Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1215: Morning Calm

[So...you guys are my...other seniors?,] Corpse Doll asked the other Kaijin, now that she was close enough to be in speaking distance with them.

Granted, this was all happening over telepathy and they were all in Zhen Liu’s sleeping quarters as they were holding this conversation.

After Zhen Liu had reunited with his cousins, the Kaijin and the guy who had almost exploded his soul out of his body, which almost led to a slap fight of not so epic proportions, exhaustion impacted him like a tidal wave.

This in turn, led to the current situation of the kaijin talking with their newest members while everyone else slept.

[Caretaker and Blaze-Blaze said that there were two to three other kaijin that were similar to me. Which I guess he meant, you three,] Corpse Doll said as she mentally gestured to Screamira, Razorstella and Springerdermain. [Because y’all have a very similar scent to me.]

[We do?]

[That is correct,] Nepeherage answered. [If you were to be given a family tree depicting all of us, our lord would be the main root, while the rest of us are merely offshoots and branches, with the eldest among us being closer to that root and with those among us having similar creation methods or proclivities being grouped together.]

In this example, Hurricroak, Frosttusk and Nepeherage would be considered a cluster due to their elemental abilities and being created via traditional means, while Razorstella, Springerdermain and technically Screamira would be a cluster based on the fact that they were all elevated to Kaijin status from a proto-kaijin.

They were all functionally the same, they just reached their state via different methods.

[Why did that sound incredibly smug?,] Razorstella asked.

[I have no idea what you’re talking about.]

[Wait, then where does that leave Blazejudicator?,] Springerdermain asked. [Out of all of us, they’re made with a chunk of the Ringmaster’s soul.]

[Really?,] Corpse Doll asked her flaming senior. [You’re made from a part of the Caretaker?］

[In a way, yes,] Blazejudicator answered. [But I’m not sure whether that means I should be considered on the same level as him in this hypothetical hierarchy.]

[Ah.]

[Actually, speaking of unusual Kaijin origins, Corpse Doll, was it? Why do you sound so articulate for a protokaijin?] Razorstella asked in order to move the conversation along. [When Springerdermain and I were proto-kaijin, it took us weeks to get to full sentences. From what we can sense, you’ve been able to achieve that trick way before either of us could, developmentally speaking. So...how come?]

[I have no idea,] Corpse Doll mentally shrugged. [I think it’s because my brain is actually a composite of two, wait...three other brains. Each chunk had a different cursed power involved and I think they sort of collided into something else.]

[Oh right, you’re made of curses,] Screamira remembered. [Well, explicitly made of curses.]

[Yeah!]

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

[I know we brought this up before, but the Ringmaster is a massive curse magnet, huh?,] Springerdermain pointed out.

[Yeah...]

This conversation went on for quite some time, all the way up until morning no less.

After that, well, let’s just say Springerdermain’s observation was about to prove itself true.

"And it appears to be daybreak," Nepeherage observed. "Time to awaken our Lord for the day."

...One Morning Montage Later…

"Hey, Xiao Liu, Zhen Tai and I are going to go ahead to the meeting spot," Zhen Xing called into the rented tent. "We’ll see you there?"

"Yeah!"

’Well, this is a nostalgic feeling,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself as he equipped his kaijin accessories.

Ever since he became Kaijin Lord, Zhen Liu had gotten used to the fact that the Kaijin took on the form of flashy accessories that made him appear more and more eccentric.

While he was missing Frosttusk’s ivory earring and Hurricroak’s ring necklace, he still found comfort in being able to have Nepeherage’s jade band, Razorstella’s star shaped hair accessory, Springerdermain’s bracer and Screamira’s skull pendent.

’Huh...now that I think about it, I think this is going to be the first time Lythero and Antonio going to see me mostly kitted out. I wonder how they’re going to react.’

...Meanwhile(Note that the following is in Scorch Talk)...

"So...how was last night?"

"Huh? Oh. It was...good."

"You have a hickey on your neck."

"I do?"

In the outdoor seating area of a tent selling roasted meats and fried eggs for breakfast, Antonio and Lythero were sitting and waiting for the arrival of the rest of their newly formed join expedition.

While they were waiting, they decided to talk about the respective groups they had spent last night with.

Needless to say, their experiences were very different.

"So you and Kidanna really hit off last night, huh?,"Antonio asked with a smirk and imagining the wild time he probably had. "Had to be since you got that hickey as a result."

"I mean, I guess," Lythero replied while covering his neck. "Granted, I don’t really have any points of reference to compare it to..."

"Wait, was last night the first time you ever with a-"

"But enough about my late night romance," Lythero quickly interjected. "Did you get th answers you were looking for from Zhen Liu’s ’special’ subordinates?"

"Ah...well..."

As soon as this question was posed, and the subject of the conversation had flipped to Antonio, the man suddenly went quiet.

"What’s wrong? Did you not get any answers?"

"No, I did," Antonio managed to reply after a noticeable pause. "It’s just...I now have even more questions."

"Oh?"

"Yeah..."

Over the course of about five or so minutes, Antonio stopped and started again explaining that the person who had raised him since he was a baby, and even changed his memories, wasn’t a Kaijin per say.

Rather, it was a what the Kaijin referred to as a "Strangeblood".

"Strangeblood?"

"They’re people who are born between the union of Kaijin and mortals apparently."

"That’s a thing?"

"Apparently there’s a whole tribe of them over in Roaring Tide, so yes."

"Huh."

And not only was the person who raised him was a Strangeblood, they were the descendant of a Kaijin that had been active over a millenia ago.

"How does that even work?"

"If I could tell you, I would," Antonio answered with a sigh. "All I can tell you that apparently this Kaijin was one of the warriors that worked for one of the most dangerous warlords in Dozing Salamander’s history: the Hellfire Alpha."

"Him?!"

"Yeah...him."

The Hellfire Alpha was a brutal legend in the history of Dozing Salamander.

During a time known as the War of the Five Volcanoes, the Hellfire Alpha has made a name for himself by taking out all of the guys who instigated the war in the first place...and parading their severed heads through the capitals of all five of their kingdoms.

Nobody really knew how he did it, nor did anyone want to find out, but Antonio and Lythero now had a pretty good idea as to how he did this.

"So...what are you going to do now?," Lythero asked. "Still want to travel with us?"

"Probably, yeah," Antonio replied without missing a beat. "Pretty sure y’all are my best bet in finding out. Well, at least Zhen Liu and his family might be my best bet."

"Fair enough."

And then, as if the universe was hearing their commentary, members of Zhen Liu’s aformentioned family had arrived to the scene.

"Morning, Antonio," Zhen Xing called out.

"Good morning Zhen Xing, Zhen Tai. Oh, this is Lythero! He’s the third guy I was talking about last night."

"Hello."

"Nice to meet you."

"I heard from Antonio here that you’re actually one hell of a swordsman," Zhen Tai said while shaking Lythero’s hand. "I’m honestly curious how swordplay differs between here and Stampeding Bison."

"I don’t know if I could tell you something about that, I was the disicple of some very strange warriors."

"Stranger than Zhen Liu?"

"Er...maybe not."

The next fifteen or so minutes saw the young men converse and get to know each other better.

While this wasn’t enough to get them to trust each other implicitly, it was enough to at least possibly work together in the wandering ruins without risking betrayal.

Eventually though, while they were in the middle of conversation, they were finally joined by Zhen Liu.

"Hey everybody, sorry I’m late."

"Hey, Xiao Liu."

"Good Morning Zhen-whoa," Antonio suddenly stopped. "That’s a lot of accessories."

"Oh, yeah. This is how I usually carry my special ’puppets’ around. Everyone expects a wooden box, nobody expects one to pop out of an earring," Zhen Liu explained.

"That...makes sense."

"Anyways, where’s Kidanna and the girls at? It’s almost time for us to go."

"Oh, I can answer that," Lythero answered. "Kidanna went to go and pick up a map for the ruins."

"Ah...how long is that going to take?"

"Well...

...Shorter than anticipated...

"Check it out! We have a map!"

"A map? When and how?"

"This morning, and I bought it off one of the most reputable scouts in the area, the Azure Gators. I even paid extras for hidden area reveal."