Jasper sat down on the curb and collected his thoughts. He had to keep his head focused on moving forward. That was a scary event but there was more to come. He wondered how strong this group was. From the vibes he felt they'd make quick work of the spirit.
The group walked through the forest with a spirit accompanying each of them. They quickly saw the trail of battle left behind by Jasper. Slashes carved a path through the forest. "Damn that kid survived this?" Arya said.
The group seemed impressed. The spirit had an ability that was pretty lethal. It was definitely a predatory species. "Arya, d'you know who that was?" One of the men with her asked.
"Know who? That solo?" She said confused.
"Yeah. That's the Lords youngest son. The one who just got the necrotic affinity." He explained.
"Ohh yeah I heard about that. Never knew the kids face. You know I don't keep up with the lords and governors. He's still going on his journey huh. If he was able to survive this on his first day he might be something." She affirmed.
Another guy chimed in. "He probably only survived this because he's the Lords son. You know the West family has been pumping out elite Spirit Tamers for years now." He said.
"He would've been just like them had his affinity not been necrotic. I feel bad for him." Luna said. Her face suddenly became serious, "There's a breeze around." She said. Suddenly, the group was on high alert as their spirits became cautious.
A large bird like spirit with long talons levitated next to Luna. It's jade like skin glowed. "Over there." Luna pointed a little deeper into the forest where they could see a white figure gliding through the branches. Jaspers description had been pretty accurate.
"All of us is overkill. Luna and Brackton go ahead." Arya said. Luna pulled a long black staff off her back and stepped forward. Brackton held a sword and shield. He had orange spiky hair and angry looking green eyes. He was quite buff and was about 6 foot 3.
At his side, a doglike spirit stalked forward. It had a long yellow muzzle with scary looking teeth. It's eyes were snakelike and orange. It's coat was yellow with cheetah like prints all over it. It's body was long and sleek. It stood up to his upper thigh and was about 7 feet long. Anyone could tell this spirit was stronger and better than average.
Brackton looked down at the spirit and gestured. It's eyes slowly blinked before it stalked off into the trees away from the monkey. It leaped straight into the branches and quickly disappeared.
Luna walked forward with her spirit levitating at her side. She looked to Brackton and nodded. They suddenly broke into a full sprint as they ran toward the monkey spirit. It quickly noticed the loud figures charging at it and screeched. Blades of wind shot from its tornado lower half.
Luna swung her staff smacking the wind to the side. She was surprised slightly by its strength, but she's been journeying for a couple years now and is the strongest she's ever been. Brackton deflected a blade of wind with his shield and grunted.
As they reached the ground below the spirit, Brackton leaped upward. His sword cleaved through the air swiping through the tornado. The spirit flew upward, preventing Brackton from hitting its main body. Brackton rolled as he hit the ground. Immediately he was back on his feet and deflecting wind blades with apparent ease.
He pointed his sword at the creature and narrowed his eyes. Spirit energy condensed in the air next to the spirit as a large pillar of earth shot out of thin air. The pillar smashed into its body. The beast was thrown down to the ground where Luna smashed it over the head with some fast staff work.
Still it was up and tried to fly into the trees. It seemed concerned with escaping now. Luna barely missed with her staff as it got back into the branches. Suddenly, as it was about to start flying away through the trees, a yellow flash appeared next it and immediately caught the monkeys neck between its jaws.
Jasper played with the dirt at his feet while waiting for the group. It'd been a few minutes now and he was starting to feel awkward sitting there. Finally, he saw the group breach the tree line and walk toward him.
They looked no different so he assumed everything went well. The spirits that walked with them intimidated Jasper quite a bit. This was a pretty elite group of individuals. Arya smiled broadly as she approached Jasper now. "It's been handled. Unfortunately Luna couldn't tame it so," She held up an orb the size of a tennis ball.
White energy swirled within. Jasper bowed slightly. "Thank you, that brings me security." He said.
Arya dismissed it with a wave. "Don't mention it, but I am curious. What's the Lord's son doing solo in the wild?" She asked.
Jasper heart ached slightly. "I've been removed from the family. They are no longer connected to me at all. Except by last names I guess." Jasper explained. There was a little bit of surprise among the older spirit tamers.
"Even a Lord's child isn't safe from necrotic affinity. So you've been starting your journey without a clan? Hm…" Arya placed a finger on her chin.
"It's a waste of resources in my opinion. Why throw away a professionally trained spirit tamer." Brackton said. His voice was gravelly and strong. Two of the group members clearly disagreed with that idea. It seemed not everyone shared the same opinion in this group.
Arya glanced at Brackton. He was quiet most times only sharing his opinion when he felt it was significant. "Weird, I would've thought a clan still would've picked you up. It's hard to ignore a specially trained person like yourself. Even with the affinity there are a few clans exploring necrotic affinities. Strong necrotic spirit tamers are threats, no matter if people hate them or not." Arya explained.
Jasper scratched the back of his head. "Uh I never really thought a clan would pick me up. I'd like to get into one." Jasper said simply. There was a pause in the conversation as the group mates looked toward their leader.
Some of them held unhappy expressions as they saw the cogs turn. "We could take you to an allied clan I think would be interested and see if they take you." Arya said. Two of the group members sighed with relief.
"Wouldn't it make sense to check in with Deo before handing him over. He's the Lord's son after all." Brackton commented.
Arya nodded. "Yeah it does make sense. Maybe the higher ups are interested in him like the other clans. You wanna come and see?" She said to Jasper.
He was surprised he'd been extended this offer. He suspected he wouldn't have the most elite position. In fact he'd probably be the gross necrotic tamer that everyone tolerated for his value to the clan. But if he got accepted to this Rio Clan he'd have a couple of people who're reasonable friendly to him.
Though he did notice a couple of them were not interested in him at all. Either way it'd be better than dying by himself in the forest, and being wiped from ever existing. He hadn't built any stories yet. "I'd be very grateful for that." Jasper said. His face was full of real gratitude.
Arya looked around the group, "Is everyone okay with taking him with us to a clan compound?" She asked.
There was silence for a moment before an older man spoke up. "Is this the wisest decision? Taking the excommunicated necrotic user into the middle of our clan compound." He had dark red hair and a stubbly beard. He seemed to be in his mid thirties and owned a huge bull like spirit that came up to his shoulder. Jaspers gaze lowered slightly.
"He's no different from us except for his affinity being necrotic. He would've been a top spirit tamer. I think it's fair to give the higher ups a choice on if they think he's worth it." Arya said.
The man scoffed slightly. "Remember that necrotic user who killed 20 of our clan mates just months ago. They're inherently evil people. It's not their faults, it's in their spirit. But we should be cautious of them." He recounted.
"Of course I remember it. It was tragic… But that person isn't a representative of all of them. It happened because of a turf war regardless." Arya replied.
"They'd gone completely overboard, killing people even after the battle had clearly been won. Their instincts aren't the same. What's so valuable about a familyless solo anyway?" He said.
Bracktons arms crossed over his chest. "He survived that spirit on his first day of spirit taming. You saw the battleground in the trees. If you can't see the value you might be blind." Brackton said. His sharp green eyes stared evenly into the red haired man.
The man shuffled slightly before throwing his head to the side. "Suit yourselves." He muttered. Jasper's eyes still remained lowered.
"Let's go." Brackton said. He abruptly turned and began walking down the sidewalk. Luna followed after him as well as another member.
Arya turned to Jasper with a smile. "You ready?"