Stromar Cliff!
Along the foothills of the series of closely-knit mountains were the most dominant race of the region—Rascls.
Currently, two male Rascls were ramming into each other in order to decide the victor. It was a mating ritual. And by showing their dominance, the victor would gain favour of the spectating female.
There existed a strange relationship between the flash floods and the Rascls’ mating rituals. The greater the number of flash floods happening in shorter intervals, the greater the availability of Krave Fil.
That resulted in the Rascls having excess energy, since they had more to eat than what they required. Secondly, the frequent flash floods resulted in more loss of Rascl lives. This directly resulted in the Rascl race becoming hungry to produce more of their kind, to replenish their numbers.
The excess food availability only made the process easier. The greater the food abundance, the lower their population, the greater their drive to repopulate. And that led to bloodier fights.
Boom!
Their horns exploded upon impact and splattered into the surroundings like a bomb’s shrapnel. A sharp piece lodged itself three centimetres deep into the hard rock, showcasing the ruthlessness with which the Rascls struck each other.
"Guuah...!" The Rascl that had just rammed into its opponent groaned as its head spun. Half its skull had crumbled from the impact as its feet wobbled. If it were to fall, that would make it the loser.
The Rascl had zero intentions to do that as it hurriedly activated its Primary Nature once again and gathered Prana into its skull. But instead of unleashing the ability, it deactivated its Nature, diverting the gathered Prana into recovery instead.
It barely managed to orient itself and watched its opponent still reeling from the previous clash. Bleating once, it kicked its hooves and rushed lithely into its opponent to topple it to the floor.
"Gumeeeeh!" It bleated hard, symbolising its victory. Wagging its lower body, it approached the group of spectators that consisted of eight females. By the time it was done, it would lead a tribe of its own.
As for the Rascl that had lost the battle, it let out sad bleats and dragged itself towards the edge. It didn’t have much hope left anymore, for it had lost against the weakest Rascl in the vicinity.
"Guuuh..." Its head continued to bleed as the Rascl stared into the distance.
"That was sad, huh?" Slinging his hand around the Rascl’s neck was Inala, muttering sweetly in its ears, "Want me to help you win?"
"Mehhh!" The Rascl was startled by his appearance. It wanted to fight upon seeing this stranger. However, it hadn’t recovered from the effects of its battle yet and could only bleat in resistance.
"Hm...hmmm..." Inala heard its bleats as he focused for a few seconds. He then lightly tapped his head onto the Rascl and then let out a soft sound, "mehhh..."
"Gumehh?" The Rascl stared at him in shock.
"Gumeh." Inala responded in seriousness.
"Is he...?" Loya asked as she observed from a fair distance away, "Seriously? That quickly?"
"A few hits and a Brully doesn’t just figure out your build but also your physical composition." Shuwrak Zahara explained from the side, "I thought that was the limit until now. But who would have thought it would also extend to their language."
Most Iron Grade Pranic Beasts had a simple language that only expressed the most basic stuff such as: Food, hungry, angry, sex, danger.
Very few Iron Grade Pranic Beasts, such as the Zingers, had a complex language system.
But despite how simple the communication means were, inferring their meaning was one thing, but communicating effectively was a whole other matter. And Inala had achieved that in a matter of seconds, but simply tapping his head onto the Rascl?
"That...bastard!" Loya’s eyes popped out, almost on the verge of falling out from an incredulous mixture of anger and shock, "What the heck is WRONG WITH HIM?"
Behaving like he couldn’t hear her screams, despite his enhanced senses clearly picking up her voice, Inala patted the Rascl and layered it with a thin, membranous barrier littered with microscopic needles.
Nature—Shield of Thorns!
Inala had turned his right hand into the Panger Race’s Spirit Weapon and applied a defensive coating on the Rascl, explaining to the latter the implication, "You, strong now."
"Gumehhhhhh!" The Rascl bleated arrogantly, clearly able to feel invincible with the powerful shield.
"Let’s go find you a Muscl bride." Inala announced chirpily as he climbed onto the Rascl’s back. The latter bleated with extreme confidence and began to run up the cliff walls. Its Prana reserves were at half its capacity, but it wasn’t worried.
"GUMEHHH!" Calmly jumping down the cliff was a Muscl. It was a slightly older female Muscl that treated an entire cliffside as its territory. Any male that entered its territory would have to face her. If they struck her preference, she would mate with them. Otherwise, their skulls would be shattered.
To date, eight Muscls had courted her, with only one succeeding in mating with her. The remaining seven had their skulls crushed by her. Even the one that mated with her lost the battle. The female Muscl only mated with the male Muscl because the latter was to her fancy...and also because she had her needs.
But now, seeing a challenge not from a Muscl but a fledgling Rascl triggered her. Without an instant’s hesitation, the Muscl charged, activating its Primary Nature in full swing.
"Buddy, it’s on you now." Inala patted the Rascl and hurriedly rolled to the side. The resounding explosion stunned him.
The defensive coating of Shield of Thorns indeed lived up to its reputation as the Muscl felt blood trickling down its head. It had taken a few steps back in confusion and saw to its utter surprise that the Rascl hadn’t budged an inch from its spot.
"Gumehh!" The Rascl bleated in pride, as instructed by Inala. It then took steady steps and gently nudged the Muscl on the head, showcasing that it had won.
"Guuuu!" The Muscl only remained confused for a few seconds before it happily mated with the Rascl.
"What are they doing?" Pitorah asked once the group caught up to the place.
"They’re talking." Shuwrak Zahara said curtly and turned his head away, unwilling to subject himself to torture by seeing two Pranic Beasts mate. ’At the end of the day, they’re mere beasts.’
"Wow, at least conceal your disgust," Loya commented from the side upon staring at his face.
"I am a Free Human." Shuwrak Zahara didn’t have to say anything else.
"Oh really?" Loya raised an eyebrow and inched closer to him, "Why don’t I change your overview of the world? You have yet to witness Sumatra in its truest sense."
"I’ll pass," Shuwrak Zahara rolled his eyes, "I’m not interested in older woman, especially those who aren’t Free Humans."
He then subtly pointed at Inala, "Why not give him a shot. I’m pretty sure older women are his preference."
"Wow, tell me something I didn’t know for ages." Loya groaned as she sighed a little while eyeing Inala, "By the time that brat reaches mating age, I would have already died."
"He looks like a teenager though." Shuwrak Zahara said, "Humans age faster than Pranic Beasts."
"I have no intentions to mate with him as a human," Loya commented, feeling offended to see Shuwrak Zahara openly distancing himself from her. "Damned bastard, you were the one who asked me about it."
"Old woman, you better return to your home before you start screwing every other Panic Beast you chance upon." Shuwrak Zahara shouted as he sprinted at top speed, smoothly evading all the stones Loya threw at him, "Your aim sucks!"
"Dammit!" Loya cursed in frustration. It’s not like she didn’t have enough stamina in human form. However, her years of life as a Panger completely governed her instincts, which made her extremely inefficient in terms of running, throwing, and other such activities.
"Gumehh!" Inala laughed happily upon seeing the Rascl grandly prostrate before him once its mating session concluded. It didn’t just consider him its best friend, but even revered him.
What it had just experienced was no different from a beggar bedding the wealthiest and most powerful Empress in a human society. And this happened right after it despaired about its loss.
"Here, eat your fill." Inala fed the Rascl a bundle of moss-covered grass, "when a flash flood happens, carry me."
The Rascl bleated, expressing it would carry Inala from bottom to the top at least ten times through a flash flood. And soon, a flash flood occurred.
"Woah!" Inala exclaimed upon seeing the bullet-shaped bubble of air that wrapped around him. As the Rascl moved forward, the bullet tunnelled through the descending sea of water.
"Don’t worry about Prana." Inala turned both hands into Silver Biome Bombs and supplied the Rascl Prana from it, ensuring it could handle the load of using its Primary Nature to wrap around Inala too while it moved up.
"Wow, you’re a slowpoke, huh?" Suddenly, a new bullet line appeared nearby as Loya commented casually. She rode a Muscl, extremely smug in her disposition as she patted her mount, "Eat my dust, kiddo."
Primary Nature—Shield of Thorns!
The Muscl didn’t even have to worry about defence and instead just used all the strength of its Primary Nature into charging forward.
"For the show you put on earlier, I really hoped you and your buddy could move faster." Suddenly, another bullet line appeared. It was Shuwrak Zahara, riding an eldritch monstrosity. It used to be a Rascl, but he fused a Tangible Millinger into its body.
And now, in regular intervals, the Tangible Millinger ejected its centipede upper body out of the Rascl’s mouth to clear the water before retreating inside. Every second, it manifested its body to clear the surrounding water and then fused with the Rascl.
When fused into the body, it supplied Prana to the Rascl, allowing the latter to keep its Primary Nature blazing forth. Shuwrak Zahara’s Gold Grade Prana, once converted through the Tangible Millinger, gave plenty of fuel for the Rascl, which allowed it to travel at rapid speeds too.
"Well, I’ll set up camp at the top. Bye." Shuwrak Zahara said as his Rascl too moved forward.
"Buddy..." Inala stared at his Rascl, who felt embarrassed now for lagging behind in the race. "Can you...run faster?"
"Meh!" The Rascl replied, basically implying that it was batshit weak in the first place and had lost to one of the weakest of its kind. Even at its best, it was slower than its brethren, not to mention the two creatures being boosted by Gold Grade existences.
"Fine, I’ll help you." Inala groaned as his left hand turned into a Rutham Spirit Weapon.