Mana arcs were a basic spell.
Even their more refined derivatives weren't anything extraordinary. Were they strong? Somewhat. Devastating? In numbers, sure. But when you stacked them up against proper elemental spells—true spells—they paled in every major department: raw power, speed, precision, impact.
But that changed the moment you infused them with elemental mana.
Suddenly, the mundane became lethal.
That same basic arc? Now, a blade of compressed, accelerated elemental force. Dangerous. Deadly. Almost too fast to react to, especially in low-visibility conditions like these.
Of course, it wasn't easy to pull off. Infusing a basic mana arc with elemental nature—true elemental nature—was anything but simple. Most mages could never achieve it without years of affinity training and refined control.
But the results? Marvelous. Unmistakable.
Like the one I'd just faced moments ago.
It looked like a mana arc.
But it wasn't just that.
It was infused with lightning.
Not wind. Not fire. Not even water, which is rarest amongst the uncommon affinities.
Lightning.
A legendary affinity amongst humans.
Lightning, like Ice, was the kind of elemental affinity that showed up once every thousand years. And when it did? The wielder's name was etched into history. Immense power, raw destructive speed, natural superiority over lesser affinities, and a toolkit of abilities so diverse, entire factions had been known to form around just one such wielder.
It wasn't just their power that made them legendary—it was their rarity, their uniqueness, and their dominance in battle.
But this wasn't the same when it came to mana beasts.
Take the Ghost Bear, for example—the one Sia fought when she first crossed paths with me.
It wielded Ice affinity, yes. But it wasn't a true master of it. Even someone like Sia, alongside Ragnar, had managed to bring it down. And that's not to dismiss their strength, not in the slightest.
But if that Ghost Bear had truly unlocked the full potential of a legendary affinity like Ice…
Then, even the entire battalion stationed on the Lunar Walls would've fallen before it.
Crushed. Frozen. Erased.
That's the distinction people often miss.
Mana beasts could wield legendary affinities… but they could never unleash them, not in their true sense.
Their biology, their intelligence, their very nature… capped their growth. They could use the affinity like a hammer, sure, but they'd never learn to shape it into a blade.
That's why they weren't called false wielders, like that Wraith with shadow affinity I fought long ago. No, beasts weren't imitating power they didn't own. They were just born with it, but unable to evolve it.
And maybe, in some cruel twist of fate, that's what kept Sentienity alive. If mana beasts could break through that ceiling…
We'd all be extinct.
At least, most of us.
Which brings me to the point.
That arc from earlier? That devastating lightning-infused strike?
It told me everything I needed to know.
This enemy wasn't human.
No true wielder of lightning would ever strike like this—hidden, stealthy, lurking in swamps and shadows.
That was beneath them.
A real lightning user wouldn't hesitate to stand above the battlefield and announce their arrival with a thunderclap.
No… this wasn't a wielder. This was a beast. And one capable of more than it should be.
***
I stood atop the bark, unmoving.
Waiting.
Not to strike first—but to observe. To react.
The beast knew I was aware of its presence, its nature, even its location. It had let me witness that much, either arrogantly or out of some primal instinct to intimidate. Either way, I wasn't going to rush in blindly.
My armour hummed faintly from within my storage ring, pulsing with potential.
'Not yet,' I reminded myself.
I needed the first move to understand what I was dealing with.
So I released my mana force, not to damage or pierce… but to press. To push down from above. Not enough to crush, no—that was beyond what I could do with force alone, not against a beast of this level.
But just enough to simulate a kind of pressure… the kind that said: I see you. I'm stepping on your head. Now do something about it.
It did.
As expected, the swamp stirred violently.
A moment later, a counter-force met mine—crude, instinctual, and angry. Beast-like. Pure hostility coiled into mana and thrown back at me.
And then it leapt.
The water erupted like a breached dam as the beast lunged upward with feral speed, its massive frontal claws extended, aiming to either slash me in half or pull me straight down with it.
I didn't wait to find out which.
Its roar followed—deep and guttural, shaking droplets of rain out of the sky and sending concentric shockwaves that trembled through the branches below me.
It was fast.
Well-timed. Precise.
I responded in kind.
REPEL
I didn't speak it aloud—just whispered the command within my own mind, letting the word echo again and again like a spell loop.
The mana I had gathered around me didn't hesitate.
It surged forward like a barrier reborn as a fist, catching the beast mid-lunge just before its claws could tear into me and pushed it away.
It flew backwards.
But not far enough.
The moment it landed, I could see it. No panic. No injury. No imbalance.
The beast—a Chimaera, as expected stood on the surface of the swamp. Not floating. Standing. Four solid legs braced across the rippling water, unmoving. Perfect balance.
Its four eyes locked onto me with perfect clarity.
And for a second, I felt… outmatched.
"Damn," I muttered. "I'm jealous."
Here I was, squinting and shifting my head to make up for the single eye I still had—an eye that barely tracked fast enough.
While this thing had four, perfectly arranged for maximum field of vision. No blind spots. No need to tilt its head. It didn't have to adapt to anything.
I did.
I exhaled slowly, adjusting my stance.
So… a Chimaera.
Not just any Chimaera—a female, and an Ex-Alpha, just as Forza had briefed.
The mana walking… that confirmed it. The beast stood unnaturally still atop the water, using the same mana-walking technique we humans employed for vertical surfaces or water traversal.
Now that it had revealed itself, I could finally study it properly.
And it was beautiful.
In a terrifying, haunting kind of way.
Its body was long and sophisticatedly built. Four limbs—each one thick, muscled, and predatory. The front limbs were larger, clearly meant for dominance in both slashing and grappling.
Its tail was unnaturally long—almost as long as its entire body. It whipped down onto the water with rhythmic force, disturbing the swamp with every lash, as if announcing its presence with beats of intimidation.
'You sure know how to make things interesting, huh?' I thought, noting its behaviour. The way it stood, stared, and moved—it was an open challenge.
A duel.
Its frame was long but somehow proportionate—each part in perfect sync, aesthetically intimidating in the way only nature could design.
Its primary colour was a deep, dark blue. Not quite black, but so close that the distinction only mattered under direct light. Along its body ran thin stripes, alternating between muted black and metallic blue, forming vertical and diagonal lines—some naturally linear, others more chaotic.
Its neck was almost hidden beneath a mane—dense, wild, and powerful. Like a lion's—but sharper, more primal. It added to the illusion of regality… even as it warned of death.
Its face?
Majestic.
It resembled a wolf, though far larger, fiercer, and far more otherworldly. It had two main eyes… and a secondary set just above, slightly angled outward, positioned perfectly above the originals.
The combination of greenish and blueish colours merged into all of its four eyes were linked by glowing vein-like lines, patterns that looked almost ceremonial, like a priest's runes carved into flesh.
Its jaws, meanwhile, were ordinary in shape—but what they held were anything but.
Two massive sets of canines—white, sharp, and deathly—and a whole forest of secondary fangs lining the sides, waiting to rend flesh from bone.
No wonder Forza called it an ex-alpha. This thing didn't look like it was deposed… Wait, an Ex-alpha, right? Doesn't that make it a she/her?
She looked like she chose to leave the throne*
And now?
The Chimaera stared at me like I was the next challenge she wanted to crush beneath her massive paws.