Chapter 168: Act 1: Let’s start Swinging
[Rock, paper, scissors!]
[Yes! Suck it, suckas!]
[Damnit!]
[Too…bad…]
[Maestro, it appears I am your dance partner this afternoon,] Hurricroak said with jubilation.
‘Cool, and at some point we’re going to have a conversation about the fact y’all can play games in my head.’
[No comment!]
After all of that Hurricroak proceeded to possess Zhen Liu.
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Bloodliners.
In the world of Valresta, the term “bloodliner” is used to describe a race of people known for three things.
First,ancestry. Every bloodliner can trace their ancestry to a powerful aether beast that transcended mortal existed.
Second, animalistic traits that range from simple texture changes to straight up animal limbs.
Third, the shared ability to tap into the ancestor’s powers. These powers can vary greatly from ancestor to ancestor, with certain individuals only able to tap into a sliver of power.
For example, the gangster encroaching on Zhen Liu and Bellona, Boss Must, is a bloodliner who’s ancestry can traced back to a Progenitor known as the Sandstorm Stallion.
The Sandstrom Stallion was an unstoppable equine aether beast known to kick up literal sandstorms wherever he galloped….that and leaving a whole mess of kids behind in towns he visited.
The bloodliners who can trace their ancestry back to the Sandstorm Stallion are said to be able to call upon that same whirlwind conjuring power to either boost their movement abilities or destructive capabilities.
Boss Must happened to able to use both abilities at once.
“I’ll be sure to hold back long enough so you only end up with a few broken bones!,” Boss Must proclaimed while launching himself forward and tapping into his innate abilities. Circulating around his hands and feet were thick whirlwinds that radiated destructive forces.
[Galloping Crush!]
In the blink of an eye, Boss Must leaped forward and slammed a heavy fist downward at Zhen Liu and Bellona, causing a bomb cyclone to go off at point blank distance and causing a horrible howling sound to rip through the cave.
“Whoopsies~ I may have used too much power there!”
This move of his, [Galloping Crush], was Boss Must’s signature go-to that allowed him to secure his place in Stone Claw City’s power structure. By using the force of a whirlwind to launch himself forward, he makes himself move faster than most warrior’s reaction times, then by focusing it’s power into his fist, he creates a whirling force that can rip to shred even iron armor.
Nobody save for the Big Four would be able to withstand such a powerful attack, let alone a pair of young dumb Ac-“wait a minute…where are their bodies?!”
In his head, Boss Must was aiming for Zhen Liu and had just pounded him to the ground while Bellona should be standing there in shock and awe at his overwhelming strength. Instead, neither were nowhere close to him.
Boss Must looked about him and noticed that Bellona had managed to jump backwards away from the attack. Perhaps she got lucky or her reaction time was better than he had anticipated, but that didn’t account for Zhen Liu not being on the receiving end of his-“Hello puta~”
“Huh?”
[Shock shot.]
“Gah!”
From behind him, an electrically charged elbow had jabbed itself into his back and had viciously shocked him. In his painful flail forward, he saw that the perpetrator was none other than the boy he was aiming to crush! Making the matter more insulting, he had shit eating grin.
“Huh?! How’d you get behind me?!”
“Simple…”
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In the exact same moment as Boss Must was launching his attack, Hurricroak had finished taking possession of Zhen Liu’s body, causing the latter’s entire demeanor to shift. This sudden change didn’t escape from Bellona’s notice, especially since she heard everything going on.
“Zhen Liu?! What did you just-,”
“Apologies, giovane signorina. But we have a stallion to break. Also, maestro is very sorry for this next part.”
“Huh? Bwah!”
Moments before Boss Must made impact, Zhen Liu/Hurricroak used a palm to send Bellona flying back a couple of steps. Not enough to send her into a wall or be in pain, but just enough that she was now out of the area of effect of the incoming attack.
“Now then,[Grand Leap]+[Wasp’s Dance].”
Just as Boss Must was swinging downward, Zhen Liu had rapidly circulated aether into his legs and back, causing the superimposed image of frog legs and wasp wings to form over him, in order to launch himself into the air and land behind Boss Must’s back.
As to why Boss Must’s subordinates didn’t do anything while Zhen Liu was doing all this, kinda hard to do that when one’s boss just blinded everyone behind him with cave dust and sand.
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“Grrr! Grah!”
Boss Must stumbled forward a couple steps before correcting himself and stomping into the ground hard. He looked simultaneously wounded and pissed that one of his signature moves got so easily avoided and countered.
“You fucking crippled whelp! You shouldn’t be able to move like that! I’ll fucking kill you!,” he shouted at Zhen Liu. The latter however just stared at him with a condescendingly aloof look, complete with a smile. Boss Must wasn’t sure if he should be insulted at this moment or afraid.
“Tell me something, puta,” Zhen Liu/Hurricroak suddenly asked, “I’m trying to pick a good song to kick your ass in with, do you prefer rock n roll or electroswing?”
“Huh? What nonsense is this?!”
“Swing it is. Cue music,” they said with a snap of their fingers. The sound of a muted horn followed by strings and drums began to play. A ghostly woman’s voice began to sing soon after, accompanied by the horns growing louder and louder. As the music played, Zhen Liu began to move his feet in a rhythmic manner like he was dancing along.
“What in the-oof!”
“Oooh…,” Boss Must’s goons went as they instinctively moved their hands downward.
Before Boss Must could even question what was going on, he got kicked square in the nuts in time with the song.
Bellona stared with shock, a single question in her head.
‘Who’s…Jamie Berry?”
