might find some dangers here.