Spirit Taming

"Clark! What did you just do!? That was a literal ice dragon! THE ice dragon that could literally bring the entire city down to nothing in just a look or a flick of a claw!" Isa was already losing it. She had no idea what had just happened before her. It made no logical sense. It didn’t matter how much education she had for strange and high tension negotiations as a merchant. This was beyond what she could handle.

"Incredibly...illogical." Ella was the same. She had no means to put what she had just seen in to words. All she knew was that the data she would have would take a long time to put in to proper words.

"Maybe we should just leave. We can go to a desert or bury ourselves in a mountain that has lava around it. Much safer." Reese raised a point that Jerold and Brad immediately agreed with.

"Just calm down. He didn’t do anything wrong. He was dumb because he could have pissed the ice dragon off but instead he impressed her. She was entertained and that’s why she let us come here in the first place." Ralph was able to brush it all off. He understood that the ice dragon was in charge and everything would go the way she wanted regardless of what had happened.

"I can take a painting that one of the smartest beasts made. I’m really excited." Grace had remained focused on one thing making the rest of the group breathe a sigh. They had no idea that she would be caught up on something like that.

"Clark, she left behind a small vial of what I assume is her saliva for the antidote. That means she definitely accepted your deal." Maria was holding a small ice bottle of clear liquid. Clark didn’t need the analysis of the system to know it was what they needed to complete the quest he had. But also to be able to help Illia save her father.

"Wait, the ice dragon said there was a realm of dragons?" Ella had been running her mind over and over and eventually found that one of the first things she wondered about was this. A realm of dragons.

"I thought you would ask how I knew about the sealing and how she was trapped here. But that does sound interesting." Clark hummed for a second while thinking before he reached his own conclusion.

"I would assume that the dragons are just like elves, beast folk or demihumans, and dwarves. Just another race from another world that’s connected by the dungeons or separated by them. They have humans as spirit beasts or beasts so it’s safe to assume that some dragons come from there. It’s all about how they come to be or where they are from. Not that I can understand that at all."

This was a fair guess that the rest of the group had already started to grasp. Especially because most knowledge was basic in the world. The only one that knew the least was Clark since he had lived here for a few years growing up with his family. The education had not been to the level of Isa or Ella who knew much more. But he also had his memories from another world. It was harder to adapt to this world perfectly.

"Now that you say that, how did you know how to bargain with the ice dragon?" Grace had caught back up and was sure that the theory about the dragons was correct. But she wanted to understand how Clark had been able to get the ice dragon to let them take one material from her garden, give over her saliva for a potion, and allow Grace to take a painting from the castle.

"I think Maria already figured that out more or less." Clark saw that Maria had been watching him carefully. She also had been keeping closer eyes on him since they met. If she hadn’t figured it all out since she had met him it would be a very large surprise to him.

All eyes turned to Maria as they stood in the garden wondering what had happened and just how Clark was capable of this. "He has a special body. A special skill. He already says he can see more but he has been too humble. He is kind of like Isa. he has a body that can see more than anyone else can." Maria was not very wrong, but she would never guess that some magical system had taken his soul from another world and dropped him here. Then he had awakened powers over and over.

"She’s more or less right. When I look at things I can see information. It flows a bit. Like I have unlocked something. Shows me how to do stuff and what’s possible. Half the time it just seems like it’s obvious stuff to me. Plus I have a lot of things memorized so it all comes together like a puzzle." This was somewhat a lie and somewhat true. But if Clark let everyone know he had more than that, he could be setting everyone up for more danger.

"When we flew over Nebula, I saw that there was an ancient beast sealed there. Slumbering. It is powerful enough to freeze and take over the entire north and maybe more. I have no idea. But when I came here and looked at the castle and the ice dragon, I saw she was injured, that she was sealing something here with her powers, and that she would be able to leave here with the skills I learned. But I just lacked the talent for the forging of eternal ice. Someone should have it though."

The group looked at Clark and started to build their own thoughts about how he knew these things and how he was able to use them. "Yeah, you’re still dumb for tempting a beast that could seal something powerful enough to crush the entire north." Isa crossed her arms before she asked Calkr anything else. "Go pick out the best herb for my ice maiden. That will make me less angry with you for keeping more secrets."

"Still illogical. Your analysis of beasts are somewhat unknown. That only solves some things. I need to research your analytical ability more." Ella was processing things slowly. The sheer amount of things she had to understand now felt like a mountain on her shoulders.

"It will be fine. You have your entire life to figure out what my skills are. I won’t just give you all the answers. A genius researcher should be researching everything, right?" Clark laughed a bit before he turned to the small frozen pond he had seen near them in the ice garden. "And Isa, you will want the frozen rebirth lotus there. It is one of fifteen that will bloom within three days. That means you can help your ice maiden soon."

’Frozen rebirth lotus- legendary

The frozen rebirth lotus is one of the top herbs in the world. It will bloom once every year with the potential to release a pollen that can greatly reduce the temperature of an area. It is the sole provider of ice energy for some beasts to even exist. These will often be hoarded by ice type beasts that require large amounts of ice energy to grow or mutate themselves.

For weaker ice type beasts, the rebirth part of the name of this lotus is clearer. The ice type beasts are able to absorb the entire lotus bud and let it alter their entire body. Drastically evolving and mutating them to become a much more powerful beast that will definitely stand above other ice type beasts.

The seeds of...’

Clark could have read much more about it but Isa had already listened to him and carefully pulled the small bud from the small pond. The other buds just floated softly on the semi frozen water. A beautiful sight. "So, now we just leave?" Ralph cleared his throat and got everyone’s attention.

"Yes, we have to or else we will make her mad. The ice dragon is still watching us. That’s why I had to explain how I knew about the sealing she is part of. If I didn’t she might make us stay longer. I also owe an explanation to all of you." Clark could feel the pressure around them lessen. A pressure that the others had not noticed until Clark brought their attention to.

"I think I will choose a painting as we leave. There are none here." grace was still stuck on this as her main focus. But when it came to the things that someone would be able to show off for their entire life, a painting made by a powerful beast like the Ice dragon of Nebula would be something generations could show off.

"We will let you choose one, Isa can also make sure that it stays frozen if you aren’t able to before we go. But I assume that it will be frozen with special ice too." Clark started to walk with the group the way they had come. The strange feeling of safety that came around them was enough to understand that nothing would touch them on their way out. The ice dragon would ensure her investments would be safe.

"I know you thought of getting those icicle vines but that lotus will be much better. It is much rarer and better for you. Don’t look so worried." Clark casually mentioned this to Isa as she looked troubled every time she glanced at the herb she had just plucked. She did trust him though.