"When did you arrive here?" Orakha asked, "And who was that woman?"
"Someone I've employed to do my bidding. Anyway," Inala motioned towards the nearby seat, "Don't remain standing."
"I'll pass. Tell me what you want. I'm a busy man." Orakha didn't accept the offer and instead remained standing, alert.
"Why are you paranoid? I won't kill you." Inala groaned in annoyance and said, "I came here to talk to you about a certain someone."
"Who?" Orakha asked, still on guard.
"Maroppa," Inala said, unflinching when a jet-black serpent hovered before his face, threatening to eat him. He ignored it and peered towards the figure of Orakha on the side, "Why are you reacting in this way? I'm not Virala."
"They why take that name?" Orakha glared, his face red with anger, "And how did you find out about her?"
"Relax, I knew her before you." Inala shrugged, "And indirectly, it was thanks to her that I'm alive."
Orakha observed Inala's face and recalled the information he had regarding the latter, 'Inala's trash, but not the same breed as Virala. Fine, I can at least hear what he has to say. I can find out if it's related to a blasted scheme of his.'
His Mystic Eater pulled a chair towards him as Orakha took a seat and stared at Inala, "Speak. I'll decide once I hear you out."
"Wow, so much so for trust." Inala put on a fakery display of disappointment, "I had forgiven you for the shit you pulled towards Asaeya. But you're acting hurt for just being asked to listen. Man, if hypocrisy had a face…"
"Alright, alright, I got it. I apologise for my actions back at the Guna Caves." Orakha raised his hands in surrender, "I won't put an attitude, okay? So, just get to the point."
"As expected of my closest friend. You know me the best." Inala made a hollow chuckle and explained as concisely as possible, "Maroppa is a Mudropper. I made a deal with her using the Boar King's data that I got from the Supreme Tusk Gannala. Using that, she got his Tertiary Nature of Cultivator, assumed human form, and came here to live in peace."
"She created a Sandy-Grey Ring within which I fell alongside Gannala and Asaeya. Thanks to this Sandy-Grey Ring, the environment there was safe enough for me to establish a foothold and develop in peace." Inala finished the explanation, "I met you once I left there."
"Mudropper?" Orakha was stunned by the information, "You mean the Pranic Beast race that is said to be able to create the Sandy-Grey Void? Didn't they become extinct?"
"Actually, she's the last of their kind." Inala said, "Truth be told, a good majority of them were killed by the Mammoth Ancestor. So, we're very related."
"What the…fuck?" Orakha felt a headache as he glared at Inala, "If this is a joke, tell it in advance…"
He stopped speaking when a Bone Slip slammed into his face. With the scene being familiar, Orakha instinctively turned around, sighing in relief to see that Gannala wasn't there. He accessed the Bone Slip and observed a detailed scene of the Mudropper in its Pranic Beast form, extracted from Inala's memories.
To spice things up, Inala also added in the scene of Maroppa asking if Orakha would accept her despite knowing that she was a Mudropper.
With so much proof, Orakha had no choice but to accept it as the truth. He took a few minutes to digest all the information and asked, "You met her today?"
"Yeah." Inala nodded, "I talked to her through my subordinate. It came as a pleasant surprise to see her when I was tailing you. And seeing her behave close to you, I thought of some things and decided to reveal myself to you."
"Anyway, she's why I came to talk to you." Inala said in all seriousness, "Honestly, I have accessed your memories from my daughter. That's why I decided to give it to you straight."
He pointed at Orakha and said, "Become close to her. She's tremendously valuable to the Mammoth Clan."
"Why would I do something like that just because you asked me to?" Orakha snorted, "I'm not some pawn that you can move…"
"Fine, I can't force you against your will." Inala shrugged and got up, sighing as he muttered upon reaching the exit, "It seems I can only talk to Virala…"
"Stop it right there, fucker!" Mystic Eaters rushed out of Orakha and covered the entire room like sand filled to the brim in a jar, "I'll fucking murder you if you dare pull shit like that. I'll kill Blola first before butchering you. So forget about getting revived."
"Then stop acting like an arrogant piece of shit." Inala snorted, "You like her anyway, right? So get your shit together. I'm not sure if Virala has arrived here already or not. But if he did and sees you with a talented woman like her, you think he will refrain from making a move on her?"
"You don't understand a fraction of what Maroppa is capable of." Inala said with a tone of mockery, "Get it through your thick skull and avoid losing out on someone like her when she's into you."
He then swatted the Mystic Eaters to the side like they were flies, opened the door, and exited the room.
Once Inala left, Orakha stared at the Mystic Eaters that had been swatted by him, observing that the majority of the Prana forming their makeup had been stolen, 'This fucker has grown stronger than before.'
"Man, I don't like being pressured to pursue a woman, irrespective of whether or not she's my choice." Orakha slumped on the bed as he sighed, massaging his forehead as he retracted his Mystic Eaters. It wasn't a lie that he liked Maroppa. But that emotion wasn't love.
Besides, he hadn't processed the fact that she wasn't a Free Human but a Mudropper. It would be impossible to pursue a woman just on a whim or for benefits. He was a merchant, but he kept business and personal life separate.
His life on Earth was one where both his business and personal life were intertwined. His marriage there had been one of convenience. He didn't love his wife there. The case was the same for her too.
The families of each other made a union out of their marriage to improve their business prospects. Orakha was the one that was used as a chip for the deal. It was why he took to a life of escapism and immersed himself in the world of novels, becoming infatuated with Sumatra Chronicles.
And now, in this infatuated world, he didn't wish to repeat living such a hollow life. "I won't force myself to be together with a woman just for benefits…"
He hadn't finished speaking when he noticed a scroll tucked away in a corner of the bed. Curious, he pulled it out and unfurled it, noticing a line of words written at the top, "If you're unable to make a decision, make your choice based on what you feel after seeing this."
His eyes trailed below the sentence and stared at a drawing of Maroppa in a loving embrace with Virala. An instant later, the scroll went up in flames and was vaporised.
Veins popped all over his face and neck as Orakha seethed in anger, "Fucker! He knows how to trigger me!"
"Dammit!" The sentence written on the scroll echoed in his mind once Orakha calmed down. It made him realise that he liked Maroppa more than he thought, unwilling to see any other male get close to her. "But is that a romantic attraction towards her? Or am I just concerned about her wellbeing?"
"Shit! I don't know!" He buried his face in his hands, frustrated.
