427 Virala Can Destroy the Mammoth Clan
"She's fine." Inala sighed in relief upon hearing Gannala speak. He then turned to face Orakha and asked, "Do you sense anything odd in her being through your Mystic Eaters?"
"Let me check," Saying so, Orakha condensed a Mystic Eater that slithered onto Gannala and hissed above her, feeling around her body. Ten minutes later, it returned to Orakha, "I don't feel anything odd even in her biomes."
"That's a relief." Inala nodded and decided to wait patiently for now, "Let's have something to drink."
"I thought you would make some tea," Orakha whispered to Asaeya upon seeing Inala enter the kitchen.
"He's better at it," Asaeya said shamelessly, "Besides, he's a workaholic. It's better when he has something to do. He feels restless otherwise."
'That's how Inala is?' Orakha silently noted the point and watched in surprise as Inala brought out tea and snacks, "So quick?"
"Yeah," Inala nodded. By activating the Skill of Puppetry, he had four extra hands to work with, which allowed him to multitask and complete the process quickly.
As the trio had the refreshment and discussed casually, with most of it being Orakha apologising to Asaeya about what he had done to her at the Guna Caves, many hours spanned past. By then, Asaeya managed to fully detail her encounter with Virala.
Morning, the next day, as the trio were deep in discussions regarding Virala's capabilities, Gannala woke up and stared at them, saying sullenly, "Virala will become a threat to the Mammoth Clan."
"Fuck!" Orakha cursed in response.
"What did you base that conclusion upon?" Inala asked as he grabbed Gannala and checked to see that she was fine.
"Our current cultivation methods are flawed." Gannala sighed as she began to explain, "Virala has the founder's power."
"Founder? You mean the Mammoth Ancestor?" Orakha asked in shock.
"Yes," Gannala nodded, "The Mammoth Ancestor's power is the most suitable power for a Mammoth Clansman. By right, we shouldn't be fusing with other Pranic Beasts to enter the Body Stage."
"Doesn't Mystic Bone Art mention that only by fusing with a Pranic Beast egg can we enter the Body Stage?" Orakha argued. "Does it make sense to avoid the teachings of our cultivation technique?"
"Didn't Resha and Virala gain the power of an Empyrean Tusk without fusing with an egg?" Gannala retorted.
"But that's only possible because of the Fragment Disease…" Orakha said when Inala grabbed his arm.
"Let her continue her explanation," Inala said and nodded at Gannala to continue.
"I thought the same, but didn't we notice something while facing the Cooter Clan?" Gannala stared at Inala and Asaeya, "All Cooter Clansmen gained their powers from the Spirit Pools grown by their respective Empyrean Snappers. As a result, all the influence on them was as a Cooter Clansman, nothing else."
"Remember when they addressed Mammoth Clansmen as slaves?"
"I thought it was just because of us being the Empyrean Tusk's immune system." Inala frowned.
"Yeah, but aren't the Cooter Clansmen similar in that regard?" Gannala said, "They're not the Empyrean Snapper's immune system, but their relation to the Empyrean Snapper is similar to the hair on our body. To a certain extent, the Empyrean Snapper can sense whatever its Cooter Clansmen feel even beyond its Spirit Weapon range as prickles on its skin."
"So, there's not much of a difference between us," Orakha said.
"Yes, but the reason the Cooter Clan perceives us as slaves is because of our inherently flawed understanding of Mystic Bone Art. By fusing with the eggs of other Pranic Beasts, we're bringing in foreign influences that end up corrupting the minds of our Empyrean Tusks when they read our thoughts." Gannala continued, "As a result, we're unable to truly wield our strength as Mammoth Clansmen."
"In terms of power from an individual Settlement in comparison, we're equal to the Cooter Clan." Asaeya said, "Are you saying we can become even stronger?"
"No, there won't be any difference in strength. We'll simply become less bloodthirsty and purer as Mammoth Clansmen. That's all," Gannala stared at Inala and Orakha, "Mammoth Clansmen can enter the Body Stage purely through the resources available on the Empyrean Tusk. And the both of you already know it."
"Grehha!" Inala and Orakha muttered simultaneously.
"Yes," Gannala nodded, "When a Mammoth Clansman at the Spirit Stage begins fusing his 100 Spirit Containers into a unified whole, as long as he performs it in the Empyrean Tusk's ovum, he'll enter the Body Stage without issues."
"Right, I never thought about it in that regard." Inala nodded, "Empyrean Tusks are birthed through Mammoth Clansmen with the Fragment Disease. Then, there is no reason for them to have an ovum in the first place."
"They work similar to the Spirit Pools of the Empyrean Snappers. By seeping in our Spirit Container the essence of an Empyrean Tusk, we'll reach the Body Stage." Gannala said, "And to succeed, a Mammoth Clansman only needs to read a certain book by constantly using Mystic Bone Art."
"That children's book?" Orakha expressed shock upon hearing further details from Gannala, "That book was the Mammoth Ancestor's legacy?"
"Weaponisation, that's what the Nature is called." Gannala sighed, "As long as one obtains that and goes through the above process, they'll obtain the body of an Empyrean Tusk, not in all its glory, but the first three Stages of Resha's Partial Transformation."
Stage 1—Tusk!
Stage 2—Exoskeleton!
Stage 3—Miniature!
Stage 4—Empyrean!
In his Stage 4 transformation, Resha becomes an Empyrean Tusk in all its glory, reaching a height of 1.6 kilometres. At Stage 3, he only becomes a miniature version of an Empyrean Tusk which is only as big as a regular elephant on Earth.
"Depending on the quality of their genes, the Mammoth Clansman's Grade would be decided. The higher the concentration of an Empyrean Tusk's genes, the higher the Grade of his Weaponisation, Prana Capacity, and Lifespan increase." Gannala said, "When this happens, the Mammoth Clansman truly wields his strength as a Mammoth Clansman, with his Primary Nature being that of Weaponisation."
"Isn't that great?" Orakha asked, "Why are you putting on such a sombre expression then?"
"That's where the biggest risk arises," Gannala said and stared at Inala and Asaeya, muttering sullenly, "Dance of Annihilation."
"What? That's a risk?" Inala shouted in shock.
"Yes," Gannala sighed, "The greatest legacy of the Mammoth Ancestor is one capable of destroying the Mammoth Clan in one fell swoop."
"Weaponisation allows the user to transform a Pranic Beast's Primary Nature into an orb that he can equip and unequip from his Nature slots as he pleases. This orb is called a Nature Weapon, and to transform a Pranic Beast into a Nature Weapon, some conditions needed to be satisfied by the user." Gannala explained, "Depending on the power of the Pranic Beast's Primary Nature, the number of conditions vary, from tens to hundreds or thousands."
Her expression then became one of terror, "The Dance of Annihilation allows the user to satisfy all the conditions by performing a certain dance. Once it concludes, every entity that witnessed the Dance of Annihilation would be unable to resist as its body is transformed into a Nature Weapon."
"In our case," She shuddered, "If everyone has the Primary Nature of Weaponisation, as long as someone performs the Dance of Annihilation, there would be a resonance in the hive mind of the Empyrean Tusks as they too would perform it instinctively, since to them it would be akin to paying homage to the Mammoth Ancestor."
"I understand," Inala nodded with a solemn expression, "When that happens, the entirety of the Mammoth Clan will be turned into Nature Weapons."
"Yes, but you have to know." Gannala's statement stunned everyone in the room, "A Gold Grade Nature of Weaponisation is capable of making the Empyrean Tusks dance in resonance. But Virala can achieve the effect on his own."
"As an Empyrean Tusk and with a Mystic Grade Nature of Weaponisation, Virala alone can perform the Dance of Annihilation to instantly destroy the Mammoth Clan."
