Rash's explanation had taken far longer than I had expected, but the knowledge I gained was far more important than I had initially thought.
With a heavy breath, he stood up and brushed the sand from his clothes before picking up his sword.
"Wow… that was exhausting."
He gave me one last glance.
"That's everything I know. If you still have questions, don't come to me."
He chuckled before turning around and walking toward the exit.
My eyes followed him as he left the arena, but my mind was racing as I went over everything he had told me.
It was true that I had a lot of questions. But it was also true that Rash wouldn't know the answers to them.
To him, explaining these things probably felt as simple as telling someone that people breathe air. For me, however, it was profound knowledge.
Beasts and Monsters.
I had always thought that beasts were simply the animals of this world, and that monsters were just another word for particularly dangerous ones.
But I had been completely wrong.
No, not really.
Honestly, I was quite close to the truth, but I would rather not say that in front of Rash.
Leaning my head back against the wall, I closed my eyes and went through everything I had learned.
Beasts.
First of all, whether something is called a Titan or a Monster, they are essentially all Beasts—or at least they once were.
Beasts are the animals of this world. Every being that does not belong to the humanoid races is, or once was, a Beast.
Unlike humanoid races, Beasts are born with an active mana core. They do not follow the Path of Mana as we do.
They grow up quickly but also die just as quickly.
For example, a normal and healthy human can live up to a hundred years under perfect conditions without advancing on the Path of Mana. A Beast, on the other hand, might live only a fifth of that time.
However, while Beasts live shorter lives, they accumulate mana much faster, reaching a higher rank.
As a Beast advances in rank, its lifespan increases.
Stronger Beasts live longer.
In some ways, Beasts resemble animals on Earth.
Some species can be tamed.
Some can even be kept as livestock.
Some are aggressive toward us.
Some are friendly.
They can also be classified as herbivores and carnivores.
For example, the birds that fly through the sky are not so different from birds on Earth. The main difference is that every Beast possesses a mana core, which naturally increases their strength and speed.
Beasts advance naturally by accumulating mana. They do this simply by breathing. But consuming other Beasts accelerates this process.
Their growth path differs greatly from the Path of Mana we follow.
It is more chaotic.
More like a mutation-driven evolution.
While humans must pass through several stages focused on adapting their bodies to mana before being able to use their affinity, Beasts are born with bodies that can already handle mana.
Their later ranks are centered around their affinity development. This gives them a much faster path to strength.
For example:
Humans can only use their affinity after reaching the fifth stage of the Path of Mana. But Beasts gain access to their affinity after reaching the second rank.
Another major difference between the Path of Mana and them, and why I said that their path is mutant-like, lies in how affinities work with Beasts.
Humans are born with one affinity chosen from a set of six possible types.
Beasts are not bound by such rules.
Their cores can evolve depending on their environment and circumstances. This allows Beasts to develop unique affinities suited to their surroundings.
It is similar to evolution on Earth.
For example, African elephants began developing smaller tusks after becoming targets for poachers. Over time, those with smaller tusks survived more often, and the trait spread.
Beasts evolve in a similar way.
Their cores adapt to their surroundings and circumstances.
This can grant them unique affinities.
Some Beasts may even possess multiple affinities.
This doesn't mean that every Beast out there is some kind of Godzilla that can shoot lightning and spit fire. Most have relatively normal abilities.
Only a distinct few become walking disasters.
Next, there is the Beast ranking system.
Beasts are held back by their lineage.
Let's take the wolves I fought as an example.
They are born as Lesser Beasts, and most of them will also die as Lesser Beasts. Their entire lineage is centered around being a Lesser Beast. So every wolf born is naturally limited to this lineage of being a Lesser Beast.
Their lineage will hold them back from advancing to the next rank, but it doesn't mean that they can't advance.
It is unlikely and extremely rare.
But a Beast with the lineage of a Lesser Beast can advance under special circumstances.
It is similar to bloodlines in humans.
This can be seen as a sort of bloodline.
A farmer's child will most likely become a farmer.
But it isn't impossible for that child to become something else, like a baker.
The same logic applies to powerful beasts.
The child of a dragon will inherit a powerful lineage. It has a greater chance of reaching high ranks.
But that doesn't mean that it will reach a high rank.
Even the offspring of an Apex beast is still born as a Lesser Beast. It must climb the ranks like any other Beast. Its lineage will support and help it.
But that does not guarantee success.
The offspring of a dragon that reached the Apex rank might stay stuck at the rank of a Lesser Beast for its whole life and die. Meanwhile, a wolf cub might surpass all expectations and eventually reach the Apex rank.
The Beast ranking system is particularly interesting.
The majority of the Beasts on Terros are Lesser Beasts. All Beasts that cannot use their affinity fall into this category.
Lesser Beasts roughly correspond to humans between Stage Two and Stage Four on the Path of Mana.
Then come the Greater Beasts.
Once a beast can actively use its affinity, it becomes a Greater Beast. These creatures are roughly as strong as humans who have reached Stage Five.
From then on, the distinction becomes trickier.
Unlike humans, whose strength increases with clear stages, beasts become stronger primarily through age and accumulated mana. The older a beast becomes, the more mana it gathers.
This makes it stronger.
However, affinity also plays a major role here.
A younger beast with a powerful or unique affinity can be stronger than an older one. Because of this variability, the human fifth stage roughly overlaps with both Greater and Elder beasts.
At last, there are the Apex Beasts.
They stand at the top of all Beasts. These are Beasts that have reached the peak of their species. However, Apex does not mean that only one individual can exist for each species.
There can be many Apex Beasts within the same species.
Apex beasts are roughly equivalent to humans who have reached Stage Six, the highest level of the Path of Mana.
But at this point, I grew confused.
After all the information, it felt like Beasts were naturally stronger than humans.
Their growth is faster.
Their abilities are more varied.
They have more stronger individuals than we do.
But there is an important detail.
While their strength increases quickly, very few beasts actually reach the higher ranks.
It can be compared to animals on Earth.
If you gathered every animal on the planet and took away the microscopic ones, more than 99% of them would not be capable of killing a human.
This would leave only about 0.5 percent of animals that can really kill a human being.
And now, from this 0.5 percent—how many of these animals would actively hunt humans?
Now we are at a number that is only one or two percent of 0.5 percent of all animals on Earth.
In short.
A really small number.
The same applies to Beasts.
Most beasts are simply not strong enough to kill a human, which means that the majority of them are Lesser Beasts.
However—
Terros is not Earth.
There are far more beasts here than animals on Earth.
So even a small percentage still results in a large number of dangerous creatures.
In the end, it means...
Only a small portion of all beasts on Terros rise through the ranks and become powerful.
But those that do—
Are truly dangerous.