The Cooter Clan had multiple prominent families in charge of its political structure. To avoid dissent and infighting, everyone could only associate themselves with their birth names. There wasn’t a family name of sorts that they could address themselves with.
But even without such means, a Cooter Clansman could still reveal their family line, which depicts their history. The more their family line had contributed to the Clan, the greater they were valued.
Ongle was a Free Human at the Spirit Stage, primarily raised to be a servant. Unlike the Cooter Clan, hair grew freely on his body. However, he shaved his entire body daily, for the act of a servant being allowed to shave meant his status was one of the highest among the Cooter Clan.
Even without a cultivation technique, Ongle managed to reach the peak of the Spirit Stage. Had he lived in a Free Human Kingdom, he would have been valued heavily and would have been granted the privilege to forge a Human Avatar.
Free Humans, upon entering the Body Stage, would use a mineral to build their Human Avatar. The product of this action results in a Human Avatar.
Free Humans living under the Cooter Clan weren’t allowed to practice any cultivation techniques, purely reared without any external influences. If in a situation where a large number of Cooter Clansmen die, then these Free Humans would be used like factories to birth a large population of Cooter Clansmen.
These Free Humans considered it an honour, for they had been raised for that sole purpose. They never knew how Free Humans lived beyond the Tsloch Sea nor had they seen any Free Humans from the outside enter the Tsloch Sea.
To Ongle, the fact that he was chosen to guide Runthral was his life’s greatest achievement. He was literally shaking from elation, trying his best to perform his task without roaring in joy.
He guided the duo to a luxuriously decorated ferry and bowed at the foot of a water slide used as a bridge between the land and the ferry. "Please board the ferry, My Lord."
"Okay," Runthral boarded the ferry first and was followed by Torq.
The cabin was one large room, created only to facilitate Runthral’s stay. There were four Free Humans on the deck, only in charge of moving the ferry to the destination.
’Free Humans are treated as shit in most regions across Sumatra.’ Torq thought as he watched Ongle remain prostrated on the floor. And then, right as the ferry was about to depart, he jumped towards the ferry and grabbed onto a robe ladder, from where he pulled himself to the deck.
He wasn’t allowed to walk on the water bridge. It was meant only for the Cooter Clansmen.
Of course, he wasn’t concerned about it in the slightest. That thought never crossed his mind. Or rather, he was nervous about ensuring his jump was as smooth and graceful as possible.
Only when he landed on the deck without stumbling and didn’t make any thuds upon landing did he heave a sigh in relief. And then, Ongle promptly approached the cabin’s entrance and prostrated beside it, ensuring his prostrated form could be seen clearly without him blocking the pathway.
Torq eyed him with a trace of pity, ’Maybe a century ago, Free Humans only had limited options if they wanted to live with dignity. But at present, there are many options.’
He could present one of those options to Ongle right at the moment. However, he didn’t wish to interfere with the Cooter Clan’s way of things, ’There’s a reason they’ve survived for so long.’
But that didn’t mean he didn’t have plans, ’There must be plenty of Free Humans at the Cooter Clan with enviable level of talents.’
As long as he could get them to be his servants, he could nurture their talents by giving them powerful minerals and respective cultivation arts to forge powerful Human Avatars out of. ’To bring about a change here, I need to think of the means in which these nurtured Free Humans behave to the Cooter Clan’s benefit.’
’Otherwise, they’d be promptly erased.’ Letting out a subtle sigh, Torq watched the Ferry row at a stable speed to head towards a certain mountain.
A few hours of travel later, the Ferry arrived at its destination. It was one of the ports situated on the border of Tsloch Vitara, meant for Ferries to dock.
"Please follow me, Lord Runthral." Ongle was the first to jump out of the ferry. Followed by a smooth turn, he prostrated on the floor, right beside the foot of the water bridge erected by the Cooter Clansmen on board the deck.
Torq followed after Runthral, feeling his feet lightly sink into the cloudy floor. It momentarily unnerved his senses, causing his legs to hesitate to walk. But in a matter of seconds, he regained his bearings and smoothly walked on the floor.
It was where Boiboi had spent his childhood, so walking on this surface came naturally as breathing to him. It had only been a while since he had last done so.
Soon, they arrived at the foot of one of the mountains situated on Tsloch Vitara. The closest mountain was situated over forty kilometres away, truly creating an expansive space for every Settlement to develop.
The Cooter Clan was divided into Settlements, which basically consisted of Cooter Clansmen segregated according to the backs of the Empyrean Snappers they were respectfully born on.
There were a total of 216 Settlements at the Cooter Clan currently. Two more Settlements would appear soon, one of which would belong to Runthral.
Since Runthral’s predecessor was pretty young, he wouldn’t inherit the preceding Empyrean Snapper’s Settlement and instead would have to make a new one.
The Settlements were ranked based on the strength of the respective Empyrean Snapper. And the one Runthral and Torq were being led to was ranked pretty high up.
11th Cooter Settlement!
"All the Cooter Clansmen from the Ferry stopped at the foot of the mountain. They weren’t given entry since they belonged to another Settlement.
"Take care, Lord Runthral." One of them bowed to Runthral and left with his team.
"Now, if you would give me the honour." Ongle prostrated at the foot of the mountain, right beside a flight of stairs and quickly scaled up length.
The stairs made winding arcs across the side of the mountain, meandering like a serpent on its way to the peak. Like the vein patterns on a leaf, smaller paths stretched out of the meandering flight of stairs, creating walking spaces between rows of houses.
The houses were simple, carved out of stone. The Cooter Clansmen lived simple lives, primarily focusing on increasing their strength and performing activities that nurtured the Clan’s development.
Gong!
The moment Runthral set his foot on the first step, Ongle whistled, alerting the Cooter Clansmen nearby. Promptly a couple seconds later, a loud gong sound resourced, rang from the peak of the mountain.
"He’s here!" A Cooter Clansman rushed out of his house after covering his face with a thick layer of mist. He rushed to the side of the flight of stairs and prostrated, followed by his family members who had veiled their faces under mist too.
"He’s become stronger!"
"The Deity..."
"Our Deity has returned!" Like a charging army, young and old, the Cooter Clansmen rushed to prostrate at the side of the flight of stairs, uniformly masking their faces with mist. At that moment, the only one who could display his appearance was Runthral.
This was the highest form of respect the Cooter Clan could show someone, which was exclusively reserved for their Deities.
Ongly had covered his face with a cloth bag by now, which had tiny holes for the eyes to see. With a respectful gait, he led Runthral up the flight of stairs.
Of course, Torq followed the tradition without causing an issue, having covered his head with a thick layer of mist too. However, he didn’t accompany Runthral and instead had to remain at the entrance itself.
The entire ceremony was reserved only for the Deity, not him. And hence, until Runthral reached the peak, he was stuck at the entrance, ’It is what it is.’
Slowly, he prostrated on the floor too, assuming the same pose as everyone else.