'I might succeed in my plans, but I'll definitely come to regret this in the future.' Inala closed his eyes and hoped to fall asleep. He was overthinking now, which was risky and could lead to depression, or was already doing it for him.
Rest was necessary to refresh his mind. But he had just closed his eyes when there was a mild itch in his throat, causing him to groan mentally, 'I even used the part about the Bolt of Transcendence. Instead of searching for Loot all across Sumatra, he's approaching me?'
Silent and stealthy, the Boar King closed the door he had created in the wall behind him and approached Inala. With a snap of his finger, a Prana Bomb layered the inner walls of the room, its shape altered through Mystic Bone Art, causing the Boar King to lose one Prana in the process.
He arrived before Inala and coughed once, "Ahem!"
'Here we go.' Inala felt his mind calm down from the previous turbulence, as if a switch was activated. He got up naturally at the sound, blinked in confusion to stare at the Boar King, and had his face collapse in shock two seconds later in realisation, "B-B-Boar King?"
"Argh!"
"Calm down, kid." The Boar King extended his index finger and touched Inala on the forehead, exerting a tinge of his presence to shut up the latter, "I came here to help you."
"W-What do you need?" Inala trembled like a leaf caught in the storm. This part didn't need any acting on his behalf as the fear was real. Moreover, he couldn't see it, but everyone in his stomach biome was in a state of fluster, bordering on hysteria to feel the Boar King's presence in such a closeup.
"Draw me Loot's appearance and I'll help you recover your Spirit Container." The Boar King smiled lightly, "You don't have a choice, alright?"
"So, get to work."
"Y-Yes," Inala said nervously and picked up a scroll, holding a brush before it but was unable to draw. His hands shivered like he was in the midst of an earthquake.
Upon seeing his condition, the Boar King walked away, "I'll come tomorrow so you can draw in peace in the meantime. But, if I catch you alerting the Cooter Clan, I'll kill you."
"O-Okay," Inala nodded and watched the Boar King create a door on the wall and leave after retracting the Prana Bomb layer in the room.
"He's…terrifying," He slumped to the floor, feeling all strength leave him. After inhaling and exhaling for a few minutes to gather his bearings, Inala got up and began to pain in earnest, his mind going into overdrive in the meantime, 'What abilities will he be using to help me?'
'If I can manage to steal some of his Prana and Lifeforce, I can create another batch of Empyrean Zinger Kings and Queens. With them, I'll be able to create more Quip Tribes and increase my ease of evolution.' He began plotting immediately, blinking in surprise a few minutes later, 'I forgot everything I kept mulling about before.'
"Ha…haha!" He laughed, 'So this is my nature.'
He was an individual with humanity, guilt, and all associated good qualities, but when push comes to shove, he could put everything aside and make a beeline towards his goal, unfaltering in his drive. 'I guess the only difference between me and Virala is that I consider humane options when it's possible. But he, on the other hand, takes the most moral-lacking choice from the get-go, without the slightest hesitation.'
"At least, I didn't stoop to his level. That's reassuring." He smiled wryly and continued to paint, thinking, 'Scratch my throat if the Boar King's within a hundred metres from me.'
There was no scratch as Inala increased the range to two hundred metres. He continued to increase until there was a scratch when the distance was around two kilometres, 'He's pretty far away.'
It took less than three hours before Inala finished drawing a realistic image of Loot. Staring at the picture, he grinned, for Loot looked just like Virala, "Wow, that's perfect."
He had the perfect opportunity to sabotage the individual he felt the most threatened by, on a level greater than even Resha. Of course, he would take it. Besides, based on the information Orakha had regarding Virala, the latter had abilities that allowed him to use different Natures.
Orakha didn't know the specifics, as accessing that data from the Transcendent Eater's mind wasn't possible. But just surface knowledge was enough. Therefore, blaming Virala was pretty realistic.
Everything would fall right into place the day the Boar King sees Virala. 'Oh, I'm getting excited about it already.'
'Alert me when the Boar King starts to return here, Gannala.' Inala thought and fell asleep, calling it a day.
To finish his evolution at the time of getting the Attribute, Inala had a necessity for a Bolt of Transcendence. Originally, he intended to make preparations for it on his own at the Brimgan Empire, taking Wittral's help.
But now, since the Boar King was here, he could use that to his advantage. 'Haha, that'll increase my odds of success tremendously.'
The Boar King was a Mystic Grade Pranic Beast that treaded on the paths of both the Pranic Beast and Free Humans. Therefore, as long as Inala emulates the Boar King's presence to be reaching the peak of either path, it would be considered as him trying to reach the Transcendence Stage.
A Bolt of Transcendence would be summoned immediately. Inala had the respective data already, from the time when the Boar King released through his Primary Nature, a presence of all the Empyrean Boars he had swallowed, fooling Sumatra into believing that he was attempting to break through to the Transcendence Stage.
Inala only had to repeat the same. The path was already laid out by the Boar King and the fuel to reach its end would also be provided by the same individual.
As long as Inala manages to fool the Boar King, he'll obtain all the necessary resources to succeed. There was a small possibility he could wrap the Boar King in a honey trap as he had done to Wittral, but Inala disliked courting death.
If the Boar King were to ever figure out Inala's true identity, the strongest existence in Sumatra would make it his primary mission to eliminate him. Inala didn't want that, 'Instead, I'll focus on making Loot, or rather, Virala his number one hated existence.'
If he were to ever lose the fight against the Boar King, Inala would switch to his female form and seek refuge. His goal at present would be to appeal to the Boar King and fully register in the latter's mind as a harmless, pitiful Free Human woman who only wished to paint and live the rest of her life.
'I have to prepare for all situations.' He thought, also thinking of ways in which he could create a solid background for Gannala and Asaeya as Free Humans. At present, it could be said that Inala's identity as Amita Brimgan was rock solid in the eyes of the Boar King.
He could always rely on this identity to avoid his focus in the future. Now, as long as he manages to do the same for both Gannala and Asaeya, his future will be less stressful, 'I'll keep thinking.'
Somewhere along the line, Inala fell deep asleep, mentally exhausted by the day's extremely stressful events. Once he gets up, a risky grind would begin, where he would have to take advantage of the Boar King.
Opportunity favours the resourceful gambler!
