Chapter 42: Perceptive Woman and Coincidences be damned
Daria Nerisa-Zhen walked into Zhen Liu’s room as the aforementioned Zhen Liu was busy mulling over the ways he could help win the upcoming Prospector’s Challenge. She looked a bit surprised.
“Didn’t you say you were going to be busy modifying your puppet?”
“I am, just planning everything out in my head before putting it into action.”
Daria gave Zhen Liu a mildly sharp stare at that statement.
“… you’re stuck on what to do, aren’t you?”
“…yes.”
Daria let out a small sigh while shaking her head, a caring smile forming on her face. “Why don’t you let me take a look?”
This question caught Zhen Liu a bit off guard. “Uhh…”
“I may not know much about aether puppets, but I can at least provide some fresh perspective,” his mother justified, “Besides, I might as well get a closer look on the thing that served as the key to salvage my son’s future.”
…
‘Just because that’s true doesn’t mean that it doesn’t sting…’
Zhen Liu let out a small sigh before preparing to summon Nepherage. He made sure to instruct her to pretend to be a puppet before summoning her though.
[As you wish milord.]
Nepherage’s bracelet glowed as Zhen Liu channeled aether into it, moments later, the bracelet jumped off of Zhen Liusm’s wrist before transforming into Nepherage. This was technically the first time Daria had seen Nepherage be summoned up close, so she was a bit stunned at the whole affair.
As Nepherage stood there, still as a mannequin, Daria walked up to her to take a closer look.
With a critical eye and a curious look, Daria began to scrutinize everything about Nepherage.
“Hmmm, Aged Crimson Jade? Pricy stuff,” Daria commented as she looked closely at Nepherage’s limbs, “And not a single cut, nick or scratch. An artisan’s effort.”
[Milord, what is she doing?]
[Bear with it, I think she’s evaluating your form.]
[If you say-Hey!]
“Huh, what a shapely buttocks,” Daria observed while running her hands on Nepherage’s sides all the way up to the chest. The fact that she did from behind Nepherage just made the whole image awkward with a capital “A”. “A smooth waistline and breasts as well? The one who made this was either a pervert or obsessive over details. Very strange.”
Once Daria was done feeling up Nepherage’s chest, she walked around to the front and held Nepherage’s head in her hands like a mother would hold a child’s. She began to stare into the kaijin’s eyes, a mysterious look in her own.
Zhen Liu couldn’t describe it, but it felt like Daria was measuring up Nepherage’s soul. But she was only a puppet in his mother’s eyes…right?
“Huh…a fierce visage akin to the flying warriors of the Radiant Star Kingdom. Their beauty matched only by their ferocity…”
“Huh?”
“Nothing dear,” Daria said after letting go of Nepherage’s face, “Just something I remembered hearing from a traveling bard.” She gave one Nepherage one last look up and down before making her way towards the door.
As she left, she gave Zhen Liu a bit of advice.
“Nepherage is a good all-rounder like Zhen Yue so you don’t necessarily have to modify her, but if you can gear her more towards defense…I think it’ll help benefit Zhen Hai and Zhen Yue at the same time. They’re both rather…reckless and will need solid foundations to support them.”
“Huh…thanks for the advice, mother.”
“Anytime.”
As Daria left, Zhen Liu began to rack his brain for any defensive arts that Nepherage could use.
[Milord? I’ve been playing the mute rather well these past few days, right?]
[Uh yeah?]
[And you’ve only mentioned my name when we’re alone or when just the young miss is around, right?]
[That sounds about right.]
[Then why does your mother know my name?]
[What are you…wait a minute…]
Zhen Liu grimaced as the realization dawned on him. He stared at the door his mother just left through, a swirl of thoughts and emotions in his head.
‘How did she…know?’
_________________________________________________
‘So that creature is indeed loyal to my son,’ Daria thought as she walked through the halls, ‘The look in her eyes…it reminded me of someone…’
_________________________________________________
A few days later
On the outskirts of Stone Claw City, in the middle of some recently claimed badlands, a large gathering of people was underway.
This large gathering wasn’t a gaggle of migrants or a festival of random passerbys, instead, it was a gathering of the many factions of Stone Claw City who had brought along their best and brightest disciples.
Normally these small gangs, schools, families and clans would never mingle this openly with one another. They all had their own internal politics and weren’t usually at liberty to fraternize with one another, lest they anger allies or make new enemies.
But, there was one event that they were all willing to put aside their differences and let their younger generations do fighting for them: The Prospector’s Challenge.
“ATTENTION!,” a powerful voice called out to the crowd. The people quickly stopped their own conversations and turned towards the source.
A powerful looking man, standing at least seven feet tall and covered head to toe in scars stood out, in his right hand was a massive hammer as big as he was and looking ten times as heavy. This man was none other than the leader of the Diggers Union, Grand Miner Orgo.
“The competition will begin in five minutes! Participating teams, please gather to the front so you can be assigned your assistant Digger!”
At this announcement, a sizable chunk of the crowd began to separate from the rest and head towards Orgo’s position. As they walked, they began to condense themselves into teams of three. Amongst this crowd of youths, the Zhen Clan team was about to meet their assigned Digger.
While the team may have looked cohesive from afar, what with them being family and wearing somewhat matching uniforms, if one were to get close enough, they’d notice the awkward tension among them.
“So…think we’ll get an experienced Digger?,” Zhen Liu began trying to break the ice. Zhen Liu wasn’t that close with his cousins, and he could feel them judging him with their gazes. He needed to do something to break the tension, or he would’ve gone nuts.
But before his cousins could answer, the aforementioned digger showed up. Zhen Hai and Zhen Yue looked rather nonplussed at the arrival of their digger, but Zhen Liu had a rather shocked grimace.
‘Are you kidding me?’
“You guys the Zhen Clan team? I’m Sullivan. Sullivan Quartz.”
The lanky digger reached out a hand and offered it to the Zhen Clan young heirs to shake.
