Chapter 24 - The Three Empires and the Two Kingdoms

'I can't believe I alerted the enemy like that... It must have sensed my aura. It seems my control over my aura isn't as good as I thought it was. I'll have to practice my control over my aura for sure... I also was unable to track the Earth Crusher Gorilla's trajectory when I attacked with my first 'Celestial Claw' spell. If I had read its body movements ahead of time, maybe I could have aimed my attack to kill the beast in that first blow...' The little kitten sighed. 'It seems that these are all things I'll learn with experience... I also have to train my 'Celestial Claw' attack. I haven't had the chance to gain more insight into that spell since my breakthrough yet. If I had, maybe that attack would have instantly taken the enemies life regardless!'

'Also, it was quite the experience taking another things life... In my past life, I'd done my fair share of hunting critters and vermin... So I'm not too effected, but its still a strange feeling, especially with my new found intelligence... I could read every emotion displayed on the beast's face up to its death... Oh well, there's no going back now... This is the world I'm living in now and these wild Magicial Beasts are meant to be viscous creatures who wouldn't even spare a second thought to killing children and newborn!'

'Jonathan has spoke of certain Magical Beast's who are more civilized and he has even said that there are even Magical Beast's that strive for peace and disdain bloodshed... I wonder if I'll be able to meet such Magical Beast's, maybe there's a species of cat Magical Beast that I can befriend out there... Is there truly a Magical Beast like myself out there?'

As the little kitten was in deep thought, Jonathan had walked out of his hiding place and was now sitting cross legged next to her. Noticing this, the little kitten looked up at him to see him return her gaze with a soft smile. "Seems like you're beating yourself up over this battle... To be honest, you made many mistakes, but they'll all be mended with time and experience. We've got plenty of time this morning, let's get you plenty of experience, 'kay little lass?"

"Meow!" The little kitten meowed enthusiastically.

★★★

That morning, the little kitten and Jonathan spent a full two hours patrolling the small forest and encountered several Mid Stage Magical Beasts and even a High Stage Magical Beast. Through constant battles, the little kitten found that her insight into her two spells were growing stronger without the help of the Echo Stone, and maybe even at a faster pace!

From this, she could figure that while the Echo Stone is good for the initial learning experience, putting your spells in action is ultimately the best training method. Now, her Ravager Armour spell could be formed with 40% metal which greatly enhanced its defence. This is a great improvement to the pitiful 5% she could summon during her time as a Mid Stage Magical Beast. Now, her defence was quite strong. For example, when the little kitten fought against the High Stage Magical Beast, a Red Fanged Boar and suffered a tackle from the beast, her ravager armour was able to lessen the damage by half! Though she still suffered a good amount of damage, she still managed to win the battle in the end with a final 'Celestial Claw' attack!

Her 'Celestial Claw' spell had improved to such a degree that it was capable of cutting several centimeters into the Red Fanged Boar's infamously tough skin and with a well placed strike to the brain, the little kitten's final strike was able to instantly kill the beast to its shock. To think it, a great High Stage Magical Beast was felled by a small kitten that it should be able to crush just by sitting on it. The beast held a confused and shocked expression even upon death.

With a Magical Potion, Jonathan healed the wounds she had gained in that battle and now in the present, she was now resting asleep in his hand as the potion did its work to fix all of her wounds and even her exhaustion that had been gathered through continuous battle's all morning. Despite the pain, the little kitten was wearing a smile in her sleep as she basked in the afterglow of her first battle experience and the improvement of her two only spells. Her two spells were now at a level appropriate to be called a High Stage Magical Beast spell!

As the little kitten rested comfortably in Jonathan's arms, Jonathan and everyone else were walking along the dirt path once more. As the hours went on by, the little kitten eventually woke up and began cultivating while listening to Jonathan as he explained certain things about this world.

"In this world, there are Five major powers that split the land. The three Empires and the two Kingdoms! The three Empires are the North Fang Empire to the north, Claw Reverence Empire to the north-east and finally the Winding Dragon Empire to the south-east. These three Empires are the strongest of the five major powers and take up the most territory. Just below the Empire's in territory size is our Falcio Kingdom and its 12 allies to the west of this world. And finally, the final power is in the south and is called the Five Clawed United Kingdoms. The Five Clawed United Kingdoms take up five islands that are shaped like five claw's off the southern tip of the continent."

"Beside the five major powers there are two other places of note. First is the Forever Forest! This forest is home to the most powerful Magical Beasts and they even say that one of the Five Legendary Beast's, the Silver Moon Wolf had even been spotted there once a century ago. You have to understand that the Five Legendary Beast's are rarely ever seen, so when one shows up, its a large event and people will either avoid the area they show up in like the plague or rally to the area like they had found their long lost love."

"Finally, the most dangerous territory in this world is the Bone Graveyard! This is a lawless area filled with barbaric tribes that practice Demonic Magic! Demonic Magic feeds off the sacrifices of people, animals and Magical Beasts alike and is a forbidden magic in every other territory. You must be thinking, why haven't the other territories banded together to get rid of this threat?... Well, it's not that easy I'm afraid... Firstly, the Bony Graveyard has many powerful Magician's with insidious Magic that is very hard to contend with. And secondly and most importantly, the Bone Graveyard is situated in a large desert that is filled with many mysterious phenomenon. The weather is unpredictable and even the residents that live there live on the border of life and death each day! The Magical Beast's there have also been corrupted by the always present Demonic aura and have mutated into strange and terrifying beast's that might not be any stronger than there outside counterparts, but are definitely more deadly and unpredictable!"

"Still, there are many organisations that continue to fight against the demonic barbarians in the Bone Graveyard and I'd also like to take a stab at the place one day. They say there are several temples there where you can come across various highly valuable Magical treasures. Its definitely a must go for any adventurous and powerful Magician!"

The day continued like this as Jonathan continued to talk with enthusiasm about anything that crossed his mind. Soon, night fell and the Wilderwolf party found shelter at the side of a mountain in a small but robust cave. Tomorrow, they would no longer be at the outer regions of the Northern Mountain territory and would finally arrive at the Northern Mountains truly. They would then reach Thunder Mountain not long after...