34 Rathes Tes (1/2)
Two suns came and went as the Iron-body Gorilla clan had finished their homes and families began to emerge. Some couples had already started to grow their own families, raising the morale of the entire clan.
Oli, like most of the gorillas now, focused solely on his cultivation. He had broken through to low-novice after gathering enough essence energy, mostly thanks to Trada's gift of many cores, and was already aiming to be a mid-novice before long.
When Oli had shown them the map, he also made sure to show them the earth bracers and some gold coins to wipe away any suspicions they may have had about Oli's void ring.
One thing he did regret doing was showing them one of the black coins. Oli just wanted to learn what they were, but he highly underestimated their value. He was ordered to put it away and never show anyone again, saying that it was an oxite coin and it was worth one thousand gold pieces alone. It took him a while to calm them down but eventually, they returned to their discussion about the map and planned to go and explore the border.
The final sun was setting as Oli cultivated his Ravaging Earth technique on the beach to the northwest of the gorilla settlement.
He found it best to train in a cycle, switching between dark and earth essence every other day. On every fifth day, Oli would focus on his soul technique, hoping that his soul would soon be strong enough to interact with the soul jade.
Rathe was standing about ten krin away, watching Oli closely. With a big laugh, he picked up a pebble and gave it a good toss towards Oli.
Thanks to his focus on earth essence, Oli was able to sense the high-speed pebble but sadly, his body wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. In hopes to catch it, Oli lifted his hands and somewhat absorbed the blow before being pushed into the water on impact.
”Ha, Ha! Look at you, all wet!” Rathe pointed like he was talking to an infant.
”Uncle Rathe!” Oli jumped to his feet and ran towards Rathe, closing the gap in a few seconds. His right fist swung out to Rathe's broad chest, certain of a direct hit.
Rathe waited patiently without even putting up his guard. The punch flew past him as he made a simple sidestep in a very casual manner. Feigning a yawn, Rathe extended his arms to the sky. ”Come on, Oli. You've gotta do better than that. If this is all you've got, then it won't even qualify as a morning stretch.”
Sensing the lack of effort Rathe needed to dodge his attack, Oli sighed, ”You're something else, Uncle Rathe. I don't have a chance of beating you, but I'll land at least one blow.”
”Oh?” he finally seemed to wake up. ”I'd like to see you try it,” Rathe stood square. He left himself completely open in wait for Oli's ambush.
”Here I come!” Oli shouted as fists flew from all angles. Uppercuts, jabs, hooks, Oli threw them all in an attempt to at least box-in Rathe's range of motion.