Spirit Taming

The group having some basis for what they needed to do made things a little easier. Maria had been taking the lead when it came to instructions. Ella ahd been feeding her knowledge about any beasts that she could possibly guess they may encounter. Isa was also feeding information about materials.

This left the others with more practical jobs such as checking the routes and preparing for battle. But now that there was a chance that they would be facing a tougher beast, they had to be more than ready.

The molten boar had more than become comfortable within this dungeon. There were many things that It enjoyed here. The metal energies for molten metals mixing and forming deep in the lava pools. The heat of flames that it could easily take in. then the toxic fumes that drifted here and there because of the small volcanic eruptions.

Even though the molten boar was technically a mutated beast that forced itself to be this way, it was still a very powerful one that had found a good place close to an ideal habitat. It would normally not have a place to live comfortably at all since mutated beasts might not have a body that lines up with nature.

While the benefits of this would be clear in the strength that the molten boar could show, the benefits that were not seen were the ones that Ralph had just started to feel. Je could sense the flow of energy between him and his partner increasing. But more than that, he could feel that there was an odd flow of energy.

For him, it was just a slight sense that something was overflowing. That somewhere beneath all the lava, there was more energy that had gathered. That some cup had been filled with energy and it was slowly being poured out. The beasts all around could take it, but they would struggle to grasp it without the proper ability.

If Ralph said anything though, he would have just left everyone confused. It wasn’t that they would not believe him, but the fact that they couldn’t sense it. Isa was too distracted to notice that her flame sprite had been staying near the molten boar and noticing the very same odd flow of energy. The perfect energy that it enjoyed while trying to grow and prepare to take the proper steps to another form just as the winter witch had. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"There!" Jerold had a sharp eye out to see what was happening ahead. When he saw the littered piles of armor and weapons, the entire group realized that they were looking at what had remained of the Solar academy guards.

"They are all gone? What about..." Grace saw the armor and realized there was not a single drop of blood on it. Or any bit of armor. It looked like it had been taken off, thrown down, and then smashed. It was completely illogical.

"No, they are still here, I can sense it. We can sense it." Ella caught on to the feeling unique to spiritual energy. She called out the spirit infant and it floated around her with spiritual light. The spirit infant was not a beast with offensive power. But it was a perfect pair with the living mist on a normal day to help create illusions. But in this case, Ella had other choices.

The wave of spiritual energies that the spirit infant released with a single silent cry was enough to see the entire area around them change. Without Ella, this would have been completely impossible. She had uniquely helped her wisps grow, because of that, they had unique skills that were ideal for buffing, debuffing, and clearing away certain skills from other beasts./

"Illusions. They are spiritual and fire type beasts. They also have a beast somewhere that can break armor and let them trap people in illusions." Ella’s words were serious since she and the spirit infant were completely focused on keeping the attempts at illusions at bay.

But that had been enough. Small shapes of goblin like flames danced around the guards wearing just thin clothes that would be under any armor. They had many bite marks and small scrapes here and there on their bodies. It was clearly a way to make them weaker and more susceptible to illusions. Therefore, the beasts could be able to feed on their spiritual energies until they perished. Then the bodies would be left for whatever other beast was working with them.

"They are called flame spirit tricksters. They are a very annoying beast to deal with since their bodies are like a flame sprites. It is made of fire energies. But unlike your flame sprite, they use spiritual energies as their focus. You can attack them and disrupt them. Do not get caught by their illusions. And if you free their targets, they will most likely call out their physical guard. The beast they live with."

Professor Wright was very glad to see that Ella had remained calm and relied on her beast to sense the illusions around them. Because of this, she readily shared information with her students so that they could properly make a move.

"Stay close to the center of the group and let’s gather the Solar guards. We will rescue them and then evacuate the dungeon." Maria pulled up her bow first to aim at the furthest flame spirit trickster. The mocking small shape of a goblin made it easier to spot.

With the arrow released, the beast lost its shape for a moment and Maria spotted one of the guards stumble and look around confused. "Hey, get your ass over here and fall in line!" Reese was a little rough with his words, but that was what the guard needed to snap out of his confused state.

Realizing the danger, the guard came to those that had called and Grace explained the illusions they were under. But that the guard was now under their protection. It was an odd situation and hard to understand, but the guard could grasp enough to be able to allow themselves to be ordered around. There was no point in biting the savior’s hand.

"And that’s two we can deal with right now." Isa sent out her perfect crystal golem. Its body had grown decently while in Terra City due to the earth energies and the crystals she had found. But it was better able to use its strength and push forward to slam one of its arms in to one of the flame spirit tricksters. The broken connection while it fed on another two guards brought them to the group as well.

Before they could get another set of guards free, the flame spirit tricksters screeched upwards. They made a sound like a flame being compressed. They were calling out and releasing their connection to their prey. This caused all the remaining guards to look around dazed. Unfortunately, they didn’t have much time to do anything.

The shape of a beast pushing out of the lava near the group was enough to put Brad and Ralph on the front line as defenders. They could tell that the beast in charge of these illusion using beasts was enough to act as a defender that could challenge them and these guards.

"That’s a steel hide lizard. It’s a unique beast because it often comes from a failed attempt to make a metal dragon and an iron lizard to breed. It appears in nature and its skin is perfect for making very tough and flexible armor." Ralph recognized the beast because it was a great material for forging. But Brad just waited to hear more.

As the pair looked at the beast, they noticed that it had been injured and was missing one of its front feet. The claws were gone and a stump was left. The perfect limp to use as a blunt attack that breaks the armor since its steel hide had grown around the injury over the years.

"It is very hard to injure, but it is slower and it hates being out of the lava since it is easier for it to move in the hotter temperatures. We will need Grace and Isa to work together to cool it. Then we will attack the same point and force its hide to crack. Then we let someone else finish it." That Was the pan that Ralph came up with on the spot.

Brad’s eyes focused as he fully accepted this. His stance lowered while his blood iron armament was also fully prepared. The shield and sword almost buzzed as it was prepared to draw the blood of a stronger enemy. The beats ahead of this pair had no idea what they were about to face.

Naturally, Maria had heard the plan and she had already made a move toward Jerold. She had Lit preparing to add poison to Jerold’s dagger before he turned invisible. Poison that would be able to help them win this fight, but also poison that mixed with his armored chameleon’s poison. It was a strategy they had come up with while walking many days ago but had not needed to use. Numbing and paralyzing poisons as one... an evil concoction.