"Inala! You're back!" Asaeya said as she tightened her hug, "I missed you a lot!"
"Are you alright?" Inala asked as he observed her condition, for a moment surprised to see that she wasn't in the least harmed. Her mental state too seemed optimal at first glance, 'What is happening now?'
'I'll think of it later.' He thought and stared at her, "Let's head out first."
"Okay," Asaeya said as she clapped once, stealing the senses of the Bludders in her vicinity.
Carrying Asaeya and Gannala, Inala landed on the tunnel wall, using his claws to dig into it, and leaped, covering the tunnel width to latch onto the opposite side.
His figure flickered between the two sides of the tunnel wall as he traversed the tunnel, gradually moving upward. One after another, the falling Empyrean Zingers turned their bodies weightless and assumed miniature forms as they landed on his head, serving as his protectors.
The moment a Bludder peeked into the tunnel, its senses were robbed, following which a bunch of Prana Bombs slammed into its face.
"Kiek!"
"Kuak!"
"Why are you taking up my space?"
"Your space? I was here first! Go away, invader!"
Inala felt a headache as hanging on his right was Gannala and on his left was Asaeya, constantly arguing in his ears. They did nothing other than defend him from the Bludders and Shifting Ants. It wasn't limited to them.
The Empyrean Zingers were even worse. It had been close to a year since they were separated. Hence, they wanted to be with their Deity.
Upon assuming miniature forms, the Empyrean Zingers were in a festive mood, chirping about all over his back, legs, and head. Moreover, after observing the exchange between Gannala and Asaeya, they began to argue amongst themselves about who would occupy which portion of Inala.
His eyelids twitched in annoyance as Inala continued to climb up the walls. He was the one doing the hard work while the others relaxed and had enough freedom to argue incessantly. 'My arms are starting to hurt.'
Gannala read his thoughts and glared at Asaeya, "Inala's hands are hurting because of you. Why are you so heavy, you glutton?"
"Glutton? I'm a glutton?" Asaeya raged, "You swallowed an entire hill just a few days ago. If anything, you're the picture-perfect representation of a glutton. Deactivate your Primary Nature for a second, will you? The truth will be revealed,"
"Empyrean Piglet!"
"You're going overboard!" Gannala raged and shed tears before hounding Inala, "This cranky woman is a nuisance, Inala. Let's send her back to her Settlement."
"Cranky? How dare you?" Asaeya glared and stole Gannala's senses, making a poor Empyrean Zinger the victim to take the fall in response.
"Enough!" Inala shouted in the end as he leaped from a tunnel wall and almost slipped in response, "Let me focus."
"Sorry," Asaeya apologised and stealthily pinched Gannala. The latter retaliated with the same and soon enough, they were no longer being subtle about it.
The Empyrean Zingers were watching their fight while sipping on a Prana Bomb, casually commenting about it while even making bets. Of course, as they were witnessing everything, Inala knew what was happening by reading their memories.
Everyone knew that he had a clear picture of everything but still acted ignorant.
'I give up!' Inala thought in frustration and switched off his mind, mechanically climbing up the tunnel. They fell for a long time at an accelerated pace.
Since he was going against gravity, the only way to scale up the path was by climbing over the tunnel wall. It would take Inala forever to reach the entrance. It was riskier to unleash thrusts using his Sumatra Canon to move up, for the moment a tunnel swaps, he would end up trapped somewhere far away from his destination.
That would waste even more time. Hence, it was better to climb over slowly, for he had more control in that case.
"Gannala, give me access." Inala used a bunch of Prana Bombs to create a large platform to stand upon, with its shaft inserted into the tunnel wall for support. He rested his aching arms and closed his eyes while touching Gannala.
Prime Skill—Empyrean Slip!
Inala arrived within Gannala's mind space and stared at the voluminous data clusters. Most of them seemed rigid as Gannala hadn't yet grown enough to access them.
He focused on the data clusters that were faintly whirring, implying that they were part of Gannala's active mind. With a thought from him, Inala's body in the mind space moved and appeared before a large information cluster.
This cluster contained all of Orakha's data that Gannala had absorbed just recently.
Usually, an Empyrean Tusk would only absorb necessary information from its Mammoth Clan to avoid an information overload. Gannala ended up absorbing all of Orakha's information because he was a valuable character.
It was also in an effort to better understand the previous Gannala's arrangements.
Through the Empyrean Slip Prime Skill, Inala began to absorb Orakha's data, stopping every time his head hurt. There was a lot to absorb and couldn't be done in a short time. 'I have a lot to absorb now.'
The data from Lurt, Gudora, Fhoong Brimgan, Millinger, Mudropper, Empyrean Zinger, and Orakha. All were pivotal for his growth and hence couldn't be skipped.
After every two to three hours, Inala rested by creating a Prana Bomb platform to stand upon. He rested for ten to fifteen minutes and spent the time absorbing Orakha's data. Having an Empyrean Tusk daughter was very convenient for him, since through her, he could pretty much have unfiltered access to all her Mammoth Clansmen.
The Empyrean Slip Prime Skill existed for just that. It worked only when the targeted Empyrean Tusk granted him access. But that wasn't an issue with Gannala as she always gave him access to her mind space.
Primary Nature—Human Avatar!
Secondary Nature—Daily Checkpoint!
Tertiary Nature—Mystic Eater!
Upon understanding Orakha's three Natures, Inala was glad he didn't fight Orakha, 'That would have turned bad.'
Through Mystic Eater, Orakha would be able to steal the Sumatra Gold in his possession. That was dangerous and would mess up what he had worked so hard to create.
Besides, with Daily Checkpoint, it was impossible to kill Orakha. He would just revive after getting killed. Even though he could only revive once a day, as long as Orakha fled for a day after revival until the Secondary Nature came online, he could fight without worries once again.
Orakha could court death once daily, an ultimately annoying opponent to deal with. If he so wanted, he could harass Inala endlessly and gradually make the latter expend all his resources.
Besides, upon knowing the type of Human Avatar that Orakha was building, Inala swiftly got rid of any thoughts of opposing Orakha, 'He's only weaker than Resha. He's not at a level I can deal with yet.'
'I need to condense the data in my possession and harness a set of powerful combat abilities.' Inala couldn't use his trump card to deal with Orakha. Yes, by using it, he would be able to kill Orakha, but the latter would simply revive and return.
Hence, he needed to work harder to ensure even his base level of power was strong enough to face Orakha, 'But at this rate, it'll be hard. He's steadily building a Gold Grade Human Avatar. And if he comes in possession of some Sumatra Gold, he'll be able to build a Mystic Grade Human Avatar.'
Inala sighed, 'Without the Attribute, I won't be on his level anytime soon.'
Eighty days later, an exhausted Inala crawled to the entrance of Guna Caves, gasping in relief upon staring at the outside world, relieved when his eyes stung at the sunlight. "I'm never going back there ever again!"