“I am Brangara!” The Empyrean Boar introduced itself to a Mammoth Clansmen group prowling across the Varahan Enclave.
In human form, Brangara mimicked the presence of a Mammoth Clansman from the 188th Settlement, thereby being able to make contact with the elites of another settlement.
“Where’s your group?” The leader of the group asked.
“We got lost after a mishap.” Brangara said, “I chanced upon your group while making my way back. Can I accompany you until I find my group?”
“That’s fine.” The leader of the group nodded casually, asking while they moved, “Which group do you belong to?”
“Unara’s group,” Brangara said, using the name of the group he had just annihilated.
“Ahh,” The leader nodded, “Didn’t Unara’s group venture towards the mangrove forest region? It’s a bit tricky to capture the Empyrean Boars that remain submerged underwater there.”
“Yes, that’s a pain.” Brangara nodded. He casually conversed with the group as if he were one of them until eventually, they chanced upon an Empyrean Boar.
“That’s an adult.” The leader commanded, “We’ll capture it.”
“You just remain here.” The leader stared at Brangara, “We’re more than enough for this.”
“Yes, sir.” Brangara nodded and watched the group spring bone nets around the Empyrean Boar that combined to harden into a bone cage. 𝒩𝒐𝚟𝑙𝒩xt.𝑐𝒐𝐌
The flustered Empyrean Boar activated numerous Natures in response as the group simply tanked it by strengthening the bone cage.
“Man, this one has a lot of Natures. It’ll take time to empty everything.” Saying so, the leader took out a bone spike and walked to the back of the cage, stabbing it in the Empyrean Boar’s rear, watching it squeal in pain before unleashing its Natures dozens of times faster. “Since it’s a male, puncturing its balls does the trick.”
Every time he poked it, the Empyrean Boar shrieked before releasing more Natures. As the Natures belonged to Razor Rats, Yoked Wyrms, and Petrified Geeze, none were dangerous.
The Primary Nature of Razor Rats allowed them to move like a bolt of lightning for a short distance. When constricted, this ability became useless. The Primary Nature of a Yoked Wyrm was only in consuming nutrients efficiently, so it too was useless. And a Petrified Geeze’s Primary Nature could only be used through its tongue.
Right at the start, they cut off the Empyrean Boar’s tongue, rendering that ability too useless. Now, all they had to do was wait until it finished releasing all the abilities in its arsenal. It would be easier to transport it after that.
After all, they had set up camp at the entrance to Varahan Enclave where the Empyrean Boars would be fed to the limit and fattened before the Empyrean Tusk consumes them.
“Hey, the cage is shaking. Put more effort into it!” The leader shouted upon noticing the cage cracking. He grumbled upon seeing the cracks worsen over time, shouting as he dropped the bone spike and walked around the massive cage to where his team ought to have been.
All he saw in their place was Brangara, “Hey, you! Where did my team members go?”
“Here,” Brangara said and patted his belly. Immediately in response, he transformed into an Empyrean Boar and devoured the leader, taking action before the latter could react.
Not even a droplet of the Mammoth Clansmen’s blood was spilled as Brangara wiped them clean. He then stared at the whimpering figure of the Empyrean Boar before him. He broke the cage and stared at his wounded brethren, “Are you…okay?”
There was no reply as the Empyrean Boar continued to cry in pain. But an hour later, it stood before a tree like a sculpture, behaving like a Petrified Geese.
“What…is with our existence?” Brangara collapsed to the ground, sobbing, “I can’t even speak to my own family. What am I even fighting for?”
“Wait, that’s right!” He regained his vigour and rushed through the forest until he chanced upon an Empyrean Boar giving birth, ‘Right, I can save them before they consume any Pranic Beast! That way, once their mind matures, they too would be able to speak like me.’
His thoughts came to a halt upon staring at the group of masters casually seated around the newborn Empyrean Boars.
“Eat! Eat!”
“Eat and grow big, alright?”
The masters were feeding Yoked Wyrms to the newborns in an effort to make them grow quicker. They didn’t have the mood to protect them for two days.
As the newborn swallowed the Yoked Wyrm, the trace level of intelligence displayed in its eyes vanished. Its mind had shattered. And staring at the scene, Brangara felt his sanity slipping away.
‘Why? Why! Why? Why!’ He wished to rush in and save his brethren, but he wasn’t strong enough to fight the masters yet. Moreover, even if he could, the master leading the group was terrifying.
The masters were primarily in charge of trailing after pregnant Empyrean Boars and guarding the newborns. Therefore, even if Brangara wanted to, he couldn’t save his race that was being treated as mere livestock.
“Mammoth Clan!” He gritted his teeth in rage.
“Who’s there?” The master leading the group shouted all of a sudden as a Spirit Weapon slammed into the tree that Brangara was hiding behind.
“Ah!” Brangara rushed out of his hiding spot and prostrated on the ground, “I’m from Unara’s group…”
“Don’t lie!” Suddenly, a Spirit Weapon in the shape of a sword stabbed into his thigh, causing him to grunt in pain.
A suffocating presence emanated from the group of masters that glared at Brangara, “I’m not sure how you learnt the Mystic Bone Art, but you clearly aren’t an expert in using it. Your body is reeking with the stench of the blood of us Mammoth Clansmen.”
“How many of my people have you eaten, Empyrean Boar?”
“Shit!” Brangara grunted and began to run away, ‘They found out my identity!’
Until he targeted the students and elites, his identity wasn’t found out. But a master could clearly sense his foreign nature, even if he tried to mask himself with the scent and presence of a Mammoth Clansman.
Moreover, his actions were so high-profile that an investigation team of masters had been dispatched. They scouted for traces among the teams that had gone missing recently, eventually confirming Brangara to be the culprit.
Even though he was strong, Brangara was no match for the team of experts. In a matter of minutes, he was captured.
“What do we do with him?” One of the masters asked as he broke Brangara’s limbs.
“He’s a special case.” The leader of the group said, “He’s an Empyrean Boar with a human form. We’ll let the Chief decide his fate.”