Title The Beginning After the End Vol. 3
Author: TurtleMe (Story), Fuyuki23 (Art)
Publisher: Yen Press, Tapas
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 240
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Publication Date: July 18, 2023
The Story
We pick up with Art escorting the elf girl back to her home but they don’t exactly know where that is. She just has a general direction that they end up following. Along the way, they begin to bond and we learn that the girl’s name is Tessia. We also know that she is an elf from the kingdom of Elenoir. After many twists and turns, we finally arrive at a magic gate that takes them inside of Elenoir and we get the inevitable reveal that Tessia is actually the Princess of the elf kingdom.
Here we meet her father Alduin, the King, and her mother Merial, the Queen. We also learn that Art’s presence in the city could pose a problem due to the wars between Elenoir and the human kingdom of Sapin in the past. Here, we also meet Virion, the former King and Tessia’s grandfather who has a sneaky suspicion about Art. This is confirmed when he attacks him while Tessia is showing him around the castle gardens. He wanted to test his theory as he sensed Art’s mana core going awry.
For the first time ever, Virion accepts a disciple in Art, promising him that he can fix what ails him. When Sylvia infused Art with her power, that power began to tear away at his body. In other words, Art was made into a Beast Tamer… or he will be once he properly trains to harness Sylvia’s power. The rest of the volume takes place over a three-year time skip where Art spends his time training to fuse every part of his body with mana in order to achieve Stage 1 of being a Beast Tamer; however, the day where Art must leave fast approaches and he still has business to take care of!
Characters
Quite a few new characters in this volume!
First, we have Tessia. When they meet, she’s just five years old. As we know from the last volume, Art rescued her from slave traders, and even though she’s just a little girl, she grows quite fond of Art. While this has the makings of a future romance plot, right now, Tessia is just really happy because Art is the first friend she’s ever had. One little quirk about her is that she talks as if she knows the meaning of words but she actually doesn’t. It adds a bit of comedy to her character but as you would expect, she’s quite charming. You can’t help but smile whenever she’s around.
Next up we have Alduin and Merial. At first, they are grateful to Art for bringing their daughter back to them unharmed but that’s where the gratitude stops. They hold a bit of a grudge against the Sapin Kingdom for the human-elf wars and because as such, they are silently judging Art. In fact, this is revealed when Virion proclaims that he is taking Art as his disciple and they boldly protest it. However, after a while, they come to realize the error of their thinking and are apologetic and respectful toward him. They are just characters who have trouble letting go of the past but after everything their kingdoms went through, it’s easy to understand why they would be that way. The important aspect here is that they were willing to change for the better meaning that they are adaptable.
Lastly, we have Virion. He looks like an old noble steeped in tradition but he’s rather whimsical. He uses his vast knowledge to see potential in Art and doesn’t even care that he’s a human. The mere thought of training a future Beast Tamer excites him. In a way, he kind of treats Art like a grandson but he’s also very strict with him in his training. Outside of the training aspect, he supports Art being there and just wants to see him grow. He’s a pretty awesome character and has quickly become one of my favorites in the series!
Outside of training and power-ups, from a character standpoint, Art hasn’t really grown but that’s because being a king in his former life means that his personality has probably already reached its limit. So his development will simply be measured in how strong he actually gets which is fine. Here, he does grow stronger but he still has a ways to go. After all, even after the time skip, Art is only 8 years old now. There’s still much ahead of him.
Final Thoughts
Another fantastic volume! There were some great moments here between Art and Tessia. You can feel them growing closer with each and every page. It’s obvious that Tessia thinks the world of him so I’m glad that when it was time for Art to leave, it wasn’t a permanent goodbye. Even if it was, with the way they bonded, you know that there was next to zero chance it would be the last we see of Tessia. Also, there was quite a touching moment with Art that I won’t spoil but it was in relation to one of his main objectives.
On the subject of Art and Tessia… because of the way that they bonded… a future romance is almost guaranteed. In fact, I can even make the prediction that at some point in the future, Tessia and Art will probably marry and this will be the catalyst to bring the Elenoir and Sapin kingdoms together in a new era of peace. I know that’s a bit of a grandiose prediction but why else would they have the two of them grow so close to each other while emphasizing the disdain the humans and elves have for each other? Just seems like giant seeds being planted for an epilogue later on down the line. Could be wrong, I suppose, but it’s just what it seems like to me.
The next volume should be a heartwarming one as long as Art doesn’t fall down another hole, get wrapped with another dragon, get trained in another kingdom, or get smacked around by “Ivysaur!” Looking forward to it as this series has been just great so far!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press.
