Mammoth Clansmen were basically spoiled brats in terms of food, having never faced the issue of hunger. The Empyrean Tusk always produced more than enough food for their needs.
Inala wasn't worried about that even in the likelihood of him leaving the Clan. After all, as long as he slaps a Pranic Beast with a Prana Bomb, he could have his fill in terms of both nutrients and Prana. The fluid within the Prana Bomb was that nutritious once it absorbed Prana to the limit.
Zingers typically only consume the Prana Bombs. All they consumed other than that was water from the Baobab Trees.
Hence, Inala had been a tad careless in his preparation regarding food. And that came to bite his ass now. There were no Pranic Beasts in the vicinity. 'Do I have to use my Prana Hand on the people? No!'
He refrained from thinking in such a direction. That was a path with no return. He would become worse than Virala. Of course, he would eventually have to tread that path, as that was a necessity in his preparation to beat the Boar King. But Inala wished to retain at least some level of innocence until then.
While he was hesitating, the sun began to set. Nighttime was approaching. Suddenly, there was a surge of Prana from the river far away, causing him to stare in the direction.
"W-W-What the heck is that?" Asaeya shrilled in a fluster.
Goosebumps formed on his skin as Inala noticed hair-like strands protruding out of the river in the thousands. They appeared hair-like from his position, but the fact that he could see them from so far away meant they were massive in truth.
Like leeches, the hair-like strands jutted out of the river, reaching as high as a hundred metres, beginning to eerily dance. Immediately in response, a black wave flowed out of the river. Once Inala focused on them, he noticed the black wave was due to the tens of thousands of Pranic Beasts rushing out of the river in unison.
Each Pranic Beast reached a metre in length, sporting hundreds of legs like a centipede but their bodies were that of a house lizard. Their tongues flicked out from time to time as a grating sound resounded while they rushed out of the river.
Intermediate Iron Grade Pranic Beast—Slump Lizard!
"Shit! It's not that this region is safe. It's just the entire ecosystem here is nocturnal." Inala shouted as he slumped Asaeya on his back and began to climb down the mountain, intending to seek refuge at the settlement.
Despite being slow, the swarm was capable of scaling up the mountain, hence posing a severe risk.
Staying out against the swarm was foolish, despite his abilities. The moment he slips up or tires out, he would be devoured by the swarm. Had Asaeya been at full strength, he wouldn't have been afraid, but the situation was too dangerous to take a gamble.
Of course, the humans in the settlement rubbed him the wrong way for some reason. Hence, he decided to trust his instinct and not make contact with them.
While climbing down, Inala observed the two women guards retreating inside. Zingers had exceptional eyesight, similar to a bird, hence allowing him to observe everything in detail.
A group of women rolled a boulder to patch up the entrance. One after another, the women exited their houses, wielding wooden spears while donning leather armour.
The moment Inala touched the settlement ground, he rolled until he reached the sides of a wooden hut. All the houses in the settlement were made of wood and seemed a bit dated. Once he arrived safely, Inala sent in an Empyrean Zinger Scout—in its miniature form—through the window, observing the house to be empty.
He then motioned for Asaeya to arrive, keeping watch while she rolled through the grass similarly. The duo sneaked into the house and heaved a sigh in relief.
Through his Prana, Inala controlled an Empyrean Zinger Scout like a Spirit Weapon and made it hover sixty metres above ground. Sixty metres was the maximum range for a Mammoth Clansman at the Spirit Stage.
As he was in the Body Stage, his range was slightly above that. But to conserve his Prana, he remained within his optimal range, which ended at sixty metres. From this height, the Empyrean Zinger Scout was able to observe their surroundings.
Most of the women from the settlement had converged upon the entrance, waiting there in a battle-ready state. The only ones that hadn't participated in that were girls who were too young to fight.
One of the women rushing towards the entrance stopped suddenly as her eyes shot in the direction of the house Inala and Asaeya were at. She sniffed the air and exuded a slightly maddened presence, "I smell a man here!"
'Something's indeed amiss here.' Inala observed calmly as he took on his female form. The woman only walked towards their house halfway before turning around to rush towards the entrance, unable to sense the scent of a man anymore.
"Later," Inala said upon noticing Asaeya's shock at his transformation. He did tell her a bit about his powers, but not everything. So, her surprise was warranted.
In a few minutes, scuttling sounds filled the valley as the Slump Lizards reached the entrance, beginning to bombard the boulder.
"Steady!" A middle-aged woman who appeared to be the leader of the settlement shouted as she gripped her spear tighter. Cracks began to cover the boulder as the intensity of the bombardment increased steadily.
As dust spilt out of the boulder, their surroundings darkened. Soon, the moment nightfall approached, intense Prana billowed out of the lake in the centre of the two-ringed settlement as a giant Pranic Beast emerged, reaching a height of twenty metres.
"Uroooooooo!" It unleashed a bird's screech as immediately in response, all the women standing before the settlement's entrance dropped their weapons and ripped apart their armour.
They let out beastly grunts as the hair on their head combined to morph into feathers, the same for their nether regions. Anywhere hair grew on their body fused to form feathers, haphazard in shape and arrangement.
The women rolled on the ground in pain as cracking sounds resounded from their bodies. Their skeletal structure expanded in size slowly and thickened, causing their explosive power to increase.
Their hands and legs morphed into claws as talons grew out, reaching lengths over ten centimetres. The most alarming of all was their skull that protruded on the front, forming sharp beaks.
Once the transformation concluded, the over three thousand monstrous women stared at the sky and unleashed a bird screech, "Skreeee!"
"Fuck! It was a mistake to come here." Inala's face paled as he stared at Asaeya, his lips trembling as he muttered, "The people in this settlement aren't humans."
"They're part of the Ravaged Tribe."