Alger pushed off the bookshelf. "So the east didn't just fall." He said with a sigh while tapping his hand on a book. "It changed with roots rising up and caging in the area... Do any remnants of the Forerunners' civilization even exist?"

Irene's pen rolled across the table. "I am not, but if I had to guess, it's most likely been destroyed by the roots or covered in it."

Resa's hands were still clasped beneath her chin. "The Seekers believe a lot of their old civilizations can still be salvaged and haven't been touched. In fact, they even believed the reason why the Dark Silence didn't spread to the West is because it's still trying to take over the East."

"That's an interesting thought, but it has been hundreds of years… How could it still not have taken over?" Reinhard asked with a raised brow.

"Maybe the will of the Forerunners people is keeping it at bay?" Jake says, leading Alger's lips to twitch while Irene beams at him.

"Well… I suppose that would be amazing." Reinhard says, as he did recall when he killed the Amalgamation in Mensis Town.

The souls of the people that were formed from it were able to linger to thank him before they faded away.

So, he wouldn't say Jake's words were completely nonsense. But he can't see how the will of the Forerunners could stop the Dark Silence that ended them.

"What I am curious about is if it's true that those who go into the roots without taking the entrance monitored by the Seekers actually disappear. Do they get swallowed by the forest or just die from not being able to find their way out?" Resa said, leading Reinhard to blink.

"Is it really that hard to leave the forest?"

"It's believed to be, some people mention the deeper you go. The higher the chance of you dying, because you won't be able to find your way out." Resa says.

"Actually, I am curious if the Forerunners had listened to the witness… Would things have been different?" Kite asked, leading the others to fall silent.

"That depends on whether the cause of it really was that thing growing out of the ground. If it was, then maybe, but if it wasn't? Then their end wouldn't have changed." Reinhard says before then, tilting his head. "And it also depends on whether there really was a Witness or it was just a made-up rumor."

"Sounds like a letdown if it really was." Jake said with a nervous chuckle, leading Irene to giggle and Kite to chuckle.

Alger clapped once to get their attention before he sighed and said. "It's four minutes till lunch ends, and we need to reach our next class in six minutes. Meaning we only have ten minutes to leave, so we should be going."

Everyone blinked before they began moving.

The screech of Irene's chair cut through the silence as she gathered her notebook, its pages rustling. "We will pick up everything at the end of the day." Irene announced before rushing towards the exit.

Jake carefully rolled his painting while the canvas crackled beneath his fingers. A cloud of charcoal rose, settling on his eyelashes until he blinked and coughed it away.

Kite closed his notebook before placing it under the table, while Resa tucked her smaller journal into her bag with barely a sound.

Alger helped make sure everything under the table was properly put away.

Before then, he made his way out with Kit and Resa following. Reinhard trailed behind, lost in thought about what he had just learned.

…

The pungent mixture of damp animal fur permeated the Beast Class.

Reinhard found a seat in the middle just as other students were moving through the class and sitting down in their seats.

He glanced to see that others were speaking with each other, while others were taking out their notebook, which had images of Bear-Terrors and Werefangs.

At the front stood Professor Lusec with his emerald hair, threaded with silver, cascading over his white suit and laboratory coat. Which somehow remained spotless despite the floating dust particles surrounding him.

"Phantasm Beasts." Lusec said, gesturing to the painting stands. Each canvas arrow in crimson displays images of beasts with ink arrows pointing to limbs and eyes. "Or as some people like to call them, Magical Beasts. The name itself is similar to how, while we call ourselves Beast Masters, others call us supernatural warriors."

Reinhard blinked before nodding his head as he could see why. Even he, as a child, thought the Beast Masters were just superwarriors instead of anything else really.

"The term Phantasm Beasts is the common denomination for all creatures that do not fit in the ordinary biological classification for living beings and those that do not fall within the normal ecosystem." Lusec said lightly.

A girl in the front row, Greya shot her hand up with her braids bouncing, and Lusec pointed with a gloved finger and said her name. "Greya."

"Does that mean Phantasm Beasts only look like beasts?" Greya asked with her eyes shining.

Lusec's smile was faint, and he said. "Good question, but no. Phantasm Beast is a wide spectrum that covers any beasts that deviate from normal biology."

Lusec then flipped the paper on the canvas, which then displayed a Bear-Terror. "Bear-Terror is similar to a bear, but it has deviated into a beast that exists beyond normal reason."

Another flip displayed the Eight Arm Rockman. It is a stone and boulder fused into a hulking torso, eight arms of jagged rock sprouting like a nightmare spider.

"The Eight Arm Rockman aren't mammals, but they are still considered Phantasm Beasts. Why? Because they exist beyond normal reasoning and have magic flowing through their bodies, they are beings that cannot be explained." Lusec says as he points at various parts of the Eight Arm Rockman.

Reinhard glanced to see Greya's pen scratched furiously with her eyes glued to her notebook while the other students leaned forward with interest.

Professor Lusec stalked between the desks, his lab coat billowing behind him. "Phantasm Beasts exist outside natural law through the magic flowing through their body. But unlike us, they don't need to devour the magic from other beings, but can seep magic from eating stuff from nature itself. This is why these creatures don't inhabit ecosystems but break and create their own unique one."

Lusec then smiles. "Yet, they aren't abominations or mistakes. But it is theorized they were the first beings on this planet, with the normal animals being creatures that could not naturally devour magic like them."

Reinhard's eyes widened before he furrowed his brows. While this information he didn't care much about, this does line up with his Beast Spirit dream of Odin. He did see magical beings coming into existence instead of normal animals and even people.

A freckled boy in the third row lifted a quivering hand. "Can they... Communicate?"

The professor's smile returned with a newfound edge. "Many do, but in their own ways. Astra Serpents are said to communicate through lullabies while Rockmen speak through tremors. And the Bear-Terror communicates through their roars and hand gestures. But once a Phantasm Beast reaches a high level like Tier A, then they will begin to speak even our own language."

Everyone's eyes widened with Reinhard wondering why the Phantasm Beasts needed to reach such a high level for this.

But before anyone could ask a question, a loud bell rang through the area, and it was the end of the class.

Students shifted, chairs grating against the floor, and Lusec's raised palm froze them in place.

Lusec's gaze swept the room. "Class dismissed." he said softly. "But remember, Phantasm Beasts are not the enemy, they are the questions that we are all curious about and may just hold the key to many mysteries."

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