Varahan Empire Capital City, Narkn!
In the Department of Internal Security, the howls of an old man resounded from one of the prison cells.
"Tell me! Are you the culprit?" Yamahara bellowed in anger as he kicked the face of an old man, absorbing a trail of blood from the latter at every contact, "Tell me!"
"Are you the one responsible for divulging the secrets of alcohol brewing?"
"I...am not!" The old man gasped as blood tricked down his mouth. His ribs had cracked from the kicks and his skin was pale from blood extraction, "I've already informed everything I know to the Inspectors. I even collaborated with them on numerous occasions to track the locations of large underground facilities."
"What's the guarantee that it's all not a ploy from you?" Yamahara roared and reeled in another kick on the old man's face, grunting as he analysed the information within the blood he absorbed, 'There's indeed nothing in him. I've looked into his past six years and nothing turned up.'
He kicked the old man once again, 'Dammit! If only he were more healthy, I could have extracted more blood.'
His every kick and shout served as a trigger to rile up the old man's Prana, through which the relevant information from the mind space was carried into the blood. Yamahara could absorb information from the Prana stored in the blood. However, the quantity of information present in the blood was minimal.
Hence, he had to use a series of techniques to trigger the relevant information before absorbing it through the blood. It was the easiest to use it on Pranic Beasts, thanks to their large, robust bodies that could handle a large volume of blood being absorbed.
But the old man was not only a Free Human but was too fragile, limiting the amount of blood Yamahara could absorb without resulting in the old man's death.
"Your Highness, please quell your anger." The Chief Inspector, Stampark rushed into the cell in a hurry, "Sir Kvirala has cooperated with us on countless occasions in the past few years. He's the prime reason we've been able to limit alcohol activity."
"Tch!" Yamahara clicked his tongue and walked away, "Find a solution to the issue. Otherwise, consider your position void."
"Yes, Your Highness!" Stampark saluted as he stood still, watching Yamahara exit the Department of Internal Security. Only then did he relax and pat the old man, Kvirala on the shoulder, "I'm sorry about that."
"I'm not blaming you," Kvirala chuckled helplessly and tried to get up when his face convulsed from pain, prompting him to remain on the floor, "I am indeed to be blamed since one of the brewers working for me escaped and popularised alcoholism."
"If I had known he was such an individual, I wouldn't have taught him in the first place." Kvirala gasped as he uttered, "So, I have no right to blame anyone, especially you, Chief. You've helped me a lot over the years."
"I too am a patron of your establishment," Stampark sighed and took out a Low-Grade Elixir that he unhesitantly poured into Kvirala's mouth, "Please drink this and heal from your wounds."
"That's expensive..." Kvirala stopped speaking as the Low-Grade Elixir poured down his throat, uttering once he had swallowed it all, "You didn't have to go to such extents. I would have healed in a few hours on my own."
"Oh, I didn't pay for it out of my pocket. His Highness, Yamahara did." Stampark let out a soft sigh, "He's an innately kind individual. That's why he paid for your treatment. It's just the situation has worsened to the extent he has to be rough on everyone."
"Did something happen?" Kvirala expressed his worry, "I've been locked here for the past two months. So I have no idea what's happening out there anymore."
"It's a mess out there," Stampark shook his head and spoke, expressing mild anger, "Do you know Lord MunuBuntara?"
"Yes, I am a part of his District." Kvirala nodded.
"Right, you hail from the Noikatol Kingdom." Stampark nodded and continued speaking, "His coronation ceremony is in two days. So, he arrived at the Capital Railway Station in the morning, today. But right as he alighted, a group of drunkards threw filled alcohol bottles at him...."
His tone became one of anger, "One of them caught on fire and harmed him. Many onlookers managed to record the scene in their Information Slips, which has been procured by Media Houses. Hawkers are selling it everywhere as we speak. It's an embarrassment on all levels, since it undermines the Empire's internal security."
"Especially our department," He sighed, "The railway security has proved to be lacking as many of them are showing up to work while drunk. One of their officers even activated his Nature forcefully while in that state, which resulted in the explosion of one of his bodies. Thankfully, no one died, but it's still an embarrassment."
"But that's not all." He groaned, "Yesterday, we raided the headquarters of a terrorist organisation. They were the ones who had captured Lord WelhBuntara's son. We succeeded in eradicating them and rescued the son within a day of his capture. However, such incidents are increasing."
"Too many terrorist organisations are appearing with their prime target being the newborn Wean Clansmen."
"It's only natural for His Majesty to be angry," Kvirala nodded in realisation, getting up once his body finished healing. He then stared at Stampark in seriousness, "Please allow me to assist. I can't do anything about the terrorists, but I can do something about the alcohol
issue."
"You have seen how effective my sober medicines are, right?"
"They are why I can handle the stress of my work day in, and day out." Stampark nodded and exited the cell, "I'll send Pierra to bring you lunch. It's the least I can do for your help."
"Thank you," Kvirala thanked and leaned on the wall of the prison cell, sighing as he stared at the ceiling, thinking once he was alone, 'This interaction proves that Yamahara's powers aren't as fearsome as everyone thinks.'
'He's only strong against the strong, but cannot do much against someone weak.' He flashed a
smile and stared at himself, 'Since my body is fragile, if he absorbs a decent amount of my blood, I'll die. So, he has to exercise control, which limits the volume of information he can extract from me.'
'Everything I did was done a decade ago,' Kvirala let out a chuckle, 'And I have enough control
over myself to not think about so far into the past no matter how much he tortures me. I pretty much have a clean slate after that, since everything progressed naturally thanks to ambitious individuals, none of whom are connected to me.'
Similar to Inala, all Virala did was plant the seeds initially, in a select few individuals. Everything from there happened because of a series of actions and consequences thanks to those individuals, which birthed even more of their kind.
'Hmm?' As he sat in silence, Virala was surprised to notice three items appeared on his palm. The first two were identical woollen cylinders while the third was a familiar Spirit Container. He chucked the Spirit Container in his mouth and smiled at the message that had popped up in his mind space, 'You're a mad genius, Inala.'
[Approach Yamahara during MunuBuntara's coronation ceremony in two days and activate the second woollen cylinder. Our main bodies will appear to take action instantly. We're ready! Use the first one now.]
'Ke...keke...kekeke!' Virala cackled in excitement as he activated the first woollen cylinder,
watching it unfurl a pair of strings that rotated like the rotor of a helicopter and allowed it to assume a state of flight. Immediately in response, his eyes widened as he noticed the figure of Inala next to him, hands around his shoulder.
From one of the Biome Bombs hunt at his hip exited a tiny Mystic Ewworm, a metre in length.
It crawled to the other side and became the Mystic Human Virala, whose expression was in pain as the other body now had a Vara Human Avatar.
A second later, he nodded at Inala, "Thanks. I synchronised with all the information of this
body."
He reverted into a metre-long Mystic Ewworm and entered the Biome Bomb. A word later, Inala vanished, "We'll be waiting for you to create the perfect opportunity."
'Now, that's something.' Virala clutched his aching head as he hadn't gained much information during that synchronisation. His sealed self's mind was only at the Silver Grade, which meant he needed a lot of time to access the data of his other self.
However, the Mystic Human Virala had assumed Empyrean Boar King's human form,
possessing a Mystic Grade brain. That meant he only needed a second to gain all the experiences of the Free Human Virala, following which he left.
The immunity of Mystic Humans against external influences ensured that even in this
situation with different versions of bodies, he could push away an implosion for a long enough duration. The Mystic Human Virala had done the same when confronted with the Mammoth Clansman Virala in the past, so it wasn't anything new to him.
Now, the Mystic Human Virala gained the Skills of Spirit Weapon Switch and Spirit Puppet
Slip, two skills that the Free Human Virala had been experimenting with, developing, and accumulating experience upon.
Immediately in response, the Mystic Human Virala's strength grew by leaps and bounds. And
for the next two days, he planned to absorb, assimilate, and harmonise with the two skills. He'll also be making the necessary preparations for the fight two days from now on.
"I've brought you some food..." Inspector Pierra arrived at the cell, holding a tray of food that was enough for two people. It was obvious he intended to give Kvirala company.
"Thank you," Virala accepted his portion and wolfed down the food, commenting once he had
eaten a few mouthfuls, "How many alcohol establishments have you managed to find in the past two months?"
"Fourteen," Inspector Pierra sighed, "Majority of them were pretty much the kitchens of individual homes. So, it's very difficult to find them."
"I see..." Virala nodded like he was concerned before suddenly, his eyes widened in a startling
realisation. His voice became amplified as he stared at Inspector Pierra and spoke in excitement, "Wait a second...!"
"I got it! I got it!" His voice reverberated in joy, "We can use that!"
"Did something happen, Sir Kvirala?" Chief Inspector Stampark heard his exclaims and
arrived in a hurry, expressing concern.
"I figured out a way to round them all up!" Kvirala exclaimed as he stared at Stampark,
"There's a reason alcohol is dangerous to cultivators, right?"
"Yes," Stampark nodded.
"It affects our Prana since it can get absorbed into the blood." Virala shouted, "And His
Majesty, Yamahara can control the blood."
"What are you getting at, Sir Virala?" Stampark asked, feeling hopeful upon seeing Kvirala's excitement, "Please explain what you've thought of."
"Please fix an appointment with His Majesty!" Kvirala said, patting his chest as he explained,
"I can't explain my method in theory. But give me some time and I'll show it in action."
"Chief," He stared at Stampark, "Do we have any of the alcohol production facilities left intact? I can demonstrate my method there."
"We have a few," Stampark nodded, staring at Kvirala in seriousness to ask, double-checking,
"Are you confident of this working?"
"In theory, I'm confident." Virala's tone turned calm as he slowed down on his words, "I
don't know about His Majesty's powers fully. So, whether or not my method can work is
something only His Majesty, Yamahara can conclude. But even if this doesn't work, I'm confident he can derive many other solutions from it."
"I stake my life on this claim, Chief!" Virala patted his chest.
"Alright, if you say so, I'll contact His Majesty." Stampark nodded, "Let's hope this works,"
"Since I'll be forced to stake my reputation on the claim to summon him."