Beast-Tamer: Limitless Evolution

Asking Questions

The professor waited until the murmurs quietened fully before he spoke again.

"For the benefit of the few new students, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Professor Lark, and I will be your lecturer for the foreseeable future." He said calmly.

"Since it is still early in the term for you, we will begin with the foundation. Not the shallow version you must have become used to to gain admission, but the principles that you need for proper application. If you wish you understand beasts, be it to study, enhance, or nurture them, you must understand the very thing that defines their existence." He pointed to his chest.

"Mana."

Osho immediately perked up, leaning forward slightly as Gale shifted in his lap while Bedrock tilted his head from beneath the table. Meanwhile, the professor swept his gaze across the room.

"Humans treat Mana as an external force. We channel it, refine it, and integrate it into our bodies through a variety of methods, with the most common being through our tamed beasts. However, it's rare that a human can innately use Mana. Beasts are different. They are born with bodies designed to accept and use Mana naturally. Their organs, muscles, bones, and even their marrow are intrinsically tied to Mana from the start. Where you and I must force Mana to obey, a beast lives in it."

A series of nods passed through the students, most seeing this as common knowledge, others looking a bit enlightened, and some seeming genuinely interested. Osho was part of the last group.

Without hesitation, he raised his hand, and Professor Lark immediately nodded towards him.

"That's the primary reason they manifest affinities so easily, right? Even while still within their eggs?" He asked with an intense gaze.

Several heads turned his way, and the professor raised a brow, but he seemed more approving than irritated.

"Correct. But you should also be aware that the environment plays a key role in their Affinity, yes?" He asked, and Osho nodded.

"Yes, but it isn't strictly the case as a species of beasts that naturally have a certain Affinity may still possess that Affinity even after its young are produced in a different environment," Osho added, and the professor smiled a little.

"Also correct. If a species of beasts is known to have a specific Affinity, like say Firebound Hounds, and they end up in a place rich with water Affinity Mana, chances are that the next few generations produced will still have the fire Affinity with a few variants here and there, with the status quo only changing after sufficient time has passed." Hearing this, Osho nodded and typed down a few things.

The professor nodded and continued, his tone deepening.

"Now, you've all read about cultivation methods and know that beasts advance through the ranks after their aura undergoes a deep and qualitative change, reflecting the qualitative increase in their overall abilities as well. However, how exactly do beasts get stronger and advance through the ranks?" He walked around the stage, and everyone looked at him curiously, sensing that it was a rhetorical question.

Indeed, he continued.

"The most natural way for a beast to advance through the ranks is aging. A beast's potential is essentially how long they have until they mature. If a beast has Master Rank potential, then they will naturally reach such a rank within their lifespan as they get older, as that is simply the natural direction they have to follow. However..." He raised his hand, and Mana churned as a translucent construct of the stuff manifested into the shape of a canine.

"It is rare that this happens, especially in the wild. Beasts are constantly at odds with each other, and death among beasts is so common, that even if a beast has high potential, it's very likely for it to be killed before it can naturally mature, which is why beasts that naturally age to reach the peak of their potential are both rare and incredibly dangerous. In a race where the young die often, fear the old." Those words struck Osho as he thought about it.

He knew about the aging process, but he never thought about it from that angle.

'Looking back, creatures like the Skyblight Harbinger and the Abyssal Scrounger were probably very young. I don't know what rank the Scrounger was, but I'm fairly certain that even with its large arsenal of unnatural abilities, the Harbibger would struggle immensely against any slightly more experienced beast at the same rank.' He mused.

"That's the first way for beasts to advance through the ranks," Lark continued. "The second, and more common way for this to happen is through them ingesting certain materials. I'm sure you all know this, but the question is, why?" The construct shimmered, and within its body, threads of light coursed through its frame like glowing veins.

"This," He said, "is the conduit constitution. All beasts possess it in some form. It's the reason they can ingest external materials. Ores, plants, other beasts, and so on. The conduits allow them to refine the energies and properties of these materials into their own strength. To a human, ingesting a raw fire crystal would be suicide. To a fire Affinity beast, it is nourishment, as their bodies are designed to filter and harness Mana-infused matter."

"However, this process is not without limits. A beast's constitution aligns with its Affinity, meaning it can only truly benefit from materials of that nature. An earth golem cannot ingest a wind herb without damaging or destroying itself. Regardless, it is faster than the previous process, and beasts know this, which is why territory disputes between beasts happen frequently whenever there is a rare resource that could benefit them. There are also Mana-neutral items that will help any beast regardless of the Affinity, but those are hard to come by." Hearing this, Osho noted down most of the key points before tilting his head. He deliberated slightly before raising his hand, and the professor almost seemed to expect it as he once more nodded at him.

"I'm assuming there is a limit to how much these conduits can perform depending on the beast?" He asked, and Lark nodded.

"Indeed. The complexity of a beast's conduits determines how fast they can refine the things they ingest, the quality of the things they can ingest, as well as how far ingesting can take them. This is also another method used to test a beast's potential. For instance, two newly hatched fire-type beasts at the same starting point may be given the same material to ingest, but one could have Elite rank potential and the other Adept rank potential. Despite starting at the same point and getting the same materials, the former will advance faster due to having more complex and better conduits than the latter. Make sense?" He clarified, and Osho was silent for a moment before asking further.

"So theoretically, if one was to successfully evolve a beast, does that mean they are rewiring the conduits while simultaneously adding more to increase the complexity?" As soon as he asked the question, a sudden silence fell over the hall, with many of the gazes on him turning into surprise.

Even Professor Lark seemed a bit taken aback by the question, but nevertheless, he answered.

"Well, as you said, it's only theoretical, but indeed. Evolution could be seen as rewiring and increasing the complexity of these conduits. However, this is unconfirmed since such a thing has never been documented before, but it was a point of contention among us scientists when evolution was at the top of our priority list." Lark said and stared at Osho to see if he had any more questions, and the other students appeared to be in a similar boat.

None of them had seen him before, so they guessed he was one of the new students.

And indeed, Osho wasn't done.

"What's the correlation between these conduits, bloodlines, and concepts?" Osho asked with a burning gaze, and Lark blinked.

"... Haha... a curious one you are." He chuckled and shook his head. "As much as I'd like to answer now, it seems like we've deviated quite a bit from the original topic. How about you stay after class? I can answer your questions then. For now, let's focus on the lesson." He said in an almost fatherly tone, and Osho relaxed as his expression eased. He leaned back into his seat and nodded.

Only then did he register the way his classmates were staring at him, and he felt his face start to warm.

'Thank goodness my skin is dark. I guess I got a bit carried away.' He thought and scratched behind his neck, clearly embarrassed.

Lark noticed and just chuckled to himself before continuing the lesson.

Osho quickly composed himself and continued to listen with rapt attention.

Even though his mind was burning with many questions, he was still soaking up everything the professor said, eager to learn more.