This is your opportunity, Do you accept?

The big vasil locked up the smaller lavels once more, and for a while there was peace. Given the lavels had been tied by a rope, which had been burned in the ensuing fire, they didn't solve the mystery of how the lavels had managed to escape.

There had only been three guards on duty, and two had died in the fire. The last one was the one that had been scolded, and he was outside guarding the perimeter when the fire broke out.

He couldn't be blamed, his work was to guard against external attacks, there were 2 on the inside expected to watch a group of lavels. Where did the fire come from? The lavels weren't talking, and the instigator had passed out, occasionally convulsing. They concluded that he had inhaled too much smoke and would die in the night. Since he was a rotten apple, they might as well get rid of him now.

In the dead of the night, weak coughing convulsing lavel youngling was tossed out of a vasil camp, left for dead.

Plop!

A bright shining sun penetrated the canopy of trees straight to the lavel. However, what woke him up was a well-aimed poop right into his ears. With a start, the little lavel stumbled up and started looking around, until another well-aimed poop hit his brows.

Seeing the savage poop attack, he looked up to see a glossy black raven. Seeing it had been discovered, the raven scrambled away. Shocked by this little incident, the lavel realized how hungry he was, and just as he was about to start hunting ...

Plop!

Another perfectly aimed poop attack. The raven's dropping were all hitting the top of his head, and his undeveloped mane was already beginning to get drenched. Angered to no end by the persistence of the annoying bird, he decided to make it a snack. Leaping into the trees, he made a mad lunge intended to grab the raven with one swoop.

Despite being good climbers, the lavels couldn't be said to be arboreal, but rather, they climbed when it suited them. What they excelled at was leaping. Being bipeds, and having extra powerful hind legs, they could easily jump their height without any magic. Though the vasils have an obvious advantage against the lavels due to being able to fly, the lavels can never be discounted as their leaps can almost be like flying.

The raven, however, seemed to be anticipating this, and it instantly ducked and took to the skies, completely out of reach of the lavel. While deciding on whether to give up...

Plop!

This went on for a while, and the little lavel did not notice that while he was busy chasing a bird, he had lost a sense of where he was. Like cattle being led to slaughter, he didn't know what fate awaited him.

***

The privilege of being a seemingly all-powerful being especially to mortals was that one could invent traditions and cultures from thin air and make them have a feel of ancientness. That was what Kendar was doing. He wanted to give a conclusive answer to Bamboo's unasked question.

To truly captivate someone, there was a need to have a beautiful back story that made one think that they were not just fighting for themselves, but for something much much bigger. As such, Kendar wanted to invent a backstory that would make them want to associate with such an organization. They would then swell with pride when they were accepted into the ranks and had something to fight for.

"Long ago while our world was still young, Our world was invaded by the mighty demon race. They tried to capture our ancestors and make them slaves. Though our ancestors tried to resist, they were powerless against the might of the invaders, and it was clear that our world was dying."

The trio was intrigued, Kendar saw that his planning was working.

"However, at their wit's end, when all hope was lost, a great a magnificent beast roared. The great Dragon came out of its abode and rose to fight alongside our ancestors. By his power and might alone, he was able to turn the tables around in the battle and finish the war. A lot has been told about the great war, and if you are fortunate to join, you might get to read about the full story.

While on his deathbed, the then King of the alliance of all species that had come together to fight for their world requested the dragon, that he would take on young talented individuals and train them in the ways of warfare. Though the dragon was prideful and reclusive, the honor and courage the king had shown had moved, and since he didn't want his world to be defenseless again, he agreed.

Still, as an expert and a divine being, he had his conditions, such that only those who stand a chance to join would learn of such a group, and an oath was imposed to keep it so. The great dragon reserves the right for selection, and after many thousands of years, I am glad to say that there are finally three that have captured the dragon's attention again.

This is your opportunity, Do you accept?"

Bamboo was intrigued. He wanted to doubt the story, but everything he had seen so far pointed to that as the truth. He did not doubt that maybe some of the stories had been altered, but he felt as though all the parts were true enough. For him, it was like getting a sneak preview into the past of his world, and to hear that there was such a grand past, he felt immensely proud and immensely small. To be in the presence of a being that could turn the tide in a world war single-handedly, he couldn't fathom just how much power that would take.

Secondly, he was now becoming more intrigued by the dragon, instead of the outright fear he once felt. He wanted to know the character of the dragon, he had to admit, learning to control one's power, that was something, wasn't it. To have a tutor who knew of the way was so much more advantageous than shooting in the dark he could be doing.

Watching the wheels spin in Bamboo's mind, who was the default leader of this merry bandwagon, Dane began having profound respect on to the lavel. There were very few kinds of species that could accelerate thinking.

One's thought process could be enhanced in many ways, but the natural ways were always more preferred. These included taking a child to school and exposing them to a lot of information. This made the mental capabilities of the child develop t frightening heights, and such was the norm. However, there were more advanced ways of improving one's IQ.

These methods included absorbing bloodlines, taking potions that boosted one's mental abilities, and of course, the more magical ways that involved affecting one's DNA. Needless to say, such overpowered means came with a cost to pay and were not advisable especially to someone that was valued, as they had huge side effects. Such were used on subordinates that did not have much value and could only be used as lab rats for experimentation, or cannon fodder in battle.

What Dane had used was the amalgamation of the two, a hybrid if you will. He grew Bamboo's intellect but all he did was improve the state to how Bamboo would have been had he grown up exposed to all the information and intellect available in the galaxy. This was the recommended method especially for subordinates that had the potential for growth but had faced circumstances that had hindered their intellectual development.

Such a mind improvement procedure would be dangerous to an individual had they been exposed to it instantly, but with the gradual improvement taking place, it was almost natural. Still, the speed of adapting to new intellect depended on the capabilities of the individual, and to Dane's pleasant surprise, the lavel was showing to be a worthy selection.

Dane had done the same for Maple and Barcova since they too were essential to the plan, but it all depended on Bamboo, he had the charisma, it was now time to equip him with the tools to take over the world.

As Kendar looked on, he noticed the misgivings in their hearts. No one could make such a decision so fast, and not even Bamboo's intellect had grown to the point where he could be so decisive, hence he decided to offer a better position.

Similarly, no one valued that which they got freely, so he had to make them work for it, especially Barcova. That vasil was bound to be more capable than he was letting on, and with Dane boosting his intellect, the age of the genius weasel would descend on the world.

"Unfortunately, the mighty dragon does not associate with weaklings, hence, in order of any one of you to qualify to even receive his resources much less his mentorship, you must all prove your worth."

After a characteristic pause, he continued, "Little is known about how one proves their worth, but once you pass the test, you will know. Only then can you join the ranks of so many that came before you. Until then, depart from here, for the sacred grounds is only for those that earn it!"

Saying so, space they were in dissolved, and before they could make sense of what just happened, the wizened lavel disappeared, and a cold dusk wind blew past. Looking around, Maple was the first to discover that yes, they were back to the world that they knew.

Meanwhile, a nameless lavel kid was scaling up the Bayu, following the raven that always remained out of reach. To him, snatching the bird would give him more satisfaction than 1000 gazelles, he had to teach it a lesson. Every time he would seem to be letting up his pursuit, the bird would poop on him once more, raising his anger all the more.

Had he taken time to remember how he had orchestrated the prison break, he would have had the bird in hand right now, but, a powerful being was hindering that memory or indeed any such thought from coming forward, and all he could do was hunt the bird as a lavel would.

The bird did it's a task well, especially since it wasn't a bird, but an incarnation, that's why it was so glossy black. Though powerful beings would be able to tell the difference, for someone on this planet, there was none.

Dane smiled eagerly as his next big catch was swimming in the trap, and given the power the lavel had shown prior, he was such a promising tool. All that in good time, for now though, time to give a lavel the biggest scare of his life.