"Gah!" Runthral woke up from deep sleep, feeling a draining sensation that caused him to feel sick. He promptly got to his feet and unleashed his Prana detection means but failed to find anyone in his vicinity that could be the cause.
"W-What is happening?" Promptly, he rushed to the window and dripped his blood onto a selective parchment that wafted out a specific presence fluctuation. This fluctuation wasn’t detected by most existences but was evidently felt by the Bludder Race’s senses.
’Quick!’ He bit his nails in tension, waiting for the Manic Bludder’s arrival, so that he could send a letter to his father for assistance. Even though only a single unit of Prana had been consumed, and could be recovered by eating food, the fact that something like this was happening terrified him.
Worst of all, he could feel his power still being consumed.
While he waited impatiently, Torq was making rounds across the Dorm peacefully. First, he targeted all the students that had no hopes of graduating. But once he refined the fluid obtained from them using the Spirit Elixir Skill and added the result to his original stock, it fell short of his goals.
The Low-Grade Elixir he had originally created was able to elevate his Prana capacity by 22 units. By adding the stock he had created now, the Low-Grade Elixir could increase his capacity by 78 units.
Upon consumption, his Prana capacity would reach 95 units, 5 short of the goal. ’Should I target a few others?’
He could target the talented students while ensuring each lost a Spirit Container or two at most. That wouldn’t affect them in the slightest, since they would still be able to graduate well in advance.
’Let’s not take needless risks.’ He decided against doing so, feeling confident in naturally accumulating 5 units worth the traditional way in the remaining time.
With that, he returned to his room, secured the Low-Grade Elixir deep within the bed and deactivated his Empyrean Snapper Pet, immediately collapsing upon the bed as scratches appeared on his body and grew deep, with some of them oozing blood.
"Thankfully," He sighed upon observing his reserves, "I have enough to heal through these wounds."
He used Mystic Mist Art to prevent blood from leaking out of the wounds and focused on healing his injuries. He had just done so when the wall stirred and Runthral walked in, looking absolutely pissed.
"Was it you?" He glared in anger, "Were you the one who pulled that shit?"
"Pulled what?" Torq promptly pressed his forehead on the floor, "Speak clearly, won’t you?"
He then lifted his head, noticing Runthral had vanished from his room. His eyes clearly fell upon the floor, where a small portion behaved like water for an instant before returning to normal, ’He fell through the floor.’
Torq didn’t even give Runthral an opportunity to question him. He promptly got ready to unleash his trump card, which the other party knew through experience, and hence, escaped without a moment’s hesitation.
’He’s getting bolder.’ Torq frowned as he gazed around. He wasn’t in the slightest worried about Runthral, especially after obtaining the Empyrean Snapper Pet. He now had the means to wield Runthral’s power by consuming through the other party’s Prana.
Just as Torq intended to close his eyes to sleep for a while, his skin prickled as he noticed Runthral land in his room from the floor above.
A moment later, Torq was ready to unleash his trump card, grunting upon seeing Runthral sink into the floor and vanish, "What is this bastard up to now?"
There was no disturbance for another twenty minutes. But right as Torq relaxed his guard, Runthral rushed in from the wall to his side and promptly ran out the other way. And before he ran through the wall, Runthral glared at Torq, "Be awake."
"You’re not getting a wink of sleep anymore."
Runthral had seen Torq unleash his trump card plenty of times. Thanks to that, he got a handle on the timing associated with the same. Torq had to assume a respectful pose, touch the floor with his forehead, and then utter a line of words, which took time.
As long as Runthral were to run in and rush out of Torq’s Spirit Weapon range of 180 metres before that, he could avoid the aftereffects.
Moreover, to ensure Torq didn’t wait prematurely, ready to unleash his trump card with a moment’s notice, Runthral ensured to not move with a set pattern that could be predicted in advance.
His goal was to disrupt Torq’s sleep. As long as Torq remained in a tense state for an extended duration, he wouldn’t be able to train his strength.
That would prevent him from reaching the peak of the Spirit Stage.
’With his reserves, he can stay awake for the remaining 19 days. But with my Grade of Prana, I’ll run out of reserves in a day.’ Torq analysed the situation and sighed, ’judging by his actions, I’m sure he has a suspicion I’m behind his loss in power.’
’Is he baiting me to use whatever method I had used to steal his power?’ He grinned upon reaching the crux of the matter, ’If I reveal anything, I’ll be confirming his suspicion. Even otherwise, it’s his win if I fail to graduate and get killed by the Cooter Clan in response.’
"Well, in terms of being a menace, I have plenty more experience." Torq got up from his spot and walked to the door. He walked into the corridor and paced towards Runthral’s room, immediately feeling a skin prickle in response, ’He’s watching me from afar.’
The moment Runthral failed to find Boiboi in his respective room, he grew concerned and moved around the Dorm, noticing the target. In the time it took Runthral to notice Torq and move out of the other party’s Spirit Weapon range, Torq had picked up his presence.
"My unfortunate brother," Torq muttered, damn sure Runthral had positioned to be right beyond his Spirit Weapon range. Therefore, through the aid of Subtle Terrain Domination, he was listening in on Torq’s mutters, "Don’t you think it’s strange that father spared my life?"
"Aren’t you curious?" He chuckled and taunted, "Maybe, after hearing about your grand incompetence time and again, I think father is starting to lean towards the fact that even without being a Deity, I could contribute more to the Cooter Clan than you ever could."
"And seeing you rampage around without knowing your place," He tilted his head, revealing a wide smile upon seeing Runthral appeared on one end of the corridor, glaring his way, "I’m pretty sure now."
"The one dying is you, my unfortunate brother, especially considering your struggle against the Troitails, Pranic Beasts two whole Grades below you." He began walking towards Runthral, confident upon seeing the other party’s visibly shaken appearance, "Even our Clansmen are losing faith in you."
"Aren’t you a pity?"