Chapter 855: ~I heard a rumor~
‘Screw it, we ball.’
‘Screw it, we ball tomorrow. Can you guys-‘
=Keep the rogues zakos locked up right next to those three “investigators” so that their desires and feeling feed into their growth and cause them to have a change in heart?=
‘I was gonna say locked up for later, but heavens in a headlock, what the fuck?’
‘I really need to review the files on the previous kaijin lords, aren’t I?’
<=Start with the Undead Drunkard, he is guilty of having used this ploy, multiple times.=>
{I resent that statement.}
‘Of course…wait, did mother leave with or without Tiny and Mini?’
<=Without.=>
‘Cool.’
<=The girls also opted to stay behind too.=>
‘Well that’s just sweet.’
___Several hours and a hippo ride later…___
On a warm summer evening, Stone Claw City was buzzing with rumors and activity.
Did a super sect elder show up to try and recruit up and coming talented warriors?
No.
Did a rare treasure get discovered near the area?
No.
Did yet another new wandering ruin popped up and caused everyone to go after it like a gold rush?
Yes, but people we’re still preparing because the interior was way different than expected, so that wasn’t the reason why people were buzzing with excitement.
What got people buzzing today was the same topic that’s been on everyone’s lips for months on end now that they were the local hegemony.
The topic that got everyone wondering if they were blessed by the gods.
The topic that became a part of everyone’s day to day knowledge since a certain someone came back from the dead like a vengeful miracle.
That topic was none other than Zhen Clan and their latest activities. More specifically, it was about the fact that they were the cause for several wide scale explosions and attracting…some interesting characters.
…
In the dining room of a tavern…
“Hey, did you hear? The Stone Claw Arena exploded this morning!”
“Who hadn’t? There was smoke pouring out of the place! What happened?”
“I’m not sure, but I think Georgios was there earlier today. Mind telling us a tale?”
“Alright, you know how the Zhen Clan had been posting these bi-weekly tourneys to attract business and show-off their skills?”
“Yeah.”
“I hear they’ve actually been doing that to train their disciples through trial by fire, but please continue.”
“Besides the point, but it was during this new event of their that some purple looking aetherii popped in out of nowhere and started burning the place down, firing off attacks made with this weird purple flame!”
“Whoa. So he was the source of the explosions?”
“Partially, but it gets weirder from there.”
“How weird?”
…
In the work area of a tailor’s shop…
“When Olstenna showed up, everyone started panicking like they were headless chickens!”
“Really? All those rough and tumble warriors started panicking over one guy?”
“Not just one guy, an aetherii! Those blokes manipulate elemental aether as easily as I breathe! Or as quickly as Maude eats cheese tarts!”
“Oh screw off, Ellen!”
“Hah!”
“Well don’t stop there, what else happened?”
“Alright, alright, where was I…ah! After Olstenna showed up, he trounced those cute little warriors Mad Stitch and Mad Ink, right? And just when things were going sideways, another mysterious warrior showed up out of nowhere, looking like something out of fairy tale!”
“Really? A dashing knight?”
“Pfft! No! A walking knightmare if anything! The man showed up with a giant axe made of bone!”
“Holy shit!”
“Yeah! Although…he did have this weird charm to him…”
“It was that kind of thinking that led to your ex-husband!”
“Oh, screw off Maude!”
…
In the halls where mercenaries gathered…
“And you’d think that would be the end of it, right? An aetherii warrior with the [Violet Berserk Spring Flame} and some crazy axe warrior with fucking [Ghost Flames], but no! The fucking Calamity Sisters rolled up out of nowhere and started attacking the axe warrior, alongside this crazy knight armed with a mace bigger than my head! That knight guy, by the way, was covered in a whole mess of religious iconography, but frankly, I have no idea what denomination he was.”
“Whoa…wait, I thought the Calamity Sisters despite being wanted in like five different kingdoms, including this one, were living the high life as the head killers for one of the Underworld Sects. Why are they be bumming all the way out here in the sticks for?”
“Who knows? Maybe they heard about the cuisine?”
“Doubt it.”
“Man, how’d you manage to see all of this? I thought the Zhen Clan evacuated everyone via catapult spiders!”
“Oh come on, you remember I got detachable eye, right?”
“Oh yeah…man, your bloodline skill is weird, man.”
“It’s useful! I just wish I heard what everyone was saying at that time…”
…
In dark alleys where secret exchanges happen…
“So…the Four Wings Church had decided to send an Inquisitor there? Why?”
“I’m not sure sir, but they showed great interest in…”
“In whom? Don’t trail off like that unless you have something concrete to say.”
“I do master, it’s just…is this is a secure channel?”
“Nobody should be listening in. Otherwise, I would’ve sensed it.”
“Is it secure even from those from within the organization?”
“…it can be…why?”
“Remember when you said, to report back to you if I heard a certain word? A word that hadn’t spoken in over three centuries?”
“You don’t mean…”
“I heard it, sir…along side another that…”
“Wait. Allow me a moment to prepare a more suitable environment. If what you said is true, then we’ll need the highest level of privacy.”
“Of course, master.”
…
In late night stalls…
“But yeah, after that weird knight and those crazy sisters showed up, that mysterious axeman from before bailed for some reason. Shortly after that, KABOOM! Crazy weird explosion happen and a whole mess of people disappeared.”
“Except for the sisters and that knight, right?”
“Oh yeah! Those two began to just look all confused like until a pair of elders from the Zhen Clan showed up to assess the damage, assumed those toe had something to do with everything and another fight broke out! Only this time it was between a pair of Aether Masters and a trio of warriors I swore were all Lords at least.”
“Oof! I know the Zhen Clan is tough, but I don’t think they can punch up that high.”
“Crazy thing about that…they totally did and they were even!”
“Even? How?”
“I don’t know, but those elders…I think they’re getting close to breaking through.”
“Damn…Zhen Clan already turning out to be even more powerful than the Wolfe Family ever was.”
“Yeah, and that’s just their older generation warriors. Imagine how tough their children are going to be after they grow up._
“Yeah…hey, wait a minute…”
…
On the city streets…
“So wait, what does any of this have to do with Zhen Clan? Sounds like people were just using their space without paying the proper respects. I see that shit happen in taverns all the time!”
“That’s the thing. After all the explosions rocked the place, the Zhen Clan scions, all seven of them upped and disappeared for hours on end, with no one seeming to have any clue on where they went!”
“Whoa! That’s-wait, several hours?”
“How the hell could you possibly know a detail like that?”
“I know this because, one of my cousins work for the Zhen Clan stables. For some reason, around the time the Zhen Clan scions disappeared, those two Aether Lord secretaries of the Zhen Clan showed up and rented out a pair of travel type aether beasts. Several hours later, they came back with the Zhen Clan scions in tow!”
“Wait, what? How did they know where they disappeared off to?”
“Don’t know! But it gets weirder from there. Because when the scions came back, they came back with armfuls of aether arts each!”
“Armfuls?”
“Each?!”
“I’m not sure where they went or what the found exactly, but it must’ve been somewhere pretty loaded for them to come back with that many aether arts.”
“Huh…you think this is something their elders know, or…”
“Don’t know. I’d give anything to be a fly on that wall though…”
…
Rumors and gossip about what had happened in the arena spread throughout the town like wildfire, but as for the ones who actually knew what happened…they weren’t telling anyone outside of their family anything.
Especially since even their information was a bit…twisted.
________________________________________
Meanwhile, in the Inner Halls of the Zhen Clan estate…
“I’m sorry children, but…can you repeat some thing for me?”
“Sure, patriarch. Like what?”
“Start back to…being sucked into a spatial explosion?”
“Oh, well…”
