Chapter 81: Fireproof, Fire powered, Fire… Dispenser
Jin Fang just stood there stupefied as she watched her boyfriend, quite literally throw himself into a bonfire.
She initially rushed forward to try and pull him out since it was too late for her to stop, but then noticed that the kaijin, who were meant to rescue his ass, didn’t move to do anything. They just stood there and watched him burn.
“S-shouldn’t you two be trying to save him?!”
“No need,” Nepherage stated, “he’s fine.”
“Fine…,” Frosttusk concurred.
“What?”
“Hey! Turns out I’m fireproof now,” Zhen Liu shouted towards Jin Fang in a surprisingly relaxed tone, “And it looks like my underpants are fireproof too!”
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Skill: Ignati Resistance I
The owner of this skill is now immune to the effects of mundane fires and heat up to 1100 degrees Celsius. Anything hotter than that may result in burns.
More practically, the user now takes 30% less damage from arts pertaining to Ignati aether, as long as the source is at or equal to the user’s power level.
This skill can be “upgraded”.
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As of this moment, Zhen Liu was just laying in a pile of enflamed bonfire mushrooms, like he was laying upon a warm bed. It was oddly comfortable to him, rolling about in burning cinders and charcoal mushrooms.
‘Wonder if this is good or bad for my skin…,’ he thought to himself.
Jin Fang was stunned silent at the sight of how relaxed Zhen Liu was…and the fact that he was still in his underwear.
“How did those not get burned off yet…,” Jin Fing mumbled as she stared at Jin Fang rolling around in the flames and ash like a weird dog. If he wasn’t her boyfriend, she’d find this weird…er.
‘Alright, let’s try this [Ignati Absorption] thing now…’.
Zhen Liu stopped rolling around in the bonfire at this point and began to sit crosslegged within the flames and smoke.Once he was comfortable, Zhen Liu concentrated his mind for a bit until he felt something akin to switch inside him flip on.
‘Alright, now I just…inhale?’
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Skill: Iganti Absorption I
The owner of this skill is able to consume sources of Ignati aether as fire, smoke and heat and convert it into the owner’s aether expression.
Can also absorb medicines and items infused with Ignati aether at 20% efficiency.
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Zhen Liu pursed his lips and began to suck in the air around him, absorbing the smoke, the heat and the flames around him until nothing but ashes were left.
“Brap! Excuse me.”
A small cloud of smoke and soot left his mouth as he burped from strange satisfaction. His skin looked surprisingly clean despite all the debris.
‘Tastes like spicy wontons…wait, shit am I N*tsu now?’
“How did he-wait, no, nope. I should save my shock and questions for when he’s done with…whatever is going on!,” Jin Fang told herself in exasperation. She would’ve found Zhen Liu’s strange series of actions more sensible if he was cultivating an Ignati formula, but he wasn’t so everything that was happening was pure insanity to her.
[Nepherage, I need you to come over here for the next test.]
[Aye, milord.]
As Nepherage made her way over to his position, Zhen Liu got up from his crosslegged seat and prepared his mindset for this next part.
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Skill: Aether Expression Mask-Ignati
The owner of this skill can convert their personal aether expression into that of the Ignati affinity.
This converted aether can be used to empower kaijin, results may vary depending on the kaijin.
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“I am here, what do you need milord?”
“Alright, I need you to stand over there and get ready to use [Eruption Knuckle]. I’m gonna be testing something.”
“Whatever you say milord.”
A universal truth that the Zhen Clan prescribed to was that the most valuable treasures and arts to a warrior, were the ones that were the most compatible with them.
Everybody’s different, everybody’s got different roads to success, it would make no sense to try and force everyone to run when at least half of them are better fliers or swimmers.
Out of Zhen Liu’s current kaijin, Nepherage was the only one who could technically use Ignati arts, meaning that if Zhen Liu could convert his neutral Omni affinity aether to fire Ignati affinity aether, she’d benefit more from it than Frosttusk…probably.
‘Unless I decide to do something cheeky, let’s just go for straight forward for now.’
[Ready for your signal, milord!]
[Cool, do it now.]
[Eruption Knuckle!]
Nepherage’s fist began to glow and crack like an active volcano as she cycled Ignati and Terraqi aether through it.
*BANG!*
She slammed her fist into the ground and released an explosion of energy that left a pit about one meter in diameter and half a meter deep.
[Alright, now let’s try to empower it with my default aether…] Zhen Liu started to funnel his aether into his connection with Nepherage. He could feel grow a step stronger as she incorporated his aether.
[Now, again!]
[Eruption Knuckle!]
*BOOM!*
The resulting crater this time around was three meters in diameter and now a full meter deep. While Zhen Liu understood he could enhance his kaijin’s abilities, he now had numerical and physical proof.
‘Alright…let’s try this now…’
Zhen Liu closed his eyes and focused his mind on activating this new skill. As he did, a qualitative and visual change seemed to come over him without his notice.
A strange mask made of Ignati aether in the shape of a salamander’s head began to form around Zhen Liu’s face as the air around suddenly grew more aggressive, not bloodlust just…angry.
Once the change was complete, Zhen Liu began to channel his aether into Nepherage once more, who now started glowing red.
[Ooooh, that’s different,] Nepherage commented with a shudder. Nepherage’s fists began to glow even brighter as this new aether started to glow into her.
[One last time!]
[Eruption Knuckle!]
*KA-BOOM!*
This time around, the explosion caused by Nepherage’s art did more than cause a crater, it formed a massive fireball that lasted for a few seconds before disappearing.
As the fire and smoke cleared, a crater about thirty meters in diameter had formed due to the impact. Weirdly enough however it was still only about a meter deep.
Zhen Liu was flabbergasted by the results after he had stopped focusing and brought his attention back to the present.
‘Huh…that’s…a marked difference. Why do I feel more exhausted than normal?”
