The next day Lyriel led Evan to the edge of the city where a wide forest plain stretched into the distance. The mana wind blew across the trees sending shimmering ripples through the leaves. Birds with glowing feathers perched on branches and strange large creatures moved slowly in the far distance.

“This area is near the Wild Expanse,” Lyriel said. “It is home to mana beasts. They react unpredictably. At times they migrate peacefully. At times they lash out in storms of pure energy. For centuries we believed their behavior was driven only by instinct.”

Evan squinted at the distant shapes. “Have you ever logged their activity”

Lyriel shook her head. “We observe. We record stories. But not patterns.”

Evan nodded. “Then today we begin.”

She guided him to a lookout post built high in the trees. Several scouts stood there with long staffs. They greeted Lyriel with respect but eyed Evan curiously.

“Is this the human who reads magic like script” a scout asked.

Lyriel nodded. “He will attempt to predict beast movement.”

The scouts looked doubtful.

One said, “We have tried for centuries. The beasts behave without reason.”

Evan leaned on the railing. “Nothing behaves without reason. You just have not measured the variables.”

The scouts murmured in confusion.

Evan eyed the landscape. The large beasts traded mana with the environment. Some emitted light pulses. Some shook the ground. Others roared quietly. Each behavior had patterns. Most people would not see them. But Evan looked at them like graphs moving in the wild.

“First,” Evan said, “we gather visual logs. Start marking each beast’s movement every minute. Direction. Speed. Mana emission strength. Noise level. Proximity to other beasts.”

The scouts hesitated. “All of that Every minute”

“Yes,” Evan said calmly. “The more we track the more we understand.”

Lyriel handed them bark sheets. “Begin.”

For the next hour the scouts scribbled while Evan scanned the field. He timed the roars. Noted how beasts clustered. Observed how mana thickened in certain parts of the forest. Some beasts moved in loops. Others moved in clear paths. A few reacted strongly when wind shifted.

After gathering enough notes Evan began marking patterns on bark. He drew loops arcs and cycles. He compared timestamps. He noticed how certain mana spikes preceded movements. Some beasts responded to these spikes. Others ignored them.

Lyriel leaned over his shoulder. “You draw as if seeing threads that bind the world.”

“I see signals,” Evan said. “They are faint but there.”

He grouped beasts by behavior. Wanderers. Bursters. Followers. Static guardians. Each category had unique patterns.

Then he noticed something else. A long low frequency mana pulse swept across the forest. Seconds later several beasts shifted direction simultaneously.

Evan snapped his fingers. “There. That is it.”

Lyriel blinked. “What is it”

“The trigger. A low frequency mana pulse. These beasts respond to it.”

The scouts gasped. “You mean their migration follows pulses”

“Yes. And pulses follow deeper cycles. If we chart them we predict beast movement.”

Lyriel’s eyes widened. “Can you show us”

Evan arranged crystals in a curve and touched each. They synced to the mana wind. The crystals glowed in delayed but synchronized patterns. Evan drew a rough waveform on bark that mirrored the pulses.

“This,” he said, “is the forest’s mana cycle. The beasts move when the pulse peaks. If we map the peaks we predict when they migrate. The next peak is in two hours.”

The scouts exchanged troubled looks. “Two hours is when the southern villages send patrols.”

Lyriel’s expression hardened. “If the beasts migrate south at that time the patrols will be in danger.”

Evan nodded. “Then warn them.”

Lyriel immediately signaled a messenger bird. The glowing creature sped into the sky carrying her message.

One scout whispered, “This human predicted the forest itself.”

“Not the forest,” Evan corrected. “The pattern.”

Two hours later the forest shook. Dozens of beasts migrated south exactly as predicted. The scouts stared in silent awe.

Lyriel placed a hand over her chest. “With this knowledge we can protect our people before danger arrives.”

Evan nodded. “We need to build a Monster Behavior Dashboard. Something that tracks pulses and outputs predictions.”

Lyriel exhaled. “We must do it. This will change our entire defense system.”

The scouts bowed. “Analyst. Command us and we will help.”

Evan felt the weight of responsibility settle on him. In his old world he worked with numbers and business decisions. Here his dashboards could save lives.

He looked at the glowing crystals. “Then let us build the first predictive model in this world.”

And with that the foundations of the Monster Behavior Prediction System were born.
Another pillar of the future Data Empire.