The difference between Mana Cores and Beast Cores is small. Beast Cores are a crystalline Structure that naturally exists in the bodies of all Mana Beasts regardless of how powerful they are. Mana Cores are something that a cultivator must form themselves using their Soul Energy and the Mana they have absorbed over time. This means that Mana Beasts are naturally more powerful than humans. However, humans can use Martial Arts which can help level the playing field against a beast which may only have one or two abilities that they can use. At least until that Beast becomes an Elemental Mana Beast which often require multiple cultivators of the same Rank to bring down.

-Excerpt from Telram’s notes on Mana Cores

Telram jerked awake, his heart beating rapidly in his chest as he looked around wildly before realising where he was and calming down.

“Jeez, it’s been a long time since I had that dream,” he sighed.

He used to have that dream almost every night for the first few months of his new life here on Nerrus, so much so that he started to become worried that all babies remembered their past life and forgot later.

Thankfully he now knew that this theory was wrong, and it did help him to seem more like a normal baby so, though he still felt sorry for his parents, who had to put up with many sleepless nights as they tried to get Telram to sleep he knew it would it help him in the long run.

Telram’s face hardened as he remembered the reason, he had dreamed about the day he had died. The slab of stone he had seen at The Halls of Heavenly Knowledge was almost identical to the artefact that he had been studying right before he had been killed, the language that it was written in and the map were both different but everything else was exactly as he remembered it.

“Daughter of the Silent Moon, huh?” he sighed, they hadn’t been able to translate the text in his past life, which he now knew was because it was written in the same language used on Nerrus, but strangely enough the one that was in The Halls of Heavenly Knowledge was written in English.

He didn’t know who or what the Daughter of the Silent Moon was, or why there were two similar tablets depicting whatever it was in both of the worlds he had lived in but he what he did know was that he couldn’t let someone who cared as little for human life as Lord Irian have it.

He made a mental note to ask Gerry what he knew about the stone slab as he got up and stretched marvelling at how much lighter his body felt, he must have been closer to the limits of how much Mana his body could handle than he thought.

Heading out of his room and towards the kitchen he discovered that Gerry had left some food out for his breakfast but was himself nowhere to be seen. Hearing crashing sounds coming from outside Telram sighed, Gerry was already training, so he sat down and ae his breakfast before heading outside where, sure enough Gerry was sparring with some puppets again, the ones he had used yesterday were still repairing themselves, so these were different ones each armed with a weapon and using various different styles that left Telram watching in awe at the sheer variety of styles and weapons that each of the ten puppets that Gerry was fighting against had.

Not that he could see that much, the speed that the combatants were moving at was far faster than Telram could follow with his eyes. Bodies blurring from one position to the next, and the flashes of metal were hypnotising to watch. Gerry was of course, much faster than his wooden opponents the long thin steel-coloured blur in his hands flashing as he struck out at another of the puppets sending a wooden arm spinning away from the cluster of bodies

Telram shook his head and decided that if he was going to watch, he would have to try something new so that he could see what was happening properly. In his cultivation manual there was a derivative of the Spiritual Sight technique that Gerry could use that allowed a cultivator to enhance their vision so that they could see things moving at faster speeds than they could normally. Eventually as they got stronger their senses would be enhanced by the Mana that they used allowing them to keep up with faster movements normally. This skill had been created to help deal with Mana Beasts as there were many that could move much faster than a cultivator of a similar strength.

A small wisp of Mana exited his Core and floated up towards his eyes, Telram marvelled at the change in how simple it was to control, a small amount of his Soul Energy was infused with the Mana, something that Telram guessed was because of the sheer amount that had been infused into the first layer of his Mana Core. All the Mana he absorbed from now on would have to pass through the outer shell of his Mana Core and should be infused with the properties of his Soul Energy which would make it even more powerful when used in certain ways.

Telram manipulated the mysterious energy in the pattern described by the book before connecting it to his eyes, blinking at the strange sensation he looked towards where Gerry was fighting with his wooden opponents just as the slender sword the older man was holding sliced through the neck of a puppet before moving in a short arc to deflect a spear thrust as Gerry moved from offense to defence.

They were still moving very fast even to Telram’s temporarily enhanced vision, but he could follow their movements now. Gerry was using a style of sword fighting that had no wasted movement, every move he made deflecting an attack or striking out unerringly at a wooden joint.

Gerry was fighting a defensive battle due to being outnumbered, and his opponents weren’t flesh and blood like he was. They would neither tire or feel pain like he would, so each of his attacks had to be timed perfectly so that he could deal significant enough damage that it would slow them down showing Gerry’s incredible level of skill and concentration as he flowed around the attacks coming from all sides his sword flickering out at every opportunity.

One of the puppets stumbled back as the blade of Gerry’s sword sliced clean through its left elbow, as it regained its balance it started winding up for a more powerful attack wisps of Mana converging around the sword it still held in its right hand before suddenly igniting.

Gerry smirked as he dodged a slash from a different puppet’s sword, he had programmed every technique these puppets could use himself which meant that he knew them all off by heart. The technique that this puppet was preparing to use had a windup of a few seconds which meant he could dodge it easily, but he also knew that it was powerful enough that if he did dodge it Telram could get hurt.

Infusing the blade of his with Soul Energy Gerry swung his sword which sent a wave of energy flying towards the puppet that was preparing to unleash the powerful flame attack. The wave of energy struck the puppet with great force sending it flying across the courtyard before slamming into the wall with a crunching sound. Telram blinked as he saw that the energy wave had not only sent the puppet flying but had sliced it completely in two!

What was even more interesting was that the attack hadn’t seemed to use Mana, and Telram decided to add it to the rapidly growing list of things to ask Gerry when he finished dismantling the rest of the puppets.

Gerry decided that now he had fewer opponents and an audience he would stop holding back and go on the offensive. Channelling his Mana his sword was wrapped in howling wind as it flickered out rapidly each blow doing far more damage than it had previously the rapidly swirling wind shredding the wood upon contact and soon, he had finished his training session and walked over towards Telram who quickly offered him a towel that he had found next to him.

Gerry thanked Telram as he took the towel and wiped the sweat from his face, nodding as he noticed that the boy had used Mana to enhance his vision, he had noticed that Telram’s eyes had been following him while he was fighting but was pleased to see that he had used the correct technique.

“I have something to show you,” said Gerry who turned and walked towards the door to a small room just off the courtyard gesturing for Telram to follow. Telram followed Gerry into the room, where he discovered a large the same puppets that Gerry had been fighting against before.

“Is this your workshop?” Telram asked, he knew that aside from his previous position as the head scholar of the city he had also supplied these puppets to Irian’s guards and anyone who could afford to buy them.

“Yes, but that’s not actually what I brought you here to show you,” Gerry answered walking over to a puppet that was sitting on his workbench.

Gerry picked up a small crystal that was sitting in a bowl next to it, this was the Beast Core that he had been inscribing last night while Telram was forming the first layer of his Mana Core and silently inserted it into the socket at the base of the puppet’s skull.

Telram watched with a confused expression as the puppet suddenly sat up and turned its featureless ‘face’ towards him.

“Why are you showing me one of your puppets?” he asked.

Gerry grinned as he made the puppet go through several motions, checking that it could move properly, “Oh, this one isn’t mine Telram,” he said. “It’s yours.”

“Mine!?” Telram shouted, he knew that there was no way that his family could afford to buy the puppet, his father made enough money from his hunting for them to live fairly comfortably by the standards of this world but since his mother had lost her job he had noticed that they had been trying to save money any way possible. Even the clothes he was wearing now were simply some old ones his father used to wear that had been adjusted slightly for him. His massive growth spurt over the last few months had meant that the clothes he used to wear no longer even came close to fitting him.

Seeing the worried expression on the boy’s face Gerry hurried to reassure him, “Don’t worry, it’s a gift, I was paid quite well while I worked for Irian, I don’t need more money.”

“But these must be expensive,” Telram said worriedly.

“Don’t worry about it. Your father supplies me with the Beast Cores I use for making these anyway and your mother used to be my disciple so as far as I’m concerned we’re family.”

Telram looked at Gerry with a grateful expression on his face, “I feel the same way Gerry,” he said causing Gerry to look away in embarrassment. “Thank you for the gift.”

Gerry coughed slightly, feeling his chest go warm. He didn’t have any real family of his own so the fact that Telram saw him as such despite Gerry’s involvement in what happened to Lily made the older man very happy.

“Well, why don’t we take the puppet outside and you can show me how well you’ve progressed in training your Martial Arts,” Gerry suggested.

Telram smirked slightly at Gerry who still couldn’t look him in the eye, “Sounds good ‘Uncle Gerry,’” he said causing the man to explode into a fit of coughing as Telram walked out of the workshop laughing.

Once Gerry had recovered he followed Telram outside making the puppet follow him.

“Alright then, this puppet will use the same Solid Fist Martial Art that you know and it’s power is currently limited to your level,” he explained. Telram nodded and took one of the stances from the Solid Fist Martial Art as he turned to face the puppet which brought its own fists up ready for him.

“Whenever you’re ready Gerry,” he said, eying the puppet looking for any weaknesses in the stance.

Gerry nodded and sent a wisp of Mana out towards the puppet causing it to explode into motion.

Telram swiftly dodged the blow, he had been using Graceful Mist Steps every morning when he was out running, and it was by far the Martial Skill he was most proficient in. He threw a punch at the puppets head, suddenly very thankful that part of the training for Solid Fist involved strengthening the skin and bones of the hand as his fist struck the puppets wooden head with a thud.

As expected this didn’t do much to slow the puppet down and it quickly turned back to face the boy striking out with its fists.

As he watched Telram dancing around the puppet Gerry noted that he wasn’t doing much damage. Telram’s understanding of the Solid Fist Martial Art wasn’t bad, it just didn’t have as much stopping power as higher ranked skills, though he was impressed with the boy’s use of Graceful Mist Step.

Realising he wasn’t making much headway with his lower ranked Martial Art Telram switched to his other one his clenched fist uncurling and knocking aside a punch as he changed stance. He wasn’t as good with the more passive Flowing Palm Martial Art as with Solid Fist, but he had to admit that it would probably work better against this opponent.

His palm slammed into the puppets torso as he dodged yet another punch, the attack used the puppets own power against it sending it stumbling backwards as Telram quickly followed up his other hand coming around and slamming into the side of the puppet’s head sending it crashing to the ground.

Panting he watched as the puppet struggled to its feet, as expected the attack still hadn’t done much damage to the sturdy wood the puppet was made of but at least now he knew that he could damage it.

The Flowing Palms more flexible stance allowed him to dodge the puppet’s attacks far easier than the rigid style of Solid Fist, and he quickly gained the upper hand grabbing one of the puppets arms as it tried to hit him and slamming his palm into the back of its elbow.

The puppets elbow splintered under the attack causing Telram to grin, watching Gerry fight the puppets earlier had made him realise that much like a human the puppet’s joints were much weaker than the rest of it and he quickly struck once more using the full force that he could muster, which was about fifty percent more than he would have been able to yesterday as Mana flowed into his limbs with a mere thought enhancing the attack.

With a cracking sound the puppets elbow gave way completely leaving Telram holding what remained. The puppet looked down at its damaged limb, the limited intelligence that Gerry had programmed into it unable to understand what had just happened.

Telram took advantage of the puppet’s confusion using the severed limb as a makeshift bludgeon as he slammed it into the back of the puppets head. Gerry cringed slightly as the puppet slumped to the ground that last attack had damaged the inscriptions that surrounded the socket held the Beast Core, meaning that the Core wouldn’t be able to supply the Mana to repair the damage the puppet had sustained until he repaired the damaged inscription.

Still he had to admit that Telram had done well, the Mystic Ironbark the puppet was made of was very strong, he had expected that he would to have to stop the puppet before Telram was injured but then he hadn’t been expecting Telram to use the puppets own arm to defeat it.

Telram stared down at his vanquished opponent, before dropping it’s arm next to it. The technique that he had used to increase the strength of the blow that had ripped the puppets arm off was called Formless Wave Palm and was one of the more powerful Martial Skills which the Flowing Palm Martial Art contained, at higher levels he could enhance the blow enough that the force would travel through the air a short distance. The fight had taught him a lot of things and he decided to focus a little more on his Martial Art skills in the future.

“Right,” Gerry said drawing Telram’s attention. “Well done defeating the puppet on your first go, I honestly didn’t expect you to. Your mastery of your Martial Arts is decent considering how long you’ve been practicing them, and I’m really impressed with your mastery of the Graceful Mist Step.”

In fact, Gerry had decided to increase the puppets speed a little when he fixed the inscriptions, though Graceful Mist Step was primarily an evasive movement technique it did allow the user to maintain a constant speed due to it’s flowing style of movement. This combined with Telram’s Flowing Palm had allowed him to avoid almost all the puppet’s attacks.

“However, I think that we can do better, I’m going to give you a new Martial Art that should suit you better than your current ones. Follow me,” Gerry said turning and walking into the house.