705 Grehha’s Dungeon
'A large-scale Tertiary Natures of Cultivator. So, that's how the Empyrean Tusks have evaded my pursuit.' Brangara thought as he began to return to the Varahan Empire alongside Yamahara, using the Sandy-Grey Void as a shortcut.
His presence was powerful enough to act as a barrier protecting them from the influences of the Transcendents in the Sandy-Grey Void. This allowed them to travel quickly through the Sandy-Grey Void, avoiding detection from all forces.
"Cheer up, son." He patted a sullen Yamahara, "There's more to live than needless worries."
"It's not needless, Father," Yamahara whispered, his shoulders slumped as he followed Brangara silently.
The duo walked without any discussion for a few minutes before Brangara broke the silence, "So, you fought Orakha. How was he?"
"Strong!" Yamahara nodded in awe, "I couldn't even fully grasp what he had done during the fight. But all I know is that he had strength to spare. And this isn't even his peak."
He stared at Brangara to say, "The way he controlled the heat generated by his Human Avatar was many times superior to when he fought you last. The potency has increased and he's able to attack with greater accuracy."
"When I fought him, it was stressful. It felt like every second we fought, he was accurately grasping the inner workings of my power." Yamahara said, "I felt the same frustration against him that I feel whenever I spar against Mother."
'He's as dangerous as Yarsha?' Brangara's eyes widened for an instant before curling up in seriousness, "So, he's grown to be that strong, huh?"
"At the 2-Life Stage, he's stronger than a 3-Life Stage Blola." Yamahara expressed his honest opinion, "I can at least absorb blood from Blola when I make contact. But once Orakha assumes his Human Avatar form, I can gain nothing from him."
He made eye contact with Brangara to say, "To be honest, Orakha can counter both me and mother. Another thing to worry about is the fact that I can no longer sense the Iron Empyrean Tentacle's power in him."
"What?" Brangara shouted in shock, "How is that possible? He even has a Minor Treasure extending from that power. Where did it go if not in his possession?"
"Raaha is no longer the Gold Empyrean Tentacle." Yamahara sighed, "The fact that this happened can only mean one thing."
Sumatra's Blessed Race: Expert Mystic Grade Pranic Beast—Mystic Empyrean Tentacle!
Brangara immediately recalled his fight against the Mammoth Clan at the Dieng Canyon during the First Major Disaster, remembering one of the Settlement Leaders that had charged at him with a sword condensed out of Prana. 'That guy?'
The fact that the Iron and Gold Empyrean Tentacles have vanished meant scary news. In response, Brangara stared in the direction of the Mammoth Clan's ship, Prana seething out of him, brimming with fighting spirit.
He paused for a moment before thinking of Yennda, asking in response upon figuring out Yahard Tusk's identity, "Did you see Harrala in the group?"
"No," Yamahara shook his head.
'You better not fall in my line of sight, Yennda.' Brangara let out a long breath as he muttered, staring deeply into the Sandy-Grey Void, 'If your daughter controls the Mystic Empyrean Tentacle, I can no longer afford to leave her be, no matter how much you beg for it.'
He understood and somewhat sympathised with Yennda's motives for wishing to stay with his daughter. Even after Yennda evolved by consuming two arms of the Celestial Boar, he was still an Iron Grade existence, which meant that he would at most live until the Fourth Major Disaster and then die a natural death.
So, if he stayed put far away from the fight, Brangara considered sparing just Harrala alone. It would be tough to control his impulses, but he could put in some minimal effort. But that was only when Harrala remained an unimpressive Empyrean Tusk as she was until now.
Things changed the moment her immune system gained the power of the Mystic Empyrean Tentacle. Brangara considered that a genuine threat, just as how he considered the Royal Zinger.
Moreover, the threat level of the Mystic Empyrean Tentacle far surpassed the Royal Zinger. both the Royal Zinger and the Celestial Boar were new existences that had appeared during the Second Major Disaster. It had been a mere fifteen years since their birth.
They didn't have enough time to develop their abilities, whether in terms of Skills, Prime Skills, ways to use Natures, etc.
However, Mystic Empyrean Tentacles had been alive since the beginning of Sumatra Continent's history, having had forever to develop their abilities. Even if they didn't have a Mystic Grade Nature, the extent of strength they could unleash thanks to their generations of accumulations trumped everything.
"When's the earliest you can communicate with Sumatra's Transcendent Eater?" Brangara asked after a moment of thought.
"After five years," Yamahara said, "I won't be able to communicate much using my accumulations from such a short time though."
"That's alright," Brangara nodded, "You only need to ask it the locations of three people and that would do. Will five years' worth of accumulations be enough for that?"
"Three locations…" Yamahara frowned as he began to calculate the time he would have to spend conversing with Sumatra's Transcendent Eater just to get to the point, "I will need at least eight years' worth, ten to be on the safer side."
"Ten it is then," Brangara nodded as he accompanied Yamahara and continued their journey.
At the same time, walking at a spot two hundred kilometres away from the entrance of the Gaja Enclave was Grehha, his expression serious as he walked with steady steps, his gaze falling upon his daughter from time to time.
His lips spread to form a mild smile every time he stared at her peaceful face, "My princess! It's a scary world out here, so until you've reached your full potential, it's for your best to remain like this."
As he had been feeding her Empyrean Tusk essence nonstop for more than six years, his daughter already possessed the Fragment Disease. It wasn't just a normal Fragment Disease like the Mammoth Clansmen of other Empyrean Tusks.
No, Grehha was the Fragment Disease Mammoth Clansman born as part of the Supreme Tusk Gannala's immune system. And through the Empyrean Incubator that she had bestowed upon him as his Tertiary Nature, the Fragment Disease he birthed in his daughter was the same as him.
As long as his daughter bathes in the blood of an Empyrean Tusk upon entering the Body Stage, she'd obtain the power of an Empyrean Tusk similar to Sumatra Chronicles' Resha.
But Grehha wasn't satisfied with that. He wanted more for her, especially since she inherited Yarsha Zahara's qualities. He had a clear idea of what build she could gain, for that was the strongest build a Mammoth Clansman could obtain.
Red Mystic Path—Resha!
16:21
Even though attaining Perfect Inertial Gravity was impossible without the Major Treasure of Cure, Grehha could aim for the next best thing—External Inertial Gravity!
But irrespective of what he wanted, he didn't plan on imposing his beliefs on his daughter. The type of power she wished to have was something she could decide upon reaching the age of adulthood, as is the Mammoth Clan's custom.
Grehha simply intended to ensure that she had access to all the options, so that she could get whatever she wanted. He had a somewhat twisted intention in the way he used Yarsha Zahara's ovum to birth his daughter.
But at the end of the day, he cared for her. The reason was extremely simple. He wanted hope, a reason to fight for, and a home to look forward to returning.
Primary Nature—Spirit Bone!
Secondary Nature—Internal Inertial Gravity!
Tertiary Nature—Empyrean Incubator!
Expert Silver Grade Pranic Beast—Empyrean Viper!
His build had remained consistent from the very beginning, created with endgame potential with enough room for growth and evolution. He intended to remain at the Silver Grade, there were no changes to that.
"Guess it's time to start my swarm tactics." He muttered and arrived at a decently open spot amidst the thicket of trees. Bone mist wafted out of his being as he activated his Primary Nature of Spirit Bone, condensing a bone hill before him.
He walked inside and extended his right hand, condensing a shovel through bone mist, following which he activated Internal Inertial Gravity and strengthened the shovel alongside his body. He began digging immediately, gorging out the earth within the bone hill.
Trolleys of bone flew out as Spirit Weapons and poured out the dug earth, filling up the surroundings. He gradually headed deeper into the ground, beginning to carve out a maze and laid a floor of porous bone.
He stood upon the platform and slit his wrist, dripping blood onto the floor to watch it seep into the floor in a matter of seconds. The floor absorbed the blood like a sponge, becoming dry soon after.
He expanded his Prana to the underside of the floor where a canal had been constructed. The droplets of blood fell there and formed a faint trail as it flowed forward. The floor was twenty metres thick, more than sturdy enough to withstand powerful attacks from even Silver Grade Pranic Beasts such as Centingers.
The tunnels forming the maze were two hundred metres wide and a hundred metres tall, with all surfaces covered by walls of porous bone twenty metres thick, condensed using Spirit Bone.
Grehha immersed himself in the process, heading out to hunt Pranic Beasts to consume and replenish his Prana, following which he returned to resume construction. Once he had finished an empirical setup, he sat within one of the tunnels and covered the Empyrean Incubator holding his daughter with a layer of Spirit Bone, blocking the child's view even though she had been asleep all along.
After letting out a long breath, he pulled down his pants and began to wank his little brother, assuming his Pranic Beast form to sprout a couple millilitres of semen that he habitually captured using an Empyrean Incubator.
Before the sperms could die, he seemed in Empyrean Tusk Essence and wielded the Empyrean Incubator as a Spirit Weapon, making changes inside faintly by varying the temperature, pressure, and light.
The majority of the sperm cells died in the process while a rare few survived. He casually condensed an Empyrean Incubator into a microscope, using which he observed them, tallying their appearance to his research data. 'Alright, there's enough modification that any living beings they grow into won't be considered my child.'
Due to the functions of the Mystic Path, a Mystic Path could only have one child, who will end up being birthed as their daughter. Grehha was simply making minor genetic changes until the progeny was no longer considered his.
This wasn't even the first time he had done this. The Mammoth Clan had thought otherwise, but the Bone Wipers were actually produced in this way, since he had generated sperm while in his Empyrean Viper form.
The sperm cells would mutate within the Empyrean Incubator due to the environmental conditions. He had a long list of conditions and the resultant mutations, having tallied mountains worth of research material.
One of the mutations was the Bone Vipers he created for the Mammoth Clan, which was what he focused on making now. among the millions of sperm cells he produced, barely a dozen sported the right mutations that he needed.
He stored the other successful mutations in a second Empyrean Incubator and spread the Bone Viper sperm cells in an Empyrean Incubator each. Following that, he supplied them with Prana, hatching them after a month's incubation.
Right as they were birthed, the Bone Vipers considered the maze their home. As they crawled across the bone floors with their tiny bodies, information seeped into their beings gradually as they had subconsciously activated Mystic Bone Art.
The entire maze acted as one giant Bone Slip, containing all the information necessary to allow the Bone Vipers to grow on their own and become selectively brainwashed since birth, treating only Grehha and his daughter as allies.
Grehha and his daughter were considered part of their home, entities they had to protect. Grehha worked on increasing their numbers gradually, watching the Bone Vipers begin to work on expanding the maze on their own based on the information within the Bone Slip.
Once their numbers had increased to a certain extent, he arrived at the deepest point of the maze and ripped his stomach out, gasping in pain for a few moments as he watched his stomach organ crumble in a matter of seconds, following which a pillar of light beamed out, unleashing a presence that began to draw in Pranic Beasts from the outside.
Minor Treasure—Corporeal Mixer!
This was the Minor Treasure bestowed upon him by the Mammoth Clan and the one he used as bait to lure in Pranic Beasts for slaughter. This way, he could sit in the comfort of his house and endless farm for resources that he required next to build up the strength of both him and his daughter, not to mention raise an army of Bone Vipers.
With the Minor Treasure as a lure, situated deep underground, the maze filled with Bone Vipers acted as a defence mechanism against the Pranic Beasts that acted as invaders. What he had created here was a very common trope on Earth, a popular one in fact.
A Dungeon!