A month ago, at the Dieng Canyon, an hour before baby Gannala’s cries resounded thanks to Inala’s trap.
A figure skipped past the reddish lava streams that were beginning to cool down. Each lava stream varied in size, from a couple metres thick to dozens of metres. A solid layer had already begun to form over all of them once it began to rain.
The Empyrean Tusk herd was still sorting through the merger, deciding on the ranks of the various Empyrean Tusks based on established factors.
The Mammoth Clans under Bora Tusk and Yahard Tusk were now homeless. Therefore, they were building large transports to travel through while their respective Empyrean Tusks grew.
Gannala was with Inala and Harrala was with Grehha. Since both had completed the inheritance ceremonies, the Mammoth Clansmen under Bora Tusk and Yahard Tusk respectively only had to wait.
Of course, they couldn’t cultivate or develop until then, but that didn’t matter. Being unable to develop for a decade or two didn’t matter as they held onto hope. It was vastly better than a hopeless situation with their Deities dead and without successors.
While the herd and Mammoth Clan sorted through various stuff, a figure had slipped away, making way to the region where the Boar King and the Empyrean Tusk herd had battled.
It was Virala!
Sporting an expression of excitement, he continued to skip past the lava rivers. As toxic fumes billowed from the lava, not to mention the mountains in the region mostly destroyed, there were no Zingers in the vicinity.
‘To think even Dieng Canyon would be this peaceful.’ He thought and raised his pace, skipping past the larger lava rivers, feeling the region only grow hotter as he continued in that direction.
Soon, he arrived before a sphere that was a metre in diameter. Lava streams surrounded it, still billowing despite the rains. But forming a contrast was this sphere, cold to the touch.
Virala patted it, sensing his Secondary Nature of Weaponisation react in response, hyped up, ‘It’s there! Holy Shit! It’s a windfall!’
This was the sphere formed as a result of Harrala’s suicidal charge. After swallowing Gannala’s corpse, Harrala collapsed the gravity in her body, causing the concentrated mass to pull particles towards each other. 𝒪𝔳𝓵xt.𝗇𝓔t
The particles compressed and piled upon each other, resulting in a fusion reaction, birthing a star that was alive for a second before falling to the ground like a piece of rock. Moreover, before the star’s birth, the Boar King’s body too was consumed by it.
Thereafter, the power of the Boar King, Gannala, and Harrala was in this metre-wide sphere. Due to the fusion reaction, the powers of the three could have been broken down and destroyed. The possibility of that was very high.
But it seemed Voracious Nature had a stronger influence this time, as until the birth of the star, both Harrala and the Boar King were alive.
And it seemed during the fusion process, these Natures too fused into one, becoming a mysterious power.
Virala only intended to check if it could be used through his power. And once he activated Weaponisation, he realised that it was indeed possible, ‘The strongest Nature exists in it.’
Of course, he wished to claim it for himself immediately. Without any hesitation, Virala touched the sphere and seeped his Prana through it, activating his secondary Nature of Weaponisation to check how many conditions he had to achieve before gaining possession of it.
17,610 Conditions!
“This is…absurd!” Virala sighed. It would take him forever to gain ownership of the Nature inside the sphere. But the fact that it required so many conditions was a testament to its power.
Depending on its power, the Primary Nature of an Iron Grade Pranic Beast or human equivalent required anywhere from 1 to 100 conditions. The majority of the conditions were easy to achieve.
Touch with Prana, nudge the owner, make the owner feel happy once, etc. All conditions were easy to achieve. They only took time to complete.
For a Primary Nature from a Silver Grade Pranic Beast, the conditions ranged in the three digits, four digits for Gold Grade Pranic Beasts.
And finally, for Primary Nature on the level of Mystic Grade, the conditions exceeded 10,000.
Virala had no idea of what Nature existed in the sphere, but he knew that it would become his trump card, ‘No matter how long it takes, I’ll make it mine.’
He then took out a One-Storey Storage Lantern and stored the sphere in it, watching it fully occupy the space within. After shrinking the Storage Lantern, Virala slung it to his hip and casually looked around, intending to return.
He had just turned around when he was stunned to see Resha standing there, twenty metres away, calm, collected. Seeing Resha’s countenance made Virala nervous, ‘Damn! What is he thinking now?’
“Say,” Resha spoke calmly, “What were you doing here?”
‘How long was he watching me?’ Virala wasn’t aware. Therefore, making a lie here would only garner Resha’s ire, ‘He’s currently strong enough to kill me easily. I can’t talk to him like before.’
His mind spun in overdrive as Virala quickly thought up a solution, ‘I guess using the truth is for my best here. I have the perfect plan in mind.’
Virala pointed at his One-Storey Storage Lantern, “I stored that sphere in here.”
“Why?” Resha asked.
“Are you truly unaware?” Virala acted like he was irritated by the stupid question, “Or are you simply messing with me?”
“Answer me,” Resha said.
‘Fuck!’ Virala’s back was drenched with cold sweat. Resha typically asked this question right before deciding to go for the kill. That was in his character.
Keeping a handle on his emotions, Virala controlled his body language to be casual and shrugged nonchalantly, “It’s to research and find out the Boar King’s weakness.”
“How?” Resha asked.
“You know about Prana Shock, right?” Virala asked, “It’s the Primary Nature of a Shock Lizard.”
“I know,” Resha nodded. This was the most commonly fused with Pranic Beast among the elites. So, every Mammoth Clansman was aware of it.
“Well, mine’s somewhat special,” Viral said, equipping two Prana Shock Natures in his slots as he activated them simultaneously and placed his hand on the ground, causing minor fluctuations to spread out.
The waves were faint, not even disturbing the natural layout of the place. Even Resha could only sense it minutely. After a moment of observation, he muttered, “You fused with a Shock Lizard?”
“Do I seem that lacking in greed?” Virala scoffed.
“You’re a greedy bastard,” Resha said.
“Right,” Virala laughed at the right answer, “So, I took a gamble and stole a certain egg stashed away by one of the Zinger colonies.”
“It belongs to a Mutant version of the Shock Lizard.” Virala snickered, “And through its power, I can unleash minor waves of Prana through an object and learn of its intricacies.”
“That’s how I intend to figure out the Boar King’s weakness.”