Chapter 130
The difference between an Ordinary Beast and a Mana Beast is often misunderstood by those who have never studied the subject in depth.
Both categories involve creatures capable of using mana, and both can become extremely dangerous, yet their origins, structures, and purposes are fundamentally different.
An Ordinary Beast is a natural organism that has gradually learned to cultivate mana over time.
These creatures begin life as standard animals such as boars, wolves, bears, or serpents, and they evolve through continuous exposure to ambient mana in their environment.
As they grow stronger, their bodies become more durable, their senses sharpen, and in rare cases they develop the ability to cast basic spells.
Ordinary Beasts are classified from One Star to Nine Star depending on their strength, with the highest tiers reaching Moon Class and Saint Class levels.
These beasts can be tamed, contracted, or summoned, forming cooperative bonds with cultivators who gain their loyalty through agreement rather than force.
A Mana Beast, however, is not born at all.
A Mana Beast is constructed entirely from mana itself, shaped into existence by forces that predate the modern era.
The first recorded Mana Beast was discovered by the Great Sage in an ancient age, and its essence was later divided into nine distinct entities.
These Tier One through Tier Nine Mana Beasts are pure energy given form.
They do not possess flesh or blood, and therefore cannot be killed in any conventional sense.
When a Mana Beast is defeated, it does not leave behind a corpse. Instead, it disperses into raw mana and eventually reforms elsewhere.
The Hidden Cities regard Mana Beasts as strategic weapons because they can be sealed into human hosts.
A cultivator who bonds with a Mana Beast becomes a Holder, gaining access to its power as though it were their own.
The beast becomes bound to the Holder's bloodline and passes from parent to child across generations.
This is what occurred with Orion, who inherited the Tier Nine Dragon as an infant.
The sealing process is highly unstable, and a failed bond can cause catastrophic backlash, but a successful Holder becomes one of the most powerful existences in the world.
Ordinary Beasts cannot be sealed in this way. They can only be contracted.
They fight alongside their summoner as independent allies, retaining their own will and identity. A contract may be broken if trust is lost or if mistreatment occurs.
Their power is cooperative rather than fused, and they remain separate beings at all times.
Lucas understood both systems well.
He had formed a summoning contract with Myles, the White Tiger, an Ordinary Beast of Saint Class strength.
At the same time, he had stolen classified research on artificial Mana Beast creation during the Tier Nine attack on the Hidden City's vaults. His goal had not changed since then.
He intended to create a Mana Beast of his own.
But that ambition remained dormant for now.
Behind Lucas's manor, the training grounds were already active under the morning sun.
The last traces of mist had burned away, leaving the grass dry and firm beneath steady daylight. Three figures trained across the field in their own rhythm.
Kaya stood at the center of the open ground, her body wrapped in controlled arcs of blue-white lightning.
She moved through a sequence of strikes with precise timing, each motion releasing bursts of electricity that snapped through the air and struck the wooden training dummy in front of her.
The surface of the dummy was already blackened and fractured, yet she continued without hesitation, each impact deepening the damage further.
At the edge of the field, Aris sat cross-legged on a flat stone, his katana resting across his lap. His pale white eyes were closed, but his awareness was not.
Through his Ore Senses, the entire training ground unfolded in layered detail.
He could feel Kaya's movements before they completed, sense the pressure of her intent before each strike, and even track the structural weakening of the dummy as it absorbed repeated blows.
He could also feel Tracy approaching before she fully stepped onto the grass.
"You are late," Aris said without opening his eyes.
Tracy entered the field slowly.
Her orange hair was tied back, and her hands were wrapped in cloth strips that had already begun to fray from use.
She wore simple training clothes chosen for durability rather than comfort.
"I was not sure if we were training again today," she said.
"We train every day," Kaya replied without breaking her rhythm. "That is what training is."
Tracy walked to the wooden post where she had trained the previous day. She flexed her fingers once, feeling the lingering soreness beneath the surface of her skin. Then she raised her fist.
"Same routine?" she asked.
"One thousand punches," Aris replied. "Do not stop until it is finished."
Tracy exhaled once, set her stance, and struck the post.
She struck again.
And again.
The training ground settled into its morning rhythm.
Kaya continued her forms.
Aris observed everything in silence.
Tracy worked through repetition, her body slowly adapting to the strain.
Time passed without interruption.
Then a voice broke through the pattern.
"Mama."
Tracy stopped immediately and turned.
Mia stood near the edge of the grass, still in her sleeping clothes, holding her stuffed rabbit close to her chest.
Her hair was messy, and her eyes were heavy with early morning drowsiness, yet her attention was sharp.
"I want to train too," she said.
Tracy frowned. "You should be inside."
"I want to train," Mia repeated.
"You are too young," Tracy said firmly.
"I am not too young. Lucas said I am smart."
At that, Kaya slowed her movements and turned her attention fully toward the child.
"Lucas said you are smart," Kaya said. "He did not say you are ready to fight."
"I can learn," Mia insisted. "I can punch like Mama."
Aris opened his eyes.
His pale gaze settled on Mia, and through Ore Senses he saw everything he needed to see. Her body was still forming. Her mana pathways were undeveloped. Her core was present, but unrefined and unstable in the way all children's cores were.
"No," Aris said.
Mia's expression tightened. "Why not?"
"Because your body is still developing," Aris said as he stood. "Your bones, your muscles, and your pathways are not ready for stress like this. If you train now, you will damage yourself instead of becoming stronger."
"But Mama is training," Mia said.
"Mama's body is developed," Aris replied. "Yours is not."
He walked toward her at an even pace and stopped a short distance away before kneeling to meet her eye level.
"You can watch," he said. "You can learn by observation. But you cannot train yet."
Mia looked toward her mother.
Tracy nodded once.
Mia sighed and lowered herself onto the grass. She placed her stuffed rabbit in her lap.
"Fine," she said. "I will watch."
The training continued.
Strike.
Impact.
Breath.
Movement.
At midday, Kaya stopped and walked over to Mia. The child had remained in the same spot for hours, occasionally speaking quietly to her stuffed rabbit as if narrating everything she saw.
"You have been watching for a long time," Kaya said.
"I want to learn," Mia replied. "Even if I cannot train yet."
Kaya studied her for a moment, then lowered herself onto the grass beside her.
"There is something you can learn," Kaya said.
Mia turned toward her. "What?"
Kaya raised her hand slightly. A faint spark of lightning flickered between her fingers, controlled and harmless.
"This is mana," Kaya said. "It exists everywhere. In the air, in the ground, and in you."
Mia's eyes widened.
"Can you teach me?" she asked quickly.
"I can teach you to feel it," Kaya said. "Nothing more."
Mia nodded immediately. "I want to try."
Kaya guided her into position, adjusting her posture so she sat correctly.
"Sit still," Kaya said. "Breathe slowly. Deeply. From your stomach, not your chest."
Mia obeyed.
"Close your eyes," Kaya continued.
Mia closed them.
"Focus just beneath your ribs. Look for warmth. Something small, like a coal buried under ash."
Silence settled over them.
Minutes passed.
"I feel something," Mia said softly.
Kaya leaned slightly forward. "What does it feel like?"
"Warm," Mia said. "Small. Like you said."
Kaya glanced toward Tracy.
Tracy had stopped punching entirely.
"That is your mana core," Kaya said gently. "It is still small. It will grow with you. For now, you do not force it. You only feel it."
Mia nodded. "I will feel it."
Tracy turned back to the post and resumed her training.
Aris returned to his stone.
Kaya stood and walked back toward the dummy.
The training ground resumed its rhythm.
The sun moved steadily across the sky.