Harrala was the 43rd Empyrean Tusk from Gannala's herd. And now, her successor was born. Since the inheritance ceremony was completed long ago, baby Harrala was a genuine Empyrean Tusk, possessing all the capabilities of one.
Upon her inspection, Zahaella concluded that Harrala was born healthy. Meaning, she didn't possess any genetic defects that would hinder her function as an Empyrean Tusk. Once she matures, she will become a Deity.
"Hahahaha!" Yahard Tusk roared in laughter at the good news as he hugged Grehha, "Thank you, child! This wouldn't have been possible without you."
"The Mammoth Clan wouldn't forget your contribution."
"Of course," Grehha let out a smile in relief. He then stared at Yuza's withered corpse, for a moment wallowing in pity before pointing at her, "But let's not forget about her."
"She's the brave woman that birthed an Empyrean Tusk. We need to add her sacrifices to our Academy's curriculum."
"That's a good idea," Zahaella nodded as she began cleaning up Harrala and took her to a nearby room to breastfeed her. She intended to raise Harrala as her own child.
Currently, she was all smiles. For, on one hand, Harrala was successfully born, meaning their Settlement had a future. And as she planned to fully nurture Harrala as her mother, all the associated glory would belong to her.
This would further increase her prestige among the Mammoth Clan.
Things had changed since the merger between the two herds. The Chief of their original herd was now merely the Settlement Leader of the 10th Settlement after the merger. Such was the massive gap in strength.
Based on their birth, Harrala would currently take up the spot as the 106th Empyrean Tusk while Gannala had already been announced as the 105th Empyrean Tusk. Usually, the order would be established based on strength and development once the Empyrean Tusk reaches maturity.
Until then, Gannala and Harrala would serve as the 105th and 106th Empyrean Tusks respectively.
In such a situation, Zahaella would be labelled Lady Mother of the weakest Settlement. But, she wasn't afraid of that. After all, Asaeya was accompanying Inala, father of Gannala.
Therefore, by association, two Empyrean Tusks would be related to her family. That was a joyous future to think and be giddy about.
"There are only good times ahead," Zahaella said.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Yahard Tusk entered the room once the breastfeeding process was done, stating in nervousness as he stared at baby Harrala, "We need to ensure her growth is perfect. And until then, we'll be travelling on foot. So, the dangers we'll have to face are still treacherous enough."
"We have to protect Harrala from all sorts of harm until she grows up into a big, strong Empyrean Tusk."
"I know," Zahaella nodded, "I'll be spending all my time with her. With my power, it wouldn't be easy for any harm to befall her. I'll be transferring some of my authority to the oldest."
Zahaella could transform into a Rockatrice. Hence, she was the strongest in terms of defence and was the perfect person to protect Harrala.
And by oldest, she meant her oldest daughter who would take on a portion of her duties as Lady Mother of their Settlement.
Yahard Tusk exited the room and addressed Grehha, "The Chief wanted to talk to you after Harrala's successful birth."
"He'll be personally rewarding you. So be ready."
"Yes, Settlement Leader." Grehha bowed and exited the house. There was a row of houses on wheels connected by a rope and pulled by the 104th Empyrean Tusk's tail. The houses numbered close to a hundred, multi-storeyed.
It currently housed the Settlements of Bora Tusk and Yahard Tusk, belonging to Gannala and Harrala respectively.
Grehha made his way to the house at the very front and stared at the two-metre-thick rope trailing forward to the 104th Empyrean Tusk's tail. After a moment, he braced himself and held a Spirit Weapon in the shape of a rope, possessing a hook at the top.
This would save his life in the event of a misstep. With that in hand, he began to scale up the rope, taking almost an hour to reach the top.
"Halt! State your purpose!" Two masters standing guard at the tail glared at Grehha, their expression not in the least welcoming.
"I'm Grehha from the 105th Settlement. I have come here to answer the Chief's summons." Grehha spoke politely.
"Pah," One of the soldiers snorted, almost breaking into laughter as he muttered under his breath, "Dares to associate himself as part of a Settlement without a Deity."
"Stay here," He coldly said to Grehha and walked towards a nearby house, entering it to request a line of communication.
In response, there was a Zinger's shriek from the house. A couple seconds later, a shriek resounded from the 103rd Settlement, then the 102nd Settlement. In a couple of minutes, the message was transmitted all the way to the 1st Settlement.
Since the herd passed through the Dieng Canyon, they gathered a bunch of Life Bombs. By then, there were a couple of cultivators that had already obtained the power of a Zinger, hence able to differentiate between a Prana Bomb and a Life Bomb.
These Life Bombs were preserved. And when a suitable student appeared, he was granted one after it absorbed the Prana of the respective Empyrean Tusk.
As a result, the one that hatched from the Life Egg was guaranteed to be a Zinger King, an Expert Iron Grade Pranic Beast. The students that obtained this power became part of their logistics force, now in charge of information and goods transfer between the various Settlements.
None of them were able to transform into a Zinger yet, as it had only been three years since they obtained the power of one. Hence, goods transfer was still done the traditional way. But soon, Zingers would be the ones in charge of transporting goods from one Settlement to another.
Currently, Zinger shrieks were used to transmit information between the settlements. They were convenient in the fact that a large volume of information could be transmitted with a single shriek.
Shrieks resounded one after another, trailing from the 1st to the 104th Settlement. And from the 104th Settlement's information centre, a cultivator stepped out and stared at Grehha, "You've received permission. A transfer platform will be leaving for the 103rd Settlement in twenty minutes. You need to hurry there now."
He then handed Grehha a scroll that indicated the time when platforms would go from a lower-ranked Settlement to the Settlement next in ascending order of rank.
Grehha stared at the scroll and sighed at the timings, 'It would take me close to 36 hours to reach the 1st Settlement in this manner.'
He ardently prayed for the Mammoth Clansmen with the power of a Zinger to grow faster and become capable of transforming into one. That way, it would be possible to travel quickly.
"Thank you," Nodding as such, Grehha ignored the blatant sneers from the two guards and walked towards the platform that would be departing for the 103rd Settlement, 'A Mammoth Clansman without an Empyrean Tusk is scorned upon. This will continue until Gannala returns.'
He sighed and stared at the sky, for a moment observing the Transcendent World hovering far away from reach, 'When will you return, Inala?'
'If you were to stay in the Brimgan Empire until the Second Major Disaster, you'd lose your position in the Mammoth Clan.' He sighed, 'I hope you're not that foolish.'
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