Aaron ran beside his siblings as they scoured the forest, taking note of their surroundings. The area around the settlement only held small beasts and animals due to the aura spilling from the Mother Tree. Further out, however, the forest once again became alive, and true terrors prowled.

They didn’t come here to kill everything, so any docile beasts were left alone. Even predators were spared, so long as they got the hint. These lands had new rulers, and they had to get along, but not all of them took it so well.

The earth rumbled as a roar tore through the forest.

Aaron darted left as the two scouts beside him shot right. They separated, trying to confuse the beast, which was now chasing them in furious rage. He didn’t know what they had stumbled upon, but the damn thing wasn’t happy about it.

He felt the incoming swing before it even came and ducked low as a huge paw swiped where his head had been. Aaron saw the tree he was standing near shatter as if it were a twig, and his heart raced. It was clear that climbing the trees to escape was out of the question.

Aaron danced back as the beast continued lashing out wildly. Its body was a gigantic mass of fur and muscle, creating an impenetrable hide. They had failed to do any damage and had only succeeded in making it angrier. Its face was shoved in with a wide maw and beady eyes. Tusks jutted out from its lower jaw as it roared in a challenge, swiping with its meaty paws.

Right as the beast reared back for another lunge, Aaron dashed in and jumped, kicking it in the throat. The beast lurched to the side, struggling to breathe, as an arrow flew from the side, striking it in the eye. It howled in pain as Aaron prepared a [Deadly Strike] but before he could, the beast charged in again, even more furious.

Aaron darted back, trying to stay out of reach, but was clipped on the shoulder by the beast's meaty paw. He cried out as he was thrown through the forest, crashing into a tree with a groan. His shoulder was on fire, and it felt like his arm was out of place, but he tucked it in the best he could and dashed back in to join the battle.

The two scouts danced around the large beast, attempting to confuse it. Arrows pierced all over its body, but it didn’t look to be slowing it down any. Aaron ran in, lashing out with a [Deadly Strike] as a blade of aura shot forward. The blast struck the beast on its back leg, and it roared as it fell to the side.

As the beast tried to right itself, another arrow shot forward, piercing its other eye. Blinded, it roared, going into a frenzy, lashing out at anything within reach. They backed up, letting the it slowly wind itself down before they moved in swiftly, hacking with swords and spears.

The beast finally took its last breath as one of his siblings lunged forward, piercing its side and striking the core nestled in its center. He was the last of their group to need the beast shards, so the kill was his. They had been traveling the forest in small groups as everyone saturated their cores.

Aaron had already maxed out his core and could feel it trembling, causing slight pain and discomfort. Dismissing it, he began to bandage his shoulder, trying to push it back into place. It felt like it was torn from its joint, making it hard to move.

They took what material they could from the beast and left, heading to where they had initially discovered it. Winding through the woods, a small cave slowly entered their view once again, and Aaron stepped through the dark opening with his sword ready as the scouts trailed behind.

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His eyes adjusted quickly as his ears picked up faint noises further in. Inching forward, the cave began to open into a large cavern. Aaron crouched low, moving silently as he entered the large space. Peering over a stone to the center of the cavern, his breath caught in his throat.

It was a den.

And in its center were babies surrounding a beast that looked identical to what they had just slain. His heart clenched at the thought of what they had done. They had killed the protector of this cave, who was simply defending their family.

Just like the humans.

Aaron watched as what he presumed was the mother snuggled against her children while they played and whimpered softly. She was unaware of what had transpired outside her lair and cared for her young with vigor and affection.

With a heavy heart, Aaron ordered the scouts back as they turned, exiting the cave. They set off back to the settlement as he sent orders to Jessie. They weren’t going to be like the humans, killing everything they saw. They would need to find a way to coexist in the forest, finding a sort of balance.

Naturally, if kill-or-be-killed came to pass, they would destroy anything in their path. But they weren’t here to be like the blight, strangling any life they could find. Or like the humans, consuming anything and everything.

Coming to the settlement, they split up as Aaron headed to a clearing near the Mother Tree, he had been using for training. He was going to try to upgrade his core, as most of them were ready, but held off. No one knew what to expect, as they could feel their cores vibrating but had little knowledge of what to do.

Aaron had a good idea of what that could be but hadn’t had the time to test it yet. It was actually, something rather simple, and he had been sure Cornelius would have thought of it. He was the first to saturate his core but had failed, as of yet, to progress to the next stage.

‘Idiot’ Aaron chuckled.

It was simple.

They needed to cultivate their core like the humans.

He and his siblings had become too accustomed to their own bodies, and the simplest things were sometimes beyond their grasp. They processed mana so efficiently that they never needed cultivation. Mana leaked into their cores with every breath and with little thought. Only beast shards could upgrade their core, or at least according to their Gifts.

Aaron sat in the clearing in meditation and entered his soul space. He stood above his soul flame as it burned brightly, smiling at his achievements. His soul was more robust and had grown tremendously with his martial exercises and the tension training. He was now capable of pushing with his mind on his soul until it was a tiny bead and could expand it until it almost touched the edge of his soul space. Though it was extremely painful and dangerous, he could see that his soul had become far more flexible.

Its flame danced, strong and graceful.

Aaron backed out of his soul space, instead peering internally at his core. It was vibrating visibly, and he could see it brimming with power, clearly oversaturated. The runes swirling in its depth were chaotic, shifting around rapidly. He began to grasp the mana in the air around him, sensing it as if it were a part of him. Gently pulling, he began to push the ambient mana into his core, feeling the cells in his body reacting as if echoing his call.

What started as a gentle stream began to flow rapidly until Aaron could feel the air around him shutter. He didn’t hold back and continued as a vortex formed in his center, pulling in the mana with increasing speed. When the vortex hit a certain threshold, a dot began to form in its center as Aaron lurched over, a groan escaping his lips.

The center of the cyclone of mana was like an eye peering at him from his core.

There was calm and tranquility in its gaze, but it was surrounded by a raging storm that roared as it swirled towards his center. Aaron grunted through the pain, pulling in even more mana, forcing it as he grit his teeth. The eye in the center of the vortex began to grow rapidly, and he could see a glow surrounding it, pushing against the edges of his core.

The thundering mana slammed into his core walls and began to chip at them as if devouring them. Aaron felt his body fall over but didn’t lose focus, concentrating on funneling still more into his center, hoping he was doing this right. His heart fell into his stomach, however, when he felt a shock ripple through his body.

And a cracking sound echoed in his ears.

His core walls began to crumble as he cursed, struggling to hold on.

'Stupid core!'