"I think this area is clear of all Comets," Wittral spoke after two hours since their arrival, wiping his sweat as he downed the fluid in a Life Bomb and recovered 50 Prana after some time. He then stared at Inala, "We can split off and gather what we want faster. This area is safe for the time being."
Originally, Inala wanted to split off right from the get-go, but Wittral refused to do so until all the Comets in the region had been captured. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about Inala's well-being.
Well, Inala didn't have to guard against sneak attacks, so that was indeed a welcomed decision from his side. He casually began to walk in a respective direction, "I'll start from here."
"Alright," Wittral pointed at a small mound deeper in the forest, "That place is hidden enough for me to assume my Empyrean Snapper form. I'll be collecting the necessary minerals there."
They needed a certain mineral to form the beetred alloy with a Prana Bomb. Wittral didn't plan on stopping there and intended to stock up on a bunch of minerals that were necessary to brew a variety of drinks.
He had seen the price of goods in the market for items such as sugar and other basic essentials. Even though they were very cheap, it was even cheaper to procure them on his own. That way, his profit margin would be larger. And best of all, since he would be personally extracting the minerals, the quality would be top-notch.
To pay off their steep loan, he planned to take advantage of his exceptional abilities to the best of his capability. 'Besides, by mixing the fluid in a Prana Bomb, I can make drinks that can develop one's cultivation. Such drinks will go for a premium and will become our tea house's signature items.'
'Amita has a few interesting recipes. But I'm the one in charge of making the drinks.' Wittral was very clear about the division of roles. In the tea house, he would be in charge of brewing everything while Inala would serve the customers, paint live for the customer's viewing pleasure, and even perform short skits.
All entertainment aspects will be taken care of by Inala. And hence, anything necessary for it would be procured by him. Similarly, anything necessary for brewing drinks would be procured by him. Since both of them had the same set of abilities, they could focus on doing what they wanted.
Anyway, at the end of the day, the profits would be theirs. This division of roles was just to keep things fun and interesting in their daily lives.
'She loves to paint. So, I'll ensure she can have fun.' He patted his chest, looked around sneakily, took out a scroll, and unfurled it to bask in the radiance of a bald woman's painting on it, "Besides,"
"I have this."
"What are you doing?" There was a voice transmitted from afar as Wittral rapidly furled the scroll and safely kept it in his chest pocket. He turned around and noticed the figure of Inala staring at him from 150 metres away, flashing a glare of suspicion his way.
"Nothing," Wittral tried his best to mask his fluster and moved farther away, "Don't mind me and do your thing. I'm busy."
"…I should tear up that picture." Inala felt strange emotions well up in him, stuff that he couldn't even put a tag upon. He couldn't understand why Wittral emphasised so much interest in a portrait of his female—bald—form when he was right here, in the exact same appearance.
'Is it an Empyrean Snapper thing?' After some time, Inala shook his head and cleared his mind, not having the mental freedom to ponder about every little thing. As long as Wittral was happy and didn't do anything that would hinder his plans, Inala wouldn't complain.
Once Wittral had gone far away, Inala reverted to his male form, inhaling a deep breath as he stared at the dense foliage overhead, feeling his eye twitch, "Don't think."
There was an instant conflict in his thoughts. In his male form, he felt disgusted by how his female form was behaving. The more he thought about it, the more his mental conflict grew. Hence, the only solution was to stop thinking about it, 'Focus on your goal. Nothing more, nothing less. Don't become distracted.'
It was a mantra to brainwash himself as Inala kept repeating the three lines in a loop, using that to prevent his brain from wandering to his past actions as a female and interfering with them through the mindset of his male form. "I need to get to the 2-Life Stage as soon as possible."
Once that happens, he'll split his body and make each body live as a gender respectively. This way, a good portion of the issues could be pushed onto the respective gendered body. The only time where they would combine into a single body is when he grabs the Major Treasure of Attribute.
'I'll make Wittral introduce my male form to Hayaya.' It was a long scheme that was being brewed. Currently, Hayaya—Asaeya's disguise in the Brimgan Empire—was the closest Wittral had in regards to a friend. And there were still three years left for Inala to reach the 2-Life Stage. 'Things will be ready by then.'
He casually leaned on a tree trunk and inhaled softly, remaining as still as a rock. His Prana Hands crawled across the place like spiders, running on their fingers, feeling up every bark, leaf, pebble, and blade of grass nearby. He remained motionless for an hour while his Prana Hands remained in motion without rest. Suddenly, his hand shot forth and grabbed a leaf.
Secondary Nature—Internal Inertial Gravity!
The leaf was a Satellite. And once he reached in its direction, it slammed into him. But as it approached him, Inala activated the Skill of Prana Claw and grabbed it, absorbing all its Prana to render it useless.
Getting its Prana absorbed all of a sudden through its Satellite caused pain in its Spirit Container, causing the Enrino to flinch instinctively. Inala noticed that flinch.
"Where are you going?" Two Prana Hands jutted forth and grabbed a tree branch that suddenly wriggled into life, letting out faint shrieks in pain as its Prana was being absorbed rapidly.
As Prana surged into his being, Inala closed his eyes in delight, relishing the influx, "It has been a while since I felt like this."
Once the Enrino was exhausted of all Prana, he touched it with a Life Hand and absorbed its lifeforce, feeling his body grow healthier in response, "I have been living in a deprived state for too long."
He stopped absorbing its Lifeforce when it only had a day left to live. Inala grabbed the unconscious figure of the Enrino and seeped Prana into it.
Prime Skill—Empyrean Extraction!
Blood spurted out of its orifices as all information about its body was encoded into its skull. Inala ripped it apart using his Prana Hands, ensuring the blood didn't spill on his clothes. Using the same technique a Mammoth Clansman used to clean themselves, Inala expended a single unit of Prana and cleaned up the skull.
Prime Skill—Mind Slip!
He accessed the Enrino's data and focused on its hiding instinct and the related information, prioritising comprehending them. Two hours later, he stopped and looked around. Even though the forest looked the same as before, appearing the exact same in his vision, now armed with data, Inala stared at parts of the forest with a smile, "There you are."
He was now able to detect where the Enrinos were hidden, knowing their bias in selecting a hiding spot like the back of his hand.