Asaeya hurriedly referred to other scrolls, memorising them all before rushing out. She entered many houses to find other bits and pieces of information.
At dawn, she accompanied Inala to return to their cave, stating in worry, "It's a scheme."
"What type of scheme?" Inala asked.
"The Pranic Beast in the river is an ally of the Rockatrice." She said, "They're collaborating with each other to use the Slump Lizards as a whetstone. Their purpose is to use the constant threat and repeated battles to make the Ravaged Tribe adapt faster. Basically, a forced evolution through the concept of survival of the fittest."
"Where's the other Ravaged Tribe?" Inala asked, intending to send an Empyrean Zinger Scout to scout the area.
"Underwater," Asaeya said, pointing at a sandy shore, "There aren't many clues present at the moment. It seems the Rockatrice is actively restricting the Rooster Tribe to avoid entering this region. They have been collecting resources from every other area apart from here."
"Humans cannot live underwater," Inala frowned, "Every transformation of the Ravaged Tribe takes a toll on their bodies. Even if their transformation allows them to survive underwater, it will shorten their lifespan to constantly be moving around in their transformed states…"
"Isn't that fine?" Asaeya said, trailing over the thoughts of the Pranic Beast in the river, "It seems its goal is to only create one Ravaged Tribesman that manages to perfectly adapt to the environment. As long as that individual mates with other Free Humans, the numbers of the newly evolved Ravaged Tribesmen would quickly shoot up in a couple of decades."
"Wait, that means…" Inala shuttered and hurriedly stared at the Rooster Tribesmen, observing them in detail, "All these women appear to have only been living here for a decade, at maximum two decades."
The huts in the settlement were worn out but there were no signs of repairs being conducted. Clothes? No effort was being made in that regard as the women simply made do with whatever was available.
The Rooster Tribesmen only focused on two aspects: Farming and Fighting. Both aspects were beneficial only to the Rockatrice.
By farming, they were accumulating grains necessary for the Rockatrice's consumption. And by fighting, they were better getting accustomed to their mutating bodies.
Of course, it was taking a toll on them, judging by the strained skeletal structure he observed in the women. They fought throughout the night, cleaned the settlement in the morning, slept during the afternoon, farmed, and gathered resources during the evening.
It was apparent to anyone that they were being worked to their limit. As a result, they were aging a lot faster. At this rate, they would die in three to four years. But the fact that the Rockatrice didn't seem bothered about that, despite its level of intelligence being superior to humans meant only one thing.
By pushing them to the brink of death daily, the Rockatrice was forcing them to adapt to the conditions better. And when they were on the verge of death, it made them mate and create the next generation.
It didn't matter if all of them died. No, it only selected the woman that had mutated the most according to its needs. The woman would then mate with the man who had similarly evolved the most.
They would create a batch of children who were significantly more evolved. As long as that was successful, the Rockatrice was satisfied.
It would then bring in more Free Humans who would mate with these children once they reach adulthood, creating the next generation of highly evolved Rooster Tribesmen.
Adapting to extreme situations birthed a Nature. The Rockatrice's goal was to birth a Nature in the Rooster Tribesmen that made them more adapted to the conditions.
One success in the entire settlement was enough. That successful Tribesman would breed with a new batch of Free Humans, populating the Rooster Tribe. Rinse and repeat the process and the time period required to evolve was shortened drastically.
This was the Rockatrice's goal. And the same held true for the Pranic Beast in the river. That was what Asaeya had managed to piece together by the sparse records in the Rooster Tribe.
The Rooster Tribesmen weren't even aware of this. They simply noted down their observations of their surroundings. But from an omniscient perspective and Asaeya's knowledge, she was able to derive the conclusion.
"What I can conclude is this," Asaeya said, "There's a weak Kingdom nearby that is constantly being targeted by these two Pranic Beasts using the Slump Lizards. Whenever the Kingdom is harmed, refugees flee. They are somehow lured into these two settlements."
"Indeed, life on the surface is messed up." Inala nodded.
"Do you wish to save them?" Asaeya asked.
"It's a burden." Inala shook his head, "Besides, interference from our side would only complicate things. We still don't know how many Pranic Beasts are on this scheme."
"That is true," Asaeya nodded, "Such an elaborate scheme doesn't seem like it has been concocted by only two Pranic Beasts. We might get ourselves into a lot of trouble by interfering here, which might hinder our mission."
"Besides," She spoke with a cold-hearted tone, "The people here are done for anyway. The moment they became slaves to a Pranic Beast, their lives were no longer in their control."
"So, it's not worth it to save them."
"You're not entirely right about that." Inala smiled suddenly, "There are things we can gain from this. The goal of the Rockatrice here is for the Rooster Tribesmen to gain a Nature."
Once he explained the details related to gaining a Tertiary Nature, he continued, "Therefore, if we can figure out all the conditions it's employing for a Nature to manifest, we can steer it from behind the scenes towards a result that ends up benefiting the Mammoth Clan in the long term."
"Please explain," Asaeya blinked in confusion, "I'm not sure what you're getting at."
"Look here," Inala pointed at the settlement, "A region surrounded by walls thanks to the Rockatrice's ability. People are living here as part of the Ravaged Tribe."
He then pointed towards the mountain at the centre of the settlement, "Their master is the Rockatrice living there. It's just about to lay eggs. But, what if it were to suddenly die?"
"The Rooster Tribe loses its master." Asaeya's eyes widened, able to glean slightly into his plans. She then urged him to continue, "What after that then?"
"A Ravaged Clan cannot function without a master. But, what if," Inala said, "I influence them to gain a Nature that does so? They fully evolve into the Rooster Tribe but one that doesn't need to serve a Rockatrice."
"Instead, their Nature makes them worship the Mammoth Clan." Inala concluded, "That means we would have a base on the surface, acting as a pitstop for our journey."