Eighty days before Inala entered the Red-Draft River. The contest for stealing the Centinger eggs began.
Virala exited his room, having slung three One-Storey Storage Lanterns on his hip. The first One-Storey Storage Lantern held all his Nature Weapons. The second Storage Lantern held Parute Fruits and medicine.
The final Storage Lantern was the most important of them all, his most prized possession. It contained the sphere resulting from the previous Harrala's suicide along with the Boar King.
He had finished turning it into his Nature Weapon only a few days ago, the reason he became arrogant enough to confront Resha without hesitation.
Mystic Nature Weapon—Refiner!
Each Nature Weapon contained the power of a Nature in it. When wielding it, Virala could use the Nature within the Nature Weapon at seventy-five percent potency of the original.
The Nature Weapons were graded according to the Grade of their source Natures. The Nature Weapon he got from weaponizing Ruvva was a Gold Nature Weapon with the power of Internal Inertial Gravity.
Virala named these Nature Weapons for convenience, using Mystic Bone Art to inscribe the names onto the spheres they represented. This was for ease of convenience, as many Nature Weapons looked similar, especially after he equipped them a few times.
He could easily tell them apart once he activated his Secondary Nature of Weaponisation, but during an intense battle, that would cost him a few seconds if he had to juggle through the Nature Weapons to find the right one.
Hence, he created an easily identifiable imprint on all of them.
Gold Nature Weapon—Tusk!
This was the Nature Weapon with the power of Internal Inertial Gravity. The Mystic Nature Weapon of Refiner was the one resulting from the fusion of the Boar King's body with the bodies of the previous Harrala and previous Gannala.
Nature—Internal Astral Cultivator!
This was the power contained in the Mystic Nature Weapon of Refiner, a result of the fusion of all Natures possessed by the Boar King, an Empyrean Tusk, and the Supreme Tusk.
Internal Astral Cultivator was capable of elevating the Grade of a Nature. Yes, you heard it right. By using it, a Nature could be cultivated all the way to the Mystic Grade.
However, this had a severe limitation and was a time-consuming process. The limitation was the fact that the Nature being cultivated could only be done by using another copy of the same Nature as fuel.
Meaning, if a cultivator had Internal Astral Cultivator as his Secondary Nature and a Primary Nature of Prana Shock, then he would have to obtain a Tertiary Nature of Prana Shock. Only then would Internal Astral Cultivator use the Tertiary Nature as fuel to upgrade the Primary Nature.
And once used as fuel, the Tertiary Nature would vanish. However, his Primary Nature would still remain an Iron Grade Nature. Multiple Tertiary Natures of Prana Shock would have to be used as fuel before his Primary Nature reaches the Silver Grade.
Blola gained the Tertiary Nature of Spirit Moss Cultivator at Ennoudu Plains after six months. For a Mammoth Clansman, this rate of obtaining a Nature was possible, as long as it was a simple-to-attain Nature such as Spirit Moss Cultivator.
But for even it to be upgraded to the Mystic Grade would take centuries due to the acquisition time for the Tertiary Nature and the sheer number of them required as fuel.
This characteristic of Internal Astral Cultivator was derived from the Boar King. Therefore, if he had it, he could easily obtain as much fuel as possible through his Primary Nature of Voracious Nature.
Through it, he could obtain the Natures of all Pranic Beasts he devours and use them as fuel. The Nature had to be present in the cultivator's body for Internal Astral Cultivator to be effective upon it. Therefore, it was impossible for any other cultivator or Pranic Beast to realistically make use of it other than the Boar King.
Virala was an exception thanks to his Secondary Nature of Weaponisation. He had his Primary and Tertiary Natures as vacant slots, capable of being equipped with any Nature—Nature Weapon—as he pleases.
One would be the target of upgrading while the other would be for fuel.
But currently, his Secondary Nature was filled. And if he were to equip the Mystic Nature Weapon of Refiner atop that, he would only have one slot left. That wasn't enough for Internal Astral Cultivator to take effect, since there was no slot left for the fuel Nature to be equipped.
Therefore, the solution was to either obtain a fourth slot or figure out a way for his Secondary Nature to be equipped and unequipped.
The likelihood of the first case happening was zero. To date, Virala hadn't found any data or clue supporting the possibility of a Quaternary Nature. Three Natures seemed to be the absolute limit.
Therefore, his only other choice would be to focus on upgrading his Secondary Nature of Weaponisation. It was only at the Gold Grade. As long as he brings it to Mystic Grade, Virala felt a new possibility would open up to him.
And it wasn't an issue to get Nature Weapons with the power of Weaponisation. The key to it lay in a children's book circulated throughout the Mammoth Clan. As long as people gain inspiration regarding it, they will naturally awaken the Secondary Nature of Weaponisation in their body.
That was the inheritance set up by the Mammoth Clan Ancestor. Of course, Virala didn't want anyone else getting their hands on such a godly power. It had to be exclusive only to him.
Therefore, he ran a simple scheme. With a smile, he approached an Empyrean Tusk, carrying a crossbow in hand. All the Empyrean Tusks were sleeping currently. They did this by lying sideways on the ground, making the settlement on their back becoming perpendicular to the ground.
But thanks to Internal Inertial Gravity, the people in the settlement wouldn't feel the floor turning by ninety degrees.
As they were sleeping, gaining access to the settlement was easy. Virala loaded a Bone Slip in the crossbow and shot it to the settlement, aiming for the Academy of Refinement. The one he targeted was the Academy of Refinement of the 104th Settlement.
Being one of the weakest, it was situated the farthest from the 1st Settlement. He paid heed to ensure his actions wouldn't be noticed by Raaha.
Of course, after shooting the Bone Slip, he targeted the Academy of Refinement in two more Settlements. Following that, he began to make way towards the Red-Draft River alone, not part of any hunting groups.
He equipped a Nature Weapon with stealth capabilities, merging his presence into the surroundings as if he were a tree. This way, the only means to perceive him was by sight. All other modes of perception would only register him as a tree.
Virala arrived at a cave, holding the children's book in hand as he waited patiently. Two hours later, once all the teams had entered the Red-Draft River, two eleven-year-old kids sneaked out of the 104th Settlement and approached the cave.
"Welcome!" Virala smirked as the cave's entrance closed shut once the two students sauntered in. A sharp cry later, silence ensued in the area.