"Hmm...hmmm? So, let me get this straight." The Royal Zinger held a floating island showcasing Root’s fight with Ruvva, "You were after the brown stream when Ruvva intercepted you. She was strong, but wasn’t a threat to you, until you suddenly swallowed her blood."
"That’s when you were defeated." The Royal Zinger raised a hand and gently patted the piglet, "I know, I know, you didn’t even have such an intention, since you had hardly used any Prana. There was no rhyme or reason for you to behave that way, but you did it without knowing why."
"And then, you felt something was amiss and didn’t resist even after you made a complete recovery." The Royal Zinger’s pats stopped as his hand simply rested on the piglet’s head, "You were right."
"I made you act as such."
"Awooink!" The piglet squealed pitifully and poked at the Royal Zinger’s palm.
"You want to know why I did that?" The Royal Zinger laughed, "Do you know what type of existence you are?"
"Yes," After a pause, the Royal Zinger nodded, "You are aware of it too, aren’t you? Brangara did mention it during the Third Major Disaster."
"You are part of the Celestial Boar’s stack, his tenth body to be exact."
"Oinnk...!" The piglet let out short snorts and climbed over the Royal Zinger’s hand. It then lay flat while facing its stomach upwards, showing its submission to the existence before it.
"Don’t worry, I won’t erase your existence." The Royal Zinger commented coldly, "The Celestial Boar is unneeded on Sumatra. So, I have no intentions to ever let him return, unless I feel bored."
"Don’t worry, my control is absolute." The Royal Zinger turned silent.
After observing the Dieng Canyon to gaze upon the gliding Zingers, the Royal Zinger spoke, "You are an amalgamation of the Celestial Boar, Transcendent Eater, and me."
"As the Quip Guardian, you’re the most special existence in the Quip Clan in that you have inherited the purest function of my Biome Bomb." The Royal Zinger said as he raised the piglet to eye level and caressed the latter.
The Royal Zinger’s Biome Bombs could spawn Quip Clansmen. Similarly, the Quip Guardian could spawn Tangible Zingers in his Zinger World.
These Tangible Zingers are similar to the Quip Clansmen spawned by the Royal Zinger. They were newborn Clansmen, with the only difference being their birth forms. "You can even condense a Tangible Nature form of me. Do you know what that means?"
"You’re another version of myself." The Royal Zinger stated in praise as the piglet’s round eyes glistened in elation, "That’s why you can access the core of my existence, which is this database."
The endless space they were in at present was the Royal Zinger’s mindspace, but one that existed in another dimension. As long as even a single Royal Zinger gene existed on Sumatra Continent, this space would continue to exist.
"The lives of every single Quip Clansmen is recorded here." The Royal Zinger lifted the piglet and showed it the millions of floating islands, "This is my home, as I am both the source and sink of the Quip Clan."
"And you," The Royal Zinger tilted the piglet to make eye contact, "Whenever you die, you return here. As long as the Major Treasure of Turnip isn’t destroyed, I’ll be able to send you back on Sumatra."
"You’re still a baby, so accessing three to four floating islands’ worth of experience is your current limit. But as you grow older, you’ll be able to access more and more." The Royal Zinger commented, "You lack experience, so simply keep dying to accumulate it from here."
"And on Sumatra, don’t revive with your full strength. Limit yourself as much as possible and explore the world. Understand and experience its dangers for yourself from a weaker perspective. Only then will you learn and grow." He commented.
"Huh?" The Royal Zinger stared at the piglet’s pout and laughed, "I know it wasn’t your fault you lost to Ruvva. But you’ll only get distracted if you try to meet Yamahara. It’s not yet the time to do so. That’s why I put an end to that fight."
"Now," Suddenly, a strange floating island appeared, full veiled behind a greyish glass tower. The Royal Zinger pointed at it, "See that?"
In the glass tower was a Brully, currently getting its hands drilled by golden humanoids, "That’s who I want you to focus on. You tried to kill him before but failed, right?"
"Try it again, but this time, be patient." The Royal Zinger let out a chuckle, "Pressure him until he enters the Mystic Grade. And then, you can kill him."
"Aieeoink!" The piglet squealed, appearing nervous and unsure.
"What? You aren’t fully sure you can kill him after he enters the Mystic Grade?" The Royal Zinger chuckled, "Don’t worry about that. In terms of sheer potential, you already outclass the Celestial Boar. The only case the Celestial Boar will be stronger than you is in a world filled with Mystic Grade existences. Sumatra isn’t even close to reaching that level."
"Ah, you’re fearing your inexperience will cost you again?" The Royal Zinger chuckled, "Don’t worry about it. There’s still some time left before you’ll face each other. You can accumulate some experience in the meantime."
"Oiiinkk!" The piglet protested.
"You don’t understand why I’m not asking you to immediately kill him?" The Royal Zinger chuckled, "There’s no reason to do so. He intends to explore Sumatra while keeping his strength at a conservative level. I’m simply saying even his Mystic Grade strength will become conservative once the Continent Invasion starts."
"Yeah," The Royal Zinger casually stroked the piglet on the head, "If he survives, let him live for as long as necessary. I can easily guide you to act on my behalf."
"Oh, you want a clue?" The Royal Zinger burst into laughter, "Alright, you know the Celestial Boar was able to passively wield Subtle Terrain Domination by relying on its influence after gathering more than eight of them in his Astral World, right?"
"No, ignore Perfect Biome Domination. You can use it like the Celestial Boar, no issues. But if you want to truly harness your limitless strength," The Royal Zinger grinned, "Fill up your Zinger World with Prana Stitch."
"You’ll need to figure out the answer yourself." The Royal Zinger winked and waved his hand, "Work hard out there, alright?"
...
Rathlana Turf!
Gathering above the Major Treasure of Turnip was a sphere of light. The pillar of light it was supposed to emit was being condensed and gathered in the shape of a sphere. This would constantly keep accumulating over Turnip.
Whenever Root sits upon it, he’ll absorb it all. Otherwise, it’ll continue to stockpile endlessly.
The sphere morphed into the shape of a man and took less than a few seconds to turn into the human form of Root, who gasped awake and observed himself, "I’m back here."
Unlike the first time, he could remember visiting the Royal Zinger’s mind space better. He stared at his hands and saw his fingers twitch, as if he had been practicing gliding and throwing a Prana Bomb nonstop.
The experiences he had absorbed in the Royal Zinger’s mind space had become a part of himself. The resultant influence affected his body and mind, but it wasn’t at a level where it would be a problem, ’I understand.’
He clenched his hand into a fist, ’As long as I repeat the actions behind those experiences here, I’ll be able to overwrite those influences with my own. Only by reaching this point can I say I’ve made them my own.’
’This is a shortcut to quickly gain proficiency in a variety of things.’ Root observed that his human body hadn’t yet finished being built, ’In terms of physical strength, I’m currently on par with a Centinger.’
’This is enough for now.’ He had already absorbed all the accumulated energy. He didn’t wish to sit still atop Turnip, ’Without any Natures, with just my current physical strength and Mystic Royal Art, let me engage in a variety of activities.’
"Let’s see..." He uttered and listed his objectives, "Battles, medicine brewing, farming, sculpting, hiding, running, arguing...ok, there are too many."
"Guess I’ll go through them one after another..." As he spoke, his eyes glowed brown as Root grunted, unable to control himself, ’It’s significantly more intense now. I can’t seem to resist it in the slightest.’
But with his current strength, it would take decades to reach the Brimgan Empire, ’So, I needn’t worry.’
He would just do whatever he wanted while travelling in the direction of the Brimgan Empire. "Thank you, My Deity."
"You are omniscient!"
...
Back at the Cooter-Brimgan Channel, Ruvva nervously eyed the figure of Blola, "Why are you here?"
"I was just passing through but then got curious." Blola said and pointed at one of the towers, hinting that he had intercepted the message sent to the Brimgan Empire by the Mystic Humans from the Dralh Sea.
"And?" Ruvva asked, ’He must have a few Brimgan Royals. That’s how he’s able to intercept the messages. Did he take advantage of the chaos in the Kalahatra Desert and eat a few Brimgan Royals?’
"Did he return?" As he asked, his face scrunched up in twisted fury, "Did Brangara really return?"
"Virala’s Brangara form gained control over his body." Ruvva answered truthfully.
"I am aware of everything you’ve been informed with too." Blola said, turned into a Parute Tree and flickered away, "I am curious about his intentions, on what he truly intends to do."
"And if he’s a threat?" Ruvva asked.
"I am a Mammoth Clansman, you know." Came the answer as Blola vanished, "I’ll be keeping watch, Ruvva. If I observe Brangara trying to rally the Mystic Humans against the Mammoth Clan,"
"Know that even you cannot resist my power."