Seated in a large hall adjacent to the throne room were the trio of Inala, Virala, and Boul Brimgan, facing each other. They were silent at the start, resulting in a contest of stares.
'He's not at the Mystic Grade yet, but I can feel that he's close. Once he finishes fusing ten pieces of Sumatra Gold in his Human Avatar, his stack would synchronise and he'd become a Mystic Grade existence. They have a precedent in their history who had achieved the same.' Inala thought as he observed Boul Brimgan, 'So, Orakha ended up giving him ten pieces of Sumatra Gold.'
Even though he wanted to do something about it, Inala refrained from doing so. After all, the consequences would be unimaginable. The fall of the Brimgan Empire would create too large a void in power and mess up pretty much everything.
Currently, the Varahan Empire was rapidly recruiting Free Humans from weak Kingdoms into their fold. They were expanding their influence. And the only one countering their expansion was the Brimgan Empire, the leader of the Free Humans.
This tug of war prevented too many Kingdoms from jumping onto the Varahan Empire's side. But if the Brimgan Empire were to collapse, it would be impossible to keep the Varahan Empire's growth in check anymore.
Even though Boul Brimgan's existence became risky, Inala had no other choice at the moment. Letting out a mild sigh, he began to speak, "There's a purpose behind our visit."
"I'm listening." Boul Brimgan became serious in response to Inala's words. The fact that existences like Inala and Virla personally paid him a visit implied the seriousness of the situation. Something major had already happened or was about to happen next.
"Spirit Container Lock, the one your father used on me before." Virala gathered his bearings and asked, pointing at himself and Inala, "We want you to do the same to the two of us."
"Why?" Boul Brimgan asked, unable to understand their thought process, "Why do you want to limit your power?"
"We'll be infiltrating the Varahan Empire to cause chaos." Virala said and made eye contact with Inala, "I don't want to admit it, but this bastard and I are better schemers when we lack strength."
"Infiltrating the Varahan Empire? Why?" Boul Brimgan was confused, "Why is that necessary?"
"To slow down their growth, what else?" Inala had regained his cool by now, chuckling as he expressed his intentions, "Otherwise, it's just a matter of time before they annihilate all of us."
"After all, they have a populace of Silver Grade Free Humans and even Boar Kings for their pinnacle battle power."
"Boar Kings…" Boul Brimgan sighed in response, "They are indeed scary."
Boul Brimgan didn't express shock in regards to the news. It meant that he was already aware of their existence, and possibly even Yamahara who was responsible for their appearance. He stared at the expressions of the duo and nodded in confirmation, "Orakha told me the details…"
The door burst open as standing at the entrance was a girl with shoulder-length hair, cropped to resemble the shape of a crescent moon. Its front ends were trimmed to appear like the edges of a blade, golden in colour.
Her chestnut brown hair matched her dark brown eyes that glinted with hyperactivity. They scanned the room, expressing disappointment upon seeing the figures of Inala and Virala, "Oh, it's these two."
She stared at Boul Brimgan and complained, "When is Uncle Orakha coming?"
"I don't know. Just ask him." Boul Brimgan said, "You have his Minor Treasure too."
"Okay," Followed by a twirl, she turned around and was about to leave when she stopped. For a moment her focus laid upon Virala, asking, "Why are you here?"
"The adults are having a conversation here," Virala said in response, controlling his nervous trembling. He used psychokinesis to keep them steady, churning Prana into his throat to prevent his voice from letting out a stammer.
"That so?" The girl was none other than Ruvva, her expression disinterested. She didn't care about what he wanted to say, ignoring his words to ask, "Say, can I visit the Dralh Sea sometime in the future?"
"I'm curious about the other Mystic Humans."
"Visit whenever, there's a body of me stationed there all the time," Virala said with a deadpan expression.
He stared at her, observing that she didn't express anything when he spoke about his second body. It should be possible for him to make a second body only after his Mammoth Clan self was dead.
And when Ruvva was held in Gannala's stomach biome, she should have interacted with his Mammoth Clan self and realised what was happening. But the fact that she expressed no change in expression to hear about his second body only meant that she was aware of his Mammoth Clan self's death.
'Man, how much have you told them?' He mentally berated Orakha.
"So…" Ruvva stared at Inala and extended her hand, "Did you bring anything for me, uncle?"
The Mystic Paths were close enough in terms of genetics to be brothers. So, even when Inala changed races to become a Royal Zinger, Ruvva wasn't wrong in calling him uncle. And currently, she was doing the same that any child would at the sight of a rich relative—ask for gifts.
"Of course," Inala laughed and took out a nail-sized Biome Bomb that contained a golden spark. It was a fragment from a Bolt of Transcendence, condensed using a hundred thousand units of Mystic Grade Royal Zinger Prana.
The Biome Bomb's surface was also changed to resemble the Attributed Region, allowing the light emitted from within to spread around in a gentle golden hue, soft to the eyes.
It was only nail-sized, but upon staring at it, Ruvva burst into excitement and appeared before Inala with a flash of Prana, grabbing the Biome Bomb to exclaim, "Pretty!"
"Thank you, Uncle. You're not too bad." She laughed, suddenly noticing a vial had appeared in her palm. She observed it and stared at Virala, "This is…?"
Virala appeared nonchalant, but was internally fuming at Inala's actions. He didn't like the Indigo bastard one-upping him before his daughter. Even though he never talked to her, the current Ruvva's personality used the Mammoth Clan Ruvva as the base and inherited Yarsha Zahara's ego.
So, he knew that she might ask them for gifts and hence had already prepared one. However, he wanted to be the only one with a gift prepared for Ruvva. He wanted Inala to appear as an unconcerned relative.
'But of course, this fucking bastard cannot be trusted. I suspected him to do something like this, fucker!' He controlled his rage internally, his external expression remaining stoic. He faced his back towards Ruvva, having not budged an inch from the start.
He had given her the vial using psychokinesis. And now, he stated without making eye contact with Ruvva, "It doesn't have a name, but if I were to give it one, I'll call it the Mystic Elixir. Consuming it will grant you anywhere from two thousand to two thousand five hundred units of Prana."
At his words, Boul Brimgan stared at Virala in shock, 'Something like that is possible? Even we don't have the means to refine anything above a High-Grade Elixir.'
'Seems he wants to make the strongest possible impression on his daughter.' Boul Brimgan understood Virala's line of thought and calmly observed the scene, having no intention to interfere.
"That's…nice." Ruvva expressed as she stared at the vial, noticing Inala smile at her and point at the Biome Bomb, motioning for her to seep her Prana into it. Immediately in response, a beautiful melody reverberated out, pleasant to the ears.
A circuit outlined itself on the surface of the Biome Bomb once she seeped in her Prana, granting her a piece of information through a Tangible Piezo Slip. It allowed her to understand the ways to control the Biome Bomb, "There was more to this?"
The circuit allowed her to increase or decrease the sound's intensity, and change the songs too. She seeped Prana into a certain part of the circuit and watched two strings of Prana expand in response.
She placed the Biome Bomb in her ear, watching the two strings of Prana coil around her era, keeping it stable at the spot. As long as she supplies Prana to it, the Biome Bomb will continue to play her songs.
She shouted in excitement upon understanding the information, "There are over a thousand songs? This is so…
COOL!"
"My people were busy the past few months producing all those songs." Inala glanced at Virala for an instant before huffing in pride, "They were all made in consideration of your taste."
"I love them, Uncle!" Ruvva tapped the Biome Bomb with her index finger and changed the song, using it like an earphone. Holding the vial with one hand, she skipped around in joy, twirling more than she walked, her attention entirely on the songs as she hummed them and left the room.
Ruvva left the room, forgetting the close the door, displaying how much she was into the gift she received. And this gift was from Inala.
Virala remained mum, trying his best to avoid displaying a defeated expression. He was angered to the extreme. However, it was a fact that he failed to give a good enough gift to his daughter.
Ruvva was currently fourteen years old. Though she was far mature for her age, she currently didn't have any responsibilities. As a result, she could remain playful, since she was treated with care at the Brimgan Empire.
Towards such a person, an Elixir was of limited value, as she wasn't desperate to grow stronger. Ruvva knew her identity the best. Her father was the Mystic Human Virala while her mother was the Varahan Empress, Yarsha Zahara.
Both sides would avoid targeting her, since she was family. Even Brangara wouldn't try to harm her, since he respected Yarsha Zahara's decision to treat Ruvva as her daughter.
Aware of the politics, Ruvva had nothing to worry about, pretty much the only carefree existence on Sumatra. For someone like that, Inala's gift was more valuable, since it was an interesting toy that not only glowed but played lots of music.
Virala hadn't thought things through in that manner, since he was focused on strength and hence created an extremely valuable item that people would kill to obtain. 'Dammit!'
"Better luck next time," Inala said with a sarcastic tone of pity, "Though I wonder if you'll ever be valued by her."
Virala shot a glare at Inala. The taunt pricked him where it hurt. However, Inala wasn't a saint, and in this case, he was petty, never forgetting what Virala had said to him while they were on the railway.
"Let's…come back to the task at hand." Boul Brimgan interjected upon feeling Prana churn through the bodies of Inala and Virala, speaking before the duo began to duke it out.
"I can use the Spirit Container Lock on the both of you, but it wouldn't be for free." He spoke.
"I'll pay you the necessary sum in Parute Fruits." Virala said without missing a beat, "Just send the receipt to the Abode of the Mystics. My body there will take care of it."
"…Same," Inala said, "Send someone to collect the money from my Quip Clan once the ship starts its return journey."
"Alright, I'll do that." Boul Brimgan wanted to ask more about what Inala was doing at the Ravaged Federation. But he wanted to wait before satiating his curiosity. They had a lot to talk about, but first, it'll be better to use the Spirit Container Lock on them.
That will give him some leeway to ask Inala for details. "But I'm not the expert with the ability."
He snapped his finger and waited in patience, watching his mother, Harla Brimgan saunter in through the entrance. Nodding at her, he stared at the duo of Inala and Virala to say, "My mother's the expert at the task. And she has all the necessary Minor Treasures to unleash the Spirit Container Lock."
"Use it to bring us down to the Spirit Stage." Inala stared at Harla Brimgan, watching the latter's eyes turn cold upon seeing him. She had pent-up anger towards both Amita Brimgan and Virala.
"Alright," Followed by a grunt, Harla Brimgan activated six Minor Treasures that she had fused with, targeting Inala first with the Spirit Container Lock.
'This is an extremely powerful ability.' Inala thought as he observed the process, analysing the pros and cons of it immediately. He then watched Harla Brimgan repeat the process on Virala.
But once the Spirit Container Lock had fully taken root on the two, her expression changed, replaced by anger. An instant later, her presence billowed, fully displaying her killing intent. "The two of you cannot avoid my wrath now!"