"Hah!" Followed by a grunt, Inala threw another boulder in the approximate direction that Brangara was fleeing. Since the latter's destination was the Dieng Canyon, as long as Inala threw the boulder in that direction, Resha would take care of the fine-tuning.
"Tch!" He grunted upon observing his eight arms were hurting. He had overexerted his strength. He had just become a Royal Zinger and hadn't fully adapted to this state of being. Hence, he wasn't optimal in his exertion of strength and ended up damaging his arms.
'That should be enough for now.' He thought and reverted to human form upon failing to find any other decently sized boulder in his vicinity. He had dug out everything in his reach and sent them flying.
Considering the Boar King's speed, it would take many minutes for Inala's latest projectile to reach Resha. Anything else he throws would end up burning out fully thanks to friction before reaching Brangara.
Inala couldn't determine the maximum range of the projectiles he could throw in his Mystic Grade Royal Zinger form, but he estimated that it was at least around hundred to two hundred kilometres.
The entirety of his Royal Zinger's physical body was built in its ability to throw a projectile. Hence, he had such an absurd range. This was brute physical might. In the future, once Inala assists his throw with a bunch of Prime Skill and throws carefully curated Biome Bombs instead of random boulders, he'll be able to truly exert his throwing power.
Even if the Influenced Region—Hidden Eye—returns in the future, Inala already had a method to raise his altitude while gliding. Hence, once he was prepared, he could camp high up in the sky and rain down missile strikes on the target.
"The best-case scenario is to continue targeting Brangara, but I won't be achieving anything by doing that." He knew his strengths and weaknesses. Currently, even though Inala had evolved, there was still a long distance to tread before reaching his endgame build.
Inala was a Pranic Beast now, which meant that he could transfer between human and Pranic Beast forms without needing Prana to maintain his transformed state. Secondly, his growth no longer needed resources like Tusk bone powder. As long as he eats food, his body will grow.
Both his male and female forms were at the peak of the Body Stage. Thanks to his accumulations, after evolution, Inala was already at maturity as a Royal Zinger.
Currently, he had two primary necessities to take care of before daring to face an evolved Brangara. The second necessity was a cultivation technique. Mystic Bone Art was a cultivation technique capable of performing everything an Empyrean Tusk could achieve biologically.
In a similar vein, Inala would have to create a cultivation technique emulating his Royal Zinger's natural capabilities. He already had a direction of thought related to it and only needed to start working on it. But he had to focus on his first priority, which was to get a Tertiary Nature.
Inala had three directions to take his path forward. The first direction was the obvious choice: Tertiary Nature of Cultivator.
This would allow him to tread on the human path and gain multiple lives, becoming manifolds stronger. This was a stable build that focused on survival the most. It was a reasonable choice, despite the strenuous amount of resources required to gain the Nature, since Inala was currently 35 years old.
At this age, it was a steep path for Inala to gain the Nature of Cultivator. It wasn't impossible, but he'd have to spend a lot of time and preparations towards it.
Here was where he considered the second direction: Brimgan Royalty. Basically, he would focus on getting a Nature that would increase his Spirit Weapon range. Since he already had the data of two Brimgan Royals, it was far more realistic to get this Nature than Cultivator.
By synchronising the Tertiary Nature with his Primary Nature of Mystic Royalty, Inala could tweak range to the limit by taking advantage of his ability to change Grades.
At the Silver Grade, his range would be 180 metres, the same as all Pranic Beasts. At the Gold Grade, his Spirit Weapon range would be boosted by ten times to 1.8 kilometres, the same as a Brimgan Royal at the peak of the Body Stage.
Here's where things got interesting. Once Inala enters the Mystic Grade, as all his Natures, his Tertiary Nature too would be elevated to Mystic Grade, which would increase his Spirit Weapon range by another multiple of ten, ending at 18 kilometres.
18 kilometres!
This was an incomprehensible range. Basically, Inala would be able to steal the Prana and Lifespan of anyone in an entire region with such an expansive range. Moreover, this effect would also be carried to his Primary Nature, which meant that at the Gold Grade and Mystic Grade, the radius of his Biome Bombs would be 1.8 kilometres and 18 kilometres respectively.
Internal Inertial Gravity could twist space to incorporate a large volume in a small object. Inala could unleash the same effect through his Secondary Nature of Perfect Biome Domination, but the radius of his Biome Bomb was fixed at 180 metres now.
By twisting space, the only thing he was changing was its size externally, similar to a Storage Lantern. Hence, this increase in range would prove comprehensive to his combat power.
At its maximum size, Inala would be able to carry an entire city with him. Best of all, there was no limitation to the number of Biome Bombs he could carry. As long as he had enough Prana, he could create as many as he wanted.
Hence, Inala leaned the most towards the second direction. It would truly cover all his bases. The range will enhance his strengths and negate his weaknesses. So it was perfect.
The third direction didn't change his combat power from his current self. But, it would easily make him the most annoying. The reason was simple: Revival.
Yes, revival!
This was conceptualised from the Transcendent Eater's data, taking advantage of its revival mechanism.
The function of a Zinger Queen's Life Bomb is to birth a Zinger. Depending on the quality of the Prana used to hatch the Life Bomb, the strength of the Zinger varied.
As a Royal Zinger, Inala didn't have that limitation. At the Silver Grade, Inala accumulated Prana and Lifespan at the Silver Grade level. As a Gold Grade Royal Zinger, he accumulated Prana and Lifespan at Gold Grade.
It was the same at the Mystic Grade too.
At the Mystic Grade, he could birth all Zinger variants as he pleases. The only difference would be the amount of Prana consumed per each.
Expert Iron Grade Pranic Beast—Quip Zinger!
Expert Silver Grade Pranic Beast—Zinger Aristocrat!
These were the two base variants. Inala could birth Quip Zingers and Zinger Aristocrats while in his base state as a Silver Grade Royal Zinger. For higher variants, he would have to enter the Gold Grade.
The Gold Grade variants were those the three Zingers—that the Quip Tribe was built upon—in his Biome Bomb had evolved into.
Beginner Gold Grade Pranic Beast—Zinger Guard!
Intermediate Gold Grade Pranic Beast—Zinger Princess!
Advance Gold Grade Pranic Beast—Zinger Prince!
As long as Inala enters Expert Gold Grade as a Royal Zinger, he could birth these three Gold Grade variants, albeit through the consumption of a voracious sum of Prana and Lifespan.
The birth of even a Zinger Queen—Expert Iron Grade—required the Lifespan from a being on the level of an Empyrean Tusk. So, to birth a single one of these Gold Grade Zinger variants would force Inala to literally beg across Sumatra.
Finally, at the Mystic Grade, Inala could birth a Royal Zinger. This was the third direction that he could thread upon.
Once Inala succeeded in attaining the Mystic Grade, a set of information flowed into his mind through the Bolts of Transcendence. It was the rules that governed the existence of a Royal Zinger.
Rule 1—There can only exist one Royal Zinger in Sumatra at a point in time.
Rule 2—The Royal Zinger can only be Inala.
Since he forged his path using three pieces of Sumatra Gold, that fact was now etched into Sumatra as a rule, similar to how there can only exist one copy of a Mystic Tentacle's Nature in its Iron, Silver, and Gold forms.
Basically, there can never be another Royal Zinger on Sumatra that wasn't Inala. But Inala had created the Quip Clan in such a way that as they grow and accumulate genetic information, they'd have existences similar to Mammoth Clansmen with the Fragment Disease.
And when two such individuals mate, there is a non-zero chance of birthing the Royal Zinger. The chances of this happening were almost negligible, for the percentage was that low. But it could still happen.
When that happens, the Royal Zinger that is born would be Inala. As long as the Quip Clan doesn't get annihilated, there will come a point in the future when Inala will reappear on Sumatra Continent.
His third direction enhanced that rule, creating a Nature that allowed Inala—at Mystic Grade—to birth a Royal Zinger.
Due to Rule 1, this Royal Zinger wouldn't hatch from the Biome Bomb until the Inala who was alive died. But this implied that the moment Inala died, another body of his would hatch.
As long as he makes enough preparation—gathering the Prana and Lifespan necessary to birth a Royal Zinger—in advance, Inala would continue to revive endlessly.
So, even though the third direction doesn't strengthen him any more than his current level, he'd become an absolute annoyance to his enemies.
All three directions had their pros and cons, offering different sets of strategic value. As a result, Inala was split between them in the ratio of 33, 34, and 33 respectively, with the second direction being his most inclined option at the moment.
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