A purple projectile hurtled straight towards Harambe's position. It exploded midway though, the force of the blast enough to eviscerate the surrounding area, cripple the treetops, and send both Harambe and Cleo hurtling to the edge of the ravine.
Such immense auric power concentrated on a small ball was something Draken had never seen before. It was the stuff of myths, and legends.
If he includes the tall tales, though, it could exist.
Since the dawn of man, back when the animals, and humans coexisted together underneath the blessed lands of the World Tree, there existed a race favored by the World Tree itself.
They were the stewards, the shepherds, the curators, the keepers of the World Tree.
Elves.
If he believed the stories he heard from the many bards, and storytellers, of the countless shady taverns he'd been in… these long, pointy eared, cream white skinned, otherworldly beautiful beings lived in cities of silver, and pristine wood. Their unique, innate compositions enable them to become expert mana manipulators, and mana powerhouses. The songs of the bards say that they were so elusive that each recorded sighting causes a phenomenon.
All of the records regarding them had not been proven to either be true, or just a figment of their imagination, though.
Draken— or Harambe— always had an open mind. It had served him well on so many instances be it on his first life, and currently on this one. If he had believed elves were just a puny delusion before, that doesn't mean he will reject their existence once he comes into contact with one.
Though, he may not have the chance to decide.
Shrapnel exploded in all directions, but most of it towards the shaken Harambe and the unconscious Cleo. Harambe also noticed the many pairs of eyes on the trees surrounding them.
How could such a thing happen to them twice?!
Harambe didn't panic. If their new attackers only wanted the Paragon flower, then they might just leave them alone.
"Is the flower everything that you want?" Harambe stood in front of Cleo, whose body was a few steps away from the ravine and the surging river. "Friends, I am Harambe II, Crown Prince of Ubwiza, son of Harambe the Great."
"Son of Harambe?" The little hint of hesitation on the tall, cloaked lady was already a small victory for Harambe. He may be borrowing the esteem of his father, but even if these were elves… it could be possible for them to know him. "How preposterous of you."
The tall lady conjured another ball of violet energy in front of her, underlying her newfound rage at the man in front of her.
'Fuck, not good!' Harambe was now seriously weighing if jumping into the river would be a better fate than dealing with another one of those impressive energy blasts.
"I really am Harambe's heir! I can prove that to you!" This was his last gamble. Something that would either send the both of them to the hell of the raging waters below, or to immediate safety. If only this weren't such a one-sided fight.
Eight orbs of mana then floated in an octagonal manner in front of the cloaked lady, and even without movement from her, these orbs were sent out to annihilate the two at the edge.
'Shit!'
Harambe breathed deeply, and prepared to jump back first into the water, when the melodious voice once again spoke.
"I don't care about any other proof." The orbs were like bullets, however it stopped once it was at point blank range of its intended targets. "Unless… you can turn into a gorilla."
Gorilla?
Harambe was sweaty now, he hadn't felt this way since he fought King Harambe… which was just a few days ago… and yet, he's now facing a threat he never once thought existed.
Rather than wallow in the misery compounded upon him by this mysterious mana user, he agreed, with a certain caveat.
"If I can make you believe I'm the real deal, you'll answer my one question."
"Bargaining with me? How preposterous." She raised her silky, pale hands, making Harambe wonder if those hands are real and not his imagination. As if ordered by the lady, the violet masses of mana stared at Harambe menacingly.
"Fine. To hell with it." In the blink of an eye, Harambe became focused. Transformation into a natural form should not even be of any difficulty to an adult shifter, much less the amount of focus he's giving it right now. These subtle cues were not missed by the tall lady.
First, the arms became elongated and stronger like that of the black haired beast. Harambe didn't appear to be surprised by the fact on the outside, but his feelings were in turmoil.
He never will earn the right to be a shifter, since he'd massacred a countless number of shifters, innocent or not, in the name of humankind… and yet, everything has gone full circle. He became a shifter himself.
His face contorted, his nose flattened, the smooth contours of his skin became rough, and his already muscular body became even more muscular. He felt every fiber of his being change into something both strangely alien yet eerily familiar.
He'd become a gorilla.
"Harambe?" The tall lady's voice was filled with a mix of sadness and confusion.
Harambe thought that the tall lady was incapable of processing human emotions up until that point.
"Oh, so you know me now?" Harambe's voice was hoarse, like a low growl.
"No." The eight spheres hovering behind her continued radiating. Her first thought was that the resemblance between the father and son was too uncanny. "But I can mostly confirm you are indeed Harambe's son."
Harambe's eyes twitched at the word 'mostly.'
The tall lady seemed to be inspecting him from her vantage point, not even hiding the fact that he's looking at Harambe's body with zeal.
"Even 'that,' you'd gotten from your father." The orbs winked out of existence at the same time… as Harambe heard it like the popping of seven balloons.
"Seven?" Harambe had a lot of things going on in his mind, but he caught the sense that he was being duped. "Where'd the other one of your mana orbs go?"
The tall lady was not surprised. "The fact that you knew one's missing, makes me 90% sure you're his heir. But we're done here, you can get on with your dumb lives."
A strong gust of wind blew out from the direction of Harambe, blowing the hood out of the lady's cloak. It was just for a short moment, but Harambe confirmed that elves do exist in this world.
"I take back what I said, since you had the audacity to do that." The elf turned around again, this time her voice was malicious. The others hiding in the shadows, Harambe presumed they were elves too, started baring their fangs at him. "I can let the viper live, but not you— even if old Harambe were here, he'd know there's no salvation for you."
Harambe cracked his fists. If fighting to the death was what he needed to do, he'd do it to get out in one piece. He took note of the fact this tall elf knew about the gorilla he so hated.
"You should know that you never stood a chance against me." Although Harambe can't see it, he knew the elf was grinning behind that veil. "Me giving you a chance to transform, to me letting you get away scot free, was because of your asshole of a father. Not because you are his heir or whatever."
The tall elf snapped her fingers, and Harambe felt something bite the back of his head. Curiously, he did not feel any pain from the bite.
"Whatever. I don't want your blood on my hands." Harambe fell face first to the ground, unconscious and astonished at what happened. "Poor lad, can't even feel such a beautiful sensation."
The elves hiding behind the trees entered and threw the two unconscious bodies into the snaking river one after the other.
"At least he's smart enough to know that one of the eight's vanished. Still didn't get that it was behind him all this time though."
There was no huge splash, contrary to what the other elves expected. Instead the two shifters they threw vanished into thin air.