"My Dei..." Captain Trotro sprang up with a gasp, expressing worry as he looked around, tearing up upon seeing an alive Runthral nearby. Promptly, he hugged the other party, "Thank...goodness!"
"Thank you..." Tears streamed down his eyes profusely as he cried out in gratitude, holding Runthral tight, as if unwilling to let go of the other party, "Thank you for being alive!"
"I’m sorry," That was all Runthral could say in response, "Only I survived, while the rest are..."
"Dying for our Deity is something we will gladly do." Captain Trotro patted his chest and wiped his tears, "Our sacrifices hold meaning, now that you’ve tided through danger."
"If only I was stronger," His expression collapsed as Runthral was unable to maintain eye contact with Captain Trotro, who seemed overjoyed about the situation, "I...hate this."
"I hate the fact I can survive only through the sacrifices of everyone!" He roared, releasing his pent up frustrations. "Does the Clan even need someone like me?"
"Vice Captain Quoquo..." He trembled in sadness, "Wasn’t he talented enough to reach the 8-Life Stage or even beyond? Someone who had a chance of becoming a Transcendent died protecting me."
"Every loss is a lesson learnt towards survival." Captain Trotro held Runthral’s hands and expressed with pride, "You might be our Deity, but you’re still a baby Empyrean Snapper. You have plenty of growing to do. And I truly hope,"
"Soak up all this defeat, turn it into your experience, and eventually," He bowed, "Become a Deity that shoulders the Cooter Clan’s future."
"I will," Runthral clutched Captain Trotro’s hands and propped up the other party, expressing firmly, "I will grit my teeth and struggle to grow desperately, until I can honour the Clan’s worship of me."
"I will, one day, shoulder the Clan’s fate and lead it into the future."
Torq stood a couple metres away, watching the scene in silence. For a moment, his eyes grew moist, ’Ahh!’
’That unfortunate brother of mine...he’s grown a little.’ He smirked and turned around, noticing a ship approaching from the horizon. Slowly, he adjusted his clothes and firmly strung a coral cylinder to his hip.
Rolled up like a scroll within the coral cylinder was Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr’s skin. He would charge it into a Pet later, ’By taking advantage of its characteristics, I can wear it like a protective armour.’
Even if it gets destroyed, it wouldn’t matter, as he could create it again the next day. Moreover, he could train its physical characteristics by making it consume pollen from his Empyrean Snapper Pet.
And if the need arises, he could transform into the Narlakk Pet and siphon power from Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr, whose strength had now been elevated to the peak of the Gold Grade. ’It’s indeed convenient.’
’I’m indeed stronger than before.’ He watched the ship’s arrival, ’Once we arrive at the headquarters, I’ll request father’s help in terms of resources. With that, I’ll change my Spirit Pool.’
The ship that arrived was a battleship returning from a successful Raid. Upon noticing the unusual level of mist covering the region, the battleship made a detour and approached Gollrakh Island.
When it was four kilometres off the shore, dozens of streaks of mist sprang out of it. This was from the Cooter Clansmen who rode the waves and quickly rushed to the shore.
"Captain Trotro!" The Leading Cooter Clansman shouted in a hurry upon arrival, "What happened here?"
"The Nirclicks had attacked us, and leading them was a mutant with Gold Grade strength." Captain Trotro explained, suddenly tensing up, as only now did he recall the fact that there were two Narlakks at the scene. He, alongside everyone, only managed to kill one. ’Then, the second one...!’
Seeing Captain Trotro’s tension, Runthral eyed Torq, who subtly shook his head. He then took a step forward to explain the situation, "There were two of them. We managed to kill one. The second one, however, retreated after making an appearance."
"It was as if it wanted to strike terror in our hearts." He snorted by the end, "But not only we have a decent grasp of the Narlakk’s abilities now,"
He pointed at the bound figure of Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr, "We’ve also captured one."
"How is there an...alive Narlakk here?" The Cooter Clansman expressed his confusion.
In response, Captain Trotro only stared at Runthral, requesting the other party to explain since he had no idea, having regained consciousness only a couple minutes prior.
"Unless all their cores aren’t fully erased, they can combine the shattered fragments to form a new core." Runthral explained, "This way, they can revive even after dying once."
"This Narlakk did the same. However, the process is extremely energy consuming, and it doesn’t have enough to make a complete recovery." He concluded by patting the Narlakk, "I took advantage of the situation to bind it."
"Impressive," The Cooter Clansman expressed his praise. The rest of the Cooter Clansmen spread across Gollrakh Island to inspect the extent of damage suffered by the region.
With grim expressions, they reported everything to the Raid Captain.
"We will leave it to the headquarters." The Raid Captain made a decision upon some thought, "Since the island has mostly been destroyed, we’ll need to spend some effort in reinforcing its foundation."
All the Free Humans and Cooter Clansmen who had been living on the island had been killed. The population had to be replenished from reserves maintained across other regions, only then would Gollrakh Island recover its production capabilities.
Once the island’s status had been tallied, the battleship set sail towards the core region of the Tsloch Sea, where the Cooter Clan’s headquarters had been established.
Upon boarding the ship, Torq noticed the stacked crates covering the deck, and stuffed to the brim within each crate were Nirclicks. The numbers were staggering, ’Have they already figured out the means to sense the Nirclicks?’
’If they indeed possess the methods,’ Torq’s smile grew deeper, barely able to rein in his excitement, ’I’ll obtain them all.’
He gazed into the sea, watching Gollrakh Island growing smaller and smaller in his field of vision, until it disappeared over the horizon.
Mist spread around the battleship, serving as an armour to the hull. It interacted with the sea water, turning into a solid but malleable across the hull’s surface. Layers of the mist stretched along the ship’s motion, stretching and getting replaced by new layers once they had been drawn out.
The mist had three functions. First was to interact with the sea water and propel the battleship forward. It was a standard method used by the Cooter Clansmen to travel on vessels.
The second function was to serve as a temporary platform for the Cooter Clansmen to land upon if they intended to fish while also avoiding harm from retaliatory attacks.
The final function was to create a swirling mass of presence that disoriented the senses of any Pranic Beast that enters the mist, thereby preventing them from targeting the hull. This also served as a protective layer for the Cooter Clansmen, allowing them to fight underwater, when necessary.
’Originally, the Cooter Clan’s battleships had been constructed with the aid of Empyrean Snappers in such a way, there’s at least a Parute Tree growing within it.’ Torq thought, ’But since the Parute Trees have wilted, I wonder what they have thought to replace the convenience brought by Parute Trees.’
Thinking as such, he entered the cabin, intending to explore, only to stop a moment later, feeling a faint stirrup from his real body’s Tertiary Nature slot. That’s where the Celestial Pet had been stored.
The fact that it had stirred meant the presence of another quill nearby, ’But it’s not within this battleship.’
He promptly rushed to the deck and peered into the sea water, ’Dammit! It’s too far away for me to sense properly.’
However, the fact that a second quill was at the Tsloch Sea meant Nusantara’s Celestial had considered the Cooter Clan with a higher level of threat than previously perceived, ’It should have been focusing all its attention on the Quip and Wean Clans. It’s still too early for it to focus here...’
’FUCK!’ He scowled, sensing a stronger stirrup as vaguely, he felt the presence of another quill, ’Two? In this region alone?’
"Shit."