Inala woke up early in the morning and climbed to the terrace of his house. He stared to the side of the herd’s path, observing that they were close to the Dieng Canyon. “In an hour or two, we’ll be entering it.”
Thump! Thump!
His heart rate gradually accelerated in anxiety. His body was tense as Inala heard the slapping noises of the 44th Empyrean Tusk’s tail become frequent. The sound was also becoming louder and louder. It was apparent that even Gannala was nervous.
The previous night, Inala experimented to see if he could communicate with Gannala. Unfortunately, that turned up as a failure. Only special Mammoth Clansmen could do that. In Sumatra Chronicles, it was stated that only their ancestor could communicate with the Empyrean Tusks.
‘Even Resha couldn’t do it.’ Inala thought. If even the protagonist couldn’t achieve it, then it probably meant an impossibility. He didn’t give up though and looked for a chance.
And even though he couldn’t communicate with Gannala, he was still able to inform her. To Gannala, he was a Bone Slip. Meaning, she could access all his information, including his thoughts in real-time.
Therefore, Inala could ponder stuff based on their route and allow Gannala to become more aware. Throughout the previous night, he talked as much as possible, asking her to focus on him.
There was one problem with this. Gannala was growing old. The moment the reincarnates came into existence, she would have accessed their bodies to know what would happen next.
She should have been aware of the damage her settlement would face from the First Minor Crisis. The fact that everything still played out as in Sumatra Chronicles raised an alarming conclusion, ‘Even if she knows, she cannot do anything about it.’
Gannala had grown old. In human terms, she was a granny that had lived past a century. At this age, most of her body functions barely worked. Her memory would be hazy, her body wouldn’t cooperate with her mind, and most of all, her condition only continued to deteriorate with the passage of every day.
‘Gannala is the oldest and weakest in the herd now. Based on the Empyrean Tusk herd’s psychology, she has no say in whatever the herd does. All the Empyrean Tusks follow the leader that is at the front.’ He thought in worry.
“Say…” He suddenly spoke, “If I were to enter the 43rd Settlement, would I be a Bone Slip to the 43rd Empyrean Tusk?”
“If it’s possible, please slap gently twice. If it’s not possible, slap thrice…” Inala was disappointed when there came three slaps. ‘It means I’m only Gannala’s Bone Slip because I’m part of her immune system. That makes sense. I’ll be treated as an outsider by the other Empyrean Tusks.’ 𝓞𝑽𝗅xt.𝒸𝚘𝔪
This meant he couldn’t use his information to alert the other Empyrean Tusks. He was a student. Therefore, he didn’t even have the qualification to talk with Bora Tusk, not to mention the leaders of other settlements.
And even if he found an opportunity, he would only be treated as a madman. Or worst, he’ll be chucked into a Pranic Beast’s mouth. That was the fate of Death Row students, after all. He would only be considered desperate to live on and hence uttered whatever he wanted to remain alive.
Without enough strength on the level of a leader, his words wouldn’t be treated with importance. That was how the Mammoth Clan functioned.
Inala didn’t plan to visit the academy today, for it would be dangerous. He stared ahead and observed the Empyrean Tusks at the front of the herd enter the Dieng Canyon. ‘It’s starting.’
He returned home and looked around, nodding upon seeing the barricades holding up well. He used the Mud Vipers to shoot mud balls at the windows, sealing them all. All that was left was the main door.
Once he barricaded it, he’ll be able to get some rest.
Dieng Canyon was a special place, spanning tens of thousands of kilometres. It would take the Empyrean Tusk herd anywhere from six months to ten years to go through it, depending on the route they take.
Dieng Canyon was a hotspot where rivers from all over Sumatra converged. There existed a sinkhole at its centre where all the river water was sucked inside. It wasn’t mentioned in Sumatra Chronicles as to where the sucked-in water would be ejected.
But it seemed to be somewhere so far away that it never came into picture until the end of the book.
Due to the convergence of rivers, all sorts of Pranic Beasts and cultivators travelled through Dieng Canyon. Things remained chaotic in this region, primarily because of one Pranic Beast race that behaved as both bandits and pirates.
The Zinger!
Reaching a height of three metres on average, it was a creature resembling a monkey. Trailing from its arm to leg was an elastic membrane similar to a flying squirrel. Thanks to this, a Zinger was able to glide through the air.
It was explicitly stated in Sumatra Chronicles that there existed no race in Sumatra that could fly, whether it be cultivators or Pranic Beasts. There were no birds.
Zingers came close to that term, only because they could glide in the air. But at the end of the day, they were pretty much mammalian in nature.
Unlike a monkey, Zingers sported sharp claws like a bird’s, allowing them to perch on any surface. But they had five fingers like a human.
A Zinger could move both like a bipedal creature and a four-legged creature. Unlike the hunch monkeys had when moving on two limbs, Zingers moved like humans. They possessed flexible spinal joints that allowed them to be erect when bipedal and become curved to move on all fours.
On the ground, a Zinger was weak. But in the Dieng Canyon, with the walls reaching as high as two kilometres, it created plenty of ground for a Zinger to glide around and target prey using wave tactics.
In the Dieng Canyon’s environment, they were the perfect predator. “And, I’ll never fight them.”
The moment the herd enters the canyon, the Zingers would systematically target them. There was no guarantee he wouldn’t be killed by one of them.
That was why he intended to hole up for the remaining eleven months. Moreover, to buy any necessities, he’ll use the grooves and enter the Empyrean Tusk’s interior and employ the bone channels there to move around.
Thankfully, Zingers were creatures of the day and didn’t have night vision. Hence, Inala could move about peacefully at night. It was why Grehha too asked him to come after dinner time.
Just as he faced his Mud Viper at the entrance, intending to seal it using hardened mud, there was a knock on the door. ‘Who is knocking now?’
Confused, he carefully opened the door, peeking out slightly as a foreboding sensation welled up in his being, observing the person, “Instructor Mandu? What are you doing here?”
“I told your performance to the Instructors yesterday. They wish to showcase your ability to the students today to motivate them to work harder.” Instructor Mandu smiled.
‘Fuck!’ Inala despaired.