“Today we will be discussing Mortals and Monsters.” The saffron-clad man began. “As you can surmise from the names themselves, things are not as quite simple.”

A murmur rose with the children, though this chatter came more from the boys in the group than the girls. The tales of bravery, heroism and glory that had been fed to them since their birth, almost demanded that the boys paid rapt attention.

“First, Mortals.” The gaunt man smiled at the response but continued on. “You, me and us. We all are Mortals. Mortals are all those creatures that possess a sense of self and live in civilization. For this is the very ability that divides the two categories.”

A disquiet rose amongst the children and several of them raised their hands as if in disapproval. They clearly did not like such a broad definition. But the man cared not for their disapproval and simply called onto the nearest child.

“Even the Insaan are Mortals?” The child asked with his face showing clear discomfort at the thought. The Saffron clad man, however, raised an eyebrow. “Do they live in a civilization?”

The child’s face contorted and the man just shrugged in response. He did not care about the child’s personal grudge and moved onto the next child.

“Are Manoos Mortals too?” A girl asked with distaste and the Guru raised an eyebrow in response. The girl huffed and replied shortly. “They are hardly civil! And their tribes are clearly not an established civilisation!”

The man had to stifle a laugh at the girl’s passion for the Manoos. “As long as even the slightest semblance of civilization exists, the creature would be a Mortal. And the tribes that you mentioned, they are a form of civilization, are they not?”

“They are not!”

The man laughed lightly at that. “Yes, they are. The Manoos are all different individuals that live together safely and raise their families. Sounds like civilisation to me.”

“But they kill, they pillage, they destroy, they are green and they breed like rabbits! How could they be same as us?!”

“Good question.” The thin man answered. “And the answer is they aren’t. While they are Mortals like us and all the other Mortal Species, they are different from us. Just like all the other Mortal Species are different from us.”

“All Mortal species have their own characteristics that make them different. Take us for example. We, the Manav, gain 1 additional [Spirit] Attribute every 10 Levels for no other reason other than reaching that Level.”

“And as high [Spirit] Attribute is one of the quasi-requirements for reaching Tier 2, all of you can very well imagine the boon that these additional points are.”

“Of course, all races have their own boon. The Insaan have their [Strength] boost and the Manoos have their [Endurance] boost. But the Manoos have some other banes that keep their kind trapped in their tribal stages.”

“However, this is not the time to talk about them.” The man changed the topic abruptly. “All creatures that live in any kind of civilization are Mortals. While those that don’t are either animals or Monsters.”

“I don’t suppose I have to tell you all the difference between the two?” The man asked but simply sighed when he saw the confusion on the many of the faces. “Animals are creatures that lack a sense of self and are magicless. While Monsters may or may not possess a sense of self but they will always possess some sort of magic.”

“Animals, also, usually can’t change their Vessels and Evolve. They only are able to do so after they have gone through extraordinary circumstances. While the ability to change Vessels is vital to Monsters.”

“So, your pets won’t suddenly turn into horrendous monsters.” The man reassured the children before he smiled mischievously. “They can though, But they most likely won’t.”

The children that had pets twitched nervously but the man ignored their plight. ‘A little bit of caution will do them good.’

“Now, although the concept of civilization is what divides the two races, it is far from the only difference.” The man continued on with his lecture. “One of the main differences is the ability to change Vessels and Evolve. No Mortal has ever Evolved. While, as mentioned previously, the ability to Evolve is vital to Monsters.”

“The other major difference is the access to Attributes and Class that Mortals obtain through their Status. Monsters gain neither of those. In the past, several [Master of Monsters] have tried to pass on this boon to their monsters, however, none have succeeded so far.”

“In fact, such was the futility of their actions that Gods did not even bother to try to stop them. Instead, the Gods watched from afar and laughed in glee like little children.”

The children laughed nervously at the clear disrespect shown to Gods but none of them dared to emulate the saffron-clad man. From the very beginning, the children had been taught a simple fact; to speak to the Gods one must earn their respect.

“I digress. The lifespans of the two races are also different. While almost all Mortals live for about a century, the Monsters have no fixed lifespans as they keep changing their Vessels.” The man ignored the rising chatter of the children and continued. “It is for this reason that any monster that has gained sapience will refer to itself as Immortal. They stand as an antithesis to Mortals.”

The children became noisy at that.

Some became agitated at the thought of the ever-living monsters of the horror stories while the other became jealous of the ability to just live endlessly. Some boys even started discussing what kind of Monster they would be and it soon became a contest of masculinity.

The saffron clan bony man let the ruckus continue for a while before he cleared his throat and the children quietened instantly. The man had put his Tier 1 Skill and Spell to good use.

“The last difference between the two races,” The Guru continued after a moment, “is the inability of Monsters to use Spells. As Spells depend on the user’s Attributes to function, the Monsters can’t make use of Spells. They are denied access to both the Attributes and the Spells.”

Kiran raised his hand at that moment and the saffron-clad man nodded. “Guruji, umm, how do we know all this?”

“Tch! Even I could have told you this.” Before the man could answer, the girl sitting beside the boy whispered sharply. “Guruji even mentioned it. It’s because of monster taming Classes. Learn to pay attention!”

Kiran’s eyebrows furrowed as he scowled and snapped. “Shut up, you know-it-all!”

“And don’t you forget it!” The girl smirked. “You, foot-in-mouth!”

-X-

Within a desolate desert, inside a dilapidated shop, on a simple chair, a youth seemingly slept.

-X-

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