By the end of a student's journey at the Academy of Accumulation, they would be evaluated on all fronts, including their potential for contributing to the Clan and the talents they could rely upon to do so.
Those with one-in-a-generation talents were given a Spirit Pool meant exclusively for Settlement Leaders. Each Settlement Leader lived on the back of the Empyrean Snapper they worshipped, being responsible for every Cooter Clansman who were born on and would die on the backs of their Deity.
They were given a Gold Grade Spirit Pool, which only the Empyrean Snappers could produce at small quantities across centuries.
Coming in at second, meant for the most talented students from each generation was the Rippling Tsloch Spirit Pool.
It was a Silver Grade Spirit Pool, created by extracting the abundantly present Silver Grade mineral in the Tsloch Sea. Due to the severe refining requirements, the Cooter Clansmen who could refine a Rippling Tsloch Spirit Pool could be counted on one hand.
Of course, the refinement was actually done by the Empyrean Snappers, for whom this was a breeze.
Upon successful fusion, the Cooter Clansman will obtain Silver Grade Prana. And once they finish building their Spirit Container's body and reach the peak of the Body Stage, their Prana capacity will reach 3598 units and give them a lifespan of 600 years, the maximum possible lifespan for a Silver Grade existence.
Primary Nature–Rippling Tsloch Dominance!
It creates a vapour cone using an oily substance containing a dangerous amount of heat while also generating blinding levels of colourful hues. In essence, it was a shockwave made out of oil.
This substance was called the Rippling Tsloch and was wielded by Cooter Clansmen designated as Captains and Vice Captains for their various ships. In the Tsloch Sea, it was the strongest possible build a Cooter Clansman could obtain.
The number of vapour cones a Cooter Clansman could conjure at a moment was related to their cultivation in the Life Stage.
With a 6-Life Stage cultivation, Captain Trotro could stack six vapour cones upon each other. The gaps between each vapour cone was virtually none, appearing like a single mass of oil. However, it generated 6 distinct shockwaves upon impact.
A Nirclick assumed the form resembling a jellyfish and headed deep underwater, from where it propelled itself upward, until it had accelerated to a decent level by the time it was close to the surface.
Transforming itself to resemble a needle, the Nirclick pierced through the water surface and flew like an arrow towards Captain Trotro, intending to impale him.
Metres before his face, two vapour cones appeared, stacked together. Captain Trotro angled the curved surface of the vapour cone to meet the needle at an angle that spun it in the air while negating its momentum.
The first vapour cone was small and had exploded to result in such a result.
Under the aid of his psychokinesis, the second vapour cone slid down the needle and stopped at its rear end, where it reshaped itself to align its centre with the tip of the needle while the free ends flowed down the needle's rear.
Appearing like a rocket with its thrust, the Nirclick in needle form spun through the air. And right at the moment its tip pointed at one of its brethren, the second vapour cone exploded and launched the needle like a ballista.
Splutch!
The Nirclick in needle form had pierced through its brethren, also suffering crushing damage to its body in process.
B-B-Boom!
As the Cooter Clansmen erected a defensive barrier, buying time, Captain Trotro gathered enough Prana to condense a 6-layered vapour cone. "Guard me!"
Trusting his subordinates to protect him, Captain Trotro launched his 6-layered vapour cone into the water, which slammed into a Nirclick without dispersing its shockwaves for a fatal blow.
Instead, it was a soft blow, with the vapour cone behaving like a balloon that pushed the Nirclick as it moved forward. Under Captain Trotro's control, the 6-layered vapour cone swerved through the sea water, hitting one Nirclick after another.
Mystic Mist Art–Kinesis Adhesion!
The fluid molecules forming the vapour cones grabbed onto the Nirclicks they came into contact with. Whether it be fluid affinity to the Nirclick's skin or the viscosity of the vapour cone that dragged the Nirclicks along its path, Captain Trotro expertly took advantage of his Rippling Tsloch's properties and gathered as many Nirclicks as possible.
He had nabbed twenty of them in total, at which he detonated the lowermost vapour cone, thrusting the group towards the land.
B-B-Boom!
A series of booms resounded as the Nirclick group formed a deep trench across the shore while their bodies were propelled away with force, using friction from the solid land to grind through their bodies.
Then, the group crashed into a building far away, where the vapour cones released the rest of their force to form a steam explosion. The building collapsed amidst a bloodmist as most of the Nirclicks died from the impact.
The rubble of the building buried the survivors, taking them out of the fight for the time being.
'Strong!' Runthral gasped in shock to see Captain Trotro alone destroying twenty Nirclicks in one attack. Adding to his first attack that killed two more, his total reached 22, all in under a minute.
'I was concerned at first, but seeing the ease at which…' Runthral's calmness faded like a facade upon noticing a faint difference in Captain Trotro. He quickly focused on the sense of disorientation he felt, 'His cheeks…they seem to have gotten a tad chubbier.'
He promptly observed Vice Captain Quoquo who was defending him from Nirclick attacks all along. 'His cheeks are the same as before…wait! He has a small belly now.'
Adding the Captain and Vice Captain, their ship had 10 Cooter Clansmen with Silver Grade strength. One of them died all of a sudden, belonging to the team that was searching closest to Captain Wudwud's ferry.
The remaining nine were fighting against the Nirclicks. Of them, Captain Trotro had the highest kills, at 22, with Vice Captain Quoquo at 4. The rest had a kill or two each. And the lower their cultivation was, the fatter they seemed to have gotten.
"Urgh!" A Cooter Clansman with Iron Grade cultivation collapsed to the floor, now sporting a beer belly, dispirited, "I can't do this anymore!"
"The enemies are too many."
His Prana had already turned sluggish, as the pollen from dozens of Nirclicks had taken root in his body and was rampaging without restraint. Since a large volume of them had invaded his body, they only required a short few minutes to take over his existing fat deposits.
Now, they were actively fooling his body's Prana into thinking a portion of flesh was missing at the fat-deposit regions across the body. The Prana 'regenerated' those regions, which was pretty much adding more fat to the existing reserves, which the pollens actively took over.
One after another, the Cooter Clansmen with Iron Grade strength collapsed, too lazy to take action anymore.
"My Deity, Runthral," Captain Trotro expressed his displeasure as he approached Runthral and pointed at the barrier of mist erected by his team for defence, "The enemy's attack uses pollen to target our fat reserves."
"We had erected this barrier to keep the pollen out and have already witnessed its capability in one of the recent Raids." He continued with a solemn expression, "It was supposed to be perfect here too. However, look at my face."
He pointed at his slightly chubby cheeks, "Even if I were to expose myself to a concentrated mass of Nirclick pollen, my Prana can filter it out without issues. I've verified this in practice beforehand."
"Since I'm now affected," He concluded his conjecture and performed a mild bow, "I'm afraid one of the Nirclicks has mutated to reach Gold Grade. That should explain everything."
He pointed at the barrier of mist, "Please assist us in enhancing its filtering capacity while conserving your strength as much as possible."
"Only you are immune to a Gold Grade Nirclick's power."