"what is a Magical Beast?"

Miss Olbrecht uttered out as she wrote on the chalk board.

"Can anyone tell me? Who thinks they can best explain it?"

All hands were raised at this moment.

With exclusion of Emil and a few other boys, all the guys had their hands raised, like puppies fighting for attention at an adoption centre.

"You? Or maybe you? Alright you."

After pointing at a few people, Miss Olbrecht's finger finally settled down on one person.

"We have two types of animals, normal animals and Magical Beasts.

Normal animals have no capacity for cultivation while Magical Beasts can cultivate mana and grow stronger just like us humans.

In essence, they're beasts cultivators."

"Correct."

*...*

The boy was still standing up despite being done.

Miss Olbrecht shot him a smile.

"Thank you for explaining, you can sit down now."

Embarrassed, the boy broke out of his stupor and swiftly took his seat.

"Like your friend mentioned, Magical Beasts are beasts who can cultivate mana.

They're terrifying creatures, wonders of nature, living disasters, the embodiment of destruction.

There are three things that make magical beasts a threat. Firstly, reproduction speed. Their high reproduction speed allows them to have greater numbers. They can feed off of anything to get stronger and usually grow into adulthood quickly.

The second thing is their strength. A magical beast is much stronger than a Knight or Mage of its same level.

Last but not the least, they don't have any intelligence unlike humans. They opt to listen to their instincts, and their instinct often tells them to kill and grow stronger.

Despite the mage civilization's growing advancement, they still have difficulties in the face of a rampaging Magical Beast horde.

But there's also a good side to them.

Their materials are used for crafting, concocting, or even cooking, which makes them rather precious.

If not for Magical Beasts, the mage civilization wouldn't be where it is today."

Miss Olbrecht paused, allowing the students to digest the information.

"Any questions?"

A few students raised their hands, Emil was among them.

Miss Olbrecht's eyes flashed with a strange light upon sighting Emil.

A grin almost indiscernible to eye appeared on her lips for just a split second before disappearing, failing to get noticed by anybody.

Emil felt her look, giving birth to doubts in his heart.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

He must've been imagining things, why'd she give him, someone she didn't know a look like that?

"The boy with the broken arm, what's your name?"

"Emil Ashdown Miss."

"Alright Emil, what's your question?"

"How do Magical Beasts cultivate? Do they have mana cores too?"

A few chuckles sounded out through the class.

Emil was probably the only one to ask such question because of how basic the knowledge was.

"What's so funny? This is a class and we're all here to learn.

Regardless of one's talents, or origin."

Miss Olbrecht's tone and words were contradictory, making it difficult to discern whether if she was defending Emil or assaulting him.

Nonetheless it shut the students up.

"Magical Beasts do have mana cores like us, it's called a beast core. but the way they cultivate is vastly different.

Firstly, their beast core comes in the shape of a ball regardless of their race, and is positioned differently in each race.

Some store it in their head, some their stomachs, and some even their hearts like us.

If you happen to get your hands on a beast core then consider yourself lucky, beast cores are hard to come by and are one of a Magical Beast's most precious parts."

Miss Olbrecht again paused to let the class digest the information.

"Now onto the question? How do Magical Beasts cultivate?

As the name suggests, they cultivate like beasts. Primal and straightforward.

They can absorb mana from any source.

The atmosphere, mana crystals, mana veins and mana gems, people, and even other Magical beasts.

But their cultivation speed is generally slow. More power requires more energy, so they need several times more mana than we do in order to reach higher stages.

Furthermore, it's a lot more difficult for Magical Beasts to reach higher levels than us magicians, do you wanna know why?"

"YES!"

everyone shouted un unison.

Emil squinted his eyes.

He'd bet his left nut these nobles already knew why but they were still shouting vigorously. Not once did they show such energy during other classes. Shameless.

Miss Olbrecht, seemingly oblivious of the underlying scheme, continued with her lesson.

"As Magical Beasts absorb mana, their cores and bodies get stronger and they make mutations after each major breakthrough.

These mutations can come in many forms and shapes depending on the Magical Beast's race, element, and even evolution process.

Not all Magical Beasts go through the same evolution process.

This is another thing that makes Magical Beasts a threat.

Their powers come in many forms and shapes, and are often destructive.

But here's the catch, a Magical Beast's growth is limited by several factors."

Miss Olbrecht wasn't just a beautiful woman. she was a legitimately good teacher, evident by how engrossed her students looked, even those who knew the subject well.

"The first factor is their potential. Some Magical Beasts have higher innate potential, some don't. Once their potential is exhausted they can't get any stronger no matter how hard they try.

Unique Magical Beasts normally have much higher potential, but we'll get to them in another lesson.

The second factor is their lifespan. For normal Magical Beasts, the evolution process is very slow and they often outlive their lifespan before getting to evolve.

The third factor would be lack of resources. The evolution of a Magical Beast takes great amounts of resources. That's why there's always a fight for resources and Magical Beasts are likely to get killed in it.

Another reason is other Magical Beasts. There are many reasons why a Magical Beast would attack another Magical Beast.

It could be over territory, resources, a thirst for battle, or even to impress a mate.

Last but not the least, Magical Beasts are often hunted by humans for their resources, and also to thin down their numbers."

Miss Olbrecht stopped to take a breath, her large bosom heaving up and down making it somewhat difficult for students to focus.

"Speaking of humans hunting Magical Beasts, did you know that Magical Beasts can hunt humans too? The most common example would be Magical Beast invasions, where human habitats get attacked by hordes of magical beasts.

As a matter of fact, the biggest Magical Beast invasion of our history happened to the Kingdom a little more than a decade ago, just a few years before you guys came to be."

At this point, Emil received yet another uncomfortable look from his teacher.

He doubted she didn't like him, but couldn't think of a reason why.

"The Arran Kingdom fought their toughest battle yet at the time, leaving many cities destroyed with millions of casualties.

Many brave people rose to defend the Kingdom at the time. two of the most important ones were the parents of one of your classmates.

If not for their heroic deeds, millions more would have been sacrificed at the war. They were rewarded handsomely and offered important positions within the Kingdom once the was over, But they humbly refused and decided to retire when they found out they were having a child. An act that contradicts what they did a few years later, disappearing and abandoning their child to toil away as a servant.

What type of people were they exactly?

We can ask more about them from the child in question.

Emil, can you tell us a bit more about your parents?"