Sumatra's Greatest Fan-Chapter 73: Beauty Of The Weak

Kneeling on the cloud platform that slowly descended down the hull at the rear of Battleship Trailing Waves, Torq kept adding thin layers of Gentle Coral plasters to rip apart the growing moss.

Piltru Moss!

It was a type of moss that was a result from the degradation of a Pranic Beast’s fecal matter. Piltru Moss will latch onto any surface it comes across, absorb any nutrients its roots could seek, and grow without limits.

If left unchecked, a single patch a metre in size could expand to cover the Battleship’s surface area in a matter of days. In humid regions, their growth was unstoppable.

Piltru Moss released a foul smell that caused nausea to those in proximity. It released harmful byproducts when burnt or acted upon by stomach acids. Worst of all, a patch a few metres in size contained about a unit worth of Prana in a dispersed state through psychokinesis.

This psychokinesis served to make the Piltru Moss register as a dead prey in a Prana detection means. A dead prey was characterized by traces of its presence leaking out as a result of its Spirit Container shattering and dissipating over time.

Piltru Moss resulted in the same feedback through a Prana detection means.

When unleashed, Prana detection means resulted in feedback through skin prickles. Depending on the intensity of the prickle and the location across the body it happens, the user could generally figure out an answer.

Piltru Moss falsified that feedback response, making them extremely dangerous. Predators and prey alike took advantage of it in the Tsloch Sea, creating a dangerous environment.

Since they had a branch at the Tsloch Sea for thousands of years, the Cooter Clan long had the means to refine Piltru Moss to make medicines. There were three prominent medicines the Clan refined using Piltru Moss.

Satiety Medicine, which could be ingested to gain all nutrients necessary for a body’s functioning, thereby reducing the strain on the body’s use of Prana to supplement the deficiencies during travel.

Allure Medicine, which when poured over the poop secreted by Cooter Clansmen, creates a lure to gather many Pranic Beasts from the immediate vicinity. It works only on weak Iron Grade Pranic Beasts, but was useful in stocking up on resources and the useful disposal of their body wastes.

Over time, the Allure Medicine breaks down the poop into edible byproducts for some of the native Pranic Beasts.

The last was Piltru Recovery Medicine, which was just a concentrated medicinal extract, a vial’s worth of which recovered eight units of Prana. It wasn’t as efficient as a lot of medicines the Cooter Clan could refine, but its abundance made it preferred while on a journey.

As Torq continued to extract patches of Piltru Moss, he heard Inin talk about the various benefits the Cooter Clan extracted out of said moss. ’All of this is pretty useful.’

The reason Cooter Clan even bothered to create the Gentle Coral Spirit Pool was thanks to all these ’hidden’ benefits they could gather from it. They wouldn’t have placed such a weak Spirit Pool as an option otherwise.

’Generations of trial and error brought about by many unfortunate geniuses developed such Spirit Pools.’ Torq paused, and once an explanation was completed, he asked Inin, "Did you ever wish you could have gotten a better Spirit Pool?"

"Hmm?" Inin eyed Torq with a trace of pity, ’If he wasn’t who he is, his talent could have netted him a Silver Grade Spirit Pool easily.’

’Maybe he’s regretting his fate.’ A moment’s thought later, Inin spoke, "I had a decent amount of talent when it came to sculptures. However, in every other field, my performance was below average."

"But my overall performance at the Academy still provided me with five Spirit Pools to choose from." He huffed in pride, "The best Spirit Pool out of that option would have given me a Prana capacity of 510."

"That is relatively high." Torq commented.

"Indeed, but I knew my fate best." Inin commented, "I am meant to be one of the weak. Having slightly better strength doesn’t matter when you’re at the bottommost rung of society."

"Hence, I made my choice." He patted Torq, "You know, the beauty of the weak lies in their versatility of survival."

"Gentle Coral is shit weak, but it desperately strives to survive. That’s what makes it versatile enough."

"That was poetic, Team Leader." One of the Maintenance Crew chuckled. He was a middle-aged man with barely any accomplishments to his name, "You could have written a book."

"This is my book." Inin patted the hull, "Every scratch, every healed trace, contains a story."

The Maintenance Crew whistled at his words, followed by some jabs and cheers. The atmosphere turned lively as the crew finished their tasks and returned to their dwelling.

There was a level in the hull, which had to be operated by the combined might of four people to open. When pulled, it opened a hole barely wide enough for a lean human to slide through.

"Get in," Inin said once the hole appeared, "Train yourself to get inside as quickly as possible. Take less than three seconds and try to get as close to a second as possible by the end of their journey."

As the Maintenance Crew slid inside one after another, it was Torq’s turn soon. He grunted when his shoulder hit the rim, but forced himself to slide through. The slide spanned a little over four metres, at the end of which he fell upon a cushion of cloud situated within the crew room meant for his team.

"Roll to the side." At the words of a crewman, Torq rolled off the cloud cushion and fell upon the hard floor, watching Clansmen fall on the cushion one after another. Unlike him, the motions of most were pretty fluid.

"You’re new," Inin said as he patted Torq on his injured shoulder, "So, this is normal. However, keep practicing until you can slide inside without clogging up the path."

"Yes, I will." Torq nodded.

"Then, let’s begin." Inin said and jumped on the cloud cushion, which acted as a spring and launched him perfectly through the slide and out on the other side. His words resounded through the tunnel a second later, "What are you dawdling about for?"

"Follow me out."

"Phew," Torq exhaled and followed suit, tracing Inin’s actions as he jumped from the cloud platform, this time shrinking his frame as much as possible to avoid wounding his shoulders. However, even though his launch was perfect, once he moved up the sliding tunnel, he chuckled nervously, for he wasn’t slowing down.

"Careful," Right as Torq prepared to use some mist to control his motion, Inin grabbed him by the hand, spun once, and propped him gracefully on the cloud platform. "Don’t use your abilities for something this silly. Conserve your Prana."

Inin pointed at the slide, "Move in and out as many times as you need until you get used to it. Since we have some time now, use it for practice."

"Alright," Torq followed without complains, for he intended to learn the most minute of the Cooter Clan’s functioning, for they all formed insights into an Empyrean Snapper’s physique.

Everything the Cooter Clan created was based upon their observation of an Empyrean Snapper. So, such details would indeed expand upon converting his theoretical knowledge into practical experience.

’At present, I already have enough raw power. What I require the most is finesse.’ He thought, ’And even though I don’t want to admit it, heeding mother’s words would indeed benefit me in the long run.’

’And, as he said,’ Torq eyed Inin in a new light after an hour passed in practice, at which point he felt his expertise in controlling his body to behave like a fluid had improved his control over a Spirit Weapon, ’The beauty of the weak indeed lies in the versatility of their survival.’

’I had forgotten it at some point in my journey.’