Sanya stood up from her chair. She walked slowly up to the screen with heavy feet and her eyes wide open. She reached out with her hand, trying to touch the blue-eyed being. However, she came back to her senses when her fingertips passed through the holographic screen. Her eyes landed on Lord. “...Explain, please.”

Lord nodded, but he still added something more. “You should sit first.”

Sanya did as he said, but her eyes were still glued to the screen. Her mind was blank as she waited for the explanation. Lord was sweeping his arms around and a few more screens appeared around them. The screens were showing different views of the storage room. The inside of the storage room was filled with things like boxes and such. In the middle of the room was a pedestal with a three-colored crystal inside a glass case. Its size was a bit bigger than a watermelon. A mix of blue, red and yellow was flashing inside. Lord started. “This is one of our storage room. We use this one to stock the materials that we collect from monsters and other magical beasts.”

One of screen focused on the crystal. “This is the mana crystal of an Arklan, a very powerful magical beast in the Arkalium world. “

Another image showed up. It was a long reptile-like creature. It had four hind legs and two long arms. Sharp and sturdy scales covered his body. The creature’s color was a mix of blue, yellow and red, making it beautiful, but scary. Sanya had nothing to compare, but the creature looked very long. “This is an Arklan. Its body can measure up to 200 meters long. Its main magic is lighting, fire and water manipulation. Compared to a magician, it should rank as Master level. Its crystal is very valuable. The main elements might be lighting, fire, and water, but it stores a large amount of mana. So, we use it for magical equipment. The only downside is its large size. In comparison, a demon lord’s core has a bit more of mana, and it is a lot smaller. Anyways, one of our Protector took an Arklan down and recovered the crystal. A few days later, this happened.”

Another screen lighted up. Sanya finally reacted when she saw the people on it. Lord slightly smiled when he saw the scene. “You know, when I saw Talia for the first time, I was skeptical. My senses were telling me that she had great potential, but I could not find what it was. She had neither amazing strength nor an ability. So, I decided to let her in the hands of my friend, who is specializing in sword arts.”

On the screen was Talia who was facing a white-haired and bearded man. The man seemed to be in his forties. Talia was wearing a white top tank and sport short. She was holding a sparring sword made of some kind of metal. Her shoulders were heaving up and down as her eyes were glaring at the smirking man. Some bruises were on her body and fatigue could be felt from her movement, but the unbendable sheer will was burning inside her eyes.

The video continued and Talia rushed toward the man. Her speed was not even a fraction of what she was currently capable of now, but it was still far faster than what most of the top level athletes were capable before the World Transition. Lord saw Sanya’s fixed eyes. “This was a year after I recruited her. During this period, something strange happened to her body. You now know that a person’s entity is linked to its world. If someone is outside of their world, they will not age. On a short time, this is not a problem for races. Not a lot will happen for a species on a genetical scale after a few years. But, this is not the same after thousands of years. Species evolve at a snail pace. However, something similar to a high scale evolution happened to her. It was like she was pushing her time forward, making her body changes.”

Sanya stopped him. Her face contained worries.“Wait. Do you mean that Talia’s genes are not the same as a normal human? Is she still a human?”

Lord thought for a second before answering. “Of course she is a human being. It’s just that she has the genes of someone that underwent a massive evolution. She basically pushed the limit of her body, even if I still don't understand how. Over this year, she barely slept. There were times when she would faint due to the fatigue. When she was not training, she would eat like five. Honestly, she scared some of the other Protectors in training. However, the result of all of this is what you are seeing now. Her senses were greatly sharpened and she could somehow use the Inferno Sword Arts, even if it was the basic level. And all of this while being a normal powerless human at the start.”

Sanya and Lord were watching the fight on the screen. The confrontation intensified between the young girl and the man. They were not even a meter between the two of them. Talia was like dancing around with her sword. The sword was taking weird directions, making the sword strikes unpredictable for a normal person. However, the man was not even a bit overpowered. He was blocking each strike with a calm face. When he saw an opening he would strike once, causing Talia to be disturbed.

Talia was gritting her teeth when she took another hit. But, she didn’t stop. Her movement speed up once again. Her reaction made the man overjoyed as he grinned. The battle was continuing to become more intense second after second. Until this moment.

“That’s it, little glutton. Feel the blade passing through the air. Try to bring inferno to the surroun-!”

The man was explaining something to Talia, but he stopped. Talia’s eyes became bloodshot and her free hand was clutching her chest. Her sword fell on the ground. It was like she was having a heart attack. Suddenly, black mist surrounded and enveloped her body. She was being swallowed by the mist until her body was completely covered. The man ran up toward her with a shocked and worried face.

“Talia! What is going on?!” He tried to reach out to her, but a clawed hand emerged from the mist and stopped him. He then saw a tall dark creature with its long spiked tail. The being raised its horned head and howled, vibrating throughout the room! Its wide jaws were open, showing the rows of sharp teeth. The creature then turned in one particular direction and started running. Its steps were a mess, like a newborn that just started to walk. However, Its three blue eyes were set on something.

Sanya was standing looking at the scene. Lord’s voice came from her side. “The sparring room was not far from the storage room. Talia ran to there, causing a mayhem in the process. Then, this happened.”

The view changed to the inside of the storage room. The creature was running toward the Arklan mana crystal. It was howling like a starving mad beast. It jumped on the protected crystal and started to strike it with its claws and the spiked tail. However, the glass case was not bulging. The dark beast was starting to panic. The intensities of the messy strikes increased. It seemed to wail at the fact that it could not reach the thing that it wanted.

After a moment, the rampage stopped and the creature lowered its head. When it raised its head once more, its blue eyes were shining in a violent light. The dark mist was spreading more and more. However, its behavior was calm, unlike the earlier frenzy attitude. It put its clawed hands on the side of the case. Its already wide jaws opened wider and wider, stretching on the sides of the face. It lifted up the case and swallowed it.

The scene was extraordinary. A case bigger than a watermelon was being swallowed whole by the savage beast. The throat stretched, making the ‘food’ reach the place where the stomach would be for a normal human.

Silence fell inside the room. Footsteps were coming from the entrance of the room. There were people wearing a lot of different clothes, of different races and so on. In the midst was a woman with dragon features, just like Lord. A floating blue cube was following her. When she saw the dark beast, she opened her eyes wide. She was about to say something, but-

An earthshaking howl resonated throughout the space! Numerous streaks of lighting, fire, and water were shouting out the creature’s body. Its body was shining in the same color of the elements that were coming out of it.

After several seconds, the situation calmed and all that was left behind was the unconscious Talia lying on the floor. The surrounding mana particles were being attracted to her body. When they passed through the skin, their color turned blue.

“...After this, she was placed in a medical pot. When we checked her condition. We saw this.” Lord made another screen in front of Sanya. The screen was showing a female body model, just like the previous one. However, there was a big difference. Unlike the light coming from the place near the heart, this time the whole body was shining. Lord explained.

“She absorbed the mana crystal, and her body actually transformed into some kind of a giant mana crystal. She has a very special mana circuit. The mana is not stored in a simple mana crystal, but inside the flesh, bones and all of the things that make her body. Her whole body is a mana storage unit.” Sanya was looking at the model blankly. Her mind was a mess due to the video that she just saw. However, she did her best to listen and understand the important information.

“After this, she had access to mana and in a large amount due to the size of the storage unit. Even if she could only learn the Arkalium Magic System due to the origin of the Arklan, new doors of opportunity opened for her to become stronger. Of course, we asked her about what happened, but she was clueless. She had no memories of the whole incident whatsoever. Honestly, I don’t know if her case is a special one or if each ability-less individual is like this. One thing that we are sure of is that it is surely related to her entity. In the end, we decided to call it the Devourer as it seems to seek massive energy as food and absorb it.” Lord stopped for a moment. He knew that Sanya’s mind might be disturbed knowing that the one she loved had some kind of monster in her. Sanya seemed to be lost in thought before raising her head. She looked like she had made up her mind about something.