Spirit Taming

"What do you see." Clark had been silent for a few moments before he asked this. Brad could only look around waiting for a beast to attack. But Jerold seemed like he had been totally unaware of anything but walking. His eyes were firmly fixed on the path ahead of him, or more specifically, the person ahead of him.

"So nothing, you both had noticed nothing..." When Maria echoed the annoyed look that Calrk wore, the two finally snapped out of things and began focusing.

"The ground isn’t flat up ahead. Shouldn’t lizards be heavy enough to flatten the ground?" Brad was the first to speak up. It was not a major breakthrough but it was better than nothing.

"That is the start of an observational analysis. When looking at the trails here, here, and here," Ella took over and pointed out the walking paths of the larger hammer tail lizards. "You will see that they continue to walk these paths but the paths have been disturbed. Following that logic, the walls also show some grazing hits from the hammer tail lizards’ tails. The broken ores, stones, and even earth crystals also lay in piles here and there."

"So that means that they have been fighting a lot here!" Jerold caught on to what this inferred however, he was still a little off.

"That also means that they have been fighting what?" Ella tried to keep her calm as she guided the two to the answer.

"So what you’re saying is that we will find more injured moles and that we have to beat them? But we might have to deal with the lizards if there are too many?" Brad had taken this in another direction but it was still a good conclusion to come to.

"If you face them, you will have to work with us and not alone. But if we come across them alone, then you will fight alone. This is for your growth. Especially since we only have a few ores that your possessed helm can use. The black crystal iron that we want hasn’t been found yet and the spiritual copper is also missing. You need both of those to even consider opening the unique taming space I considered. But there are other directions for your taming space. It might change if we find better materials."

Since Clark was seeing many different ores here, he wondered if he had been too narrow minded. The possessed helm could still grow to be a living armor, then a hollow knight, and potentially even a hollow paladin armor. But the taming space was something more flexible. It would depend on materials and Brad’s energy. He might cause something unexpected if he were to train in certain ways or absorb certain energies.

"Other directions? But I thought you said it would be...wait, you don’t think that I might be able to look at opening something better? I read something in class about the paladin’s training ground taming space. But it’s impossible..." Brad was surprisingly smart when it came to things he found cool or interesting.

The reason that Brad was always so distracted was simple, he wasn’t interested in them. This was what most people figured out. It was like a kid that had found a favorite game to play. They would hyper focus on it and learn everything about it even if it was not the most important thing in life.

As Clark had just connected this together, he had the feeling that if Brad was focused properly, then he could actually make Brad a genius. Who cared about the basics? They were something small that could be worried about later. Brad would never be a history, mathematics, or engineering genius tamer. But if he was focused on it, he could open a unique taming space and even more.

In his mind, Clark asked the system if Brad could open a different taming space than the quest specified.

’The host may assist the target being in opening a higher or equal taming space to the one specified. The quest is being adjusted to fit the current situation. Please work hard for your rewards!’

’Quest: Not just a taming space

The host is involved in a long journey to a long trial. Due to this, the host is in the perfect position to help themselves and others grow. Take advantage.

Requirement: Help Brad open the unique taming space, The Possessed Knight’s hall, the paladins training ground, the imperial armory, land of possessed steel,...

Reward: Large shadow crystal, 2 gotcha tickets, small dragon crystal.’ 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Seeing that the system had altered and even suggested more taming spaces of equal or greater levels than what it had originally stated, Clark wondered just what made the system all knowing. But he was quickly brought back to the focus of materials as Ella checked the ores for quality.

"I need this one, this one, and that one. We should find more as well." Clark took a few pieces of ore while he started to examine the in depth information about the taming spaces that the system suggested.

Since he was unable to use them, Clark knew that he could only see the general method and the materials needed. This was the system’s guidance through analysis. It surprised Clark that the system would even let him analyze the things it showed him but it also created a deeper trust in the system. It was transparent and even went out of the way to help Clark even though it seemed not to want to speak with him much. But that was good, he could work through life without interruption.

"Clark, if there are larger hammer tail lizards here, then won’t there be a big boss somewhere?" Brad had caught on to the fact that they needed more materials. However, he also realized that the valuable ores they had were pretty much guarded by beasts so far. This brought him to the conclusion that a bigger badder beast would be somewhere with the best materials.

"You have that right. We are going to the far end of this cave. We don’t have time to mine for much but if there is something gathered up by a bigger hammer tail lizard, then I bet it is hoarding ores and crystals. Beasts like this would have to do that for when they have children or to impress a female to have children with them. It will be the perfect chance for you to get materials to open a variety of taming spaces." Clark turned Brad’s face toward the darkness that was the large cave they were walking down. "Your taming space materials are right over there. You have one job, take them."

Brad’s eyes became focused. He didn’t say a word but his breathing picked up. Everyone saw this change and Clark knew that his theory about rad was correct. Sleepy and distracted until something truly focused his mind. Now was the perfect time to charge in to this cave and see what was what.

Devi was invisible and moved forward toward the cave. In his mind, Clark felt the warnings of multiple beasts up ahead. Yet, they all heard the commotion before they even got near where Devi had gone.

"There’s fighting?" Jerold felt that this was odd but wasn’t sure since he had never gone to dungeons before.

"Yes, that must be the moles causing trouble. We have a good chance. Brad and Jerold can handle moles while we start to play with the hammer tail lizards. If the largest one is too dangerous, then Clark will NOT, fight it alone." Maria gave the orders this time and also a glare to Clark. It was what he deserved after fighting and nearly hurting himself beyond repair.

"I agree, we will leave the small fry to them and take down the lizards. We can also guide them to slam their tails in to walls or something. That could be good for us harvesting some ores. Just keep an eye on the ceiling. I don’t want a collapse." Clark was calm in what he thought about this. They had to take advantage of the situation and remain safe.

"Then I will be sending my living mist and spirit infant out alone. My blue flame skeleton will be my main attacker, and the earth prince my defense as I search for materials it can use for its body." Ella calmly took the lead. It seemed that she was also hyper focused right now. The same mentality of getting what she needed was there. It kept her from losing her goals but also trained her battle styles.

"I won’t be falling behind. Crim, you will be on your own as well. I want you to face hammer tail lizards the same size as you. Let them teach you how they can beat people back with their tails." The goal Clark found for Crim was simple. Learn to use his tail better to attack. If he could take this knowledge from the hammer tail lizards, then Crim would have a much better attack prepared for the tournament. It was also a good way for Crim to get even more familiar with his growing body.