The Academy of Accumulation’s Admin Block was shaped like a ring, with a flat structure at the front that served as a building to house education materials, offices, and living spaces for the Instructors.
The ringed portion stretching out of the flat structure was pretty much a series of rooms acting like a wally, reaching six storeys high. In the inner side of the ring structure, there was an open corridor leading into all the rooms. The open corridor formed a loop, with connecting stairs across the floors spaced at measured intervals.
The ground enveloped by the ringed structure was paved with thick granite that stretched for at least a couple metres in depth. This depth was enough to block out the Prana detection means of most existences on Sumatra.
It was done to prevent any disruptions to the Spirit Pools placed above.
There were a total of five Spirit Pools on the ground, each circular in shape, 2 metres in radius, and reached a depth of 1.5 metres. This depth was a comfortable amount, ensuring all students trying to immerse in the Spirit Pool still had some breathing space.
At present, all the Spirit Pools were empty, except for the one in the centre. Distilled water was added to this pool to fill up most of its space.
An Instructor walked to it while carrying a bucket of stone and carefully dumped the contents into the pool. The liquid was white in colour, with a mild hint of grey. As it was poured down, a dark substance appeared in it, which was promptly pulled out by Principal Khakha.
It was dust, the minute most. However, even that would cause issues, and hence, extreme care had to be taken here.
Originally, in the past, such issues never happened, since all Spirit Pools were located on the mountain carried on the backs of Empyrean Snappers. The Empyrean Snapper kept the Spirit Pool in perfect condition, ensuring a Cooter Clansman could safely enter the Body Stage.
However, things changed over time, after the Cooter Clan suffered multiple setbacks. Now, only Silver Grade Spirit Pools and above were situated on the Empyrean Snappers. Iron Grade Spirit Pools were available at the Academy of Accumulation.
Hence, multiple Instructors and Principal Khakha were present at the scene, constantly inspecting the Spirit Pool for purity and ensuring to filter out any unwanted substances.
If they were to leave some sediments in the Spirit Pool, Torq would die without room for recovery. However, such an action was treated as disrespecting their Deities, since they were maintaining these Spirit Pools while representing their Deities.
That’s why even Principal Khakha paid careful attention to everything. Carefully, he ensured the poured in white substance mixed homogeneously in the pool. Once it was ready, he gave his order, "Bring in Boiboi."
Gentle Coral Spirit Pool!
Upon fusing with it, a Cooter Clansman would successfully enter the Body Stage. And upon doing so, their Spirit Container will gain room to grow further. From a limit of 100 units, a Cooter Clansman, upon fusing with the Gentle Coral Spirit Pool, will have their limit increased to 298 units.
Upon fusion, Torq would have a Prana capacity of 298. Growth in the Body Stage was similar to the Spirit Stage, in that the Spirit Container would still be developed by a unit’s worth constantly.
At the Spirit Stage, increasing the Spirit Containers was enough. However, at the Body Stage, once the Spirit Container grows, it needs to be filled with the Spirit Pool. Otherwise, it would just remain an empty vessel.
Empty vessels couldn’t contain Prana.
’As I thought, it’s the Gentle Coral Spirit Pool.’ Torq thought upon eyeing the Spirit Pool prepared for him, ’It’s the weakest one at the Cooter Clan.’
To reach the peak of the Body Stage, Torq would have to build into his Spirit Container a volume of Gentle Coral Spirit Pool equal to his body’s volume. Once he does so, he would have 298 units of Prana at his disposal.
This also implied that he had to, at present, absorb a third of his body’s volume of Gentle Coral Spirit Pool, since his Spirit Container already had 100 units of Prana in it. ’It’s indeed trash.’
’But that’s alright.’ He didn’t mind it in the slightest, for this was just for show. He had an Empyrean Snapper Pet with him. That meant he could change his Spirit Pool as he pleased. ’Even if he assumes his Deity form, Runthral would never have the skill to replace a Cooter Clansman’s Spirit Pool.’
’It’s child’s play for the competent Empyrean Snappers, however.’ He thought, removed his clothes, and jumped into the Spirit Pool. Using Mystic Mist Art, he dampened the splash and prevented any spill.
"Remember, pay heed to the fusion process." Principal Khakha advised, "If you fail to fuse it properly, you might lose a few Spirit Containers at the very least."
"We’ll be assisting you until you recover to the peak of the Spirit Stage and complete the fusion."
"That won’t be necessary," Torq wasn’t in the least concerned. Anyone else would need a few attempts before succeeding. But he had plenty of experience in this regard to not commit mistakes needlessly.
Under the will of his cultivation technique, pressure was applied upon 100 Spirit Containers, beginning to fuse them. The process lasted for a few seconds, at the end of which, Torq had stepped into the Body Stage.
’Now, to truly enter the Body Stage, I need to build my Spirit Container using the Spirit Pool.’ Thinking as such, he used Mystic Mist Art to funnel the Gentle Coral Spirit Pool into his mouth.
The presence of distilled water in the Spirit Pool was only to lower the concentration of the Gentle Coral Spirit Pool. This allowed Torq to focus on small portions every moment and steadily build his Spirit Container.
Once the Spirit Pool landed in his stomach and was acted upon by the digestive juices, Mystic Mist Art influenced the digestion process and caused faint traces of the Gentle Coral Spirit Pool to latch onto his blood and get carried to his heart, from where it was dumped into his Spirit Container.
It was like the walls of a house had already been constructed. That was the Spirit Container. Now, Mystic Mist Art was applying plaster to the walls. This was the Gentle Coral Spirit Pool.
This plaster strengthened the Spirit Container, allowing it to store Prana beyond its original capacity. The grade of the Spirit Pool directly represented the strength added to the walls by the plaster.
Gentle Coral Spirit Pool was an Iron Grade Spirit Pool, with the Prana capacity it granted being on par with a Beginner Iron Grade Pranic Beast.
Slowly, step by step, the plaster was applied to his Spirit Container under Mystic Mist Art’s influence. Thanks to the delusion, he was only swallowing trace amounts of the Gentle Coral Spirit Pool every gulp, which gave him ample time for the influence to finish plastering on time.
If he were to swallow a concentrated amount, the strain placed on his Spirit Container would be high, which would end up cracking or even shattering it.
There were cases were Cooter Clansmen fusing with higher Grade Spirit Pools barely had a dozen units of Prana capacity once they were done with the plastering. Of course, it was just a minor setback, as fusion with a Silver Grade Spirit Pool increased a Cooter Clansman’s lifespan by a minimum of three centuries.
It gave them plenty of time to train and increase the amount of Prana retained by their Spirit Container. Gold Grade Spirit Pools increased lifespan by over a millennium. They also increased the Spirit Container’s limit to a minimum of 3601 and a maximum of 8400 units of Prana.
’This one changes nothing.’ After five whole days, Torq groaned weakly, having finished plastering 100 units worth in his Spirit Container. His limit was only increased by two times while there was no change to his lifespan.
The Gentle Coral Spirit Pool was the weakest for a reason.
And once done, Torq noticed the excited expression on Principal Khakha’s face, who had been assisting him all alone, ’Are you that happy?’
"Congratulations!" Principal Khakha was barely able to stop himself from laughing. Because, a Cooter Clansman with the Gentle Coral Spirit Pool was one of the easiest to kill. And Principal Khakha was damn sure Boiboi would die in his first mission itself.
"Welcome to adulthood!" After all, any random Pranic Beast had the means to kill him now, especially since he wouldn’t have the Clan’s protection anymore.