Chapter 298: Rot (1/2)

Zac was delighted to hear Nonet’s proclamation. The Zhix were born warriors and they would be a great help against the endless zombie hordes. The Zombies were a huge problem for forces like Zac’s. His soldiers were a lot stronger than the Zombies, but there were simply too many of the undead.

“Did you mention the peace with the Marshall Clan?” Zac asked.

“The humans of this hive have proven to decently strong warriors, and hive Dahiti is amenable to an alliance,” Nonet nodded.

“Then you can stay behind here. Bring someone from the Marshall clan with you to the hive next time. The Marshalls know a lot more about the movements of the undead armies, and they can provide good input,” Zac said.

With that, it seemed everything was dealt with. The only thing left to do was to prepare for war. Zac also wanted to experiment with his latest gains until they needed to mobilize, so he went to find the others.

Calrin was ready to go as he needed to prepare the business expansion from his end. The Thayer family was already stretching itself a bit thin at the moment, opening over ten branches in just a week. But he was still energized by the thought of the increased revenue streams.

Adran would stay behind for a bit to coordinate the war effort, which only left Emily. After asking around a bit he finally found the teenager with Billy in a lounge area. The two were in the middle of a battle in a fighting game, with around ten children excitedly cheering them on.

“Billy has missed video games!” the giant said as he desperately mashed the buttons of his controller when he saw Zac enter the room.

Zac could only shake his head when he noted the five controllers next to Billy that were all crushed into scrap.

“We have both video games and movies at Port Atwood,” Zac said. “We will start to battle the other ratlights in three days. Do you want to help?”

“Billy will come. Billy already misses the ratlight. Gave Billy a lot of money,” the large man excitedly said, accidentally destroying yet another controller.

A maid hurriedly swapped it out with a new one that she handed Billy without an expression.

“Thea’s family’s controllers are pretty weak,” Billy muttered. “Billy’s old controllers almost never broke.”

Since everything was dealt with they started to gather their things as they headed toward the courtyard where a car was waiting. By this time Thea come over, while Henry and Adran were still in the middle of a meeting. Zac felt a bit reluctant, as he had hoped he would be able to hang around a bit longer. But there was simply too much to do.

“Stay safe,” Thea simply said as Zac opened the door.

“You too. I’ll hopefully see you in a bit,” Zac answered with a smile as he entered the car.

The return was pretty uneventful, and Zac stepped out of the teleporter with the others just twenty minutes later. Calrin left to resume their tasks and Billy wanted to see the town, so he went with him. The giant had become exceptionally excited to hear there were hundreds of Sky Gnomes at the Thayer Consortia and wanted to check it out. Only Emily and Alea remained, and after some hesitation Emily said she was going to the Academy to train.

“Wait,” Zac suddenly said as he took out the painting he bought with Credits from Yrial.

“Wha- What is this? Is this your hobby now? No wonder you didn’t make a move on Thea,” Emily blurted out, a small blush spreading across her face as she gazed at Yrial’s portrait.

Zac flicked her forehead to bring her back to reality, and he started to wonder whether he was making the right move giving this thing away.

“Snap out of it,” Zac said. “This is a Dao Painting of Yrial, the Lord of Cycles.”

“WHAT? This guy is the Lord of Cycles? He’s too good looking. He could even become a pop star in Korea,” she squealed. “That old statue is way uglier than the real thing.”

Zac froze for a bit as he realized that what Emily said was true. The statue in the repository only looked androgynous, and it lacked the perfection of Yrial’s face. Did the Celestial Artisan intentionally make Yrial uglier out of spite? He remembered that the statue of the real Brazla was extremely dashing. But he shook his head to refocus.

“Well, don’t mind that,” Zac said. “I got this from the Lord of Cycles since it can help one to improve Elemental Daos. I think it is especially effective for Daos related to Fire and Ice since they were the main paths the Lord of Cycles took. I don't walk that path so it won't really help me, but I'm sure many in the academy can benefit from it.”

“So what do you want me to do with this thing?” she said, her eyes repeatedly heading over to the pristine face in the painting.

“Bring it to Alyn. It might help the students progress faster in getting Dao seeds,” Zac said.

“You know, my class is a bit related to the elements. You saw my burning axe. Perhaps I can keep it-,” Emily ventured.

“Stop,” Zac sighed. “Just bring it to Alyn and let her decide what to do with it.”

“Fine,” Emily muttered and took it before heading over to the Academy.