Spirit Taming

Chapter 734: Rough Rock

Taking to the sky on the elven wind glider was a spectacular feeling. Compared to the other beasts that the group had flown with, they were too in awe of this wind energy control.

From what Clark could guess, there was a lot of learning when it came to the beasts that Ella and Grace had. They had a good ability to learn from the unique uses of wind energy that the elven win glider was acting on. Especially since they were entirely protected from any buffering of wind at all.

This was due to the unique way the feathers of the elven wind glider were pushing away the wind that would stream around it. That allowed it to better slip through the sky regardless of the ways the wind and air put pressure on it.

From there, they also were able to move much faster. This was the hardest thing to grasp. The group had never seen the ground rush beneath them so quickly. It trumped any methods that they had used to move thus far. But this was a lot of wind energy being used by the elven wind glider. It would need to rest after this.

Not that this would be an issue. The elves were a long lived species. This meant that they were used to the long rests that their beasts could take or the long periods of time that their nature related golems might need to take to reform their bodies.

For a human though, it was all an incredible event that seemed to be over too soon as the plains beneath them were left behind and rocky terrain began to appear.

These mountains were very different from the grassy plains that the group had just been in. While they were only in the gradually changing area since it was the dodge of the territory, they could tell things would not be easy.

There were reasons that the elves lived in this wilderness area. It was simply because of the vast amount of earth type beasts and that they had been connected through a unique dungeon here. One that brought them to a place rich in different ore veins which they used for their various forging endeavors and metal experiments.

This area was knomnmw by the humans as a place that was filled with earth quakes. Both made by beasts and naturally. The reason was that the active magma flows very deep within the earth. Some of those daring enough to explore this place had found caverns that lead right down to heated pools of lava. The fumes or the heat escaping from those caves being almost too dangerous to travel them.

But where those caves were, ore lived. Unique beasts as well. This made those areas very valuable to the dwarven race. They knew that the superheated earth would cool and leave behind new ore veins or new crystals with better structures. If they couldn't find those things, they would find monsters that fed on the small amounts of metals in the earth.. Then they would harvest materials from them.

The dwarves were used to that, humans, were not. This was why the most powerful humans who had come here never really went back. The mapping of such areas like the mountains here were not documented well as of recent times. So, even if the group had the time to learn about them, they would be wildly out of date.

Rolling hills were full of jagged and spiky rocks. They had broken through the ground as they formed the mountains in the distance. They were just the smaller aspects of the mountains. Not all of these forced up rocks were because of nature though.

"There are more worms here. Aren't there." Maria realized that something would cause the odd formations on the top of the ground from where they could look in the air. They snaked around the earth. Some looked like pushed up tunnels like the moles, but they would dig in straight lines. Not in twisting awkward patterns.

"Yes, those are from jagged worms, also known as jagged serpents since they are closely related to snakes and other serpents. But they are dangerous because they will eat anything that had dense metal and earth energy." Clark had gotten an analysis on the odd formation on the ground.

When he had looked in to it, he had not been surprised at all that it was a type of worm. So many species of worms exhausted. Some even had overlapping names because of where they were from or the environments that they grew.

Rock worms and jagged worms could easily be confused by someone that did not know them well enough. But the jagged worms were more dangerous in the essence that they would open their mouths to consume large portions of rock. Along with anything else that was on or around that rock. They could digest it, so they were not picky.

"We are headed down. Be ready." Isa knew that Maria and Clark were talking about something else. They hadn't noticed that the ground was rapidly approaching and the dangers they had only begun to gauge from their height would be right nearby.

"Ella, Isa. The earth prince and crystal golem will be in danger here. There are jagged worms that could be attracted to feed on them. Ralph, Brad, Reese, your partners might be able to get away with it since they are specifically metal and not earth type. But be wary." Clark's warning made everyone immediately fall in to the proper mindset for such an area. Prepare for the worst.

"That means we will be weaker. We will need to evaluate a better way to move forward with combat if we are going to be worrying about dangers from beneath the ground." Ella's mind was turning. She felt that they would be limited for the majority of their travel here.

"Don't forget that there are streams coming off the mountains. This area is rocky, but Grace has a beast that uses ice freely. It doesn't have to stay higher in the sky either since we aren't in the elven city now." Reese pointed out the benefits of the wilderness. Now Grace wasn't worrying about much.

The youngling phoenix had already taken to the ground to sit next to Grace and just enjoy being closer again too. "I can do that, but that means Isa can sue her winter witch." Grace saw the potential combination of defenses that they could use now too.

"My cloud sprite may enjoy it as well. With so many rocks, we are sure to find water falls and rough waters. That means natural mists that form. Even with the majority of rocks being dry around here right now, there will be areas that do not match that general observation."

With their battle formation changing, Clark felt that it was weird to rely on different beasts than normal. They had not been in this kind of terrain and potentially more dangerous wilderness. It felt foreign like the violent jungle had. Full of potential risks that could appear at every turn.

But that could have also been since many shadows and hidden areas were created by the rough stones shooting out of there ground here and there.

'Gravel caterpillar- uncommon

The gravel caterpillar feeds on gravel while in its young ages. This is because it needs the weaker earth energy within the gravel so that it can develop a more delicate earth typing that will mix with its dormant wind type energy to create a false stone butterfly.

It is often ignored by most beasts due to its unusual flavor. However, the beasts that enjoy eating them will spend hours targeting them for their earth energy and their flavor. While they will curl up and pretend to be rocks when predators are around, they are easily identifiable by their patterned lines on their skin…'

Clark saw these small beasts moving from time to time through some of the broken gravel stone that the group walked through. He had definitely stepped on one or two without realizing it. But they had been unarmed even though they were so small. That was just how tough they were when it came to earth beasts.

"I could study them if we have the time. I have heard of people raising the gravel caterpillars as pet beasts since they are easy to raise." Ella felt that the little gravel caterpillars were somewhat cute. But they weren't what the group was here for. They had to move in to the dwarven territory and locate their moving city.

"We can worry about examining beasts later. We shouldn't just stay standing here. There are more things to worry about." Isa pointed at the sun which had begun to rise again. This meant that their night time travel here was becoming a daytime event.

With this, the area would become warmer. The stones held heat very well. This would allow more beasts to come out of their dens. Those that hid within the rocks during the night would be coming out to hunt.