Geysers continued to gush into the sky, forming ginormous clouds that later descended as a sea of water, crashing onto the mountainous peaks of the Stromar Cliffs. As the water gushed down, the Rascls raced up, against the tide.
There was enough water for the flash flood to last a whole two minutes. It was one of the longer flash floods. The shortest ones usually last for about thirty to forty seconds. If the duration were to increase beyond a couple minutes, most Rascls would run out of Prana and get flushed to the bottom.
They would turn into juice during the pressurised descent.
"Hehehe...muhahaha!" Loya laughed in full arrogance as the flash flood ended. A few seconds later, her Muscl reached the peak, giving her a full view of the Stromar Cliff. She relished the view, seeing water flood the region and quickly drain through the ground until soon, most of the water had vanished.
There were small puddles and pools across the place where the water stagnated. These places became extremely dense with Krave Fil and were usually controlled by Muscls.
The crater at the peak of the mountain, through which the geyser gushed out, was similar. A large pool of water had gathered in it, constantly reacting with the mountain’s surface to produce Krave Fil.
That was the usual spot of the Muscl she rode. Seeing it head towards the pool, Loya alighted and patted the Muscl’s back, "That was fun."
[Anytime.]
The Muscl replied and headed towards the pool. The rock was porous. So the pool would eventually drain too. The only difference was that the Krave Fil surrounding it would exist for as long as the pool drained.
Hence, such place had Krave Fil for longer hours. The Muscl could take its sweet time eating as much as was necessary. Technically, it still had plenty of reserves in its humps to last for a few more years. But since it had nothing better to do, it intended to fill up its reserves.
This reserve also helped it in battles, providing the Muscl with a steady stream of Prana.
"Late," Loya complained as she saw the arrival of Shuwrak Zahara. She then purposefully taunted Inala upon seeing the latter take his sweet time, "I think I had a full nap with how long you took."
She then noticed his Rutham arm, "Seriously?"
"You wanted to win that badly?"
"I didn’t use it." Inala grumbled as he slighted his Rascl and patted it, "Go and eat, buddy. Train lots and become a Muscl the next time we meet."
He placed a Silver Biome Bomb like a collar around its next, with its strings of Prana curling around the neck like a necklace. "Take advantage of its reserves and keep using your ability. Then one day, you’ll be strong."
"Gumehh!" The Rascl lightly tapped its head into Inala and then rushed away towards a spot with Krave Fil.
Inala then stared at the nearby Muscl that was munching Krave fil that grew around the crater, "You know..."
"Back when the Brully Invasion happened, my Race exceeded common sense in terms of Prana capacity." He spoke.
A Brully had three times the Prana Capacity of a Beginner Gold Grade Pranic Beast. That was the first of its kind on Sumatra, "And that introduced the concept of Prana storage."
"These guys..." He eyed the Muscl to say, "Even they have a better Prana capacity than a Brully."
The Muscl’s Secondary Nature of Elixir Hump literally gave it a large reservoir of condensed energy that could be converted into Prana when necessary. Depending on its accumulations, the Muscl hd anywhere from ten to thirty times its Prana capacity.
Of course, this Prana wasn’t readily available and had to be digested. But if the Muscl were to know Mystic Sumatra Art, it’ll only become better equipped with the process and could recover at a faster rate.
’If a Mammoth Clansman were to fuse with it,’ Inala shook his head. Mystic Bone Art was perfect for a Muscl build. Its enhanced digestion allowed the Mammoth Clansman to rapidly replenish their Prana reserves and remain battling for extended durations.
The Muscl’s build, its smaller size, and most of all, its leaping ability on rocky terrains made it a perfect fit for a Mammoth Clansman who lived on an Empyrean Tusk and usually fought most battles within its grooves.
Muscls were pretty favoured by the Mammoth Clan. Many Settlement Leaders had that build. Even the Supreme Tusk Gannala’s Settlement had two Settlement Leaders in its history with this build.
"It might be how the Races on Sumatra evolve from an invasion." Loya commented after some thought, "It is survival of the fittest, after all."
"And the most evolutions happened in this era." Shuwrak Zahara commented as he eyed Inala and Loya, "There weren’t Pranic Beasts like this in the previous eras."
"I’m afraid things will only become more complex in the future." He sighed, "Gradually, I can see Secondary Natures becoming more and more common."
It was not as if Pranic Beasts were figuring out how to gain a Secondary Nature. They were simply mutating with higher rates. After all, Sumatra was rich with traces of Mystic Grade existences.
A Mystic Grade Pranic Beast’s Prana alone can cause an Iron Grade Pranic Beast to mutate. In present Sumatra, there was more than one moving around, with their highest number and concentration present in the Kalahatra Desert during the Third Major Disaster.
Just the lingering effects of the battle, especially the finale between the Celestial Boar and the Royal Zinger turned Kalahatra Desert into a blessed region. The region wasn’t blessed in terms of minerals like the Brimgan Empire but with vitality.
Plantlife would grow endlessly there, so much that production would outpace consumption even with Forest Boars being produced nonstop.
Every Forest Boar was a Gold Grade Pranic Beast. And like every Gold Grade Pranic Beast, it had a large appetite. But despite that, the Kalahatra Desert had an abundance of food.
’If the old Mammoth Clan existed, they would happily leave their nomadic ways and settle there.’ Inala thought, for a moment turning sad for their fate. ’Even Resha’s Empyrean Supreme could live there without issues.’
Of course, even the Kalahatra Desert’s production capacity wouldn’t feel inadequate before an Empyrean Supreme. It could only handle the needs of one. Anymore, and consumption would outpace production.
That just went to show how absurdly huge an Empyrean Supreme was, ’It is also a direct indicator of its reserves.’
A mature Empyrean Supreme would probably never run out of Prana, since it carried a biome large enough to be considered another world. Boosted by Mystic Bone Art, it was capable of drawing out Prana to always keep the maximum possible amount in its Spirit Container.
For the Empyrean Supreme, the Spirit Container was merely a refinery to regulate the amount of Prana in the blood. After all, the overall quantity of Prana within the circulating blood would easily dwarf the amount in the Spirit Container.
That was already the case in an Empyrean Tusk. The heart biome also had a sea of blood, which was filled with Prana. ’The idea and incentive to store excess Prana came from the Brully Invasion. That idea culminated little by little in a contest of survival of the fittest, and eventually...’
The Empyrean Supreme appeared!
"Where do we go from here?" Inala asked next as he took a seat beside the Muscl. Casually, he passed a clump of Prana through the latter’s hump, hoping to see if the condensed substance in the hump could be considered a mineral.
The clump of Prana merely came out the other side, implying the absence of a mineral in the hump. A moment’s thought later, he turned his arm into a Silver Biome Bomb and cut it off.
He filled it with Prana and turned it into a Tangible Piezo Slip. But just as he was about to feed it to the Muscl, Shuwrak Zahara came by and grabbed him by the shoulder.
"What?" Inala asked, "Why are you stopping me?"
"Are you planning to check if something like Millanir is possible with it?" Shuwrak Zahara asked, sighing upon seeing Inala nod, "What do you plan to do with it?"
"Nothing, actually." Inala shrugged, thought for a few seconds and then said, "Maybe I’ll give it to you if you make a force of your own in the future. It will be better to have a style or brand for your Kingdom, right?"
"About that..." Shuwrak Zahara smiled wryly, hesitating slightly before saying, "Try not to do it with this Race, alright?"
"Why? You don’t like them?" Inala frowned.
"No, think about what the Muscls eat." Shuwrak Zahara groaned, "Most of their energy needs are met by the Krave Fil. If a Free Human were to have this build..."
He shook his head, "They’ll have to consume loads of normal food to satisfy their needs. Such a Kingdom wouldn’t last for long."
"You’re right," Inala nodded in understanding, "Then I won’t give it to you."
"..." Shuwrak Zahara felt speechless by the answer, "Then, will you be using it for yourself?"
"Why?" He pressed further, "Don’t you already have a Biome Bomb?"
"I don’t see why not," Inala shrugged casually, "I only intend to see if the possibility exists. Besides, if I can have a Tangible Muscl, it’ll be pretty useful to run away."
Inala laughed, "For me, it’ll be a better fit than the power of a Razar Rat’s Shredded Lunge."