Sumatra's Greatest Fan

Chapter 198: Casual Strolling

Torq followed FyorBuntara down a long stretch of tunnels, amazed, ’I always wanted to be inside an Empyrean Tusk!’

"The Empyrean Tusk is a magnificent creature," FyorBuntara gave a quick introduction and pointed to their surroundings, "Within it are these tunnels stretching four metres in diameter on average. Some are larger while some are narrower. These exist solely for the Mammoth Clansmen to traverse through the entirety of the Empyrean Tusk’s body and access its various organs, each of which serve as a biome."

"It’s a creature capable of generating all the resources required by a Mammoth Clansman to thrive." FyorBuntara commented after a moment’s thought, "Well, they were the ones behind the annihilation of the Empyrean Boar Race. And in retaliation, our Ancestor wiped them out of existence."

Under his lead, the Potential Squad walked through a long stretch of tunnels, traversing dozens of kilometres through a winding network before they reached the biome within the liver, "The spaces here are large enough for our dwelling."

Upon entry into the liver, a massive world came into view, majority of which seemed to have been walled using bone. Every surface had a layer of bone covering it, which seemed to be porous, forming tanks that stored various liquids.

’Eh?’ Torq was surprised to see the influence plaguing him subside by a tad the moment he stepped into the liver, ’It’s like I’ve been detoxed to a certain extent.’

"Amazing!" NelTara commented from nearby as she observed the place in wonder, "To think such a magical creature once existed on Sumatra."

"In their heyday, the Mammoth Clan had around 200 Empyrean Tusks roaming about Sumatra Continent as a nomadic herd." FyorBuntara explained, "Over the course of two millennia in the previous era, our Ancestor whittled down their numbers as the Empyrean Boar King."

"And once he evolved to become the Celestial Boar, the fates of all Empyrean Tusks got sealed to death." He shook his head, "This Major Treasure is the only way we can experience the majesty of this Deity."

"Now," Fyorbuntara pointed towards a series of towers stretching farther away, "That compound is meant for us. The tower with a plaque stating your name is your dwelling. It’ll be your home for the next two years."

"All your luggage has already been unloaded into your respective towers." Fyorbuntara clapped once, "Now, familiarise yourself with your homes."

He then pointed at the biggest tower situated in the centre of the colony, "That’s my place of residence. Gather there in an hour."

"Yes, Squad Leader!" Everyone saluted and rushed to their respective dwelling.

As he moved past one tower after another, Torq soon noticed a tower with a plaque of his name, ’Mine’s here!’

He entered the tower, unsurprised to find it empty inside. After all, his luggage was within his Storage Lantern.

The tower consisted of four floors in total, with the ground floor serving as a reception, the first floor serving as a library, the second floor serving as the bedroom, and the topmost floor being a storage facility.

These towers were built like mushrooms, with the topmost floor occupying the largest floorspace. "Um..."

He felt awkward to see the empty space stare back at him. But upon observation, he was glad, ’There’s enough space on the top floor to use my Storage Lantern.’

He could expand a single floor of the Storage Lantern to its maximum size without worries. And this was including the space occupied by the mammoth head.

He immediately activated his Storage Lantern, entered one of its floors, and brought out a Vara Lantern. It was the lowest-capacity Vara Lantern in his possession, only able to store a 100 Credits worth of Natures.

There was a Credit system employed by the Expedition, allowing the Wean Clansmen to exchange various resources using Credits.

Whatever they hunt or gather in the Nusantara Continent could be submitted for evaluation, upon which they’ll be given a respective sum of Credits. Using it, they could buy anything they wanted.

Those part of the Expedition had one rule in place–anything put up for sale could be purchased by anyone, without any restrictions, as long as they had sufficient Credits.

This allowed the Expedition force to focus solely on improving themselves, giving them more incentive to be proactive against the enemies.

Torq had no idea of the number of people involved in the expedition. Only those in charge of it were aware. Of course, since they were invading Nusantara Continent, Torq was sure a large force was involved.

’The fact that an Empyrean Tusk is involved speaks volumes about the numbers we’re moving with.’ Torq speculated.

"I knew the house was too large for you." Right as he exited his tower, a playful voice interjected. Torq instinctively rolled his eyes as the voice continued to speak, "I felt a wind when you opened the door. How empty is your place?"

"NelTara," Torq eyed the woman who had purposefully arrived to mess with him, "Did you already finish exploring the place?"

"Yeah," NelTara nodded casually, "I already gave ample instructions to the arrangement of my house. Since a couple of my uncles are part of this expedition, they knew my preferences and had already made the arrangements at my place well in advance."

"I was already privy to the details of the expedition three years ago." She leaned forward to whisper, "So, I had ample time to plan things in advance."

"I brought plenty of goodies with me." She winked, "Curious?"

"You are, aren’t you?" She twirled around once, grabbed Torq by the hand, and dragged him towards her house, "Come! I’ll give you a grand tour."

"Don’t drag me," Torq complained, but still followed NelTara without much resistance. Soon, he was in a well decorated reception room, which had all sorts of Pranic Beast skulls hung there.

Glaringly placed in the centre was obviously a Millinger Skull, which Torq was curious about. As he eyed it, NelTara spoke with a hint of pride, "I hunted it."

"You?" Torq was surprised, as he took a second glance at the Millinger, ’Judging by the size and the lingering presence within it, this is a mature Millinger.’

"I hunted it the day I turned ten." NelTara laughed as she reminisced, "I died twice to it, but in the end, I reigned at the top."

"That fight also made me realise my weakness, which is why I decided to train while remaining at the Body Stage." She commented and then hopped into a nearby storage and took out a series of bottles, "Want alcohol?"

"Are you mad or what?" Torq blurted in response.