"Travellers?" The gruff middle-aged man frowned in response and looked around, wondering how the trio arrived at the island, "Where did you park your ship?"
"We have our means to travel," Inala smiled and continued, "As travelling merchants from the Brimgan Empire, we don't wish to reveal our secrets. But, our intentions for coming here are to trade. So, what do you say?"
'Revered abode of immortals my ass!' Gannala rolled her eyes, controlling her urge to puke. Knowing why she was feeling such an emotion, Inala subtly moved before her, blocking the gruff middle-aged man from seeing her expression.
"I…" The gruff middle-aged man scratched his cheek, stared at Inala for a few seconds in silence, and then got up, "Let me go inform them."
His tone then turned serious, "Stay here. If you move around and interrupt our work, then be prepared for the consequences."
"The immortals dislike chaos."
"I'll keep it in mind," Inala nodded politely and stood in his place as the gruff middle-aged man walked deeper inland.
Once he was gone, Asaeya commented, "Why is that weakling acting like he's the boss?"
"Well, that's his job. But Asaeya," Inala stared at her in seriousness, "Only express such opinions when in private, alright?"
"The Cooter Clansmen won't take such disrespect lying down."
"Dad, it's annoying." Gannala groaned, "Do we really need to be in this place? I don't like you being polite to them. Let's storm the place."
"They're all weaklings anyway."
Gannala expanded her Prana senses into the cave and inspected the mine, noticing plenty of Free Humans mining around. She observed that the majority of the people had two or three Prana, with occasional rarity reaching four Prana.
The gruff middle-aged man acted as their boss, the only Free Human on the island with ten Prana. The sole task of the Free Humans on this island was to mine for minerals. They mined with the help of the Ewworm acting as their tails that doubled as pickaxes.
The tail end of the Ewworms of these miners indeed took on the shape of a pickaxe, making it easier for them to mine. With a rough inspection, Gannala found around two thousand miners, a fairly decent population for such a tiny island.
"Keep yourselves in check," Inala admonished their complaints, "Things will get messy if we offend them."
He stared at the duo, "Both of you remember the tone and body mannerisms we have to use towards the Cooter Clansmen, right?"
"Don't act like your usual selves. It would be damn easy for a fight to erupt between us when you do that."
Mammoth Clansmen and Cooter Clansmen were like oil and water, immiscible in nature. They had completely different cultures, sharing differences in the way they talked, behaved, things they prioritised, etc.
In Sumatra Chronicles, when Resha met with the Cooter Clansman, barely after two sentences being exchanged between the two, a battle erupted. It was a clash of egos.
Two Clans reigned supreme at the top of Sumatra Continent, with each possessing Mystic Grade cultivation techniques. There were only two such techniques, each granting its cultivator enough power on par with a Nature.
Remaining at the top for thousands of years, with a ginormous legacy resulted in pride towards their roots. Mammoth Clansmen considered themselves the best of Sumatra. The Cooter Clansmen did the same too.
Both Clans acknowledged each other but considered their side to be superior to the other.
If not for the fact that both Clans didn't have overlapping territories, ensuring no contact could be had, they would have gone to war long ago.
A Mammoth Clansman rarely met a Cooter Clansman. This only happened in special terrains that served as melting pots in Sumatra Continent, such as the Dieng Canyon. And even these meetings were very rare.
'This will be difficult.' Inala felt a headache as he observed Gannala's reaction. She was getting irritated to have set foot in the territory managed by the Cooter Clan. This was an instinctual feeling.
There was a distinct gap among Gold Grade Pranic Beasts. Majority of the Gold Grade Pranic Beasts that managed to become one were either Beginner or Intermediate Gold Grade Pranic Beasts.
The number of Advance Gold Grade Pranic Beast races was few, with those at the Expert Gold Grade being only two—Empyrean Tusks and Empyrean Snappers.
Of course, there existed other Expert Gold Grade Pranic Beasts in Sumatra Continent, but these cases were Gold Grade Pranic Beasts that had mutated. The natural levels of their race would be Beginner or Intermediate Gold Grade.
Hence, only two species were born on Sumatra Continent at the literal possible peak in terms of birth. It was impossible for a Mystic Grade Pranic Beast to be born naturally. Even the Mystic Empyrean Tentacle appeared only after its Iron, Silver, and Gold variants consumed each other to fuse and evolve into the Mystic Grade variant.
Therefore, both Empyrean Tusks and Empyrean Snappers were special, possessing pinnacle strength from birth, with the possibility of them reaching the Mystic Grade the highest.
Both races were worshipped as Deities among communities of both Humans and Pranic Beasts. As a result, it was extremely irritating for either of them to be in the presence of the other.
As an Empyrean Tusk who was the Supreme Tusk's successor, Gannala had a strong pride. And the Mammoth Clansman she respected the most was obviously her father, Inala. Hence, she disliked seeing him acting politely towards a mere worker under a Cooter Clansman.
It was as if Inala was acknowledging the other party as the superior one.
Gannala knew best not to sabotage Inala's plans, but it was also a fact that merely being in this place was getting on her nerves. Even the mildest discontentment that she would have originally shrugged appeared magnified here, as if they were the most offensive one could be towards her.
"Turtle bastards!" Gannala cursed openly, "Are they crawling on their asses or what? It has already been twenty minutes."
"Language, Gannala." Inala lightly hit her on the head.
"I learnt it from you." Gannala pouted and turned her head, sulking.
In the meantime, the gruff middle-aged man waddled through a barren terrain before coming across a lush forest. Poking out from its centre was a cylindrical column of earth, built like a natural mound, reaching a height of hundred metres.
A helical staircase connected it from the bottom to the top where a luxurious tower had been built, eight storeys tall. The gruff middle-aged man quickly ran through the beaten path in the forest and scaled up the helical flight of stairs.
There was a path leading between two ponds filled with lotus-like flowers, releasing a relaxing scent into the air, one that upon inhaling rejuvenated their bodies.
The gruff middle-aged man walked on the path and arrived at the tower's entrance, using the brass hook to knock on the door, "Esteemed Immortals!"
"We have a visitor on the island." He prostrated on the floor and spoke with reverence.
"Visitors?" Mist flowed out of the tower and covered the surroundings as a feminine voice resounded, "What's their identity?"
"They're merchants from the Brimgan Empire." The gruff middle-aged man replied.
"Brimgan Empire?" The mist intensified as all the gruff middle-aged man could see were two shadows skipping large distances like frogs, quickly scaling down the mound before making their way towards Inala.
"I pray for the Immortals' journey." The gruff middle-aged man prostrated in the direction of the two individuals and announced aloud.