Spirit Taming

Chapter 76: Night Training

Being pulled awake by Crim and Devi at such a late hour made Clark wonder if he had made the right choice. He was not used to being awake in the middle of the night. However, he was caught by a strange feeling once he stood up.

The energy in the air was somewhat more comfortable. It wasn't just the soft coolness of night but the feelings of the dark around him. He had never felt this way about the night. He even recalled when he was afraid of the root cellar in his parents' house as a child.

"Devi, do you feel more energetic right now?" Clark was watching Devi float about the room slightly more than usual. His question was answered by an approving laugh.

This was something that Calrk had more or less grasped before. Yet, they were awake now in the middle of the night and he was able to truly discern that he was receiving more energy from Devi now. The night seemed to be a catalyst that made Devi absorb more energy and grow faster.

"I want you to play in the cemetery as much as you can. Find death energy lingering here and there and take it for your own. It will be very important." Since Clark wanted Devi to become very strong, he was going to let him focus on the energy he could absorb.

"Crim, I am going to give you that bone from the antique shop. You can absorb it and we will see what happens. While that is being done, Maria and I will train." Clark stepped out of his room to find that Lit was holding up Maria who was swaying on her feet. "I guess you don't wake up well."

"No…I'm fine…just getting…ready." The slowness in Maria's voice made Clark start to laugh. He hadn't expected that Maria was the sort of person to be so weak when waking up. Whenever he saw her she was always wide awake and ready for the day. The change was rather adorable.

The slight laugh from Clark caused Marie to redden before she stood up taller. Clark pretended not to notice this while they walked out of their dormitory. "You haven't been near the academy cemetery, right? It's in the back behind the research labs. It's quiet there and has a few hills where buildings can't be placed."

Since Maria had researched the layout of the academy to avoid her family, she had a very good image of where everything was. She had also been able to find the places where almost zero students would go. The academy cemetery was one of them. Specifically because people were afraid of ending up there in death. There was always uncertainty in life.

"There are a few more people out and about than I expected." Clark glanced around the empty streets of the academy only to find they weren't so empty.

'Living shadow- rare

The living shadow is a beast that literally lives within shadows. They cover their bodies in pure dark energy so that they can meld in to the shadow of their tamer. Normally they are afraid of the daylight but when bonded with a tamer they gain courage. This courage allows the awakening of their true skills such as shadow blades, shadow mimic, and …'

The beasts such as this living shadow made sense. They would only like to be out at night therefore, the tamers would only come out at night. "There are night classes only. One of the professors that teach them is known for having one of the only known vampire lords as a beast." Maria was surprising Clark left and right today.

"I have not heard of them. I know vampires are one of the taboo beasts to try and tame because they require constant blood from their tamer making them lose their minds." This common knowledge encouraged many to avoid possible vampire bests in the wild.

"Well, the vampire lord is different. It was the professor's spirit beast. I also heard that she is able to perfectly fuse with it to increase her body's strength and control multiple vampires. She's why the wilds around here don't have vampires!" The pride that Maria took in sharing this with Clark was far from small. He was always the one with answers.

While walking, Clark was careful to appraise multiple beasts. He felt that the more he saw the better things were. He was making a great dent in the bestiary quest he wanted to complete. Yet, there was one thing he realized. He would have to go out of his way to see different beasts. Tonight was a perfect example of this.

He was only seeing common beasts during the day.

"This should be it. See? Hills and some rocks that make building harder." The hills behind the research building were full of stones but also larger than expected. Clark knew that the mountain the academy was built on had a large expanse of land behind it which the academy also owned. But not that the back of the mountain was rolling rocky mountains until they eventually flattened out again.

"This should be perfect. You and I can run around trying to catch the other off guard with our close combat and sneaking techniques. Crim, take this." Clark tossed the spatial dragon bone to Crim to greedily swallowed it.

The energy that crim absorbed seemed to clash with his slime body causing him to lay down and maintain a still state. Clark waited until he felt that Crim was doing well. Then he focused on Devi who looked ready to explode with energy. "Go on Devi, we will be fine."

"Lit, you go too. Find a place that is quiet and full of spiritual energy. Maybe one of those trees over there has a good amount." Maria was sending off Lit as well. She had already glanced at the moon to find it would be two more days before a full moon was there for them.

"It looks like no one really takes care of these graves except for the new ones. So we should be able to really jump in to training while here. The grass to hide in, the graves to hide behind, and the terrain to challenge our control of footwork." Clark was listing this all off before he realized that Maria had slipped away from him already.

"Aren't you coming?!" the voice echoed around Clark since Maria had already hidden away in the grasses.

"Well, maybe I will be focusing on my tracking kills instead of night time combat." Clark smiled softly while looking around. He could see fairly well in the dark due to his connection with Devi, yet he was still limited by his weaker level of strength.

Finding the grass that Maria had pushed down was simple. It was long grass that not many people traversed so it gave away her path easily. However, Clark found that he was losing his trail. The grass had multiple sections pushed down as if someone had walked in circles all around him.

"I thought you would catch on better." Maria jumped up from the ground where she had been hiding so that Calrk wouldn't notice her.

"Oh, maybe I did and you just thought I was missing you." Clark tried to dodge using his ghostly steps but Maria's hand was already on his shoulder.

"Tag, you're it!" Maria dashed off again.