Rivers of the Night - Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Imbued Beast

The lowest class beasts were feral beasts. They usually had more strength than domesticated animals, but not by much. They didn’t have special bloodlines and didn’t have very great Mana control.

That said, their bodies tended to be especially powerful.

The majority of them could be classified as Flux Feral Beasts, with beasts of other categories tending to be of higher order classes.

Above feral beasts were Mancy Beasts. This was actually a large umbrella term, a huge pool of beasts that had reached a certain threshold of Mana control and bloodline density.

Beasts were far more reliant on their bloodlines than humans were. Of course, bloodlines made humans much stronger, but they were also not necessary for a genius to be born.

For beasts, it was the exact opposite. Their bloodline dictated everything.

Theron had read about this sort of thing before, though there were a rare few things that he hadn’t read about at least to a small extent.

The first class of Mancy Beasts were known simply as Imbued Beasts. They might have been the lowest tier, but their strength was easily ten times that of a feral beast of the same level.

For context, a Sixth Resonance feral beast required two Eighth Resonance geniuses and one Ninth Resonance genius to take it down. Of course, this referred to Thessa’s mission.

Even feral beasts were considered to be stronger than most average human Mancers. For the Thistles to ask him to take down three Mancer Beasts, they didn’t truly care for his life and death.

If he killed them, then good. He had proven himself.

If he died, then also good. They wouldn’t waste their resources on a worthless genius.

…

Theron dashed through the forest, rushing deeper and deeper into the wilderness.

He had a pretty easy method of clearing this mission. Just kill three aquatic Imbued Beasts.

However, while this would be satisfying, it wouldn’t get him what he wanted. As such, his target was something very different.

Wood Mancy Imbued Beasts.

Wood Mancy was quite a rare path. As far as he knew, the Thistles were the only noble family that specialized in it.

Because it was a Variant, finding Mancy Beasts of this path was also quite difficult.

However, the Thistles had chosen Thistle Brook as their main base for a reason. There were large concentrations of Wood Mana in this region, and that bred Mancy Beasts that were quite special so long as you knew where to look.

Theron had no intention of looking for the strongest of them, that being a special branch of creatures known as Thistle Treants. It was rumored that they were tied to the Thistle Bloodline in some way, but there was nothing confirmed. What was sure was that they were too difficult to kill and far too dangerous.

Instead, he would target a very special Imbued Beast.

The Thornhulks.

They were a race of Wood Mancy Imbued Beasts that evolved from large horned beetle feral beasts. They had strong wooden exoskeletons, and though they couldn’t fly for long due to their heft, they could do so in short spurts without much agility.

In Thistle Brook Forest, other than the Thistle Treants, they were probably the last creatures one wanted to run into, and they were likewise a favorite of the Thistles for forming Echoes.

The reason Theron chose them was quite simple. They were fiercely territorial and two male Thornhulks would never be in close proximity. In addition, while the women moved in hoards, they wouldn’t surround males unless it was mating season.

And that season had already passed.

This meant something simple. So long as Theron targeted the male Thornhulks, he could guarantee one-on-one battles.

‘There.’

Theron spotted his first target.

The Thornhulk hung in a tree, its six large insectoid limbs wrapping around the thickness of its trunk. It had two horns, one curving from its face like a rhino, and the other curving in the opposite direction from the top of its head.

If it wasn’t so ugly, the creature would have been quite beautiful due to the deep brown and mahogany patterns of its thick, wooden exoskeleton. Staring at it while it was unmoving, it almost felt like one was looking at the most gorgeous of wooden sculptures…

Until it breathed.

The tree swayed, winds rushing toward it. A large amount of Wood Mana was sucked in from the surroundings, making the one-and-a-half-meter-long beetle glow green for just the briefest instant before it settled back down.

‘Sixth Bronze Resonance.’

It was the perfect warm up.

Only an unconfident genius would use a Bronze Resonance Echo at Silver Mancy… but what did that have to do with Theron? He wasn’t told what cultivation levels he should target, so he would go at his own pace.

Theron tossed a rock from his hand into the air, snatching it out of the wind. His cloak fluttered around him as he threw it out.

PENG!

The stone rebounded off the top of the Thornhulk’s head, making its exoskeleton tremble. Theron had thrown it with quite some force, and the rock was about a quarter the size of his palm.

That would certainly wake it up.

Could he kill it in its sleep?

Yes.

But as he had said… he needed to improve, and he needed to improve fast.

If the Thistles thought that they were punishing him, they were sorely mistaken.

Theron fell from the trees, his blades unsheathing in one fluid motion.

The Thornhulk’s exoskeleton split, its wings opened up and its amber eyes opening like shimmering torches in the night. It flapped hard, a surge of wind spreading out.

A screech filled the skies as it found Theron, its fury at being awoken from its slumber being aimed all toward the little human before him.

It pounced, its body, weighing thousands of pounds, falling right toward Theron’s scrawny form.

BANG!

Soil and dust flew, the six legs of the Thornhulk sinking just the slightest bit.

A shadow dashed out from underneath it, Theron’s blade flashing for one of its limbs.