Divine Beast Ascension

“Sorry about that...” Oli apologized, swallowing the little wine that lingered in his throat. “I... haven’t seen my parents in too long...”

Noticing the repressed emotion behind Oli’s eyes, Bradok slowly nodded. “I see...”

“My dad passed away fending off some beasts and I was separated from my mom a while back. Sadly, trying to get back with her will probably cause even more trouble, at least not before I’m strong enough to fix that.”

“That’s the spirit!” Bradok shouted with pride, lifting his tankard yet again. “I’ll drink to that! That’s how a true man handles his problems!”

But Donovan let out a short yet sharp laugh, “Says the man that dumped everything on his son-in-law...”

“HEY!!” Slamming his now empty tankard on the table, the old gorilla didn’t seem to care that he was talking to a king cultivator. “I did what was best, and I served my time! I’m confident in Dioro! He would never succumb to the world and its schemes!”

.....

Oli kept quiet and wasn’t interested in drinking anymore. After spitting up the wine so often, it didn’t taste quite the same. And hearing Bradok only added to those brewing emotions.

“That’s not what I meant... Remember, my father offered them a territory but they decided to leave in hope of escaping the reach of Tempest. And I don’t blame them for that,” reasoned Donovan, still sipping his wine. “But if I were you, I don’t know if I’d willingly stay behind. That’s all.”

“I can live how I like. They understood that. That’s why they promised to round up my idiot son and that pussy cat of his.” Bradok sighed, clicking his tongue while pouring another round. “If anything, I should’ve gone to find that brat myself. He can’t even out drink his little sis, let alone handle matters with dignity.”

“I wonder where he could’ve learned that...” Jeminine quickly jeered before hiding her face with a wine glass.

Bradok chuckled but suddenly got depressed. “Well... It wasn’t from his mother. That’s a fact... No one’s perfect. Though I can try!”

The entire table broke out in laughter while the gorilla chugged his tankard again.

“There better be some left for me!”

Cutting through the laughter, a deep, booming voice caught everyone off guard. Everyone looked toward the open doors, apart from the gorilla refilling his tankard.

“You’re lucky there’s still a slice on that platter,” Zelsh joked, casually walking toward the table.

Donovan was a bit startled but smiled all the same. “It’s already over?”

“It was... complicated. I’ve never seen a challenger as weird as that one,” commented Zelsh, forcing his son and Jeminine to scoot over. He then took out a tankard even bigger than Bradok’s and slammed it down. “Fill ‘er up!”

“Ohhh... Is that a challenge?” Bradok chuckled with a low growl.

“Nahhh. I just need a pick me up.”

Kraz was the first to speak up about Zelsh’s bloody shoulder, “Dad, are you okay?”

“This? What do you think happens in a fight?” laughed Zelsh. “This is nothing. A few doses of alcohol and I’ll be good as new.”

Jeminine seemed calm as usual. She asked, “So everything went alright?”

“Yeah. I fought the challenger for a while but nothing I did could even scratch the guy, though he wasn’t able to hurt me either, apart from this little thing,” answered Zelsh, brushing his hand over the dried blood on his shoulder. “Once Uutrai wanted to join in and get things over with, the guy just vanished and fled. Luckily, he didn’t kill anyone before we arrived. He just roughed them up and destroyed a couple of buildings.”

Bradok nodded and added, “So he just wanted them to fetch Lord Treeda?”

“That’s what we’re guessing.”

“Yet he fled before fighting her?” Thinking while swirling the wine in his tankard, Bradok shrugged. “I don’t get it. But at least he was dealt with. Did you recognize or identify the man?”

“No... He showed up in a pale white cloak yet his face was hidden in shadows. There was no way anyone could’ve identified him, including Lord Treeda.”

“Even her?”

Nodding to Jeminine, Zelsh took his first sip of the fine wine with a sharp breath. “Yeah... even her. She guessed that he’s either a stealth specialist or he’s stronger than I should’ve been able to handle.”

“So you were his plaything?”

Elbowing the gorilla at his side, Zelsh replied, “No, I was not. But he did seem stronger than he was letting on.”

While Zelsh put the last, huge slice of stuffed turkey on a plate, Oli’s back was slapped once again.

“Hey, would you mind looking into this brat’s parents? He said his mother’s out there somewhere and I want to meet her,” Bradok asked, leaving Oli with a twisted stomach.

“Huh? You actually like the kid?” Zelsh blinked, chewing his first bite of the main course. “Since when do you like kids, let alone human kids?”

“What’s wrong with me liking a brat?”

“You didn’t even like your own kid, let alone someone else’s,” argued Zelsh.

Bradok leaned over and got in Zelsh’s face. “Of course I liked my brat! Ania was everything after losing Petra, and that idiot always found a way to put a smile on my face by being the butt of my jokes!”

“I get it...” Zelsh admitted, taking another bite. “But why him? I’ve already tried looking into Oliver’s past but wasn’t able to come up with much. It would take a lot more than just casually searching to find anything more.”

“Seriously?” Jeminine turned her attention to Oli, scanning over him with careful eyes. “So he’s got earth and dark essence, an interesting combination. And soul arts... But... I can’t see much else...”

“And this is why my son doesn’t trust you yet,” Zelsh jeered before dowing the rest of his wine.

Sighing, Jeminine rolled her eyes. “I was just trying to help...”

“Well, don’t help without permission. I’d prefer that you don’t peer into the mind of my protege.”

PFFFT!