Chapter 352: Every Dog Has their Owner
[Woooowww,] Hurricroak hummed, [I didn’t expect the Wolfe boy to be so sensitive.]
[Folly…of…arrogance…,] Frosttusk pointed out, [head…too big…skin…too thin…]
[Wise words,] Nepherage nodded.
[Yeah…alright, who’s going to be sending this puppy back to his master?,] Hurricroak asked.
[Rock paper scissors?]
[Of…course…]
[Alright, let’s-hold up…what the hell am I sensing?]
[Feels like…a stern mentor that is beyond pissed?,] Nepherage noted.
[Oddly…specific…]
[But it definitely does feel like that kind of aura…]
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Donovan rushed towards Zhen Liu, aether churning violently and claws at the ready, as the former took on a horse stance.
‘Okay, looks like joining up with those Bronze Claws guys didn’t change his fighting habits too much. Still opens up his fights with a straight forward charge with his claws. I just gotta…hold up, what the fuck is that?’
Zhen Liu had initially planned to just punch forward, but before he could, an unusually strong flux in the aether above him caught him off guard.
Donovan mistook this as Zhen Liu being distracted and got more bloodthirsty as a result, his aether churning even more violently than before.
“Come on Zhen Liu! You should know distractions are fatal in battle!”
[Mountain-Rending Bronze Claw!]
“Oh no you don’t! [Megalodon Thrash]!”
At the same time as Donovan decided to make use of an art to kill Zhen Liu, Zhen Hai launched from the side an art that he had become rather fond of as of late.
A giant shark made of electrified water was sent flying towards Donovan, just as he was about to lunge forward with heavy looking mechanical claw made of bronze energy.
The sight of these two attacks colliding into each other would surely make for a magnificent sight and cause devastating collateral damage.
(Un)fortunately, that wouldn’t be the case.
“Donovan! What did I say about controlling your temper?!”
“Huh?! Master?!”
Just as the claw and shark were to make contact and probably explode, a middle aged man dressed in clothes similar to Donovan’s came plunging down from above and intercepted the two attacks with a pair of ornate looking fighting sticks.
He intercepted the claw with one stick, while he knocked the other upward and away.
Upon close inspection of the sticks, one would see they were actually an aether armament.
‘Ah. An Aether Lord teacher, that makes sense.’
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[Oh fucking blue balls! I wanted some violence!,] Hurricroak cursed.
[Calm down Hurricroak,] Nepherage said in a placating tone, [we can’t just cut loose whenever our lord gets into a fight everytime. We’re still technically a secret.]
[I know, but still…]
[Besides, you’re already blue, so what’s the matter in having “blue balls”?]
[…]
[…]
[What?]
[Did…did you just make a joke?,] Hurricroak asked in surprise.
[Yes…she…did…]
[What? Is me making a joke a that weird?]
[I mean…]
[Can y’all please be quiet?,] Razor Maiden cut in, [I want to hear the silver fox scold the dumb puppy mutt.]
[Why do you know the term, “silver fox”?!,] Hurricroak asked in shock.
[Y’all left me alone with Pathos’s trashy romance collection.]
[Bruh…]
=That doesn’t mean you can give her carte blanche to look through your porn collection.=
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With the interjection of this Aether Lord, both Zhen Liu’s cousins and Donovan’s entourage proceeded to cool their hostilities and stand down.
The latter out of respect of a man who was clearly their teacher or something close to it, the former out of respect for a guy who could probably paste them in an instant.
Zhen Liu on the other hand, didn’t look all that intimidated.
“How many times must I tell you to control that temper of yours, Donovan?”
“But master-”
“No buts!,” the middle aged man scolded, “Now go with the others back to the inn until further notice, understood?”
“…yes, Master Finnigan.”
“Good.”
Following his master’s orders, Donovan lead his entourage away from the scene and towards some direction directly opposite of the direction the Zhen Clan had entered the market from, meaning there was very little chance of them having yet another violent encounter later the evening…hopefully.
The Zhen Clan scions didn’t have any plans to start anymore beef, but they couldn’t say the same about Donovan.
“I apologize for the behavior of my disciple,” the middle-aged man said while cupping his hands in respect, a gesture not common on Stampeding Bison but well known on Roaring Tide so this was surprising to the young heirs, “another disciple of mine told me that when Donovan saw your cousin here, that he began to cause…an altercation. Some slurs were used, a punch was thrown.”
“That true, Xiao Tai?,” Zhen Yue asked the aforementioned cousin.
Zhen Tai nodded to confirm the statement, but also looked as if he had something else to add. He didn’t say anything though because of who the other party was.
“My name is Alvis Finnigan, I am one of the outer elders of the Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion. If I am to understand my disciple’s ranting from earlier, you lot are the Zhen Clan of Stone Claw City, his former hometown, correct?”
“Uh…that is correct.”
Disarmed by the sheer courteous behavior and polite mannerisms of this Master Finnigan, the Zhen Clan scions were at a bit of loss at what to do. A good chunk of them were still in “fight mode” due to Donovan’s aggression, while the other chunk was just weary because of the man’s identity.
Luckily for them, they had someone who was neither of those things at the moment.
“I understand that your family and Donovan’s family have a rather…colorful past. I do hope with everything that has happened and after all the time that has passed that you can find it in your hearts to overlook this transgression.”
“Oh please,” Zhen Liu began to answer in a casual tone, “apology accepted. Consider it all…water under the bridge, as it were.”
“Wait, what? What are you-”
“Phew. That’s a relief.”
“Oh, never mind.”
Zhen Hai, Zhen Guo and Zhen Xing looked rather confused and a tad offended that Zhen Liu suddenly took the lead in this conversation, but when they saw that Master Finnigan let out an audible sigh of relief when he did, they decided to just keep their mouths shut and let Zhen Liu do his thing….whatever that thing was.
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=Milord…do you have any idea what you’re doing, right now?=
‘Sort of…this Finnigan guy is giving off the vibe of someone who talks more than he needs to, so…gonna see if I can get him to ramble. Figure out if he’s actually being honest or if he’s hiding something.’
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“I imagine it must be quite difficult disciplining such a proud young master, even if you’re an elder of such a prestigious sect.”
“Oh no,” Alvis disagreed, “Ever since the Wolfe Family joined up with our Pavilion we’ve been trying to help them move on from Stone Claw and get into rhythm of being a part of Bronze Claw as it were,” Alvis said with a chuckle, noticing the mild humor in how the family exchanged one “claw” for another, “for the most part they had been adjusting quite well to the changes, but Donovan has been rather problematic.”
“No no, I get it. It’s hard to let go of such things. Matters of pride and whatnot, especially when one comes from a place of privilege.”
“Yes, instilling humility in someone who was once so proud is a difficult yet rewarding process.”
“Indeed.”
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[Is it just me, or is this elder of the vaunted Celestial Bronze Claw Pavilion seems a bit too chatty?,] Hurricroak observed, [I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t think I’d spill this much tea about one of my disciples, even if they messed up, especially when the other party is someone they were enemies with once upon a time.]
[Perhaps he does wish for a genuine burying of his disciple’s grudges and hatred and is telling us all this so we can better help with that goal,] Nepherage noted, [that or he’s fucking with us and plan to use this as a means to get close and then betray us at the last minute for some benefit, monetary or otherwise.]
[Place…your…bets…]
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A few more minutes of pleasantries and polite conversation occured between Zhen Liu and Alvis Finnigan before the latter finally stated he needed to take his leave to go and make sure that Donovan would learn his lesson.
“I do wish your stay in Pearl Tusk Harbor is pleasant. May we meet again in the near future.”
“Likewise, Master Finnigan.”
Once Alvis Finnigan made his exit away from the scene, Zhen Liu’s cousins proceeded to swarm Zhen Liu for answers.
“Xiao Liu what were you-”
“Ah! Shh! Not here.”
Zhen Liu signaled for his cousins to silence themselves before he decided to start walking in a random direction.
“It’s too public and empty at the moment for any conversation, so let’s go find someplace not so public and maybe very loud.”
“Oh…okay…”
Somehow caught up in Zhen Liu’s rhythm, the six other scions of the Zhen Clan followed his lead.
‘Granted, this will also give me time to come up with answers…’
