Jasper began walking toward the battle site. He was cautious of this standoff turning into an all-out battle. The man who had yelled at Brackton to stop stood at the front. "I told you to stop. That was our man, he must've misfire-" He started before Brackton cut him off.
"I failed to hear you over my attack. I thought my leader had been attacked and acted in the heat of the moment." He said.
The man reacted angrily but calmed himself quickly. "Well, if it wasn't personal, I'm sure we can work something out. How about we receive the core in payment?" He proposed innocently.
"Nah." Brackton said simply. His eyes were trained on each of the tamers in front of him. They were all Core-level tamers, but not every tamer is equal. Weston was unconscious behind him and was being healed by Luna.
The man's face turned red in anger as he glanced back at his two dead comrades. "I advise you to think again. Our clan may escalate the situation." He warned.
"My name is Brackton. I'm from the Rio Clan. I look forward to seeing how your clan wishes to proceed." He was straight-faced as he picked Weston up and threw him over his shoulder. Arya and Brockton made eye contact before quickly turning and leaving the space. They felt vulnerable with Weston down, and would gain nothing by toiling with this group.
Luna quickly followed behind, as well as Micah and the last group member that Jasper hadn't learned the name of yet. They walked toward him. He felt the tense energy in the air as they approached him. He threw a glance at the enemy clan before turning and matching their pace. His mouth felt sealed shut by the angry looks Brackton and Arya had.
They walked for a few minutes and passed by many spirit tamers. There were a few dead humans scattered about, surrounded by groups of dead spirits. After a few minutes, they left the area around the tear, and were back on the road. The first person to break the silence was Luna. "We should find a place to settle down. Weston's spirit is really injured." She said.
Arya nodded. "You're right. Let's walk for a mile and set up a camp off the road. The day's coming to an end anyway." She said. Silence took hold of the group for a little longer as they set up camp. Jasper wiped sweat from his head as he stood over his tent. It was his first time setting one up by himself, and he felt as though he should've practiced it more in his childhood.
He glanced toward the blanket that Weston was layed out on. The blood leaking from his nose and eyes had been wiped off, and most of his external injuries had been mostly fixed by Luna's healing. Jasper still felt lightheaded himself.
As he set his things inside his tent, Brackton approached him. "That was a good callout earlier. With senses like that, you'll survive as a spirit tamer." He said in an even tone. He looked back at Luna, who was resting on a stump. "Luna, when your energy recovers can you heal Jasper?" He asked.
"Yeah, of course." Luna nodded.
"Thanks." He grunted before retiring to his tent. Jasper smiled and sat on the ground next to the unconscious Weston.
An hour or so later, Weston's eyes suddenly opened. He sat up quickly while holding his head. "Agh fuck." He mumbled to himself. He looked to his side to see Jasper and Luna sitting next to each other. She had her hands pressed on his thigh and emitting healing energy. Jasper looked away, his face slightly tinted red.
They shared a simple conversation as Weston stumbled to his feet. "What's the word? My head's killing me. What happened after I went out?" He said.
"We secured the core. They tried to threaten us, but we ended up walking away." Luna summarized.
Weston sat back down and lay his head down. "I didn't mean to get my spirit attacked like that. Sorry." He said.
Brackton appeared next to them. "It was a stupid thing to do." He lectured.
Weston scratched the back of his head. "I didn't know it could do that. I didn't even try to push, I just poked it, and it lashed out at me." He explained.
"You should've known there's always a chance. It only gets higher the stronger the spirit is." Brackton spoke. He seemed done bothering Weston and left again.
Weston glanced at Jasper. "That was a good callout. I expect the group is warming up to you quite well." He said.
Jasper shrugged. "It's lucky I saw him. I think I tore something in my throat though." The young spirit tamer said.
Weston smiled and yawned loudly. "I'm gonna get some more rest. See you in the morning." He said.
"See ya." Jasper said. Luna sat back down next to him and laid her hands on his thigh again.
The next morning, Jasper awoke to the sound of someone wrangling his tent. "Wake up! Let's go, rookie!" Weston shouted from outside the tent. Jasper groaned slightly before scrambling out of the tent.
The whole group had packed up camp and were ready to set off. They all wore their large backpacks. Jasper quickly tore down his tent and shoved his things into his bag. He grunted as he picked up his backpack and tightened the straps. Arya clapped him on the shoulder. "We should reach the main clan compound in a few days of travel. We're gonna be on the road for all but the last 6 hours. It should be an uneventful trip." She explained.
Jasper nodded and started walking behind the group. Luna had been able to heal his stab wounds over. He was still in pain and bruised all over his body, but no open wounds remained on him. He was still only at 80 percent of his strength. While they walked, there was a little conversation.
It mostly consisted of Weston saying something controversial and sparking a conversation amongst them. Jasper would be asked for his opinion when there was a tie between two sides. "You can't be serious. That's just wrong." Weston complained.
Brock shook his head. "The splitting would be more effective than the bashing." He said.
Weston facepalmed as he turned back to Jasper. "What do you think? Would it be better to use a hammer or a sword when fighting an ice spirit?" He asked him. Jasper put his finger to his chin for a moment. He'd been of the same idea since Weston had started talking about it 10 minutes earlier.
"I think the hammer would be better. I imagine smashing would be more effective. It breaks the ice into pieces while slicing would split any ice attacks. It's hard to say. I've never been in a fight with an ice spirit." Jasper replied. Weston nodded in agreement with a smile.
A day passed before anything interesting happened. It took Jasper the whole time to heal up completely. He didn't want to go hunting for spirits while hurt if he could avoid it. While they were stopped for their midday break, Jasper announced he'd go off to do some exploring of his own.
He said he'd be back in an hour and left. Luna and Weston bid him well. As he walked into the wild, he pulled his necrotic spirit out of himself. He had a new spirit he hadn't officially met yet that he was looking forward to.
He was a little scared of the blood spirit, as it was possible for spirits to potentially try to escape their tamer. It only tended to happen with strong, aggressive spirits and weak-willed tamers.
Jasper had collected a total of 7 cores throughout the whole spirit tear. He fed one to the caterpillar and had been holding onto the rest. Now it was time to strengthen his spirit. It'd make a noticeable difference with ease. The spirit nuzzled the side of his head and pointed its large eyes forward. Jasper set off into the shrub-filled landscape with a determined stare. He reached up and fed his caterpillar another orb.
After about 10 minutes of walking, Jasper stumbled upon a large crater in the ground. He peered over the edge and racked his brain on what caused this. Kneeling, he grabbed a handful of dirt in the crater and expected it. This dirt was stirred pretty recently. His best guess was it was created up to a day or two ago. He stood and looked around for any damage to the surrounding area.
A section of bushes seemed as though they'd been trampled or pushed through. As he followed the trail, he saw more and more signs of conflict. There were small gouges in the ground as well as evidence of a powerful earth spirit. The more he saw, the more he pieced together a story. Suddenly, distant shouting reached Jasper's ears. He narrowed his eyes and crept toward the commotion.