The next day, Li Qiu woke up groggily and walked like a zombie towards the attached bathroom to freshen up a bit. It was only after his sleepy head became clear did Li Qiu found out to his surprise that the other two beds were empty.
When Li Qiu came out of the nursery room he found Enbi Arin cooking their breakfast while Prakash was swinging around a barbell in order to get a better hang of his ability.
Prakash could barely keep up with the intense movements traversed by the barbell before he collapsed like a dead fish on the floor. Flexing major parts of his unused muscles made him collapse that much sooner.
"Even if I am capable of displaying such complicated movements with my ability but my body is unable to handle such intense muscle strain," Muttered Prakash in defeat.
"Just keep training, your muscles will soon get used to that intensity" Encouraged Enbi Arin.
"Yeah, you're doing a fine job already. As long as you keep at it, you would become stronger," Chimed Li Qiu, in an encouraging tone.
"You should also begin training your flame control and practice adding different properties to the objects created with your materialization ability," Retorted Enbi Arin.
"Eh? Aren't I already doing that? You don't need to tell me," Replied Li Qiu.
"Humph" Snorted Enbi Arin, as she walked away.
"What she meant by it was that you can have your breakfast only after you're completely drained of both your physical strength and Aria," Interjected Prakash.
"Why should I empty my reserves? What good will it do to me?" Questioned Li Qiu, since, he felt it dangerous to become completely drained of his fighting power as they could come under attack at any time.
"Only then will your abilities grow stronger. A starved person can better digest his food," Prakash said in a mysterious tone as if he was an enlightened sage who had been benevolent enough to share his wisdom with the mortal world.
Li Qiu put up a defeated look on his face as he heard his rather convincing statement.
"Fine, I'll do as you have said and practice till I empty my tanks. But, who will watch over us in the meantime? We can come under an ambush at any time right?" Questioned Li Qiu.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Enbi Arin will watch over us for now," Replied Prakash.
"Yeah, I am always alert for sudden ambushes even while I am just cooking," Said Enbi Arin, as she waved her hands in motion which held on to a cutting knife.
"I guess I'm fine with that," Complied Li Qiu, when, he couldn't help but feel curious about how Enbi Arin went on about her training.
"It's easier for me and Prakash to train our abilities, but, what are you planning to do? After all, your abilities don't exactly follow the norm," Inquired Li Qiu.
"Oh, I'll be fine. I have already figured out a plausible solution to my situation. My innate ability Karma Incarnation doesn't require any training. I'll just meditate and focus over my Aria core and try to comprehend the naturally available instincts of the abilities that I have obtained. As for the Butcher Beam, I'm trying to decrease or increase its output, change the direction of its motion mid-flight, increase its penetration power and release rate. As for the other ability, I'm just practicing to increase the speed at which I can change my stats and make it so that I can change them subconsciously during a battle in the future," Enbi Arin stated the entirety of her thoughts.
Prakash also stated his opinion, "Whenever Enbi Arin changes her Aria attributes with the help of her innate ability Attribute Juggler or practices her Butcher Beam, and, when I'm using my ability, big bro can use his Essence Sense innate ability on us to familiarize yourself with all those types of Aria path flows, shapes, energy density, and, colours of the unleashed abilities,"
Li Qiu's eyes lit up in surprise when Prakash openly suggested something that he had already been practicing on them in secret and couldn't muster the confidence to tell them. No sane individual would feel comfortable with someone who could peer through them to their souls.
Enbi Arin hesitated a little, but, didn't object to the notion in the end since she didn't want to create unnecessary disputes. She knew, in the end, that she possessed neither the capability nor abilities that would either prevent or shield her from his Essence Sense innate ability.
Satisfied, all three of them went back to their respective training sessions. Enbi Arin began to use her butcher beam to cut the meat and tried various other methods to treat the processed meat. Thankfully, the food turned out pretty well.
The trio then sat around the dining table and peacefully ate their meals. After that, both Enbi Arin and Li Qiu began preparations for the hunt while Prakash wailed in silence as he washed the dishes.
All three of them wore blue skin-tight flexible jeans with a similar type of t-shirt. They also wore leather gloves on their hands and a baseball helmet on their heads.
They were also equipped with arm guards, leg guards and chest armour that was made from Styrofoam, (they couldn't find a better alternative in such short notice) courtesy Prakash, who created them perfectly with the help of his ability.
Their armour, though severely lacking in defence looked as if they were perfectly sculpted in accordance to their body proportions.
"Did he secretly measure me?" Thought Enbi Arin, and, couldn't help but glare at Prakash since the armour he had created fit her perfectly.
Prakash completely avoided her gaze as he tried to busy himself with something or the other.
Enbi Arin equipped herself with the katana and Prakash carried a barbell with him since he got pretty comfortable with it after his practice session.
"What! Did your brain finally go cuckoo?" Bellowed Enbi Arin.
"Big bro, are your seriously going to use that?" Both Enbi Arin and Prakash couldn't help but look incredulously at Li Qiu's choice of weapon.
"I'm comfortable with it and I also feel a sense of familiarity and closeness when I wield this wooden rod," Replied Li Qiu, in his defence.
"It's your choice in the end," Said Enbi Arin as she rolled her eyes at Li Qiu's ridiculousness while Prakash couldn't help but give a concerned look at him.
Prakash finally gave in after he saw Li Qiu's confident eyes but still decided to carry an extra baseball bat with him in case it was required. His shoe also consisted of retractable roller skates in them.
Enbi Arin also draped a small bag over her shoulders which housed some first aid, gauze, antiseptic and some Gunny bags that were meant to hold their captured prey.
The trio set out from their base when Enbi Arin couldn't help but give an amused stare at Li Qiu after seeing his skeleton shaped doodle on the fortress's outer wall.
"You were literally crying to use your Spirit Flame for lighting the interiors, but, you ended up creating such a massive doodle on the wall and even gave the entire floor a paint job with them," Enbi Arin gave him a thumbs up in a sarcastic manner.
Li Qiu put up an embarrassed expression on his face while Prakash couldn't help but giggle at the sight.
"Fine, let's go kill some creepy crawlies," Shouted Li Qiu, as blasted through the tape barrier at the entrance of the supermarket.
But, the moment Li Qiu saw the scene presented in front of him, he stood there frozen to the spot.
On seeing that the running Li Qiu suddenly stop at the entrance without uttering even a single word, both Enbi Arin and Prakash couldn't help but be worried, and, raced to the entrance as quickly as they could.
"What happened big bro, who did you suddenly...."
Just when Prakash began to inquire about the reason, Li Qiu suddenly placed his hand over Prakash's mouth as he signalled him a 'shh' gesture with his other hand.
Prakash also stood in silence even without the remainder from Li Qiu due to the terrifying scene that was playing out in front of the trio.
In the same place where they previously burned a huge pile of filth, laid a small clump of black coloured Ash. But, the most shocking fact was the scene of the various intact insect bodies and the entrails that littered every possible location in their surroundings.
And, the thing which petrified them the most was the scene of a huge scorpion over 2 metres in height ripping apart the bodies of other twitching insects which had probably been poisoned by the scorpion.
The strangest thing was that there was no sound that was produced due to all the munching, tearing of the flesh or even due to the impact of the scorpion's legs slamming onto the concrete floor.
"It seems the scorpion has some kind of innate ability that dampens the sound and shockwaves, completely making its surroundings dead silent. That was probably how it could poison the other insects, quite the handy ability for assassination. But, since we could still hear each other's voice, then, that means the range of its ability should probably not exceed 20 metres" Enbi Arin calmly analyzed their situation.
"How can you still be so calm? I just used my Essence Sense ability on it and it has one hell of an Aria. I also feel some kind of suppression radiating from it that's making my legs go soft," Exclaimed Li Qiu, while, Prakash also nodded his head to support the opinion.
"Ohh, the reason you feel the suppression is because that scorpion over there is at the Practitioner stage like me. From the Practitioner stage onwards, one can use aura to suppress other lower levelled lifeforms. I have always made sure to suppress my aura, but unlike me, it is just oozing out the entirety of its aura" Shrugged Enbi Arin.
"So, what do we do now? Fight or Flight?" Inquired Prakash.
"Neither" Enbi Arin retorted in a nonchalant manner as she declared, "We're gonna one shot it,"
"And how do you suppose we do that?" Both Li Qiu and Prakash awaited anxiously with bated breaths to her response.
"Simple, just do as I say. First, uncle, create one of those Thermal Flame marble by condensing the entirety of your Aria into it," Instructed Enbi Arin.
After approximately a dozen seconds had passed, Li Qiu successfully created a 3-centimetre wide orange coloured marble.
"Now Prakash, hold the marble in your hand and use your ability on it to accurately throw it onto the scorpion's face in a burst of speed when I give the signal" Said Enbi Arin.
Prakash nodded his head in response, calmed his breathing and stood in a throwing pose with his full concentration focused onto the rampaging scorpion.
In the meantime, Enbi Arin made her right hand glow a deep dark grey and kept charging it with her Butcher Beam until she willed the most of her Aria into her palm after which she gave the signal to Prakash.
In the next instant, Prakash threw the marble with all his might, which accurately hit the scorpion's face and exploded into a huge orangish-red flame, engulfing the entire scorpion within it.
But, just before the marble exploded into flames, a thick grey coloured sword beam which was in the shape of a crescent moon travelled swiftly through the air and severed the scorpion's tail accurately from its body.
The scorpion was still tearing apart its prey to feed on it when suddenly its tail was cut off. By the next instant, before the scorpion could even register the pain due to its tail being severed, it was engulfed in scorching hot flames.
"Screeee.....cch" The scorpion trashed around in pain and tried to put out the flames that burned its body. But, by the time the flames died down, the scorpion was left with a twitching body that was filled with 3rd-degree burns but was still alive when another crescent-shaped beam swiftly beheaded it.
"Phew.... That was quite a good teamwork for our first proper hunt" Said a satisfied Enbi Arin, after which, she tossed her katana over to Prakash, "Now, it's your job to kill the rest of the insects. Don't worry about them biting you, they wouldn't be able to move for a long time since they are all only at the Awakened Stage,"
"Why should I always do these menial chores?" Complained Prakash, as he felt it frustrating to always be the one to do the cleanup.
"If you want to blame it on anyone, then, blame it on your ability which makes doing such menial chores easy and efficient. Plus, you can also consider it as a part of your training. That's like hitting two birds with one stone," Laughed Enbi Arin.
In a somewhat defeated attitude, Prakash proceeded to kill all the remaining insects before he harvested their Aria cores.
After that, Prakash carefully removed the scorpion's telson, (Its pincer tip which also contains a poison gland in it) and sealed its bleeding area with a PoP bandage (Plaster of Paris bandage that is used in hospitals to hold and protect fractured bones).
"Make sure that the poison doesn't touch your skin. Wrap the pincer inside a plastic bag" Advised Li Qiu, as he saw the actions of Prakash.
While Prakash had been harvesting the Aria cores, Li Qiu and Enbi Arin piled up the bodies of all the dead creatures into another heap since they found insect meat to be disgusting to look at.
"Why do you think all those insects converged here?" Inquired Li Qiu.
"I'm not so sure myself. I don't think it's because of either the smell of blood or the smoke since they are virtually everywhere. Maybe, let's see if there is something in the ashes that lured them towards it" Suggested Enbi Arin and they both went towards the heap of Ashes and began searching for any irregularities that they could find there.
Suddenly, Enbi Arin exclaimed in surprise, "Quick, the two of you come here".
Wondering if she had indeed discovered something, Li Qiu raced hurried over to her side while Prakash also raced over to the spot with a confused expression on his face.
The moment they gazed at the said object, their eyes lit up with excitement.
"Awesome!"