Ben did not know what to say. He was happy, excited and a lot of things. All three of his teachers smiled at him. They could understand his enthusiasm. They also had gone through that when they took the first step. They also understood one more thing. Ben was meant for the heights of a martial. The fact that his shamanic script could produce such a reaction spoke volumes about his potential. All three of them reached a consensus. They would nurture him secretly.
Sylvie said, "Ben, now that you are in knight stage, the blood and final fluid were only necessary for you to start the shamanic script. But as you climb the to new heights, more expensive materials from higher stages of aether lupis will become necessary. Also, right now you should be sensing the beast inside you. It will take some time for it to properly materialize. Also, like all beast masters, your beast is an aether lupis. But what it should ascend to, is up to you. The path for that is decided by you and you alone. Don't let others influence you. You can learn from their mistakes. But don't follow their path to success."
Delvin spoke, " Ben, the reason why we are emphasizing on you walking your path is because we have been in the martial world for so many years and have seen many fall. Everyone's martial seed will have subtle differences. These differences decide a lot as to what path one should take. One will understand it innately. But sometimes, seeing the glory of others, people don't listen to themselves and often go the wrong path. Don't be such a person. Forge your path with the flames of your will."
Mahaansh was listening. Ben looked at him. Mahaansh said, " I don't have any cringy words like these people, if that is what you are expecting." Sylvie looked at him annoyingly. Delvin had a smirk. Mahaansh continued, "If you slack off , I will beat your sorry a** so much that even your parents won't recognize you."
Ben did not know how to respond. Delvin smacked his own forehead. Sylvie just looked immensely irritated.
Mahaansh did not care. He said, " You two can leave. I have something to speak with him."
Soon Ben found himself in Mahaansh's office. Mahaansh gave Ben some tea and both of them sat down. As they were sipping tea Mahaansh started to explain.
"I had told you about an opportunity. The reason I wanted to talk to you is to inform you about that. Ben, have you heard about the largest forest in Gyagar nation: Aatva"
Ben nodded. Mahaansh looked at him sternly. Seeing that Ben answered, "Yes sir, I have". Mahaansh continued " Good. So the place where we are going is the Aatva forest."
Mahaansh could see Ben's enthusiasm and smiled.
" It seems there is trouble there. As you know Aatva is the largest forest in Gyagar and third largest in the world, spanning more than 8 million square kilometers. It is home to a large number of flora and fauna. Both in number and species. As such, it is dominated by 3 animus which are as powerful as peak monarch ranks. One is a Loxodonta, which rules the plains with its parade of loxodontas. The other one is a blesk corax, a lightening attribute bird and its flock, which rules the hills, mountains and skies. The other one is a Trava Lupis and its pack which rules the dense woodlands. These 3 animus kings maintain order in the forest. They are not doing it intentionally, but each of them controlled the others and a separate territory was made for each of them gradually. So an order was maintained in the Aatva forest for many years. This forest is like a lung for our nation and is entirely within our boundaries. It is also a protected sanctuary within which many rare species are living. Now, the problem is that, out of these kings, the Loxodonta king has become too old. Its life is coming to an end. This is sensed by the various species in the plains as well as the other kings. So there is a degree of unease and issues in the forest, with more and more fights among species. This has made the forest messy. It is expected that the loxodonta king will die in about 4-5 weeks and the other kings will fight for its body and the territory. Then the entire forest will be in chaos which can spread to surrounding regions. The forest it self will be destroyed if the monarchs are left to fight.
So, the government decided to intervene. But it cannot use a large amount of its military might. Hence, it has asked various civilians of high martial ranks to help it out. So along with the military the various reserve civilian forces have also been mobilized. It could have been solved with the intervention of a single martial entity. But unfortunately, they are all busy.
As a beginner stage martial knight, you can be in the outer perimeter of the forest and prevent animals from crossing to the civilian zone."
Ben asked, " How long should we do it? Also, how exactly are all the animals going to be controlled?"
Mahaansh answered " Long term control is not possible for all animals. But the martial monarchs will be controlled for a long time. Loxodontas are actually matriarchal animals and are less aggressive. The current matriarch and the monarch rank Loxodonta did not have a successor until recently. That loxodonta is at peak overlord rank and can evolve to a monarch rank at any time. So this arrangement will be there till that one stabilizes its power."
Ben asked again: " Aren't we going against the natural order?"
Mahaansh answered " To an extent yes. But the reason for that is the loxodontas itself. They are a matriarchal species, less aggressive and extremely territorial. They also have a low birth rate and can cohabit with other herbivorous species. This leads to controlled population and a stable biosphere. If a leo or other carnivorous species had a martial monarch, then the ecosystem of the entire forest would have been destroyed. It is better to intervene a little than to put the entire forest into a state of constant turmoil. To be exact you will be there in the forest for about 30 days after which Knight level combatants will be useless. So are you going or not?"
Ben: Of course I am.
Mahaansh: Then be ready. Also, the various resources that you obtain during this time period will be yours. Although there will be some inspection it will not be much problem. Right now you have have almost 10, 000000 mudras in debt from the materials for the inscription and services of 3 teachers. You need to pay for it.
Ben looked at him stunned. Mahaansh said, " You thought we did that for charity. You owe us big time man." Ben did not know what to say. He did not know about the other two, but he was not going to coddle up Ben.