"I’m not here to die," Torq said, grunting mentally upon seeing the instructor’s expression visibly droop, as if he had lost the lottery by just one number.
"What do you want?" Sighed the instructor, groaning at the unfairness of the world.
"Can I dispose of this?" Torq pointed at the collected waste.
"It’s too late for you," The instructor didn’t bother speaking after that and waved his hand casually, "Whatever, do it."
"The credits you get from this task isn’t changing your fate in the slightest."
"I know," Torq didn’t mind the instructor’s words. Instead, he eyed the waste materials, which had been piled up in a metallic trolley that spanned three metres in length, two metres in breadth, and two metres in height. It was pretty massive, and once filled, would weigh over a tonne.
Usually, anywhere from four to six volunteers among the students took charge of dumping its contents daily. They had already done that once today, due to which barely a quarter of the trolley was filled with the waste.
This was ideal for Torq and well within his capabilities, which was why he volunteered.
"Huff!" Holding the armbar that was attached using a lever to the front of the trolley, Torq grunted, causing his muscles to bulge as the trolley budged. Slowly, he made his way out through a designated path leading from the Canteen.
The Academy Canteen was located at one corner of an island that was almost circle in shape, with the radius spanning 16 kilometres. The Canteen was divided into two sections. First was the section where the ingredients were unloaded from a ship that docked at regular intervals.
It was a mini port of sorts, meant only for the ship carrying ingredients to dock. This section faced the sea. The other section, facing inland, was the open theatre part of the Canteen where the students picked their ingredients and cooked their food.
A bridge meandered through the port section and ended abruptly, with a cliff spanning four metres in height from the surface. At the surface, was a pond, artificially walled from the sea. It was oval in shape, with the distance between the longest points barely reaching thirty metres. The shortest was eight metres.
The cliff end had an apparatus, where the trolley could be locked in. And at the push of a lever, the trolley’s contents could be unloaded into the pond.
Torq clamped the trolley in its respective spot at the cliff edge. But before he pulled the level, he paused and eyed the wastage in the trolley. Smartly dumped in one corner were the withered Melcarp corpses from the unhatched eggs he used in his cooking.
Torq touched one of them, and a second later, had peeled off the skin on its face section. It came off naturally, a testament to Boiboi’s experience, ’It’s indeed my influence that caused him to behave as such from birth.’
"Thankfully, it saves me a lot of time and effort." He uttered and held the peeled facial skin on his hand. Letting out a soft breath, he seeped Prana into it. This wave of Prana was dense and didn’t originate from Boiboi.
But instead, it came from deep inside him, from Torq’s original body. And in response, the facial skin began to regenerate, until it formed a complete Melcarp skin. Then, like a balloon being inflated, it gained volume, and then mass.
On Sumatra, a special phenomenon happened, wherein the Prana of an entity interacted with their most potent physically ingrained trait and expressed it in a tangible form. This was termed Nature, and it dwelled within the Spirit Container.
As the energy formed by the fusion of the three energies of the body, mind, and soul, the Spirit Container had the capacity to house three Natures in total, referred to as Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary.
Pranic Beasts were born with a Primary Nature while Clansmen gained it upon reaching the Body Stage.
Torq’s reincarnation was performed in such a way that his actual body was housed within the vessel. It existed in an intangible state and would only become tangible in case the vessel–Boiboi–was destroyed.
That was the worst possible scenario, however, as the vessel’s death implied Torq failed his objectives in the present timeline.
At present, his actual body resided safely within the vessel. And now, he harnessed its power.
Primary Nature–Daily Pet!
It consumed Prana to create a body of whatever creature whose facial skin he had gathered, whether it be dead or alive. And as Prana flowed into the Melcarp’s facial skin, the entirety of its body formed in a matter of seconds.
The Melcarp wriggled, as if it were alive. Technically, it was alive, but as a puppet under his control. Torq closed his eyes and focused, now able to share the Melcarp’s vision. Not only was the Melcarp under his control, but every information it processed through its senses were relayed to him in real-time.
The Melcarp swam in circles around him in the air. He was using psychokinesis to prop it up, which was possible since it was treated as his Spirit Weapon.
Prana had the property of interacting with the mind to generate a force of nature, termed psychokinesis. This force of psychokinesis wasn’t universal in application, but selective based on the individual’s powers.
Cooter Clansmen, thanks to their usage of Mystic Mist Art, were able to treat all fluids as a Spirit Weapon. Torq’s vessel–Boiboi–was the same, able to control fluids. Torq’s real body, however, was able to treat the product of his Primary Nature–the Melcarp puppet–as a Spirit Weapon.
The range of psychokinesis was 180 metres, universally applicable to all species. This range extended radially from the epidermis. Thanks to it, Torq could easily control the Melcarp and arc it over the artificial wall.
Plop!
The Melcarp landed in the sea water and began to swiftly circle the island. Once it crossed the range of 180 metres, Torq was no longer able to control or share its senses. Since he had already laid in the commands, the Melcarp was bound to execute them without fail, or at least die trying.
He pulled the lever and dumped the waste into the pond, which was treated as nutrients for the marine plant life growing within. Then, he pushed the trolley to the Canteen, ignoring the instructor who seemed hopeful for a chance to kill him.
"Please wait a month, sir." He said to the instructor.
"Tch!" The instructor spat on the floor in regret and watched Torq leave the Canteen. He promptly used Mystic Mist Art to wipe the spit mark on the floor and resumed his work, which at present was to appear cool and imposing.
Slowly walking through the Academy of Accumulation, Torq relied on Boiboi’s memories and arrived at the dorm. First thing’s first, he moved to the cornermost section of the dorm, which was situated on one edge of the island, until his Spirit Weapon range extended into the sea.
After prodding for a few minutes, he grinned, ’It managed to swim this far without getting eaten in the sea. That’s great.’
Under the actuation of his psychokinesis, the Melcarp flew out of the sea water and hovered outside the window of a certain individual’s room. It was Runthral’s.
The person in question was currently writing a letter, as the Melcarp peered into the contents through the window, ’Now, is my unfortunate brother a snitch?’
Torq didn’t wish for his abilities to be revealed this early in the game. And hence, once he walked through the dorm, ensuring Runthral’s room was within his Spirit Weapon range, he promptly kneeled on the floor, with respect, ready to unleash his trump card, ’If that letter snitches about my abilities,’
’I’ll kill him.’