Sandy-Grey Void!
When the energy current slammed into the Brangara and destroyed part of the Settlement on the 1st Empyrean Tusk, Gannala was sent flying away. The Mammoth Clansmen acting as her protectors were vaporised when a portion of the energy current arched towards her.
Gannala was a special existence, capable of attracting a small energy current even when she was merely two years old. This was something only summoned by Transcendents.
Even Brangara only pulled in a bolt after activating all the Empyrean Boar Primary Natures in his body simultaneously. That was a display of her speciality, titled the Supreme Tusk by all Empyrean Tusks.
The resulting explosion sent her flying away from the Settlement on the 1st Empyrean Tusk and into the depths of the Sandy-Grey Void. Slowly, she began to sink into the grey sand, causing her presence to vanish.
By the time the 1st Empyrean Tusk felt her disappearance, it was too late, for her presence had already been masked. This had all happened within a few seconds.
Gannala was bloody from the impact, losing consciousness as she sank deeper into the grey sand. But as she did so, her powers activated, turning her body lighter, so light she stopped sinking.
Gradually, she surfaced, waking up somewhere far away from the herd due to the undercurrents in the sand. When she regained consciousness, she knew what to do, for in that tiny energy current that fused into her was valuable information.
It even contained information about the secrets of the Sandy-Grey Void, allowing Gannala to navigate her way through it and reach a safe path where the effects of the region were weak enough for her to withstand.
But by now, she was too tired to chase after the herd. The Boar King’s actions only made things chaotic, destroying the marks the herd had left to indicate their route.
As a result, Gannala didn’t know which way they went. In the end, she was forced to return to Sumatra Continent, the only route available in her memories thanks to the inheritance from the herd.
The Sandy-Grey Void was bereft of life. But as a biome herself, Gannala consumed the grey sand and broke it down to the nutrients she needed. This wasn’t possible for other Empyrean Tusks. But through the information gained from the energy current, she knew the method to use Internal Inertial Gravity to break down the grey sand into minerals necessary for her survival.
This only provided her enough to survive. She could neither build her Prana nor bulk her body. In the end, she remained small, the same size as a newborn elephant, losing a good deal of her growth.
With her small frame, she had limited travelling means, spending a lot of time on her return journey. The journey that had taken the herd two years cost her a decade.
Eventually, she returned to Varahan Enclave. The first task she did upon arrival was to jump into the marsh and drink her fill of water. By eating the grass, tree bark, leaves, nuts, etc. of the forest produce, she made up for the lack of nutrients.
The Boar King had already returned to Sumatra Continent by then and was voraciously hunting strong Pranic Beasts to collect their Primary Natures.
Unwilling to confront him, Gannala hid in the Varahan Enclave and built up her strength. Once she had accumulated enough and recovered from the damage sustained in the Sandy-Grey Void, she left the region, entering the mainland of Sumatra Continent.
She wanted to regroup with the 88 Empyrean Tusk herd still left on Sumatra Continent. But upon hearing about the Boar King’s activities that were closely based around their path, she refrained from heading there.
She would be needlessly sending herself to death. There was a greater chance the Boar King would chance upon her first than her herd. And even if she were to rejoin the herd, the Boar King who’s closely following the herd would still end up finding out that she’s alive.
She was practically born out of his race’s annihilation. So, the Empyrean Tusk he hated the most was her.
As a result, she chose to go on alone. But that was easier said than done, especially since an Empyrean Tusk wasn’t a flexible Pranic Beast.
To become flexible, she would have to take on her battle mode, which was heavily resource-intensive. She couldn’t be in that state for more than a few minutes.
Her energy-conservation mode was severely lacking in the means to fight against invasive species like the Mud Vipers and thousands more that littered Sumatra Continent.
The only way to combat that was through the Mammoth Clan. But she was alone. Hence, she made a rather bold decision.
Seated in a cave, Gannala began to shed blood, losing her accumulated Prana and lifeforce on purpose to de-age herself, a process considered taboo among Empyrean Tusks.
She was originally born a human. And transforming into an Empyrean Tusk was voluntary. Usually, Empyrean Tusks remain human for a decade or two, living as Mammoth Clansmen.
When they attain maturity as a human, they naturally become Empyrean Tusks, starting as baby Empyrean Tusks. Their growth would begin from then on.
As Gannala was significantly more endowed than her brethren, she could transform into an Empyrean Tusk within two years of her birth. But now, she was regressing that development, shedding all her growth to revert to her human form.
This was a desperate measure the Empyrean Tusks used in a situation where their race felt threatened. By transforming into humans, they would mingle in a human Kingdom, recover their strength, build their numbers, and emerge as Empyrean Tusks once again.
This was a tactic they used ages ago, one that was deemed unnecessary once they attained a certain level of strength. Besides, for the past eight to ten thousand years, they had the support of the Mystic Empyrean Tentacle who considered them his friend.
Therefore, they truly were one of the strongest forces in Sumatra.
The problem with this age regression was losing their strength tremendously. The older they were as an Empyrean Tusk, the greater they lost their strength. They also sustained countless genetic problems as a result.
Gannala was only a decade old as an Empyrean Tusk, but even she had to pay a sharp price, feeling her body grow weak, unable to ever realise her potential. 𝒪𝔳𝓵xt.𝗇𝓔t
The path to Mystic Grade existed in her, but this action meant she would never grow strong enough to pursue it. But if she didn’t de-age herself, she wouldn’t be able to survive Sumatra Continent due to her race’s structural limitations.
In the end, for her future, for her race’s future, to attain their lifelong goal, Gannala subjected herself to torture.
“Aaaahhhhh!” The screams of a human woman, one of unbearable pain resounded from the cave as a frail girl walked out, a bloody self. With sunken eyes, she dragged herself to the closest Kingdom.