The beast expelled its potent fires, its extreme heat not letting anyone get close unscathed.
"RROOOOOAAARRR!"
Its ferocious roars were heard by the entire village, and this included the baby with an old man's consciousness.
'That's what it is! A dragon attacking us lowly commoners!' He frantically thought.
***
Men and women joined forces to fight the Third Force Beast together.
Those who possessed a mana core would be able to perceive a faint cover of mana enveloping the beast's body which slightly enhanced its bodily capabilities.
Coupled with its strong mana, it was truthfully a deadly foe for many.
In a place like Hocmoc village where commoners resided, not a single individual possessed enough strength to oppose a Third Force Beast alone and win.
Most of them could only defeat a Second Force Beast with teammates, and only a select few could do it independently. Yet, such a thing doesn't matter as every force has a substantial strength gap that expands as the force increases.
One could wipe out a Fifth Force Beast in one spell but nearly lose to a Sixth Force Beast, but this considered that the mage was at the zenith of their rank and used one of their strongest spells.
A luminous green cloak of mana wrapped Yves's longsword, smaller green motes hovering around it.
Mana is the very being of humans. Without a mana core, it would be troublesome to even live.
Mana coursed through the blood and veins of every living thing on Earth, and every being has a mana core.
It enhances your mind, physical attributes, and nearly everything to do with a human.
And of course, covering things with mana increases its capabilities and effectiveness.
Similar to the beast's sheet of mana, Yves not only increased his sword's durability for the tough skin of the beast, but it also added to its sharpness, boosting its lethality.
Everyone who entered this fight had mana covering their weapon, although the color varied on the person's affinity.
Everyone in Salvador's family adopted the green color, symbolizing they all shared the wind affinity.
"Areco Volum!"
A petite woman with auburn hair released a translucent green spear at the beast.
It tore through the air, on track to pierce straight through the skull of the beast and kill it instantly.
Yet, before it could come within five feet of the beast, it shot out its fiery mana at the arrow, obliterating it instantly and still traveling to the girl.
"That was a Second Force Spell! J-just how!"
Akin to beasts and mages, spells also were scaled on the 'Force' Power system.
The orb of fire shot at the girl. It bent and warped at the sheer speed it flew at.
"Areco Volush!"
The lady stuck her hand out, conjuring a thick wall of pure wind mana in an attempt to shield herself from the vicious mana ball the beast discharged.
Despite it being reinforced by another three thin layers, they all got shattered effortlessly under the might of a Third Force Beast's power.
"Oh."
She understood that it was believable enough that it could break through her Second Force Spell, but a defense-type spell that conjured a wall nearly two dozen inches thick?
It was simply unfathomable.
Not only was Yves's estimate of the power the beast obtained a severe lowball, but the beast was also practically an entire stage upper.
At the current moment, it was a Third Force Beast in the Zenith Stage.
This meant the beast was about ready enough to break through to the Fourth Force stage, and if it happened to do so early on in this fight it would mark the end for everyone in the village.
The orb of fire tore through the girl's shoulder, blowing off her entire arm.
A large boom resounded, akin to a gunshot. This could be heard deep into the cellar which Salvador was locked.
"AAAHHHH!" A holler of pure misery crept down the spines of many, some even shuddering and hesitating to attack the beast.
Blood splattered onto the pavement ground, and bits of bone and muscle were scattered within a three-foot radius of the girl.
Her entire arm from the shoulder down was eviscerated, leaving a loose patch of skin hanging from the shoulder.
The sheer power from the attack nearly blew off her complete arm, and the fire only made it worst.
The fire scorched her exposed arm, flaring to her neck before Aline did something about it.
"Aqual!"
A ball of water splashed onto the lady, quelling the fires just enough for her to get rid of the rest.
'This can't go on for longer... Someone will die if no one does something.'
Yves went deep into his mind for a second before coming up with a solution.
He released a deep breath and regained his composure, his eyes filled with resolute and life.
"LAYLA! I'LL DRAW IT TOWARDS YOUR TRAPS, JUST SET THEM DOWN, NOW!" Yves shouted, running towards the beast.
He got close enough to capture its attention, inflating the cover of mana around his body to emit a larger and more evident mana signature.
Just as he expected, the beast was hungry for mana and relentlessly charged at him.
He located the location Layla put her mana traps and dashed over to them, releasing a First Force spell to maintain the beast's attention.
A small green circle of magic was dimly flashing, further guiding Yves where to run.
The mana signature from the traps disappeared as the two got close, which made Yves further grow his mana.
"ROOOOAAAARRRRR!"
'Eat this bitch.'
The beast stepped onto one of the mana circles, and instantly a large green mana spike shot out, piercing through the entire leg of the beast.
Perfectly positioned to account for the beast's squirming and movement after getting gravely injured, another mana trap exploded, further injuring the beast.
It fell to the ground, and a soft rumble followed.
Shallow huffs could be heard. The mana that radiated from the beast weakened, although it was still present.
"ONE MORE!" Yves shouted, prepping a spell of his own.
Layla reached out her arm and closed her eyes. For a few seconds, nothing ensued, pure silence.
Yet, all the color drained from her face, her eyes a glistening green.
"Ariakt VIKTU!"
An almost invisible arrow of mana tore through the beast's head, destroying its brain and head as a total in an instant.
The mana from the beast was dispelled and its life was reaped.
***
'It's gone... The mana I felt from it...' Salvador sighed in relief and fell onto his back.
'I really thought it was over. It felt so strong and... horrifying.'
When the fight commenced, he could sense the beast's mighty aura expand and then vanish a few minutes after.
A few seconds later a pair of footsteps could be heard above the cellar.
He could feel a mana signature on the same place Aline put her hands, and as he expected, it opened up, revealing Aline and Yves.
Yves hunched down, picking Salvador up by the armpits. **"We'll be going back home buddy."** Although he couldn't understand what he said, Salvador was happy enough that he survived, along with his mother who was waiting outside.
***
A year passed since the beast's attack and Salvador was now competent enough to comprehend a majority of the sentences people spoke and was able to speak to his parents and brothers clearly.
With his development in their spoken language, Salvador was able to ask for books and received them without a second thought.
His parents didn't mind it as they didn't think Salvador could understand any of it, but how wrong they were.
Every night before bed he would indulge himself in these books, learning everything he can about his world.
At the present time, he could care less about cultivating his mana core as he wasn't sure if he wanted to get so powerful to where he was thought of as a threat.
Despite that, he couldn't help but stray himself to the mana core page.
There he learned a few things.
'The mana core also represents how powerful it is based on its color.
It goes from Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Cyan, Purple, Violet, Silver then White.
'Weird... Very interesting.' Salvador thought.
He also learned that each color has three stages, simply named 'Low' 'Middle', and 'High'. There was also 'Zenith'. You reached it when your core started to show signs of the next breaking through to the next core.
Salvador also read about one thing he wasn't expecting to see and that was a premature breakthrough.
It practically explained that if your body could not contain the power released by your core, you would kill yourself or be severely injured.
'Trying to develop my mana core at a younger age is even worse now.'
During his research, he also discovered that mages and knights followed the 'Force' ranking, all the way to 10.
Just as he went to flip the page, Eleanor came behind him and picked him up.
"I'm not a baby anymore!" Salvador exclaimed, wailing his arms and legs.
"Oh yes you are Salvador, let's get to bed." She said with a giggle, carrying him to his bed.
She placed him under the blankets, giving him a peck on his forehead before speaking. "Remember, tomorrow is your brother's fight and promotion to a Third Force Knight. Be good and open-eyed tomorrow. 'Kay?"
Salvador nodded. It was indeed Nico's promotion assessment tomorrow.