Sumatra's Greatest Fan - Chapter 185: New Card
Chapter 185: New Card
“My son,” Came a whisper, from a feline creature standing atop a pond situated deep inside a mountain’s crater, “Now that you’re born, you need to know one thing.”
“We exist to serve as a gatekeeper, even if you’ll be forgetting it shortly after. However, hammer it into the very core of your existence..” The voice whispered, “We live, here! And we die, here!”
Gah!
The baby Roshmon burst out of the cage inhibiting its motion and surveyed the outside world. Even though it didn’t know anything at the moment, it felt something was strange.
There was a nagging feeling in its mind, that it was supposed to do something, to guard something. But instinctively, it knew that it wasn’t where it was supposed to do its duty. And that…stressed its developing mind.
KYAaaAAA!
It let out a sharp screech, a cry in pain, causing the whiskers on its face to shudder like the strings of a violin and produce a melodramatic tune.
The foreign surroundings caused it fear, making it paranoid. It wanted to flee, flee towards its home, flee towards the embrace of its mother.
Even though it hadn’t been long since its birth, as a Gold Grade Pranic Beast, it was already strong enough to kill most Iron Grade Pranic Beasts and could even hold its own against a Silver Grade Pranic Beast.
The moment it sensed a foreign individual in proximity, the baby Roshmon intended to attack, to create an opportunity for it to flee. However, right as it prepared its ability, a sharp sting paused it in its tracks.
There was no attack, not even an intimidation emission of presence. Nothing had attacked it. But instinctively, as the baby Roshmon used its Prana detection means to perceive the strength of the other party, the skin prickles generated as the feedback process caused a searing pain.
Gashes appeared on its skin, exactly at the place where the skin prickles in response to detecting the presence of the other party. That one response taught it everything the baby Roshmon needed to know about the entity before it.
AUEEE!
The baby Roshmon cried out in fear, trembling like a prey caught in the maws of an invincible predator. Invincible! That was what it felt through its Prana detections means.
It stared, wide-eyed, as the other party, a humanoid that was a head shorter than its line of sight, approached it, appearing tiny to its eyes. However, its senses screamed otherwise.
Thud! Doom! Ka-Boom!
It was like a prehistoric entity was approaching it, merely treating it as a passable snack along the way. And all the baby Roshmon could do was to accept its death, for even at its greatest resistance, nothing would change.
The time taken for it to be eaten wouldn’t increase by even a single, meagre second. That was the futility of its show of resistance.
Tears welled up in its eyes as subconsciously, the baby Roshmon made itself appear as small as possible, until the top of its head reached the height of the humanoid’s chest. And then, it turned around, revealing its belly as a show of submission.
And then, it shuddered, in absolute, fright, feeling as if the entity before it would slurp all of its brethren for a meal and would still not be satiated.
S-Spare…Me!
It couldn’t even let out a whimper, and only managed to fluctuate its presence to appear as pitiful as possible, all in an effort to plead to the other party’s sensibility, and basically, be discarded as an unworthy snack. For, the entity before it felt…
Absolute!
“Good,” Leaning forward by a tad, Torq extended his hand and rubbed the belly of the baby Roshmon. He watched the other party shudder at the touch and then, gradually after, ease up with the knowledge it wouldn’t be eaten anymore.
“You’re my mount.” Torq expressed with a tone of authority, as if there was no other option. No, forget there being an option. His tone was as if he was commenting about the natural order of things, like the weather being sunny today, or that leaves appeared green.
It was as if the baby Roshmon was born solely to serve as his mount. That was the natural order of things, its purpose in life. And the baby Roshmon, didn’t have an option to accept or reject it.
No, it was only natural it served as a mount for the entity before it.
One statement from Torq flipped its entire psyche. But then, there came a twist, “Only if you succeed in my test would I accept you as my mount. Fail, and you’ll be discarded.”
“As the only mount candidate from the Roshmon Race, your failure will bring my attention upon another Race…”
I’ll Succeed! I’ll Succeed! I’ll…SUCCEED!
The baby Roshmon expressed through its presence, trying its best to communicate its intention to the entity before it, appearing as desperate as it could.
“Then,” Torq took out High Grade Elixir of Free Cultivator and poured it down the baby Roshmon’s throat, “You have one chance at success.”
Yes!
The baby Roshmon felt the Elixir of Free Cultivator work its magic through its body and focused upon itself, harnessing every ounce of its strength and capability to accept the changes brought in by the Elixir.
Mentally, it tried to influence its Prana, causing its Spirit Container to accept the influence brought about by the Elixir, without generating any resistance, to the best of its capability.
It entered a state of trance, single-mindedly focusing its mental capabilities to influence its Pana to avoid resisting the effects of the Elixir, and moreover, carry the Elixir’s effects and slap stick it to its Spirit Container.
Its desperate efforts increased the potency of the Elixir’s effects, gradually causing changes to appear in its body, which got reflected in its Spirit Container. And soon enough, the changes interacted with Prana and expressed itself to Sumatra, birthing a new power.
Tertiary Nature–Free Cultivator!
The baby Roshmon had now transformed into a two-year-old human baby, promptly placing its back on the floor to face its belly up, expressing its submissiveness.
“Congratulations!” Torq’s sweet voice resounded in the baby Roshmon’s ears, “You’re now my mount.”
“Me…happy!” The baby Roshmon spoke using its human vocal cords, in the language used by the Varahan Empire, for Torq had used Mystic Sumatra Art to infuse the language into the baby while feeding it the Elixir.
“In four days, we’ll be going out on a journey.” Torq got up and extended his hand, motioning for the baby Roshmon to grab his hand. And then, he walked out, having draped the baby Roshmon in a set of clothes. ’It’s time to reveal some of my cards!’
His expression, his gait, and the very posture of his existence had significantly changed from the moment he obtained the Tangible Nature of Empyrean Rhully. The influence from it was staggering.
Torq focused on enduring the worst of its influence, which meant he didn’t yet have the means to remain unaffected by the remainder. Hence, he had become colder, arrogant, and most of all, absolutely confident.
“We’ll be heading to the Palace now.”
