Chapter 336: Music encourages growth in people, plants and monsters
=Wait, are we even allowed to use this reference? We already skirted with the mouse last time and I don’t want to piss off an entire subculture.=
=That explains the lyrics…=
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Can you hear, the breath of the sky?
Pounding against the doors of my heart, as if to beckon you in…
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“Whoa…I didn’t know Zhen Liu was so…melodic,” Rianna commented in awe.
The reason why she said this was due to the fact that while others may see several people in masks performing all of the instruments in this band, the reality was that it was all Zhen Liu somehow playing all of the instruments at once in different places.
But that was an observation only Rianna, Jin Fang and the kaijin would make based on their position.
“He is surprisingly artistic, it’s a bit loud though,” Jin Fang said while picking her ear, “his transfers with Nepherage tend to be a bit more subtle”
[Hard to beat rhythmic drumming.]
“Fair.”
“Wait…,” Rianna paused as she stared at Jin Fang with a funny look, “you’ve seen him do these performances… multiple times?”
“Yeah.”
“And it’s always this… elaborate and melodic?”
“Yeah…”
“So…that means you haven’t mated with him yet?”
“I-wait, what the fuck?”
Jin Fang stared at Rianna in stunned silence as she tried to comprehend why someone who was usually introverted, just straight up ask her if she mounted her boyfriend in such a casual manner.
Maybe she misheard something?
“Could you… repeat that?”
“Well, the insects back home would attract mates via singing or dancing or both, and Zhen Liu appears to be doing both. The only time they wouldn’t is when-.”
“Okay!,” Jin Fang interrupted, “it appears you have learned plenty about the bees, but remind me to find someone to teach you about the birds later.”
“What do birds have to do with mating?”
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=Hmmm.=
=Acquiring knowledge on the mating process and it’s intersection with society…and no, I don’t mean the “adult” material.=
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Inspiring.
Heart pounding.
ROCK N ROOLLLLL!
That was the feeling washing over Zhen Hai, Zhen Yue, Zhen Xing and Zhen Guo as they watched the singer calling herself “Hurricroak” sing her heart out as the band behind her set the rhythm.
While they couldn’t make out all the words, they had a feeling they were listening to something that was simultaneously a love song, a call to action and a prayer for safety all at once.
They were so caught up in the music that they didn’t even notice that this rhythm was causing their respective aethers to flow in new and unexpected ways, nor did they notice that several members of the audience were spontaneously mutating, albeit, in very subtle ways.
But alas, like all good things, the song eventually came to an end with a line that had been repeated throughout, but still carried a lot of weight to it.
Now go forth young boy, defy their expectations!
“YES! NAILED IT!,” Hurricroak shouted with a fist pump after hitting a particularly high note.
WOOOOOO!
As the song ended and the energy of the area reached a lull, the Zhen Clan heirs felt their senses return to them. It wasn’t as if the music was hypnotizing mind you, it was just the first time they ever heard music of this kind before.
“That was…magnificent!,” Zhen Guo applauded, “encore, encore!”
“Yeah-huh? Am I going crazy, or is anyone else feeling stronger?,” Zhen Xing asked as he felt his aether flow felt…weird.
“Damn! No wonder you developed the ability to use lightning aether so easily. I feel like I can fight a god and win right now,” Zhen Yue told Zhen Hai with a smile and a light jab to his side.
“I mean…yeah…”
A few seconds later, the music began to pick up again, but this time sounding very different.
Whereas the last song began with vocals and an ambient background of some unknown instrument, this time it started with a guitar duet done by the masked men.
“Huh? What’s she doing with the microphone?”
Under the gaze of the quartet and the crowd, Hurricroak tossed the microphone between her hands for a couple moments in time with the music before throwing it behind her…only for it to get caught by a rather familiar face in an unfamiliar outfit.
A face that caused Zhen Hai, Zhen Yue, Zhen Xing and Zhen Guo to make several exclamations of shock and surprise…as well as a small tinge of jealousy because he was looking like a rockstar.
“Wait, what?! Is that-”
“Yeah! That’s him! That’s Zhen Liu…dressed like a rockstar!,” Zhen Yue exclaimed. ‘Wait… what’s a rockstar?’
As the question went through her head, the need to find the answer to it suddenly disappeared as Zhen Liu started singing himself…and it was actually good.
Granted, this time the scions were a bit more conscious due to the shock of knowing it was Zhen Liu signing a surprisingly horny song.
“Huh…starting to understand why those girls were interested in Zhen Liu now…”
“Man, I should have buried the hatchet with him sooner, he could have taught me how to sing like this!,” Zhen Xing complained.
“You nowhere near that amount of swagger,” Zhen Hai chided. ‘Wait…what the fuck is swagger?’
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As Rianna and Jin Fang watched as Zhen Liu sing a surprisingly intimate sounding song, they had two opposite looking reactions with a similar base.
Rianna’s jaw was firmly dropped as she watched this string bean of a man sing with a voice that definitely didn’t match his face, while Jin Fang was…simply biting her bottom lip.
“Miss Jin Fang.”
“Yes, Rianna?”
“If you don’t mount this guy and mark him as yours after this performance, I will.”
“I AM WORKING ON IT!”
“THE FACTS HIS HIPS ARE WORKING LIKE THAT IMPLY IT’S NOT HARD ENOUGH!”
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[Kaijin: Hurricroak has been promoted to Grandmaster rank. Bestowal ability has been unlocked.]
[Alert. Zako evolution has been activated.]
[Zako Type: Metal(Weapon)- Rusty has developed insight of Thunder and has become Zako Elite Type: Resonate Destroyer Fork-Rust].
[Zako Type: Metal(Armor)- Rusty has developed the insight of Thunder and has become Zako Elite Type: Crystal Sonic Shield-cracked].
[Zako Type: Skeletal has developed insight of Defiance and has become Zako Elite Type: Punk Skeletal.]
[Zako Type: Skeletal has developed insight of Love and has become Zako Elite Type: Seductive Spirit.]
[Zako Type: Chitin (Spider) has developed the insight of Love and has become Zako Elite Type: Seducer Spider]
[Zako Type: Chitin(Spider) has developed the insight of Thunder and has become Zako Elite: Shockfang Spider.]
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Above the roaring crowds, and the band playing as hard as their passion could allow, a being made of light and energy in the shape of insect humanoid was watching the whole thing with a serene smile on their face and a lute in two of her six hands.
Another show well done, as was the job of any manager worth their salt.
[Flowers are normally thrown for a job well done…so why not grow some?]
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“Huh…I appear to be less sore than normal… that’s good,” Zhen Liu observed as he stared up at the sky after doing the aether transference with Hurricroak, “and I didn’t pass out this time, cool…still feel tingly though…and sweaty as all hell.”
He wasn’t entirely sure why, but every time he did aether transfers with Hurricroak, his body was always felt like he went through an exercise regimen that put his entire body to work, but it always concentrated in his arms and fingers.
Also his throat and mouth were sore as fuck every time too, not as bad as Frosttusk but still.
“At least the grass I’m laying in is…hold up, grass?”
Zhen Liu turned his head side to side, confirming that he was indeed laying on a bed of grass…which was weird because he was supposed to be at the bottom of an old quarry!
“What the -WHAT THE FUCK?!”
Zhen Liu leaped to his feet as he realized that his once dried out quarry, was now covered in green grasses and flowers. Thankfully, all of these plants were mundane otherwise he’d have a lot of explaining to do if anyone found out.
“Thankfully nobody who shouldn’t be in the know saw this.”
<=Yeah, about that...=>
“Godsdammit.”
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“Is… is this how I look when I get out of those trances?”
“Great…”
On the outer perimeter of the quarry, Zhen Liu found his cousins Zhen Yue, Zhen Hai, Zhen Xing and Zhen Guo passed out on the ground. They weren’t dead, they were just…out.
=You have about ten minutes until they wake up, so you’re gonna have to come up with some sort of cover story.=
‘I am aware…but what the hell can I say?’
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS
Mizako
Is this reference old or evergreen?
