Spirit Taming

"Journal of the wilderness, mark one.

The first push in to the jungle proved to be ridiculous. Not even five steps ahead, we discovered a purple and green plant that could extend vines to pull prey in to its mouth. Iut has been named the trap pitcher but I think monster is a better thing to call this beast.

We lost five men to it before it descended back in to the ground. Now we must wait for another day and push in toward a safer place. Luckily, plant type beasts never come out at night without good reason. It needs the sunlight as any plant tends to need."

The first entry was exactly as Clark expected from the deeper wilderness which would hold more dangers. While short, this proved that even stepping across the imaginary line in to the deep wilderness was enough to cause some issue. Things would not be safe whatsoever.

His eyes kept skimming the pages while wondering what else might be there. When he managed to get a few pages ahead, he was surprised to see the leaps taken to explore more.

"Mark seven

We managed to make it in to the seventh mile in our journey. Besides avoiding the streams due to the gulping leeches, we managed to avoid a large rotten section of the jungle. It appears to be the home of a beast that can control rotting molds. Very dangerous.

Through our travels, we discovered the first treasure. While it might only be a single bloom of red poppies, we already know of their great uses. The pain numbing and stamina recovery that they provide when boiled as tea is excellent. The red dye that they also can be used for is an added bonus!"

It appeared to Clark that the entries were mostly like this. Every aspect, herbs, beasts, and the terrains listed. Furthermore, this was just the first of ten journals. Devi was already pointing out what appeared to be important information about beasts. It was clear that his focus was on the ones that would be able to hide themselves from plain sight.

"Mark thirty six

Today we lost four men. We discovered the most annoying beast we have faced yet. The stalker cat is a beast that is similar to a puma or a large leopard. The size it has would make anyone believe that it is loud. Unfortunately, it is exceptionally silent. It has a dark and earth typing. It likes to hide in the ground them slowly sneak out of the ground and in to the shadows.

Due to these skills, the stalker cat managed to kill four people before we were able to trap and examine it. The bodies were all buried for it to feast on later. Luckily, we recovered their bodies and retreated to leave them for their families. This is a dangerous endeavor, that can not be forgotten."

"This was a good find. The stalker cat is one of many beasts that we might face. Since it can hide in the shadows and the ground we might have trouble with it. Especially because it’s larger." Clark watched as Devi spun in the air a little. The praise was great to hear.

When Crim made a soft growl for Clark’s attention, he moved to check the page that Crim was on.

" Mark seventy three

Today I am the last one alive. I managed to escape what anyone could call evil or a monster. The beast was made of multiple translucent scales and even had soem moss growing on its body. That was the only reason I saw it and managed to escape. Anyone that says light elemental type beasts are all kind is a fool.

The clear scale snake is a beast that can grow much larger than we knew. It can easily swallow multiple men at once. It also uses the light around it to blind prey. So much so that the entire section of jungle was blinded. A few beasts were caught up as well.

In my blindness, I was lucky to escape the following jaws of the clear scale snake. However, the others were not lucky enough. Even now, I can still tell the beast is nearby. It is a monster in terms of strength and eating. There was no way for me to defeat the beasts that were nearby or chased after me.

Retreating was the only option today. Tomorrow, I will need to gather more men or else this will fail. But reaching one of the massive dungeons that is believed to be within the jungle is required. There will be no other way to discover the source of the dungeon’s power."

Now this piqued Clark’s interest. He had not see any mention of how a dungeon gained strength at all. Let alone anything related.

Many of the books in the world and within the human’s hands had theories. Many other races also believed that the dungeons were created by gods or other powerful being. Clark had a handle on this, some god of creation or existence that allowed him to have a system existed, it made sense that this same being had a hand in the dungeons. But that wasn’t enough information.

"Mark ninety two

We have made it. A large clearing where everything is oddly flat. The one stone monument within the center. At first I thought it was built by human hands until I saw the various crystals and unknown runes carved within it. Now I understand that it was a dungeon created by a power I can not understand.

The size is also larger. The runes and crystals appear to be something that absorbs energy from everything around it. That is why the area around this monument is not full of trees and beasts. Even i can sense some of my energy leaving my body. But that is to no harm of myself. It is a small amount naturally lost through the day.

The closer I look, the more I know this to be a dungeon larger than we have ever seen. But before I could do a thing, rumbling happened coming from the dungeon. Manny beasts could be heard howling or growling. The world within this dungeon must be larger and filled with battle. We can not enter. However, the untold rewards from this would be better than any dungeon we know.

An expert I managed to bring this time said that it might have a total of twenty floors! That would be a record ever found. Even the other dungeons near our homes only have three or four floors. But when it comes to dungeons, there are rumors of dungeons with a hundred floors out there."

Now this was what Clark wanted to see. The dungeons took energy from where the entrances were to keep growing. But the fact that this one was twenty floors and that was the largest ever found at that time meant these volumes were very old.

Adding on the fact that the dungeon was able to use the energy and create more floors meant that if a dungeon was not managed and kept in line, then it might grow too powerful. That would perfectly explain the massive dungeons that were known to swallow up entire powerful raid teams from every city. The dungeons that only people like Alexander, who were at the top of power, could handle.

"Everyone, we are going to finish these soon. Just keep up the good work." the four of them jumped back in to the volumes. It was about an hour later when Snhy go to the last journal. It was poorly written, clearly in a rush. But it held the full map of where the dungeon was in the deep wilderness and the escaping beasts that had taken over the area. This would make it a good place for Clark to take on. He had knowledge on his side.

"Knowing the way that the jungle works would be ideal. As my last wiring, I believe it important to tell you that you will night perish if you know the rules. The beasts here can kill you. But they are not mad and violent. They are just living as necessary within nature.

Humans are not here naturally. We might not have been here many years ago, but beasts were. Because of that, we have barged in on nature. Now we are making things bad for ourselves. The wilderness should remain unexplored and if explored, respected. That is the best advice I have. Follow the rules and respect the wilderness."

Clark read this last scribbled message out loud. The journal had some dull marks on it. Dried blood or spilled ink. Neither were easily identifiable. But the records ended here meaning that the researcher had died after writing this. Whatever had happened, injured him too much when he returned.

"These volumes are very good. We can share everything with everyone else. I will let you three share it with everyone’s beasts while I tell the group. Sound good?" Clark saw the resounding approval. Now they could ensure the safety of everyone much better than before.