Visiting Trada

The next day came by quickly as the first sun rose above the mountain peaks. All the gorillas woke up to find a mountain of cores in front of the tossing and turning Rathe. Finally giving in to his need to get up, Rathe said, "Take what you need and start cultivating. If at least two of you can't enter the divine class with this, then you don't deserve to serve under the mighty Rathe."

Without hesitation, the gorillas began to grab for their piece of the proverbial pie.

Cultivators could use different materials to help them get better results, and the best was absorbing the energy from the core of another cultivator since the energy stored within has already been condensed and concentrated. Of course, since each cultivator's essence type was different, so were their cores. But since the Saber-tooth Baboons shared essence types with the gorillas, this didn't matter as long as they made sure to absorb energy from a core of their same level.

If they tried to absorb energy from a higher leveled core, they may cause damage or even destruction to their own core. Luckily, the cores were constantly emitting energy and were easy for people at the same rank to sense, that way practitioner level cultivators used practitioner level cores, adept level cultivators used adept level cores, and so on.

Ania approached the pile of cores and grabbed an armful, taking a bunch back to Oli who sitting in the nest still. "Here, these will be for your future cultivation. This way you'll always have materials."

"But Mom, aren't these cores for everyone?" Oli didn't like the idea of claiming too many for himself at the cost of the clan not having much.

"Nonsense! They all want you to grow, just like I do. Not to mention, it was your father that killed every one of those baboons, so you'll have to take his share as well," Ania said forcefully. "With this, your cultivation will have steady growth, especially since you're almost ready to form your first core. Also, I'll need some of these for myself if I'm going to make a breakthrough."

Oli couldn't disagree with that logic, so he agreed and accepted the cores.

Ania then picked up two peak-elder cores and began to walk away when she stopped and said, "Oh, and don't forget to return the egg to its mother Oli. And didn't she want to speak with you and give you something? Make sure not to offend her like the last dragon."

"Mom!" Oli whined after hearing Ania's last remark before he grabbed the egg and hurried away before she could embarrass him more.

Ania smiled when she saw this, thinking to herself, "He is just like you Dioro, looking out for those weaker than him, even in the face of danger. He's your son." She chuckled and walked towards Dioro's grave, anxious to train there in peace.

Some of the gorillas noticed that the three perennial cores were missing and made a quick search through the camp to find them. Soon they found one under Vloz's paw and the other two wrapped in Rathe's sleeping arms.

Some wanted to ask what they were planning to do with them but were stopped by Fontu who told that they had no right to ask about something beyond their level of cultivation. With that being said he grabbed two peak-elder cores and led everyone away to cultivate on their own.

"Rathe, are you sure you don't want it?" Vloz spoke after waiting for everyone to leave.

"If you don't want it, I won't force you to take it. But you and I both know that it's more important for you to become a high-perennial than it is for me to become a mid-perennial. Now hurry up and breakthrough before I change my mind," Rathe replied as he rolled out of the nest and stretched.

Vloz then stood up, grabbed the core with his mouth and vanished with his high speeds.

Rathe then looked at the two initial-perennial cores with mixed emotions. He and Vloz had talked the night before and decided that they would be best put to use as gifts to the next two gorillas to enter the divine class. That would be far more effective than letting Rathe try and use them to breakthrough since Rathe was already a full tier higher and they wouldn't guarantee his breakthrough. Reluctantly, Rathe activated the void gem embedded in his left arm's bracer and stored them away for later.

* * * * *

Dashing through the trees, Oli approached the distant clearing. The fire from the day before was gone, but its legacy was left across the soot-stained landscaped

Oli entered the clearing and made his way to the cave. Once in front of the entrance he stopped and took a deep breath. He was about to announce himself and ask permission to enter when Trada called for him to enter. Oli didn't think much of it and entered the cave for the second time, only this time the cave was lit up further in and easier to orient himself in.

The pile of riches that he had seen before seemed all the grander and tempting to him. On the silk bed laid Trada, still covered in wounds despite having cleaned and washed them out. She sensed the young gorilla approaching and watched him carefully as he entered.

"So, you've finally come. I'm glad to see my egg is still in one piece," Trada's expression was warm and inviting, despite the scars. "Please, bring me my baby."

"Oh, of course!" said Oli as he shuffled over and placed the egg on the bed in front of Trada. She seemed to melt around the egg, coddling it only like a mother could. Oli smiled at the sight of the fierce and all-powerful Trada from the day before now being so soft and gentle with her child. "I'm glad that your egg was safe in the end. I only wish that my father was here to see this touching sight with me."

"What is your name, little ape?" Trada asked.