You Knew!?

"Nope, I'm not sure what…" Then Oli remembered something from when he was preparing to form his core. "I may remember something. Back when I was in Trada's cave absorbing essence to prepare for my mortal core, I remember taking in a weird energy. It felt like an essence type but was scarce and hard to detect. I was planning to ask Trada about it but after passing out from exhaustion and Trada vanishing, I forgot about it. Do you know what kind of essence it was, Vloz?"

The leopard wracked his brain but couldn't think of anything that resembled what he just saw. After almost a minute, Vloz spoke, "I have no clue what kind of essence that was or even if that was an essence, but whatever it is I'm not even sure if it's worth cultivating."

Vloz's comment startled Oli before he continued. "Even if it is an essence, you would never be able to find a cultivation technique for it and you're already a dual essence cultivator now. If somehow you had a third and it was made known, our entire clan might get wiped out just to get you. Having potential is necessary as a cultivator but having too much potential can lead to disaster."

Oli hated to think that he would have to abandon this mystery essence, but Vloz made some good points. If Vloz didn't even know what essence type it was, it might be impossible to find a cultivation technique. Plus, he didn't want to be the cause of more suffering in the clan, not again.

"Still brat, you surprised me! With both essences, Vloz will have to hand over his cultivation technique too!" Rathe chimed in. "While we're at it, I might as well pass you everything I got." Before Oli could respond, Rathe's aura already passed over his cultivation techniques and battle arts. "Come on you two, don't hold out on the brat! That's an order from the clan chief."

Laughing, Ania passed him the rest of her cultivation techniques and battle arts as well, while Vloz was the last one to pass everything he had to Oli.

With all of these new techniques and arts, Oli was so happy that he leaped up and pulled all three of them into a big hug, catching them by surprise.

Rathe laughed and returned the favor, wrapping his arms around everyone tightly.

Ania enjoyed it since she had forgotten the last time Oli voluntarily hugged her.

To avoid Rathe's crushing grip, Vloz used his speed to escape the hug and stand a couple of krin away.

"Oh, there's one more thing I should tell you all while I'm at it," Oli backed away, letting the other three stare at him questioningly. "I'm… I'm a reincarnate."

"We know," Ania and Rathe both chuckled, killing Oli's seriousness.

"What!?" Vloz yelled, not just at Oli but at Ania and Rathe.

"Oh yeah, you didn't know did you?" Rathe put his arm around the unguarded Vloz. "Dioro mentioned it long ago when Oli was born, you must feel stupid now, huh Vloz?"

"Quiet, Rathe!" Vloz didn't care to bicker when he focused his sights on Oli. "You're a reincarnate? How did you do it? And why did you not already know all about essences? How long ago was your past life? When did you—"

"Calm down Vloz! Give him some space," Ania stopped Vloz's interrogation and faced Oli. "Just so you know, I don't care if you're a reincarnated expert or not, you're still my son and you can't change that!"

"No problem, Mom!" Oli waved off his mom, wanting to keep their relationship and knowing that she wouldn't let anything stop her from treating him like her son.

He took a deep breath and explained, "I was originally on a world where cultivation didn't exist, so I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but I did go through reincarnation after I died there. That world was full of humans and we all just found a way to make a living and get by. Nothing was like it is here, fighting to survive and growing stronger with each passing day. Of the two, I prefer this one and hope that we can continue to live as we have been. Are you guys okay with that?"

"Ha. You don't get it, do you brat? Your mom and I agreed to take care of when from the moment we learned you might be a reincarnate. And knowing Vloz's fascination with reincarnation, I'm sure he's even more excited now than before." Rathe's big hand plopped on Oli's head and rubbed his fur all over.

"I'll always love you, son," Ania took the initiative to hug Oli, who hugged back and thanked her.

"Are you kidding? To live with a reincarnate would be great!" Vloz showed a genuine smile for the first time in front of Oli. "Even better, you were a human before this, so I imagine you know about human cities?"

"I'm not sure what the humans here are like or if they have any cities, but I know what cities were like from the other world I lived on. I even studied buildings and how to construct them." Oli answered.

"Seriously!? Can you help me design some buildings here?" Vloz started getting more and more excited to get to know about Oli's past life, like a child about to meet Santa for the first time.

"Here? Why would you need that?"

"It's always been my dream to be a part of a big city with a market and it's own trade. Rathe and I once made a promise that we would work together to build such a city after claiming a territory of our own. This isn't how I planned it to happen, but with your help, I think it'll be even greater than I imagined! Come on, let's talk about it, while we head back," Vloz's tail pushed Oli alongside him, not letting him escape as he led the way back with Ania and Rathe following behind.