Chapter 598: Small Talking with distant (future) In-Laws
=Shit. Looks like you win the bet on this one.=
=Revenge is a more logical motivator to initiate conversation with possibly hostile forces than distant familial relations by law…=
=You mean game of th$(&?=
=Cough! Bleh…copyright protection.=
=Consistently be one for more than thirty minutes.=
~~~~~~~~
‘Question. Did y’all-‘
=Make sure to set up countermeasures in regards to telepathy and the like?=
‘Gratzi.’
<=De nada.=>
_____________________________________________
‘Oh motherfucker, why did she have to initiate conversation?!’
“Did you say something?”
“No! No I did not,” Zhen Liu quickly denied while suppressing a grimace and doing his absolute best to make his voice sound as natural as possible.
“Man, it’s weird using Hoof Speech again on someone who isn’t family…”
“Well…technically we’re family…in the sense your cousin is marrying mine.”
“True.”
“And the fact that you yourself is courting one of my other cousins.”
‘FUCK!’
“I mean…yeah?”
“Then you can consider this a conversation between family members and nothing more.”
“Right…”
Due to having a close relationship with Bellona, and learning about a certain secret requirement of her home kingdom, Zhen Liu had deemed it necessary to learn more about the current cold civil war that was brewing over there.
As such, Zhen Liu had familiarized himself with as many or the names and general political backgrounds of each of these would-be monarchs. Therefore, he knew who Iona Ecaredies was…and how he should avoid her as much as possible.
At least, that was the idea he got from all of the papers and books he read in regards to her and her faction…as well as what Bellona shared with him through conversation and letters.
“So my newly minted distant cousin to be,” Iona continued a friendly yet sinister smile appearing on her objectively pretty face, “how are you finding this tournament so far?”
“Well, seeing how we’ve only done the qualifier round for now…it’s alright.”
“Really?,” Iona asked in an incredulous tone.
“Even when you were forced to fight five on one?”
“Yeah…that’s why I said ‘alright’ and not ‘good’. Fighting five people at once is doable but tiring and annoying. Simple as that.”
“Simple as that indeed…”
On a surface level interaction, Iona Ecaredies was an objectively beautiful sheep bloodliner that carried herself with the confidence that came from being born into royalty and spoke with the etiquette and elegance that was associated with her station. In essence, she gave off that vibe associated with royal older sister types, the kind that would blackmail and seduce someone all in the same breath.
Beneath that obviously soft exterior, Zhen Liu could smell the ambition baked into her bones and how she would use anyone as a stepping stone to achieve those goals.
That and just like how Bellona’s eyes betrayed her intentions and demeanor, the same could be said for Iona, albeit, it was a bit more subtle.
Whether that was a natural instinct for her, or that Iona learned it after years of experience, since she was older than Bellona, was something Zhen Liu was curious about.
There was a difference between being naturally deceptive and learning how to be deceptive, after all.
“Anyways,” Zhen Liu continued the conversation, “what kind of opponent did you end up facing?
“Oh? Why would you want to know that?”
“Figured it’d be fair to ask since you saw what I had to deal with,” Zhen Liu answered honestly.
‘That and I because I know what kind of beasts we brought, I can use that knowledge as a rough estimate on how strong you really are.’
“Hmmm.”
In a moment when Zhen Liu swore was practiced, Iona adopted this thinking expression that seemed to highlight her best features and gave her this vibe of a troubled beauty trying not to embarrass herself over the simple act of telling a story.
‘Alright, damn, if Bellona hadn’t warned me about her beforehand, I’m pretty sure I would’ve fallen for these charm tactics by now,’ Zhen Liu observed as Iona kept up this expression for a couple more moments.
“Hmmm, I suppose you’re right that it is only fair. Besides, it’s not like this will affect future rounds,” Iona eventually agreed.
“I had to fight a Crimson-scaled King Cobra while in the middle of the forest. It wasn’t easy to say the least, but I managed,” Bellona answered with a modest tone.
Verbally, Zhen Liu answered with a simple: “Oh damn, that’s a difficult encounter.”
Mentally, Zhen Liu was cursing in a rapidfire manner because he was familiar with that type of aether beast…since it was his family that had brought it with them.
‘Shit,shit, shit! So she hit about as hard as a Grandmaster, great…’
A majority of the aether beasts that the branch clan brought as tribute were in the first and second tier, the bestial equivalents to Aether Acolytes and Aether Masters respectively.
However, mixed amongst them were a couple of third tier aether beasts that were more recently acquired, thanks to the advancements of the patriarch and three out of seven of his sons, and had yet to go through any training to make them more companionable aside from the basics. The only reason why they were able to bring these third tier aether beasts across the ocean and to the city in the first place was because they made sure to keep them sedate. It also helped that there were only about three such beasts that were brought with them, including the Crimson-scaled King Cobra.
Regardless, the fact that Iona managed to defeat a third tier aether beast in the same amount of time Zhen Liu used to beat an elite and four soldiers, meant that she was incredibly strong.
‘Another wolf in sheep’s clothing as it were,’ Zhen Liu mused at the revelation, an attempt to try and swallow his nervousness and worry.
“Now then, would you mind pointing out to me where my cousin’s fiance is fighting? He had talked about her before and has commented that she was quite the beauty. However, I wish to make that judgment for myself.”
‘I swear there’s a hidden agenda to that statement.’
“Sure thing, she is right over-”
“WOOOO!”
“Huh?”
But before Zhen Liu could say anything, the sound of loud cheering interrupted his train of thought and chain of action.
It wasn’t until he heard the Hero Elder speak that he understood why that cheering had occurred.
<
“FUCKING WHAT?!”
Evidently, there were a lot more dangerous elements hidden in this competition than Zhen Liu anticipated.
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Turning back the clock a bit…
Up in the skybox where the matriarch of the Zhen Clan was hosting both members of the side branch and an Imperial prince, an awkward atmosphere of pure tension could be felt if one walked into the room.
The reason for this tension was incredibly plain to see, as seated on both sides of Zhen Xun Tian were a pair of men who absolutely did not want to be near one another, much to the amusement of the woman in the middle.
A part of her wanted to force a dialogue between Jinju Yang and Zhen Shi in order to see what would happen.
Maybe they would make amends, maybe they would duel each other to the death, maybe the former realizes he had awkward feelings for the latter in a weird obsessive kind of way, but another part of her was more interested in the young warriors fighting in the [Myriad Marble Garden] before her.
This was especially the case when she heard her son make this announcement.
“Ooooh, talk about incredibly bad luck! Contestant Ren Jin Yan has drawn an aether beast challenge, but not just any aether beast challenge, for his opponent is an aether beast that carries the blood of a Furious Thunderscale Dragon! Behold! The Thunderscale Dragon Otter!”
“WHAT?!”
Shocked by the announcement, Zhen Shi stood up from his seat in order to make sure what he was hearing was correct. Had he not done this though, he would’ve noticed the look of surprise flitting across Prince JinJu Yang’s face before settling back down.
Much to his surprise and a touch of horror though, the Thunderscale Dragon Otter had indeed been sealed within one of the marbles and could be seen standing in the middle of an ancient looking arena, a sharp contrast to the more natural looking biomes that everyone else was fighting in.
“Impressive, no? The inclusion of the Dragon Otter was my son’s idea. He figured it would be an…interesting challenge for the lucky warrior who pulled it.”
It probably doesn’t need to be said…but interesting was an understatement here.
