Dragon's Explanation

She then asked, "Oli, how were you able to check the status of your father's soul?"

"Uh…" Oli regretted saying too much but continued to answer since he had decided to trust Trada and he knew that she may be able to give him even more information about the world then his father could. "I've been training my soul with the introductory level of my father's soul technique to possibly speed up my readiness to form a core. I can't do anything with what I've trained other than slightly increase my soul's strength. But unless someone intentionally blocks my soul's perception, it's enough to feel some of the soul energy of the people around me."

"You've already begun to train in soul arts? That's impossible," Trada said in disbelief.

"Of course, I started training in soul arts! Why would I lie to you?" Oli defended.

"No, no, no. I'm not calling you a liar, I'm stating that such a thing should be impossible. A cultivator's soul should only be strong enough to start training in soul arts once they've reached the elder level in the mortal class. I didn't even know that Dioro had started training in soul arts, and I watched him compete in the mortal championship myself. My guess is that he also got such a rare technique while he was in Devil's Canyon. But that doesn't explain you being able to train soul arts, unless…" Trada froze momentarily as a thought came to her mind, a thought that she had to confirm. "Oli, are you by chance a reincarnated expert?"

It was Oli's turn to freeze when she asked that as he was unsure how he should answer. The longer he waited to speak, the closer her head got until Oli could feel her warm breath cover his entire body. Finally, he answered, "Yes… and no... Let me explain. I first lived in another world where cultivation didn't exist, and neither did powerful beasts like yourself. There were only humans across the entire face of the world. So yes, I have gone through reincarnation but no, I am not an expert."

Trada's confusion only deepened from there but she kept herself from asking any pointless question and managed to keep the conversation on track. "So, you were once human? And now you're a beast? I've never heard of such a thing, but that would explain having a strong enough soul to begin training soul arts. But what's strange to me is that even though you were human before, you never cultivated. Here, even humans have ways to cultivate, despite not having any help from a bloodline like us beasts. Humans, though genetically weaker than us, are far craftier and have managed to create their means of cultivation. They've created two ways to cultivate, one way is similar to the way us beasts train and the other is unique to them. For this reason alone, they remain alive in the world today. If not for that, many beast clans would've eradicated them long ago. I wonder…" Trada let her mind drift in thought, keeping Oli waiting for more. Eventually, she nodded to herself and looked back to Oli before saying, "Alright, I know how I'll repay my debt to you."

Oli was at a loss for words. They had covered so many topics that his brain was overloaded, yet he hadn't yet satisfied his desire to learn more about his father or about how the humans in the world of Dominus could cultivate. He decided to save those topics for later and just move along with the conversation. When Trada noticed that he was done thinking, the void gem on her choker glowed and an empty pitcher appeared. Before Oli knew what was going on, Trada used one of her claws to open up one of her freshly sealed scars, letting blood leak out and flow into the pitcher. Once the pitcher was about half full, she stopped and used her powerful aura to pick up the pitcher and place it in front of Oli. Oli just stared at it, waiting for Trada to explain the madness.

She got the hint and said, "This is how I'll pay my debt, with my blood. Usually, dragon blood can be used to fortify a cultivator's body by ingesting it and letting the body absorb its qualities. However, according to my clan's ancient records, there was once a way to mutate a beast's bloodline by using dragon blood. According to the record, only one cultivator ever survived the mutation while the rest perished upon attempting it. But there was one in common with all of the those who failed, they attempted it when forming their divine cores later in their lives. The one successful mutation came from a young cultivator who used the dragon blood during the formation of their mortal core. My debt shall be repaid to you and your father by helping you gain a mutated bloodline."

Oli was unable to determine what that would mean. He understood that it must've been something important if others tried it at the risk of dying, but he didn't fully understand a normal bloodlines potential, let alone a mutated one. "This isn't going to make me some freak of nature, will it?"

Trada blinked at Oli's serious face and couldn't help but laugh. She then said, "A bloodline is what determines your potential cultivation as a beast. I'm certain that you've felt the instincts and strength of your bloodline before, but maybe you haven't paid it much attention. If you think from a human's perspective, who has no bloodline, you'll never even realize that it's there. Do you follow?"

"Yeah, I think so," replied Oli.

The dragon continued, "It contains natural-born talents and abilities. You'll have to rely on your bloodline when forming your mortal core because that's what will allow your core to form an affinity with different essence types. An Iron-body Gorilla typically has an affinity for earth essence and your core will form from earth essence because of that."

"But," Trada cut herself off as if trying to get a reaction out of the young ape. "By ingesting my blood while forming your core, you may cause a mutation that allows you to also have an affinity to dark essence like I do. The change in your mortal core, with the addition to having my blood in your system, your young body would forcibly go through a mutation. You would then have a bloodline with dual affinities, which is extremely rare throughout the world. Now, do you understand why a mutated bloodline is sought after?"

With a better understanding, Oli nodded his head frantically. But Trada didn't let him speak before she asked him, "Oli, how much would you like to be human again?"