Chapter 6: The Knowledge Of Cultivation

Kren was staring at the next notification in front of him. It seemed the system would not remove a notification from his gaze until he has read and acknowledged it.

He was thankful, though, that it was not something that would affect his vision. Nevertheless, it seemed he had one more Main Quest to go over.

[Main Quest 2.A: Power of a Sovereign]

[The feline tribes have either been scattered to the winds or captured, serving as slaves and servants in other territories, kingdoms, and empires. Rescue and liberate 3 feline beast tribes from the shackles of oppression. This quest is repeatable until all feline tribes have been consolidated under your rule. REWARD: 10,000 SP per tribe.]

There was no timeline for this quest, and even so, he did not need a quest to tell him to do this. It would be a disgrace to his bloodline — even with how far they had fallen — not to try and rescue the rest of the felines who had been lost since the Zar emperor’s ploy to crush and scatter them ten years ago. It was his duty as prince, and soon-to-be king, to go and rescue his people, no matter what happened.

[Main Quest 2.B: Power of a Sovereign]

[A sovereign without an army is like a bird without wings, or a lion without fangs and claws. Create and build a standing army worthy of a sovereign. This is a milestone quest and will give progressively higher rewards as each milestone is met. REWARDS: +1,000 SP for 10 soldiers; SP rewards double every 10 soldiers added to your army.]

Kren sniffed as the screen finally winked out, leaving his vision completely bare. Bernice had brought out a book she was reading. Kren smiled softly, remembering her reading to him so many times when he was younger.

They had a rather uncommon relationship, to be honest — some would say she was almost like a mother to him, which would make what they were doing something close to incest. But the truth was, she had never been a mother to him.

Her marriage to his father had been arranged by the Zar Empire as a way to keep the king under control, all under the pretense that a vassal king without a wife to help him raise his only son would be slowed down, unable to perform his kingly duties. She was meant to be a noose, a chain around his neck. Unfortunately Kren’s father, had completely ignored her existence.

He left her to her own devices — there was nothing he gave her or took from her, even when he was forced to grant her the pride bond.

Bernice had made it a goal to make herself relevant, at least. Kren was not stupid; it had been a political move on her part. Since she could not, or was not allowed, to go near the king, she went for the prince instead.

Kren had been taken with her since he was just a boy — simply put, she was different. Bernice wanted power, and she chased after it with a fervor that still inspired Kren to this day.

Perhaps something changed along the way, who knew when. And Kren was not ignorant of his looks; perhaps that had been the catalyst, or perhaps it was something else entirely — a different sort of connection between himself and the woman who had pretty much raised him.

Either way, days after his eighteenth birthday, one thing led to another, and he ended up in her bed. She had belonged to him ever since — her mind, her soul, and her body.

"If you have time to stare at me, then you should have time to study the arts and spells locked in the crest," Bernice spoke up, her head not moving and her eyes not leaving the pages of the book she was still reading.

"Huh?" Kren asked, confused. Bernice sighed, then shut the book with a thud.

"I’ve gone over this with you, but I guess it’s been a while, so let’s do it again." Kren narrowed his eyes at Bernice and the tone she was using, as if she were talking to a child.

"I already know what you’re talking about, I—" She cut him off.

"Listen to me." Her words carried a finality to them. It was not because she had control over him, even though it felt that way to Kren, and the feeling rankled. It was because she was the only one who could possibly talk to him like this — the only one who could get him to listen.

"You just unlocked your Aura and returned some measure of cultivation to those of us who lost it in the last ten years. But that doesn’t change the fact that you have to fully understand how power works, how Aura works.

"You have the theories in your head, but now that you can feel it, whatever you’ve gained goes beyond theory and into practical application. You cannot afford to be lackadaisical about it, especially considering how far behind not just you, but the entire feline tribes, are. So please, indulge me — one final lesson."

She held his gaze for a moment longer. Kren just sighed and motioned for her to continue. Bernice gave him a small smile, and he felt his stomach twist into itself.

"The power we wield is Aura, and you know the story of how it came to be. Many, many cycles of the seasons ago, our world experienced a massive upheaval — the very shape of the land and seas changed, and the first kingdom crests came into being.

"But back then they weren’t called kingdom crests — they were called bloodline crests." She paused, then uncrossed her legs, switching to the other side. Kren tried not to look; he really loved those legs.

"Those bloodline crests were what gave birth to the beast tribesmen. There were many bloodline crests, and in less than a hundred years our land, in its breadth and width, was filled with people — our people. The crests gave us the ability to awaken the beasts of our bloodline, our inner beasts.

"That in turn brought about the propagation of Aura. To this day, no one knows which came first — the crests or Aura. In the end, all we knew was that by virtue of being beast men and women, we could cultivate Aura and shape that cultivation into two techniques or disciplines: arts and spells."

The carriage rolled over stone, stumbling slowly as it came to a stop. They could hear the driver talking to the guards at the gate. It did not take long, and soon they were through, the noise and bustle of the capital fading into the background and then into the distance. Bernice continued speaking, turning a page in her book, much to Kren’s astonishment.

"The bloodline crests taught us how to utilize Aura within those two disciplines. Arts, for those who are martial-based — the warriors and fighters who live for blood and carnage on the battlefield. Arts embody weapons, fists, the body — anything that enhances the primal way of combat, which is why most crests have arts, given the extremely physical nature of the beast tribesmen.

"And then we have spells. Some beasts excel at using their minds more. Those crests developed the ability to affect reality with Aura — they could shape and change the nature of things, or the nature of a man. The power of the mind and body, that is what Aura is.

"With arts, you could cleave mountains in half, travel vast distances in a single leap, or be caught under a landslide and remain unharmed, untouched. But with spells, you can conjure fire and water from nothing, bespell the mind of a man and have him slaughter his own kin, harness the power of the seasons and the celestial bodies to divine the future, curse your enemies, or bring fire falling from the skies to decimate them.

"Most crests are tied to only one discipline, but the kingdom crests — especially the N’kora Black Lion crest — have recorded spells and arts both, being one of the very few, even among kingdom crests, to have such." Bernice finally put the book down, reaching to the side where a small wooden chest sat. She opened it and pulled out a bottle of wine. In a moment she had the stopper out and was turning the whole thing down her throat.

Kren watched her swallow, an amused smile on his face as he appreciated the rather wild way she drank. Those fancy dragons would have insisted on a glass or some other nonsense. Bernice pulled the bottle back from her lips and handed it to him, half full. Such a sight was nothing new — Bernice loved to drink, almost as much as she loved tearing his ego to shreds.

"Now, on to the final and most important thing." She paused and nodded at him, telling him to drink. Kren smiled and, just as Bernice had done, emptied the rest of the bottle into his stomach.

"Aura, or better yet, our inner beasts, are the basis of our spells and our arts. We do not cultivate Aura — we cultivate the beast within. The stronger it becomes, the more powerful your Aura arts and spells will become. Some arts and spells cannot even be learned, much less mastered, without your inner beast being at a sufficient level of strength. So far, mastery of our inner beast, as we’ve discovered, is split into five distinct realms.

"The First Awakening Realm, which you have now crossed into, is when the inner beast awakens for the first time. That usually happens when a tribesman reaches ten years of age. You’re ten years behind the rest of your age group — as are the other felines, since the loss of our crest made it impossible for us to connect with our inner beasts and cultivate them.

"Within the First Awakening Realm, you find yourself with superior strength, speed, agility, and resilience — though not by much. You also finally get the chance to use Aura arts and spells. The realm itself is divided into low grade, mid grade, high grade, peak grade, and Ascension.

"Each grade increases your physical qualities, strengthens your beast, and increases the amount of Aura you have within you and can manipulate. Of course, there are outliers who are much stronger within the same realm and grade than others — this could be due to bloodline or other factors. For example, an elephant beast tribesman would definitely be much stronger than a fox beast tribesman within the same realm, but the fox might be faster, smarter, or better suited to spells over arts. No discipline is inherently stronger than the other, though spells have a larger capacity and range for destruction than arts, not to mention utility.

"But to cut the long story short — the other realms are as follows. Aura Awakening, where you’re finally able to manipulate your Aura beyond the arts and spells you use. The next realm, the one our illustrious empress currently stands in, is the Beastform Realm. Here, you’re able to take on the shape of your beast, triggering a transformation as you become it and it becomes you. So yes — Princess Elyvara can transform into a dragon, as she is right now." Bernice said as she cut off the question before Kren could ask it. He grumbled softly to himself, she ignored him.

"The fourth realm is Beast Manifestation. Here, your beast can be summoned out of you, becoming a separate living entity. You’d be able to fight side by side, not just as one, but as two. And finally, the Beast Sovereign Realm.

"To be honest, not much is known about that realm — there are only six Beast Sovereigns across all nine empires currently. What that realm grants, or what sort of power it gives, is rather unknown to us all. Yet there are rumors of higher realms still, because after the Beast Sovereign Realm, it’s said there will be a Second Awakening. But that’s too far in the future for you to worry about, if at all within your lifetime. Now — is there anything you didn’t understand?"