James and Mabel stared patiently at the boy waiting on something special to happen. However, after several breaths, it appeared that nothing was happening. Besides a sour taste that caused his face to twist in a scowl, Lukas did not feel any differently. 

“Well this was a wast-“ he started before hunching over suddenly. Tightly gripping his head Lukas appeared to be in great pain. “Urghhhhhh” he screamed at the top of his lungs .

 

Mabel and James were taken completely off guard by the sudden turn of events and did not know what to do. Running over to console him Mabel worriedly scanned him for injuries. 

“I- I can’t tell what’s wrong? James do something!” She cried in desperation. However, James appeared just as panicked as his wife and son, his experience as a seasoned guide had never exposed him to a plant like the spirit grass. He was completely out of his element here and had no idea if the plant was poisonous. After realizing he didn’t know what to do a great feeling of shame and desperation began to set into his bones.

 

“Aghhhhhh” Lukas screamed again as he arched out of Mabels grasp into an obtuse shape on the floor. His eyes were snapped open and so fully dilated the whites were not even showing. His eyes glowed red like crimson suns. It would be no exaggeration to say he appeared to be some demon.

 

Not being able to take it anymore, James quickly lifted Lukas on to the table as he tried to pry his mouth open. 

‘If I can get him to throw it up everything should be fine’ his thoughts raced desperately. Mabel was nearby trying to keep her composure as she whispered consoling words to Lukas.

 

Sadly, Lukas could only vaguely hear what she was saying, he was trapped in a world of pain right now. After drinking the concoction, a crushing pain appeared out of nowhere in his head, it felt like something or someone was literally squeezing his brain. Unable to control his body Lukas’ long obsidian claws began to grow from his nailbed as he held the table underneath in a vice-like grip. 

 

As James worked his hardest to pry open the boys’ clenched shut jaws. Suddenly a feeling that made the hairs on the back of James and Mabel’s neck appeared and they instinctively backed away a bit. For a split second, it felt like time stood still... then all hell broke loose. Lukas’ body suddenly stopped struggling as his eyes shut and he began to float upwards.  

 

His hair and clothes flowed majestically as if caught in the wind, even though the cabin was sealed shut.  Soon the table, chairs, various utensils, and items in the kitchen began to float and fly around the room as well.  Amazement and worry shown on Lukas’ parent’s eyes at the scene before them. Ducking and holding each other close they hoped he was okay, but as things were now, they couldn’t safely get near him. 

 

The objects flying around the room moved more and more furiously as Lukas drifted higher. Other strange occurrences began to happen as a garnet membranous orb began to expand around Lukas's body from his head down. Whispers that sounded as if they were coming from right next to them began to plague Mabel and James. Even the air pressure in the room began to alter as their ears popped and unpopped while the windows glasses shook in their panes. 

 

Just when things seemed to be unable to get any worse, they did. A heavy formless pressure began to build upon their shoulders. Looking around the room various objects broke or exploded such as the chair that became a pile of splinters in the blink of an eye.

“M-Mabel” James croaked as his bones groaned “we have to go!” 

Mabel stared ahead at their son floating against the ceiling as if she had not heard him before slowly shaking her head. Struggling to her feet Mabel made her way over to the boy on shaky steps whilst dodging projectiles. Just as she stood under him the pressure increased again as James fell flat to the floor and droplets of blood fell from Mabel’s nose. With a resounding bang, all the windows and doors of the wooden cabin burst outwards. Standing like a tall and strong tree during a storm Mabel was unfazed as she waited for her son.

 

Lukas’ was semiconscious to the happenings around him. He couldn’t see or move and could barely hear but his sense of smell was still perfect. 

‘T-The pain’s gone but why can’t I move? What’s going on?! He lashed out mentally not knowing what his struggles were doing in the real world.

Suddenly he smelled something familiar...

‘M-Mom’ he thought ‘and she’s bleeding!’

All at once everything literally stopped. The cauldron suspended in the air, the table over  James's head, and the droplets of blood hovering below Mabel's nose. Everything just stopped.

The epiphany of his mother being injured drastically affected Lukas psyche. Like most families Lukas's mom doted on and adored him the most, so he loved and adored her the most. Children were simple beings.

 

As he pictured her warm smile and loving embrace Lukas felt a wave of sadness at the possibility of her being hurt. 

Seizing this chance Mabel looked upwards before screaming in a firm voice with tears in her eyes “Lukas!” and somehow, she knew he heard her this time.

 

Lukas didn’t know how or why but her voice was coming from below him. While Focusing on the sound Lukas suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of exhaustion. Without much chance to fight back Lukas was dragged into the abyss of sleep as his body fell from the ceiling. All around the cabin various sounds of objects falling could be heard. James was smart enough to roll before the cauldron came crashing where he was. And Lukas fell into the waiting arms of Mabel as she caught him with an “oof”.

 

A deathly silence stretched onwards as James and Mabel observed the wreck of their cabin. Looking down on the resting face of Lukas many questions and worries appeared in their minds.

 

He slept for a whole 7 days straight, only rousing on the dawn of the seventh day. Lukas awakened to the thunderous sound of hammering coming from outside. Groaning as he sat up, he glanced around the room before catching the eye of his mother. Gasping Mabel shot over to the boy as she screamed ”James he’s awake”. Sitting near the bed she cooed over his figure. As Lukas scratched his head confused, he looked around at the cabin in its stages of rebuild before asking, “What happened?”. James rushed inside just in time to hear the last of Lukas question, after sharing a look with his wife they caught him up on the events from a week before. Lukas face was a picture of disbelief throughout their story. But in his heart, he felt happy because it sounded like he performed magic!

‘Selene did say it would be beneficial towards his growth, but she didn’t say how. What if I could be a mage again?’ he gasped inwardly at the thought.

 However, Lukas knew not to get his hopes up until he knew for sure. And finding out would have to wait until his next meeting with Selene on the full moon. Besides that, Lukas felt he had bigger problems to deal with. Feeling the rumble of his stomach Lukas's mind was set on looking for food.

Apparently, the sound of Lukas's stomach rumbling was louder than he thought as the eyes of his parent transferred to the origin of the sound.

“Oh heavens” Mabel gasped “ forgive your poor parents we didn’t even think of you being hungry” 

“haha It’s okay Lukas replied  laughing “ but food would be  nice" he added unabashedly.

“Of course! I can cook up a dish right away!”

“I think I have the perfect one hehe,” said James with a clever look in his eye before opening a large black leather knapsack.

The contents of the bag appeared to be fresh cuts of meat. Marbled in its texture it appeared to have small notes of light here and there across its surface. Lukas recognized the meat at first glance and realized it was from the Liger.

With a gasp, he asked anyway “M-magic beast meat?” 

“Yeahh” James replied while scratching his beard nervously, “I figured it’d be more filling and nutritious for you since well uh you technically are a uh magic beast hehe”

Lukas stared at the meat inquisitively as if deciding upon something. He was split on eating the meat since his father’s words were correct but the reputation of eating magic beast meat by non-mages was morbid, to say the least. Regular humans’ bodies couldn't contain mana, as well as a mages’ as such their thresholds for mana storage, were extremely low. It was well known that magic beasts’ bodies contained large amounts of mana. So much so that just one bite could cause a regular human’s body to literally explode. There had been cases even in Noat of accidental consumption of magic beast meat by non-mages which resulted in death. Even with the high mortality rate for non-mages, magic beast meat was a rare delicacy for mages. But most found it not worth the effort to acquire as the benefits they received were negligible relative to the risks.

Throwing caution to the wind Lukas made up his mind to just try the meat. Cooked of course. Sometime later the sizzle and pungent smell of cooked meat wafted throughout the semi windowless cabin.  Served in front of Lukas was three huge slabs of browned Liger meat. traces of smoke and even the small motes of light could be seen on the meat. 

“Eat up!” said Mabel as she placed a large glass filled with a sticky crimson liquid on the table.

Lukas gave the glass a sniff and was surprised that the smell made his mouth water more than the meat.

Using the cutlery to his left and right Lukas cut off a piece of the roasted meat. Stabbing the meat with a fork Lukas hurriedly placed the morsel in his mouth. 

The meat of the Lightning Liger was flavorful but tough. Chewing with all his might Lukas was able to break the meat down before swallowing it resolutely. At the moment the food hit his stomach a warm and comfortable sensation began to spread across his body. Even while being digested Lukas could feel the mana emanating off the chunks of meat.

‘Mmm, so this is what mana feels like!’ Marveled Lukas as his body rapidly absorbed the energy like a sponge. 

Using the fork in had he quickly stabbed two more chunks of meat into his maw amidst moaning joyfully. To the onlooking eyes of Mabel and James, the meat appeared to be just fine. And the couple released a slight breath they didn’t know they were holding. ‘Thank heavens he’s not having a reaction like he did to the spirit grass’ Mabel thought relieved. In fact, Lukas was having quite the opposite reaction. As of now his mind and his body were taken over by a carnal hunger. The warmth from the meat had spread to a toasty fire that emanated from his belly and coursed through his veins. ‘Whoa what’s happening to me’ he thought slightly alarmed but still eating 

The fire in his veins spread to his muscles, various, organs, and cells. He could feel them thrumming and resonating with each other. It felt like they were growing and strengthening so he didn’t worry too much. 

Lukas knew that was happening was definitely beneficial toward his growth and wondered how he could maximize these gains further.

‘I definitely must find a method to train as soon as possible, only with hard work can I progress as a mage, or knight’ he thought seriously.

Lukas figured as things were now after taking spirit grass and consuming magic beast meat, he had a 50/50 chance of becoming a mage. But even if he could not, he knew he’d always have a future as a knight. In the world of Arreia, those who were born with bodies able to handle and contain mana were either knights or mages. The deciding factor between the two was whether one was born with an elemental attribute to their mana. Having an elemental attribute or affinity along with storing mana in meridians is what marked someone as a mage.

However, those whose bodies could handle and store mana through their veins but had no attribute were prime candidates for becoming knights. Knights were master fighters who used mana to strengthen their bodies and their weapons. Though not as famous as mages, knights were still formidable existences in Arreia that should not be underestimated. Knight ranks in this world were divided into elementary knight, intermediate knight, advanced knight, Great Knight, Earth Knight, Heaven Knight, Half Knight-Lord, and the legendary Knight Lord. And each rank was further subdivided into early, middle, and peak stages.

Lukas knew that even if he couldn’t become a legendary magical Archon, he could still become a never before seen Knight Lord.