Alaric was currently giving a lesson about the Beast Transformation Path. Even though he didn't look like a teacher at all, he explained things very well.
His choice of words and the way he delivered the lesson made it easy to understand as if he were an experienced teacher.
"We shifters focus on physical transformation and beast abilities. That's why martial arts are also important to us." Alaric told them that shifters were faster and had stronger bodies than mages.
Even though they could not learn new techniques like mages, their innate abilities grew stronger along with them.
He also said they would unlock more abilities as their strength increased. Each beast had different innate abilities, and they could not learn the powers of other beasts.
"So we use energy to perform our innate abilities, and we have a beast core in our bodies," Ren murmured as he touched his chin.
At this moment, a question flashed through his mind. Since he could not suppress his curiosity, he raised his hand immediately.
Alaric, who noticed him, immediately stopped explaining. "Do you have a question, Ren?"
"Teacher, can we fully transform into our beast forms later on?" Ren called him a teacher since they were in class.
"Yes," Alaric replied. "But you need to reach 6-star first."
Mages and shifters were divided into nine ranks.
From the weakest to the strongest, they were 1-star, 2-star, 3-star, 4-star, 5-star, 6-star, 7-star, 8-star, and 9-star.
Before reaching 6-star, they could only transform into their half form, known as Partial Transformation.
But even so, it had already greatly improved their strength.
"Teacher, how do we break through to the next rank?" Lucy inquired.
"By absorbing energy from beast cores or spirit stones," Alaric answered. "Monsters from the gates have beast cores in their bodies. That's why gates often cause conflicts because they are both disasters and treasures."
Beast cores were cores within magical beasts that contained their essence and energy or mana.
"I see." Lucy nodded.
The lesson continued.
Three hours later, the class ended.
Ren and Elara didn't go home right away. They wanted to grow strong as fast as they could, so they stayed behind to master their new power quickly.
"Elara, how many innate abilities do you have now?" Ren asked a sensitive question without realizing it.
"Three." Elara raised three fingers.
Shifters knew their innate abilities instinctively and through their connection to their beast forms.
But even so, their mastery was still poor, so they had to train hard to master their powers fully.
"Why do I have four?" Ren touched his chin. "Does that mean each beast starts with a different number?"
"It seems so," she replied.
He stopped thinking about it and said, "Alright. Let's train together now."
"Un." She nodded.
The duo transformed into their beast forms and stood not far from each other.
Ren trained his Roar of Dominance skill while she practiced her Wings Guard ability.
Even though it looked easy, it was hard to master. He had roared many times, but his roar didn't resemble that of a tiger at all.
Instead, it sounded like a cat's.
"Roar…" Ren tried again, but the result was the same.
"Haha." Darian, who was standing next to Sofia, burst into waves of laughter. "Ren, are you a white tiger or a white cat? Haha."
"Hehe." Sofia covered her mouth and giggled softly.
Ren stopped and turned to them.
'It looks like my roar is terrible!'
He sighed helplessly.
Darian and Sofia approached him to give him pointers.
"Alright, listen up, tiger." Darian teased him. "First, straighten your back and relax your shoulders."
Ren listened to him immediately.
"Next, breathe deeply using your diaphragm." Darian kept giving advice. "Your roar comes from there, not your throat. After that, feel the energy inside you and push it out with your whole body."
Ren paid attention to Darian carefully.
Then Darian continued, "And one more thing. Don't think about being loud! Think about dominating! A tiger is roaring to show who's the strongest and let everyone know who is boss, you know?"
Ren adjusted his stance and followed Darian's instructions.
'Breathe deeply using your diaphragm, feel the energy inside me, and think about dominating.'
He inhaled deeply and focused on dominance.
*Roar…
A thunderous roar reverberated in the entire village.
The birds in the trees flew in fear, and most villagers froze in shock.
Not only that, but Darian, Sofia and Elara also felt like their souls were being shaken violently as if a true apex predator had just arrived and announced its presence.
"Yes! That's it! That's the roar of a true tiger!" Darian stated.
"As expected of a white tiger, your roar was so powerful. It shook my soul for a moment earlier." Sofia praised him.
Ren turned to Darian and showed his gratitude. "Thank you for your help."
Darian tapped his shoulder and said, "You have mastered the Roar of Dominance. How about you take a break and eat lunch with us?"
Instead of answering immediately, Ren turned to Elara.
"Elara, come join us, too." Darian invited her immediately.
"A…alright." Elara agreed because she was hungry.
Then, they headed to the resting building and had lunch together.
----
Aveline's House, Front Yard.
Ren was currently sitting on a mat alone.
In his previous life, it was extremely hard to see stars in the night sky, so he always went to the front yard after dinner.
'What a beautiful night!'
A soft smile spread across his face as his eyes were fixed on countless stars in the sky.
As he was enjoying the peaceful night, Elara and Aveline approached him.
Once they sat beside him, they began to chat about many things, from their first lesson to their past.
When they talked about the elemental path, he remembered that he still knew nothing about mages.
"Mrs. Aveline, can you tell me about mages?" he asked.
"Mages?" Aveline raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Didn't you attend their lesson earlier?"
"Their classes started at the same time, so Mrs. Sofia suggested I take the beast transformation class." He didn't tell her about Sofia's idea of using his handsome face because he knew she was only joking around.
"Sure." Aveline agreed instantly. "Where should I start?"
"From the beginning, please." His predecessor had never studied mages, so his knowledge was zero.
"Alright." She started explaining from the very beginning.
She said mages and shifters weren't all that different.
If shifters had beast cores, mages had mana cores. The beast core was located around the stomach, while the mana core was around the heart.
Shifters used energy to perform their innate abilities while mages used mana to cast spells.
"If energy is soft like flowing water, mana is sparkling little lights that could only be seen by mages," Aveline explained. "Mana also has many colors and is used based on the type of magic."
"Was that the reason why the color of your magic circle was green when you healed my wounds yesterday?" Ren asked.
"Correct," Aveline replied.
"Then, does magic have ranks?" he threw another question at her.
"Yes. Spells are divided into four ranks. From the weakest to the strongest, they are Basic, Intermediate, Advanced and Supreme," she answered. "What I used yesterday was Basic rank magic."
"I see." He responded.
The duo kept talking about the elemental path.
Since Elara was a shifter, she rarely joined the conversation.
At 10:00 pm, they went to their rooms to sleep.
----
The following morning, Ren and Elara went to the training ground to attend their class again.
This time, it was not a lesson about theory.
They had learned about the basics yesterday, so it was time for them to try their new power.
In other words, it was a sparring lesson!
The students lined up with beaming faces.
It would be their first spar with their new power, so their hearts throbbed with excitement.
"Lucy and Alice, step forward," Alaric said.
Both Lucy and Alice entered the sparring circle with excitement.
"When I say stop, you stop. Do you understand?" Alaric instructed firmly.
"Yes." Lucy and Alice answered in unison.
Alaric raised his hand before finally saying, "Fight!"
Lucy's ears and tail transformed into those of a white cat, while Alice grew a pair of wings on her back and dark feathers along her arms.
Their partial transformation looked stunning, yet they became stronger and more dangerous than before.
As Lucy and Alice were fighting fiercely in the sparring ring, several magical beasts and goblins approached the village.