Divine Beast Ascension

Chapter 3

A New World

Oliver blinked again and again as he adjusted his eyes. Slowly, figures started to take shape in his vision. The first thing he noticed was the source of the blinding light, the sun. But to Oliver’s surprise, there wasn’t one sun but three! His blinking continued as if he was unsure of himself, even when it was as clear as the light of day.

Next Oliver took note of the violet sky enveloping the world. It was so warm yet unexpected that he lost himself for a moment at the sight.

Then, suddenly Oliver began to hear many hushed roars and growls. He investigated his surroundings to find dozens of massive gorillas all around him. It startled him, especially when he saw that some of their backs covered in metallic plates.

Instinctively Oliver tried to yell and gasp, but only muffled groans and whines could be heard.

Oliver reached for his mouth to verify that those sounds were his as he realized that something was off. His hands were leathery and somewhat coarse. He tried to rub his hands together but struggled with his tiny arms. When he finally grasped his own hands, he felt the fur on the back of them. Immediately he looked down at himself and froze.

I’m… I’m one of them! Oliver was overwhelmed. He lost all clues on what to do and where he was at. This place was a new world for him, a fresh start and his body was completely foreign to him. Oliver hadn’t any idea what he had gotten himself into.

The tallest of the apes, who had a silver bracer on his left arm, approached Oliver with a perplexed look on his face. It peered into Oliver’s eyes and noticed the fright and confusion within them.

The gorilla felt it odd that his newborn son acted so different from the common baby apes as if the child was afraid of his own body. Looking for answers, that gorilla looked to his wife, the gorilla holding the baby aloft for all to see.

.....

“Ania, is it just me or is he acting strange?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing, Dioro,” she returned his perplexed gaze with one of her own, “but you seem to be even more shocked than me, why is that?”

“You know me too well,” Dioro scratched his head. “His soul is stronger than it should be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let me explain,” Dioro shared his thoughts. “To increase the strength of one’s soul, there are only a couple of ways. Training as I have done is the ideal way, but a soul can also be strengthened naturally through gaining different experiences and going through hardships, particularly those mentally and emotionally scarring.”

“But Dioro, how is that possible for our newborn son?” questioned Ania. “Isn’t that impossible?”

“Not entirely,” Dioro got straight to the point, “there is the chance that this child is a reincarnation.”

Ania, as well as the other apes around them, stiffened at the thought. They all looked again at the baby that was still frozen and speechless, as if in shock.

“My guess is that he is a reincarnation, but I imagine that for some reason the outcome of him being our son is not like anything he expected. That why I think he is stupefied by the sight of his own body,” Dioro stood by his claim

“But Chief Dioro,” one of the gorillas cut in, “can’t this also just be a coincidence? Aren’t reincarnations just a legend?”

“No,” answered Dioro, “though they are extremely rare to find, there are experts who undergo reincarnation through forbidden cultivation techniques. They do it in order to start fresh with all the knowledge they previously possessed in hopes of surpassing their former limits. There was even an ancient bloodline that was known for its reincarnation abilities.”

“Dioro, are you talking about the legendary phoenix clans?” Ania guessed.

“Yes, the mythical phoenixes were once a true clan in ancient times, but that’s beside the point. I’m certain that our son is a reincarnation, but not the usual one. His soul’s strength came from experiencing traumas and trials, it is too weak to be a soul expert.”

“Does that mean that he won’t see me as a mother?” Ania was remembering the rumors that surround reincarnation.

“I don’t know,” Dioro also admitted his cluelessness. “But we must love him and care for him all the same and that goes for the entire clan. The circumstance of his reincarnation must have been unorthodox, we won’t mention this conversation to him or ask him to clarify our doubts. If at some point he reveals himself, so be it, but till then we care for him like we always intended.”

“Dioro, are you sure?” another massive gorilla stepped forward. He wasn’t quite as tall as Dioro, but he was broader and also had a silver bracer.

“Yes Rathe, I’m certain of this. You know you can trust me,” Dioro placed his hand on Rathe’s shoulder. “Besides, if what I said is correct, you’ll get to be even tougher on him than usual right?”

“Ha, ha!” Rathe’s booming voice startled the gorilla clan. “Right you are Dioro! If anyone knows anything about souls, I guess it would be a soul arts expert like yourself. And don’t worry, I’ll keep that rascal in line.”

Oliver didn’t have the mental capacity to notice the debate going on till Rathe’s loud laughter caught him off guard. Seeing them communicating with one another, he realized that he didn’t understand a lick of what they were saying.

“Yo, the brat noticed me!” Rathe lowered his head and shared a big, toothy grin with the baby ape.

Oliver was astounded by the size of Rathe’s head and body. His head was bigger than Oliver’s entire body and his shoulders were simply huge.

Amazed by the candidness of the ape, Oliver thought that this might be his new father. Before Oliver was again thrown into shock at the thought of having a gorilla for a dad, his instincts rejected the thought of Rathe being his father. Curious as to why, Oliver looked around again, this time being more open-minded.

When he met eyes with Dioro, a strange phenomenon occurred in Oliver’s heart. He felt a natural sense of security and an unwarranted amount of adoration for him. Oliver struggled to grasp what he was feeling, but he had the feeling that he had found his father.

Then Oliver realized that he must have a mother too! Upon thinking that, he finally noticed that he was in someone’s arms. He was so comfortable in her arms as if they were a part of him.

Dioro smiled, “It seems he’s finally noticed us too.”

Ania lowered Oliver and brought him into her bosom, giving Oliver a good view of his new mother. He was surprised to see that even with the more robust features of an ape, her eyes showed a kindness beyond anything his human mother ever showed him.

“It’s okay little one, Mom is here for you,” she embraced him gingerly.

“So, what’s the brat’s name?” Rathe interjected like always. “It’s got to be powerful, like mine! How about Bradok?”

Ania quickly hushed her loud-mouth brother, “Stop that! You’ll scare him being that loud.”

“Nonsense! You heard Dioro, I can be as tough on the brat as I want!” Rathe puffed out his chest, only to get his head smacked.

“That’s enough,” Ania scolded him. “Besides, I like the name Petru.”

“No,” Dioro whispered as he reached out and touched his finger to his son’s chest, surprising everyone, including Oliver.

“What do you think then?” Rathe didn’t like roundabout conversations. He liked to get straight to the matter of things.

“Oli,” Dioro looked back at Rathe and Ania. “Oli will be his name.”

“Huh?” both Ania and Rathe responded.

“But Dioro, I’ve never heard of a name like that before,” Rathe persuaded. “Surely you don’t want the brat to be bullied thanks to such a weird name?”

“I’ve already said he will be named Oli. Unless you want to try to convince me otherwise, Rathe,” Dioro confronted Rathe seriously as he released some of his intimidating aura.

Rathe immediately sidestepped the matter, “On second thought, Oli seems like a warrior’s name to me. I think the brat will do just fine.”

Chuckling at the sight of her cowering brother, Ania accepted Dioro’s suggestion, “Did you hear that little Oli? Even if mean old Uncle Rathe bullies you, your dad will just return him the favor.”

Rathe squinted at Ania and replied with a low grunt in dissatisfaction. Everyone else in the clan laughed at the spectacle he made of himself.

The baby ape now known as Oli hadn’t any idea about what they were saying. All he knew was that everything he was now experiencing was completely new to him. This included the deep emotions within a family that he formerly thought only humans would enjoy.

“Well, whatever happens, I might as well just roll with it. What could go wrong? Strangely enough, I feel more comfortable around these gorillas than I ever did with my own family, except Melody of course.” He thought to himself as the members of the gorilla clan proudly took turns approaching the newborn.

Unbeknownst to him, they were excited for their clan chief to finally have an heir. And for the heir to possibly be a reincarnated expert like in the legends, that made them even more anxious for him to grow up and be like their outstanding leader.