"This… this right here is the real deal. A bonafide spirit beast that is created by the world's will itself."
Folding her arms under her chest, Alephee spoke. Various thoughts popped into Eren's head when he heard her explanation. All of them started cluttering his brain. He couldn't help asking her the most pertinent thing he could think of at the time.
"A naturally occurring spirit beast? I thought that the concept of Spirit Beast was an alchemic invention. Something that was invented to serve as a replacement for the demon beasts.
Do you mean there are spirit beast users on the continent of Anfang as well?
Frankly, what are the differences between a normal mana beast, a demon beast, and a spirit beast?"
Kirin's eyes narrowed when she heard the term Spirit beast from Alephee. She recalled some memories from her inherited memories of the continent of Echidna.
Kirin recalled that the Spirit beast existed on the continent of Echidna. And they were relatively in abundance compared to the continent of Anfang.
The continent of Echidna did not have any demon beasts at all. The demon beasts were exclusive to Anfang and did not exist in her world.
Alephee pondered a bit over Eren's questions. She could also understand what Kirin was thinking. She looked around and decided to clear the air.
A stressed expression was on the homunculus's face as she created her unique time-element barrier. The time inside the domain almost slowed down to a halt. Even Eren and Alephee could only keep their consciousness working for them inside the barrier. They lost their ability to move even an inch of their bodies.
It was clear that Alephee was having a hard time maintaining the spell. However, she ignored the stress she was feeling and spoke up.
"This vessel allows me some liberty to use my powers. But I won't be able to use this anytime soon. So listen carefully.
The distinction between the beasts is simple. It just looks complicated because nobody on Anfang knows much about these things.
The mana beasts were once mortal beasts that learned to harness the mana over time. We'll refer to them as normally evolved beasts that had their origins rooted in the existence of the world. They have genetic ancestry and are produced normally.
The naturally occurring spirit beasts are just some vague elemental concepts getting paired with a fraction of the world's consciousness and occupying mana bodies as vessels. They are being birthed by the world's will and hence can be called nature's progeny.
They don't have any genetic roots. They also do not have organic bodies.
One can't really kill the spirit beasts. They can't die unless the world that births them dies first."
Eren and Kirin could not reply verbally or through actions. But Alephee understood they were telling her to continue her explanation, so taking a deep breath, she did just that.
"Now for the demon beasts. Eren, I know you wanted to know about their origins the most and used this opportunity to ask me just that."
Alephee managed to crack a smile with creases on her head before continuing.
"Never mind. I guess this is a good time to do it.
Demon beasts are what you might call creatures of otherworldly origin. The establishments of Anfang are wary of them because of such origins."
Eren realized that he could now blink his eyelids. The effects of Alephee's barrier were fading. The butcher realized that this was a rare opportunity to learn more about some of the darkest secrets of Anfang. So he blinked his eyes vigorously, knowing full well Alephee would know what he was about to ask.
Alephee nodded at Eren and continued.
"How do they come into existence, you might ask?
You must be aware that mana beasts are most vulnerable mentally when they are being born or are evolving. Foreign consciousnesses use this vulnerability as an opportunity to send the fragment of their souls into the world of Anfang.
The demon beasts are called demon beasts because they are possessed by demons. Or to be precise, the denizens of another world that is referred to as the demon continent. Of course, it is different from the continent of Echidna."
A metaphorical bomb detonated inside Eren's head. He thought that the world of Echidna contained the mystery he needed to plan his future. He could never have imagined that there was another world that was also interested in getting inside the world of Anfang.
Alphee knew that Eren was drawing comparisons between the continent of Echidna and the continent of demons. So she made things a bit clearer for him on those lines.
"The continent of Echidna has its way of sending its soldiers inside Anfang that has been isolated from the rest of the world. It uses a loophole in the continent-encompassing isolation array to send the children of Echidna inside Anfang, which are called monsters by the denizens of Anfang.
The demon continent does things a bit differently. It doesn't send corporal bodies of their denizens. Instead, some powerful demons utilize their own means to send their soul fragments to the continent of Anfang.
The demons act as veteran fishermen to ensure their presence in Anfang. They send bait into the river called Anfang and hope for the best.
If the demons' soul fragments manage to occupy a mana beasts' bodies while they are evolving or being birthed, demon beasts are born as a result. That's why the demon beasts start exuding psychic waves every time they evolve after the demon possession has successfully occurred.
That's the demons' way of overriding the beast's feeble consciousness. This is also the reason the demon beasts could control the mana beasts around them. That power belongs to the demons.
What Kirin remembers about the inherited memories from the continent of Echidna is correct. The demon beasts are unique to the world of Anfang. That's because the demons don't have to send fragments of their consciousness into other worlds."
Demons and demon beasts!
The more he listened to Alephee's explanations, the more questions kept popping into Eren's head. Alephee was pressed for time, so she tried to wrap things up quickly and spoke more.
