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Realizing that his timer had gone off, Oli paused the search of his father’s memories. There were far too many for Oli to inspect in the span of a week, let alone part of a day.

Not yet satisfied, Oli concentrated and felt his mind leaving the soul jade. Finally, he could open his actual eyes and feel his true body, not just the spiritual manifestation inside of himself.

Oli exited the room and found that there was a fox lying down outside of his room.

“Netra, what are you still doing here?” asked Oli, baffled that she was still waiting for him.

Her ears twitched as Netra yawned. “You... took you time, didn’t you Oli? Are you finally ready to go home?”

He sighed with a smile filled with anticipation. “Yeah, sadly I have to wait till tomorrow to keep going.”

.....

“But Oli, don’t you remember what tomorrow is?” Netra laughed, seeing that he’d forgotten that tomorrow they would be staying in the classroom. “Tomorrow, we’re sparring with the others to see if there’s a change in seats and test our new strength.”

“Oh yeah... I guess I’ll have to wait even longer... Let’s get going already so we can get tomorrow over with.”

“Okay.”

The two left the library, taking their time as they chatted the whole way. They soon split up and said their goodbyes, both eager for the next time they could use their cultivation rooms. One of them was anxious to explore his soul jade and cherish the multitude of memories left behind by his father, while the other was looking forward to their joint dark essence cultivation.

Oli returned home to find two familiar faces chatting over a late-night meal.

“Oli, it’s about time you showed up,” Anis said as she passed Oli a plate of roasted boar. “Vloz and I had a couple of questions for you. Go ahead Vloz, you first.”

“Oli, what do you think of the library and the cultivation rooms? Do we need to add anything else?” asked Vloz.

“I love the cultivation rooms! Both me and Netra are always excited to have our own space, and I’m sure Karos feels the same way because he’s in there just as much as we are,” replied Oli. “I’m now sure what else you might add unless you really started customizing the rooms’ formations to each of us.”

“Hmm... I’ll consider that, thanks.” Vloz bit into his own roasted boar leg, hurrying to finish his meal.

Then, it was Ania’s turn to speak up. “Oli, what do you think of the classes? Do you think my lessons are going too slow?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. I appreciate having so much time to cultivate, but I can see it getting boring to only focus on sensing essence for a month straight. It was a good idea to hold sparring matches every two weeks to see if anyone can climb seats,” explained Oli. “That should reinvigorate most of the students, I know Yeter was only able to focus for so long because that was his goal.”

“That does sound like him, doesn’t it,” laughed Ania. “I’m just worried that no one’s taking their cultivation too serious now because they got bored already.”

“Isn’t that half the struggle with teaching? Besides, if they get bored so quickly, they’ll have to learn at some point that the stronger we get, the more time we’ll have to spend cultivating.”

“That’s why I wanted to ask my son for a favor.” Ania added some more meat to Oli’s plate and continued, “I don’t want you to hold back against anyone that challenges you tomorrow.”

Oli gave his mother a questioning glare. “Mom, isn’t that being a bit too harsh?”

“Nope, it should be exactly what the other’s need. They lose focus too easily, saying that they’ve already master sensing the essence around them, while they’ve only scratched the surface,” reasoned Ania.

“Oli,” Vloz chimed in, “everyone in there holds you in high regard, so of course they’re going to try and face you. Also, remember that Netra’s position as the first seat is unchangeable because of her perfect affinity. In other words, it’s your second seat that everyone is vying for. Make sure that they all understand what it means to fight for that seat, it will also affect their future opinion of you after you graduate.”

“I guess you’re right about that, but are you sure I shouldn’t hold back at all?”

“Obviously we don’t want anyone to be injured to the point it affects their cultivation, but there’s nothing wrong with a crushing, overwhelming defeat. If anything, it will be good for them,” reasoned Vloz. “And I’m sure you’d like to test your new strength, right?”

“How about this, I won’t hold back during the sparring sessions, but after school tomorrow you’ll help me practice all day,” stated Oli. “I finally completed the first portion of my soul training and want to test the full limits of my strength. That should be easy for you to handle, right?”

“I’ll agree, so long as your mother also takes part,” replied Vloz. “As your instructor, she needs to understand your growth better than me. And it can only help to add her opinion to mine. That way you can better perfect both of your essence types.”

“Of course I’m joining you, whether you like it or not,” Ania stated sternly, making her determination clear.

With a quick bow, Oli thanked them, “Mom, Uncle Vloz, now I’m actually excited for tomorrow.”

“Good, now hurry and finish your food. You need your rest, Oli.”

“Okay, Mom!”

Scarfing down his food, Oli cleaned his plate and hurried to bed. Now, Vloz and Ania were left alone again.

“How far do you think he’s made it, Vloz?”

“Rathe should be almost halfway there by now. He should reach the regional capital before the third month’s lesson,” answered Vloz. “Are you worried about him?”

“Well, that big brother of mine is known for causing trouble,” reasoned Ania. “But then again, Fontu is with him so he should be okay.”

*****

“Chief!”

“What is it, Fontu? We need to hurry up and get going, there’s no time to waste!”

“Chief, one of the gorillas on watch duty said they sensed something up ahead, and it’s coming our way,” stated Fontu with his serious demeanor.

Rathe scratched the side of his face. “Seriously? There’s something stupid enough to face us?”

“If it’s brave enough to attack us, it should at least be a perennial level beast, possibly mid-perennial.”

“Well, it sounds like I’ll get to let off some steam!” Rathe laughed and charged ahead, hurrying to join the two gorillas who scouting.

It was early morning and two gorillas were sent to scout the path beforehand, making sure there weren’t any issues for the group to pass through. But since something was daring to attack them, it finally gave Rathe something to placate his boredom.

“Yo, what’s the report? Is it big and mean?” Rathe asked in excitement.

“It’s bigger than us, that’s for sure,” answered one of the two scouts. “Even with all five of us, you and Fontu will probably be the only ones who can face this beast.”

“Good, but remember Fontu, this one’s mine! If he has any friends with him, then you can have those, maybe. It depends on how long my new toy will last,” Rathe laughed, waiting for this beast to arrive.

It didn’t take long for a giant lion with a blue mane to appear. Though it was alone, it’s presence was frightening to most of the gorilla’s party, all except for Rathe.

“Oh! I haven’t played with a kitty like you in years! Come on, I haven’t had a decent opponent in too long. Since your in the same plane as me, I’m curious how long you can last. Fontu!” Rathe shouted, looking at his second in command. “He’s all mine, but I need you to count for me.”

“Count?” Fontu was confused, unsure what Rathe was getting at.

“Yeah, count! I wanted to know just how long the kitty will take me to kill,” laughed Rathe.

Though they were both at the same plane, the lion felt uneasy when looking at Rathe. It was confident in its strength and thought it could at least fight evenly with Rathe, but Rathe’s confidence seemed to be beyond anything it expected.

“What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?” Rathe taunted the lion. “Don’t worry, pretty soon I’ll have it tied to your tail, that way you can always smell where you’ve been!”

“Roar!”

Guessing that Rathe’s confidence was mostly a bluff because of his childish taunting, the lion charged at the gorilla head-on with cold, blue essence covering its claws.

“Bring it on, kitty!”

With a giant smile, Rathe gathered essence over his fists and dashed toward the giant lion twice his size.

“Go ahead and start counting, Fontu!”