Divine Beast Ascension

Chapter 297: Oli’s New “Home”

“I’ve never heard of–”

“Which is why I’m stuck with you, because I do know about authentic nature,” Zelsh shouted, forcing Oli’s compliance as they continued to descend deeper and deeper underground. “Few care about authentic nature, and that’s perfectly fine. But in your case, it’s the only solution to finish in time, and the most logical.

“By honing and growing the authentic, unperverted nature that your powerful essence has, you’ll need to discover what it is without altering it by accident. And most importantly, you’ll need to learn how that third essence interacts with your earth and dark essences, or more specifically, how it reacts to their natures. I’m praying to Dominus that they’re compatible, or we’re screwed.”

Off put by the final comment, Oli asked, “What do you mean, ‘we’re screwed?'”

“Either you discover your authentic nature and help it grow at speeds I’ve never witnessed, or you’ll never reach your full potential in time for the qualifier. And if you can’t even finish in the top three of my qualifier, how will that make me look after all the hype I’ve given you?” reasoned Zelsh, again glancing at Oli. “If you want to represent your father and get strong enough for your future, this is your only shot.”

“... My future?”

“Once you discover what your authentic nature is, that’s when you can start creating a technique,” Zelsh continued without replying to Oli’s short question. “You’ll need to guide your authentic nature with the mindset of a formation specialist. Creating a technique for a single essence isn’t too difficult, at least when given enough time. But the more essences that exist within a single technique, the steeper the difficulty and less likely you’ll succeed.

.....

“I don’t know whether to say you’re lucky, but your dark and earth essences should be easy to blend. But adding the third essence... That’s new to me. I know how it’s done, but it’ll be the first time I witness it personally,” Zelsh added.

“So...” Knowing that Zelsh wasn’t going to let Oli go back to his unanswered just yet, Oli asked, “You’ll be helping me?”

“I’m your master from this day forward. You’d better not forget that after you succeed beyond anyone else’s expectations.”

“You seem awfully forceful for someone that want’s me to favor them in the future...”

Zelsh scoffed and chuckled, “Forceful? You want forceful?” Without warning, Oli was grabbed and pulled into Zelsh’s chest. “I can show you forceful since you want to save time!”

Then, Zelsh leaped off the staircase into the dark void that was the pit. Oli wasn’t necessarily scared, but he was spooked at first as they entered an unknown place at speeds beyond his limit. And given how harsh Zelsh had been, Oli wasn’t sure what to expect upon landing, if they would ever land.

They fell for five seconds. Nothing changed.

Just as Oli felt nerves creeping up his throat, Zelsh turned his body in the air. Planting his feet, Zelsh finally landed on solid ground with a profound thud.

Letting go of Oli, Zelsh started walking slowly.

Oli got to his feet and quickly noticed something. “Where are the stairs?”

“You’ll find them after becoming an elder.”

“WHAT?!”

“They’re too far away to sense as an adept. So you’ll be staying here until you can crawl out of hell,” Zelsh added, stunning Oli further. “You won’t be seeing your grandpa any time soon, so I’ll make sure to apologize on your behalf.”

“I’ll be down here for how long?!”

“That’s up to you. With your track record, I hope you can exceed my expectations. But until then, you’ll live here.”

“What about food? Water?! I can’t–”

“You have those here.” Zelsh sauntered to a certain part of the circular wall. It was when Zelsh knocked on the wall that Oli realized something wooden was installed there. “This is directly sourced from the swamp. So you have an unlimited supply of water.”

“The swamp? Is that water edible?” asked Oli.

Nodding, Zelsh reached into the wall and tore out a perfect cup made of compressed stone. “You can make your own cup, goblet, bucket, anything. And then you open the latch to however wide you want your stream, and there you have it. Fresh swamp water.” To Oli’s shock, Zelsh then chugged the entire glass in one go. The king promptly refilled the glass and handed it to Oli. “See? Completely edible.”

Unable to decline, Oli accepted the stone cup. He put it to his lips and sipped. But Oli speedily gagged and spit out every drop. “How is that edible?!”

“Well, after you removed the mud and earthy deposits with your essence, it’s cleaner than most water in the city,” Zelsh replied with a sarcastic chuckle.

“Why?”

“Why? Why have earth essence if you can’t control it properly?” Zelsh argued. “Learn to control your essence for the minute details of life and you’ll be prepared for the minute intricacies of battle. Otherwise, admit your failure now and save time for both of us.”

“...”

“Good. Now let me show you the farm.”

“Farm? What farm?”

“The farm you’ll make,” Zelsh mentioned, pointing all over the ground. “I’ll let you choose your favorite spot.”

“... Let me guess, I have to till the earth?”

“Oh, it’s more than that. The top layer of soil has been overly compressed so it’s unusable. You’ll need to dig up fresh soil beneath the hardened topsoil.”

“How will–”

“Use your essence to sense the various minerals,” Zelsh answered without hesitation. “If you don’t find good enough soil, then your seeds won’t grow.”

Putting a tiny sack of seeds at Oli’s feet, Zelsh added, “Those won’t need any sunlight, but they need amazing soil and more water than usual to survive here. So be sure to cleanse plenty of swamp water before feeding your farm.”

Zelsh then took the cup from Oli’s hand and crushed it. “You’ll need to make all of your own utensils, tools, etc. If you need it, you’ll make it. Would you like to see your bedroom?”