Chapter 488: All Eyes on Me!
Above the river rafts…
“Not gonna lie, Zhen Yan, it’s a bit weird to be just straight punching an aether beast as opposed to making use of arts or weapons.”
“We are technically using an empowerment art that my son learned?”
“I guess…”
“Besides, Zhen Lao, it’s kind of cathartic.”
“Yeah…”
“Will you two stop talking and focus on the Thunderscale Dragon Otter please?!”
“Sorry!”
“Yeah!”
*Crack!*
“REEEE!”
Due to the ongoing crisis of their friends and family being attacked by smaller Ravager Otters behind them, Zhen Shi, Zhen Long, Zhen Lao and Zhen Yan had decided to pick up the pace a bit and fight a touch more viciously than before. Namely, in the form of of just punching the ever loving shit out of the Thunderscale Dragon Otter with the rock first enhancement given to them by Zhen Liu’s jade puppet.
Of course, it should be noted that the jade puppet also threw in a couple of punches and aether arts due to being the only Terraqi based “fighter” amongst them right now.
On top of that, Zhen Liu’s other puppet, the frog-like one, had been harassing and drawing the ire of the Thunderscale Dragon Otter’s attacks away from everyone else, namely the lightning based ones.
Every time the Thunderscale Dragon Otter would fire a bolt of lightning at one of the mortal fighters, the frog puppet would suddenly rush behind them, release a notable croaking sound that would somehow cause the lightning to be redirected towards her like a lightning rod.
This proved to be a very effective defense tactic…but…there was something weird that occurred every time the frog puppet did this drive-by lighting rod maneuver.
For reasons beyond the understanding of Zhen Yan, Zhen Long and Zhen Lao, the three of them swore they could feel feelings of irritation, annoyance and pure worry radiating off of the jade puppet every time the frog puppet flew by either of them and from the frog puppet…they picked up the same feelings someone give off when they’re being recklessly suicidal for no reason other than wanting to not think about something.
These thoughts and feelings should have been impossible, since puppets shouldn’t have thoughts or feelings.
The only one who understood that maybe these feelings were a sign of something more was Zhen Shi.
‘That woman said Zhen Liu’s puppets might become sentient in the future on their own…in that case, is it normal for a budding consciousness to be so reckless?’
Zhen Shi made a reminder to himself to talk to his grandson later about his puppet’s developing personalities, while he may not have experience dealing with growing sentience, he did raise seven children and a whole slew of aether beast pups of all shapes, size and species.
Developing puppets and developing humans are almost the same thing, right?
‘Alright, enough thoughts, it’s time to get back into the fray and…what the fuck is that?’
Just as Zhen Shi was about to get back to throwing punches, strange movement occurring behind him caught his attention.
‘What the hell is going on back there?’
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[Hurricroak, what the hell are you doing?]
[What? I’m just running distraction and giving the others an opportunity to strike, duh. It’s a solid battle tactic.]
[That’s not what I meant and…you know what? We’ll discuss after we kill this…what the hell am I hearing?]
[What are you-wait…it sounds a lot like…rhythmic…hissing? What the fuck?]
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Inside the theater of Zhen Ye’s mind…
[Oh, what’s this?.] the automaton asked with a bemused look on her face as she stared down at Zhen Ye, [it seems like you just came to a realization of some kind. That maybe, being in the spotlight isn’t so harrowing if it’s for the right reasons…or perhaps, the otter caught your tongue?]
Zhen Ye was taken aback by the automaton’s choice of words, but was ultimately still silent. He had a lot to think about right now.
To his core, Zhen Ye hated the idea of being the center of attention, or rather, he hated the idea of being perceived in the first place.
He had managed to get to a point in his life where he didn’t react adversely when his family called out for him, but when it came to friends or strangers, he would still flinch a bit.
This was especially bad when he was alone and dealing with strangers, immediately going mute as soon as he was addressed.
However…this wasn’t enough for him.
Zhen Ye had always wondered how different he would have been had he not fallen into that room, this stupid room that was distorted into looking like a theater.
Would he have been louder in his day to day?
Would he not start panicking when people would start staring at him?
Would he even still be raising snakes to this day?
These questions would pop into his mind now and again, with no rhyme or reason as to why they would pop up.
In fact, those same questions were popping up now, especially since he was in a room that frankly should have sent him into a panic attack by now.
However, perhaps because the automaton didn’t care about Zhen Ye’s inner turmoil, or because she believed they had better things to worry about, she decided to get to the point of why he was here and what was going on.
[Elder Zhen Ye,] the automaton said in a more formal tone, [as of this moment you are at crossroads. For a majority of your life, you have chosen to take the role of a background character, of a stagehand who does all he can to be unseen. Someone who lets others take the spotlight while you hide in the dark…but deep down, you want to be something more than that. Don’t you?]
Zhen Ye was getting used to being shocked at this point to have a strong reaction to the automaton’s words, it still threw him off like crazy though how accurately she had described his issues.
[The thing about being the center of attention, is that not all attention thrown your way is good,] the automaton continued,[ while some will love the performance you put on stage, others will look down on your craft, call you names, insult your dignity and some may even take your life just because they hated the way you said a line or improvised a move in a dance routine. But the thing is, they’re not the ones on stage…you are.]
Despite how simple these words sounded, Zhen Ye couldn’t help but find these words strangely profound. Something in his mind shifted as soon as these words were said.
[And so I ask thee…who decides whether or not you should take the stage? Those who hate you? Those who love you? Or you?,] the automaton asked as she gestured with her hands the choices he could make.
[But before you answer right away, keep in mind, we’re on a stage and there is an adoring audience just dozing away…shouldn’t you give them a wake up call?]
Zhen Ye was quiet for a moment as he prepared himself to do something he thought was incredibly stupid.
Determination in his heart, resolution in his head and pure dread boiling in his stomach, Zhen Ye turned away from the automaton and took a spot that he assumed was center stage.
As if sensing his intent, the spotlights in the scaffolding above began to redirect all of their light towards him.
‘Huh…did all of these beasts always look so small?,’ Zhen Ye thought to himself as he stared at the “crowd” of Sound Eaters.
He knew the danger they posed.
He understood what would happen if he made a sound.
But as of this moment…he didn’t give a single flying fuck.
Zhen Ye took a deep breath, possibly the biggest in his lifetime until his lungs felt like they were going to burst and then he…
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“Godsdammit! Is there no end to these fucking otters?!”
“Xiao Tai! Language!”
“Mother, I am trying to save your life, I think I’m allowed to swear!”
For who knows how long at this point, Zhen Tai had been fighting off Ravager Otters that had been trying to devour his injured mother, one after the other.
Normally, he wouldn’t have to worry about such a thing, due to his mother being a rather formidable Aether Master like father, but the little bastards managed to get in a cheap shot early and injure her leg in the process.
Now it was up to him to make sure nothing happened to her until father arrived to save their asses…hopefully.
While Zhen Tai wasn’t entirely sure if his father was aware of his and mother’s predicament, due to them being separated by the chaos of conflict, he didn’t exactly have any other option except despair and death.
Non-ideal things to settle on when a battle is going on.
“Come on you bastards! I can keep going all-!”
“Xiao Tai! Look out!”
“What?”
“ROAR!”
“SHIT!”
Just before he could boast about being able to keep fighting, yet another Ravager Otter appeared from the depths and primed itself to attack the energetic young man and his mother.
However, unlike the other Ravager Otters up to this point, this one was significantly bigger and a lot more vicious looking.
Zhen Tai barely had to sweep his senses across to understand that this new monster was a full stage stronger than himself.
In short, he was fucked.
“Fuck!”
“XIAO TAI!”
The second tier Ravager Otter lunged at the young man, ready to bite down and crush his bones into dust.
‘Is…is this how I die?’
However, just as the shadow of death was about to take Zhen Tai…
“HISSSSSSSSSSSS!”
“What?”
The sound of a roaring hiss stole his attention, and caused all of the Ravager Otters in the area to pause as well.
Compelled by the sound, both man and beasts turned to see what was the source.
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“Huh…wasn’t expecting that,” Zhen Liu commented at the turn of events.
He had no idea how a kaijin based on “attention” would empower someone, but hey, this worked.
