The Patara City Lord’s grandmother was currently aged 441. She was called Nin Patara and could live up to 600 years, thanks to the Silver Grade mineral she used to build her Human Avatar.
Mineral—Naran!
It was a dull yellow, naturally available in powdered form. To mine it, though, was hard, as it was present deep underground, often in places with toxic air chambers. In its natural state, it was present as an ore. And most of the substances forming the ore made it extremely susceptible to flames.
Hence, exceptional care had to be taken to extract the ore and refine it to obtain Naran.
Now, now!" Nin Patara pated the Rascl with two humps as her hands assumed Human Avatar form. They glowed an even duller yellow as Prana seeped into the Rascl’s head, causing the latter to grunt in resistance.
However, as time passed, the resistance died down until soon, the Rascl had become submissive.
Primary Nature—Spirit Psychokinesis!
Nin Patara seeped her Prana into the Rascl and influenced the latter until eventually, it was brainwashed to follow her orders. That was the power of Spirit Psychokinesis.
The stronger the target was, the longer it took to brainwash it. Also, the stronger the target was, the faster it broke free from the effects of Spirit Psychokinesis.
Therefore, once Nin Patara put a Rascl under her control, she had to keep using her ability in regular intervals. Otherwise, the Rascl would break free from the brainwashing and flee.
But if it was subjected to the effects of Spirit Psychokinesis for extended periods, it’ll become more and more susceptible to it. If at start, Nin Patara needed two hours to brainwash a Rascl, then after being subjected to Spirit Psychokinesis’s influence for a couple years, the time would have fallen to an hour or below.
A Rascl took around four days to break free while a Muscl took around six hours. Whenever a flash flood occurred on the Stromar Cliff, Nin Patara would send all the Rascls and Muscls she raised to the Stromar Cliff.
They will gorge on all the Krave Fil they could and then return. The Rascls mostly returned, as four days was enough time for a round trip. However, in the case of a Muscl, there was a lot of chance involved.
If the Muscl found enough Krave Fil near the entrance of the Stromar Cliff until it had its fill, it would return within the six-hour time limit. However, if there were some delays, it would break free from the brainwashing before it completed its journey. It had happened many times in the past, which is why she only had one Muscl.
"Good job this time!" Nin Patara waved her hand, dismissing the team of soldiers, "Start preparing for the next Raid."
"And by the way," Nin Patara said as she smiled at the leader of the group, "Congratulations."
"Thank you!" The leader of the group bowed and returned to his quarters, excited. He was reaching his late thirties but hadn’t married yet. He could have selected one of the maids to marry. However, the one he set his eyes on was the Head Maid, a charming, middle-aged woman who was courted by most of the soldiers but failed.
To court her, he had to receive permission from the City Lord and was given some missions to execute. If he managed to capture enough Rascls in a set time, he would be granted permission, which Rin Patara had given just now.
"Haha!"
Seeing the group leader rush out in elation, Rin Patara casually focused on the newly brought Rascl, "Oh my, you’re healthier than I expected. You’ll grow into a powerful Muscl."
Originally, she had four Muscls that successfully returned from the Stromar Cliff after every flash flood. They were fast and she had trained them to work as a team, which increased the speeds at which they moved across the Stromar Cliff and consumed the Krave Fil.
For the past two years, this group managed to return within four hours, giving her plenty of time to influence them with Spirit Psychokinesis once again.
However, in the recent Pranic Beast invasion of the Rumtara Kingdom, she lost three of her four Muscls.
"Now," She patted the Rascl with two humps, "This will be a fine addition."
Rin Patara had a lean frame, reaching a height of 170 centimetres. Her hair was tied into a thick bun, accentuating her mild grey sideburns. Accompanied by a floral-patterned dress that reached her ankle, whose ends poised upwards like an umbrella, she walked into the main hall and saw the Patara City Lord tending to four guests.
A mere glance at them and she shuddered, ’This presence! So vast! So overwhelming!’
"That’s my grandmother." The Patara City Lord, Nim Patara said jovially, "She’s Patara City’s guardian."
"It’s a pleasure to meet you." The quartet were Inala and his group. Currently, Shuwrak Zahara took charge of speaking, getting up to perform a mild bow towards Rin Patara.
"It’s my family’s honour to serve distinguished individuals such as you." Rin Patara made a full bow, for she could clearly sense the Gold Grade presence of the group before her, ’Every single one of them has Gold Grade strength.’
A pause later, she asked, continuing with her greeting, "May I know the purpose of your visit to this backwater place?"
"We’ll be waiting outside." Shuwrak Zahara got up alongside two others. He then pointed at Inala, "Only he’s allowed to exchange information."
Without missing a beat, the trio left the main hall, hurriedly accompanied by the City Lord.
If Rin Patara couldn’t understand what was happening, she wouldn’t have been put in charge of this plan in the first place.
"May I know your identity?" Rin Patara requested submissively. However, she was ready to retaliate when necessary. She only had Silver Grade strength. However, in preparations for the plan, her ancestors had been given three Minor Treasures, two of which were currently in her body while the final one was part of the plan.
"Sure," Inala said as his right hand turned into Rutham while his left turned into grey sand. In an instant, before Rin Patara could even reach, Inala had finished targeting her,
Her surroundings had become pitch black, preventing her from seeing or hearing anything. In her unguarded state, a clump of Prana entered her body and exited shortly after.
Major Treasure—Weapon!
The clump of Prana transformed into a hand made out of Naran, which calmly touched Rin Patara’s head and seeped in an overwhelming amount of Prana.
"Gah!" Rin Patara roared in resistance. However, her voice was nullified in the darkness, which vanished a few seconds later.
"Good," Inala muttered as his arms returned to normal. He used the grey sand only to unleash the curtain of night to nullify light and sound. Rutham was there to strengthen his psychokinesis, which granted him faster deployment of the curtain of night and also greater potency in using the Naran Spirit Weapon.
That was how he not only overwhelmed Rin Patara in a matter of seconds, but also brainwashed her to follow his bidding. "Now, mind telling me about the Brimgan Empire’s grand plan?"
"No, I don’t know the details myself. I’m merely in charge of a small portion." Rin Patara said, "My ancestors have simply worked on the cause with blind faith, simply following established orders."
"Tell me whatever you know," Inala asked.
"Yes," Rin Patara nodded and began to speak, "Exactly twelve kilometres underground exists a cave the same size as Patara City. A formation exists within it that controls everything. Once every few decades, a Brully arrives in the dome, carried by the mysterious power of psychokinesis within the formation."
"When it appears, I only have to seem Prana into the formation after activating my Primary Nature." Rin Patara concluded, "There is an altar at the edge of the formation, which is connected to the Minor Treasure placed inside."
"When the Brully arrives, the Minor Treasure fuses into it, following which my ability flows into its body." Rin Patara said, "The Minor Treasure retains the effect of my power and subjects the Brully to it. The process will take anywhere from five to ten years."
"Once it’s done, the Brully is fully brainwashed. I don’t know what happens after that."
’Hmm?’ Inala frowned, ’Considering the ease with which I obtained this information, it doesn’t make sense such a piece of information hasn’t been figured out by others. Then, there must be something else at play.’
"Has anyone found out this fact either at present or in the past?" Inala asked next.
"Plenty of times." Rin Patara nodded.
"What happened then?" Inala asked.
"They all died." Rin Patara said as a matter of fact, shaking her head upon being asked for the cause of their deaths, "I don’t know. Not much is passed down through the generations. So I only know that whoever found out about this died shortly after..."
"Without exceptions," She added a second later.
"That doesn’t answer much." Inala muttered and then asked, "What about your Minor Treasures. You had three, right?"
"Yes," Rin Patara nodded and began to explain about them. "The first is to protect the individual in charge of this process."
Minor Treasure—Kinesis Earth!
This Minor Treasure pulled the user deep underground and made them indistinguishable, leaving behind no traces. Once activated, the user was kept in a state of stasis underground.
"Based on our records, it will come undone only when the coast is clear." She spoke.