Approximately two millennia since Brangara became the Boar King; followed by a flash of energy currents, an ethereal entity manifested atop Sumatra Continent.
It was a humanoid with an octopus-shaped head. The tentacles on his chin dangled like infinite rivers, turning more and more transparent the farther away from him they got, until they trailed into one of the celestial worlds hovering high up in the sky.
Mystic Grade Transcendent—Empyrean Tentacle!
Renduldu had returned to upkeep his promise to the Mammoth Clan. He first headed to the other continent where the stronger Empyrean Tusk herd had ventured into. But that was an old generation.
It had already been two millennia since then. The herd was entirely replaced by another generation, all unfamiliar with him. Following that, he returned to Sumatra Continent and spotted a herd with 62 Empyrean Tusks.
The original number of 88 had dropped to 62. And none of these 62 were from the original generation. They were successors to the survivors of the previous generation.
"This place is completely unfamiliar to me now." Renduldu sighed, "Two thousand years is indeed a long time, even though it felt like nothing up there."
He scanned around Sumatra Continent, unable to sense his race out in the open anymore. While searching for the Iron Empyrean Tentacle, he chanced upon the Boar King.
The Boar King had already devoured the Iron Empyrean Tentacle and now possessed its Primary Nature. Due to that, no Iron Empyrean Tentacle ever appeared on Sumatra Continent. This was his plan to ensure a Mystic Empyrean Tentacle would never appear and fight for his seat as the supreme existence of Sumatra Continent.
The Gold Empyrean Tentacle was in the hands of the Mammoth Clan Chief leading the herd of 62 Empyrean Tusks—Raaha. He had fused with it.
His emergence was what stopped the merciless slaughter of the Empyrean Tusk herd, allowing balance to be attained by thwarting the Boar King's attacks repeatedly.
Just as Renduldu planned to return dejectedly to the Transcendent World, he felt the presence of the Silver Empyrean Tentacle. At the end of the path was Yahard Tusk, Settlement Leader of the 43rd Empyrean Tusk—Harrala.
"There's another Empyrean Tusk herd here?" He then noticed a certain individual moving at the back of the herd, old, weak, helpless, shouting in shock, "G-Gannala?"
"What…what happened to you?" His figure hovered before her eyes in disbelief as he felt her presence, "You…how is this possible?"
"Why are you weaker than an Empyrean Tusk when you're supposed to be their strongest to exist in history?"
He touched her eyelid gently, communicating with her. As a Transcendent, he was no longer limited like before, able to communicate freely with any lifeform he wished to.
[Uncle Renduldu…? You're back! Just like you said you will!]
Hearing her cheerful voice, Renduldu teared up in nostalgia, "How were you, Gannala?"
Currently, he arrived as a form of energy, detectable only to the individuals he revealed himself to. He couldn't arrive with his true body, as Transcendents weren't allowed to a lower world, for they were too powerful.
[Brangara has become a menace! He's hunting us nonstop! I'm doing my best to hide my existence until now. He has learnt about the existence of this herd but isn't aware of me being alive yet. I have ensured we don't run into him!]
"I'm not concerned about a mere boar, Gannala. I'm worried about you." Renduldu spoke in seriousness, "Why…are you this weak? I was hoping you would have become a Mystic Grade Pranic Beast by now and was preparing to become a Transcendent."
[To survive, I had to turn my path murky. It's impossible for me to become a Mystic Grade Pranic Beast anymore! Hence, I have been accumulating strength all along. You have arrived at the perfect time. Take a look at my seven wondrous kids!'
"Hmm…" Renduldu observed seven babies on the 44th Settlement, sensing fearsome energy levels fluctuating over the baby bodies, undetectable to all lifeforms at Sumatra. Only he, a Transcendent could sense them, muttering in shock, "You…have installed a path in them all?"
[Yes! I carefully influenced my Mammoth Clan to selectively breed for the finest and most suitable offspring to be birthed, generation after generation. And in every generation, I infused a tinge of my essence in them. That's why my strength dropped so drastically, because I was burning my path to construct one in them. Every Mammoth Clansman possessed a brick that was passed down through the generations, accumulating in the bodies of successors in different forms to forge their own paths. In the end, the paths finished forming completely in these seven children!]
"Seven Paths to the Mystic Grade," Renduldu grinned in hype, "You're something else, Gannala. So, you're telling me these seven could pretty much create seven ways for an Empyrean Tusk to attain the Mystic Grade? If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed it. Even my race only has one path."
[It's not a guarantee yet! I want you to check and tell. The size of their paths varies a lot!]
"I see…" Renduldu frowned. By splitting Gannala's path into a hundred fragments, or a hundred bricks, he calculated the size of the paths of the seven children. A glance at them, and he knew their names, muttering.
"Resha, 27 bricks. This is a robust path. I can see that it'll succeed with a guarantee."
"Orakha, 20 bricks. This is a pretty solid path. The outcome seems interesting too."
"Yennda, 2 Bricks. I never thought such a small path was possible. It seems the most fragile too."
"Grehha, 14 bricks. This is by far the most stable path of them all, but it's also the slowest. I feel even an Empyrean Tusk's lifespan would prove insufficient."
"Blola, 4 bricks. It's mostly geared by luck and relies too much on chance. It's barely possible but I don't see this ever being achieved."
"Inala, 16 bricks. It's a versatile path with a lot of substitutes. It feels the easiest to achieve of them all, even though it's not as stable as Resha's."
"Virala, 17 bricks. Hmm, that's surprising. This is extremely unstable. It can either result in resounding success or a blatant disaster."
[What do you think?]
"All seven paths are genuine," Renduldu nodded, "But I feel Resha's has the most likelihood chance of success. Though, I do get the feeling the success of all paths is reliant on me."
[You're correct. I made them with the assumption of your arrival. After I inferred the requirements of your race's and Empyrean Boar's to attain Mystic Grade, I figured out the last component required for Empyrean Tusks!]
Apart from a plethora of conditions, there existed the final component. It was the last piece of the puzzle and also the most difficult to attain.
For the Empyrean Tentacle, the experiences, memories, personalities, and Natures of all three Empyrean Tentacles must be condensed into one. Once done so, the entity reaches Mystic Grade.
For the Empyrean Boar, one must ingest the Primary Nature of all its brethren and activate it to attract a Bolt of Transcendence. Attracting the Bolt of Transcendence was the highlight here. If the number of Primary Natures of the Emyrean Boar were lacking, the bolt wouldn't be attracted; it resulted in a failure.
For the Empyrean Tusk, one must live in two different realities. This meant that any Empyrean Tusk that wishes to reach the Mystic Grade must head to another world at the very least to live in another reality. That was impossible.
The various continents were part of one world. Even leaving Sumatra Continent wasn't easy, not to mention heading to another world.
The Transcendent Worlds were considered another world, but reaching it was impossible. Therefore, the only other possibility was…
"My power," Renduldu was surprised as he stared at Gannala, "It'll be tough, even for me. I can't bring anyone that isn't a Transcendent to the Transcendent Worlds."
[But you must know of a nascent world whose laws haven't finished forming yet. Bring them there!]
