Stage 1—Jaw!
Inala opened his mouth wide and swallowed an Elixir vial.
Secondary Nature—Internal Inertial Gravity!
He activated it in full swing, causing his stomach to transform into a biome, just like an Empyrean Tusk's. Of course, his biome was unstable, as he didn't store enough resources in his body to maintain such a spatial distortion.
Therefore, he was burning through Prana rapidly to maintain it. Since he only needed to maintain it for a short while, Inala could endure the expenditure.
He first swallowed all twelve Mid-Grade Elixir vials, followed by over a hundred Low-Grade Elixirs. He only stopped because he had hit his limit, sighing, 'Had I reached the end of the Body Stage, I could have stolen more. These Elixirs will support our growth.'
But that wasn't an issue. He brought three Empyrean Zinger Scouts.
Taking chance when there were no eyes on him, the three Empyrean Zinger Scouts reached their full body size, swallowed as many Elixirs as possible by turning their stomachs into biomes too, and resumed their miniature forms. They were burning through Prana faster than him to maintain it.
Acting nonchalant, Inala slipped out of the Elixir Section, of course, not without hurling a string of expletives, becoming part of the group of angry customers that stormed out due to the crappy service.
Since the Elixirs were inside his biome, all Prana signatures emanating from them were cut off, hence rendering the detectors at the establishment exit useless.
He left the establishment and returned home, vomiting out all the contents before a surprised Asaeya.
"You stole?" She shouted in a fluster.
"Don't mind it." Saying so, Inala turned around to face the six captive thugs, "So, how are they faring?"
"They're blind, deaf, can't smell anything…" Asaeya casually listed a bunch of things she did to them. At present, the thugs couldn't even raise a scream, for their voices too had been snuffed out, absolutely terror-stricken.
"Prepare two chairs," Inala said to Asaeya and stared at the figure of Erwahllu who observed his actions with an incredulous gaze.
"Who…are you?" She was unable to control her shock. What Inala displayed here was beyond what she ever thought was possible.
"Grandma, do you want an Elixir?" Inala asked, "You can reach the Body Stage by consuming one. That will increase your lifespan…"
"I'll pass," She sighed and shook her head, "An Elixir's too valuable to be squandered on these old bones."
"Just use it on yourselves."
Inala smiled wryly and didn't force her. They were just strangers at the end of the day. He was simply being polite, and also because her presence might have a positive influence on baby Gannala.
'Well, it's a work in progress. She'll warm up to us over time.' Thinking as such, Inala took a seat on a chair Asaeya had laid in the courtyard. The other chair was placed three metres opposite to him. Inala crossed his legs and closed his eyes, waiting patiently.
His Empyrean Zinger Scouts were posted around the house, informing him of everything they saw.
Maharell Wares and Services!
In a room on the topmost floor was Maharell, the owner. He had been going through the accounts of his establishment when the thug released by Inala walked in, bowing in fear, "W-We failed, sir."
"Is that so?" Maharell didn't even spare a glance his way, continuing to stare at his account book as he spoke, casually, "Is this person strong?"
"I didn't know what hit us. We were all unconscious and bound before we realised what had happened." The thug said, trembling as he continued, "He…He has requested for your presence at his house immediately."
"Not worth it," Maharell waved his hand casually, "Go away now. I'll call you when there's work for you."
"Sir, the rest of our group is held captive by him…" The thug didn't even finish the sentence when a bag of coins fell before him.
"Use it to buy them back. Anything else?" Maharell asked.
"N-No sir," Saying so, the thug grabbed the bag and ran away.
'Seems Spirit Stage cultivators aren't a match for him.' He thought for a moment before resuming focus on his accounts. He was a busy man. And every second of his time wasted meant a loss of a lot of money.
"Lord Maharell, there's been an issue!" Suddenly, a staff entered his room and shouted in a fluster.
"What now?" Maharell stated in annoyance, "Can't you see I'm busy…"
"Our Elixirs have been stolen!" The staff said in a flurry.
Bang!
Maharell got up with a start, causing his table to shatter in response as Prana billowed out of him in a torrent. He glared at the staff, causing the latter to shudder, "Speak!"
"Who dares to do so?"
"It's a man named Inala." The staff said, "He's the one that bought Erwahllu's property."
He took out a tablet from his pocket and gave it to Maharell, "This was a note left in the cabinet where we stored the twelve Mid-Grade Elixirs!"
"Inala…" Maharell seethed in rage. But as a seasoned merchant, he calmed down immediately, realising that actions taken in fury would most of the time, result in a loss. He stared at the tablet and read the line inscribed there.
[Come and have a chat with me—Inala]
It was a short statement. But it was a blatant display of power, proving that Inala did not need to introduce himself since Maharell would have investigated the latter already.
"Bring me the list of items he had stolen from us," Maharell said and waited a couple of minutes. Once the staff tallied the list, he stared at it. His face turned beet red from anger, "This fucker is crazy!"
The current market price for a Low-Grade Elixir was anywhere between 8000 to 22,000 Parute. A Mid-Grade Elixir costs anywhere from 44,000 Parute to 104,000 Parute. The exchange rate between their currency, Pella and Parute was 40 to 1.
One Parute netted 40 Pella. In other words, he lost a shit ton of money!
"Get my carriage." Maharell announced as he snapped his finger, causing a team of masked men to appear before him, all at the Body Stage, "We're going out to teach a bastard some lesson."
"Yes, sir!" The team of masked men shouted in unison. They were all tethering around the peak of the Body Stage. Their team leader was at the 2-Life Stage, a powerful cultivator.
Maharell himself was at the 6-Life Stage and had fused with the most expensive material money could buy. This was a squad powerful enough to intimidate any force, causing the powerful merchants on the main road to divert their attention onto Maharell as he entered the narrow street adjacent to the main road.
The carriage stopped before a dingy shop as Maharell glared at the person casually seated in the courtyard behind, balancing a fruit on his nose. When it fell off balance, he gobbled it up with his mouth, appearing playful and completely unperturbed by Maharell's presence.
'This fucker is Inala?' Maharell felt mildly intimidated already.