Spirit Taming

As the group stepped up to the even larger floor of the ice castle, the clear ice ants stopped and sensed them. It was easy to see their clear icy antennas moving. This was because they could sense the changes in temperature from the humans that had just appeared. However, none of them made a single move toward the group. Instead, they moved away from them and ignored their presence completely.

"It looks like they are well trained not to bother us." Isa was amazed seeing that these beasts were under such close control that they would not even move near them at all.

"Just do not approach them. It could be seen as a threat. This floor may have dedicated cleaners, but the beasts here may also be hostile naturally. The ants just may be seen as beasts that are not to be touched." This was good advice from Ella. There were many places that worked like this.

The grand forest was a wilderness area with a massive forest. The title grand came from the trees and vines that grew larger than most other places. Also the fact that a very old treant beast was able to lay permanent roots there to ensure that the forest lived for hundreds of years. As long as it was not attacked and the trees were not harmed to the point that the tree would die, the beasts and the humans that would go there were safe from the plant type beasts. But if they harmed the trees then they would be hunted and used for fertilizer.

This common story made it easier for many people to understand how some areas were just guarded. How they could wrap their minds around how rules were upheld. Many still broke them out of foolishness, but that was just life.

"Did you notice that everything is different here? It’s almost like a real castle for someone to walk through." The space was much larger, yes, but what maria was pointing out was that it was almost more human here.

The walls were carved and had icy paintings on them. They had colorful dyes in them as if they had been crafted after a real painting. What was even more interesting was that the paintings were of spring or summer landscapes. It was very surprising to see in such an icy place like this dungeon.

Furthermore, there were tables along the massive hall as if someone might be stopping by just to set something down here or there. Or as if they would be ready to hold flowers. But what even struck the group as surprising again, was that some of the tables had carved ice flowers on them. This was something that was massively out of the norm for a dungeon.

"I think this place is modeled after a real castle. Or maybe the place is modeled after somewhere that used to be." The theory was simple and everyone had already come to that conclusion. Grace was just the first to say it out loud. "I like the paintings too, maybe we can get one to take back?" The thought was mostly just her desire but it did make sense that she would be able to keep the icy painting stabilized with ice energy from her frost finch.

"We can worry about that after we handle that." Clark was annoyed that they had been suddenly fine and now they were under the gaze of a new and hostile beast. They had barely moved around this first floor which was much more easily accessible. This surprise had been ruined by the harsh gaze of a snow owl looking down from a set of stairs ahead.

The clear ice ants had retreated from the area. This definitely meant that they were at risk of being attacked as well. It was why Clark had pushed to analyze this snow owl right away.

’Snow owl- uncommon

The snow owl is known for hunting in the snowy plains of many northern lands. They will find prey anywhere possible and hunt them by diving down and piercing them with their claws. They are known to be brutal hunters that would kill anything they see near its nest.

The feathers from a snow owl are very light even though they are mostly made of ice created through natural means. They can hold high amounts of ice energy while also being able to protect others from strong winds and cold. Whether it is armor or weapons made from the feathers, they are valuable.

The solitary nature of a snow owl is only due to their territorial nature. Often they will kill anything that encroaches on their territory. If they are forced out of a territory, they will often return when the other beast is gone to cause trouble. They often are known as problem beasts in small villages or merchant trails...’

"They are basically pests to most places since they would attack any beasts or people near their nest without reason. And if they are made to leave, they will return to cause trouble." Isa knew these beasts well. Clark didn’t even have to share the knowledge he had of them from the system analysis. That was because Isa’s family were merchants and they would have to know of every danger that they had the chance of crossing. For a merchant, this was a basic education.

"That means it will attack. And since it is a bird," Maria prepared her bow, " I will be the one handling it. Brad, you are defending everyone. Clark, you too. I know you can do more with your spear than attack." Maria didn’t even flinch as she drew an arrow and the gaze of the snow owl seemed to grow in pressure. There was a clear understanding that the snow owl was attacking regardless and it was just a matter of time.

Yet, Clark was a bit more in awe of Maria. He had not explicitly told her that he had been focused on the full moon spear arts lately. But he had once hinted that there were more moves he had yet to utilize because of his situations. One such move being the full moon counter.

The full moon counter was a very complicated move that required Clark to focus on the small points of the attacks toward him. He would need to deflect an attack and turn his force back on them. It was hard because he had to be aware of the entire area around him that the spear could reach. However, he had been focusing on these things to get closer to being able to do them easily. He had already shown he could deflect attacks as well.

The snow owl moved as Brad and Clark took defensive stances in front of the group. Now one worried that it would even get near them. They had the best people battling in front of them, how could they get hurt?

When Maria released an arrow, the tunnel vision that the snow owl had on the largest target, Brad, caused it to not dodge in time. The arrow managed to lodge in to its wing and throw it off course from its perfect swooping attack. The next move was for Brad to take the blunt force from the owl. Clark could have attacked but that would have just left him with damage.

Brad, on the other hand, had pushed his shield forward toward the snow owl. The result was that the arrow lodged in the wing was forced deeper and the claws that had extended toward her were scratched along the tough metal shield. "Brad, switch!"

Clark took a forward position as another arrow from Maria pierced the neck of the owl. The moment this happened the owl realized it was in mortal danger and slashed its claws out at Brad who was still not recovered from the last attack.

Using his black lightning spear, Clark directed the slash away from Brad and toward the ground. In turn this pure force on the tip of the spear making it easy for Clark to rotate and bring the spear tip back around with more force. The slashing motion of the counter was the same as the crescent moon slash. This force was easily enough to follow a diagonal path slashing in to the snow owl.

Without a single chirp, the snow owl was defeated. Maria didn’t even release a third arrow. She didn’t need to. "So that’s why Maria wanted you up front. You are going to be countering people too!" Reese was very glad to see this. He had a sword counter move that he had learned as a child with a very similar style as Clark had used. "You and I will be training more like that." Reese clapped Clark on the back while Isa rushed to examine the new goods.

" I will insist that we find the nest. There will not be eggs since this is a male but we should be able to find whatever it picked up. We may find some valuable monster materials." Ella examined the work that Isa was doing to stop the bleeding of the snow owl’s body while telling everyone this. It wasn’t over yet.