"We’re here," Councilman Hyak said as the group he led had arrived at the end of the Kappeet Channel. They were currently travelling on a shall ship made using Tratham, controlled by Councilman Hyak.
The ship emanated reddish radiance into the waters, pushing it forward. Travelling for extended durations was strenuous for the average cultivator. However, Councilman Hyak had the Spirit Eater build.
While flowing, Councilman Hyak arrived at the edge of the deck and dangled his feet forward. His legs turned into roots and splashed around in the water, absorbing nutrients slowly.
From time to time, whenever the ship moved closer to the banks, the roots burrowed into the soil and absorbed more nutrients.
Doing this from time to time kept his Prana reserves full. And whenever he was tired, his subordinate took charge.
"We are now entering the Dralh Sea." He spoke respectfully to the woman standing beside. She was a head shorter, sporting a petite frame.
She was the Varahan Empress, Yoribu. The moment the ship arrived close to the Dralh Sea, Yoribu began to sweat. She wiped herself and noticed the water gradually turning dark, until it was jet-black. "It’s hot."
"That’s the Dralh Sea for you." Councilman Hyak chuckled, "We have arrived early in the morning, so it isn’t that hot yet."
"It’ll get hotter?" She gasped and eyed the twenty Mystic Humans on board the ship, "How do you guys even survive in this place?"
"Our Spirit Eater body allows us to adapt to this place." Councilman Hyak responded, "Well, it’s not just that."
He smiled wryly, "All of us originated from this region. My ancestors lived on a landmass adjacent to the Dralh Sea for over twelve thousand years. It has been our home for ages."
"I’m not sure if I’ll be able to live here," Yoribu commented, feeling difficulties in breathing once the ship set sail in the Dralh Sea. The jet-black waters radiated intense heat. It bubbled, releasing steam that was hot enough to sear the skin of any land-based Silver Grade Pranic Beast.
"Councilman, may we?" The other Mystic Humans approached Councilman Hyak and asked respectfully. They didn’t state their desire, but it was evident to the person they requested.
"Of course," Councilman Hyak smiled, "But don’t go too far. Move in teams."
"What are they intending to do?" Yoribu asked, feeling averse. She was born in the Varahan Enclave as a Wean Clansman. She lived on land all her life.
And unlike Empyrean Boars who had a habit of digging into muddy pits to burrow themselves for either sleep or to cool off, Wean Clansman lived in Decodus Tree houses.
Her Boar King form was a creature that sprinted across lands, and her Empyrean Megatrice form lived underground. For someone like her, staying on a ship was already unnerving.
The Dralh Sea’s conditions were getting under her skin, turning her restless. She could have at least managed if it was a normal aquatic habitat. The intense heat, the excessive moisture, and the saline vapour made her feel helpless.
The Dralh Sea’s water was extremely dense and had a high salinity. The density stemmed from a large quantity of minerals dissolved in the water, most of which were saline.
"Wohoo!" The Mystic Humans roared in joy and jumped into the water. They wore Tratham boots that propelled them underwater, allowing them to scaddle around the native Pranic Beasts. They messed around and were attacked by the Pranic Beasts.
But their Gold Grade strength, even if they were to get injured, it wasn’t a concern. They moved about in the water merrily for a few more minutes before the group landed on the ship’s deck.
One of the Mystic Humans grunted and formed a Tratham blade on his right hand. He then stabbed his abdomen with it and unleashed a repulsive force, sending a clump of flesh flying away.
’That’s...his rectum?’ Yoribu wondered the cause behind his strange actions when suddenly, the rectum wriggled and turned into a serpentine existence.
Intermediate Iron Grade Pranic Beast—Ewworm!
When the Mystic Human swam through the waters, an Ewworm had burrowed into his rectum, prompting his return.
Screee!
The Ewworm twisted its body and condensed a toothpick at the end of its tail to stab into the rails of the ship. Its body curled around the rails and then propelled its body towards the Mystic Human, targeting his butt.
"No, you don’t!" The Mystic Human grunted as he unleashed a powerful reddish radiance and sent the Ewworm flying away for more than a hundred metres, almost flattening it in the process.
"Please stay next to me." Councilman Hyak warned Yoribu, "Even though they cannot harm you, it’s not something an Empress has to experience."
"Urgh!"
"Shit!"
"I was careless!"
One after another, the Mystic Humans ripped out their rectums and sent them flying far away. Midair, the rectums transformed into Ewworms that wriggled in the air, hoping to return to the ship. Alas, the momentum that sent them flying carried them afar.
"What is happening?" Yoribu hurriedly unleashed her Prana detection means throughout the water. But in a range of 180 metres around her, she only detected some Iron Grade Pranic Beasts, no Ewworms.
"You cannot detect them." Councilman Hyak shook his head, "They remain hidden in the ground. When they are like that, they aren’t registered in Prana detection means. Only when they spring out can you detect them."
"The water’s full of them." A Mystic Human interjected as he adjusted his clothes after healing his abdomen wound. He then pointed at the deck, "There’s at least a thousand of them at the bottom of our ship. They had latched onto us the moment we entered the Dralh Sea."
"What?" Yoribu’s voice turned shrill. She instinctively shrieked in a high pitch and shouted, "Get rid of them! Why haven’t you done anything?"
"They are harmless." Councilman Hyak responded, "An Ewworm will try to burrow into your rectum, yes. But it cannot harm you. Instead, it will consume your body’s waste products and create a tool that will be used to protect you."
"I don’t care! It’s creepy as fu..." Yoribu controlled herself, coughing to regain her grace as she commented, "Sorry about that."
For a moment, she forgot that the 20 Mystic Humans before her could become Gold Ewworms. To these Gold Ewworms, the Iron Grade Ewworms were like cute toddlers. That’s why they only sent the Ewworms flying and didn’t kill them.
"No, we don’t consider them kin or anything." Councilman Hyak caught drift of her thoughts and expressed honestly, "We simply don’t kill them as they are truly harmless. That doesn’t mean we think they are cute."
"Everyone here thinks of them as disgusting looking creatures," He stared at Yoribu’s guarded stance and coughed embarrassingly, "So, don’t give us that look, please?"
"I’ll...take your word on it." Yoribu didn’t wish to comment on the matter after that. "But, why did all of you jump into the water before?"
"To get used to the waters," One of the Mystic Humans replied, "We have been away from it for a while. A dip in the water jolts our bodies back to what we had adapted while living here."
"It’s like splashing water on a person’s face to wake them up."
"Okay..." Yoribu said and plopped on the deck, sweating uncontrollably now. Her Prana circulated through her body and assisted her. She wasn’t in any harm, but the sense of discomfort in her being only continued to grow.
"If it’s too much, we’ll stop at the closest island." Councilman Hyak suggested, "One of us will send forth a message to our headquarters and get them to dispatch a large ship."
"You won’t feel uncomfortable in it."
"I..." She first wished to reject the offer, unwilling to seem too needy and spoilt. However, partway through her sentence, she felt revulsion, barely managing to suppress the urge to vomit, "I’ll take you up on the offer."
By evening, the ship banked on the closest island as the Mystic Humans on board it began to run deeper into the island.
"Quick! Follow me!" Councilman Hyak retracted his Tratham ship and shouted in a hurry.
There was a Mystic Human base on the island. A team of five lived here, mostly conducting research on the various minerals found in the island’s mine. Every day, they used their Ewworm builds to consume one of the minerals, made tools with it, and researched the uses of these tools.
It was made using a mineral with gentle illuminating properties and mostly resistant to attacks. It was a tough mineral and barely qualified to be Silver Grade. The Mystic Humans used it to build their tower and it had been holding up pretty well at that.
"Get in!" Councilman Hyak shouted upon arrival. The five Mystic Humans in the tower recognised him and granted entry.
"What is happening?" Yoribu asked as she followed the group and rushed inside the building.
"It’s starting!" Councilman Hyak shouted in a hurry.
"What is starting?" Yoribu gasped as goosebumps appeared on her skin. Her Prana detection means was registering Pranic Beasts in the numbers of hundreds...thousands, "Is it a Minor Crisis?"
"No," Councilman Hyak was completely in a relaxed state now. He brought her to the terrace of the tower, from where they could see a swarm of Pranic Beasts flooding the island.
"This is the infamous phenomenon of the Dralh Sea, one we could witness every evening." Saying so, he pointed at the sky where a wall of cloud had begun to form, "It’s the start of the Dralh Sea’s Death Hour!"