Inala shuddered at the killing intent, 'Is…this how killing intent feels like? It's terrifying, too terrifying. Am I supposed to compete with such a monster?'
Just as he was about to faint from the killing intent, the gears in his brain churned as he recalled Chapter 1 of Sumatra Chronicles. The story starts in the Academy of Refinement and directly plunges the readers with a scene of gore, thereby setting up the treacherous nature of the world.
And the cause of that was what Resha was directing his killing intent towards.
"All students! To the shelter, NOW!" The instructor's booming voice addressed the over three hundred students at the Academy of Refinement.
"I'm not prepared." Virala clutched his head in panic.
'This the First Minor Crisis.' Inala became nervous as he rushed alongside the students, following only after seeing Resha among the crowd. Sumatra Chronicles consisted of 21 Minor Crises and 4 Major Disasters, with Resha being killed in the fourth Major Disaster.
Even though this was a Minor Crisis, it shouldn't be underestimated, for at the end of this event in the story, the population of their settlement was slashed in half. That spoke volumes of the danger involved.
The herd of 44 Empyrean Tusks form a straight line as they tread through treacherous lands. The strongest Empyrean Tusk stands at the forefront of the file while the weakest is positioned at the end.
Their settlement's Empyrean Tusk was at 44th place, dead last. Not only was it weak, but it was also gaining in on old age. As a result, its footsteps weren't perfectly placed on the path forged by the strong Empyrean Tusks at the forefront of the herd.
It had set foot on a nest by mistake and crushed a portion of it. As a result, the Pranic Beasts part of the nest, Mud Vipers rushed out en masse and swarmed the 44th Empyrean Tusk.
They began to crawl over the Empyrean Tusk's legs to reach the top and attack the settlement there, acting based on the life signatures they picked up.
Pranic Beasts were creatures native to Sumatra and came in all forms. Mud Vipers were serpentine creatures with a pair of forelegs that allowed them to grab onto things and lurch forward.
A Mud Viper spanned three metres in length when it reached maturity. Its speciality lay in spitting out mud balls that were adhesive in nature. The mud balls would harden in a matter of seconds once it spits out.
Mud Vipers would spit mud balls onto a target and turn them into a sculpture. They would then drag the sculptures to their nest to feast at a later date. The problem with Mud Vipers was that when they latch enough mud balls onto the joints of the Empyrean Tusk, they can prevent it from moving.
Once constricted to a place, it was only a matter of time before the Mud Vipers overwhelm and feast upon the Empyrean Tusk and the people living on it.
The herd of Empyrean Tusks was constantly on the move and would only stop at locations deemed safe by the leader. Stopping anywhere else was risky. Hence, none of the 43 Empyrean Tusks part of the herd stopped to assist the 44th Empyrean Tusk.
'Since Resha is a regressor, the event might change due to his involvement. But, there's no guarantee whether or not it is to my benefit. After all, this broken nest is home to at least a million Mud Vipers.' Inala thought in worry. There were plenty of elites in their settlement to fight against the enemies, but the number of Mud Vipers was too much.
No matter how strong they were, forty thousand people wouldn't fare well against a million Mud Vipers. In the story, their settlement loses half its population to the Mud Vipers. It was the rise to a bloody start.
While moving towards the shelter meant for students, Inala felt around his body. There was a pouch hung around his hip, and in it was a rugged bone sphere.
Inala sensed a faint wisp of energy in his body. He riled it up according to the memories of the body and focused it upon the rugged bone sphere, watching it twitch in response. 'Okay, at least I'm not completely helpless.'
Prana!
That was the energy one cultivated on Sumatra, a fusion between the energies of Soul, Mind, and Body. Based on the established measurement units of this world, he had 12 Prana, a paltry sum for someone his age. But that was the norm for someone unable to train due to the Fragment Disease.
Inala ran slowly to avoid fracturing his legs. Those with the Fragment Disease were the last to enter the shelter, a dome-shaped room carved within the bony carapace of the Empyrean Tusk. It only had a small entrance.
"Remain here!" Saying so, the instructor closed the entrance and stood guard outside.
"10…9…" Suddenly, Resha began a countdown. He was just muttering, but all six reincarnates had their attention wholly focused on him and hence noticed his action.
They might know the full story, but Resha had experienced it firsthand. So, it was better to follow the regressor.
"…1," Saying so, Resha took out a bone sphere from his pouch and threw it slowly. He infused his Prana into it and caused it to fly in the air.
The shelter's entrance collapsed as the instructor came crashing in. Pressing him were a group of Mud Vipers, spitting mud balls on his joints to constrict him while they clawed upon his flesh. One of the Mud Vipers opened its mouth wide to bite off the instructor's eyes.
Resha's bone sphere accurately flew into its mouth and lodged itself in its throat. Sweat covered his forehead as he focused to the limit, causing the bone sphere to rotate and crush the Mud Viper's windpipe, thereby suffocating it.
The bone sphere thrashed about within the suffocated Mud Viper's mouth and killed it a few seconds later.
"They're here!"
"Run!"
The students scattered to the corners of the shelter as more and more Mud Vipers entered through the broken entrance. Resha was the sole individual daring to stand out in the middle of the room. He grunted and seeped more Prana into the bone sphere, causing it to soak up the Mud Viper's blood.
Mystic Bone Art—Toxin Refinement!
With a tug of his mind, Resha pulled out the bone sphere from the Mud Viper's mouth. He caught it and licked the refined blood coating it, exhaling in satisfaction, "I can finally move my damn body a bit more seriously."
'Right, the refined toxins from a Mud Viper can temporarily suppress the Fragment Disease. It was what Resha used to train his Prana after this event. But to refine it takes considerable skill. Otherwise, the toxin would close up one's stomach walls and kill them. He faced a lot of issues as a result. But in this life, he has more than enough skill to purely turn the toxin into a tonic.' Inala analysed. Of course, the other five reincarnates had the same thought.
While Resha was in a reverie from the tonic's effects, Orakha rushed towards him and licked some of the blood from his bone sphere. Resha was stunned by his actions.
As Orakha relished the tonic's effects, Resha slammed the bone sphere on his face, dislocating his jaw.
Orakha fell to the ground, knocked unconscious. A group of Mud Vipers targeting Resha changed targets to the helpless Orakha. They tore off his hands to feast upon and recover some of their expended energy. It was a bloody sight.
Following that, the Mud Vipers turned Orakha into a sculpture and transported him out. It was a signal of his end.
At that moment, Resha turned around and stared at the figures of the reincarnates that had approached closer to him, having had the same thoughts as Orakha.
Resha stared at their stunned faces and the spot on his bone sphere that had been licked by Orakha. None among the students at this point should have been aware of the tonic he produced. The fact that Orakha knew to accurately target it meant information about him had been compromised.
Someone he had no knowledge about seemed to know everything there was to him. They didn't exist in his past life. Therefore, it could either be a side effect of his regression or a scheme by some heavenly being. In any case, their existence proved dangerous to him.
The thought didn't sit well with Resha. He stared at the remaining five reincarnates, "Dare provoke me, and you'll end up the same as that bastard."
The Main Character expressed his animosity towards them.