Quite literally the next day...
"Phew. Alright, that’s enough of the basics, time to go to stress test my other new skills{and possibly rub one out in public,} " Zhen Liu said to himself as he exited the clan’s training arena.
A bit after learning about Zhen Hai’s plight with Bellona Ecaredies, Jin Fang had finally returned with some medicine that would help Zhen Liu recover a bit faster. She was also covered in some light scratches, but given the Zhen Clan’s line of work, it could have very well been a rogue pet.
The medicine did it’s job and Zhen Liu was back on his feet in a matter of minutes, granted, he was going to postpone any additional training and/or testing till the next day, i.e., today.
As Zhen Liu was making his to his preferred wasteland training ground,while cutting through a courtyard, he spotted out of the corner of eye his cousin, Zhen Guo, preparing for his outing with Bellona.
This consisted of his cousin staring into a fully body mirror, while comparing two very different outfits with each other.
"Hmmm. Casual or elegant...," Zhen Guo muttered while comparing the two outfits in his hands.
Zhen Liu’s relationship with Zhen Guo could best be described as...prickly yet civil.
Technically speaking, Zhen Guo was one of the three cousins who used to pick on Zhen Liu on the regular, but it wasn’t due to his status as a cripple. Rather, it was over how he looked.
Zhen Guo was a tad...vain, the irony of his branch being in charge of peafowls was not lost on Zhen Liu, and as a result tended to treat those who didn’t look as good as him, with a bit more disdain than necessary. Granted, he never showed this disrespect towards his elders or those more powerful than him.
The worst part was that this disdain wasn’t unwarranted. The man was objectively pretty, with a glamourous sense of taste to match. If his personality was a bit more personable, he’d be the whole package as it were.
Zhen Liu was going to go over and wish his cousin luck on his upcoming date, but decided against it once he thought it over a bit.
’If Bellona is as prickly with Zhen Guo as she was with Zhen Hai...yeah, I’ll just wait till then.’
As such, Zhen Liu proceeded to be on his way, and leave Zhen Guo to his own devices.
"Elegantly casual it is!," Zhen Liu heard Zhen Guo shout. Zhen Liu couldn’t help but roll his eyes at this shout.
________________________________________________
Once Zhen Liu reached his favorite wasteland, he didn’t immediately summon the kaijin, but consulted his brain friend...System...presumed spirit of the Library in his head.
’Alright, how does this [Zako Creation] thing work? Also, what’s a zako?, {Are they fuckable?}’
’That’s it?’ {No foreplay?}
’Huh...alright then...so what counts as small materials,{because I like em big}.’
’Huh...I think I have some of those things, {in my butt.}’
Zhen Liu rummaged around in his pockets for a moment before pulling out a copper coin, a cat’s tooth, a dragon’s tooth and an acorn of all things. He wasn’t entirely sure if this stuff counted, so he asked for confirmation.
’...Okay...how will know when to do that?’
With the random assortment of crap in hand, Zhen Liu focused his mind and began to channel [Chaos] from the depths of his soul into them.
Of the items in his hands, the teeth began to glow first, followed by the acorn and finally the coin.
Once they were fully powered up, as instructed, Zhen Liu proceeded to throw the items several feet away from him.
The random trash materials exploded into colorful clouds of smoke as soon as they made contact with the ground. As the smoke began to clear up, Zhen Liu could make out humanoid shapes appearing from within.
When the smoke finally cleared, four different looking "zakos" were now standing before Zhen Liu, standing at attention like soldiers.
"Huh...they look surprisingly human...minus the faces...and their arms," Zhen Liu commented as he looked over the new zakos. Each zako had a distinct look to them, based on what item was used to make them. Although, all four of them did share the trait of having no faces, or at least an ill-defined face.
The zako on the far left was a copper golem with arms that ended in a pair of oversized fists that looked like a mix of a boxing gloves and gauntlets. It was safe to assume that this zako was made from the coin in Zhen Liu’s pocket.
The two in the middle were actually somewhat similar looking in the sense that they both looked like skeletal soldiers, but their armors and helmet-like heads made them look distinct.
The one on the left had hide armor and a helmet/face that reminded Zhen Liu of a cat.
The one on the right on the other hand was wearing scale armor, had a reptile-like head with a pair of horns. The bones beneath the armor were both surprisingly similar.
Lastly, the one on the far left reminded Zhen Liu of a dryad, because it was a completely wooden somewhat feminine looking fighter, complete with viney leaf hair.
As Zhen Liu finished looking over the zako, a realization dawned on him.
’Wait a minute...are these guys basically like the Foot Soldiers from-’.
’... Godsdammit I’m becoming a Saturday morning cartoon villain.’
’Wait, this world has ice cream?’