"You are a fine mess now, Gannala," Ruvva uttered with a pleased tone, suffusing with mockery, relishing Gannala's battered state. As she spoke, the Mystic Human Stamp fused with her body as all the tangible data it had gathered was sucked into her.
'Yahard Tusk?' Gannala's eyes widened for a moment before hardening as she got up and glared at Ruvva, "What had you done to him?"
"I tried preserving his life for as long as possible," Ruvva shook her head with pity, "Unfortunately, it was beyond my capability..."
A shield of Prana appeared before Ruvva and produced a loud clang as it blocked a bone projectile. Her expression shifted into a glare as her body slowly stiffened up, "In nostalgia, I forgot for a moment about your shitty character."
"Shitty character? That's the epitome of irony coming from you." Gannala sprang up and took heavy steps towards Ruvva, "You're nothing but a bundle of pride."
"Well, if I'm nothing, then..." Ruvva made a gleeful smile of mockery, "Aren't you in the negative? I don't mean to be rude, but for someone named Gannala, you're honestly a waste of space..."
"Fatty!"
Right as Ruvva finished speaking, Gannala's fist flew towards her face. Shockwaves of Prana appeared before her face in layers, behaving like a shield. However, they didn't defend against the fist and instead pushed against it. This force was applied on her face, allowing Ruvva to evade the attack, following which she lashed with a backhanded slam and made contact with Gannala's cheek.
The attack struck, but Gannala didn't even budge the slightest, calmly glaring at Ruvva with disdain, "Was that meant to tickle me? You're cute, little sister."
"Hehe," Ruvva only laughed in response to the taunt as over a dozen layers of shockwaves radiated from the back of her hand and coursed through Gannala's face, clotting the Prana inside to result in an explosion. Gannala's head tilted to the side as she took a step back to stabilise herself.
"You've grown a little, kid." Gannala wiped her cheek which healed at the same pace as her swipe. She then cracked the stiff muscles in her neck and observed Ruvva, "Even after so long, you're only at the Body Stage."
"Then," she muttered with a concerned expression, "I should avoid going overboard when I wipe this place with your face. I can't kill my dear sister by mistake, after all."
"Wow, look at this delusional idiot," Ruvva sported an exaggerated expression of shock, "You used Internal Inertial Gravity to tank my attack. You used a Nature when I didn't and you still claim to be stronger. I knew you had your head up your ass, Gannala. But I didn't realise it would be this deep..."
"Did you turn your ass into a biome? That must be why you're so blind to reality." She taunted.
"Pfft!" Gannala burst into laughter, "You're doing a great job at projecting your insecurities on me. Head up the ass? That's a speciality of your father."
"He's even a Mystic Grade wonder at that," she made eye contact with Ruvva and imitated the same exaggerated smile as the latter, "And you've inherited all that talent of his, to hide in the ass, I mean."
"Going personal, are we? You better be ready to take what you can dish out." Veins popped on her forehead as Ruvva no longer put on an act, "You're not even the product of love, but ra..."
|| ||
...
Ruvva and Gannala glared at each other in silence for a few seconds before clicking their tongues, dropping the subject, since the cause of both their births was pretty similar.
"And?" Gannala spoke upon calming down as she stared into the crater nearby, "What were you doing with Yahard Tusk here?"
"His State of Harmony kept him stuck to this place. I gave him company until his end and just received my payment for doing that." Ruvva didn't mention the deal about getting Rirenal from Yahard Tusk, since there was no reason for her to do so.
Technically, they could be called sisters. In reality, Gannala had erased Ruvva's memories many times while the latter was a child. And Ruvva retaliated against Gannala by constantly scratching up the latter's stomach, enough for Gannala to roll about in pain.
They didn't have a good relationship in the slightest, nor was there an incentive to better it. 'She seems pretty cranky already. Well, it makes sense if Harrala is truly dead.'
Ruvva didn't express her thoughts and turned around, waving casually to state, "Well, if there's nothing else to talk about, it's time I return to the Brimgan Empire."
"Wait!" Gannala raised her voice upon seeing Ruvva was about to leave.
"What do you want now?" Ruvva raised an eyebrow as she turned around.
"Give me a copy of Yahard Tusk's memories," Gannala asked.
"And why should I?" Ruvva stared calmly.
"Because I'm asking," Gannala said, her tone slightly oppressive.
"That's pretty spoilt of you to behave that way," Ruvva clicked her tongue, "If you want something, you better be ready to pay for it."
"Fine," Gannala expressed her displeasure, but didn't argue further, "State your price."
"Drifting Tunnel Nature Weapon," Ruvva stated without hesitation, "You have Virala's Nature Weapon. Give that to me."
"Hah," Gannala let out a long exhale and scratched her aching forehead, "Every damn bastard sure loves to get on my nerves."
"You better ask for something appropriate, or you'll receive a beating." She grunted, emanating with her presence.
"I gave you a discount." Ruvva snorted, "You think those memories are something casual that
they can be exchanged as you please? They're the most valuable on Sumatra. I would have asked you for four Mystic Grade Nature Weapons at least, but held back because you don't have more than one."
"If it's that valuable, then give it to me first." Gannala extended her hand, "If I judge that you're stating the truth, I'll pay an equivalent value for it."
"That's the most compromise I can make towards a thief."
"Thief?" Her expression became incensed as Prana billowed out of Ruvva, "Control your words, Ruvva. You think you matter out here?"
"Yahard Tusk is a Mammoth Clansman. After Harrala's death, I've absorbed her Settlement."
Gannala expressed as veins popped all over her face, "Yahard Tusk's memories are the property of the Mammoth Clan, in extension, me."
"Not you!" She snorted.
The two women glared at each other for a couple of seconds before their figures flickered, causing a sonic boom in the centre as they slammed into each other. An instant of impact later, Ruvva was sent flying.
Chasing after her was the figure of Gannala, having turned her Secondary Nature into Internal Inertial Gravity too. Her figure was lithe, making no fluctuations on the environment as she raced after Ruvva, sped past the latter, turned around, and drop kicked her target.
"Keuk!" Shockwaves erupted out of Ruvva as she changed her orientation mid-air and
watched Gannala's feet scrape past her shoulder. The mere brush craved out a gash on her body as Ruvva gritted her teeth and unleashed a shockwave radially, sending the ivory sand flying everywhere.
It masked all Prana detection means, using which she could avoid being detected by Gannala. Ruvva plunged her hand into the ivory sand and unleashed a shockwave, causing ivory sand to fly into the sky and cover the region to a height of 200 metres from the ground.
The shockwaves also transmitted to her Gannala's position, used as a sonar. Prana gushed out
of her left hand and turned into the shape of a bow while her right condensed an arrow. She nocked the arrow, drew the bowstring to the limit, and released it, watching the arrow whistle through the sound barrier and make a beeline towards Gannala.
Boom!
The impact produced a shockwave, unlike Ruvva's expectations. The shockwave pushed away
the dust and revealed the positions of both parties. A trickle of blood dripped from Gannala's temples as a layer of bone had shielded her from the arrow.
"I believe this is the limit of how much I can hold back." Gannala let out a soft exhale as her
eyes locked onto Ruvva.
Both parties knew what was about to happen next and leapt back simultaneously, erecting enough distance between each other and then, assumed their Pranic Beast forms.
Kaboom!
Two Empyrean Tusks appeared in the Kalahatra Desert amidst a storm. The fierce gales furiously swept past with their positions as the centre while thunder reverberated nonstop. Two seconds later, the two Empyrean Tusks slammed into each other.
There was no contest here as Ruvva's Empyrean Tusk tumbled to the ground and slid for a few kilometres, sporting a large dent on the head. Her Empyrean Tusk form was stable thanks to being reinforced by the Golden Giant at the Brimgan Empire for decades now.
However, its weight paled in comparison to Gannala's Empyrean Tusk form that was being
reinforced by two Natures of Internal Inertial Gravity, one of which was a Mystic Grade
Nature.
Followed by a roll, Ruvva's Empyrean Tusk form got up and poised its trunk at Gannala as her
voice resounded like thunder.
[You're heavier, as expected of a fatty. But that's it!]
A voracious amount of Prana gathered into the trunk of Ruvva's Empyrean Tusk form,
growing turbulent within a second.
'Shit!' Seeing the familiar Prana reaction, Gannala severed her trunk and threw it before her.
The Trunk served to cover Ruvva's line of sight, using which Gannala assumed human form
and sped sideways on the ground.
She stared upward and watched Ruvva's Empyrean Tusk form had finished charging. And
then, a generously thick beam, as thick as the trunk, blasted out, puncturing through
Gannala's severed Empyrean Tusk trunk.
It was the Kinesis Feline's destructive beam!