"We meet again, Grehha." Ruvva smiled when the door opened.
"I'm not Grehha." Saying so, Grehha shut the door loudly.
'That's rude.' Ruvva felt as such. But after some thought, she realised his behaviour was natural since Grehha considered her Virala's crony. 'When the Mud Vipers rushed in the shelter, he too protected me.'
She calmly knocked on the door, waiting patiently even as Grehha never responded. An hour passed, but the knocking continued. Ruvva knocked once every few seconds. And it seemed she had annoyed him enough as three hours later, a frustrated Grehha opened the door, "Why are you here?"
"I just wanted to talk." Ruvva tilted her head cutely, "How are you?"
'This fucking woman!' Grehha barely controlled himself from turning Ruvva into Mud Viper food. He spoke coldly, "Please leave, I'm busy. I don't have time to chitchat."
"Virala doesn't know I'm here." Ruvva smiled brightly. Of course, her eyes were emotionless, creeping Grehha, "So, let's talk inside, alright? Unless you want me to return and embrace Virala while crying about your rudeness?"
She was basically threatening to expose Grehha's location to Virala if he didn't talk to her.
"Sure, go ahead." Saying so, Grehha shut the door.
"I came here to purchase Mud Viper eggs from you." Ruvva didn't seem to mind her treatment as she continued, "I'll buy fifteen eggs from you daily."
The door opened as Grehha sported a merchant-like attitude, rubbing his palms together as he invited Ruvva in, "Please come inside, Lady Ruvva."
"Why didn't you say you were a customer?"
His abrupt behaviour change stunned her, even when she came prepared. Ruvva entered the living room and flinched under the stares of dozens of Mud Vipers.
"How many eggs do you need?" Grehha asked, ready to make the calculations, "And what is the purpose of your purchase?"
"Purpose?" Ruvva frowned, "Why do you need that?"
"I have to submit a report to the Clan daily in regards to the number of purchases and the people that purchased from me, including what they use the eggs for." Grehha said, "It's to avoid a wastage of valuable Clan resources."
"Then, I'll only purchase the eggs that aren't sold." Ruvva said, "That way, I'm only using the resources that might go to waste. I'll pay the market price for them. As for the purpose, put it down as experimentation."
"I have around eight unsold eggs from today's batch." Grehha said, "Based on the sales, I'll have anywhere from three to ten unsold daily."
"I'll take them all." Ruvva nodded.
"Alright," Grehha pulled out a contract and added in a couple of details, giving it to Ruvva, "Sign here. I'll notarise it using Instructor Mandu."
"I'm…prohibited from mentioning this deal to Virala?" Ruvva frowned at the clause. After a moment, she casually signed it, "That's fine by me."
There were a few more clauses, all regarding Virala, ensuring nothing of this transaction could be found out by him. There was also a fine imposed otherwise.
The fine amount ensured Grehha would have obtained enough resources from Ruvva to succeed in his plan. Even if Virala tries anything shady after finding out his house's location, Grehha wouldn't lose anything. Rather, things would only benefit him once he notarised it.
Moreover, even if Virala did something after that, he would be subject to legal action under Mammoth Clan law, thereby allowing Grehha to get rid of his strongest competitor without moving a muscle.
'This fine is his true goal. He's hoping that I reveal this transaction to Virala.' Ruvva didn't let her thoughts show on her face as she got up and shook hands with Grehha, "Here's to a fruitful cooperation."
Grehha frowned once Ruvva left, 'How the fuck did she come to know my location? Did Inala leak it? No, he has more to lose if he does. Did Instructor Mandu slip up? That doesn't seem likely either. He's absolutely strict about such things.'
"How did she find out then?" Grehha felt the urge to commit murder. But he controlled himself and looked around, smiling, "Whatever, it doesn't matter."
"I need plenty of resources for my project anyway." He thought, 'And through this deal, I can purchase lots of medicine from Ruvva.'
"Also," He muttered upon recalling Ruvva's figure, "She seems different from before. Judging by her expression, she probably had a falling out with Virala. That's good too. His actions might have hastened her awakening."
…
In a wide tunnel faintly lit by luminescent moss flowed a canal, only three metres in breadth. Seated on a boat and allowing the weak water currents to carry him was Blola.
The boat was a Spirit Weapon, created using a pile of bones he had purchased and moulded into the current structure by employing the Mystic Bone Art. For the past month, Blola had been preparing his escape from the 44th Settlement.
All his preparations were for that. Blola created a parachute with a turbine attached to the back. Using his Prana, he made the turbine generate wind, controlling his direction of motion once he jumped down from the Empyrean Tusk's trunk.
Once he landed next to the secret path in the Ennoudu Plains, Blola packed the parachute in his luggage, entered the path and began his refinement.
He converted all the materials used in the chute to create the boat, using up everything he had brought with him.
There was only two days' worth of ration on his being, fully consumed by now.
He was hungry, but Blola didn't panic. Instead, he calmly observed the tunnel, recalling the information from Sumatra Chronicles. Eventually, he came across a patch of moss that glowed vibrantly.
Blola parked the boat and used a bone knife to collect the moss. He popped a clump in his mouth and almost spat it out, "Disgusting."
But once the moss was chewed and swallowed, a warm feeling pervaded his being. Upon feeling that, Blola consumed the moss until his stomach was full. He sat on the ground and activated his Mystic Bone Art, gradually converting it into Prana, "As expected, this is indeed Spirit Moss."
Spirit Moss was a substance on par with an elixir. A Kilogram of it sold for 16,000 Parute. Upon consumption, Spirit Moss netted very little Prana. But the reason they were so exorbitantly priced was their nature to strengthen the Spirit Container.
This strengthening effect applied to all cultivators, whether in the Spirit Stage, Body Stage, or even the Life Stage. In Sumatra Chronicles, when the herd returned to the Ennoudu Plains for the second time, Resha chances upon this secret path.
By consuming this Spirit Moss, he becomes further overpowered. But that was when he was a master, with a voracious appetite for resources.
Blola was only at the Spirit Stage, "There's more Spirit Moss here than what I can consume. This is the perfect resource for my journey."
Once he had his fill, Blola fell asleep. The next day, he got up, consumed some more Spirit Moss and got onto his boat as he cultivated. There was Spirit Moss everywhere he stopped, so he wasn't worried.
"In six months, when I exit this tunnel, I'll have reached the peak of the Spirit Stage." Blola grinned confidently. "The others can fight amongst themselves for second place with Resha while I reign supreme."