Advanced Silver Grade Pranic Beast–Nirclick!
With a Prana capacity of 2402 and a lifespan of 490 years, the Nirclick Race appeared on Sumatra at the same time as Torq's regression. They were a race specialised in stealth, capable of camouflaging themselves perfectly as any inanimate objects.
'Extremely rarely, Sumatra faces absolute danger in the name of an Invasion from creatures beyond the Continent.' Torq let out a soft breath as he sighed while leaning on the door to his allotted room, 'In the era I'm from, there was the Brully Invasion…urgh!'
Even though it was far, far back in history, the sheer memory of the experience alone caused him to shudder. It was his most terrifying and most traumatising, where he was at his utmost desperate. 'Once I gained my current identity, I've ensured to participate in all Invasions that followed the Brully Invasion.'
During the Brully Invasion, Torq and three of his friends became one of the strongest existences on Sumatra. Each of the four made waves on Sumatra, starting their respective forces.
Following the Brully Invasion was the Death Knell Invasion, where the Brimgan Empire rose to prominence. It was a place created by his closest friend to be the pinnacle power representing the Free Humans.
Approximately 13,000 years ago, the Mudropper Invasion occurred, during which Sumatra Continent saw the rise of two supreme Clans–the Mammoth Clan and the Cooter Clan.
'And now, the Nirclick Invasion has started in full swing.' He patted himself, trying his best to calm down, for every single Invasion was absolutely dangerous. And at present, foreign Continents too were invading alongside the Nirclicks, 'I thought they joined hands only in the future.'
'It seems things have been accelerated the moment I hit Nusantara Continent's Celestial with its first nerf.' Slowly, he clenched his hand into a fist, 'I probably have the most amount of time allotted in this timeline. In future regressions, the enemy will move faster, and with greater efficiency out of desperation.'
Phew!
He exhaled softly, tensing up because things would no longer be child's play, like his life at the Academy, 'At least, I had fun for a month.'
His eyes turned moist as Torq inhaled and exhaled for a while, calmly analysing the capabilities of his enemy, 'The ability of the Nirclick cannot affect Runthral. His Prana can passively protect him from their attacks…unless…!'
Primary Nature–Fat Globule!
The Nirclicks had a jelly-like body that was extremely malleable. On average, they reached 30 metres in length, sporting a shape resembling amoeba, with tendrils extending from the ends for half-a-metre.
Scattered amidst their membranous body were tiny cores, processing tissues encased within tough chitin. These cores were connected to each other by a network of nerves and result in a function similar to the brain.
Each core was barely the size of a finger nail, and an average Nirclick had more than 200 cores. The biggest core in the body, twice the size of others, contained the Spirit Container. It held all of the Nirclick's Prana.
The Nirclick physiology worked to mimic the environment they come into contact with. It allowed them to morph their bodies into any inorganic matter. And thanks to their membranous structure, they were capable of compressing or elongating their forms to successfully mimic any object's shape.
These cores had a scary property in that, when the main core containing the Spirit Container dies, the remaining cores would break down and consume each other, until they gather enough energy to become the main core and have a Spirit Container.
This vastly raises their survivability, which on Sumatra, was the most valued.
Their bodies were fully geared to morph their shape, texture, and appearance while without emitting any presence. And hence, the remainder of their body systems took a nosedive.
This was where its Primary Nature of Fat Globule came into effect. The tendrils growing out of the Nirclick would release pollen smaller than the naked eye could perceive, even by most Gold Grade Pranic Beasts.
Entering through the respiratory tract, these pollen would latch to and mimic the blood without being detected by the respective body's Prana. Eventually, the pollen would accumulate as fat globules in all areas of the body where fat could be deposited naturally.
They would regularly consume through the body's nutrients and increase in size until the limit, at which point they undergo mitosis to split into two, and begin the growth process once again. Depending on the creature they inhabit within, they could completely take over all the fat deposits in a matter of hours.
The greater the strength difference between the Nirclick and the target Pranic Beast, the faster this fat takeover process. From that point onwards, the Pranic Beast would grow sluggish, lazily proceeding with its life in all aspects.
Their Prana wouldn't even detect something to be amiss as the Pranic Beast grows obese and eventually dies. Once it does so, all the fat globules would vaporise into pollen and gather in the air, carried by the wind until they find the Nirclick that had released them in the first place.
The pollen has an affinity to the Nirclick that released them, and hence, would seek the other party while being guided by natural elements.
This pollen is what the Nirclick consumes to survive, incapable of digesting anything else. Moreover, the pollen also contains information broken down from the mind aspect of the target's Prana.
By absorbing this pollen, the Nirclick learns about its surroundings. This entire process happened passively, guided by nature.
But within its Spirit Weapon range, the Nirclick was capable of actively controlling this process, which was how it felt around its surroundings and interacted with the world.
The biggest issue with the usage of Fat Globule is its capability to bypass Prana's natural defensive means in every living being. And by the time the target realises what is happening, it was already too late.
It was why Torq happily antagonised Runthral, making it his habit to do so. And now, the moment he felt something was suspicious, he spontaneously thought of annoying Runthral. However, when he felt the slightest bit lazy to execute his impulse, he knew he was already a victim to the Nature of Fat Globule.
And once he extracted the fat deposits in his body, his suspicions were confirmed. Iron Grade Prana was incapable of protecting the body from Fat Globule, which was a Silver Grade Nature.
'The Captain and Vice Captain have Silver Grade strength. Theoretically, they shouldn't be affected by Fat Globule.' Torq sighed grandly, 'Then, it's confirmed.'
'There's a Gold Grade Nirclick on board this ferry.' Having fully organised his thoughts, Torq condensed a mask using Gentle Coral, taking advantage of its porous structure, 'As long as I protect my nose and mouth, I'll be mostly safe from Fat Globule's effects.'
"And…" Protected by the mask, he patted his chest, feeling a mild stirrup from his real body's Spirit Container, "I fear it's already time to face each other."
Exiting his room, Torq approached the end of the corridor and peered through the window, noticing the world beyond was fully covered by mist, 'Visibility is zero.'
'But it's alright.' Torq brisked up, keeping his Empyrean Snapper Pet ready to use at a moment's notice, 'With an Empyrean Snapper's strength, I can handle most situations.'
While Torq prepared himself, in the lowermost floor of the ferry, all the Cooter Clansmen that were supposed to be rowing the ferry were in a dazed state now, having grown incomparably obese to the extent they resembled fatty blobs.
Pranic Beast flesh alongside the stock of medicines in the ferry were poured down their throats, expanding their sizes as much as possible. And slowly, a stream of pollen wafted out of their bodies, surging towards the centremost location in the lowermost floor, where a Nirclick absorbed them voraciously.
It had turned itself to resemble a vase, with its tips sprouting its tendrils, which sucked in the pollen.
Thump! Thump!
At a rapid pace, it was growing in strength while faint streams of mist curved around its body under its will, as if it was also sucking in the essence of the Cooter Clansmen. And while this happened, a faint aurora, barely a metre in size, manifested above the vase.