779 Wake Up
"Grrr!" Right past the Dungeon entrance were over forty Silver Grade Pranic Beasts, all turning their heads simultaneously to glare at Inala.
Their bodies were riddled with wounds, and judging by their expressions, their group seemed to have originally been composed of more than forty. They had lost them all while invading the Dungeon.
"Move!" Inala muttered, his expression cold as he released a tinge of his presence.
Whimper!
The group of Silver Grade Pranic Beasts kneeled in response, whimpering helplessly as some of the weaker ones fell unconscious. By now, the legends of the First Calamity had spread far and wide, making countless forces aware of the existence of the Royal Zinger.
And upon feeling a presence at the Mystic Grade, they didn't dare breathe, overwhelmed to their limit. Their hind legs trembled and hurriedly dragged their bodies away, parting open to reveal a path for Inala to traverse.
His footsteps made crisp noises as Inala observed Bone Vipers scurrying about in floors above and below the existing path. 'It's like a staff section. They move about there and traverse across the Dungeon, acting wherever necessary.'
As he walked further, a hole formed in the ceiling as over thirty Bone Vipers dropped onto his path. immediately upon their arrival, the hole in the ceiling sealed itself, filled by the Bone Vipers present in the staff section.
"It's a porous wall, huh?" Inala observed as he walked forth, unabated. The group of Bone Vipers leapt at him, ignoring the tinge of presence he released. However, the moment they entered his Spirit Weapon range, they collapsed to the ground, withering in response.
Their Prana and Lifespan had been sucked dry as a Biome Bomb sprouted out of their bodies, carrying any Prana and Lifespan left after the expenditure of creating a Biome Bomb.
Inala's Prana had the power of Mystic Royalty. He didn't even need to activate his Primary Nature. Therefore, all Inala needed to do was activate the power of his Tertiary Nature of Prana Stitch and touch the target with a string of Prana.
Prana Stitch would stitch a few units of his attributed Prana onto the target in the form of a Palm Stitch, which absorbed the target's Prana and condensed a Biome Bomb.
As he casually walked past the corpses of the Bone Vipers, his Biome Bombs sprouted strings of Prana that behaved as their legs, carrying them forth like an arachnid as they followed after him.
As more Bone Vipers entered the path, these Biome Bombs morphed their forms into humanoid versions that jumped onto the Bone Vipers. Both sides fought while Inala passed through one path after another, moving about as if he had a map of the place.
Secondary Nature—Perfect Biome Domination!
Mystic Royal Art—Piezo Resonance!
All the information he needed reverberated out of the Bone Vipers in the form of Zinger Shrieks, gradually expanding the map of the Dungeon that had formed in his mindspace. With the aid of Perfect Biome Domination, Inala's speed of accessing information using Piezo Resonance was even faster.
After all, the soundwaves he unleashed for Piezo Resonance could be accelerated beyond the speed of sound through Perfect Biome Domination, elevating his base abilities to a whole other level.
Inala didn't have to take action apart from the first time. A gradually expanding army of Biome Bombs accompanied him and took care of every obstacle in his path.
As he headed deeper, the path became wider, and the strength of the Bone Vipers increased steadily. Soon, Silver Grade variants started appearing. A series of bone spikes, bone blades, etc. bombarded him, launched from various trap mechanisms.
11:12
These mechanisms were operated by Bone Vipers from the staff sections, separated by thick bone walls and ceilings. These traps, coupled with the horde of Bone Vipers resulted in the deaths of countless Pranic Beasts, the blood of whom was absorbed by the porous floor and fed into a river of blood below.
'It's a complete ecosystem.' Inala thought as he felt the presence of a Minor Treasure growing stronger, 'Using a Minor Treasure as a bait to lure in Pranic Beasts for resources. That's impressive!'
"He likes to sit in one location and gather strength. Indeed, he's the most stable among us all." Inala muttered as the various traps did nothing to him, even when they slammed into his unguarded body.
He was in his human form, but at the Mystic Grade. Thereby, most of the physical abilities did nothing to him. Other than his arms, the defensive capabilities of the rest of his body were significantly lacking. But that was only when compared to Mystic Grade physical toughness. A hail of bone spikes slammed into him and failed to even scratch his skin. He casually strode forward, noticing stronger Silver Grade variants appearing before him. But the moment he felt the presence of a Gold Grade existence farther back, Inala stopped, frowning, 'It should have taken him a lot of time and effort to create a Gold Grade Pranic Beast. I can't needlessly kill something like that.'
"Come here," He muttered as all the Biome Bombs shrunk to thumb-sized selves and latched onto his back as Inala threw out a cylindrical piece of wool whose strings expanded like the rotors of a helicopter and spun rapidly, assuming the state of flight for a second before it fell to the floor, having used up all the rotational potential stored in it.
But that one second was more than enough, as Inala's figure had vanished from view. The Bone Vipers stared in shock, wondering where their invader had gone, unaware of the existence casually flying past them, deeper into the Dungeon.
Inala attempted flight only after mapping out the entire layout of the Dungeon. Otherwise, he would have to use his powers, which would halt his invisibility. An hour's flight later, he flew past two semi-humanoid existences with serpentine lower bodies, emanating presence at the peak of the Gold Grade, 'There are even two Expert Gold Grade variants here. Damn, that's amazing!'
He arrived at an underground sea of blood, one that had been significantly expanded over the years by the Bone Vipers who were working nonstop. The walls were made of bone, porous in nature, constantly funnelling blood into the sea.
Spirit Moss grew over the wall, covering its entirety, generating enough luminescence to keep the region bright like it was daytime.
'Spirit Moss?' Inala looked around in shock, 'This amount is enough to bring the entire population of Mammoth Clansmen into the Life Stage.'
Before the group intended to flee Sumatra, the population of the Mammoth Clan exceeded a million. It was a tremendous sum, especially since their need for resources was a lot higher than a Free Human.
Spirit Moss was the most useful of its variety out there, for it strengthened one's Spirit Container. But it was also rare, which was why the Nature of Spirit Moss Cultivator was immensely valuable.
Inala purchased some of it when he arrived at the Mammoth Clan a few months before the Second Major Disaster started, but that was it. He didn't have the time to dedicatedly consume it and strengthen his Spirit Container to its limit, since he had too many things on his plate.
At some point in time, it slipped from his mind, as he had other ways to strengthen himself and the Quip Clan. But now that he stared at the sheer scale of Spirit Moss before him, his mind changed, 'The Quip Clan will grow stronger if they are able to procure this.'
'I need to make arrangements for it. But first,' He observed the place, noticing a few Bone Viper variants prowling about on the walls, replenishing the Spirit Moss wherever it had thinned. It was apparent that had a Tertiary Nature of Spirit Moss Cultivator.
In the sea of blood swam a group of Bone Vipers, emanating presence at the Gold Grade. They calmly approached the wall and munched on a large batch of Spirit Moss. Once the Spirit Moss had been digested using Mystic Bone Art, they secreted a concentrated batch of blood rich with the properties of the Spirit Moss.
They had been created for the exact purpose. Spirit Moss grew on the walls, absorbing the blood as nutrients. And by consuming them, these Gold Grade Pranic Beasts secreted blood with the same properties, enriching the blood in the sea.
The process was rinsed and repeated while there was a constant influx of fresh blood from the Pranic Beasts killed in the Dungeon. Moreover, there was a variant of Silver Grade Bone Vipers at the depths of the sea of blood, steadily digging underground to expand the size of the sea of blood.
The entire process had been automated, causing the Dungeon to expand underground on its own, growing bigger and stronger. And similarly, the blood sea, which formed the core of the Dungeon too was expanding.
Inala's gaze finally fell on the bone island floating on the surface of the blood sea, located in the centremost part. The blood region surrounding it felt peaceful, but Inala could sense over eighty Gold Grade Pranic Beasts silently standing guard in the blood.
'Just tallying the ones I've sensed on my way here numbers over 200 Gold Grade Pranic Beasts.' Inala thought in amazement, chuckling soon after, "After silently accumulating strength and knowledge for so long, you've begun expanding your power, Grehha."
On the island were two bone cocoons, one big, one small. The bigger cocoon seemed to be holding an adult human within while the smaller cocoon had a baby. Inala slowly flew overhead the bigger cocoon and revealed himself, saying upon noticing a stir in the blood sea, "I'm Inala!"
Right as the eighty Gold Grade Pranic Beasts were about to attack him, there was a tinge of presence released by the bigger cocoon, calming them down. It cracked open a portion, revealing an eye behind as a familiar voice resounded, raspy, as if in slumber, "Why have you come here, Inala?"
"There's only two years left for the Third Major Disaster to begin," Inala said.
"I see," The voice belonged to Grehha, but seemed lazy as the crack on the cocoon began to close up, "Wake me up when it's time for the Fourth Major Disaster."
It then closed fully, leaving Inala to stare at the cocoon in awkwardness. A couple of minutes later, Inala muttered softly, "Come out, Grehha. We need to talk."
"All of us are going to attack Brangara now."
"Not really, I'm still accumulating strength." Grehha slowly moved his body, getting accustomed to the feeling as he lifted his head, asking as his expression turned sharp, "Please tell me everything that happened."
11:13
"Absolutely foolish," A crack formed on the cocoon once again as Grehha's voice resounded in irritation, "Why are you in a rush? Take your time, Inala."
"Unfortunately, we don't have the leeway anymore. Brangara will become too strong by the Fourth Major Disaster." Inala shook his head.
"Bullshit!" Grehha snorted from within the cocoon, "In a mere twenty-one years, you went from a nobody to becoming the Royal Zinger. Are you telling me that in another sixty years, you cannot become someone stronger than the Celestial Boar?"
"Orakha is dead," Inala sighed and said, "They've managed to fundamentally destroy him. even when Blola revived him, all that was revived was a mindless, vegetable."
"He's feasting on the entire Mammoth Clan as we speak, which is more than enough for him to attain the 10-Life Stage. If the Mammoth Clan hadn't been compromised, I too would have waited until the Fourth Major Disaster." Inala uttered slowly, taking measures to not agitate himself so that he wouldn't disturb the smaller cocoon that was gradually absorbing the presence unleashed by the Minor Treasure of Corporeal Mixer.
"Damn, that happened?" The cocoon shattered fully as Grehha revealed himself, his presence retained within. His body was lean, unlike his usual muscular self. But as he exhaled softly, his muscles began to bulge until he looked like a bodybuilder who had fully bulked out using steroids.
He seemed extremely unstable as Inala was unable to get a solid grasp of Grehha's state, asking in worry, "Are you alright?"
"Not really, I'm still accumulating strength." Grehha slowly moved his body, getting accustomed to the feeling as he lifted his head, asking as his expression turned sharp, "Please tell me everything that happened."