TBATE | Savior

Chapter 8: Final Assimilation

AETHEL LEYWIN POV:

"Hey, Art! Aeth! Hurry up! We're going to be late!"

"AAAGGHHHH!! Tess! Stop! I give! I GIVE!" My brother cried out as I quickly stood up and rubbed my eyes.

"Can't there a gentler way of waking me up, Tess?" Art grumbled, massaging the feeling back into his leg.

"Not gonna lie Art, there isn't, you sleep like an absolute log. I worry that one day someone plans to kill you on your sleep and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it." I blurted out as he pouted.

"See! Even Aeth agrees! It's getting harder and harder to wake you up in the morning! I have to do something, right? Besides, you should be grateful such a pretty lady is waking you up every morning." She fluttered her eyes at Art.

"I find the maids here plenty pretty, thank you very much." he muttered under his breath, though we were still able to hear it.

Something I realized in my three years of living in Elenoir was that most elves were more 'delicate' than the humans in Sapin, though this didn't mean that they were all gentle and positive.

Tess for some reason had awakened fast, faster than in the story. It happened on our first year here and boy did she awaken with a bang. It wasn't as big as when we had first awakened but she had managed to destroy her room upstairs, fall down, and create a small crater from the implosion in the kitchen right below. Since then, she's been joining us in training with Gramps. My theory about her being able to awaken earlier than expected was because of my presence, mainly because of my draconic body.

As for me, today was a very special day because, after three years, Art was finally able to complete the assimilation of mana into his body. It was almost our birthday so while Tess had turned nine a couple months ago, we'll be finally turning eight. During this time, unlike Art, who wasn't allowed to absorb any mana from my surroundings and only allowed to use his innate mana I was not bound with such rule, thus me being able to refine my core whenever I had wanted.

I skipped showering and just changed into a more presentable robe as I went on my way with gramps, who also seemed to be as excited as Art was.

"Finally awake now, eh Art? How did your wife wake you up today? Haha!" Grandpa Virion mused as he sipped his tea on the small table outside.

"Ugh, wife? Where? I didn't know you could marry demons. You're turning her into a monster, Gramps," He groaned.

Luckily Tess wasn't able to overhear as she came outside just moments after.

"She's going to grow up into a fine woman, Art. Better sweep her off her feet before it's too late," He chuckled, lifting his teacup in a toast.

Tess just blushed at that and elbowed Art's side.

"AGGH!" Why? What did I do?" He mused, making me let put a slight chuckle.

"Hahaha! Art! Are you ready? Today is finally the day. After this, you'll be a true beast tamer, not like those lucky adventurers that just have a beast will," He emphasized, arms crossed.

It wasn't much of a ceremony. All it consisted of was Gramps exerting a large amount of mana into my brothers core. This would trigger a large surge of mana that he would have to direct and spread into his body.

"Do you remember the basic phases of beast tamers, Art?" he quizzed.

Arthur had simply recited the basics that Grandpa Virion pounded into us these past years. "All beast tamers have a different number of forms that they can will their bodies into. The number of forms depends on the strength of the Beast's will that is left in the mana core. The first phase, that all beast tamers have, is Acquire. In this phase, the Tamer can utilize a small portion of the inherent ability that their beast has. The second stage is Integrate, where the Tamer's body wholly infuses with the Beast's will, allowing a much better control over their beast's inherent abilities."