Morning came fast for Oli and his mother. Ania was up first, making breakfast for the two of them.
Oli got up with excitement in his eyes and a fire in his belly. He was too anxious for school to begin; he had known about the curriculum and resources available to the school for some time now thanks to his occasional chats with Vloz. The day had finally come, and he didn"t want to wait any longer.
Instinctively, Oli sat and ate his breakfast of Pebble hen eggs and a light salad. It was enjoyable but he was too focused on the day"s future events to truly appreciate it. Ania followed his example and ate quickly so they could leave early for the Opening Ceremony.
The walk felt like it took forever for Oli, but Ania laughed at her son"s anxiousness. "What"s got you so worked up? You actually want to go to school?"
Oli chuckled, "I guess you could say that."
"You just can"t wait to see the library, right?" asked Ania, hitting the nail on the head. "You"ve already gotten so many great techniques and arts from us, don"t get your hopes up too much."
He nodded and said, "I"ll try not too, but I just want as many battle arts as I can get. That way I"ve always got something for any situation."
"You still don"t get it," Ania shook her head at his naivety. "Here"s a free lesson from the advanced adept instructor. You already know about humans here in this world, but do you know how they"ve been able to survive throughout history while most beasts hate them?"
Thinking it over, Oli answered, "Because they produced a few powerful cultivators to protect them, right?"
"You"re not wrong, but you"re not right either," continued Ania. "By comparison, humans are physically weaker than most beasts and have a much harder time cultivating because they have no bloodlines to help them. So, what do you think makes human cultivators such a threat to us beasts?"
"Isn"t it because they"ve created their own techniques that don"t need a bloodline and can be trained among any humans?"
"Nope," stated Ania.
Taken aback, Oli thought more seriously but drew a blank. He looked to his mother, waiting for her to elaborate.
Ania rolled her eyes at Oli before explaining, "Humans are far trickier to deal with. Their techniques don"t follow the same logic and principles as our bloodlines. We only need to acc.u.mulate more energy and let our bloodlines carry us through our breakthroughs, at least until we surpa.s.s our bloodline"s innate potential."
"If you gave the same technique to two separate human cultivators of the same skill level, they can have completely different fighting styles and tricks to finish off their opponents. It is harder for them to make breakthroughs, but by depending on comprehension they can completely alter their cultivation techniques and become a specialist in their own unique battle styles. This makes them very hard to predict, yet extremely adaptable because they completely master their own style. Now I ask you, why did I tell you this?""Umm," Oli took his time to answer. "You want me to focus on one style and not spread myself too thin?"
Ania patted her son on the head. "If you spread yourself too thin, you"ll never be like your dad. He specialized in soul arts; how else did you think he became the mortal champion?"
"Then why should I even try and use the library?" asked Oli.
"The Iron Library will be one of our territory"s greatest treasures and you should use it to your advantage, but not to find endless battle arts. You should look for only a couple of arts that will compliment your techniques or the secret soul training you do every night," stated Ania.
Oli scratched his head from being caught. "Sorry Mom, but you know that I want to get strong like Dad. If his soul arts were his greatest strength, then I need to master them too, even if you don"t like me training them."
"I didn"t like it when your father was training in soul arts either, I was against it from the start," said Ania, the light her eyes dulled as she spoke. "That kind of power comes at a huge cost. Remember that he didn"t lose to Brak, he lost his life to the aftereffects of his own technique."
Both of them were silent for a moment as if showing respect to the fallen Dioro. Soon they saw a few buildings of Iron Town in the distance and heard a voice from the east. Yeter was bolting towards his friend and tackled Oli to the ground without warning.
"Oli! It"s finally here let"s hurry up!" yelled Yeter, despite being less than a krin away from the fallen Oli.
"Calm down Yeter," said Oli as he got up and brushed himself off. "What was that for? If you want me to hurry, then don"t push me over!" Oli returned the favor and knocked Yeter into the dirt before das.h.i.+ng towards the school.
"No fair!" shouted Yeter as he rushed to catch up.
Ania laughed loudly at the bickering boys and enjoyed the small show. She took her time, knowing that she would already make it there plenty early.
The two friends ran past plenty of others on their way to Iron Academy and neared its gates.
Oli managed to barely beat Yeter there but was shocked to see Netra waiting outside the entrance leaning against the surrounding cement walls. She wasn"t doing anything in particular, just standing there and staring at Oli blankly. Oli tried to greet her but was floor by a speeding stallion.
"You win today Oli, but I"ll beat you tomorrow," said Yeter as he was catching his breath.
Netra giggled, "I think I won."
Her comment caught both Oli and Yeter off guard. She had spoken with Oli a few times before, but she never talked to Yeter. Yeter whined, "That"s not fair, we didn"t know you would already be here."
"Fine, you"ve won today Netra. But I"ll win tomorrow," said Oli, ignoring Yeter"s comment.
Netra lightly nodded her head and said, "Let"s go inside." Without the boys" consideration, she turned and entered the school grounds.
They followed behind as all three of them looked in awe of the new academy grounds. A lot of work had gone into building the school.
It was built using cement for the foundation and most of the walls. On top of that, there was about krin of the same walls from the gorillas" huts and the same roof style as the council building, that way light could still enter the cla.s.srooms. The six krin high ceilings were Vloz"s idea, he knew that some demonstrations would be done in the cla.s.srooms and it was best to avoid any possible issues beforehand.
There were two large, rectangular buildings and they each had two signs and entrances on opposite ends.
One building was for the novice and advanced novice cla.s.ses, the other for the adept and advanced adept cla.s.ses. Just past those was a tower with four stories. It was mainly cement but had spots on all four floors for tree-made windows, similar to how the rectangular buildings used them for light. Unlike the cla.s.s buildings, the roof was also cement and it almost looked like the center of a fortress inside the thick cement walls surrounding the school.
"Is that the library?" Netra asked Oli who was walking in between her and Yeter.
"Yeah, that"s the place," said Oli. "We"ll be going there later today after the opening ceremony. Do you have any idea of what kind of cultivation technique you want Netra?"
"No clue," answered Netra, not hiding her depressed expression.
"What"s up? Is something wrong?" asked Oli.
"Umm…" she didn"t know what to say. "I… My mom…"
"Oh, your mom will choose for you? That"s a good idea!" Yeter spoke up. "That"s what I"m doing with Grandpappy, he said I lack the delicacy for such an important decision."
Both Oli and Netra laughed at Yeter"s announcement. Netra finally mustered p the courage to speak her mind. "My mom wants to pick, but I don"t want her to. Which one do you use, Oli?"
The young ape understood her piercing question and tried to dance around it. "Me? I use my dad"s Ravaging Earth technique, that way I can get as strong as him."
Netra shook her head. "Not that one, your other one."