Glory

The chimp was in pain but it still managed to attack. It threw it's left fist at Ray's face from the ground.

It hit Ray and sent him flying into a nearby tree. He coughed up some blood and got ready to fight again. He saw the chimp already running at him with fists full of flames.

Ray's fist started to gather a bright light in them but it was stopped.

'Don't use your solar energy! This creature is the perfect sparring partner.' Arthur said in Ray's mind. He agreed.

He used his fist to clash with the chimp fists. A barrage of blows was exchanged, each fist matched by fist. This continued for 30 seconds but Ray quickly realized his fists were being damaged more compared to the chimp and he couldn't keep this up.

{beasts and humans were very different because beats had natural strength and pain defense greater then humans but most beasts had severely limited intelligence and resorted to ruthless attacks. Humans however bridged the gap with weaponry and fighting techniques.}

The chimp attacked with his left fist, at the same time Ray unclenched his right fist.

As the chimps attack was about to land Ray grabbed its forearm and moved to his left. The next second he pulled the chimp's fist toward him while sending an uppercut to its jaw. This attack lifted the chimp off the ground as it used the chimp's own momentum and Ray's power to deal fatal damage to the chimp.

It's skull was cracked and it's brain was damaged as it went flying back. Ray let out a sigh as he watched the chimpanzee laying on the ground without moving.

Rose had been watching the fight closely, ready to step in at any moment. She however was stunned.

'That was a [rank-F]{master stage} beast, yet he managed to beat it. He was also getting ready to use some mana which shouldn't be possible by a seven year old.' Rose thought to herself.

'well it was decent enough.' Arthur said with a disapproving tone. 'You could have done that after the first attack. You took unneeded damage to your fists. Your output was sloppy' Arthur continued to criticize his every move.

Hearing this Ray put on a depressed face. Rose immediately noticed this. 'Is he disappointed after defeat a rank-F at his age. What's wrong with him?'

"I'm impressed Ray. You managed to kill a rank-F at master stage." Rose said to cheer him up. She looked at him with a new light no longer thinking he was just arrogant.

"It was nothing more than practice." Ray said as instructed by Arthur.

He then walked over and shoved his arm into the chest of the beast. Rose's eyes went wide. She wasn't shocked he already knew about beast cores. What was shocking was the fire energy was draining from the core into Ray.

"RAY STOP! Are you trying to kill yourself!" Rose yelled at him with a hint of worry in her voice. Beast core mana was dangerous to humans because of it's chaos energy. Yet he was absorbing it so brazenly.

He ignored her and continued on.

Arthur had explained to Ray before this, that solar energy was the strongest purification energy. It is so strong that it can purify the harmful chaos energy in other cores. This allowed the user to consume elemental cores with great speed and safety.

———

Ray finished absorbing the energy of the core after 20 minutes.

He felt amazing and then he realized there was a strong pulsing in his chest. It was causing him a bit more pain with each pulse.

This was his core being forcefully formed.

{Usually at the age of 10 is when the core was fully formed which was why they tested that age group the most. The core starts forming at 5 and the process can be sped up in a mana dense area the that had the possibility of the body not being able to handle it. It was common among the rare pre-ten awakeners to form the core a month early or half a year, but 3 years early should've been impossible. The earliest recorded core being fully complete was by Arthur Solaris and it was 1 year early. The information was so old however it was presumed to be another myth of the great Arthur Solaris.}

"IT HURRRRRTS!" Ray cried out with a wretched voice. Rose started to sprint over to him, in the same second Arthur spoke.

"Release all the energy of your core with a mana discharge." Arthur said calmly. "use the energy release to strengthen your body, bones then nerves, then muscles, and last skin."

Ray did as he instructed and tries to collect the energy flowing out of his core.

The waves gradually began to weaken and decrease frequency. Ray could also feel his body getting stronger and the sun light that barely pierced through the trees, helping him absorb it.

Rose watched from a distance with utter disbelief 'My brother just got rank-F after absorbing a core.'

He's only seven, how is that possible!'

Her face was had a shocked expression.

After ten minutes his core was finally contained. Ray has never felt better. The solar energy, he could feel coursing through his it was providing him with what felt like infinite energy.

'This is the difference in power between an awakener and non awakener.' Ray thought to himself.

He woke up from his trance. He looked at his sister's surprised expression and gave her a warm and arrogant smile. "I told you it wouldn't take 6 years."

She was too speechless to say anything. She thought about what this would mean for their branch family. She smiled back and said. "little brother is so spectacular, when we get back we will check your element." She decided to be nice to him, since he could become the family head with enough time.

"Even father will be pleased with this. Let's go back." Rose said as she thought about all the great possibilities.

"We can't leave yet, the hunt just began." Ray said while looking around the forest.