"Your Deity!" Virala's voice resounded with power. His declaration was like rainfall on draught-filled lands. The minds of all the Free Humans were strained from being forced to starve in the mines. They lost all faith and hope in the Cooter Clan Immortals, having resorted to cannibalism eventually.
Tez Island was very large and hence, it had a significant stockpile of food within the mines itself. The Free Humans had earned a sufficient amount, not to mention growing some crops in the cleared-out upper channels of the mines.
Even after the recent string of events, with the Cooter Clansmen posted at their island fleeing after the annihilation of the Cooter Clan at the hands of Brangara, the situation within the mine hadn't progressed to the extent like in Leh Island.
The Free Humans had resorted to cannibalism, but it was still in the initial stages. 'They suffer from guilt. That's enough. They haven't gone past the past of no return yet.'
Had he been a week or two late, the people in the mines would have partaken in more cannibalism, which would have fully eroded their moral compass. If that happens, they would serve no constructive use for the Kingdom that Virala intended to erect here.
"Listen!" Virala announced, "Your so-called Immortals are mere Cooter Clansmen. They're not Free Humans."
He pointed at the prostrating group of people, "You all are different from each other. To date, you have been weak, and hence, you were ruled by the Cooter Clan. But that all will change if you're daring enough."
He extended his hand and announced, "If you have the guts, take my hand and you'll gain the power of the Deities. Only the most daring of Free Humans has a chance of being a Deity, one who can treat the Cooter Clan as dirt."
"Is anyone with enough guts here?" He took a few steps back and caused his Mystic Human Stamp to bloom on the ground. It gradually expanded until it spanned a metre in size. Once fully in bloom, it began to condense Iron Fruits.
It cost Virala 300 Prana per Iron Fruit, so he stopped after making twenty Iron Fruits, 'I can make more when needed.'
"If you wish to become a Deity, consume a fruit." He didn't say anything else and simply observed the group, 'Only someone strong of will can succeed in becoming a Mystic Human. There's no use in convincing them to consume it. They'll just die and waste my efforts.'
There were over four thousand Free Humans in his vicinity. If even a single Mystic Human appears from them, Virala would be more than content. The chances of a Free Human becoming a Mystic Human were just abyssal.
'Since these Free Humans haven't practiced any cultivation techniques, they have a higher chance of success.' Even with that, he considered it his win if even a single Mystic Human emerged from the lot.
For regular Free Humans, there was a one-in-ten thousand chance of success. And the higher the Free Human's cultivation and the stronger the influence on them from their Human Avatar, the lower their chance of becoming a Mystic Human.
'Only someone strong of will and wishes to be above others, unfettered, can become a Mystic Human.' He thought and observed in silence. He activated his Secondary Body Stage 2 partial transformation of Tail, causing the Mystic Ewworm tail to expand in length and exit the mine.
A dozen seconds later, it returned, having skewered a couple dozen Phells from the sides of their bodies. He avoided touching their needle-shaped noses to prevent them from exploding and crushed their brains first.
Blood dripped across his tail as he opened his mouth and chomped upon a Phell. He noticed the gazes of the starved Free Humans fall on him, in shock and awe, "You can also do this if you succeed."
"At most one or two can succeed, so don't complain that I didn't warn in advance." Virala said calmly, "For the rest, you can live for a year after consuming a fruit."
"Will I…will I be fed for the year?" A seventeen-year-old boy stood up weakly and asked, "Whether I succeed or not, will I be fed for a year?"
"Yeah," Virala shrugged casually as he pointed at his tail, "It takes me a couple of seconds to feed the lot of you."
"I…I wish to try it!" The boy shouted with a burning desire, "My Deity! I'll succeed, no matter what!"
"If you're confident, go ahead." Virala continued to gorge on the corpse of the Phell, causing more of its scent to waft into the mine.
Saliva formed in the parched mouths of the Free Humans who gulped at the scent of food, unable to control themselves. However, the mild presence generated by Virala kept their feet tied, preventing them from doing anything without his permission.
The seventeen-year-old boy approached the Mystic Human Stamp and prostrated before it devotedly. He then kneeled on the ground with respect and carefully inched his hand forward, unwilling to dirty the pristine object before him, and delicately picked up an Iron Fruit.
He stared at it in a daze, sniffing to inhale an aromatic scent that allured him. He was desperate due to hunger, but the sight of Virala casually skewering dozens of Phells became rooted in his mind, 'I want to be that powerful one day!'
Groomed by the Cooter Clan, he had no knowledge about the outside world. For as long as he could remember, he was stuck in this mine, alternating between his resting spot and mining spot day after day.
He wished to live! To achieve something beyond his mundane existence!
'My Deity is special!' He thought, glancing at the shiny figure of Virala, 'His presence is thousands of times greater than all the Immortals combined.'
He bowed towards Virala and swallowed the Iron Fruit, feeling a warm sensation as the pulp arrived at his stomach. Once the digestion process began, faint Prana fluctuations emanated from him as Mystic Nature Art began to condense in his mind space.
"Focus on the information." Virala's voice resounded in his mind, "Seek the change, accept the change, and harmonise with the change. You'll find yourself standing above all existences on Sumatra,"
"As a Mystic Human!"
It was a message encoded within the Iron Fruit. Alongside Mystic Nature Art was a recorded voice from Virala. Once the data appeared in his mind space, the boy heard the voice.
"Mystic Human…!" The boy muttered, feeling his Prana levels increase steadily. And as it did, he noticed that the level of respect he had for the Cooter Clan Immortals was rapidly decreasing.
The Ewworm fused with his rectum spurred into action, struggling as its body began to decompose from within. It struggled, intending to survive, but the effects of the Iron Fruit enveloped it and began to kill it, all because it had fused with the boy's rectum.
The brainwashing done by the Cooter Clan was coming undone as the boy felt strange, experiencing a new perspective. Slowly, everything foreign influencing him was getting erased bit by bit as his Prana values continued to increase.
By then, the boy either enters the Body Stage and fuses with the bodies of two Pranic Beasts or dies.
"You won't experience any pain or suffering." Virala announced, "Try your best to succeed."
"C-Can I try it too?" A middle-aged woman in the foremost row got up and requested, approaching the Mystic Human Stamp upon receiving Virala's permission. She too consumed an Iron Fruit and began to experience the associated changes, cursing a couple minutes later, "Those damn Cooter Clansmen abandoned us!"
"Has that woman gone mad?"
"Why is she cursing the Immortals?"
"She finally lost it!"
The people clamoured in shock, for it was beyond their wildest dreams to see someone curse the Cooter Clansmen. To them, even being talked to by a Cooter Clansman was a joyous occasion. Their minds failed to comprehend what they were hearing from the middle-aged woman.
'Is that how I was until now?' The middle-aged woman thought as she stared at the others, her expression one of pity. She then approached the seventeen-year-old boy and asked, "Do you mind sharing your experiences?"
"All the information is flowing into my head, but I'm still nervous."
"It's the same for me," The boy nodded, "But as long as I think about it, the cultivation technique acts accordingly. It's amazing!"
"This is for the two of you, as promised." Virala laid the corpse of a Phell before each of the duo, "You'll have your fill for the next year."
Seeing the duo being fed food, many others stepped up to the task.
"My Deity! Can I try it too?" Another Free Human got up, unable to endure the hunger anymore. Once he did, many others expressed their desire, wishing to eat their fill for at least a year instead of starving to their deaths.
"Anyone brave enough can attempt it." Virala nodded and steadily increased the number of Iron Fruits on the Mystic Human Stamp. His tail continued to catch Phells for his consumption. Aided by the digestion capacity of both the Empyrean Boar King and Mystic Ewworm, his recovery speeds were more than enough to create the Iron Fruits.
As these Free Humans had never cultivated a cultivation technique, the influences on their being were minimal. It would be ejected in a matter of days. Hence, Virala didn't have to create Silver Fruits. They would only be necessary for Free Humans who already had Human Avatars.
After the first few days, once all the influence on them was erased, it would only be a matter of the Free Humans being able to enter the Body Stage. They should be competent enough to strengthen their Spirit Containers through Mystic Nature Art, enough to forge a strong enough foundation and then fuse the 100 Spirit Containers into a singular whole.
As long as they reach the Body Stage, they'd succeed, even if there was less than a day left for a year to pass. Virala would be ready with the Pranic Beast bodies that they could fuse with.
Eventually, everyone consumed an Iron Fruit, even if their incentive was only to sate their hunger. Virala didn't care about their intention. It only mattered to him whether they could become Mystic Humans or not.
"I'll visit once a month to bring you food." Virala said and piled a mountain of Phell corpses within the mine, "There's more than enough for the lot of you to eat for a month. I'm sure you know how to store meat for so long. Work hard and try your best to reach the Body Stage within a year!"
He then closed the entrance to the mine and swam his way to the next island, repeating the same with the survivors there. Most of the small islands had no survivors, with their numbers on the medium islands ranging from a dozen to a hundred.
Large islands like Tez Island had survivors ranging in the thousands. By transforming his Mystic Ewworm's Tool—made using Rutham—into a pair of fins, Virala swam at a rapid pace in his Mystic Ewworm form.
By the third day, he had perfected the shape of the fins, increasing his speed to the maximum possible level. He spent less than two hours on an island and travelled to the other islands immediately after.
When the distance to traverse was large, he left the Dralh Sea, assumed Empyrean Boar King form, and raced along the edges, covering the necessary distance. Following that, he entered the Dralh Sea in Mystic Ewworm form.
This way, he shortened his travel time further. Two months later, he had encircled the Dralh Sea twice, ensuring that he didn't miss any island. He also checked up on the islands during the second round and observed their progress, pleasantly surprised with the results, 'It seems they have been more starved for a better lifestyle than I had expected. That's to my benefit.'
He noted close to eight individuals at Tez Island who were on the right path to becoming Mystic Humans. Satisfied with the results, he completed his rounds and left the Dralh Sea, making way to a large, artificially constructed island on a large lake.
The island was filled with children and young adults, numbering close to four million. They were all Free Humans, reared by the Cooter Clan to steadily fill up the vacancies on the islands at the Dralh Sea for mining work.
'Why haven't any Pranic Beasts taken over this place? Such a large piece of land rich with food should be a haven for them. And why have these Free Humans not tried anything?' Virala thought as he sneaked into the island in his Mystic Ewworm form, undetected by the Free Humans. Soon, he figured out the cause, 'Ah, so that's why!'
All the Cooter Clansmen who fled from the Dralh Sea had gathered at this island. And upon establishing contact with the other Cooter Clan branches, they were waiting here for orders, for they had lost their homes. They were controlling the Free Humans, same as usual.
'Well, I don't care about your situation. These Free Humans are mine.' Virala jutted out of the ground in their midst, assuming the appearance of Brangara, and unleashed his presence, grinning upon seeing everyone freeze in fear, "This Deity lays claim upon this land."
"Goodbye," His Mystic Ewworm tail condensed a Rutham blade and lashed around, severing the heads of every Cooter Clansman present at the scene.