On the cold floor, Oli began to twitch and move. He opened his eyes and yawned as sat himself up. Taking in his surroundings, he didn't have a clue where he was until he saw the dried blood on the floor.
Oli rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing things clearly until he was sure that the blood was in the same shape as the formation he used. Apart from Oli and the formation, there was nothing left inside the cave. The riches, the bed, the egg, and Trada were all gone. He didn't know what to think. Standing up to get a better view, he looked around the dark cave.
After taking a deep breath and accepting Trada's disappearance, Oli started to exit the cave and stopped after a single step. There was something metal under his foot. It was small and easily overlooked, Oli was lucky to have stepped on it.
He reached down and picked up the silver ring to inspect it carefully. It seemed like any other ring, so he didn't think it was very important but since it was the only thing left behind, he decided to keep it. It seemed too small for his large gorilla hands, so he just carried it with him.
Back with the troop, Ania was worried about her son. She had promised Oli that she wouldn't interfere with his training, but he had never taken so long to come home before. With Trada there she wasn't worried about his safety, but she knew her son well enough to know that he may overexert himself. While she was thinking of the many things that could be holding Oli up, he came running and yelled for her not to worry. When she noticed him coming, she ran out to him and gave him a big hug.
"What kept you so long? I was worried sick," Ania held him tight, whether he wanted to be or not. "Never come home late again, okay?"
"Okay, okay Mom. Everything's fine," Oli quickly returned the hug and convinced her to let him go. He held out his hand with the ring in his palm and asked, "Mom, do you know what this is? I finally formed my core but then passed out from exhaustion and when I woke up Trada and all of her things were gone."
"What!? That dragon left my son all alone!? How dare she?" yelled Ania.
"No, no. It's not like that Mom, I just don't know where she went. The only thing left in the cave was this ring. That's why I'm asking if you know what it is."
Ania was unhappy that Trada had vanished and left Oli alone but she calmed down to help Oli. She picked up the ring and stared at it for a second. Then she tested it with her aura and smiled, handing it back to Oli. "It seems to be a charm. A charm is an enchanted item, usually for boosting a cultivator's abilities. If I'm right, once you link it to your essence it will adjust to any size and only work for you. But other than that, I don't think it does anything else. Perhaps she left it behind because it was unimportant, and she forgot about it?"
Oli sent essence into the ring and, as his mom said, it changed size to fit perfectly on Oli's middle finger. He put it on and immediately sent his essence into it, surprising him with the feeling that his hand could pass through space and time to some unknown place.
Anxious to try it out, some kind of ripple in space opened up and some gold fell out of it. Oli immediately retracted his essence and stopped the ring, ending the stream of falling gold in front of his mother. Both looked at the gold and knew exactly what it was.
It was a void ring, the same as Trada's choker and Rathe's bracer except there was no void gem present. Unlike Oli, Ania had an idea of how much one of these rings were worth and was astounded by Trada's generosity. This was a special kind of void ring, crafted specifically to link to a single user and would be worthless to everyone else. It also carried the appearance and feel of a cheap charm to anyone besides the owner, allowing the owner to smuggle and hide anything within it. These undetectable rings were typical among only the wealthiest of bandits and the most powerful experts in the world, yet Trada had gifted one filled with gold and precious items.
"Oli, are you sure you don't know where Trada went? I want you to thank her for such a gift," said Ania. "With this, you'll be able to conceal everything and not worry about people stealing anything. You should store that item from your dad in there. Speaking of that item, where is it?"
"Uh… I may have already fused it with my mortal core…" replied Oli.
"You what!? Something like that should have been very painful when fusing with a divine core and you did it with your mortal core?" Ania almost cried at the thought of her son in so much pain.
Oli was thanking Trada in his heart for not letting Ania disturb them, he didn't want to know what his mom would've done if she had learned about them planning to mutate his bloodline. He knew that he would have to tell her soon, but he'd rather tell her at the same time he told Vloz and Rathe to make things easier for him.
After everything that had happened, he also decided to tell them that he was a reincarnate. One thing he wanted to keep to himself, however, was the contents of his new void ring and was already planning to examine its contents the next time he was all alone.
"Mom I'm fine, okay? Let's hurry and go to bed, I'm still tired," said Oli as he yawned, swept the loose gold into the ring, and walked towards the sleeping gorillas.
"But Oli…" Ania couldn't stop him and decided not to push it further since she couldn't change anything if she tried. Instead, she made sure to share a nest with him and not let him escape in the night.