Chapter 52: Environment matters
When one is stuck in virtual isolation for days on end with no activities other than to eat, sleep, read and repeat ad nauseam, one tends to read up on a bunch of random bullshit.
As Zhen Liu watched his cousins, Sullivan and Nepherage fight off the weird corpse monsters, something about the situation seemed…bizarre to him.
‘While I don’t doubt a lot of people died in this crazy place, I don’t think enough people did to warrant walking corpses…’
Undead monstrosities were something that occured on Valresta, but they only occured under very specific conditions.
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The thing about the seven main aether types is that they are basically everywhere, but the balances of these types vary from place to place and biome to biome.
For example, deserts tend to have a heavy mix of Terrati, Aeroqi and Ignari aether in a randomized ratio, forests are a mix of Aquarii and Terrati in a 2:3 ratio while swamps are similar to forests but the ratio for them is 3:2. However, this is not always the case.
When a particular type of aether or a very specific mix of aether ends up getting concentrated in a single location, things can get very, very weird.
On the Dozing Salamander continent for example, there is an area called the Everblaze Forest.
Once upon a time, it used to be a very normal forest with not much going on for it except maybe some tasty apples and a delicious boar populace. Until one day, a ninth grade Scorch Heart Lindwurm rolled up and made it’s home there.
The sheer amount of fire aether radiating off of the damn thing ended up merging with the surrounding landscape and things got weird from there.
Now the flora is perpetually on fire, the apples are now unusually spicy and Magma Blood Boars roam the forest.
In essence,aether affects environments and vice versa. Needless to say, even man made structures and events can cause some…unusual changes.
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‘From what I remember reading, the undead tend to manifest in places where the area is thick with death aether. Former battlegrounds, necropolises, unusually brutal and prolific butcher shops. Granted it also has to be thick enough that one can literally taste death on their tongues. While I’m sure people have died in this place before, it’s not enough to make monsters…’
While Zhen Liu kept thinking about the possibilities, the answer to his question would soon be revealed due to a sudden change in the battle.
[Cetus Tail Kick!]
[Moon Jaguar Claw!]
For almost this entire fight, the corpses were the ones on the offensive, barely giving the Zhen Clan team any room to counter. However, Zhen Hai and Zhen Yue soon adapted to the corpses’ movement and managed to finally land devastating blows on them.
Zhen Hai directly kicked his undead opponent in the ribcage, separating it’s torso from it’s abdomen. At the same time, Zhen Yue had managed to clean hit with her [Moon Jaguar Claws] and knocked the head of her opponent’s, clean off of it’s shoulders.
These types of blows would normally be fatal, but then something weird happened.
“What the hell is that?!”
The separated torso flew through the air only for a moment before being held back by a red tendril connected to it’s companion abdomen. As for the severed, a fleshy black tendril shot out of the neck stump and precisely pierced the bottom of the severed head. Once the tendril was firmly latched in, it quickly retracted and fixed the head back into place. The whole event made for an unsettling sight. On the plus side, this had forced the corpse monsters back, giving the team some breathing room.
“Disgusting,” Zhen Yue commented as she try to hold back a gag.
“Guess we just have to smash them until there’s nothing left,” Zhen Hai chuckled as he cracked his knuckles and began to circulate his aether even more vigorously. He was all set to go round three with these unusually active corpses, but Zhen Liu pulled him back before he could.
“Huh?! What gives?”
“Don’t bother. I just realized those things are Spinal Puppet Worms. Unless you got an Ignati art in your repertoire, you’re wasting time and energy.”
Zhen Hai was about to retort, until he heard the name of the beast. “Oh shit…”
“Uhhh, what’s a Spinal Puppet Worm?,” Sullivan asked, “Aren’t those things just corpse monsters?”
“Spinal Puppet Worms are second grade aether beast parasites,” Zhen Yue began to explain, “They’re not very strong on their own, but have the ability to take over bodies by inserting themselves into their victim’s spinal columns. They’ll then drain away everything, turning the bodies into nigh indestructible corpse armor.”
“Oh, that-wait, what do you mean nigh indestructible?”
“Spinal Puppet Worms absolutely detest heat. It makes them weaker and rots away their corpse hosts. Unfortunately, none of us know any Ignati arts.”
“Not necessarily,” Zhen Liu interjected, “Zhen Hai, you have any way to condense and fire Aquarii aether?”
Zhen Hai looked perplexed by his cousin’s query. “Yeah, why?”
“Cool.” [Nepherage, grab those corpses and use “Magma Armor”.]
[At once milord.]
Nepherage rushed towards Spinal Puppet Worm corpses and proceeded to grab them both by the neck and lift them into the air. As she did though, fleshy tendrils began to shoot out of the corpses and tried to burrow their way into Nepherage’s flesh.
[Magma Armor!]
But before the tendrils could get a foothold and penetrate Nepherage’s “skin”, a layer of molten rock suddenly formed around her body.
The tendrils recoiled in fear and hate as the heat radiating from the magma deterred their progress.
[Apologies Nepherage, this next part might sting a little.]
[It’s fine milord.]
“Now then, Zhen Hai if you would be so kind?”
“I don’t got a clear shot, your puppet is too much in the…ooooh. I got ya.” As Zhen Hai began to circulate his aether, the image of a large monstrous archerfish formed around him. When the image began to solidify, Zhen Hai brought his hands together.
[Ballistafish Bolt Blast!]
Zhen Hai fired a large blast of water that slammed into Nepherage’s form, cooling her magma armor and causing an explosion of steam.
A strange high pitched shrill could be heard as the steam cloud engulfed the two corpses.
