'That doesn't seem like a coincidence.' Virala thought as he observed the Prana Bomb getting blocked by Raaha. He was hidden in the safety of his house, surrounded by bone walls, all while he didn't emit any Prana.
But despite that, the Boar King targeted him. Had it just been a casual throw, the Boar King would have hurled the Prana Bomb without much thought and targeted the caravan. But no, that didn't seem to be the case.
Virala had pretty good eyesight, as he had the power of an Empyrean Tusk. As a result, even when the Boar King was twelve kilometres away, he was able to make out the latter's expression, concluding that the Boar King's aim was fixed on the house he was on.
Based on the trajectory, the Prana Bomb made a beeline towards his room, exactly towards the spot he was seated upon. That couldn't be a coincidence. 'Just in case, I should take precautions.'
Equipping two Silver Nature Weapons of Leech, Virala prepared himself.
He left his room and entered the room adjacent to his in the two-storey house, seeing a Mammoth Clansman there. He was trembling at the moment, flustered by the Boar King's appearance.
"Alright, time to do your thing." Virala patted the latter's shoulder as he took on his Nature Weapon form and entered the latter's body.
Prime Skill—Virala!
The Mammoth Clansman's eyes turned dull, having lost his original identity. His head drooped low as he was in a daze. All memories in his mind were getting erased in real-time, and replacing them were Virala's memories—crafted and curated by Virala.
While the Boar King began to release his presence in a circle, the Mammoth Clansman collapsed to the floor. The bones in his body turned soft for a moment before changing shape slowly. At the same time, his muscles convulsed in response, realigning themselves to the changing skeletal structure.
A couple minutes later, the Mammoth Clansman's body had morphed to resemble Virala's. The process didn't end here as copious amounts of Virala's Prana seeped into the Mammoth Clansman's Spirit Container, influencing it too.
Soon, it actually began to radiate the same presence as Virala.
The Mammoth Clansman's eyes shot open, now fully modelled after Virala in both body and mind, also possessing the memories of the latter—except for sensitive information that Virala withheld.
The Mammoth Clansman got up and entered Virala's room, finding the Nature Weapon of Shock—containing the Shock Lizard's Primary Nature of Prana Shock—and equipped it to his Tertiary Nature slot.
Now, all preparations were done.
Virala's plans always revolved around manipulating people. Therefore, the day he obtained the Secondary Nature of Weaponisation, Virala began to experiment with it to explore its potential.
Weaponisation was obtained when Virala comprehended the Mammoth Clan's children's book, left behind by the Mammoth Ancestor. Granny Oyo gained inspiration from the same book and created the Primary Extortion Skill, a Skill that allowed the user to steal the target's Primary Nature.
Using it, Ruvva stole Virala's Primary Nature, despite the latter possessing a Secondary Nature. Primary Extortion Skill was able to selectively extract the Primary Nature alone from its target.
Hence, even after obtaining the Secondary Nature of Weaponisation, Virala continued to study the children's book, gaining inspiration for the creation of a lot of Skills.
One of these was the Prime Skill of Virala, one unleashed by equipping the Nature Weapons of Leech in his Primary and Tertiary Nature slots. Once he activates it, the Prime Skill would employ Mystic Bone Art into the target and control their body, gradually morphing it.
The Decaleech's power would make things easier and infuse Virala's presence into the target's blood, which would eventually be transmitted into the Spirit Container and change it inherently. Since it changed the target into Virala, the Prime Skill was named as such.
It had restrictions in that it could only be used on Mammoth Clansmen, with the success rate being the highest for those from the same Settlement. Moreover, preparatory work had to be done in advance, similar to the Primary Extortion Skill.
Virala had been drugging this Mammoth Clansman for a few years already, all in preparation for the time when he obtained a Nature Weapon with the Decaleech's power. It wasn't just this Mammoth Clansman. Virala had done the same to about ten people, as it was better to be cautious than not.
If after years of effort, the Mammoth Clansman were to die to a Pranic Beast, Virala could only blame his stupidity. Hence, he targeted multiple suitable men and kept them ready to be affected by the Prime Skill of Virala.
The Mammoth Clansman had fused with a Shock Lizard and had the Primary Nature of Prana Shock. Now, he had the same Nature as his Tertiary Nature thanks to Virala equipping the Nature Weapon of Shock in the respective slot.
The Mammoth Clansman wore Virala's clothes, following which he was in a daze. A fist-sized orb fell out of his body and rolled to the corner. Prana gushed out of it and carried in a Spirit Weapon, one shaped like a skateboard with a socket meant to hold the orb in place.
The orb was Virala in his Nature Weapon form. After taking root in the socket, the skateboard moved and left the room.
Immediately after, the Mammoth Clansman—disguised as Virala—got up and looked around. His expression became weasel-like as he exited the house and gathered alongside the rest of the Clansmen from his Settlement, beginning to face the Pranic Beasts.
In his memories, there didn't exist the Secondary Nature of Weaponisation. Instead, the fabricated memories contained details regarding his Tertiary Nature of Prana Shock. By activating the two Natures simultaneously, he unleashed power vastly superior to those that had fused with a Shock Lizard.
Virala—in his Nature Weapon form—strolled around on his skateboard and touched the foot of the 104th Empyrean Tusk, seeping into its body to occupy its Secondary Nature slot. Equipped with two Decaleech Natures, even if he were to influence it, the 104th Empyrean Tusk would remain unaware.
And now, using its senses, he observed the Boar King, realising, 'His target is me. He's observing my fight.'
'I should remain here for the time being.' Virala thought and began to think of his subsequent actions, trying to guess the fate of the individual moving about as him.
Why was the Boar King looking for him? How did he sense Virala? What was his objective? And finally, why was he acting different from usual, employing other Pranic Beasts when he always moved alone?
Virala had a lot to consider as he observed, trying to make sense of the situation.
At the 2-Life Stage, the cultivator grew two bodies and could either stack them or move about as two individuals. But, once moved beyond their Spirit Weapon range, their mind no longer remains connected.
That means the thoughts of one body wouldn't be relayed to the other. Only when they were within the Spirit Weapon range would the connection be reestablished.
Since Virala's other body was far away, the two bodies couldn't know what happened to each other. Hence, both bodies had to make deductions of the situation from scratch.
As the Mammoth Clan faced the horde of Pranic Beasts whose threat level had become no different from a Minor Crisis, Virala became nervous once the observing Boar King began to move, 'He's coming!'