"I can create any Spirit Pool I desire."
Hearing Torq's declaration, Raurau nodded with confidence, "True, that you can achieve easily."
"I'll be keeping an eye on your growth." Raurau turned around and walked towards the window, "Don't disappoint me, alright?"
"With the power you now possess, even with restrictions, there's nothing you cannot achieve." His eyes turned into slits as he faced Torq, "Don't ask for help until you've reached a level on par with our Deity."
"Only then will the Clan acknowledge your existence."
"Oh, they will have to acknowledge me." Torq stated with confidence, "Since I'm now confident of elevating my fortunate brother's potential."
"That will do." Raurau revealed a trace smile and dispersed into mist.
Torq stared at the window for a while, remarking only after a good ten minutes had spanned past, "Damn, he's at a level where I cannot even sense his actions."
'Soon, before the invaders reach this deep into Sumatra,' He focused on the stone vat before him, 'I'll have attained the level of strength necessary to make waves.'
Torq closed his eyes and took a nap, intending to wait for the opportune moment to start his plan in full swing.
19 Days For Boiboi's Graduation!
Two hours before dawn, when activity at the Academy of Accumulation had come to a standstill, Torq sneaked out of the Dorm and rushed into the public bathroom nearby. Adjacent to the Dorm, situated on either side was a common bathroom split by the genders.
It was a squeaky place, with maintenance given to the students as tasks, for which points were awarded. With the use of Mystic Mist Art, cleaning activities were one of the simplest and easiest. Hence, such tasks were always picked out the instant they became available.
Tasks were given once a month. Those days were the busiest and messiest at the Academy. Boiboi too had completed plenty of such tasks, having a record for the highest number of tasks successfully completed by a student in Academy history.
However, his infamy caused too many points to be deducted. Him peeling off the facial skins of fellow students wasn't a rare occurrence at all.
'Thankfully, no one is awake yet.' There were Instructors posted across the academy, patrolling in protection of the students. Torq didn't have to worry about them as he peacefully finished relieving himself.
He took a comfortable bath and dried himself. At one end of the bathroom, past the shower section, were new clothes. They were constantly replenished by the Academy, irrespective of how much was used.
Students typically cleaned their existing clothes using Mystic Mist Art. Only when their existing clothes were damaged would they switch out for a new one.
The clothes hung across a series of stands, having a decent variety to choose from. The clothes meant for the students weren't as exaggerated as the Cooter Clansmen, in having long stretches of fabric that trailed past the legs.
But the option to have a short stretch of fabric was available. Since he had the choice, Torq obviously picked the one with the most aesthetic. A metre long fabric stretched past his legs and dragged on the floor behind him.
A gentle mist wafted out of his legs and propped up the stretch of fabric, which was how most Cooter Clansmen maintained it. "It's nice."
But since he didn't have enough reserves of Prana to waste on aesthetics, he simply decided to drag it behind him for the time being. Soon, he was within the Dorm, standing at the entrance to the room of a fellow student.
It was a boy aged 14, having a Prana capacity of 58 units. But since he only had a bit over ten days for graduation, he had no hopes of survival. When the graduation day comes, he would be fed to a Pranic Beast.
The Cooter Clan had no room to cater to the useless. Aware of the fact, the student decided to enjoy his remaining days. In his room, he was carving his fantasy on the stone bed. It was a mural of a bald woman in a seductive pose.
He had given her aerodynamic curves that would make most Cooter Clan men drool in response. And while staring at his masterpiece, the student happily slept on the floor.
Hearing the student's soft snores was Torq, having casually walked inside through the aid of Subtle Terrain Domination. This was his second time using the ability and the way he rearranged the matter filling the room's walls already surpassed Runthral's.
Only a mature Empyrean Snapper would be able to notice the grain displacement in the wall. This slight inconsistency wouldn't even register in Runthral's senses, 'That's why he's shit.'
'This ability is extremely powerful in the hands of someone competent.' For a moment, Torq was gripped by an urge to smack Runthral. However, he pinched his eyes to regain his focus. In this mode where he had transformed into an Empyrean Snapper Pet, he was using Runthral's Gold Grade Prana for his activities.
The sheer recovery rate of an Empyrean Snapper's Prana meant his wounds would heal spontaneously after. Unless one was paying close attention, they wouldn't even notice the wound forming.
That wasn't all, 'It's…tough!'
Torq flexed his muscles and felt their density, 'I don't even have to use a Primary Nature to fight in this form. Against the Troitails, I could just ram straight into them and tank their attacks without issues.'
'That dumbass!' He cursed Runthral, 'If he wasn't such a wimp, his physical strength was more than enough to splatter me into blood mist.'
Runthral had a human appearance, but was in truth a Pranic Beast, a Deity at that. His muscle density, even at such a young age, outclassed most Iron Grade Pranic Beasts. Adding his recovery ability atop that, his physical body alone could be considered a potent weapon.
The more he thought about Runthral's capability and the latter's performance, the more Torq raged, 'He's lacking talent, yes. But even with his lacking talent, he should be vastly more capable than what he has managed to display!'
He wasted a few minutes mentally berating Runthral, stopping only because he had run out of curse words to use. Repeating the same curse words wasn't fun, so he returned his focus to the matter at hand.
The student was still asleep, unaware of Torq's existence in his room. Air calmly churned overhead and crawled into his nostrils, gradually enveloping his body. And then, Torq willed as the air suffocated him, promptly knocking the student unconscious.
He wasn't even aware of what had happened before falling unconscious. Moreover, the wind suffocated his body and applied stress to it selectively, until his Spirit Container shattered. From 58 units, his Prana capacity fell down to 1 as the Spirit Containers shattered one after another.
A single Spirit Container was pretty stable and wouldn't shatter that easily. Only in extreme cases would even this Spirit Container shatter.
Torq focused on the student and calmly pulled off the fluid containing traces of the student's shattered Spirit Containers. Once he had collected everything, he calmly walked through the wall and made his way to another room.
'By dawn, I'd have collected enough to reach the peak of the Spirit Stage.'