Chapter 152: Manners and Mind reading don’t always mix
Of the hundred of states composing the Alloy Republic, the Bronze Bell Kingdom had the distinction of being one of only a dozen or so states founded by a Progenitor, and being only one of five where the monarch needed to have both Anima and Aether power. Overachiever, thy name is Bronze Bell.
The reason for this rule was due to how the kingdom was founded in the first place…
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Once upon a time, there was a Progenitor who was known as the “Dozing Sheep Emperor”, a Golden Dream Mountain Ram that had broken through the barrier of Aether Saint and took on a human form.
Like other Progenitors of his time, the Sheep Emperor spent a good chunk of time traveling the land and…sowing the seeds for a new generation of Bloodliners to take the world by storm.
However, it wasn’t until he met an Anima Wielder of the Eight lock, a level similar to an Aether Saint, by the name of Ecaredies, that the Sheep Emperor embraced love.
The emperor up to this point had always lived his life in a half conscious state, unable to fully communicate with anyone because of it. But Ecaredies had an ability even rare among Anima Wielders: mind reading.
Together, the two of them established the Bronze Bell Kingdom, a place where their children and their children’s children could flourish and grow in peace.
And they lived happily ever after.
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Later on, the two of them gave birth to a prodigy Bloodliner that could use both Anima and Aether in equally great measure.
It was after this first Shepard King, that it became law that the crown could only be passed to those who could wield both Anima and Aether with utmost proficiency…at least that’s what the common folk know.
In reality, and as a well kept secret, the crown is not passed to a warrior who can use both Aether and Anima, rather, it’s passed down to those who inherited the First Queen’s gift of mind reading.
This gift is tantamount, as it allowed the monarch to learn the intention of others during diplomacy, and predict attacks in times of war.
That being said, just because one has the ability to read minds, doesn’t mean they know how to be polite with the information gleaned.
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“So…how are you liking Stone Claw?”/Seriously? That’s the best you can come up with?/
“Oh it’s quite a nice place. A bit dry for my tastes, but the atmosphere is…lively.”
“Good to hear.”/Lively? What the fuck? Does she mean violent?/
Patriarch Zhen Shi and Prince Carlos Ecaredies, came to an agreement that the former’s eldest granddaughter (Zhen Yue) would meet with the latter’s oldest son (Santiago Ecaredies) for a marriage interview in five days time, since that’s how long it would take for the son to get Stone Claw.
However, they also agreed that his daughter would be allowed to have one on one interviews/dates with the eligible grandsons of the Zhen Clan as well, going in order of eldest to youngest.
As such, Bellona was sent on an afternoon stroll with the First Young Master of the Zhen Clan, Zhen Hai. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going too well.
While on the surface it appeared the two of them were just walking in silence with flecks of pleasant conversation in-between, in reality Zhen Hai’s mind was churning to figure out what to do while Bellona was reading all of this like an open book…written for two year olds.
/Come man, try to figure something to talk about…do I just try to make myself sound good? Do I talk about fighting? My recent victory in the challenge?/
‘He either has a bad case of braggadocio, or he is just a battle hungry meathead…ugh.’
The two of them continued walking, sharing the mildest of pleasantries, until the two of them ran into one Gianna Corrada, aka the First Young Mistress of the Corrada and family, and one time ally of the Zhen Clan…at least that’s what the public records show.
When the three of them ran into each other, Bellona heard this going on in their heads:
“Oh! Mister Zhen Hai, how nice to see you this fine afternoon.”/Is this well- built meathead cheating on me?/
“Miss Corada! Likewise.”/Oh shit, please don’t think I’m cheating on you./
‘Oh…finally, something interesting this afternoon.’
Evidently, the reason why Zhen Hai was acting like such a dunderhead, was due to him actually having a secret romantic affair with the daughter of someone who was technically a family enemy.
While this fact basically nixed any chances Zhen Hai had with hooking up with Bellona, that didn’t mean the latter couldn’t have any fun with the former.
‘Hmmm. Do I be the bitch and mess with them or be the lady and help them. Decisions, decisions…’
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Bonk!
“Ow! {Harder} Wait…why do I sound like a less sexy Morgan Freeman right now?,” Zhen Liu croaked as he laid on the ground.
Just like last time when he did this transference thing with Nepherage, Zhen Liu’s consciousness didn’t really register anything, but he did feel most of it with his body.
“Well I didn’t have another breakthrough, but it looks Frosttusk did.”
When Zhen Liu looked over his formula and Frosttusk’s formula, he noted that his own was still at the one ring Aether Master level, but that Frosttusk was now a one ring Aether Master too.
“Alright, now it’s-wah!”
As Zhen Liu attempted to get up and get Nepherage over so they can do another transference thing, he finally noticed that he was standing on frozen ground, catching himself before he could fall over and crack his head. He was about to question why the ground had froze over in a freaking desert, until he remembered that this was Frosttusk’s thing.
“Huh…guess we exercised that formula a bit too much,” Zhen Liu mused. “Let me just…”
Zhen Liu carefully made his way off the patch of ice until he was on solid ground again. Once he was settled, he looked around to see where Jin Fang and the other three kaijin were.
“Wait, they were right-oh. Hey! What are you guys doing all the way over there?!” Evidently, Jin Fang, Nepherage, Hurricroak and the Razor Maiden had taken several dozen steps back from Frosttusk and Zhen Liu’s position, being far enough that yelling or telepathy was necessary.
[You and Frosty went full power during the transference thing, maestro. We had to step back to avoid getting frosted over,] Hurricroak answered.
‘Huh…alright. Frosttusk, Nepherage switch places. Let’s do this again.’
[Yes, milord.]
[Okay…]
Without any additional commentary, Nepherage and Frosttusk proceeded to swap positions.
‘Alright, round two,’ Zhen Liu told himself as he tried to enter that same mind space.
The keyword here however is “tried”.
