'I can barely hear the sound.' Inala was nervous, afraid even, for oftentimes, it felt like a Mud Viper slithered past him. The sounds of the students using their bone weapons to combat the Mud Vipers resounded like muffled rain as they slammed into the ground.
Most of the attacks weren't fast enough to land a hit on the agile Mud Vipers. So, they often slammed into the floor. Strangely, even as the situation turned chaotic, Inala hadn't been targeted.
"This daring bastard." Grehha whistled in praise at Inala's actions. Unfortunately, he couldn't attempt that, for he only had one captured Mud Viper to use. And its Prana had already been expended.
He pinched the mouth of the Mud Viper in his possession, causing it to secrete a certain toxin that loosened up the hardened mud on his body, allowing him to break free after a while. He stared at the three Mud Vipers that he had taken down with Inala.
After a thought, he tied up their tails into a knot. He seemed to be an expert in ropes and made a tight knot that couldn't be broken free. But if he so wished, he could undo it easily.
Grehha coiled the bodies of the three Mud Vipers around him like he was braiding himself, turning into a roll. Using the same method that Resha used to suffocate the Mud Vipers, he ensured the three fell unconscious. Of course, he didn't kill them, for that would break his cover.
Now as a roll of Mud Vipers, he rolled towards a corner of the shelter and remained there, playing dead. His body was entirely covered up by the Mud Vipers. And since they were alive, the other Mud Vipers didn't approach him.
Mud Vipers sensed the life force of their targets to attack. And since three Mud Vipers were on a prey, they didn't bother to join in, especially since there was still plenty of prey around.
When a bear chases you…you know the drill. Grehha did the same to avoid the fight.
'That guy…' Resha stared at the sculpture formed by Inala. Thanks to the tonic, his Fragment Disease was suppressed, allowing him to throw a small Mud Viper at the sculpture. He intended to sabotage Inala's plan.
The Mud Viper shook its head from the impact and observed the sculpture. Judging that it was annoying to melt through the hardened mud layers alone, it slithered away to target another student. The youngest batch of students was only ten years old, too helpless to defend against these Pranic Beasts.
They became the easiest targets.
"Tch!" Seeing his plan fail, Resha clicked his tongue. He lifted his bone sphere and sucked in the tonic it had accumulated thanks to his Skill of Toxin Refinement.
His Prana values had already shot up to 16 now. The tonic he accumulated was enough to raise his Prana to 20 units. 'I'm halfway there. I'll accumulate some more.'
Just as Resha killed another Mud Viper, he noticed Ruvva from the corner of his eye. She was being protected by Virala. It seemed by fighting together for some time, the duo had developed a decent level of trust in each other.
Even though Resha didn't have any romantic interest towards Ruvva, at the sight of Virala deepening his relationship with her using the situation, a sense of anger and revulsion welled up in him, 'Virala, right?'
"Once this ends, I'll kill you." His eyes were cold as Resha increased his killing pace.
Seated in one corner of the room and drinking the blood of an unconscious Mud Viper was Blola. He felt a constricting sensation in his stomach due to the toxins. It felt like his stomach walls were gradually closing up.
Blola didn't panic at the process. Instead, he calmly surfed through the memories of his body and activated the cultivation technique of the Mammoth Clan, one of the best Sumatra had to offer.
Mystic Bone Art speeds up one's digestion speed, thereby circulating enriched blood throughout the body. As the heart rate increases to levels an athlete would reach while on top sprint, the body's functions attain peak performance.
This was no different from undergoing rigorous training as the body's fat and carbohydrate reserves are consumed rapidly. In this clocked state, the body's muscles undergo minor tears. As the Prana circulates through the damaged areas, the muscles heal and are reforged stronger.
This was the basic principle of Mystic Bone Art. It strengthened the body on all levels. And the core of this art lay in the digestion of the ingested food. Therefore, even though Blola ingested the Mud Viper's blood full of toxins, once he circulated the art, the pain in his stomach eased up.
He would have died if he ingested its venom sack. Therefore, he started with the blood that had the mildest dose of toxin, intending to acclimate to it first. Moreover, as he circulated the Mystic Bone Art, his Prana was gradually increasing.
Prana was an energy condensed from the energies of the soul, mind, and body. Therefore, the best elixir to develop it was to drink the blood of a Pranic Beast while it was alive.
As Blola continued to do so, he exuded a bloody smell, causing the Mud Vipers nearby to flee in panic, for it was a deep stench of their blood he was emanating. At that moment, he was registered as a predator in their minds.
It wouldn't work if he had been alone, for even predators were food when one was hungry enough. But as there was enough prey to go around, the Mud Vipers didn't take the risk.
Time passed in such a fashion as the 44th Empyrean Tusk slowly moved on from the Mud Viper nest it had collapsed. Once it reached far away, the surviving Mud Vipers retreated, carrying with them the people they had turned into sculptures.
The shelter in the Academy of Refinement was safe thanks to the entrance being blocked. As a result, the retreat signal wasn't sensed by the Mud Vipers within. And once the Empyrean Tusk was safe, the elites rushed into the shelter and slaughtered the remaining Mud Vipers.
'I survived that.' Inala sighed in relief as he inhaled large gulps of air, watching the hardened mud on him fall off. The Clan had the reagents necessary to dissolve it. He collapsed to the floor in pain, for his bones had fractured in multiple places.
"You want to live that badly, huh?" A cold voice resounded. A middle-aged man stood before Inala, emotionlessly observing the latter. A robust body akin to steel, pair of eyes that were cold enough for the onlooker to feel like they were in a blizzard, and a suffocating stench of blood that could never be washed away.
At the sight of the middle-aged man, Inala trembled in fear, easily recognising the features repeatedly stated in Sumatra Chronicles, 'The 44th Empyrean Tusk's Settlement Leader. Why did this madman have to come here?'