"Block it, Miho!" Lily shouted, her arms flaring outward as a torrent of wind blades burst from her palms with a sharp whip.

Miho—a petite girl with tangled black hair and dirt smudged across her cheeks, looking as if she'd rolled through the forest floor moments earlier—scrambled forward. She was the same Alric's timid servant; she now clutched a brownish beast core in both hands, squeezing it as she channelled her mana.

A bark-like, translucent brown barrier bloomed into existence before her with a cracking shimmer, forming a wall that shielded her entire body.

A barrage of sludge projectiles hammered into it one after another, thud, splatter, thud, making the shield ripple yet hold firm.

"Good!" Lily called out, her voice sharp with focus. She drew her sword in a bright, metallic flash and lunged toward the beast.

The creature looming over them stood at least four meters tall—a stubby, hulking bear-shaped thing with oily black skin that glistened grotesquely. Thick tusks jutted from its jaw, dripping fat blobs of tar-like sludge that hissed upon hitting the ground.

Slice!

Lily's blade carved through the greasy hide, parting the slick layer before cutting into flesh. But before her attack could fully rip through, the wound writhed, the flesh knitting itself together with a nauseating squelch. The creature growled and swung a massive arm toward her, fingers curling to crush.

"Tsk." Lily clicked her tongue, irritation flickering across her face. With her left hand, she conjured a swirl of bluish mana—dense, humming.

Swoosh!

She thrust her palm forward, unleashing a compressed gust of wind that detonated outward. The force blasted the beast off its feet, sending it skidding across the ground until it slammed into the dirt ten meters away.

"Sister Lily! That beast is resistant to slash attacks. Maybe we should back away!" Miho called, her voice tight. Sweat beaded at her temples, her mana clearly running thin as she kept the barrier alive.

Lily hesitated, considering. At the moment, the only offensive skills she had were slashing—her [Wind Slashes], sword and the treant Vine skill that could be used for blunt force and holding a target. The rest of her abilities were support: healing and wind-assisted mobility. The closest thing she could do to vary her offence was alter the shape of [Wind Blade], but she'd only ever broadened it into gusts by dulling the edge.

"Should I try to compress and elongate my [Wind Blade]...? That'll take a lot of mana…" she muttered under her breath, frustration tightening her brow. She had never faced a beast that rendered her slashes nearly useless. Even when bound by vines, it simply oozed free, slipping between them.

The creature, now upright again, gargled before spewing another torrent of sludge. Miho quickly stepped forward, clutching the core tighter as she invoked her talent—Spirit-Reinforcement—to draw out the treant's beast skill stored within.

A second bark-wall projection erupted in front of her just in time, absorbing the barrage with wet, heavy splats. The core she held was one of the high 1-star treant cores Leo had given Lily earlier—a precaution for emergencies, though now it was Miho keeping them to utilise her talent.

"Okay… let's do it," Lily finally said, exhaling as she steadied herself. Her mana reserves were nearly full—barely touched, really. But experimenting mid-battle was risky; one wrong adjustment, and she could waste half her mana in seconds.

Still, the beast lumbering before them left her no choice.

"Sister… L-Lily…" Miho muttered, her voice so faint it barely rose above the rasp of her breathing.

Lily spun around just in time to see the girl swaying, her knees buckling like they might give out any moment.

"Oh no—her mana reserves are completely drained," Lily said under her breath. She activated her wind-mobility skill, a swirl of light gathering at her feet as she darted forward in a blur and caught Miho before she could collapse.

"Okay, we're backing away for a while. And don't overexert yourself again." Lily steadied Miho's trembling shoulders, then scooped her into a princess carry without hesitation. "If you feel tired, tell me, got it?"

Miho gave a tiny nod, then leaned lightly against Lily's shoulder—only to jerk back a second later as if she'd committed some mistake. Lily noticed the flinch, recoil of someone conditioned to fear burdening others… but she said nothing.

With a soft push of wind under her feet, Lily leapt to a thick branch high above. Another leap carried them even higher, well out of range of the sludge projectiles splattering below.

Two days ago, Lily had stumbled upon the girl by sheer chance. Miho had been sprinting through the underbrush in raw terror, chased by a pack of twisted rabbit-like creatures—white fur matted with dirt, nails too long, canines elongated, red eyes gleaming with hunger. They looked nothing like the harmless creatures children adored.

Lily had dispatched them in seconds. Three arcing wind slashes—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—and the rabbits' heads rolled across the forest floor. Judging by their mana density, they'd been Low 1-star to maybe High 1-star at best… yet Miho had been running as if chased by death itself. It didn't take long for Lily to realize the girl had no means to defend herself.

After giving her food and water—something Miho devoured with a politeness that couldn't hide the desperation—Lily learned the truth. The girl had been starving for three days, surviving on dirty water puddles. She carried nothing but two bronze coins her parents had given her, which she spent on a loaf of hard bread and a cheap knife. The knife had snapped during her first encounter with a mouse-type beast.

Eighteen days she'd survived like that.

And Alric—Lily's grip unconsciously tightened—hadn't even bothered to check Miho's talent. Hadn't given her a single coin, a single protective item, not even permission to break the metal plate to avoid the transport into the forest. He had thrown her to die. All of it was done under the excuse of "punishing" her for humiliating him during the selection.

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A/N: Lily's stats. RIGHHHTTT.

As said, Spirit Beast and Half-Spirit Beast increase innate mana for every beast tamer regardless of talent type. But Lily's talent even allows 50% more stat share, right? So a total of 150%

[100% innate mana increase from beast's stats and + 50% of beast's stats {That I right in'[]' brackets)}.

So, from starting—Lily taming the Windbreath hound—I have only increased the innate mana, in other words 100% increase. And NOT increasing the 50% more stats that she gets from her 'Spirit Caller' Talent.

Example! [Not related to story]

Ron tames a Peak 2-star spirit beast. And his base Intelligence is 20 without a beast, and also has Spirit Caller talent(50% stat share)

A peak 2-star beast that has 50 stats in all attributes.

Intelligence: 20 + 50 {100% innate mana increase}

Now his base stat is 70

Intelligence: 70 [70 + 25] --> 70 [95]

That 25 my friends is 50% more stats due to Spirit Caller talent.

So motherfucker gained a total of 150% of the spirit beasts' intelligence stat. Making his 20 jump to 95, and innate mana jumping from 20 to 70.

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