Halkors are four-armed behemoths with thick leathery hides and eyes at the sides of their heads, granting them a wide visual field. These hulking beasts are found populating the dense forests of the Great Donorian Mountain Range. Their diet mostly consists of the lush greenery, but they will not hesitate eating small animals such as deer and rabbits.

They are social creatures, forming herds with 150-200 members, headed by a matriarch. They make yearly migrations during the season of Borhal, following the shift of the mana flows. After the mana streams settle down their mating season begins.

An interesting fact to note is that the largest members of the herd leave after procreating. There has been no satisfactory explanation for such behavior. These breakaways then move up the mountains towards the more dangerous regions and form herds there.

These “upper mountain” Halkors also begin to grow large tusks. They also have yearly migrations and mating seasons following those of their “lower mountain” counterparts. As have been observed, the strongest and biggest of these Halkor Tuskers also breakaway from their herd after mating season. These powerful beasts then grow thick fur and armor and travel towards the ice caps of the mountains.

These Armored Haklor Tuskers are powerful enough to compete against the high-level beasts living on the mountaintop. However, these ones do not form herds. All Halkors are very temperamental and only follow their matriarch. There are not fit to be domesticated as beasts of burden.

The Beastly Guide to Beastly Beasts of Beastliness

By Jonathan Cator Beastly

No food, no clothes, and no shelter.

Aya found his current situation amusing. This was probably the lowest point in his life since he started down the path of being a warrior. At least, he has a pretty basket, he consoled himself.

He peered over the parapet and looked down into the streets below. It was early in the morning and the food stalls were just beginning to open. Most of the people he can see were pilgrims lining up to enter the temple. Apparently, they turned his castle into a temple. He was not quite sure what they were worshiping inside the temple because he spent his time yesterday by the war memorials.

Returning to his former palace, now a temple, he climbed the highest tower and examined the city from such height. The city indeed became prosperous. Given the casualties during the Siege, the damage to the city at that time would have been considerable. Fortunately, the city was sitting on top of a mana node, it would naturally become the center of trade and commerce, and all sorts of industries that would benefit from having a readily available source of mana.

It was one reason why he chose the site as his capital city.

Several levels have been added to the city since his time. New rings of walls were erected protecting several districts at its base. His former palace used to tower above all other structures. Now there was a new and bigger palace, constructed on a new and higher level. Aya wondered who were the current rulers of Krysperia. Should he meet them? They are doing quite a good job of running the city, and the people all look happy and contented. He probably shouldn't bother.

It is only but natural that the city would grow to such an immense scale. Engynares can do wonders in construction given nearly inexhaustible energy from the mana node.

“Not really that surprising, considering that five hundred years have passed,” Aya said.

Not wanting to think about the far away past again, he checked how the food stalls were doing. Pilgrims and tourists having their breakfast occupied some of the tables put up along the sidewalks. The cooks were getting ready for a busy day.

His body does not require much nourishment. Inheriting the constitution of dragons that could sleep a thousand years at a time, there was really no need for him to eat. But he did love eating, and he has not exercised his palette for half a thousand years.

“Stealing food does not seem becoming of an emperor,” he considered. “I should have had a hoard of treasures. Dragons always seem to have something valuable stored away.”

Suddenly fireworks climbed the air and exploded to his right, loud cheers erupted afterward. Following the trail of smoke from the fireworks, he noticed that it came from the arena near the palace. The advice of the kind curator yesterday on other places to see in the city came back to him.

Quickly scaling down the lofty battlements, he grinned from ear to ear. It has been quite a long time since he had fought purely for sport. The heavy mantle of responsibility weighed down his shoulders during his fights in the past. Such was the burden of a leader. But now, with no one knowing who he was, he could fight with no consequences. Besides the prospect of some opportunity to stretch his legs and exercise, which he really needed after sleeping for five hundred years, he was more excited at winning some money and buying the food from the stalls.

“It’s like taking candy from a newly hatched dragon,” he said, landing on the balls of his feet. He descended from the towering height of the temple in a couple of seconds and blended in with the crowd without anyone noticing.

“Can someone explain to me why I was up all night, powering the inner temple shields? Alone? Those things haven’t been activated for a few hundred years.”

Sunlight filtered into the room through tall glass windows, illuminating the group having a meeting inside, half of which were in a foul mood. They were eight in total, sitting around a circular table. There was no high chair, indicating that they have all gathered as equals, although some of them may disagree with that proposition.

“What my dear, Aileen, meant was that perhaps we should be informed of the situation that required using the closed-system shields,” Jel, who was to the right of Aileen, said. There was no hint of mischievousness on her face, a side that she only shows to her family. She actually looked quite stern in Aileen’s opinion.

A man sitting directly across the table, with a flowing golden mane and bushy golden beard, making him look like a sunflower in Aileen’s mind, stood and clasped his long spindly fingers together.

“Of course, young Fahllyrs. I apologize that the explanation was not sent out yesterday evening.” The man bowed to Jel and Aileen.

A green orb in the middle of the table slowly floated and begun to glow, while the sunlight slowly dimmed as the windows turned opaque. Unintelligible data, at least to Aileen, streamed from the orb. The others looked like they understand what it was projecting so she pretended to stare intently at it as well. She just wished they got a straight answer quickly.

“The problematic recording was discovered by one of the apprentice sealcrafters. I hope you understand our delay in immediately disseminating the information. We were confirming the data that we have recorded. Nevertheless, such data, if correctly recorded, would very much warrant the activation of the close-system shields that was why we immediately sent word that such steps be taken.

“We sent word to the palace, Milla Lyceum, and other important institutions to ready their closed-system defenses. I assure you, my lady,” the man bowed his head slightly to Aileen, “that we did not ask that such measures be taken solely to inconvenience you.”

The pudgy man sitting beside him spoke up after looking at the faces of the Fahllyrs and sensing that they were getting annoyed at the lengthy speech. “Sir Praxus, perhaps you can move on to explaining the anomaly?”

“Indeed, an anomaly,” Praxus said. “These data show that the mana supplied from the node, yes, the very node our city is built upon, was interrupted by a yet unknown source.”

Praxus surveyed their surprised faces before continuing. “The systems powered by the city sigil were not affected in any way. While the, let’s just call it ‘gap’, in the supply was still traversing and being refined by the sigil made the First Emperor KrystFallen, may his name live on forever, the mana node sent out a powerful surge that was able to bridge said ‘gap’. The interruption in the supply occurred for less than a tenth of a second.”

“What I get from this is that we practically did not feel the effects of such interruption?” Jel said.

“Isn’t this normal? The mana node is in its upsurge stage, we should expect fluctuations like this.” An old man white hair, wearing a chain mail over his shirt asked.

A woman in blue robes added into the chorus of questions, “Do we now know what interrupted the energy stream?”

“Answer that question first,” Jel said.

Praxus smiling face stiffened a bit at what he perceived as being ordered by Jel. Yet he answered, “No, we were not able to determine what caused the interruption.”

“You people are blowing this out of proportion. Lady Jel Fahllyr’s observation was correct, there was technically no interruption of power that we felt. There was just a slight gap in the energy stream that was quickly closed,” Oswald said, trying to calm damn the people around the table. “Also, Captain Gregory has a point, it could be just fluctuations.

“Admittedly, we have limited data as to what actually happens when a mana node surges since this is the first time that we will be observing it as it occurs. It is a good possibility that it is a normal occurrence during an upsurge.”

“We also don’t normally record data in such small intervals. This probably happens all the time, it’s just that we were just lucky to be able to observe it this time,” the pudgy man added.

“Is there a possibility that an outside force caused the interruption?” Jel said.

The men and women looked at each other with grim faces. If an invader can shut off the energy stream from the mana node to the city sigil all of the mana turrets of the city will be practically useless. Their proud shield that has protected them for centuries would be all but gone.

“We did not find evidence of external forces at work,” Praxus said. The meeting breathed a sigh of relief. “But as a precaution, we did recommend the activation of the closed-system defense, not connected to the city sigil, of key structures, such as this temple, in the event that something more sinister than a harmless fluctuation was at work. So, perhaps Lady Aileen can forgive us for the relying on her to power the shields of the temple for a night.” He gave another bow.

Annoying sunflower with an annoying smile, Aileen wondered why his way of talking felt familiar. “Still, that doesn’t answer my question. Why did I have to power the shields all night long?”

“Because you’re the one with the monstrous mana capacity.” Jel said under her breathe.

“Shouldn’t we have energy cells on reserve for situations like this?” Aileen continued, acting like she did not hear Jel.

Praxus, still smiling, turned to the pudgy man by his side who was fidgeting in his chair. He quickly jumped to his feet and bowed.

“Um… Lady Aileen, we… um…did not have energy cells in reserve,” he said.

Aileen raised an eyebrow and stared at him.

“As you say the closed-system shields of the temple have not been used for a few hundred years, so we did not stock up on mana canisters. I humbly apologize for this lapse.”

Jel, sensing the rising temper of Aileen, immediately jumped in before Aileen can say something out of line. “Understandable, Sir Portland, make sure that we now have energy reserves. Also, I want that shield up again for at least a day. Of course, the energy cells will power it this time. Just precautionary measures.”

“Understood, Lady Jel.” Sir Portland wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“I trust that Sir Praxus and his sealcrafters will continue looking into this matter,” Jel said.

Praxus bowed again. “We will immediately report such findings.”

“Hey, do we know Praxus? He’s from the Ithero clan right?” Aileen asked Jel as they were walking back to the outer temple. “That guy bowed way too many times.”

The meeting was held in the inner temple where the Ithero House of sealcrafters trains their novices. There was no better place to increase sensitivity to mana flows than the center of an enormous sigil wrestling raging mana streams from the heart of the earth.

The priests of the Church of the Dragon also reside in the inner temple along with the researchers of the Maginarium Department of Krysperia. The ancient scrolls of the Emperor, along with treasured relics were also stored in the central keep. Some of the elderly members of the Fahllyr family have their quarters in the inner temple as well, they are every other week to teach the trainees. In their absence, Jel Fahllyr speaks for the family, as in the earlier meeting.

“He’s Harvey’s father,” Jel said.

“That peacock military wannabe? That’s why I felt like I’ve seen him before!”

“Technically, if Harvey becomes a full sealcrafter, he can join the military. And don’t look down on sealcrafters, I don’t remember being beaten by you.” Jel looked back at Aileen with a smirk.

“I’m not looking down on them. I just find the Itheros annoying.”

“You’re quite in a bad mood today.”

“I’m still annoyed at what you made me do yesterday. I was supposedly off duty. I was going to watch some of the fights.”

Jel stopped walking and turned to look at Aileen. “It was either you or everyone else as a group. We should make good use of your large mana capacity. Characterizing it as large is, in fact, an understatement.”

“Are you sure you weren’t just assigning me to annoy me?” Aileen asked.

“You’re going to be an extraordinary mage with your mana capacity,” Jel replied changing the topic.

Aileen frowned and resumed walking. “I’m not going to become specialized as a mage.”

Jel grinned while walking to catch up with her. “Is it because your elder brother and sister both trained in the family fortress in the east?”

Aileen gave no reply.

“Grouchy, grouchy mood,” Jel said. “I heard the beast-taming competition will begin today. Let’s go to the arena to watch some fights. Just the two of us. Two girls having family bonding time in the arena!”

Arcades ringed the four levels of the grand circular amphitheater with balconies and special boxes at the top. A wide expanse of semi-transparent retractable roof, partially deployed, shaded the people inside from the morning sun. Aya discovered that several additions have been made to the original construction. After being rebuilt after the Siege, several outer structures housing smaller stages were added, abutting the perimeter wall of the main arena.

Preliminary fights and other minor events were held in these outer structures. After the qualifying rounds, all the fights will be held in the main arena. As for the beast-taming competition, they are mostly held at the main arena since the dangerous beasts were secured in the underground enclosures beneath it. Smaller beasts were kept in the adjacent arenas.

Aya examined a piece of paper before the counter. “So, do I need to sign this thing or something?”

“We just need you to sign the waiver. In case or injury and all that- sometimes death. Not that you should be worried about injuries or anything. We have the best medical care in the whole empire available here! As long as you don’t die, we can pretty much patch you up again” the man by the counter explained with a big smile. “You can even tear off all your limbs and they can be reattached with no scars. All medical expenses handled by the empire for this event.”

“Although I have no intention of detaching my limbs it still sounds like fun.”

“Detached limbs are a rare occurrence, sir,” he assured him. “All sorts of weapons are allowed, there is a wide range of selection in our armory if you did not bring any. Even bringing your own golem is permitted, as long as you are the actual creator and you are limited to three units. Beastmasters are also limited to three of their bound beasts. While this may seem unfair in a one on one battle, it is also required that the golem creator or the beastmaster must be on the stage for the fight. Most of them are not that strong on their own, anyway, that’s why they rely on their unit or beasts.

“Summoners and other related caster types, on the other hand, can summon everything they want on stage, but they are not allowed to bring summoning scrolls not of their own making.

“The rules are just you need to make your opponent admit defeat, knock them out, or disable them in any way that will render them incapable of continuing the battle.

“It used to be that knocking your opponent off the stage was the way to win. However, several earth mages would just build a mini fortress on top of the stage to avoid getting knocked out or cement themselves onto the ground- you can imagine how boring that was. In addition, others would burrow underground and actually fight there! While that is an acceptable way to fight, it was hard to determine if one was knocked off the stage if both of them are underground. Thus, the new rules.”

Aya nodded as if he was listening intently and asked. “What about consumables?”

“As for potions, we will provide you with three imperial standard health potions as well as three mana potions. People rarely get to drink their potions anyway. Strengthening potions and stuff like that are not allowed unless you are an alchemist and you made them yourself. Imagine an alchemist fighting on stage! Some sort of battle alchemist, I guess? I have never seen something like that, though.”

Aya smiled. He knew of a battle alchemist that would surprise the man by the counter. Were there no more battle alchemists around? He looked down once again at the piece of paper he held. “Do I need to put the specifics in this form?”

The man shook his head. “There are many who prefer anonymity. You just need to put a name or an alias that we can call you by.”

Aya took the quill on the counter and begun filling up the form.

“There are many participants this time since this is the last week for qualifications. The whole of next week will be the actual fights that will be held in the main arena. The semi-finals and finals will be scheduled on the coming of age ceremony of the princess,” the man continued to explain.

“Of course, the ones that will be in the semis and finals are the best warriors,” Aya said as he handed in the form. “I only hope to win a few rounds just for the experience. Someday I will be as strong as them.”

“I recognize that black robed guy,” Aileen said. Jel was by her side. Both of them wore well-made, tight-fitting dark leather armor with metal shoulder guards. Their family crest was etched onto their right shoulder plate while the left carries the symbol of the Dragon Emperor. People parted before them upon catching sight of the Fahllyr crest.

Jel followed Aileen’s gaze. “What? You want to register in the competition? You know we’re not allowed to do that. We are soldiers of the empire.”

“Not that. I just recognized someone registering.”

The black robed man handed a paper to the man at the counter. With a basket swinging by his side, he then walked towards the corridor leading down to the waiting area of fighters.

Aileen's eyes narrowed. “What the hell does that guy thinks he’s doing?” She then strode over to the counter.

The man looked up and quickly conjectured that the person in front of him was a noble soldier. He bowed low and said, “Greetings milady. What can your humble servant do for you today?”

“Did that guy with the black robe just register?”

“Yes, he did. He just finished this application form.” The man offered to her the piece of paper.

She grabbed it and scanned its contents. She found that the black robed man did not fill anything except for the name. And the name he wrote was:

“BasketSlayer”