Chapter 299 - What About... Trada?

"Is the difference between peak and perfect-affinity a big deal?" asked Oli.

Zelsh blinked and squinted. "I thought you knew the basics?"

"I do." 

"Then you know that perfect affinity is better, right?"

"Yeah, but how much better?" Oli asked again.

Shaking his head, Zelsh replied, "It's the reason I lost to Brak during our tournament days."

"You lost to--" 

"When we competed for the mortal championship, he narrowly overwhelmed me even though he didn't work as hard as I did," explained Zelsh. "That's what drove me to create a dual-essence technique and combine my natures. Now, he's still a low-king while I'm a mid-king, so a fight now would be meaningless."

"... So perfect affinity is that big of a deal?" Oli asked but not with Drogat in mind. He was busy thinking back to the one other person he'd met with perfect affinity.

Answering, Zelsh nodded with a sarcastic chuckle, "Is there a difference between a perennial and a king?"

"It's… that big of a difference?"

"It is. That's one reason why your father was able to do what he did."

"Wait, my father had perfect affinity but I don't?!" Oli shouted, feeling shortchanged by life.

Zelsh mentioned, "Even among king-grade bloodlines, having perfect affinity is rare. But if you have perfect affinity with a king-grade bloodline, that cultivator will have it easier than everyone else. And that's not accounting for the other benefits of a king-grade bloodline, like the natural attributes of the beast. The Razor-hide Dragons have incredible defenses without essence applied. Adding essence armor only makes things far worse for anyone trying to do them in.

"And Brak and Drogat were lucky enough to win the genetic lottery. That's why Drogat is a true contender to go all the way."

"Really?" 

"When Brak did it before, why wouldn't they expect the same thing from Drogat?" reasoned Zelsh, startling Oli. "So you'll have stiff competition. And I'll consider this a rematch, my protege against his. And this time, we're not losing."

"Then… Doesn't that mean you were the runner-up?"

"I was. That's what got me noticed by Lord Treeda, as well as my death essence."

"Right…" Shifting his thoughts around, Oli searched for what to ask next. "Death essence is rare, but how rare is it compared to my gravity essence?"

"It would be incomparably common against your gravity," Zelsh gave a straightforward answer. "Death essence is falsely viewed."

"How so?" 

Happy to discuss something more personal to him, Zelsh surrounded one hand with chalky, misty death essence. "Even though I was born with this, that's not the only way to get it. With certain techniques, any cultivator with dark essence can gain death essence."

"Then--"

"But death essence isn't necessarily stronger than dark essence," mentioned Zelsh, not letting Oli interrupt the lesson. "It's easier to consider death and dark essences as two branches of the same tree. If I wanted, I could help someone with death essence turn it into dark essence over time."

"Why would anyone want that?" Oli questioned. "Because… it blends better with other essences?"

"That's it!" Zelsh laughed, patting Oli's shoulder with his essence-free hand. "Death essence is essentially dark essence with a certain type of nature, only it has enough niche natures within itself that it came to be known as its own essence type."

"Then why do people see it as stronger than dark essence?"

"Because it's easier to wield and simpler. Death essence is dark essence that heavily focuses on corrosion or poisonous traits, only to an extreme. That's why Lord Treeda has death essence while Master Uutrai has dark essence, yet their both peak-kings on equal footing."

"..." Oli bit his lip for a moment as his mind wandered around thoughts of Trada and her clan. "By any chance, do you--"

"Yes, I know about Trada. Did you want to know about her?"

Shrugging instinctively, Oli relaxed slightly as he started to get used to the tempo of the conversation. "Please do."

"Trada was the heir, the First Maiden of the Toxic-shadow clan. However, she wanted to live for herself beyond the reach of her parents. One argument led to another, and Lord Treeda eventually forced her daughter to certain terms…" Zelsh paused for a moment to think and blink. He changed his gradually calming gaze, growing serious yet again. "Trada was only allowed to leave if she could guarantee another heir…"

"Trada was forced to have a child?"

"Exactly…" Zelsh sighed and nodded. "Originally, they wanted me to be the father but another candidate arrived with slightly better credentials. I think you know him."

"I do…" Oli swallowed some momentary rage as he let Zelsh continue. 

Zelsh shook his head. "Sadly, while Master Uutrai was heavily against it, Trada agreed to the terms in order to get away from her controlling mother. Lord Treeda spoke with a neighboring prefecture and got Trada a territory on the border and it worked like a peace treaty between prefectures.

"Until a certain dragon showed his true colors, at least. After the marriage was official and Trada left, Brak accepted a region in Tempest, his home prefecture. And he proved to be anything but a husband. Just a greedy leech that tried to milk materials from Lord Treeda, failing miserably. But Trada had gotten pregnant and the deal had been made…"

Oli began putting one and two together. "And since Brak wasn't allowed to keep the child for himself, he planned to use it another way?"

"Yup… Resulting in Trada's murder and warrant for Brak's death, as well as an ungodly large bounty. But Lord Zrand protects him because Brak is a powerful pawn that's developed another potential champion…" Shaking his head again, Zelsh chuckled but didn't smile. "And that's why you're not allowed to leave here before ascending."

"That's why?"

"Lord Zrand knows about Dioro's technique and Brak nearly died against it before retreating, right? And I don't need to tell you how Lord Treeda and Master Uutrai will recognize your technique. If that happens, how will you explain your ring?"

Blinking, Oli looked down at his hand. "My ring?"

"That's not just any void ring."