Emil helped Dustin to his feet and fed him a Healing Pellet, all the while every ounce of his strength left his body.

The pills and tonics' effects had worn off, leaving him exhausted.

The two of them sat down in silence and rested their backs against the ground, reveling in the feeling of survival.

"Great work back there, I'm Dustin Klein."

Dustin offered his hand.

Emil looked on in silence, the friendly gesture coming as a surprise to him.

"Y-Yeah, thanks for saving me." His hurried voice sounded out, remembering how the boy helped him on numerous occasions.

"Don't mention it. I scratch your back you scratch mine, yeah?"

Dustin gave him a thumbs up.

"By the way, you haven't told me your name yet?" He asked, anticipation in his gaze as he waited for Emil's response.

The side of Emil's lip rose into a half wry grin, his eyes dinning down instantly.

This part was inevitable.

"Emil, I'm Emil Ashdown." He blurted, bracing himself for whatever was to come.

Dustin's attitude, it was sure to take a 180° turn.

There's been no student in the academy who treated him like an equal after being made aware of his identity.

The boy before him, he could've been no exception.

"No way dude, you're Emil the madman, the guy who won this month's competition despite being the weakest participant?

That's awesome!" Dustin exclaimed, his brows rising in surprise and his voice shaking with excitement.

His attitude had changed indeed, for the better.

He was smiling from ear to ear and speaking to Emil like a fan meeting a celebrity.

"Come on dude, you gotta tell me all about it now that you're here in person.

I've heard rumors and stories but they don't match up to the real thing."

Dustin urged Emil as the two of them started walking back to the Academy.

Emil broke out of his reverie, and without much of a say, began to tell tales of his experience at the race.

A strange sensation burst into his heart as he conversed with Dustin.

He wasn't used to it, having a normal conversation with someone his age, or just not being discriminated for that matter.

The sensation, it was new, but it was safe to say, he didn't dislike it.

***

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Emil and Dustin both entered the infirmary for treatment upon reaching the academy grounds.

The two of them exchanged contacts, a feature Emil could experience only now, after a month of being in the Academy.

You could send messages to your contacts through your badge.

It was nifty little feature, and was sure to make communication easier.

After they were treated, the two of them bid one another farewell and went their own way.

Emil went back to his quarters and laid down on his bed, his mind drifting into sleep as he thought of today's events.

The next day after class, the first thing he did was go back to the Monster Forest and compete his mission, after which he cashed in his reward and headed to the library for some research.

There, he found a book regarding the information he was looking for.

"Magic users have two types of mana, Static Mana that builds up in the body as they cultivate and Charged Mana which is the mana coursing through our core and mana conductors."

Emil muttered as he read, his panda eyes glued to the book.

If the information within this book was true, which certainly was, then the mana he absorbed from the Magical Beasts' corpses yesterday must've been Charged Mana.

Charged Mana left the user's body upon their death, in great quantities at that. The vessel didn't possess the force to contain the mana anymore, resulting in it seeping out into the air, and merging back within the atmosphere.

However, Magicians didn't have any control over another user's charged mana whatsoever, at least not in the lower levels.

That rule was specially true when it came to Magical Beasts Charged Mana.

Magical Beasts' mana, just like Mana Crystals', was diluted by external elements, making them too chaotic for normal people to absorb.

But Emil had no problem with that yesterday, and was feeling perfectly fine.

The only organisms that could use Magical Beasts as a cultivation source, were Magical Beasts themselves.

Emil's face became ashen upon reaching this conclusion.

His heart, beating against his chest like a drum felt as cold as the icy bottom of a lake.

The truth was, he knew it.

He knew something was wrong with his body from the moment he started cultivating.

He didn't need a cultivation technique to cultivate, he could absorb the atmosphere's mana at will, he couldn't augment no matter what, he needed several times more mana to advance through each stage compared to normal Magicians and he was able to harness just as much as mana without any trouble, and now. Now, he could feed on Magical Beasts to gain cultivation base.

All of the above abilities, existed only within Magical Beasts.

There had been no records of even a single human being with said abilities, at least not that Emil could find.

It was obvious at this point, what Emil feared the most could be true.

He had human parents, he looked like a human, he acted like a human, he walked like a human, he thought like a human, he lived among humans, hell, he had abilities specific only to a Knight, only to a human.

Yet somehow, through someway, he also possessed abilities only a Magical Beast could possess.

Part Magical Beast? it sounded impossible, but so were his abilities.

Emil's breathing became ragged as he ran through the possibilities in his head.

It couldn't be possible, he was not a Magical Beast.

If he was, it'd be nothing but a disaster to him.

Magical Beasts were savages, they were brutes, they were beasts, both in name and nature.

They were bloodthirsty animals who sought nothing but ruin.

If Emil was becoming one, then he could very well lose his humanity at one point.

He would stop thinking, he would lose his intelligence, his memory, he'd succumb to his instincts, he'd cease to be himself.

He'd turn into a beast, a monster.

Sweat ran down his face as he laid on his seat, frozen.

His eyes scanned his surroundings quietly.

This place was full of people, full of humans.

There was no telling what they'd do if they found out he's a Magical Beast.

He could end up getting killed, or worse, turned into a lab rat.

Emil's mind was in a jumble.

No one was looking at him, but he felt like all eyes were on him, like they were boring holes through him, and gazing at his secrets.

He felt endangered, he felt unsafe.

Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he closed the book and put it back in its place, before leaving the library with rigid steps.

He didn't know what to do, he was at a loss.

This news, it wasn't something he was prepared to handle, not something he ever thought he'd ever have to deal with.

*Ding*

At this moment, his badge rang, sending shivers down his spine.

He quickly fished it out and checked its contents, looking wary as he did so.

His face loosened as he saw the message though.

Dustin: {Are you free? Wanna hangout?}