Sumatra's Greatest Fan-Chapter 80: A Compromised Vessel

The moment the Narlakk sensed something amiss, it bolted from the place. It was supposed to be the sole Narlakk in the place.

The Narlakks at the Dralh Sea had already split the region into their zones, which they were in charge of. Each Narlakk lorded over a large number of Nirclicks and obtained reports from each during the Death Hour.

They usually rotated across the islands they were monitoring over, collecting information systematically. It was a one in a dozen chance, and Torq truly didn’t intend to waste it.

Otherwise, he would have to waste a significantly longer time, across days, before he could detect a Narlakk. Things would have been easy if there had been any in the vicinity with a Quill in them.

He could have detected them and used the opportunity to target the other party. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any Quill in the region, at least based on what he was sensing at present.

’You’re not escaping!’ Torq cranked up his speed and gave chase.

The Narlakk ran, because based on the distribution, there shouldn’t have been a second Narlakk in its territory. The fact that another of its kind was nearby stunned it. And without hesitation, it bolted.

The distance between the two quickly closed, as in a hurry, the Narlakk had by mistake rolled into the Dralh Sea and immediately suffered scalding injuries. Promptly rushing back to land, it sucked in pollen from a specific Pranic Beast race and exhibited the respective race’s physical characteristics.

It assumed a form resembling a lizard, sporting a tough armour for protection, with a layer of insulation protecting it against the extremes of hot and cold. It was a Pranic Beast race that could endure for a short while in the Dralh Sea’s Death Hour.

Its physical characteristics were the most pronounced among the Pranic Beasts gathered on the island. However, its preparations didn’t matter, as Torq crashed into it and tumbled into the Dralh Sea.

[Burns, doesn’t it?]

Rancid chuckles went off like sirens as Torq morphed into a serpent and wrapped around the Narlakk, constricting its movements like a python. The abilities of the two clashed, especially the pollen they released.

But the steam gathered around Torq to form an armour that protected him from both the pollen and the Narlakk’s physical attacks.

The steam whirred like a blade of plasma as Torq condensed it into the respective shape, barely able to rein in the sheer amount of heat energy trapped within the mass of steam. And then, followed by his cackles, the steam blade plunged into the Narlakk.

Not only was his Narlakk form significantly stronger, he was also manifesting the physical characteristics of Mystic Mist Art, allowing him to control the steam as a Spirit Weapon.

His Prana consumption increased in proportion to the sheer amount of kinetic energy present in the steam he tried to bring under control.

With the advantages, he needn’t be afraid of the other party, as while tussling, Torq ignored his Prana consumption and used a second Spirit Weapon. He was rapidly sucking out the Narlakk’s blood, and extracting any and all data available in it.

As for replenishing his rapidly depleting Prana? The pollen from the Pranic Beasts he had infected did take care of a good chunk of the consumption. As for the remainder? In his transformed state, he could siphon Prana from Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr itself, which he planned to rely upon only when necessary.

After all, the Cooter Clan’s research department would always be wondering why Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr’s Prana values were constantly depleting when it was doing nothing.

With an abundance of Prana, strength vastly superior to the other party as a Narlakk, and physical characteristics that could take advantage of the environment the best, Torq quickly overwhelmed the other party.

[Trying to warn the others? With what? Those pathetic pollen of yours?]

[W-Why are you doing this?]

While Torq talked shit, the Narlakk expressed its confusion as to the situation at hand, wondering why it was targeted by its brethren.

The steam whirled over the pollen released by the Narlakk and burnt every last particle of it. That thwarted the Narlakk’s attempts to spread information about one of their own hunting the rest of their kind.

Right as Torq won the fight, and was about to proceed with information extraction, he noticed a bluish radiance coming from the Dralh Sea. A layer of plasma was moving towards the surface at a steady speed, brimming with enough heat to melt even a Gold Grade Pranic Beast.

It was a sign the Death Hour was about to end.

Pollen spread across the island, influencing the Pranic Beasts to move over and form a small area of isolation for Torq. He dragged the Narlakk to this spot and began his information extraction.

While he was doing so, his pollen was steadily growing dominant in the bodies of all the Pranic Beasts nearby, with the Narlakk’s pollen from before getting destroyed quickly after. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

[You...bastard!]

The Narlakk screamed in pain, unable to escape the fate of its information getting leaked. It failed to even resist at the moment and could only helplessly watch Torq in action.

The mass of steam reaching into the sky from the depths of the Dralh Sea grew its most violent as the layer of plasma reached the sea level. And then, it began to dissipate, following which the environment took a drastic shift.

The steam gathered to form clouds that rained down freezing cold water.

After the Death Hour at the Dralh Sea, whith deadly heat rising out of the sea, there was the Cold Shower following suit, bringing down freezing rain that rapidly cooled down the place.

For the first few minutes, water funnelled into the sea bed, its coldness negated by the Death Hour’s produced heat. The moment this began, all the Pranic Beasts rushed into the Dralh Sea, to occupy the advantageous terrain within the sea.

As the crowd vanished, Torq had camouflage himself within a part of the forest, assuming the form of a collapsed trunk. Wrapped within was the Narlakk, from whom he was extracting every bit of data possible.

Steadily, a mental picture formed in his mind as clusters of information got extracted. Like pieces to a puzzle, they gradually joined together to form the whole picture. And upon observing the information, Torq was stunned, at a damn loss for words.

No, he wasn’t just at a loss for words, but felt his entire existence getting threatened. "Sh..."

"Shh..."

The Narlakks had shared their respective information with each other. Hence, every Narlakk was aware of the full picture, knowing where and when on the islands did a Free Human succeed in becoming a Mystic Human.

There were eight locations in total, each under the Narlakk’s control. In each location was a newly born Mystic Human. And that was the cause of Torq’s fluster, for in one of the locations, the newly born Mystic Human was someone he knew.

Or rather, it was someone he could understand the identity of clearly, for it was his vessel, meant for a future timeline, "Shhhhiiitttt!"

It had already been compromised.