Divine Beast Ascension

562 I’m Not Asking For “Oli” or “Oliver”

“You’ll be participating in the invasion of the Prodson Territory.”

Staring back at Eeole in confusion, Oli questioned, “I thought you said I shouldn’t worry about it or even waste my time thinking about it.

“And that still holds true,” replied Eeole, never letting his casual, confident expression waver. “Both ‘Oli’ and ‘Oliver’ have nothing to do with the invasion. But I’m not asking ‘Oli’ or ‘Oliver’ to do this.”

Vloz explained, “You’ll be sent to Forell City along with the Practor Family and a few others. There, you will be under Hurman’s command and invade Prodson Territory from its northeastern border. You’ll be making a move on their capital, Prodson City, while the bulk of Iron Territory’s forces will sweep through their southern border to claim their two other cities and many settlements.”

Oli was taken aback. “Well… if you’re not asking for ‘Oli’ or ‘Oliver’, then who are you asking?”

“You’re draconic form.”

Eeole’s answer shocked Oli, but he immediately recovered as the feeling of being an idiot settled in. “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. But why–”

“Because we need you to master death essence as quickly as possible. And such an opportunity to use only your half-death essence should speed that up,” reasoned Eeole. “This shouldn’t be a long campaign. A few suns to a little over a moon at most. If things go smoothly, there’s even a chance that all of Prodson falls in a week.”

“But that’s only if I left for the capital and assassinated their leader myself,” Vloz remarked. “However, I’ll be making my presence well known in the other cities. Since the Prodson family is so prideful, we’re going to force their hand. Will they focus on their own survival or will they put up a fight in the south? If they dare fight, then we’ll slaughter them. If they hide in Prodson City, then they’ll let us steal the southern half of their territory without a fight, ruining their standing and influence for decades.”

.....

Eeole nodded and added, “Also, we’ll have a special task force joining Herman and those marching on Prodson City. That task force will be able to attack, assassinate, hide, and defend when needed. Typical siege tactics won’t be employed during the attack on Prodson City, apart from putting on a show to distract the defenders from our true strategy.”

Oli recognized the look that he was getting from Eeole and sighed, “... And I’m to be part of this task force?”

“Wrong. Your draconic form will be part of it. As tempting as it is to let you use your Roxite Gorilla form, your draconic form would draw more attention to commoners while your Roxite Gorilla form would draw the attention of the regions, prefectures, and possibly the quadrant,” Eeole stated. “Besides, since you’re not too large, you could qualify as a drake in your draconic form.”

“A drake?” Curious, Oli shifted into his draconic form then and there. It took him a minute to perform the full transformation but it was far less painful than the first times he had done it. “What’s a drake?”

“Well, you could be called a drake or a gargoyle as you are right now, but some would question you if you called yourself a gargoyle considering your scales,” Eeole answered. “Drake’s are more humanoid than typical dragons and don’t grow to be as big. So I would call you a Shadow Drake, a drake with a bloodline descending from Toxic-shadow dragons. Of course, since your Toxic-shadow bloodline is true and purified after the evolution, you’re basically a smaller, humanoid Toxic-shadow Dragon.”

Oli was covered from head to toe in black scales. His body was lean but powerful. This form was designed for speed.

There was some decent natural protection thanks to the scales but it wasn’t anything compared to the scales of Razor-hide Dragons. Oli’s wingspan was wide but the scales and skin making his wings were the thinnest of all. His back arched up, making him naturally hunched over unless he actively straightened his back to stand as tall as possible.

If Oli got down on all fours, then he would be nearly six krin long from tip to tail. Standing on his hind legs, Oli was over three krin tall, more than three and a half krin if his back was straight.

Eyes filled with dark purple irises, Oli’s gaze was sharp and cold along with his pointed draconic facial features. Atop his head were three, short purple horns, matching the purple claws on Oli’s hands and feet, as well as the dark purple scales on his underbelly.

Vloz walked around Oli to get a better look at him. “Yes. I agree with Eeole. This should be called your Shadow Drake form.”

“So I’m just supposed to use my dark essence until it becomes death essence? What if there’s an emergency?” Oli asked.

“Then use soul arts,” Eeole answered. “In your drake form, you have no visible ties to anywhere or anyone. Having soul arts won’t be an issue, so long as you don’t use your earth essence. Besides, you already know that your earth essence is drastically weakened in that form, the same way your dark essence is drastically boosted.”

Already knowing the answer, Oli asked anyway, “And I’m not allowed to use my Draco Roxite form to boost both essences because I would draw too much attention?”

“Of course. You didn’t even need to ask to know my answer,” jested Eeole. “In the history of this world, a draconic gorilla has never existed until now. Though I find your joke funny, revealing your true form at this point in time is equivalent to suicide and will uproot everything I’ve done to prepare you and plant the seeds of your future success. I would sooner let you reveal your gravity essence in human form than let you show off your Draco Roxite bloodline.”

Stunned into absolute silence, Oli had nothing to say.

Vloz was also shocked. He asked, “... You would let him show off his gravity essence before his bloodline?”

“While he’s in human form, yes,” Eeole gave a resolute answer. “In human form, at least he wouldn’t become an enemy of the world. He would get pressured by Kartzal and the other gods, but he wouldn’t become their immediate enemy and get marked at the top of their hit list.”

That explanation left Oli dazed. He knew that his dragon-gorilla bloodline was powerful and meaningful, enough to hide it from the world. But Oli only then realized that he had truly misunderstood what was and wasn’t a threat to the world’s current balance.

Recognizing Oli’s expression and reading his thoughts, Eeole sighed, “A human with gravity essence has the potential to be controlled and manipulated by Kartzal or any of the other peak-gods currently in the world.

“But nine times out of ten, if a god were to discover your true bloodline, Oli, then they would kill you without so much as a word. They wouldn’t waste the time it took to breathe, just to kill you faster. One day, after the Mortal Championship, the Global Exhibition, and your trip to Devil’s Canyon, you’ll understand the weight and pressure of having your world-breaking bloodline.”

Inhaling sharply, Oli started saving a lot of questions about his full bloodline in the back of his head. From Eeole’s tone, he could tell that it wasn’t the time nor the place to ask any of those questions. So he would save them for later.

Continuing, Eeole stated, “Oli, you’ll spend the rest of tonight up here, in this protected space. Come morning, the eyes of the quadrant won’t be here and Vloz will take you to the Practor Estate. You’ll ‘meet’ Hurman and only he will know of your true identity among those invading Prodson City. Is that understood?”

“Understood…” Oli replied, exhaling.

“Good. Do you have any more questions for me before I leave?”

Blinking, Oli asked, “You’re leaving? As in, I won’t be seeing or hearing from you for a while?”

“That’s right. I’ve got too many immediate responsibilities to handle, so I can only delay them so much. But I’ll see you again before you leave for Nightscape City and the prefecture qualifier,” Eeole said.

“Oh. Then… I can’t think of anything for now. But I’ll have a list of questions for the next time I see you.”

Eeole gave Oli a warm, ginger smile. “I look forward to it. For now, focus on staying alive and advancing your cultivation. Vloz, I leave him in your care. Make sure to whip him into shape.”

As Eeole’s visage fade out of existence, Oli blinked and asked, “Wait, what did he mean by that, Vloz?”

“It means, I doubt you’ll get any sleep tonight,” the leopard chuckled. “This upper floor of the library is lined with private cultivation chambers. It’s also built to be extra sturdy and absorb the energies of mortal cultivators without taking damage. In other words, I can train and bully you, a mortal, until I find your skills with dark essence and assassination up to par.”