"So, one didn't make it." Instructor Mandu said as he observed the conditions of the students. Bloody, beaten, battered, sporting multiple fractures, they were a mess, "Fragment Disease is no different to a curse."
His gaze then fell on the face of a shocked Resha, one expressing a primal sense of disbelief and fear, completely flustered. Upon sensing the latter's condition, he commented in disappointment, "If your mind is weak, it's just a waste of resources no matter how hard you cultivate."
"You should prepare yourself to be fed to a Pranic Beast, Resha." Shaking his head, Instructor Mandu motioned for the four people to follow him, "We're running late. Let's hurry."
"Yes, Instructor." Virala replied spiritedly as he shot a gaze to his left, seeing Yennda picking himself up, 'He's a mess. For the time being, he's not a threat.'
'Grehha acts loud but is very cunning. He avoided all damage altogether and made me do his dirty work. As a result, I am now the prime target of the regressor's rage.' He thought and observed Resha, 'This will take him a while to come out of.'
'But most of all,' Virala turned serious as he stared at the figure of Inala that brushed past Resha, 'This fucker should be guarded against the most. He'll get up no matter how many times I beat him down. He needs to be crushed absolutely.'
It all started a few minutes ago. When they had assembled at the training grounds, Virala smiled and asked Inala about his secret.
"You," Inala sported a wide smile, "You're my secret."
Even though it seemed like a taunt, Virala felt something from Inala's tone. As a result, while on their way to their dorm, Virala paid a visit to Inala's room.
He stared at the trolley Inala had prepared, "It seems you have something to say to me."
"We'll be walking through the clouds, just as in the novel." Inala said seriously.
"I know, and I'm prepared. What of it?" Virala snorted, "Are you begging me to spare you?"
"Nothing of the sort," Inala shrugged, "If my prediction is correct, fifteen seconds after we enter the clouds, Resha will target me. He'll attack me from behind to ensure I'm knocked deeper into the clouds and cannot retreat outside."
"So, you're aware," Virala grinned, "You gained his Skill. You're obviously the first in his kill list."
"Hence, I'll present you a chance." Inala's eyes revealed a maddening craze, "A chance to offset the only individual before you in the race."
The seven colours all gunned for the cure. Toward that, they made various preparations. If ranked based on their preparations, from first, the order would be Resha, Virala, Inala, Grehha, Blola, and Yennda.
Orakha was out of the race already.
Virala was second in the race. Therefore, as long as he offsets Resha, given his current condition, he would remain in the lead. There were less than eleven months before the First Major Disaster started. As long as Resha falls hard enough, he wouldn't be able to reach first.
So, Inala's offer aligned with Virala's best interests.
"What makes you think I wouldn't sabotage you?" Virala growled.
"Any smart man ranked second will try to sabotage the first-placed individual to be placed first himself." Inala laughed, "I'm ranked third. I should be the one actively trying to sabotage you, not the other way around."
'Dammit!' Virala felt intense deja vu. Just the previous night, he sabotaged Inala using Parute fruits. The deal was too good to refuse and hence, Inala fell into the trap.
And now, the same was being sprung on him. 'Indeed, this is the best chance to take down Resha by a peg. There aren't enough variables in future events to harm him. Besides, with his current Prana accumulation, he might avoid all those events to focus solely on preparing himself to accommodate the cure.'
"Fine, I'm in." Virala sighed and asked, "So, what do you want me to do?"
"Nothing much," Inala pointed at his trolley, "Leave your Spirit Weapon here. When Resha attacks me, I want you to use the chance to sneak attack him. It will rile him up enough for whatever else you have in store for him."
"That's it?" Virala frowned, "Won't you die if you tank a hit from him? Even I'm not sure if I could endure Resha's attacks. The speed and power of his Spirit Weapon would be on a whole other level."
"That's up to me." Inala's maddening desire flared up, "I'll do everything in my arsenal to survive that."
"If I can't even do that, then I'm not fit enough to survive and thrive in Sumatra."
...
In the clouds, Inala collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain, 'Fuck, it hurts!'
The bone sphere had slammed into his chest, but the one broken wasn't his ribs but the armour covering him. It was sloppy work, but after he sent away Virala from his room, Inala layered his body with clay. On it, he stuck a thin layer of hardened mud.
This created a decently robust enough defence. And when the bone sphere slammed into his chest, it was the hardened mud that cracked, absorbing most of the impact. The clay layer dispersed the remaining damage, but it still hurt like hell.
Inala extended his hand and opened a window along the side of the trolley, pulling out a helmet made out of hardened mud. There were ten layers of it, and sandwiched within was clay to hold it together. The clay was rolled into straws and spread wide apart.
Thereby, when the bone sphere slammed into the helmet, the hardened mud layers crumbled. Adding onto the clay stuck underneath, the produced sound effect somewhat resembled a cracking skull. If not for the clouds and the wind, anyone could easily tell the difference, but it was planned for this exact situation and hence paid off.
As for the blood, Inala had stuck tiny packets of his blood within the helmet. So, when it cracked, the blood leaked out. Thanks to the medicines Granny Oyo had given him, he could safely extract enough blood without collapsing from anemia.
For the final touch, that is to fool Resha's senses towards Prana, Inala had just the right ability.
Mystique Bone Art--Spirit Reinforcement!
