After the lower imps’ bodies, blood, and all were lit up, they scattered into the air as balls of glowing mana. They then sunk into my body along with my Companions’ who were hiding in the pockets.

This was the typical response after a person, be they human, elf, or other, defeats a monster. Their remains turn into a special mana called experion (or ‘experience’ in game speak) that grants the victor, his/her Companions, and/or familiar like Flinto power for growth, becoming stronger. As you might expect, the stronger the monsters are means more abundant experion for the victor to earn. Even if you didn’t deal the finishing blow when fighting in a party or if you only killed game like deer, or if you’re only training your body and magic, you’ll still gain experion based on the extent and intensity of your performance. It’s something that builds up in our bodies as we grow, but this is something that normal eyes can’t see. Unless you have magically enhanced vision or have a gift related to it like Onelri, you wouldn’t be able to see that kind of experion being absorbed and growing inside you, your Companions, and even your familiars. It’s sort of like eating green peas when you know you’re getting some nutrients you need to live, while breathing in molecules of oxygen is also something you need for functioning, even if you can’t see it.

That said, even if you absorb a lot of abundant experion, you may not notice much change in your growth. This may be because of the difference of power between you and the monsters you fought, or how much of that is being distributed to your Companion (s) and/or familiar. As you might expect, you, your Companions, and your Familiar will level up once you absorbed enough experion in your bodies, and that growth will show in your status cards.

Marble exclaimed through telepathy.

[Cinder]

[Shadina]

[Mist]

“Excellent work. You’re really something else, fairy boy.”

Before I could answer Breezy, Zalena came up and praised me for my performance. The suddenness made me jump and almost swing my Conductor in her direction as I was just coming down from my battle mode. “O-Oh ... yeah, thanks.”

“You’re Gullivan’s son, all right. You cut and pierced through those monsters like they were nothing,” Rala also praised as she, Flinto, and Agnes came out of their hiding place.

“That’s likely my Conductor’s doing. I knew it was sharp, but I didn’t think it would be that effective. Mithril’s a very capable metal, indeed.” I take another look at my blade and see no traces of the lower imps’ blood on it as it had into experion along with the rest of their body necessities; thus, leaving my weapon spotless.

“So, this is what happens when you defeat a monster, but why didn’t the goblins’ bodies disappear like the lower imps’ did?” Agnes asked as she browsed the scene.

While the goblins’ corpses and fluids were still intact, in the lower imps’ places were magic stones, dull and dark gray, each in different sizes, shapes, and conditions, with one roughly split in two from the last one I stabbed in the chest. There was also a lustrous black lower-imp talon next to the magic stone in place of the pack’s leader, a bonus drop that can act as material for crafting along with the haul I can turn in for money.

“It’s because of the effect of the mana within our bodies that makes this reaction,” I answered as I approach one of the two goblins’ corpses. “While the monsters’ bodies have a physical form, their mana is in a different state compared to ours called ‘tainterion.’ When we attack them, we’re damaging the magical forces called ‘shells’ acting as their bodies that protect the magic stones dwelling inside them, the source that regulates the tainterion coursing through their forms. We try to break through their shells with our fighting skills and magic, while our own mana influences theirs in places where they’re most vital like the head or chest, stopping the flow of tainterion and ‘purifying’ them into experion we absorb in ourselves.

“Until someone deals the finishing blow to the monsters, be they alive or dead, with or without their magic stones, their shells will just sit out here in the open indefinitely, empty and without life, husks of reserved tainterion left for other monsters to feast on. That’s something we have to avoid at all costs, which is why we have to do this.”

I then took my Conductor and stabbed it down, right through the nearest goblins’ head, before pulling it back out instantly. The stabbed goblin’s body and its blood reacted the same as the lower imps’ seconds later, but their experion was far less abundant than their predators’ as they slowly sunk into mine and my Companions’ bodies. Unlike the lower imps’ case, my stabbed goblin left nothing behind. No magic stone, either, since a lower imp already ate it.

“Go ahead and stab the other one and see for yourself,” I suggested to Agnes.

Despite her slight hesitation, she took her sword and followed my example with a look of cringing disgust on her face. Her body then shivered like someone dropped ice down her back as the second goblins’ remains-turned-experion sunk into her. Agnes’ fairy, Flicker, also behaved similarly.

“Yeah, you get used to that,” I said.

“Wait, I can understand fighting monsters for self-defense in dire emergencies, but if these monsters go after each other if we do not approach them, why do hunters risk their lives to go after them on quests, anyway? Sure, you may get good materials to craft gear, but that is just from luck, right? You would not even get a magic stone for cashing in after stabbing a monster’s shell husk, so why go this far?”

“Good question, and you’re right if you’re thinking logically. Let’s gather up the stones and move on while I explain …”

When a person kills a monster, the latter’s shell and their fluids turn into experion almost instantly, leaving behind the magic stones that is their hearts, e-stones, and/or a piece of themselves like claw talons and teeth that serve as materials for crafting items. When a monster does the same to another though, their corpses remain for the ‘victors’ to feast on, consuming their flesh of tainterion, magic stones, and e-stones (if they’re lucky) to grow stronger and possibly evolve, making them more dangerous than previously.

What’s more, monsters can even see fairies and attempt to eat them. Out of everything that exists in Manara, when a fairy isn’t under a contract, monsters are the greatest threats to their tragically short lives, which is why their act of hiding is a part of their nature until they find a Chaperone that could benefit them the most. Fairies have very potent and powerful mana even by themselves without Chaperones, for a monster that lives off of mana from others, they are their greatest sources of nutrition and confection. The rest of us, humans, elves, and others are the monsters’ second choice of a nutritional meal, and if they consume the mana of an individual with such a large quantity and potency ... one couldn’t imagine how dangerous they’d be afterward.

To subjugate monsters, whether they’re out in the field or in dungeons, before they grow too strong and become a threat to the people and the fairies who help keep the world of Manara alive, are why hunters even exist. It was said Goddess Elmyra created races like humans, elves, and others as means to protect the world and the fairies she created, our own mana ‘cleanses’ the threats that grow more dangerous by ‘tainting’ mana to consume and make into their own. This was perhaps why things like gifts, status cards to track our growth, and magic itself existed to eliminate the threats of monsters, scattering them into experion that goes back to the world, into ourselves, instead of leaving it for others to grow stronger until it gets out of hand.

I explained all of this to Agnes as we collected the goods left by the lower imps—we agreed that I could keep it all for taking them on my own—and continued our trek through the dungeon. It seemed this was the first Agnes heard of such information, because she paled as she realized how gruesome the monsters were after I finished. Her Fire Fairy, Flicker, trembled in terror on Agnes’ shoulder.

“I-I had no idea they were so terrible ... and hunters sound so much like heroes,” Agnes commented.

“Yeah, well, not every hunter out here fights for ‘justice’ and all that shit, unfortunately,” I said.

“... Repulsive language aside, what do you mean, Soar?”

“You give someone a knife, you’d think they’d use it to prepare food to cook. That’s usually the case most of the time, but others, you get where I’m going with this, right? It’s the same when we’re given power to use magic that does countless things, but like a knife and any other tool, we can abuse our magic and other powers just as badly. From what I had heard from Dad and his friends, there are hunters more dangerous than monsters, and even if they weren’t under such an occupation, they could very well clash against each other, hurt each other ... and kill each other. You need not be a bandit to go that far, and that applies to everyone of any race from any social class in any occupation, and some are sharper than others to go about it without getting their hands dirty or using their own magic. As fantastic as this world can be, nothing’s ever perfect.”

“... Yes, I think I can agree with you on that.”

The grown-ups behind us were only silent throughout my talk with Agnes. I could only imagine what was going through their minds then like ‘Is this seriously a kid?’ or ‘Should a child even be that mature?’ I especially felt how much Zalena was staring at me from behind.

I admit my older mentality leaked out as I spoke my piece and it may be much for a twelve-year-old like Agnes to hear, but if she was seriously considering being a hunter, I felt she should know at least that much if she hadn’t learned it yet as one from a noble family.

If I want to tutor Onelri and Fila magic under that tutelage Ms. Renne proposed to me, I would have to consider explaining this much to them, too, I thought. Annoying as kids can be, anything in their environment can influence them so much. I’m not sure about handling that kind of responsibility, but I would want them growing up to be responsible adults, at the least. Would I even be capable of that? Those thoughts lingered for some time.