Spirit Taming

The odd feeling of stepping on to the winged horrors’ back was enough to make all of their skin crawl. It wasn’t that they were uncomfortable with the wiggling tentacles that somehow influenced the ability to fly through the sky. It was the odd soft yet scaly texture of its skin.

The entire experience was definitely made in someone’s nightmare. Yet, Clark was totally comfortable with it along with the Nighthawk family guide whose beast it was.

The night spore mushroom did not react or begin doing anything at all as they took to the air. It was still resting on the guide’s hand. Slowly waiting for the order. The guide had also formerly taken a position on the neck of the winged horror. Small tentacles wrapping his feet so that he could hold on but also see ahead of them.

As they all moved through the air, it was surprising to find that the tentacles were somehow blocking the wind. It made the journey much smoother. Not comfortable, but smoother. Tnhey could even speak while Clark and Ella were able to easily write a beast plan as additional payment for the guide having them at their destination earlier than planned.

While in the air, Clark also took the chance to view the world a little more. He had been transported like this before, but not able to have such an easy ride. He had not been able to see as clearly as he could now. That was only the case because the night spore mushroom was not doing anything yet.

Being able to see above the distant violent jungle really spelled out a lot.

the size of the violent jungle from the air was much larger than what it had felt while they moved through it referencing the map. It made it feel very much like they were taking a chartered journey that could be as long or as short as they wanted. Was that actually the case? No, but that was the comparison within his mind right now.

He could also spot distant beasts popping in and out of the canopy. They were flying beasts that could not have been able to move through the violent jungle well because of their size. Therefore, they had to live on the treetops because they would not fly in to the tough and massive tree trunks or vines.

That did not mean that they were safe though. The vines had grown up to the top of the trees. Even taking over some trees entirely. While that might just sound like what plants do, Clark realized how foolish they had been.

Some of those vines had been plant type beasts. They had been alive and just adapted to fight and eat at the treetops where all the light was. Where their ideal prey was able to be snapped up in their sharp wooden teeth or strangled in their whip like vines.

While he could not really get an analysis due to the distance, one larger plant type beast was the perfect target for him to be able to catch a glimpse of and use the analysis on. It was a horrifying one at that, enough to ensure that without a guide, flying over the violent jungle would be impossible.

’Wooden trap rose- ultra rare

The wooden trap rose is a large rose like beast. Its head replicates the flower petals of a red rose the size of an elephant. It is to attract the glimmering hummingbird which is also large but extremely fast and impossible to catch in a battle of flight.

The petals are actually solid wood though. When the prey lands on the petals, they will find that each petal sprouts vicious wooden teeth that snap shut like a trap. This causes instant death for severe wounds.

Due to this, the wooden trap rose can slowly chomp down and break its prey apart. As it does so, blood rains down on to the jungle floor nourishing nearby plants. It will consume anything in to its flour like head and vines as it down nutrients.

The unique light, earth, and water typing it has as a pant type beast requires the high nutrients from these prey so that they can absorb more energies to grow. It is very hard to fight these beasts in the treetops since they can easily regrow their flower petal like heads using stored nutrients in the roots. It is better to cut the roots and burn them directly.

That is if they are not in a symbiotic relationship with an anaconda vine. This vine will steal nutrients from the roots, but protect them from predators. Therefore, it will wrap and strangle the predators allowing them to perish and act as more fertilizer...’

Terrible. Dangerous. Those were the two thoughts that came to Clark’s mind. This beast was too vicious. It could easily crush anything that it chomped down on. But after that, it would purposely destroy that prey so that it could be fed even more.

Beyond that, it attracted another beast just to help it protect the most vulnerable point of its body. The sheer power that the pair had was enough that Clark and the rest of the group felt blessed that they did not encounter it. Not that Clark told them the entire details of what he saw in the distance.

Other things didn’t need to be said. The size of this beast was too much. It was surely an older of its kind while the partner it had would also be older. Both would have the experience of being predators for a long time.

The other beasts in the distance that bobbed in and out of the treetops were not able to be seen. But if they were even half as strong as what Clark and the group could see, they knew well that they would not be able to handle it.

"I really thought that I had gotten stronger." Clark sighed a little. He was sure that they were going to need to handle beasts of that power soon. He had a goal to get to. Be as strong or stranger than Alexander. Just three weeks left to make sure that he met that legacy. If he did not work on doing that, then he would ot be living up to who he could be and who he cared for.

"They are strong if we do not know their weaknesses. You can beat them easily." Maria tried to cheer Clark up after hearing what he said. She knew what he was thinking about though, she knew very well why he was working so hard and not holding his thoughts back right now.

"Get ready to move in to the treetops." The guide spoke out as small flecks of dark mushroom spores began to clover them.

The darkness that it created was surprisingly enough for them to see through, but if anyone was looking outside in, they would be blinded and unsure of what was happening with the odd streak of night that had taken over the sky. "We should have minimal sight line broken. Use it as a chance to study the beasts you are curious about. Most will be too afraid to approach since the night is a time where the daytime beasts are hunted. They can also not see what predator travels through the dark."

This made a lot of sense. The spores were controlled by the guide’s beast. Naturally, it could alter who could and could not see through it. With its control, then the darkness was perfect for them to travel. Especially since it had trained to do just this instead of any battle related skills. It was a tempting beast to want to raise for those that needed the dark or better ability to hide.

"There are more beasts I can spot. That’s a gliding jungle snake, then there is also a winged squirrel." Ella had become a perfect observer. She wanted to see what else moved in this part of the violent jungle.

Meanwhile, Clark felt that he could map this all out. He just needed the right materials for him to make a magic map using the skills he had gotten from the system. He just needed to memorize everything he was seeing and recruit this guide at another time. It would be amazing for the Nighthawk business to know of beast territories more than what they did now.

Regardless, his focus started to fall to the same place as Ella. he could see the beasts that he had not seen before. He could also see how they changed the way they moved to survive this environment.

The ideas that came to mind were on how he could use Crim’s ability to fly when they worked together in battle. Clark had trained his movement techniques, but completely ignored the ability to fly as a stand alone technique. If he were able to use that better, then he would be more powerful because he could use a larger space in battle alone. It was a great food for thought.