'Have you any idea what you've done?!' Kassorith snapped once they were alone. 'He's going to gut us alive if you fail to deliver!'

Percy shrugged. 'No. Just you – he can't get to my guts. So, you'd better start training.'

'And how the fuck am I supposed to do that?! You think I've been stuck at my current level for decades because I'm lazy?!'

'You tell me. How far exactly are you from a Violet's strength?'

Kassorith sighed. 'Not very. I can already hold my own against three regular Blues. But the remaining gap is impossible to cross. I don't have a blessing and, while my bloodline is useful, it doesn't help in combat. I've only made it this far thanks to my composite affinity and sheer skill.'

Percy nodded, slightly impressed. Composite affinities were indeed superior to the common elements – thanks to their versatility and raw power – but the difference wasn't that large. Tripling one's fighting strength relying on nothing but that took real talent. Maybe Kassorith wouldn't even lose to Galahad – at least, not until Percy's uncle used his boosting art.

'Show me,' Percy said. 'Do you have a place we can practice?'

His host summoned another greatsword and took off without a word. This time, he flew straight upward, ignoring the countless caves lining the pillar's sides, shooting directly toward the ceiling of fog. The air grew colder the higher up they climbed. Thinner too – making it harder to breathe or replenish their mana, though Kassorith appeared unbothered.

When they burst through the clouds, Percy gasped. It was his first time seeing Thess'kala's clear blue sky. A golden sun blazed overhead, sitting at its apex. Only the tallest of the heaven-piercing pillars reached this high – including the cylindrical mountain belonging to Kassorith's sect.

They landed near the edge of the summit.

Others were here, but very few of them were people.

Colossal beasts roamed the plateau – the mere sight of them causing Percy's eyes to widen. Each was easily the size of a small house, even while on all fours. Dark scales shimmered like obsidian daggers along their bodies, painting a stark contrast against the milky white skin of the Thess'kalans. The beasts looked like reptiles, though their heavy frames were built closer to a buffalo's – complete with a pair of horns that curved upwards.

Blue beasts.

The first Percy had ever seen.

Even stranger, the creatures weren't rampaging, as he might have expected. Some lounged on the ground, others strolling around leisurely, each thunderous step sending a tremor through the plain. But they weren't attacking. Or… well… a few were, but they only seemed to clash against a Blue or Violet Thess'kalan in single combat, clearly engaged in something closer to a friendly spar than a true fight to the death.

'How is this possible?!'

Not just on Remior, but practically everywhere Percy had been, beasts above Red – let alone Blue – were considered untameable. That was one of the primary reasons Micky's existence had caused such a stir back home.

'Magical beasts grow hungrier and more violent with each promotion, but also smarter,' Kassorith explained. 'Blue is a bit of a sweet spot. By then, they're intelligent enough to know what's good for them.'

Percy nodded slowly. That tracked. From the countless beasts he'd killed in the Thirsty Valley and on Melodia, he knew that Greens were still too dumb. They understood fear and strength, yet struggled to resist their hunger or put down their pride – often throwing themselves to their death as a result.

On the flipside, beasts above Blue were as intelligent as sapients, so they didn't have much trouble controlling themselves. Creatures that strong faced a different problem, however – they simply needed way too much food to sustain themselves, which prevented them from coexisting peacefully with others.

'I guess that only a greater spring has both the resources to feed so many Blue beasts and the strength to keep them in line…' Percy realized.

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Raising one or two on Remior might not be impossible, but it wouldn't be worth the cost. Most noble Houses only had a handful of Blues, so handling the monsters would drain more manpower than it provided.

Oblivious to his thoughts, Kassorith slithered toward the nearest lizard. The creature appeared even more terrifying up close. The man barely reached the midpoint of the beast's forelimbs. The creature tilted its head to look at them hungrily, sticky rivers of saliva gushing between its massive fangs, forming wide pools after splashing on the ground.

'Don't worry. It won't attack unless we hit it first. They're here to serve as our sparring partners. Besides, I'm strong enough to handle it,' the Blue said after seeing Percy remain silent for so long.

It wasn't fear that had left Percy stunned, however. Gazing up at the towering abomination, he couldn't help but think back to his familiar. Was Micky going to grow this large after his next advancement?

Percy had always known this, of course, but actually seeing a Blue beast in person just hit differently. Micky was already hard to fit in places built for people. Was the crow doomed to spend the rest of his new life hiding in the wilderness, exiled from civilization?

'The Starry Queen – whose egg I'm planning to steal – has to be even larger than these things,' Percy reminded himself, swallowing hard. He suddenly felt a lot less confident in his plan to provoke such a monster.

But he shook the distracting thoughts away. Now wasn't the time to dwell on his familiars. He had less than two weeks to turn his host into an elite disciple, or he could kiss the life-extending leaf goodbye.

'Alright,' Percy said, turning his attention back to the Blue. 'Show me what you've got.'

Kassorith didn't hesitate. He unleashed his domain, the beast responding in kind. The collision of the two waves sent the air between them in turmoil. Barely any of the creature's willpower reached Kassorith's body, but it was enough to give Percy a feel. He didn't have his mutated eyes to examine its flow carefully, though he still managed to glimpse some information. The domain felt rowdy – almost erratic – as if each strand had its own will, barely submitting to its owner's control. Percy felt itchy, as if his host's body had been immersed in a sea of ants trying to eat their way through his scales.

'How bizarre…'

It was impressive that the creature had learned to incorporate properties of its affinity into its domain. Not every Blue sapient was capable of that – let alone an oversized animal.

But the beast didn't give him a chance to think too hard about it. The monster moved with shocking speed, reaching them in an instant. It tried to stomp on Kassorith, the man barely leaping back in time to avoid getting flattened. At the same time, an ocean of liquid metal gushed out of his pores. It surrounded him like a tide, enveloping him in an opaque blob of silver.

Percy's surroundings went dark as a result. Neither his eyes nor his Mana Sense could peer through his host's construct, and he didn't have enough phantom mana to activate Soul Vision either. Left with no other choice, he unfolded his own domain, using it to feel his way through the mana. That said, he didn't rush to aid his host just yet, still intent on evaluating Kassorith's performance.

The beast charged again.

Kassorith twisted the makeshift shell into a solid spring, launching himself into the air. A greatsword formed beneath his tail once he was high enough, turning into a floating platform. Hovering several dozen metres above the pillar, he watched the beast below.

Neither moved.

The lizard could probably reach him if it jumped, but it probably understood it didn't stand a chance of catching him in the air like this.

'I see… so Blue beasts are at a severe disadvantage against mages of the same grade – unless they have wings.'

They were too large and too heavy. Unlike sapients, they didn't have a way to fly using their mana either. This was another barrier standing between them and the pinnacle of magic. Perhaps, their domains would grow powerful and stable enough to solve the problem at Violet or White, though Percy wasn't sure.

Luckily, neither Micky nor the Starry Wasps had to worry about this.

Nor did Kassorith.

More mana spilled out of the Thess'kalan's body, coalescing into hundreds of longswords that floated beside him in an orderly manner. Their sharp edges glinted under the sunlight, their smooth blades reflecting the blue sky and the roiling sea of clouds in the distance.

As for their tips?

They were all pointing directly at the poor beast.

With no warning, the weapons shot forward in unison. The monster roared as its hide was peppered with steel, broken scales flying left and right, blood pooling beneath its bulk.

But it didn't fall.

It didn't even buckle.

The swords had barely pierced a few centimetres into its thick hide. Growling in pain, the beast glared at Kassorith with burning eyes, seemingly daring him to descend. Its domain surged for a moment, pushing against the Thess'kalan's, though it didn't get far.

'I'm not allowed to injure it too seriously, so I'll only show you one more attack,' Kassorith said.

Not waiting for a response, the Blue prepared a second wave of swords. Less than a third of his reserves remained by the time he was done, twice as many constructs floating beside him.

But he didn't stop there.

The sky lit up in a flash of indigo, sparks of the same colour crackling along the blades. They began to vibrate, the metal glowing red, then white-hot. Percy could practically taste the heat with every flicker of his host's forked tongue, as the scent of ozone filled the air.

'This is the best I can do right now,' Kassorith said. 'It's probably not enough to injure a Violet, but I bet I can force them to take a step back.'

Then, he let go.

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