Divine Beast Ascension

Oli’s Decision

Baffled, Trada stared at the young ape with wide eyes. She never would’ve considered such a thing and would naturally be against it. “Oli, fusing your mortal core with that soul jade would be a huge risk as you are now. For something like that, it’s not only your core but your soul that will be fused with it. I can only guess that it is extremely painful on its own, requiring a ridiculous amount of concentration. Maybe with your stronger-than-average soul, it would be possible. However, I advise against trying to mutate your bloodline and fuse with the soul jade at the same time. That would probably be impossible to survive, let alone accomplish. I think you should mutate your bloodline now and guarantee yourself success by merging with the soul jade in the future.”

“But we’ll never know until someone tries it, right?” Oli’s smile was undeterred by Trada’s plea.

As soon as Trada said that it was possible to fuse the soul jade as a mortal, he set his sights on it. And if he could mutate his bloodline in the process, he didn’t care what pain he had to endure, so long as it made him stronger and more capable of protecting those he loved. Trada could sense his determination and didn’t say anything else about the matter.

“Oli, though I don’t like the idea of you trying such a thing, I’m still going to help you do it. I’d rather you have my help when preparing for this, to at least give a better chance at success. If somehow, you can accomplish this, then your future will be whatever you make of it. Don’t forget your resolve, you might die if you do,” the dragon warned Oli before closing her eyes and using her aura’s perception to share something within Oli’s mind.

It wasn’t a message, but an exercise that was passed down within her clan to help cultivators prepare to form their mortal cores. “I’m guessing that your basic soul training has already taught you how to concentrate and spiritually sense some of the world around you by extending out parts of your soul. This exercise should help you better your breathing and energy circulation, letting you sense things physically with your aura instead. Only after you master this basic exercise, will I let you attempt to form your core. Until then, you’ll visit me daily at sunrise and train here within my cavern. I’ll set up a formation and a few items that will help you better train your essence sensitivity and speed up your preparation. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Oli bowed to Trada, accepting her as his teacher and master. “If it will help me accomplish my goal to protect my family, I’ll do whatever you say.”

“Good, now go home and make sure to inform your mother that you’ll be visiting me daily. She is not to enter this cave before you finish forming your core. I can only imagine the worry she would feel if she knew how crazy her son was,” Trada finished speaking and returned the pitcher of blood to the void. She then laid her head to rest next to her child, drifting off to sleep.

Oli left and quickly headed home, more excited than ever. He glanced down at the soul jade in his hand and thought, Dad, soon I’ll be able to accept your gift. I’ll make sure to protect this secret and use it to the fullest to protect Mom and the clan.

.....

* * * * *

Back at Dioro’s tomb, Ania was on her knees concentrating on absorbing the energy of the two cores in front of her. She could feel the approaching chance to breakthrough but wasn’t quite there yet.

As the day passed by, she soon stood up and returned to the troop with her cores in hand. She was happy to see that Oli had returned and that he seemed to be very excited while he talked with Rathe about cultivation.

When Oli saw that she was walking back, he called for her and ran to tell her the news.

“Mom guess what! Trada said that she’ll help me form my core and even set up a formation for me. Do you know what that does, exactly? All Rathe could tell me was that you draw some kind of pattern and it makes you stronger. Is that all?” he dogged his mom with question after question.

She sighed to herself. Originally, she was going to let Dioro help him form his core but after losing Dioro, she looked forward to helping him with his training and getting closer to her son. This news was bittersweet to her because she couldn’t disagree with the fact that Trada, as a king-level cultivator, could help him more than she could.

Ania gave a slight smile and told him that she didn’t know the full effects of a formation or how one was made. She told him to go ask Vloz, who had traveled more and should know.

Oli, in his anxiousness to learn more, thanked his mother and took off to go find Vloz on the outskirts of the gorilla camp.

Now feeling useless to her son, she turned around and went straight back to Dioro’s tomb with a new determination to train and become a divine beast to gain her son’s approval.

Oblivious to his mother’s feelings, Oli scampered around the thick vegetation to find Vloz sitting up under a large tree. He opened his mouth to call for him but stopped himself from disturbing Vloz’s concentration.

Instead, Oli knelt in front of Vloz and waited for the chance to ask him by beginning the exercise that Trada had shared with him.

It didn’t take long for the Blood-spotted leopard to open one eye and see the gorilla youth just a couple krin in front of him. Curious what he was doing, Vloz extended his aura to find Oli in the beginning phase of circulating his body’s natural energy. He couldn’t help but chuckle in amazement of how far Oli had progressed, certain that he should be forming his core within a couple of suns.