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Carian was a prestigious man, his achievements were known far and wide across the Empire. One of the best scholars the debate houses had known. Yet even he was somewhat ostracized because of his unconventional ways. Not following the traditions and teachings of the past perfectly always resulted in the resentment of the older, more powerful scholars.
Even so, he had been called by the ruler of this massive Empire, the biggest one the world under the Stars had ever witnessed.
Entering his office, he was curious to know why his Excellency needed his service. He was a great man, but there were plenty like him. The ruler was an older man, his hair as white as the Stars and only long enough to reach his ears. His posture was strong, and his fierce look said enough about him. To lead so many wars to a complete victory while managing such a country was a feat to be admired for.
"Your Excellency, it is a pleasure meeting you.", Carian said as he took a knee before the lord.
"The feeling is mutual," his voice didn't contain any emotion, he was merely following etiquette. "Carian, I'll be brief since I don't have much time. Are you willing to become an advisor?"
Carian quickly caught on and got down to business. "I assume that I wouldn't be your advisor, since I don't think you need one such as me to help you out."
"Correct, you would be teaching a child I picked up.", the emperor's voice didn't waver in the slightest. Every single word he spoke was to achieve something in his plans, nothing was a coincidence.
'Hmm, he's lost two children to sickness and war, and now he has "picked" up some random child? A bastard child maybe?'
Carian didn't really know what to say, would he waste his life in servitude of some unknown child. When it came to riches or fame, Carian cared little, but if his life's work would be useless, then he'd rather kill himself than continue working.
The emperor looked him dead in the eyes and could see the internal turmoil in the advisor's heart.
"If it can be any consolation, I have a few plans for the kid.", in response, Carian's eyes widened slightly. If the ruler of the biggest continent had some plans for him, that only meant that he would serve as some kind of general or perhaps an internal affairs officer. If he could lead him to be the best of the best, then his achievements would grow as well.
"If it can help relieve some of the work that has been placed upon your shoulders, I would gladly do so."
"Good, he's around 11 years old and hates the scholars since they always correct him. Be open-minded when you're around him. I'll provide you with a salary that's around 150% of a normal advisor. If you have any more questions, tell me."
Carian had a ton of questions, although he understood the animosity towards the scholars, since they also annoyed him and most ordinary people. Still, he knew that the emperor wouldn't have the time to respond to each one of his remarks. If he had to guide this child for years to come, then intel on that child would be his biggest need.
"If you're willing to provide me with such a generous offer, and you have bigger plans in mind. Mind I know the origin of this child? Is he from some big noble family? A general's child?"
"No, he's the child of a normal soldier that died. His mother died when she gave birth to him. He has no further family connections as far as I'm aware. If you think it's not worth being his advisor, I'll call for someone else, this is your last chance to reject it."
"That won't be necessary, your majesty. I'll mold this child into the perfect adult.", Carian didn't ask any more questions. Just by hearing the origin of this child and the conversation with the Emperor, he had a big hunch of what these plans were.
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Thurin was busy handling the attacks of the Terrabear, fighting the leader of the pack was a lot harder than he'd like to admit. Unlike a normal Terrabear, this one was capable of thinking and learning attack patterns. It could even use magic in a more natural sense.
Lighting Claws were a trait they were born with, but if they lived long enough, they would figure out how to use that magic affinity for other attacks. It used earth magic to make the ground under their prey unstable, they could use water to increase their elemental advantage. In some rare cases, they could even heal their own wounds with Light magic.
This one was such a specimen, it often destroyed the ground with its might and summoned water streams that were pretty strong. A normal human would be pushed back, even if it was just water in the end. The Terrabear only used it to increase its own attacks. Thurin was long coated in a layer of water, he was glad his hair wasn't long enough to constantly be in the way.
Instead, he was certain that if he got hit once with the claws, he would be done for. Fighting against a smaller Terrabear was hard for him a few weeks ago, yet now he was holding his own when he faced the biggest one yet. The only issue was that his attacks, although powerful and devastating, were instantly healed. The bear didn't hold back on its own health and healed everything as quickly as it could.
In the long run, the bear had more energy, so fighting until it was tired wasn't an option. Thurin had to succeed, it was as simple as that. He had been studying and training all this time in order to do this. If he screamed for help, Carian would undoubtedly rush over and sacrifice himself if that meant he could live on.
An explosion of Blue Flames appeared out of nowhere, killing a smaller cub. The explosion caught both the Terrabear and Thurin's attention. Seeing Lucas standing there, healing the soldiers while staring at the fuming corpse of the Terrabear, he knew that he needed to succeed as well.
Still, getting hit once meant his death, that principle almost accompanied every single fight against the Terrabears. Dodging the never-ending attacks according to the manual written by the scholars was useful. As long as he had stamina and could navigate the broken ground, he could jump to the blind spots in the bear's attacks and strike back if possible, which was quite rare.
But by fighting it in such a safe manner, he never had any great opportunities to attack it. He needed to either destroy the heart or the brain, because the rest could be healed up in an instant. If only this one didn't learn healing magic, then he would have an easier time. Now, each time he made progress, it was reverted within seconds.
Without being capable of using elements himself, Thurin had worked himself to the bone to figure out a fighting style against the Terrabears that improved upon the manual made by the scholars. If he followed the current manual to the letter, he would be dead. Strange factors like the uneven ground and the enemy healing themselves weren't recorded and were never expected.
Thus, Thurin took matters into his own hands. It took a few weeks to create anything, he only had to test it out. This time, he would not only succeed himself, but also prove all the scholars wrong. Seeing how Lucas used magic and his aura, Thurin started to think how his own mana could be used. During his childhood, everyone learned how to make weapons, since that was all that mana could really do efficiently.
The scholars have sought many different ways to create new weapons that were more efficient, stronger or sharper. Thousands of different sword and axes were made, yet nobody really tried to investigate defensive mana. Since they were born with stronger bodies and could reinforce their own body through trials, the focus was always on the offensive.
Now, Thurin started to gather mana as he dodged the furious attacks of the Terrabear. Slowly, a light blue mist started to come out of his body. A helmet, bracers, leggings and a chest plate appeared from the mist. The mana had to be connected to his body or else it would disperse, so by using mist as a connector, he created a unique flexible armor.
His helmet had the shape of a wolf's head that resembled a legendary wolf that lived in the northern lands. Donning his new armor, Thurin looked like a strange otherworldly presence with the mist leaking out of his armor.
Instead of moving in to fight again, he backed up and stared at the Terrabear as he awaited its inevitable attack. Carian was busy with the second-largest bear, but had enough time to check on his young master.
Seeing him just standing there gave him pause. His strange armor and mist made him almost forget it was his own student. "Thurin! What are you doing?!", he was shocked to see his young master giving up his life so easily, but his attention was locked on the Terrabear in front of him. He could only gain a slight bit of relief when he saw Lucas rush towards him.
Thurin saw Lucas approach, but he held his hand up. Don't interfere, was how Lucas interpreted his sign. So he prepared a healing spell and kept it circulating inside his body. The moment Thurin would get hurt, he would unleash it no matter what. His whole goal now was to establish a good relation with the people here, if their most important member died then he would be in a lot of trouble.
Thurin braced himself as the electrically charged claw speeded towards him. If his idea was a bust, then his only chance at survival was his enhanced body. While the chance existed, he wouldn't want to bet on it.
BAM
Thurin was flung to the side, Lucas lifted his hands and waited until the smoke cleared. Carian kept an eye on the situation, a single hit wouldn't mean death, but if the young master was in electric shock, then he could only bet on Lucas.
A figure emerged from the smoke, Thurin stood proud as his smile beamed. "Hahaha, I did it Carian!", while he may have been wet from the previous water streams, his armor wasn't, so it could easily handle the attack.
"Great job, young master! Still, be careful!", Carian shouted as he kept his attention on the monster in front of him. He knew of Carian's project, it was something he wanted to talk about the moment he first faced off against one of the smaller Terrabears. Carian knew what kind of heresy this would've been if this was discussed among the scholars back home, but here, he encouraged him with all his efforts.
Lucas smiled as he saw a new way of mana utilization, his mind spun on how to use it for his own benefit as he cancelled the spell inside his body.
Thurin rushed towards the Terrabear unafraid of death. Getting grazed by attacks would've normally been an enormous issue, but now, Thurin just made sure that his armor was taking the brunt of the force and he could counterattack. His punches kept coming no matter what kind of move the Terrabear pulled. It knew that its life was on a time limit.
Survival instincts kicking in, he turned around and rushed into the forest. Right as it was about to escape, two chains grabbed his hind legs. Lucas was inspired by Asta and created his own spell to capture his enemies, he didn't think he would have to use it so soon, but was glad he had already seen someone use a similar spell.
Since the chains were connected to Lucas, the Terrabear knew that it wouldn't escape. Going against a man who instakilled a cub of his would be a terrible idea. Then again, there wasn't a choice, it would die here, but it would go down fighting if it had to.
The Terrabear, now intent on dying, had to take a danger to its species with it, no matter the cost. It swung its claws and caused as much of a ruckus as it could. Thurin had to jump from broken earth spike to broken earth spike in order to get close to it.
With his armor taking care of the threat of electrification, Thurin didn't hold back on his punches. Fist after fist, the bear couldn't keep up with its healing. Suddenly, Thurin stepped back and gathered mana around his fist, a massive specter of a fist appeared as he punched forward. A giant hole appeared in the bear's stomach.
No matter how great the bear's control of magic was, this couldn't be healed. It could only fall forward and die a painful death. Killing the bear, Thurin didn't relish in his victory. Instead, he quickly turned around to help Carian, but that wasn't necessary as Carian and his small army were already watching him for some time. Impressed by their victory, they cheered Thurin's name.
Carian placed his hand on Thurin's shoulder. "You've done amazing, young master. Your use of mana will go down in The Empire's history. I'll make sure of it. You've made me proud to be your advisor."
Thurin had tears in his eyes from hearing that, he was already extremely happy for beating the Terrabear, but now Carian's words unleashed all the emotion at once. His smile shone brightly as he hugged Carian. His surprised face showed he wasn't expecting such a reaction, still, he softly smiled as he hugged him back.
Lucas, who was watching from afar, stepped close. "You did great Thurin, I have to say I'm impressed.", at which Thurin's eyes widened greatly, did he surprise his friend with his strength?
"Sadly, I'll have to ask all of you to leave as quickly as possible.", everyone looked dumbfounded at his words. Lucas only pointed upwards. It wasn't clear, but something that was flying far above them was coming closer. "I believe the blood of the Terrabears attracted its attention."
Carian quickly caught on and ordered everyone to retreat as fast as possible, even if they had to leave behind the corpses of the Terrabears.
"Starborn Lucas, are you coming with? This is a Black Griffin, its power is higher than any Terrabear."
"And leave behind the precious kills you have achieved? No, I want to test my strength against it.", Lucas said with confidence, Carian tried to investigate Lucas's power and could tell something had changed drastically. If he wanted to figure out his own battle strength, Carian had no place to object.
"Then I wish you the best of luck. If I can give a piece of advice, be careful of its Dark Beam.", Carian said as he turned around and ran into the forest. Thurin was running alongside him, before disappearing into the woods, he glanced at Lucas.
"You better come back!"
Lucas smiled in response, clearly not worried in the slightest. He had grown powerful enough to easily handle a Terrabear, which he would have some trouble with if he was Rank 1. So now that they weren't a challenge anymore, it was time to test his own limits.
From the sky, a massive Raven like griffin landed on the cave of the Terrabears. Looking down on Lucas, its beady black eyes radiated a certain brilliance. Lucas checked the beast with his willpower and found it to be around Rank 2.
"Hahaha, so now you're going to give me control? Fine by my, don't bother healing, just focus on keeping us sane. Let's see how powerful our Rune really is."