Chapter 273 Cooter Clansmen Vs Mammoth Clansmen
Upon reaching the Body Stage, a Free Human begins to build their Human Avatar. They can then transform their body into their Human Avatar accordingly, possessing the power of the mineral they had fused into their Spirit Container. At the peak of the Body Stage, they would be able to completely transform into their Human Avatar form.
A Mammoth Clansman upon reaching the Body Stage would possess the power of the Pranic Beast their Spirit Container had fused with. They couldn't take on their Pranic Beast form through most of the Body Stage. Only upon reaching the peak of the Body Stage, having completely built their Spirit Container into the respective Pranic Beast could they assume their Pranic Beast form.
The power they obtained was directly dependent on the fused Pranic Beast.
A Cooter Clansman upon reaching the Body Stage would take a dip in a Spirit Pool, a pool rich with Prana that had fused with a mineral, influenced and possessing some of the characteristics of the Empyrean Snapper.
The Empyrean Snapper resembles a turtle in appearance, with the shell on its back spanning an area of sixteen square kilometres. As the Empyrean Snapper lives in its aquatic habitat, it consumes all sorts of minerals as its primary source of nutrition.
Over time, a mountain grows on its back, entirely made out of the minerals it had consumed. The Cooter Clan would live on it, sustaining themselves through the resources generated by the mountain.
The mountain is akin to a deposit on the Empyrean Snapper's body and is not considered as part of it. Though of course, it's entirely under the Empyrean Snapper's influence.
Over time, minerals would deposit in certain areas on the mountain, gradually accumulating the Empyrean Snapper's Prana. Eventually, they turn into Spirit Pools.novE/lb)1n
When a Cooter Clansman reaches the peak of the Spirit Stage and fuses their 100 Spirit Containers into a unified whole and takes a dip in a Spirit Pool, all the energy collected in it would flow into their body to fuse into their Spirit Container, successfully allowing them to reach the Body Stage.
It grants them power—a Primary Nature—according to the mineral concentrated in the Spirit Pool. A Cooter Clansman is capable of absorbing this power because the Mystic Mist Art allows them to ingest, control, and assimilate fluids similar to bones for the Mammoth Clansmen.
Primary Nature—Rash Mist Dominance!
Kaka generated pink mist in her Spirit Weapon range. She condensed the pink mist into a cloudy hand, spanning a metre in size, and sent it flying toward Inala. Upon coming into contact with it, the target would develop rashes all over their body with extreme severity. Their immune system would go ballistic—for that was the cause of a rash.
If enough of its effect accumulates in a target, their body would implode from within.
A Prana Hand flew forth and slammed into the pink, cloudy hand, causing the latter's size to drop in half upon clashing.
"Urgh! He can steal Prana! Be careful!" Kaka shouted as she reeled in pain from losing more than twenty Prana in that short contact. Her cloudy hand dispersed into mist and approached Inala before seeping into his nose.
Mystic Bone Art—Puppetry!
Suddenly, Inala and Gannala both whipped up four Spirit Weapons. As for Asaeya, she pulled out six Spirit Weapons, creating a chaotic battle exchange between both sides.
With a stomp from Inala and Gannala in unison after activating Internal Inertial Gravity, the tower crumbled, forcing the Cooter Clansmen to evacuate in a hurry. But right at that time, they noticed to their shock that they were unable to see, hear, smell, touch, or sense anything.
They lose all their senses. And stunningly, the Prana of four of them began to drop rapidly.
Asaeya and Gannala stuck close to Inala as the Empyrean Zinger King crawled to his head. It used a bunch of Prana Bombs to create an umbrella to shield them from the tower's collapse. Three pillars jutted from the side and stabbed deep into the ground, with each of them being a Spirit Weapon.
The Empyrean Zinger King controlled them to erect a stable umbrella-like platform, watching the debris fall and create a thunderous boom. Dust splashed, smoke billowed, and the rubble piled upon, burying everyone.
Cracks formed on the cylindrical mound that once hosted the eight-storey tower.
The dust settled down slowly, followed by drilling sounds. Soon after, there was a powerful gust of air that spilled out the debris, revealing unharmed figures of Inala, Gannala, and Asaeya.
"Hmm..." Inala observed the faint traces of rashes that had formed on his skin.
"It's itchy, Dad," Gannala commented and focused on erasing the traces.
"They are all alive. Don't let down your guard yet," Asaeya commented alertly, sensing eight distinct Prana waves being emitted from under the rubble. Immediately in response, mist billowed out of the gaps between the rubble and steadily rose the rubble, clearing the way for eight people to walk out, only sporting minor injuries.
Prana surged in their bodies and began to heal their injuries. In the meantime, mist continued to spread out, blocking the senses of Inala and the rest.
"It's not working?" Asaeya spread out her Prana, noticing that it was unable to move beyond a couple metres from her position. The mist was actively blocking her Prana, preventing her from sensing more than two metres away from her.
She then shouted, noticing her voice getting muffled, 'They are smart enough to hinder our attacks.'
"Let me deal with this," Inala said and brought out four Prana Bombs that revolved around him like satellites, gradually increasing their radius as they spun. The moment they touched the mist, the Prana forming it was consumed, causing the mist in their vicinity to vanish.
As the Prana Bombs spun around, the mist in their vicinity cleared up, but the Cooter Clansmen were nowhere to be found.
"Go, look around." Inala sent his five Empyrean Zingers to scout the place, "Stay within range."
"If they escape, things would become messy," Asaeya said.
"Well, there's nowhere they can escape toward." Inala said and peered at the sky, "The Death Hour will begin soon. Even if they have a boat ready, with how far the closest island is, they'll be vaporised halfway during their journey."
'Besides, they're like headless chickens after losing all their senses.' Inala thought. The escape mechanism displayed by the Cooter Clansmen ought to be something they already installed in place, prepared for various contingencies.
Since trade negotiations already went to shit, the only other method to gain the necessary resources for his goal was through plunder. And since these eight were aware of his identity, they couldn't be spared.
"Let's look around in safety." Saying so, Inala took out the Sumatra Ship to remain unharmed, since once the Death Hour began, Pranic Beasts under the Gold Grade would rush into the islands, swarming the region.
The trio got inside and remained at the top of the mound, observing mist cover the entire island. Clearing all that mist using his Prana Bombs would take forever. Hence, Inala didn't bother with such a futile action and instead intended to remain in safety at the top of the cylindrical mound until the Death Hour ended.
"I'm sorry, Dad." Gannala said sullenly, "I jeopardised your plan."
"Nope, you didn't." Inala patted her head, "The trade deal was merely an optimistic approach from my side. I didn't have much confidence in it succeeding since the Cooter Clan never trades with others."
'The primary reason is the lack of information about their culture. Not much was shown in Sumatra Chronicles.' Inala thought and silently made a decision, 'Once I get hold of their data, I'll try to trade on another island with an informed approach.'