The giant dark shadow turned out to be a seven-feet huge middle-aged man. He was broad-shouldered and muscular and had a square jaw and chin along with the enormous fists he had ever seen. His hair was white, his beard was white, and even his eyebrows were white. However, his face didn't look old at all. He looked like a thirty-year-old middle-aged man. The contrast surprised him, but he realized that maybe white is his natural hair color and not because he was old. The large man appeared to be an experienced adventurer for many scars dotted his muscular arms. He also seemed to have a scarred eye hidden behind a patch held on by an elastic strap that runs diagonally across the head and behind the ear.

At this time, he watched dumbfoundedly as the middle-aged man raised his hand and punched the beast with his bare hands. One had to know the warthog was strong enough to break the tree in half. However, the middle-aged man just casually struck out and sent it flying. The warthog that went flying smashed against the huge rock and fell to the ground with a loud bang.

"Mr. Jack, it is not fair, leave us some fun too," a querulous voice came from behind Conan. Soon a young man in reddish leather armor, with his left hand carrying a bow with quivers slung over his back, came to his sight. He had a healthy physique with height more than a foot shorter than the middle-aged man called Jack and hair that was a short crop of reddish-brown. He passed right by the Conan, reaching Jack in no time.

Looking behind, Conan found two others not far from him, quickly approaching in his direction. Upon closer look, it was a female warrior and a dwarf closely following behind her. The female warrior was gorgeous, her blond hair tied in a ponytail, and a scabbard hanging from a strap at the waist. She wore a short chiton, armor, and greaves that obscured the contours of her female body. She met his gaze for a second and then turned away towards her companions in front. The dwarf had a short, stocky build, with a long-braided beard. He wore chain mail under the armor while holding a hammer on one side and a small round shield on the other. Soon they also caught up with the young man and halted.

"If I had been any later, then this poor young man would be lying on the floor with his guts poured out," Jack replied as he looked at the Conan.

"Thank you! you saved my life," Conan said gratefully.

"No need to thank me. We were chasing after the Dire Warthog when you just happened to come across it." Jack said modestly, while he shook his head.

In the meantime, the beast, who, now aroused, was glaring around with its nostrils flared. Although it looked fine, one can tell that it's been wounded internally by watching blood foaming at his mouth. "Oh!, it is still alive after taking a punch from you. This Dire Warthog looks pretty sturdy", the young man stated.

"Let me kill it," asked the young girl to Commander.

"Although it's wounded, still Its a level 2 mana beast. I don't believe you can defeat the beast on your own." Jack said as he refused her request.

"Ah! I thought it would be an easy kill. Only if it was a level 1 mana beast." said the young man unhappily.

Usually, a magus can sense the level of a mana beast whether it's equal to or lower than their power level. In case the magus can't sense the level of a mana beast then it is not a mana beast, or it is a beast much stronger than the magus assessing it. The young man couldn't sense the beast's level and thought it was already dead from the punch. Who knew it wasn't fallen, and what's more, it was a level 2 mana beast.

"You guys will work as a team and defeat it together," said Jack.

"May I be of assistance?" asked Conan.

Annoyingly the young girl glared at Conan and said, "An amagi will be useless in a battle against mana beast you'll only get in our way."

She was rude, but Conan knew that it was the truth, so he felt disheartened. He also didn't recognize the word "amagi" and wondered what exactly did it meant. While Conan was wondering what to do, the young man called out, "Now, now. Vindra, Don't be mean to him. Little brother, what she meant was that you should step behind and let us take care of the beast", the young man comforted him.

It seemed that the young girl was called Vindra. Jack instructed Conan and told him to stay behind him until this is over. So he followed his instructions. In the meantime, Heather was riding the wagon towards the capital along with Prince Hugine and Princess Eunice. She was staring out the window in fascination, viewing the diverse landscape, vast forest, and endless green mountains. Last night, once they were outside the Willow Woods, they made camp under a small grove of trees. It was the second day of their journey, and Eunice has told Heather that they might be reaching the palace by tonight. The wagon came to a stop, and she saw Waris riding back along with the caravan, informing everyone that this was their last stop before they arrived at the royal palace tonight. As she slid down to the ground, Heather asked Eunice, "Is there a way to assess the power levels of a magus or mana beast?"

"That's a good question," Eunice replied, and she continued, "Once magus awakens his elements, he or she can start training in the arts of magic. Magus is, divided into several ranks based on the amount of mana he or she can control at once. More complex the magic, the more mana it will consume. Sometimes even the simplest spell will consume more mana if cast over a wide range. And if a magus fails to control the mana properly or fails to collect the necessary amount of mana required for the magic spell, the spell will backfire and even cause grave injuries to the user. Base on that, each magic spell has been divided into seven levels. With every level, the amount of mana required to cast a spell increases enormously.

Similarly, based on the amount of mana stored within one's body, a magus is also split into seven levels, and one is, advised to cast spells from either equal to or lower than their levels.

* Level 1: Neophyte

* Level 2: Acolyte

* Level 3: Magus

* Level 4: Magistratus

* Level 5: Archmagus

* Level 6: Adepti

* Level 7: Grand Magus

For magus, each level is further divided into three sub-levels, in order of their power levels: Lesser, Regular, and Greater. To put it simply, a Lesser Neophyte can cast Level 1 spell [FIREBALL] once while a Regular Neophyte can cast the same spell twice, and Greater Neophyte can cast the spell thrice within a short period. They can cast the spell again after a certain amount of time has passed once the mana inside their body has been restored.

Also, a person without the ability to control mana is called amagi. Commoners constitute 70% of the human population and are born without any talent for magic. The rest of the people are either nobles or royalty who can cast magic spells ably. Since there hasn't been any Adepti or Grand Magus in hundreds of years, the strongest magus you will found on this continent will be Archmagus.

As for mana beasts, they are also similarly divided into seven levels. Magus can only fight equally with mana beast of the same level. Usually, a team of four or five magus will be required to hunt for mana beast of one level higher than them. Thankfully, level 6 or level 7 mana beasts have mostly long become extinct or just myths now. Even if they exist, they might have migrated deep into the forests away from civilization as they haven't appeared since the era of Dark Hero."

"With only practice and training, one can advance through the levels", With that Eunice ended her explanation.

"I see. Thanks for the explanation, Your Highness", Heather said gratefully.

"So when do one is awakened as a magus," Heather asked curiously.

From behind, Prince Hugine replied, "Usually there will be an Awakening ceremony when a noble turns 14yrs old. Upon finding one's affinity towards the elements, one can start learning the magic."

"I and Eunice were awakened when we reached 12 yrs of age, a whole 2yrs earlier than others." Prince Eugine stated with a hint of pride in his speech.

Heather said with admiration, "You two must be very talented."

"Oh, I am." Hugin's smile grew and continued, "I have already reached to Lesser Acolyte level, with Eunice not far behind, has reached till Greater Neophyte since our awakening."

Heather still didn't know how long it usually took one to advance through a level, and she wasn't one to swoon but looking at Hugine's face eager for praise, she did her best to appear impressed and said, "You are very impressive, Your Highness."

At present, Conan had somewhat understood the previous conversation and also how strong the mana beast in front of them was. He must admit that Prince Hugine is pretty talented. Being an Acolyte, Hugine can battle against a level 2 mana beast alone, but these young adventurers had to work in a team to defeat one. Except for Jack, since he could send the beast flying with a casual punch, and right now, he looks like a commander training new members on teamwork and strategy.

Jack ordered "Formation!". Heeding his command, the group split up and surrounded the Dire Warthog. Jack watched the group lure the beast away from him as the dwarf raised his shield higher and taunted the beast to attack him instead. Soon it charged towards the dwarf, while Its feet pounded the floor like mallets. Then dwarf parried the charge with his shield, was about to raise the hammer, and bring it down on the beast when a shudder shook the dwarf. He chanted the spell [STRENGTHEN] and tried to push the beast back, but his strength was still failing him.

The spell was only able to double his strength for a short period, but there's no way he can match his might against level 2 Dire Warthog with that alone. The Dire Warthog flung the shield away using its large tusks. The dwarf rolled off, but he managed to save himself with a twist of his short, stubby hammer. "Now .." said Jack, his eyes focusing on the beast. With Jack's shout, the young man aimed his bow towards the beast and chanted [LIGHTENING]. Immediately an arrow was shot, with lightning coursing through its shaft and hit the beast in its torso. The arrow wasn't deep enough to kill the beast, but the lightning coursing the arrow has stunned the beast. Quickly sheathing her sword, Vindra charged towards it. Taking advantage of the beast being in a stunned state, she jumped on it and drove the blade into its skull.

The Dire Warthog shrieked as the blood-splattered the ground. It still hasn't gone down. It used its remaining bit of mana reserves into solidifying its defense, and hence the blade got stuck in the skull with only an inch remaining before reaching its mind. The beast tried to shake her off, but she kept hold of her blade. Standing on the beast's tusks, she chanted [CUT]. Immediately the water gushed into the edge of the sword from the palms of Vindra, and the edge of the blade began to extend. The beast shrieked again as it finally dropped to the ground.