<Well then…this entire affair has opened my eyes about the wonders and mysteries of our existences. I don’t know about you but-wait a minute, where are you going?>
=To rewrite a couple thousand *BEEP*ing books!=
<Damn, you only self-censor when you’re really angry…>
…
[I gotta admit, old friend. You did a hell of a job raising her. She’s as every bit upright and headstrong as you are. Of course, she gets her good looks from yours truly.]
[Papa? Where are you?]
In the depths of Tortallio_’s [Core], an unexpected guest had appeared alongside an expected one.
Shockheel had appeared, as Tortallio_ had anticipated, to give him a boost in power.
While he wasn’t sure what this boost entailed, he could at least come to the conclusion it was going to help him slug the [Shadow Sovereign] across its stupid face.
When it came to Terra though, he wasn’t sure why she was here, and in the form of a little girl no less.
To be more precise, she physically appeared to be about as old as when she had first exhibited her abilities as a kaijin blooded mortal.
Normally, kaijin come into existence knowing exactly what to do with their abilities. So having to try and raise a child that had only half of an idea on what to do was…challenging, to say the least.
Especially when one had to try and explain something that was originally instinctual.
Remembering that time though still caused Tortallio_ to smile, but now wasn’t the time.
Especially when he noticed something was off about this little spiritual moment.
[Papa? Where are you? I can’t see you…,] the visage of Terra said in a panicked voice, with an expression on her face that only young children in the darkest depths of despair could truly show.
Needless to say, Tortallio_’s paternal instincts went into high gear.
[Terra, what are you saying? I’m right-]
[She can’t see you, right now,] Shockheel interjected. [All she can see right now is a swirl of Chaos before her eyes, and all she can sense is a cacophony of sensations. In other words, we can talk privately while my daughter is panicking. Messed up, I know, but I have no control on what you’re doing or showing her.]
[What I’m doing?]
[Take a look.]
With a snap of her fingers, Shockheel changed Tortallio_’s perspective so that he could see what his(their) daughter was seeing.
It wasn’t pleasant.
[Terra…no…]
Before his eyes, he saw a swirling mess of energy that made everything appeared dark, colorful and messy all at once. It was like he was in the center of a storm that wasn’t going to let up until the entire world was torn to shreds.
And this is what his daughter was going through, right now.
[Papa…where are you papa?!,] Terra cried as she curled up into a ball. [Why can’t I find you?!]
[Terra!]
[You know that’s not gonna work, right?,] Shockheel asked as she continued to stand and watch from afar.
Tortallio_ began to make his way over to Terra’s side, to try and shelter her from the storm that was his heart. But alas, it didn’t work.
Just when he was about to hug his crying daughter, he ended up passing through her like a ghost through a wall.
[See? I told you.]
Needless to say, Tortallio_ was not happy about this turn of events.
After correcting his posture, he redirected his focus to Shockheel with a clearly displeased expression on his face.
[Why is this happening?! Why is she here and suffering?!]
[To put it as simple as possible, this is happening because she’s my only remnant in this day and age. Well, the only remnant that was nearby anyways,] Shockheel answered. [As to why she’s here and suffering…it’s because neither you nor her are ready to let go.]
[What?]
Before she elaborated any further, Shockheel somehow managed to manifest a stool for her sit on.
[Tell me, what is the Kaijin way?]
[Live free, Die Gloriously,] Tortallio_ repeated on command. [These are the words inscribed on our Cores since the day we’re born.]
[Exactly,] Shockheel nodded. [Which is why I’m surprised you’re choosing such an inglorious way to go.]
[What?!]
To say he was confused, was an understatement.
How the fuck was turning oneself into a giant monster and ramming into a giant mechanical monster, counts as an inglorious death?!
Thankfully, Shockheel explained herself.
[You’re definitely going through the motions, but as evident by your heart and what our baby girl is seeing, you’re not ready to go yet. It’s holding you back.]
[What are you-bah!]
Before he could finish asking, Shockheel had got into his face.
[Did you truly make peace with your end?]
…Meanwhile, at the exact same time as all of this noise…
Hovering above the inevitable collision between Tortallio_ and the [Shadow Sovereign], Zhen Liu and Jin Fang were busy going insane as they continued to absorb the [Inheritance] they had received from the Storm Knights.
As for the
The practice of condensing one’s cultivation inheritance, whether it be concentrated energy or a mysterious technique, into a ball of energy and having the inheritor absorb it wasn’t anything new by any means. However, such practices were done by massively power sects or nobility of particularly high pedigree, who had access to high quality aether sources and medicines to help empower the inheritor during the process.
When it came to [Chaos] though, there were no such items, and when it came to what got passed on…it was a little different.
Aether inheritance simply pass off the knowledge and hope that the person taking it already has the proper physique and qualifications to make use of it at a later time.
[Chaos] inheritance on the other hand, made sure the Inheritor was qualified.
On a physical level, foreign [Chaos] surged through Zhen Liu’s and Jin Fang’s body as they could feel every muscle, fiber and cell being restructured, beaten and exercised to the point of exhaustion and even beyond that.
On a mental level, the nuances and knowledge of a variety of arts were being inscribed into their knowledge bases in a rather forceful manner. It was rather similar to how Logos and Pathos would forcefully download knowledge into Zhen Liu’s brain, but significantly more brutal.
On a spiritual level though, Zhen Liu and Jin Fang were having a rather unusual moment.
Because it turns out that this inheritance allowed a certain someone to show up.
In a manner that was similar to a certain drunkard.
~~~~~
‘Welp, this is…weird.’
[Position your left foot a little further back. Otherwise, you won’t be able to leverage your power better.]
[Yes…mother.]
[Just call me, mom.]
When Zhen Liu and Jin Fang began the process of absorbing the Storm Knights’ inheritance, they were expecting it to be difficult right from the get-go.
Zhen Liu always found himself mentally and physically drained whenever he performed a sync-up with the kaijin, while Jin Fang had only started cultivating [Chaos] with Coral and was occasionally having moments where she was like Zhen Liu before his transformation.
As such, they were ready for the pain.
That stated, neither of them were emotionally ready in the slightest for the Storm Queen to appear in the inner depths of their souls.
A lot of questions were generated at the moment of this sudden appearance, but none of them were going to be answered…yet.
[We have no time for questions, Tortallion is about five seconds away from being unable to take down that mechanical fuck. Beloved daughter of mine, I’m going to teach you my most powerful technique and you’re going to be using it for something crucial. You’ll know when it when you see it.]
[I…okay.]
[As for you, Caretaker of the Library and Inheritor of Chaos, you’ll have to settle on watching and adapting my technique into something you can use.]
[Wait, what? Why?]
[Not only do you lack the right aether affinities to perform this technique of mine, but you also lack the physique and physical traits.]
[…]
[…]
[I’m saying you don’t have the right-]
[No, no, I got that,] Zhen Liu interjected. [Just wasn’t expecting a predecessor of mine to be that…forward.]
[Well, I wasn’t expecting my inheritor to be boning my daughter, so consider us even.]
[But we haven’t -]
[Now then, let’s get to teaching, shall we?]
After that very weird exchange, the Storm Queen and Jin Fang began going through steps of a technique that the former invented and used to slay the [Shadow Sovereign] ages ago.
And it was the same technique that Zhen Liu got smacked upside the head with not too long ago.
[Leviathan’s Dance].
As for Zhen Liu, he was busying himself watching how the mother-daughter performed this technique and tried to figure out what he had to do to make to work for himself…sans invasive surgery…
Eventually though, after watching them go through the steps several times over, it eventually clicked.
‘Wait…the Storm Queen based her movements on being able to fight by herself…I base my movements on my kaijin and what they can do…maybe…’
