Chapter 10: Beast Weapons

"Finally!"

Erian couldn't contain his joy and leapt into the air, his face beaming with a bright smile.

"Impressive."

That statement was immediately followed by soft clapping causing Erian to quickly turn around.

"Mom?"

He was quite baffled to find her standing behind him and that was mostly because he didn't even see her return.

"When did you return?" He asked.

"A while ago." She responded.

She was standing there with a subtle smile on her face. Also, she seemed to be hiding something as her right hand was behind her.

"But I didn't see you come back," Erian muttered.

"Looks like I was worried for nothing," Luna said as she took two steps toward him.

"Worried about what?"

"I was worried you wouldn't be able to figure it out." She responded. "But I guess it was unfounded." She added, nodding toward the pole which no longer had any pendulum dangling on it.

Erian followed her gaze to turn to the pendulum before turning back to her with a smile.

"Looks like you've earned yourself this reward."

Erian's eyes suddenly widened in anticipation as he watched her reveal her right hand.

He didn't really have any clear idea of what he was expecting from her, he just believed that it would be something impressive.

Well, with Luna's right hand now exposed, she could be seen holding a lance about six feet long.

The bladed tip of the lance was a radiant blue and had two shorter blades attached to each side. The remaining part of the lance was black with a stylish red outline diving the blade and the body.

'If it's a weapon from mom then it has to be special in some kind of way.' Erian thought as he carefully inspected the lance from a distance.

"That's right." Luna nodded.

"Huh?"

Erian was quite alarmed as he shifted his gaze to ask as if to ask if she could read his mind.

"No, I can't read your mind." She shook her head. "It's written all over your face." She chuckled.

"Oh."

"Want to see what's special about it?" She asked before stabbing the tip of the lance into the ground.

"Mm." He nodded.

Just after giving his response, three white threads, just like the ones from the binding serpent, burst out from the lance straight toward him.

He couldn't react in time as the threads latched onto all four of his limbs and quickly pulled him forward.

"Woah!!"

He was just about to crash into the lance when Luna kicked it down, allowing him to fall into her arms.

"Do you see it now?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around him.

"How?"

Erian couldn't exactly explain what he was feeling now; he was very excited, but at the same time, he was quite confused.

"How is this possible, mom?" He asked as he raised his head to look at her.

Her initial response to that was a smile as she slowly patted him on the head with her right hand.

"Do you remember my lesson on beasts and beast crystals?" She asked.

"Yes, you said beasts have crystals which we use as an energy source in a lot of things." He recited.

"True. However, other than a source of energy, human beings use beast crystal cores for something more important. In fact, the only beast cores that are used as a source of energy are mainly the basic tier ones.

"Anything higher than that usually gets turned into a beast weapon."

"Beast weapon," Erian muttered as he turned to the lance lying on the ground. "And the beast weapon makes it possible to use the beast's abilities?"

"Exactly." Luna nodded.

"In that case, beast weapons can be made even with the core of god-tier beasts."

Erian sounded quite intrigued as he broke out from her embrace to pick up the lance.

"Uhhh….there are not a lot of god-tier beasts available, and even if you find one, I doubt anyone can take down a god-tier beast on their own."

"Even those at level ninety and above?"

"Even someone at level ninety-nine." She responded.

"They're that powerful?"

"Mm." She nodded. "So I doubt there are that many god-tier beast weapons. Also, you'll have to have a generous amount of negative luck to run into a god-tier beast on your own."

Listening to all of that, Erian was left staring at the lance he was holding with a specific thought in mind.

"You seem to know all of this way too well."

"Well, of course…."

An awkward smile now on her face, she grabbed the lance from him and proceeded to spin it beautifully with both hands.

"I've read a lot of books."

"That same answer," Erian muttered.

"I've also learned a thing or two about using the lance, want me to show you?"

"Okay." He nodded with a smile.

Under his mother's guidance, Erian began his training with his first beast weapon.

She didn't only teach him how to use the lance but also how to manage his mana when using it to activate the beast's weapon.

Residing in Estero village with her son, Luna's wish was for him to live a peaceful life there and stay away from conflict.

That might have been possible if his father had not suddenly left one day two years ago.

After that, for some reason, he began to diligently practice how to use his abilities, stating that he was going to bring his father back one day.

Thinking that it was the whim of a child, Luna decided to give him a hand with his training hoping that he would forget about it after he grew older.

However, it turned out to be the opposite, the stronger he got, the stronger his aspiration got.

"If it's going to take getting stronger to bring him back then I'll get as strong as possible."

_________ __________

Five years later….

Now, twelve years old, Erian seemed to have added a couple more inches.

His hair would have been a bit longer than it was if his mother hadn't insisted on trimming it down a bit so that he could appear neat, especially now that he was leaving home.

After spending twelve years of his life with his mother, Erian was finally going to experience his first separation from her.

It was like they were saying goodbye to each other forever though.

Erian had just become eligible to join the Namon Academy of Axiom in the continent of Austera, having reached the minimum age requirement of twelve.

The continent of Austera being the closest continent to Montia meant that he wasn't travelling too far away.

However, there was one problem. Other than the minimum age requirement of twelve, another requirement for joining Namon Academy was that the person has to be level ten or higher.

Erian was still stuck at level nine unable to get to ten.

Yes, after five years, he had only been able to level up once.