A blazing red flame that reached a height of a couple dozen metres was currently like a large behemoth from hell that swallowed the entirety of the heap of monster ant carcasses. There was a sizzling sound that was produced every now and then due to the intense heat radiated by the thermal flames that Li Qiu unleashed upon the various ant carcasses.
The Thermal Flames Li Qiu could currently create after he broke through into the practitioner stage was several times more powerful than his previous version.
Since the ant carcasses mostly belonged to the awakened stage, the flames were burning the entire heap rapidly like a candle flame that was ignited over a piece of newspaper.
"Sob…Sob…" Myra could no longer contain her emotions as she kneeled before her fallen brethren who were currently burning and began to sob uncontrollably.
Prakash patted her back to console her but even his eyes started to tear up eventually after seeing Myra's countenance.
Enbi Arin just hugged Myra without uttering a single word as she too was affected by the current situation after experiencing Myra's memories.
Once he unleashed sufficient amount of flames over the heap of monster ant carcasses, Li Qiu went back to his base. His emotions too were currently on the verge of erupting like an active volcano.
Li Qiu couldn't help but worry if his family had survived this entire ordeal. If they did, were they currently safe and will they be able to survive down the road?
Just thinking up about how his friends and family might one day end up like those dead ants, Li Qiu couldn't help but grit his teeth and clench his fists.
"I will find my family even if I have to crawl over to the other side of the earth no matter the hardships I have to face. And I will never allow any danger to befall upon my companions, Prakash, Arin…." Li Qiu had a solemn expression on his face while his eyes radiated with the fierceness of a tiger and the determination of a dragon.
Meanwhile, it took only about 15-20 seconds for the entire pile of monster ant carcasses to become ashes.
Suddenly, Myra removed herself from Enbi Arin's hug, ran towards the simmering ashes and kneeled before it assuming a kneeling pose where her forehead touched the ground. Myra later moved her hands towards the ashes, clenched a handful of it and smeared it on her face.
"Myra…" Prakash called out to her.
Enbi Arin stood frozen in her place for a second after which she too kneeled before the ashes in the same way as Myra.
Myra exclaimed in a solemn tone "This will be the last time that I'm mourning for my fallen brethren but NO MORE. I will become STRONG. So strong that my very existence will give hope to my brethren but fear and dread to my enemies"
Myra currently looked quite deranged and scary with ashes smeared all over her face and with blood red eyes which will inflict one with a sense of a cold murderous intent that they may even hallucinate their surroundings to be the very abyss itself.
Enbi Arin didn't utter any words. She just directed her conviction to Myra with her eyes as they made eye-contact with each other.
Prakash just silently waited at the sidelines and observed their actions. His thought process currently had more clarity than his companions.
Prakash silently mulled over their next course of actions. They had plenty of Aria Cores for a massive power-up. Thankfully, Myra and her colony preferred the bodies of other creatures than their Aria Cores which could establish a wonderful cooperative relationship between them.
"Breaking through to the Adept stage will have to wait till we fulfill all the unknown conditions or just wait till Enbi Arin used her 'Attribute Juggler' innate ability to instantly gain about 500 stats in Aria quantity" Prakash mulled to himself.
He figured that upgrading the defensive strength of their base would prove useless since it was too much time consuming, they lacked the necessary materials and moreover, the average strength of the world was rising rather swiftly than his initial estimations.
Prakash finally came to the conclusion that what they desperately needed to do at present was to swiftly increase their base strength, create skills to supplement their combat potential and finally become Adepts so that they can harness the power of the Artefacts.
On noticing that Myra and Enbi Arin were still kneeling before the ashes, Prakash decided to search if an Artefact had really formed.
Prakash took a stick in his hand and started to poke around in the ashes.
After poking around a few places, Prakash felt a solid feedback through the stick. He immediately searched at the spot with his bare hands and finally discovered a rainbow coloured Artefact.
"Huh? So no one encountered this type of Artefact till now?" Prakash was astonished to discover an artefact that had not yet been obtained by humans who were connected with the 'World Wide Web'.
"Hehe, Jackpot" Giggled Prakash as he took the artefact with him and solemnly placed it above Myra's head who was still kneeling at the same spot for a couple of minutes.
"(- __ - )" Enbi Arin
"(i __ i )" Myra
"What is it" Myra innocently inquired with a weak sobbing tone.
Prakash sighed a little "Show me your hands"
Myra innocently placed both of her hands before with her palms facing the sky "Like this?"
Prakash put on a solemn and serious attitude as he placed the rainbow coloured artefact above
Myra's palms as he said "Consider this artefact as your fallen brethren passing on their everything onto you"
Myra instantly burst into another fit of wailing as she tightly clenched the artefact in her hands "I'll accept this inheritance".
"Good, that's the spirit" Prakash encouraged Myra as she took her first step forward to move on.
"It's better if you take it with you and safeguard it inside the nest. It would instill some sort of hope to your brethren" Enbi Arin advised.
Myra nodded and went towards her nest without taking a glance behind her at the ashes of her fallen brethren, determination in her eyes and equipped with a newly forged steel like willpower.
After Myra went back inside her nest, Enbi Arin glanced at Prakash.
"That artefact looked special even among the other artefacts. Didn't you feel even a tinge of greed when you touched it?" Questioned Enbi Arin.
"She's one of us" Prakash replied with indifference.
"That's it?" Quesioned a rather astonished Enbi Arin.
"It's only natural" Exclaimed Li Qiu as he walked towards Prakash and Enbi Arin.
"Since how long were you there?"Questioned Enbi Arin while feeling both shocked and surprise.
"Big bro was keeping a watch on our surroundings from the terrace till now" Prakash replied.
Enbi Arin realized that while she and Myra were venting out their emotions, Prakash stood by them for support while Li Qiu took care of their safety and protection.
"Thank you" Enbi Arin gratefully thanked the duo.
"Don't mention it" Li Qiu retorted.
"We are a team" replied Prakash with a smile on his face.
Enbi Arin thanked them again.
"So, What was only natural?" When she remembered his previous statement Enbi Arin questioned Li Qiu.
"Myra is one of us, so its only natural that we make sure that what's rightfully hers belongs to her" Li Qui said with a snort.
"Are you no longer mad at her?" Enbi Arin questioned in a rather surprised tone.
"Huh, when did I say that I'm not mad at her" Li Qiu retorted.
"But….you just…" Enbi Arin muttered.
"That and this are two separate events. She is one of us because she is contracted with you and you said that she's one of us but that doesn't mean that I have to like her" Li Qiu snorted as he walked away.
"Oh, and It's time we distribute the Aria Cores. Let's go in. Shall we" Li Qiu said with his back facing Enbi Arin and Prakash.
Enbi Arin stood there rooted to her spot, her mind unable to keep up with Li Qiu's weirdness.
"The more I get to know him, the more I feel like I know nothing of him. Sigh" Enbi Arin sighed.
"Hehe, don't mull over it too much. No matter what, the two of us will always support you. Just remember that" Said Prakash as he tapped Enbi Arin's shoulder and he too walked away towards their base.
"And how many times did you rehearse that dialogue you spoke just now" Enbi Arin retorted.
Her retort nearly made Prakash trip over. Prakash complained back "Do you seriously have to be such a killjoy to ruin my momentary coolness?"
"Yeah, Whatever" Enbi Arin rolled her eyes as she too walked beside Prakash towards their base.
A couple of minutes later…..
"KUKUKU"
"KEKEKE"
"Kiddo, this is serious business. Do you really want to buy this product?"
"Yes, senior. But I only have a few practitioner stage Aria Cores and a couple hundred Awakened Cores with me. I desperately need that Divine instrument to uphold my dignity".
"Ohh, so tell me, young lad, what will you use this divine instrument for?"
"Umm,hehe.... You don't have to be so silly, master. Doesn't that divine item only have one single purpose"
"Interesting! So tell me lad. What will you do with it?"
"You see that gorgeous beauty walking towards me with a hungry expression in her eyes. I have to prepare myself for the next act".
"Ohh, you young lad have such exquisite tastes. I see a fellow man who can appreciate living art….KUKUKU".
"Master, please hurry up, She's approaching me. Please complete the transaction so that I could prepare myself with this divine equipment. She's here….. Oh damn"
"Too bad …Tch"
'SMACK' 'SMACK'
'THUMP' 'THUD'
'DONG' 'CRACK'
"30 seconds! I was away for 30 GODDAMN seconds!! And you created a weird act again!! And the thing that's the most frustrating of all is the one you call as a Divine Equipment. Divine Equipment my ass! That's a breaking toothbrush!!!" Shouted a creeped out Enbi Arin as she pummelled the daylights out of both Li Qiu and Prakash.
"Eiyouch….. Stop it. It was just for some entertainment" Li Qiu countered.
"And moreover, in our little act, you were a gorgeous beauty, well you still are" Retorted Prakash in a sheepish tone.
"Ugh, fine" Enbi Arin waved her hands to dispose of this matter to the back of her head and finally concentrate on their real work.
Both Li Qiu and Prakash looked at each other with a profound gaze implying 'It worked' as they snickered stealthily.