The moment he landed in the city, Inala leaped towards the closest house, calming down as he used his two Empyrean Zinger Scouts—in miniature forms—to look around.
The house was a three-storey building. Followed by a couple of leaps, he landed on the terrace, rolling between the decorations to avoid detection from a couple of passersby.
There was an obvious difference in their clothing style. Inala would stick out like a sore thumb if he were to move around in his current Mammoth Clan outfit.
To blend in with the exoskeleton settlement, the clothes of Mammoth Clansmen solely consisted of shades of ivory. Depending on the shade of the exoskeleton in the part of the Settlement they lived at or spent the majority of their time, their cloth shade varied.
As he had been living at the rear end of the settlement that had a darker shade of ivory, almost bordering on grey, Inala’s clothes matched that.
In terms of the fabric itself, there was a difference. As Mammoth Clansmen lived high up in the sky where clouds constantly passed through, they wore non-porous fabric to avoid any moisture getting into their clothes.
Moreover, they were heavy and stuck to the body tightly. After all, wavy clothes would be caught in the wind and act like a parachute, causing them to be sent flying by the wind.
The clothes of Mammoth Clansmen were thick body suits resembling wool in terms of texture. The men had cropped hair while the women mostly sported shoulder-length hair, often tied into a bun to avoid it flailing in the wind. It was considered offensive to leave their hair free.
The clothes in the city formed a complete contrast. The clothes here were baggy, for both men and women. Ribbons were attached to the sleeves, making them dangle like leaves. The ribbons were helical in shape for men and straight with circular ends for women. 𝑂𝒱𝑙xt.𝗇𝓔t
The colours were vibrant, the flashier the better. Oftentimes, three to four vibrant colours formed a piece of cloth.
As Inala observed them, he understood that the higher one’s status in society, the greater the number of vibrant colours in their clothes. The tackiness of the vibrancy too varied accordingly.
The people here didn’t seem to have the habit of cutting their hair, allowing it to grow freely. The longer the hair, the better their prospects as an attractive individual to the opposite sex.
The only difference between the two sexes in terms of hair was their headgear. The men wore helmet-like headgear that covered their heads—the hair-growing region. At the end of the hair existed a conical container like a hair clip, fully housing the rear end of the long hair.
In contrast, the headgear of the women only covered their forehead, expanding slightly towards their hair. They formed designs similar to the crown of a peacock. Depending on one’s fashion sense, the shape of the crown varied, but none of them ever touched the hair. It only existed on the forehead like the armour of a Triceratops—dinosaur.
When a Mammoth Clansman walked, they tried to occupy as little space as possible, because of the lack of space on an Empyrean Tusk. Everything was meant to be optimal.
But here, on the surface, space wasn’t an issue. And that factor was clearly reflected in the behaviour of the people that occupied as much space as possible while they walked. Their ribbon-filled clothes dangled around their bodies.
A person here occupied at least four to five square metres of area while walking. Adding onto the distance between the people, even on the wide streets spanning a breadth of 30-40 metres, the volume of traffic was sparse.
From the terrace, Inala observed their actions, sending his Empyrean Zinger Scouts to listen in on their conversation. One of them landed on the ground and ran like a cockroach. Upon approaching a conversing target, it turned itself weightless and leaped like a leech, landing on a dangling ribbon.
The ribbon didn’t even flinch when it landed, so the owner wasn’t even aware of its existence. By sensing the Prana in her body, the scout determined that she was weak.
Spirit Stage—22 Prana!
It was a woman in her early thirties. The fact that she had such a pitiful sum of Prana meant she didn’t even cultivate. This was the Prana her body naturally accumulated as she ate food and worked over the years.
The woman seemed to be a shopkeeper, selling shelled wares of some kind. Inala couldn’t even make sense of their purpose. Instead, he focused on the task at hand, listening to their conversation through the scout.
“You know my son is preparing for the Academy Exams, right?” The shopkeeper lady said.
“I know, I know. Your eldest son is talented.” One of the customers chatted, a friend of the shopkeeper, “I heard he has already accumulated twenty Prana. Isn’t he a genius then?”
“Of course,” The shopkeeper lady boasted, “In four years since he started cultivation, he has achieved this much. His teacher has praised his talents and says he’ll get into the Academy this year.”
“All Academy graduates are at the Body Stage.” The customer exclaimed in admiration, “He could immediately become a powerful soldier. I’m envious. If only my sons were half as talented. Haah!”
After listening in on their conversation, Inala got a basic understanding of their power structure. ‘This place has sizeable power. Judging by the lack of worry these ladies exhibit, it’s not the characteristic of a Kingdom.’
Inala felt confused. After all, Sumatra Chronicles delved into the life of many Kingdoms. The people there primarily focus on food, shelter, and cultivation. That was all their life revolved around, down to the lowest class of citizens.
All of them would be desperate for resources, to cultivate better and possess enough strength to at least preserve their lives. That was how most Kingdoms were.
But here, things were different. People were calm and collected. Moreover, judging by how significantly the beauty and fashion industries had developed here, with shops selling ornaments lining up the entire street, it was apparent that their economy was stable enough to develop secondary and tertiary needs too.
‘That’s the characteristic of an Empire.’ Inala felt a headache, ‘Where the fuck did we land?’
His knowledge only extended to what Sumatra Chronicles showed and what he learnt from the Mammoth Clan. Sumatra Continent was too vast to be aware of everything. And this place was one such region.
He didn’t have a single idea of what to expect from here. After looking around for some more time, Inala felt nervous as there was too much miscellaneous information available around. ‘This won’t do. The giant Prana Bomb can at most last until dawn. I need to return before then.’
He looked around and jumped from one terrace to another. Suddenly, the house owner arrived on the terrace of one such house. But before he could even register Inala’s appearance, a Prana Hand knocked him unconscious.
Inala moved locations until he arrived before a restaurant. Upon observing the type of crowd that visited the establishment, he realised he could find the information he needed. Followed by a leap, he landed on the establishment’s terrace and sneaked in.