Chapter 19: Sneak Attack in the Clouds

‘Why is this bastard standing like everything is alright?’ Virala glared to his right in disgust. A moment later, he felt the increased Prana levels in Inala, unable to control his grin in response. ‘I see, to heal himself, he consumed all 400 Parute fruits. That explains his increase in Prana. He must have expended all other resources in his arsenal to be able to walk again.’

“You’re doing well, Inala. What’s your secret?” Virala asked, putting on a shy demeanour.

“You,” Inala sported a wide smile towards Virala, “You’re my secret.”

“Shut up, you two.” Standing to the right of Inala was Blola, irritated, “I can’t concentrate while the two of you bark incessantly.”

Standing to the extreme right was Resha. He calmly gazed to his left, seeing a silent Yennda standing still like a statue, barely having any presence. The only one hyper among the Death Row students was Grehha that was staring at Instructor Mandu in excitement.

Resha released a tinge of Prana, mildly pressuring the reincarnates. The fluctuation was so minimal that none of them felt anything. But, the Prana in their bodies reacted as such, releasing a mild fluctuation of their own.

That was enough for Resha to sense the amount of Prana they had accumulated and confirm his hypothesis, ‘They’re my obstacles.’

‘Even the weakest, Inala has accumulated 20 Prana. The rest are even faster.’ His eyes landed on Virala for a moment before he began to walk away.

“Go to your dorm rooms and put on your best clothes. Return here in ten minutes. I’ll escort everyone to the venue.” Instructor Mandu said aloud, “If anyone wishes to showcase or sell anything by setting up a stall, tell me now. I’ll allot you a slot at the venue.”

‘We’re only informing them ten minutes in advance. There isn’t enough time to prepare anything…’ Instructor Mandu was just about to sigh when six people approached him, pleasantly surprising him, “What the…is this for real?”

He stared at the six students, “All six Death Row students want a stall slot?”

“Yes,” Everyone nodded in unison.

“You first need to display your stall’s theme to me. Only if you receive your approval will you receive a slot…” He trailed off and stared at Inala, giving a slot to him, “I’m looking forward to yours.”

“Thank you,” Inala didn’t say anything about not being able to perform using Inala’s Comedy Troupe like the previous evening. It was Instructor Mandu that was there among his ten audience members.

Of course, he was aware of who would lead the students and had the authority to hand out slots. Only after knowing the timing of Instructor Mandu’s rounds at the training ground did Inala start his play.

Inala expected to at least receive some sort of reaction from the rest. But a moment later, Instructor Mandu handed a slot to all six, stunning everyone.

‘So, these bastards already displayed their exhibit to the instructor.’ The same thought resounded in the minds of all six. All of them had used some convenient opportunity to showcase their stall’s theme to Instructor Mandu.

Thereby, none of them revealed their cards to each other. This meant they couldn’t prepare anything to disrupt the stalls of others in advance.

‘Fine, that’s how things are supposed to be.’ Inala thought as he raced to his dorm, having purchased a large box from the academy.

Instructor Mandu allowed everyone to take some basic items necessary for setting up a stall from the academy warehouse. With a box of tools in hand, Inala entered his room and began to pack things up.

Hardened mud, toxins to soften it, clay, and his sculpting tools in the form of Spirit Weapons. The box was heavy once he finished packing. Inala stuck flat pieces of bone—Spirit Weapons—on its underside, using them to alleviate most of the weight.

He carefully brought the box down the flight of stairs. Following that, he brought out Spirit Weapons in the form of wheels, attached them to the bottom of the box, and pushed it forward, joining Instructor Mandu.

Those that had to set up stalls would depart a couple of minutes early as compared to the rest of the students. 𝓞𝗏𝗅xt.𝒸𝗈𝕞

Inala eyed the five Death Row students walking beside him. All were pushing forth a trolley, having covered the contents with a lid.

Instructor Mandu led them through the streets of their settlement and arrived before the gates of a blocked region. This was situated atop the Empyrean Tusk’s head and was the quarters where the Settlement Leader and other distinguished cultivators lived.

The guards posted at the entrance opened the gates, allowing them to pass through. Their eyes were cold as they gazed at the students, focusing intently on the boxes in their possession. Everyone except Resha shuddered at the pressure emitted by their gazes. The Guards were in the Life Stage, masters of the settlement.

They took a roundabout route around the head region, for they didn’t have the authority to enter the institutional buildings there. Soon, the group arrived at a pair of massive gates that acted as both the entrance and exit to the settlement.

“Amazing…” Inala muttered at the view. He stood at the edge of the Empyrean Tusk’s head, hence able to see everything beyond. It was akin to staring out from a mountain peak.

The Empyrean Tusk’s nose acted as a bridge and passed through the clouds, going underneath. It felt as if they were celestial beings descending to the Earth.

“Stick close to me. I’m not responsible if you were thrown off. It tends to shake its trunk every now and then.” Instructor Mandu warned everyone.

‘Something like that won’t happen this time.’ All the reincarnates thought in unison.

Instructor Mandu clicked his tongue when he noticed the lack of fear in the faces of the students. He hoped to scare them at least a little. It was one of the few joys he had.

‘It’s ridiculously hard.’ Inala stared at the floor, ‘The carapace feels like the rocks forming a mountain. They don’t seem like a living creature’s body.’

Such was the Empyrean Tusk’s grandeur. The exoskeleton covering its trunk was tough enough that with Inala’s current capabilities, even if he were to spend a month drilling a hole through it, there would hardly be a dent.

The bridge formed by the trunk was very wide, 200 metres at its thickest and around 110 metres at its thinnest, but everyone was careful and moved at the centre due to the winds that blew across it. Soon, they passed through the clouds, causing their visibility to drop to zero.

At that moment, Inala felt the chills, ducking suddenly as he felt something fly overhead, sensing killing intent all around him, ‘Seriously?’

The reincarnates intended to throw each other over the edge. The fall would ensure they’ll splatter upon impact, a guaranteed death. It was the best way to kill each other, especially when veiled by the clouds.

Suddenly, an impact slammed into Inala, knocking out all the air from his lungs. The force of the impact revealed the culprit as he shrilled mentally, ‘Reeshhaaa!’