Divine Beast Ascension

Everyone was blown away by the true purpose of the celebration. But there was no way of changing things as everything was already in motion.

Upon reaching the institute, only the nobles were allowed to follow the Practor Family into the student market that was commonly open to the public. This allowed the noble families one last chance to personally congratulate Hurman and his family, or take a moment to discuss how they could continue doing business.

Tranton and the Forell Family was among the latter. They made sure to get permission to visit the Practor Family and even organized their first future visit. Trenk made sure to thank Hurman for his teachings and promised to visit as soon as he was able, also congratulating each member of the Practor Family. Trantor and Freele thanked them as well, inviting Hurman and the family to their wedding.

But when they all asked about Oli, neither the Practor Family nor anyone under Rhyner dared acknowledge the question.

With formalities and congratulations over, the Practor Family, which was quite small for a noble family, made their way to the formation platform. Leon, Johan, and Shadur were the first to flinch at being near Vloz, but they said nothing as the leopard, Nixt, and Lizbeth stepped onto the platform.

Before the nobles could ask why Lizbeth had climbed up, Jarrit activated the formation. A pulse of purple energy absorbed everyone on the platform as it collapsed on itself and quickly dispersed.

.....

Not answering anything regarding Lizbeth’s leave either, Rhyner led everyone back out to greet the public and continue the day’s celebration.

While the day winded down and so many people were left baffled by what had taken place, Rhyner soon returned to his home. He rushed to his study while shaking his head. Throwing the doors open, Rhyner shouted, “I know you’re there! Why did you take Nixt from me?! Hello?!”

“Calm down...” a subtle voice replied as the doors closed themselves. Appearing in a shadowy hood, a pale-skinned man turned and shrugged. “Why so disappointed? This is all to make your goals happen as soon as possible.”

“Nixt is a trusted aide that I’ve had for more than a decade! How could I allow him to–”

“He’s still your aide, only he’ll be staying in Iron Territory. What’s wrong with that?” laughed the man, suddenly appearing at the desk and sinking into Rhyner’s comfortable chair. “Not bad... Worthy of some good rest.”

“Then tell me, what does sending Nixt to Iron Territory do to help me?” questioned Rhyner.

Shrugging again, the man replied, “A great question... something that time will answer shortly. For now shouldn’t you be preparing for your next step? You didn’t throw that thing away did you?”

“No, I still have it...” Rhyner sighed, recollecting his thoughts.

“Good. Then I’ll be off. I have somewhere to be, so make sure to treat that boy nicely while you send him off!” The man’s snickers echoed lightly as his figure vanished from Rhyner’s seat.

At the same time, a knock came from the door. Shaking his head, Rhyner walked over and opened the door for his visitor. “How’s cultivation been going?”

“Don’t Nixt and Bastol report to you daily?” Oli laughed, walking up to the couches.

“They do, but that doesn’t give me your perspective. I want to make sure you’re not only understanding what they’ve taught but also applying it correctly. So tell me, how’s your progress been? Or can you show me?”

Before taking a seat, Oli nodded. He waited for Rhyner to return to his desk before activating his essence. A layer of earth essence appeared first, condensing around Oli. Next, darkness poured over Oli, but nothing quite like his bestial essence from before. There were no horns or tail. The dark essence still had a viscous, liquid appearance but was too thin by comparison and struggled to form claws around Oli’s hands.

“Not bad for two moons... That’s enough.”

Oli dispersed his essence and took in a sharp breath. His feet weren’t shaky but some sweat remained on his brow. “It’s hard to maintain both essences, especially on top of each other.”

“Well, such is the struggle of all dual cultivators. The more essences you possess the harder it is to cultivate them, especially if you want to wield them together,” claimed Rhyner.

“Is that why Burt didn’t want to fight with wind and lightning?”

“Probably...” Rhyner laughed. “He can’t use more than two essences at once, and he can’t stack them either. At best, he’ll use one essence per hand.”

“Unless he’s using the sword you made him.”

“True, but he still can’t wield a third essence while using it. It’s too taxing.”

“So if I had used earth essence, he wouldn’t have been able to retaliate as fast as he wanted... Not a bad strategy in hindsight,” chuckled Oli. “And you used me to hide your talented son, making sure that Jarrit focused on my soul arts and not his four affinities.”

“We’re making sure that both of you can vanish from the public eye, but at least you’ll be the one to be remembered more. That won’t harm your goals and it helps cover up Burt’s stupid decision to participate in the tournament.

“But that’s not why I called you in...” Rhyner changed the subject, “Though you can’t maintain it for long, it seems you’ve created a foundation of a new technique. That’s enough for now.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s time that you moved on and went to Bore City. I won’t be able to help you anymore, apart from working with your family in Iron Territory.”

“Thank you for that,” Oli mentioned with a bow. “I know you’re just following his plans, but I’m still grateful for the support you’re offering Iron Territory.”

“Forget it. I’m getting a lot out of this too, so don’t forget that I have my own reasons to enter an illegal alliance. That is, so long as that man does as he promised...”