[Yeowch. That looked like it hurt. Frosttusk, you okay amigo?]
[Yes...just surprised...]
[Good to hear...also, when did you learn how to do that counter freezing trick?]
[Swapped in...this morning...]
[Oi! Blinky, Bulky and Burny! I suggest you stop torturing that poor squid kid and get ready to bail. The old codfish with the cutter just noticed all the noise you three just made, and the Lord wants us quiet!,] Razor Maiden interrupted.
[On it....wait, when did you develop the ability to use similes?]
[I think that’s a metaphor.]
________________________________________________
’Well, I suppose there’s one thing I can thank that disgrace for,’ Zhen Wang thought between bites of his noodles and pork, ’they at least brought over some decent cuisine ideas with them.’
Zhen Wang was currently trying these so-called "wasteland soba noodles with roasted pork", assuming they were somewhat similar to the soba noodles back home.
Much to his surprise, that was mostly the case.
The wasteland soba noodles were bit a gritty and had a stronger overall flavor to them, but it paired well with the pork, which was roasted to perfection,
’I’d prefer fish, but I ain’t trusting anything that swims in-huh?’
Zhen Wang was just about to take another bite of his noodles when he sensed a sudden spike in Zhen Li’s aether...and then it suddenly stopping cold.
’Shit! Something’s wrong!,’ Zhen Wang thought to himself as he quickly got up from the table and bolted up the stairs of the tavern. It’s one thing to feel aether suddenly spike and then gradually calm down, it is another issue entirely when it suddenly spikes and stays spiked.
<> Zhen Wang cursed once he reached the top of the stairs and saw the state of his room’s door, namely that it was encased in heavy blue ice!
’It’s clearly the work of a high staged cultivator, but this feeling...something’s weird is mixed in!’
Being able to manifest ice isn’t necessarily a high level skill, but having it linger in environments where it shouldn’t normally manifest was definitely a sign of power. As for the strange energy mixed in...Zhen Wang wasn’t sure why, but detecting it caused his eye to twitch and his hand to shake.
There was something profound, dangerous and unfathomable to the extreme about this energy, and yet...he couldn’t put into words why it made him felt this way. It just...did.
’One, two, three, four...three unknowns and Zhen Li...and those three unknowns are radiating the same feeling as this ice! I have to get in there, now!’
Zhen Wang quickly entered a fighting stance and placed his hand on his sword’s grip in a practiced manner.
Arcs of lighting and floating droplets of water could be seen dancing around his tightened hand as bits of aether armor began to manifest.
Zhen Wang took a deep breath before lashing out.
________________________________________________
[Oh shit, Razor Maiden wasn’t kidding. I can feel the fluctuations from here.]
[Doesn’t feel...strong. We can...tank it.]
[Yes, but remember what the lord said? We have to leave, now.]
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’Fuck, fuck, fuck! I’m actually going to die here, me of all people?! This isn’t how it was supposed to go,’ Zhen Li cursed as he felt his legs being encased in ice alongside one of his arms.
Evidently, this encroaching death was rather...ironic in Zhen Li’s case.
For years, Zhen Li had trained to deal with all sorts of situations and damages by making use of fine aether control to coat his body in a near constant layer of aether and manipulating the density of certain body parts depending on the situation.
However, this weird ice, these strange monsters, did something to him that made it near impossible for him to use his aether at all, rendering him vulnerable.
As if to add insult to injury, the monster spoke in perfect Tide Tongue...just to tell him to die.
Zhen Li began to deflate at the realization that this was to be his fate...a human popsicle in the desert.
That was fucked up on multiple levels to him.
Zhen Li closed his eyes and accepted his fate after one last deep breath.
Before Zhen Li could understand what was going on, a blast of aether taking the form of a sword made of storm clouds suddenly surged forward and smashed open the door that was covered in ice, and the wall pass it. At the same time, the three monsters that were holding him hostage and was just about to cut him to pieces, disappeared like a passing nightmare.
Once it was all over, Zhen Wang came rushing into the room.
He had a look of someone ready to battle and rip someone’s head off, but all he saw in the room was nothing but Zhen Li with limbs encased in ice...hold up.
<> Zhen Li called out in relief, <>
<> Zhen Wang asked with shock and worry. When he got close to the ice that was encasing his disciple, he felt the same weird feeling he got from the door. He briefly recalled seeing and sensing three figures that were likely the cause of this mysterious trapping, but they were gone the moment he entered the room. The only one who could give him any answers was currently half frozen.
Zhen Wang would normally find such a statement coming from any of his disciples ridiculous, but...with what he had been sensing...maybe not.
________________________________________________
In the same moment that the aether art made impact with the ice door and kicked up a huge amount of debris and mist, Nepherage, Frosttusk and Hurricroak shrunk down into their little toy forms and proceeded to make their way through an escape route they had prepared beforehand, namely a little "mouse tunnel" they burnt out, smoothed out with ice an had direct connection with the bar downstairs via a slide.
[Tuck and roll bitches!]
The three little figures proceeded to slide down this tunnel at the exact same time as Zhen Wang entered the room, so that when he began to ask his disciple-sicle about what had occured, they had already reached their own destination.
The travel bag of a certain blonde woman with razor sharp features.