As Mana Beasts grow more powerful the differences between them grow as well, even two siblings can evolve into different species of Elemental Mana Beast depending on their individual personalities and affinities for different elements. When choosing a partner for a Soul Contract this should be taken into account as the Mana Beast’s Elemental Affinities are something that can affect your growth as well so choosing a Beast with compatible affinities is important as someone with a high Affinity for one or two elements will nearly always beat someone with a low affinity for more if they have a similar cultivation level.

-Excerpt from Telram’s notes on Soul Contracts.

Walking along the streets of Palamar with Jai in tow provided something of a spectacle for many of the citizens as most of them had never seen a Blood Tiger before and either didn’t know what Jai was or stood in shock wondering how someone had managed to tame such a dangerous Mana Beast, even one as young as Jai.

However, in true cat fashion Jai was ignoring the stares he was receiving, after all what did he care what humans thought? Padding along with his tail trailing behind him by Telram’s side he looked around the streets with bored eyes as he wondered what humans saw in a place like this, a place with no trees or grass just cold stone and the occasional wooden structure as crowds of people milled around them. He sighed sadly, he missed the freedom of the forest and more importantly to the young tiger he missed his mother.

Telram sensing his partner’s emotions glanced down at the tiger cub with a small smile, he didn’t particularly care for the looks he was receiving either with the new red streaks in his hair and his latest growth spurt and silently agreed with his Mana Beast partner that a quiet glade in the nearby forest sounded like paradise right now.

On the other hand, Aran was whistling cheerfully as they walked along his large spear slung over one shoulder, he had been looking forward to taking Telram on his first hunting trip for months now and had finally managed to convince Lily that experiencing the world outside the confines of Palamar would be good for Telram. Nodding happily at some of his acquaintances as they passed and promising to bring back a good haul to sell the merchants among them he hailed the guards at the gate who glanced warily at the tiger by Telram’s side before waving them through the gates. This wasn’t the first time they had seen someone with a strangely powerful Mana Beast by their side but seeing that as far as they knew there was no way that Aran could’ve afforded to buy the cub on his own Lord Irian would be receiving a report from the officer on duty about this strange event.

Outside of Palamar was a well-kept main road leading away from the city surrounded on both sides by plots of land where many of the citizens worked, growing crops and tending to the animals that provided most of the city’s food. The animals kept by the people of Palamar weren’t Mana Beasts, just normal cows, chickens and goats for the most part. Most of the time animals that were born with Beast Cores were slaughtered shortly after they were born due to hoe difficult they were for normal people to handle when they grew up. There were those who specialised in raising these more dangerous creatures, but they had to be cultivators and have a licence to breed them. As such the meat of the Mana Beasts was too expensive for most people to buy so if they wanted Mana Beast meat most people either had to hunt it for themselves or rely on hunters like Aran. Mana Beast meat had much higher demand than meat from normal animals like cows and chickens because of the Mana their flesh contained, if a cultivator ate the flesh of a Mana Beast they would be able to absorb some of the Mana in the beasts’ flesh and use it to strengthen their body.

But the money that Mana Beast meat could bring in for an expert hunter was nothing in comparison to how much certain other body parts were worth to Alchemists, smiths and inscribers which meant that often keeping the meat from being too badly damaged wasn’t as important as these things. Aran, however, was slightly different from most hunters, his mastery of evasive, stealth and tracking skills were all higher than most cultivators of his rank due to his Soul Contract with Willa meaning that he had to damage the body of the Beasts he hunted much less often.

This meant that Aran was very popular among the lower and middle-class citizens who lived in Palamar and he always had enough meat to feed his family, even in hard times, considering the speed at which Telram was growing was definitely a good thing. But now that Telram had made a Soul Contract with Jai it was going to be more difficult for Aran to make enough to survive on his own, even if he had been starving just feeding Jai this morning had used up enough meat to feed Willa for several days!

“Right then!” Aran said taking in a deep breath of the fresh air as he looked at his son.

“You see that forest in the distance?” he asked gesturing broadly at a small green smudge just before the horizon and receiving a nod from his son in reply. “Good. That’s where we’re headed.”

And with those few short words he broke into a run with Willa loping along beside him.

“Keep up!” Aran shouted over his shoulder as Telram stared silently after him. He ran to this forest every day and carried back the carcasses of his kills on his shoulders, so this distance wasn’t a problem for him and was also why he was happy that his son had kept up with his running every morning.

Telram rolled his eyes and started after his father who was rapidly pulling ahead of him as Jai started making an amused coughing sound who had immediately followed the other two when they started running.

“Oh, shut it you!”

They got to the forest much faster than Telram had originally anticipated, with his improved body even Olympic long-distance runners would have been hard-pressed to keep up the same pace they had for very long, but Aran and Willa looked like they hadn’t even broken a sweat when they arrived. This of course due to the massive difference in cultivation rank between them but it was still something that irritated Telram slightly as it wasn’t like he had been slacking off on his training at any point.

“Right, stay close son,” Aran warned Telram. “Even in this forest there can be Mana Beasts that are difficult for me to handle.”

Telram nodded as he silently watched the treeline looking for any signs of movement. As they had gotten closer it had become apparent that Telram had been wrong to think that this was a small forest. It was just hard to tell from just outside Palamar, but the forest had turned out to be narrow facing the city but quickly broadened into a veritable sea of large trees.

“Make sure the both of you keep an eye out for any herbs that are worth money as well,” Aran continued unslinging his spear from his back. “I’m not very knowledgeable about those sorts of things but that’s why your mother has been teaching you.”

Jai seemed to bubble with barely contained energy as they quietly made their way through the forest, he had been stuck in the cage that Telram had found him in for days and making their way here had barely been enough for him to stretch his legs. Telram grinned as his partner broadcasted his happiness and excitement with every step he took. It was amusing to see the way the normally nonchalant cub was acting now that he was back where he felt he belonged, and he glanced back as he sensed Telram’s own happiness flowing back through their link and bared his teeth in the tiger equivalent of a grin.

Even with both Aran and Telram doing their best to hide their presence it took them over an hour before Willa suddenly dashed out ahead of the group surprising Telram with her swift acceleration followed by a snapping sound and Willa bringing back the small body of a dead rabbit.

Taking the carcass gently from her jaws Telram examined the animal as Jai watched on with interest as Telram began to make observations. The rabbit was slightly larger than most breeds back on earth with greenish fur but other than that seemed identical to the rabbits he remembered back home, and he strapped the carcass to the belt that his father had told him to wear when they had left.

“Well, now we know there’s something to hunt around here,” Aran said quietly nodding at Telram’s actions. “Let’s spread out a bit and see what else we can find.”

The rabbit that Willa had killed was a weak Mana Beast with the rather obvious name of Moss Rabbit, it was known for eating various medicinal herbs and its ability to camouflage itself in forested areas. This meant that it was highly likely that there were finally some decent herbs nearby for Telram to harvest as well as more Moss Rabbits hiding nearby as they often lived in family groups of up to 8 animals.

A few minutes later Aran returned from searching the area to see a small pile of grasses and other plants that Telram had found sitting on a small cloth.

“Well, I didn’t find anything unfortunately,” he whispered, if there was anything that was able to hide nearby with both him and Willa present then whispering was probably useless, but it always paid to be cautious in places like this. “But it looks like you got a decent haul.”

Telram nodded, most of what he had found were simple herbs that could be used to make medicinal teas, but he had found some Redstain Berries which could be used to make a pill that could help restore lost blood. Even then what he had found would only be worth a handful of greenwood coins which were the lowest denomination, the rabbit would be worth almost twice that to some people.

Still Aran was quite pleased that his son was making himself useful, he had no intentions of letting Telram fight a Mana Beast on his own and had only really been waiting for him to become powerful enough to defend himself until either he or Willa could save him.

“Let’s move on then,” Aran said and Telram quickly tied the corners of the cloth together to make a makeshift bag that he slung over his shoulder before following his father.

As they went deeper into the forest Telram looked around warily it seemed eerily quiet to him but none of his companions seemed to be acting like this was anything different than what they had expected. In fact, they were so calm that he was half expecting his father to start whistling again.

Feeling the anxiety coming from his partner Jai dropped back and bumped into Telram’s side with his head and Telram smiled and reached down to rub his new friend behind the ear as Willa came to a sudden halt, her own ears twitching.

Immediately Aran went from calm and relaxed to completely alert recognising the signs of Willa sensing prey and not just small prey. If it was something small she would just go, get it herself but something that was either too big or too strong for her to take on her own. Gesturing to his son to get down he crept forwards until he was level with Willa as the two communicated through their own bond the way Telram and Jai could.

Telram went into a crouch as his father and Willa seemed to fade into the woods as they started stalking whatever it was that Willa had detected. Suddenly it was obvious to Telram why it was that hunters like Aran were some of the most difficult opponents for other cultivators to fight, even if Willa wasn’t part of the equation Aran’s ability to become almost invisible in if you weren’t paying attention alone made him extremely dangerous.

It seemed from what he was getting through their link that even Jai was having difficulties keeping track of their movements now that they were stalking their prey. Still Telram hadn’t been training his Graceful Mist Step for no reason and Aran hadn’t told him that he couldn’t try and follow at a distance, so he started moving slowly forwards taking extra care to put the limits of his understanding of the movement technique to the test.

Jai watched in amazement as his partner’s presence decreased, it wasn’t to the same degree as the other two, but it was nonetheless impressive considering that this seemed to be Telram’s first time doing anything like this especially considering the changes that had occurred to his body in the past day. Tigers were ambush predators, so Jai was naturally stealthy himself. It wasn’t something his species of Mana Beast specialised in the same way a Mist Wolf like Willa did but even at his young age he knew enough to decrease his own presence to a similar level to Telram’s and slowly pad along beside him.

Meanwhile Telram had a troubled look on his face, using Graceful Mist Step like this was difficult enough even before he had grown again after creating the Soul Contract with Jai and now, he was trying to follow his father and Willa while they stalked their prey. If they were trying this hard to stay hidden, then it must be for a reason. So, even though he had yet to get used to his increased height and more importantly weight he couldn’t afford to make a mistake and give away his position.

Soon an angry roar echoed back through the trees in the direction his father and Willa had disappeared, and they moved as fast as they could towards the terrifying sound just in time to see Aran sink his spear into the side of a truly monstrous bear with metallic looking fangs jutting down past its chin. From the injuries the bear had already sustained to its back legs as expected Aran and Willa must have both used the typical attack that wolves back on earth had used to disable their prey; hamstringing.

While Willa’s jaws probably weren’t powerful enough to sever the Achilles tendon of something as large as the bear which was an Elemental Mana Beast known as an Iron-fanged Bear and was known for its defensive capabilities and immense physical power. Iron-fanged Bears got their name from their ability to eat ores and use them to strengthen their bones with the metal, as they grew stronger their bones and fangs would continue to harden until they could literally chew through tempered steel with the same ease that weaker Mana Beasts could flesh.

As Telram analysed the situation Jai watched with amazement as Aran and Will worked together darting in and out of range of the bear’s attacks as they slowly wore down their opponent. The method they were using was very different from his mother’s style of taking down her prey with a single brutal attack, but he couldn’t deny its effectiveness. Against an opponent like this bear even Jai’s mother would have a hard time due to its thick fur and rock-hard bones but it seemed to him that these two were merely playing with it!

Aran leaned back under a wild swing of one of the bear’s paws as Willa lunged forwards ripping at the bear’s already injured back legs causing it to roar once again in rage and pain as it attempted to spin around to strike at the agile wolf only to feel Aran’s spear slice into its side. Aran had given up on the idea of getting a decent pelt from the Iron-fanged Bear, if either he or Willa let their guard down for as little as a second those paws would take their head clean off.

This dance continued for a few minutes but soon the bear tired as blood dripped from the various wounds that covered its body, even its previously loud roars were little more than whines as it feebly attempted to defend itself from its attackers.

Seeing this Aran decided that wasting any more time would be a bad idea, while the Iron-fanged Bear was a fairly powerful Mana Beast in its own right it was far from the most powerful in the forest. Up until now Aran had avoided using Mana where possible, saving most of it for an emergency and only really using it to avoid the bear’s powerful attacks. But now he saw his chance green energy coalesced around the point of his spear as he readied a powerful attack. Along with the glowing energy wind whistled through the branches of the trees as it too was drawn in by the power that Aran was manifesting.

“Piercing Hurricane!” Aran shouted thrusting his spear forward which sent the gathered wind shooting forwards with a roar even louder than the one that the bear unleashed when he and Willa had hamstringed it. The stream of rapidly whirling wind slammed through a weak barrier of Mana that the bear had summoned before penetrating deep into its chest and exploding outwards shredding the bear’s internal organs.

“Holy crap,” Telram muttered upon seeing this, the attacks his father had used previously had barely been enough to do more than scratch it and he wondered why his father hadn’t just used that Martial Skill to kill it right away but then realised that if Aran hadn’t waited until the bear was worn down before using a technique like that, it could have easily dodged the attack or used its own Mana to defend against it meaning that all Aran would have done was use up a large amount of Mana. The Skill was too flashy to use as a surprise attack and it took time to charge it up for it to be useful as an opening attack.

As he realised this Aran fell to his knees panting hard Piercing Hurricane was his trump card and used almost half of his Mana reserves in one powerful attack. Planting the butt of his spear into the ground he pulled himself to his feet and turned back to see his son staring at him with an awestruck look on his face.

“Well son, I think this might be enough for today,” Aran said as his chest still heaved from exertion. Even though damaged the Iron-Fanged Bear still had enough meat on it to feed several families for a week and the metal in the bones could be refined into an alloy that was ideal for making weapons for cultivators as the metal was more conductive to Mana due to the process the beast used to strengthen its bones.

Together Telram and Aran made something akin to a stretcher from the fallen branches of the nearby trees and hoping that their makeshift method of carrying the bear’s massive carcass would hold made their way slowly out of the forest. Even with the stretcher manoeuvring their way back out of the forest was difficult, not only was the carcass large enough that they had to make several detours around particularly thick patches of trees, but its enormous weight meant that they had to stop so that Telram could rest occasionally but eventually they made it out.

“Well son,” Aran said as he looked back over his shoulder at Telram who was slowly turning red from the effort of holding his end of the stretcher. “What do you think of coming out hunting with me a couple of times a week?”

Try as he might Telram couldn’t think of a single reason to disagree with Aran, his family needed money more than ever now that they had an extra mouth to feed and he would learn a lot even of he just continued to watch his father hunt Mana Beasts. Besides he could feel how much Jai had enjoyed the trip and he didn’t want to disappoint his new friend.

“Sure dad,” he gasped in reply. “But can we worry about the details later? It’s going to take us a couple of hours to get back to Palamar now that we’re out of the forest.”

Aran just chuckled at the sight of his son wrestling with the weight of the stretcher, if Telram had to carry something as heavy as this back every time he went hunting with his father, he’d get stronger a lot faster than if he just did the same training that he had been doing with Gerry.

Besides a little fresh air never hurt anyone, right?