7

I woke up early, earlier than usual as there was disruption in the mana in the room. I was instantly up and taking in all the information I could, but quickly realized we were not being attacked. I was glad because if someone had the ability to get that close to me, even if I was asleep, without me knowing then we might have been in trouble.

Locating the source of the disturbance I could see the mana in Arthur's core fluctuating erratically. I closed the distance and put my hand to his sternum, the heat his abdomen was giving off was surprising.

I hadn't considered the difficulty for mages to assimilate cores. After all my assimilation had been easy and painless, but I had been using a mana I had known my whole life against a coreless mage. Arthur has 2 different forces vying for control even if his beast will isn't trying to take over. It's the pure mana of one of those Asuras against the body of a red core 4 year old.

I began cycling bits of my mana to ease the pain for him, I wouldn't complete assuage him as this is part of the tempering. The assimilation process strengthens the body much the same way building muscle does. You must break it down and let it repair itself. If I were to help him too much it would limit his potential.

I could hear running from down the hall and Virion bust through the door, as Arthur let out a pained gasp.

"AARGH!" He pulled in on himself but I sat him up.

"It's getting worse…" he gritted out.

"You must focus and cycle your mana, remember what I taught you." I said calmly waving Virion away, he watched from close enough that he could help if he needed. Arthur still gritting his teeth straightened as much as he could and calmed his breathing, but I could still see the tension in his body as he gripped his knees tightly.

"Remember, spread out your mana to every corner of your body and then hold it there. Focus on the sensation as the mana saturates every inch of your body." He didn't respond but by looking at him manipulating the mana I could tell he heard.

After about 10 minutes I no longer needed to ease the pain, and then a little under an hour later he was finally finished. Left panting from exhaustion, sweat pouring from his body.

"Thanks." He breathed out as he flopped back on his bed, arms splayed out to each side.

"How did you know how to assimilate with a beast will, brat?"Virion looked at me with interest and I just shrugged.

"Because I'm a tamer like Arthur, old man." He sputtered slightly.

"O-old man?! Not Gramps?" He asked incredulously and I could hear Arthur laughing from his spot. "And what's this about you being a beast tamer?" He asked.

"Just what I said. I have the will of a Lunar Leopard inside me. Also I'm not calling you Master that's for sure. Plus Arthur is the only one that's going to be your grandson, so old man it is." I nodded at my words, the logic seeming sound in my own mind.

"What?! Why do I have to be his grandson?" Arthur asked, his head the only thing coming off the bed to look at me and Virion.

"Because obviously you're going to marry Tessia." Me and Virion said in near unison. Arthur just huffed and let his head fall back on his mattress. Virion looked back at me appraisingly.

"We'll talk more about you being a tamer later. For now get some rest, we will begin both of your trainings in earnest tomorrow

Several weeks passed before Arthur finally stopped having spasms to the extent of that night. Now they were manageable and didn't completely incapacitate him, though he still had a while to go before being fully assimilated. On his first day out in the city he managed to beat up some poor elf kid because he didn't know the customs of duels.

To be fair the rules are pretty dumb and really are only worth following between 2 conjurers, but I digress.

Our schedule was soon set in stone of meditation in the morning, into training before spending time with Tessia during lunch. At night was when me and Arthur would do solo training unless the one or the other wanted to spar. He was quite the agreeable sparring partner, not taking anything personal and absorbed any criticism and worked to fix his mistakes. And he gave equally good feedback.

We both saw massive improvements in our coordination with our bodies. And while I was curious how he could be so out of sync, all of his sword techniques seemingly incompatible with his body, I never asked. I wasn't one to pry, I only cared about getting stronger.

Tessia managed to form her core at the age of 8 when most elves don't awaken until 10. With that she joined our training sessions and this seemed to grow our trios bond even more. As the years went by I started to see Tess more and more as a little sister, and Arthur a younger brother.

And finally after 3 long years Arthur finished assimilating with his beast will, having sent me, Virion and Tess all flying back from the aftermath. Subsequently passing out after he did so, but seeing and feeling the blast really showed how strong of a will he had tamed. This Asura must have been strong even amongst other Asuras.

All of this led to me and Arthur in our room as Virion dropped news none of us expected.

"Arthur! I have good news. The teleportation gate that is supposed to open in two years will be opening early. There is a tournament that will be held in the city of Xyrus in 4 months. This tournament will be a very important event for the future because both dwarves and elves are sending youths as representatives for both the tournament and as preliminary students to your human academy. During the tournament we can sneak you back into Sapin without the humans knowing at that time."

I could see the excitement full Arthur's face as he shot up out of bed. Though Tessia seemed crushed by the news and I rubbed her back soothingly. It would take a blind man to not see how fond she had grown of Arthur in these 3 years.

"And you Leo, will be partipating in the tournament as one of our representatives!" All eyes turned to me and for a moment I was surprised.

"Do you think it will be alright old man? I'm not sure if any kids my age will be able to compete with me. Not to sound arrogant or anything, but even Arthur has fallen behind mana wise due to having to focus on assimilation." Virion nodded his head at my words but still smiled.

"No worries on that front because as your teacher I'm imposing a handicap on you." He grinned as we all waited to see what the handicap would be.

"You must keep your gravity magic weighing you down 75% of what you can bear, and you're only allowed close range wind augmentations, only physical attacks on your opponents. I trust your judgement to keep yourself from being injured."

I mulled over his words but eventually nodded. It wasn't too different to what I did when sparring with Arthur or Tess due to our differences in core cultivation.

Soon Virion and Tessia left the room, with the time getting late. I was just about to take a shower when me and Arthur both heard a cracking sound. My ears instantly located the sound as coming from Arthur's robe.

"Kyu~" "Kyu~"

It seems his egg has finally hatched.

Arthur sifted through the robe before falling back with a gasp.

"Didn't you know it was an egg?" I asked and he looked back and forth from me to the robe on the chair, where you could see it rustling.

"Huh? Of course not! I just thought it was some stone." He said still startled. Soon the creature managed to free itself from the robe and a tiny dragon sat on the chair. All black, it looked closer to a shadow panther cub but with horns and scales.

"Kyu~?" It cooed again as it stared at Arthur

"She thinks you're her mother." I said

"How do you know it's a girl, and how do you know what it said?" I just shrugged at his words and looked back at the little dragon studying it.

"Hi there little fella, I'm Arthur." He reached out his hand and the little dragon leaped off the chair and into his lap. Arthur hesitated but soon began to let the creature.

I was thinking though. Surely this was the offspring of an Asura, but was it already truly sentient? Mana beasts only gained sentience after they reach A class, but is that the same for this species?

"Kyu~" It mewed before shooting its tongue out and licked Arthur's left forearm. I sensed the mana fluctuation that preceded the forming of runic tattoos around the spot he had been licked.

"She's bonded with you, judging by the synchronization of your manas I would say it's an equals bond." I said as I stopped down to look closer at the baby dragon. I had kept my distance so it wouldn't accidentally bond with me.

"She just talked in my head." He said and I nodded. Seems they are born sentient.

"I guess I'm your mother. But I'm a boy so you should call me papa."

It seemed they were having a telepathic conversation, I still hadn't gotten back my ability to do that. Will I never be able to again until I gain a bond of my own? Can mana beast bond with another mana beast, or does being inside this body no longer qualify me as a mana beast?

"That's right! Your name is Sylvie. And this is Leo." Arthur said gesturing towards me. I crouched down and used a finger scratch under her chin

"You can call me uncle, brother or Leo." She looked at Arthur and tilted her head.

"He's something like a brother to me, I so I guess he would be your Uncle if I'm your papa." Arthur said.

"Kyu~" (Uncle!)"

I nodded and patted her head before standing up.

"Uncle it is then." I said.

"You really can understand her?"

"I told you I could? Why would I lie?" I replied and Arthur scratched the back of his head with a chuckle.

"It's not that I thought you were lying, just it's pretty amazing." I just shrugged again and turned back to the shower again.

"A growing mana beast needs lots of milk and mana beast meat. Regular non mana beast meat is fine, but she will grow stronger and better with mana beast meat. Cores specifically will be the most beneficial, but they won't satiate hunger. Think of cores as cultivating for mages."

"Thank you Leo, I'll keep that in mind."

"Of course."