Chapter 425: Celestial Beasts!
For the strength test, the prize for winning first place was the exclusive Mana Lord subordinating skill and 10 mana comprehension crystals.
The first time that Sebastian saw the term ’Mana Lord subordinating skill’, though he didn’t understand exactly what it meant yet, his intuition told him that it was special and it drew his attention immediately.
When Meuer, the Mana Lord who won 1st place in the speed test finally got to take his reward, Sebastian paid careful attention.
The transfer of information between the Red tier Mana Lord then seemed to be mental or through an illusion, but Meuer’s intoxicated look at the end and his words enabled Sebastian to make a lot of educated guesses.
The Red tier Mana Lord’s so-called Celestial Beast that appeared at the end that induced the phenomenon that brought the clusters of dew-like primordial mana to converge in the temple gave Sebastian a lot of other clues.
Through everything that he saw, he already guessed that the Mana Lord subordinating skill was heavily related to the Celestial Beast but it was when the information was passed to him that he finally understood.
The skill was related to Celestial Beasts, but it didn’t end at that, Sebastian’s consciousness seemed to leave his body to a realm where he was undergoing a lecture where the subordinating skill was explained in detail.
In this world of white, a line of yellow words appeared in the sky.
>Origin of the Mana Lord Subordinating skill<
Us Mana Lords are blessed children of the primordial origin magic just like Pugilist Kings, Space Beasts, and other unique beasts.
The only difference between us is that while the blessings of the origin on the other beasts are a lot more targeted, ours is more varied but is closer to the origin essence than all the others.
We are called Mana Lords for a lot of reasons that you may know already, but our race name has a lot more significance than that.
Unlike the other blessed races who could be seen as the blessed daughters of the primordial origin magic, we are the only blessed sons of the origin magic.
Oceania is powered by magic, and it all comes from the primordial origin magic. Unlike Space Beasts, Pugilist Kings, and the others, we, Mana Lords are the sons of the origin magic, we breathe and live mana like the origin magic essence.
The ability to manipulate mana in different iconic ways was granted by the primordial origin magic, but Celestial Beasts are the real gifts from the origin.
The goal of every Mana Lord is to draw closer to the primordial origin essence since it is the source of our power. The closer you get to the primordial origin essence, the stronger you become as a Mana Lord.
All our Black tier predators already have a thorough understanding of the primordial origin essence, but none have ever truly bonded with it.
According to the Great Mana Prophet, Oceania is a weapon, and the primordial origin essence is its consciousness. Only the greatest of all Mana Lords is fated to truly bond with the primordial origin essence and control this weapon.
The only problem is that throughout our millenniums of living, none of us have ever truly bonded with the primordial origin essence which is why our elders sought and created a solution.
Instead of waiting till the Black tier realm to start learning how to bond with and control the primordial origin magic, the Great King Manakin created a scaled-down version which he called the mana subordinating skill.
With this, we get to bond with and control the fragments of the primordial origin essence which are the Celestial Beasts.
Every Mana Lord who succeeded in bonding with and controlling a Celestial Beast is a candidate to become the controller of the primordial origin essence.
...
Sebastian’s vision flashed as the words in the white sky turned to green.
>What is a Celestial Beast?<
Celestial Beasts are fragments of the primordial origin essence.
As was said previously, Oceania is a weapon while the primordial origin magic is its consciousness. Celestial Beasts are scaled-down versions of the origin magic with fragmented versions of its consciousness.
Our strongest Black tier predators cooperated and briefly communicated with the primordial origin essence, where they explained their subordination plan to increase the chances of newer generations of Mana Lord having a higher chance of being able to bond with it.
The primordial origin magic accepted the proposal once it understood the plan, and it voluntarily removed a part of itself to form the fragments.
These fragments turned into the Celestial Beasts with consciousness, and they all live at the core of every Manapedia, waiting for the talented and fated Mana Lord who would bond with it and become its master.
...
Bzzz!
Sebastian’s consciousness was finally pulled out of the white world.
His body didn’t regain consciousness immediately though, it was like his consciousness was locked inside his body as a familiar voice belonging to the Red tier Mana Lord finally reverberated in his mind.
"Sebastian, you already understand the premise of the Mana Lord Subordination skill and what you are expected to do with it".
"Your goal for the last test is to try your best to bond with a Celestial Beast and become its master, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity".
"Always remember, if you fail this once, you lost the opportunity forever".
"This is what the last of the tests, the Acknowledgement test entails".
"Only 6 of the participants who participated in the ceremony will get the opportunity to visit the core of our Manapedia".
"The 6 who took 1st to 3rd positions are your companions".
"This time, you are not going as contestants, but as companions with the same goal. If anyone of you succeeds, it is a win-win for us all".
"You may think that why will the others who didn’t get the subordinating skill get to go, but history has proven that the subordinating skill is not a surefire way and not the only way to get the acknowledgment of a Celestial Beast".
"Mana Lords without the skill has succeeded".
While the Red tier predator communicated to Sebastian, he was also communicating to the remaining 5 Mana Lords at the same time.
He finally finished his speech and gave them his good wishes.
"Good luck, warriors!"
