Uwaa!
The cries of a baby resounded in the topmost floor within a Decodus Tree as Yarsha Zahara felt extremely exhausted. She was skin and bark, lacking any flesh and blood for herself, barely able to maintain herself through the sheer potency of her Mystic Grade Prana.
Three-plus years of pregnancy wore her down to the extreme, leaving her in a deprived state. But despite everything, she was happy, staring at the blood-covered baby of hers that was crying healthily.
"We've…succeeded!" Brangara shed tears in joy upon sensing the tremendous presence released by the baby, "And living, breathing Minor Treasure that could grow. That's our son, Ya…"
"Don't give me a name." The cries of the baby stopped as his mouth moved, letting out a string of words in his baby voice.
"Eh?" Brangara was stunned by the words as he stared at his son incredulously, "You can…talk?"
"Ho!" The baby extended his hand weakly towards Brangara, "Take my hand, dada."
"Okay," Brangara was happy that his baby wanted to hold his hand. With an innocent gaze of admiration, he grabbed his son's hand, only to see the latter turn into a beam of light and enter his body.
"Keuk!" Brangara collapsed to his knees, feeling the veins on his body protrude alarmingly, strained to the extreme. His heart felt a void, losing its supply of blood as something foreign was consuming everything. "You…might kill me at this rate, kid!"
Honestly, a grunt from him and Brangara could easily shatter a Minor Treasure or two. But the one in question was his son, and hence, he didn't do anything.
"Endure for a few seconds, Dad!" A slightly more mature voice resounded in his mindspace, "I'll be done soon."
"Fine," Brangara nodded and took a seat beside Yarsha Zahara, breathing to keep his body under control. As he was at the 3-Life Stage, it was easy to recover his blood supply with the help of his other two bodies.
He even had the attention span to focus on Yarsha Zahara and feed her soup that he had prepared in advance. This would help replenish her flesh and blood slowly, without straining her digestive system. Once she had recovered a bit, he'd feed her more nutritious food.
With her strength, she should make a full recovery within a month and return to her usual self. Her expression was weak as she extended her hand and touched a protruding vein on Brangara's cheek, asking in worry upon seeing it convulse, turning his face pale, "Does it hurt?"
"Heck no," Brangara flashed a smile and continued to feed her soup, "Our son is just playing with me. You should focus on your recovery so that you too can play with him next."
"I'm done." The mature voice of a youth resounded as their son exited Brangara's body, appearing in his prime, seemingly about twenty years old. In a matter of seconds, he progressed through his childhood and attained maturity.
Staring at the shocked faces of his parents, the youth laughed, "I might be a living being, but in essence, I'm a Minor Treasure. So my concept of growing is merely absorbing enough blood to reach my full potential."
He then approached Yarsha Zahara and held her hands, gently seeping blood into her body through one of the veins on her hand, watching her body slowly regain its muscle mass, "You've suffered a lot to birth me, mother. This is the least I could do to help you."
He grinned in satisfaction upon seeing his mother stare at him in pride, "Aren't I your dearest?"
"You are…" Yarsha Zahara said subconsciously before closing her mouth, for that wasn't something a mother should be saying, even if she felt like that. She should treat all her children equally.
"Hehe," The youth continued to supply her blood until her body was able to recover most of its functions, "Once you have enough rest, you'll be back to your regular self in a couple of days."
"Thank you, Yam…" Yarsha Zahara was about to address him with the name they had decided for him, stopping upon seeing him shake his head.
"I'm sorry, Mother." The youth then stared at Brangara, "I have to apologise, father. I'm afraid Sumatra bestowed a name upon me already. So, you'll have to address me with that name first before using the name you have picked for me."
"Since when did Sumatra start doing that?" Yarsha Zahara expressed her surprise.
"It has always been doing that." The youth nodded and stared at Brangara, "Even the name of Celestial Boar was something it came up with. That's why everyone who witnessed your evolution naturally knew the name of your new race."
"It just came to me. I thought it was similar to the rest of my ideas, as they too pop up in my head from time to time." Brangara expressed his confusion.
"Yeah, Sumatra uses that method to tell you the names, so that you'll feel familiar with the process. The information generation process closely mimics the way we generate ideas in our brains." The youth nodded, "So, none realised. But to date, the names of every single Race, Cultivation Technique, and Natures are bestowed upon us by Sumatra."
"It doesn't care about naming the terrain, minerals, and other such things." He smiled wryly, "But naming the Major and Minor Treasures is something it does. So, we can't help that. And since I'm a living being, it granted me a name other than my identity as a Minor Treasure."
"It's alright, it's just a name." Yarsha Zahara sighed as she stared at her son, "So, what did Sumatra name you?"
"Yamahara," The youth said, "The name popped into my mind the moment I was birthed by you, mother."
Minor reassure—Bloodline Inheritor!
"Yamahara…" Brangara muttered as he and Yarsha exchanged glances, "That's pretty similar to what we had in mind."
"I know," The youth, Yamahara nodded, "I gained that information through your blood, father."
"Now, I want to find out something." Yamahara expressed his worry, "There was something I noticed from the memories of the two of you. Do we have a Parute Tree nearby?"
"We do, why do you ask?" Brangara said, pointing in the direction of the Parute Tree.
"Alright, go ahead." Brangara nodded, "Somehow, I feel confident about your words even though you're born just now."
"Well, my mind was originally that of a Decaleech that you elevated into a Minor Treasure. It was then moulded by mother's influence during the three-plus years I was in her womb. So, though I'm a newborn, my mind's mature." Yamahara said while the trio walked towards the nearest Parute Fruit.
As they conversed, Yarsha Zahara's grin widened, 'He's very similar to me.'
Though he was a Minor Treasure, in terms of body, he was no different from a Free Human. His mind too had mostly been built based on her mind, so their thought process was on the same wavelength.
Ruvva too was similar to her, but as Yarsha Zahara had yet to meet her, she didn't know about her character and personality. Hence, Yamahara felt the closest to her as her child.
"It feels strange to see you walking," She said upon slinging her hands around her son's, "I wanted to cradle you like a baby."
"I can revert to that form after this. It's easy peasy." Yamahara flexed his muscles as he mimicked Brangara's walking style, "But it's fun walking like this beside you two."
"Oh, this one's a smooth talker." Brangara ruffled his hair and patted his back lightly.
"Learnt it from you, Father." Yamahara chuckled, "Got that talent directly from your blood."
"Of course," Brangara stared at the ceiling in pride. If this was a comic, his nose would pierce through the ceiling to express the amount of pride he was feeling.
Soon, they arrived at an open place surrounded by a few Decodus Trees. A lone Parute Tree grew there, having appeared in the past few months once people began to live in the nearby trees.
"Please step away from me. It might become dangerous." Yamahara said, only to be immediately stopped by his parents.
"It won't be necessary to take risks." Brangara grabbed him by the shoulder and said with a resolute expression.
"You've just been born. Why don't we relax for now and plan a bit? I'll be able to do whatever it is that you are planning here." Yarsha Zahara took a softer approach to the situation, intending to convince her son against risking his life.
"It's indeed possible for you, Mother. But it'll be more dangerous for you." Yamahara then stared at Brangara, "And in your case, Sumatra's Transcendent Eater will directly attack you, since you're a threat to it."
"It considered me a threat? A Transcendent Eater?" Brangara was surprised.
"I don't think you comprehend the sheer magnitude of your existence." Yamahara shook his head, "It's why I intend to converse with the Transcendent Eater. I wish to have a grasp on the entire situation."
"And the reason I'm confident is this," Yamahara said and grunted, erupting with an unnatural presence as a pillar of light jutted out of his being. But instead of reaching the skies, it curved in the air under his will, obeying his control as it curved until it joined itself.
Now, after heading a kilometre into the sky from his head, the pillar of light curved into a circle. This way, it didn't leave the confines of Sumatra. The sheer presence he unleashed startled everyone living in the Varan Empire, for it seemed as powerful as their Emperor and Empress but didn't seem to originate from either.
"I can harness the power of any being whose blood I absorb. I can maintain this until I expend the respective blood." Yamahara declared as he stared at his parents, "And I have absorbed enough of your blood to face the Transcendent Eater and not die during the conversation."
"Alright, go ahead." Brangara changed his mind upon seeing his son wield his power, "There doesn't exist an existence that can go against the combination of our powers."
Yarsha Zahara's absolute counter and Brangara's absolute power were a terrifying combo to be possessed by a single individual. That was more than enough to convince the duo that their son was the right person for the job.
"I'll be back soon," Yamahara said and touched the Parute Tree. His body transformed into blood mist and fused with the Parute Tree, resulting in silence for a few seconds before the Parute Tree shook violently, causing the ground to crack in the area.
In the mindspace of the Parute Tree, Yamahara stared at the eldritch figure of the Transcendent Eater and waved his hand, "Yohoo! I've come to ask you a question, Sir! Do you mind sparing a moment of your infinite time?"
[Foolish mortal…you're not! What do you want, Yamahara?]
The Transcendent Eater was just about to attack him when it stopped itself, taking a second glance at him. Similar to what happened with Virala, its mere gaze caused root tendrils to burst out of Yamahara, intending to use him as fuel to grow further.
Immediately in response, a gigantic figure of the Celestial Boar enveloped him, plucking out all the root tendrils before serving as a shield against the Transcendent Eater's gaze.
A glance at the Celestial Boar and the infinitely long branches of the Transcendent Eater wriggled, in craze, both intimidated and hungered by the Celestial Boar. One of the branches lashed out, intending to target the Celestial Boar when a barrier appeared between them, stopping its approach.
The carnivorous mouth of the Transcendent Eater latched onto the barrier and began to crack it, soon puncturing through it as it headed towards the Celestial Boar. But just when the latter was about to attack it, a golden pair of eyes bloomed in the void, instantly energising the barrier.
A glance from the eyes and tentacles began to burst out of the carnivorous flower until it collapsed structurally, and turned into a few dozen tentacles. The Transcendent Eater watched as the pair of golden eyes condense a face, of Yarsha Zahara's, eventually forming an ethereal body, filled with spikes.
[…Old Friend!]
It retracted the unruly branch and stared at Yamahara, beckoning for him to speak.
"How did you know my name?" Yamahara asked.
[I know everything that happens on Sumatra. Aren't you already aware of the Parute Trees acting as my eyes and ears? Isn't that why you approached me?]
"Yes, Sir. I knew that, but wasn't fully sure of the specifics." Yamahara bowed in response, relieved upon seeing the Celestial Boar and golden Yarsha Zahara defending against the eldritch influence of the Transcendent Eater, "I wish to know one thing primarily."
He paused a little and spoke upon seeing dozens of carnivorous mouths nod in his direction, all while controlling their drool, "What happens when my father goes all out? I see the Transcendent Worlds stirring up every time he unleashes a pillar of light into the sky."
[Bad stuff…really bad stuff!]