Novel Full Chapter 125: Seed Of Tragedy (Part 1)
Chapter 125: Seed Of Tragedy (Part 1)
Era of the Empyrean Boar King–Year 1288!
It was something that happened eight centuries prior to the present time.
Dralh Sea!
Docking at a shallower region of the sea around the border were two Empyrean Snappers. Like usual, the only part about them being visible was the mountain on their backs. The rest all seemed hidden from view.
As the two mountains came to a halt, a thin path of rock extended from the foot of the mountain and reached the shore. The path was a couple metres wide, enough for the Cooter Clansmen to tread it with safety.
“This will be your graduation test.” Standing at the front of the group was an old man with Silver Grade strength and a 6-Life Stage cultivation. He was an Academy Principal. Walking alongside him were three more Cooter Clansmen with Silver Grade strength and a cultivation ranging between the 4-Life Stage and 5-Life Stage.
Trailing behind the four adults were a group of 20 children, all at the peak of the Spirit Stage.
As the group walked on the stone pathway, the old man addressed the group of children, “The forest patch we’ll be entering next is home to the Pelting Monkeys.”
Beginner Iron Grade Pranic Beast–Pelting Monkey!
With a Prana capacity of 110 and a lifespan of 20 years, the Pelting Monkey was a Pranic Beast reaching a metre in height. It was a race that lived in groups of thousands, but were extremely individualistic in nature.
They lived as a colony only for one reason–to use their brethren as a meat shield against predators. This was grandly exhibited through their abilities too.
Primary Nature–Dummy Brother!
For a Pelting Monkey, all its brethren could be treated as a Spirit Weapon. And the strength of its psychokinesis was exactly sufficient to carry the weight of its brethren and launch it towards the target.
The moment they chance upon a predator, the Pelting Monkeys would promptly hurl their brethren at the enemy, precisely targeting the latter’s open mouth.
It was like an all-you-can-eat buffet, with a food-to-mouth delivery being promised. Any predator that enters the territory of the Pelting Monkeys will leave it minutes later, stuffed to the limit its stomach would be on the verge of bursting.
Despite such a destructive trait, the Pelting Monkeys thrived for one reason–they were Iron Grade Pranic Beasts. This meant their fertility was pretty insane.
A Pelting Monkey reached maturity within two years of birth. And once it mates, it could lay anywhere from 500 to 1000 eggs in a matter of days. Each egg was barely two centimetres in length.
And upon hatching, a baby Pelting Monkey appears no different from a larva. It would consume tree leaves and gradually grow in size, during which it sprouts distinctive limbs while the other tendrils regress and vanish over time.
Upon reaching maturity, a Pelting Monkey could mate every eight to ten days, and lay eggs two days later. Since its food was tree bark, with the forest patches surrounding the Dralh Sea being extremely rich in terms of nutrients, they had an abundance of food.
Majority of the Pelting Monkeys were born female, around 98 percent. And with an abundance of food and quick birth cycles, their population would keep growing without limits.
The flesh of a Pelting Monkey wasn’t considered a delicacy. Only when a Pranic Beast was starving would it consider consuming a Pelting Monkey.
Other than that, Pranic Beasts which were planning for pregnancy and requiring a constant influx of nutrients would choose to consume Pelting Monkeys too. Even after adding everything, the demand was less than the supply.
Hence, the Pelting Monkeys were a populous race that had carved out a large region for themselves near the Dralh Sea.
“I’ve already taught you guys about the Pelting Monkeys in classes before.” The principal continued to speak as the group landed on the shore, “The moment you enter their territory, they’ll keep chucking their brethren at you nonstop.”
“Don’t kill them. Instead, I want you guys to venture deeper into their territory and gather their eggs.” He announced, “Gather eggs that are on the verge of hatching, for this will have a Spirit Container. You can then use them to refine a quality medicine.”
“Refine a medicine that occupies fifty millilitres in volume, and upon consumption, can generate 100 units of Prana.” The principal announced, “We won’t be accompanying you, since the Pelting Monkey territory is one of the safest in the region.”
While he explained to his group of 20 students, the principle from the second Settlement was giving a similar speech to his group of 22 students.
As the 42 students joined into one group, the two principals spoke in sync, “You have a limit of 3 days. Use everything we taught you to complete the mission. And based on your speed of completion and the quality of your result, you’ll be evaluated and granted Spirit Pools to build your strength through the Body Stage.”
“This is your most important test,” Saying so, the two principals flipped a body-sized hourglass, where the sand will take exactly 3 days to finish falling through, “And your time starts now!”
The 42 students promptly rushed into the forest stretching right beyond the shore. One of them was a student aged 15, with round eyes and long eyebrows that arced upwards like a tail towards the rear.
It was Raurau, strutting into the forest with a confident gaze. He was panting at a controlled pace, neither running nor crawling slowly. He moved with measured steps, his senses perceiving his surroundings as he relied on his long legs to promptly step to the sides when necessary, watching the Pelting Monkey bodies trail past.
Krieek!
A Pelting Monkey landed a metre beside Raurau, screeching in anger towards the brethren that had launched it. Upon seeing that Raurau wasn’t eating it, the Pelting Monkey quickly ran up the nearby tree, made a few jumps through its foliage, and landed its pair of legs right into the face of the Pelting Monkey that had launched it at the enemy.
Raurau was swift in his actions, as within a day’s time, he entered twenty kilometres deep into the Pelting Monkey territory. There was a section of trees here, forming a dense foliage, with vines hanging down their branches.
The Pelting Monkeys had tied the vines together to form a sprawling basket, within which they dumped their eggs. There was literally a heap of eggs, easily surpassing ten thousand in quantity. ’I’m here!’
With a casual grin, Raurau looked around and noticed the Pelting Monkeys only continuing to chuck their brethren at him, uncaring about the eggs, ’So, the task is to refine the medicine while they are constantly chucking themselves at me. They will crash into me if i’m not focused enough on evasion.’
’As for the eggs, they care about them to create more meat shields for their safety. So, as long as I only take eggs one after another from the sides, without damaging the heap, they will ignore my actions.’ Having judged the situation, Raurau released a cloud to grab a dozen eggs, which he began to refine.
He had first used the cloud to drill a hole into the ground, severed a nearby tree’s trunk, and used it as a cover. The trunk was wide enough that he could carve out a small cave within, and focus on his refinement.
“It’s simple…!” He grinned and quickly began refining the medicine, unawares of the humanoid that had stealthily appeared behind the tree trunk and was eyeing his actions with a gaze of interest.