Time's Up!

"I knew it, you were different," stated Netra as she slowly rubbed her head into Oli's chest.

"What do you mean? I'm just another gorilla, like the rest of my clan." Oli reached out to try and push her away.

"Your dark essence… It's very strong." Being so close to him again for the second time, she was able to focus on the pulse and small movement of his core's energy. That was when she confirmed that he had dark essence by feeling it personally.

Oli was quick to pull himself away and question her. "Why do you insist that I have dark essence? There's no way for you to prove it and it's obvious that I'm a gorilla with earth essence." Oli released some of his earth essence to show that he wasn't lying.

Netra was baffled and had to collect her thoughts before she blurted out her conclusion. "Then… you must have both earth and dark essence, I'm sure of it."

"Just stop, already!" Oli stepped back again, trying to distance himself from Netra. "I've been in secluded training for almost two moons now and I'm finally near another breakthrough. Now, if you don't mind, I need to go find that pesky stallion and get at least one sparring match before I train with my mom." He didn't wait for a reply and ran off towards the gorilla estate.

The young fox was left alone without a clue of what to do. She was certain that he had dark essence but didn't understand why he would deny it or hide it from everyone. The more she thought about it, the more she would commit Oli to her memory and the more earnestly she would search for a way to reveal the truth. Netra sighed and disappeared into the trees again, not to be found again.

* * * * *

Oli was running through the gorilla's estate when he saw Yeter walking behind Hollen and Rathe. Instantly, he dashed towards them and tackled the stallion youth to the ground. "Yeter, come on and help me test my new battle art!"

"New battle art?" Yeter's eyes lit up in excitement. "Let's go! There should be plenty of open space between my tribe's plains and your clan's estate."

Both of them ran out to the distant fields as Hollen and Rathe walked along behind them, curious to see their new strength. Plenty of gorillas followed suit, having nothing to do and wanting to see the strength of their clan's heir. Before they knew it, Oli and Yeter had become a star attraction for half the town to see. Neither of them paid attention to the crowd and quickly bowed to each other before letting loose their essences to begin the fight.

Their smiles were playful, but their eyes were focused and undeterred. They easily closed the gap between themselves and tested each other's strength with a quick trade that sent them both flying back a couple of krin.

"Ow! That stung a little," Yeter shook his head after his headbutt was canceled out by Oli's fist. There wasn't any superficial damage, but his head and face ached after the blow. "What was that? I thought you'd be using your uncle's technique too."

"Ha, you guessed wrong. I've been training my old man's technique for a while now," Oli was trying to shake away the pain from his hand. His fingers felt like they had almost broken off thanks to Yeter using Rathe's cultivation technique.

Both of them made a quick assessment of the other and proceeded to go all out. Yeter focused his essence around his hooves for kicks and stomps, while Oli created a hammer from his essence in response. They dodged whenever possible, knowing that just one blow might decide it.

"Yo Sis, is that supposed to be your Earthen Hammer art?" Rathe noticed that something was off and that the head of Oli's hammer was smaller than it should've been.

"Mhm," Ania was very happy to see her son using her favorite battle art but was startled to see that he had managed to alter it. "My guess is that he wanted a better way to use the hammer without wasting so much essence in its full form. I'm not sure how he did it, but this will make the tournament a lot more interesting."

All the gorillas watching agreed with Ania as they watched their clan's young master fend off an opponent a full two tiers above himself. Oli was dodging more than anything, but he was able to keep Yeter from running away with the win. The hammer Oli made also seemed to have an extra layer around only the hammerhead, making the smaller hammer more efficiently pinpoint its full force onto its target.

Yeter was showing off his superior amount of essence, forcing Oli to be more defensive and taking some of Oli's attacks deliberately to find an opening. This plan would eventually work, however, after he blocked a few swings of Oli's hammer, Yeter started to feel his muscles aching and tightening up. He had underestimated Oli's strength and didn't know how Oli was able to attack his body internally instead of his direct defenses.

"That all you got Oli? You'll need to be stronger than that if you want to beat me and win the tournament," taunted Yeter.

"Are you kidding? You haven't even been able to hurt me at all; how can you even beat me Yeter?" Oli slandered. "How about one last trade and we'll call it good. If we're lucky, we'll get a chance to go all out against each other in the tournament."

"Okay, if that's what you want," Yeter took down his defensive aura and put his full power into his front hooves. "Get ready, cause here I come!"

Oli readied himself and changed the hammer back to its original size as he swung it over-head to collide with the incoming Yeter's stomp attack. When the hammer met Yeter's hoof, both friends were blown back. Unable to overpower the stallion's stomp, Oli skid a few krin across the ground. Yeter was able to take the hammer's full force but was caught off guard by its sudden boost in strength and was buried in the earth as a result, almost unconscious. Both friends were unable to continue and took a few minutes to move again on their own.

Ania and Rathe were smiling brightly, glad to see that Oli found a way to get closer to his peers and maybe stand a chance in the school tournament. They walked up to the youths and helped them back up, Ania lifted her son and Rathe pulled Yeter out of the earth. The two friends looked at each other with a newfound respect and traded grins.

"Oli, I'm glad you were able to get so much stronger during your training," Ania praised her son.

"Thanks, Mom, I owe a lot to you for sharing the Earthen Hammer technique with me. It forced me to strengthen my control a lot more," Oli replied.

"That's great, but your form when you swung your hammer was so sloppy," Ania began to criticize her son, "If you knew how to at least give it a decent swing, you would've won that last exchange with Yeter."

"But Mom, I—"

"No buts Oli, I'm just going to have to teach you properly while I still can," she said, forcing herself into Oli's cultivation centered life. "With my help, you should be able to take on anyone in the tournament. Isn't that what you wanted?"

Oli hesitated to respond but eventually nodded, knowing that his mother wouldn't let up and it would help him in the end. He looked back to Yeter who was happily received critique from Rathe. "Hey Yeter, let's try this again in the tournament okay?"

"Ha, you got it! Make sure not to lose to anyone else before I beat you, okay?" said Yeter.

"Now, now Oli, we have a lot of training to cover so go wash up at the lake and come back for dinner. Also, make sure to bring Yeter with you, he'll need a good meal after your spar," stated Ania as she turned and started heading back home.

"You heard her Yeter, let's hurry and get back so we can eat!" yelled Oli, taking the lead. Yeter followed closely behind and made sure to crack some jokes about their fight earlier on the way. They were happy to hang out again after Oli's long time alone, not wasting any time to joke around or speculate about the rematch that they both wanted inside the school stadium.