Since Kechara is fast asleep I decide to study the book for an hour or so before I go to sleep as well. When I wake up in the morning the first thing I do is check on Kechara, who is still fast asleep. I notice her wings have grown a bit but other than that I don't see any more physical changes.

Then I carefully use my sacred power to take a look at her core, being very careful not to let my power touch it. I really don't want to be drained again like I was yesterday, although as I look at her core maybe I should let it drain me. Kechara's core has become a sacred core, meaning Kechara became a sacred beast.

From what I understand that means she evolved to a higher grade of beast, meaning she should be much more powerful. As I watch her core I notice something odd, her core is slowly improving itself. After looking at it from every angle I still can't figure out how or why it is improving.

The changes are very slow but it is still something I have never seen before, and it will be very useful if I can figure it out. If I can make my core upgrade itself over time then maybe I won't be limited to just rank four. Unfortunately, I didn't notice this last night when I scanned her so I can't be sure if it was already happening before I was drained.

Kechara is still fast asleep so this isn't something she is doing through meditation. I do know that last night before this happened she had mana, but now all I can find in her is sacred power. Which means even if I wanted to enchant something she no longer has mana to give me to work with.

That is fine, I had already decided that my new way of enchanting was only good for emergencies. Right now I am far more interested in studying Kechara's core to try and figure out how it is improving itself. The only way I can think to get a better look is to let my sacred power touch it, but I want to use up most of it first in case I get drained again.

Core Upgrade Progress: 94%

Once I only have a little bit of sacred power left I reach into Kechara with it and allow it to touch her core. Luckily I don't get drained, but her core does absorb the power that I touch it with. While I lose the power I use to touch her core I am able to get a little information at the same time.

By using up the last of my power this way I am able to get a sense of what is going on. There is a mass of energy in the center of her core that is causing the improvements. My best guess is this is the energy that I saw move from her mother's corpse to Kechara.

That would make sense, it is a way to guarantee that the next generation becomes a sacred beast capable of being the guardian. I would imagine that the energy would get stronger with each generation as well. It can probably only do so much improvement, after all Kechara wasn't a sacred beast before I interfered.

The fact that I helped her become a sacred beast early means the energy should improve her rank instead of just making her a sacred beast. While I can't use this method on myself, maybe I can figure out something similar. If I take a mass of my sacred power and figure out how to give it a mission then maybe I can inject it into the center of my core.

That is a lot of ifs and maybes, but it still will be worth a little experimentation at least. If I can learn more about my sacred power then it will be worth the effort even if it doesn't work out. Besides, if I can understand what is happening to Kechara I might be able to help her out as well.

Since Kechara is still asleep I decide to meditate to recover some sacred power. When she wakes up and starts moving around it wakes me up, about an hour and a half has passed. When I open my eyes Kechara is looking at the cold fire pit and then she turns and gives me a look.

With a laugh I get up, start a fire, and start cooking some breakfast for the two of us. Kechara sits by my side and waits, impatiently, for her breakfast, you would think she was starving from the way she is watching the food cook. Once the food is ready she digs in without even waiting for it to cool down, maybe becoming a sacred beast increased her appetite.

Thinking of that I don't even try to resist when she turns to look at my breakfast, I give her half. Then I very quickly eat what is left on my plate so that she can't beg for more. When she is sure there isn't a crumb left she goes over to get a drink, I'm starting to wonder if I have enough food after all.

When she is done drinking I have her come over and lay down in front of me. I place my hand on her side and again send my sacred power into her body so I can examine her core some more. Now that I am not as worried about being drained I let my power touch her core and as it is absorbed I replace it.

I continue feeding my power into her at a slow rate until it is all gone again, this allows me more time to study. Through the constant connection of my sacred power I am able to learn a lot about the power that is at the center of her core. My guess was right, it is a power that has passed down through all the generations of the guardians.

From it I also learn that the guardian is indeed meant to keep the driders and what controls them contained. In fact the guardians life force is what maintains the barriers, if ever there is no guardian then the barrier will fail. It would be a nightmare if those driders were to suddenly escape this mountain and spread to the lands of the beastmen.

While I am confident the beastmen could fight back, they would not work together to do so. The tribes would be picked off one by one, and what's worse is the bodies may be turned into more driders. A beastman drider is something I never want to encounter, not unless I have a dragon on my side.