Burmat Re’Shi had a placid gaze as he returned to his Clan. The moment he entered, the soldiers heaved a sigh of relief, plopping to the ground as they felt strength leaving their legs. They then joined their palms together, praying he wouldn’t ever try to leave the Clan again, at least while they were on watch.

‘My injuries seem they would take a long time to heal. But don’t you worry Re’Kha, help is on its way.’ He then watched his surroundings, occasionally hearing the snickering and snide remarks about him by the passer-by, including the servants and the Clansmen.

He didn’t seem bothered about them, rather taking in a deep breath as he spoke to his maid, “I think this is enough of a stroll for now. Let’s return to my courtyard. I’ll stroll out later.”

‘Your majesty, please don’t have thoughts of moving about ever again.’ The maid made a vicious prayer in her mind, wishing she could speak her mind out to someone. She then noticed a servant she was on close terms with, a partner for her venting sessions.

She returned Burmat Re’Shi to his courtyard, removed the umbrella, and ensured he wasn’t drenched anywhere. She then bowed and left the place, calling her friend along the way. They gossiped about daily matters, rumours, and other matters of importance they heard during their work, soon cursing about the people they served.

Burmat Re’Shi gazed at the badge embedded on the underside of his left hand, noticing the blue radiance in it flicker, “Persevere Re’Kha, my Pranic Avatar will soon come to your rescue.”

He had been biding time to accumulate Qi in him, using a mysterious Spirit Artifact to store the excess Qi while his body generated more. Finally, by expending all the stored Qi, a whopping 80 units, he had summoned his Pranic Avatar in its strongest state, a secret none of his Clansmen knew, including the one he called ‘mother’.

A Pranic Avatar was a being born and nurtured within a Harmoniser’s Pranic Heart, given he/she possessed the bloodline to nurture one. A Harmoniser and his Pranic Avatar shared an intrinsic bond, able to share thoughts instantly, irrespective of the distance.

The type of Pranic Avatar a Harmoniser possessed was solely dependent on his birth parents. It was passed through birth, so only descendants of a Harmoniser possessing a Pranic Avatar would possess one—the same one as their predecessor.

Depending on the type of Pranic Avatar, the amount of Qi required to summon them varied. The greater the Qi required, the stronger the Pranic Avatar was, and the greater the duration it could exist in reality.

Every Harmoniser in the Burmat Re Clan only needed 40 units of Qi to summon their Pranic Avatar in its strongest state. If one didn’t possess enough Qi in them, then they could summon their Pranic Avatars at a weakened state, the weakness varying depending on the amount of Qi reduced.

‘They don’t know my secret, but this close surveillance from Re’Kya prevents me from doing anything. This damned lady.’ He cursed, for Burmat Re’Kya wasn’t his blood-related mother, but the second wife of his father. And, he never liked her, for she wished to get rid of him.

The only reason he hadn’t died yet was that she wanted to make his death seem as natural as possible. That was why she was weakening him slowly, day by day through a variety of means, both physically and mentally. The attack on Re’Kha was a consequence of that, for she was his fiance.

She wanted her children to become the legal successors of the Clan, a motive-driven ambition to seize power.

“Hah,” Burmat Re’Shi sighed, closing his eyes as he focused on recuperating while sensing everything his Pranic Avatar perceived through the sharing of their thoughts.

The strength behind the downpour intensified, making the visibility nil. From under the drawbridge, the head of a beast peaked out of the moat, slowly moving towards the end before climbing over to the surface.

It had a pair of horns, facing forward from the side of its jaw, their ends sharp. It had a long neck, sporting two pairs of eyes on the sides of its face and a single eye on its forehead. It was a four-legged beast with a wide body frame, sporting two humps shaped like a fin: the former curved towards the front while the latter curved towards the back, creating a U-shaped structure between them.

Beast—Pakou!

It was the Burmat Re Clan’s Pranic Avatar. The Pakou swam through the water and slammed its webbed feet on the land, climbing up. Its line of sight conformed to a grown man, a hulking creature of mass that was as powerful as its presence dictated.

Its fur-covered body soaked in the water, making It heavier. The Pakou unfurled its flippers, flattening them as it flapped them, watching them stretch and widen their surface area. Soon, it flapped them and took off to the skies, its speed of flight slow.

Thankfully, the powerful gusts of winds it created and the flapping sounds it produced were blocked by the intense rains. The place had also become pitch black, thanks to the sun setting, the cloud covering up the skies, and the heavy downpour, preventing any mode of light from travelling far.

Even the light emitted from the settlement was directed within, with seldom few searchlights scanning past the area in search of any approaching harm. The Pakou deftly avoided them, as if it had known their scouting routes and timings before arrival.

It was undetected as it flew far away, increasing distance from the Burmat City, slowly accelerating as time passed. It flashed past numerous landscapes, constantly accelerating as it headed south, its destination being the Burkurel Re Clan.

“Hurry!” Burmat Re’Shi controlled it to accelerate further as he gazed at the flickering of the token—attached to the underside of his left hand—intensify, with the blue radiance in it having dimmed a notch as compared to before.

The Pakou roared once, lowering its altitude as it zoomed over a river, the flapping of its wings causing the forming waves underneath to be disrupted.