Chapter 64 - Sixty Three - Wanting to Be Stronger (1/2)
It took another hour before Shaun felt as if he had the reserves to collapse the metal bars and release those stuck in the gym. He couldn't reform the metal into the weights at that time, the metal became a lump stuck in the corner for quite sometime after the attack.
As soon as the barrier came down, Ren Zexian lost his usual composure and hurried into the room, closely followed by Jonah, who had been pacing the hall behind him. Nathan seemed mostly unaffected by the whole ordeal, just that there were marks over his ears, indicating that the noises had been too much for him. He allowed Ren Zexian to embrace him and check over every inch of him before being embraced again. He snuggled into the other man's hold.
Jonah also took Brooke into his arms, engulfing her in his strong embrace, his eyes wet from relief and the curve of his lips deepened when he realised as he was holding Brooke, she was holding their son. This was his family, he felt complete at this moment, if at no other time.
Not long following, Paul rushed in to interrogate Shaun, who smacked him about the head as he was bent over checking for injuries. ”Stop being an idiot,” Shaun chided him. ”I'm fine, we're all fine. Shaken up, maybe, but alive and well.”
”But...”
”Gees, what are you?” Winston teased from the broken door way. ”His mum?” He poked at the damage in the door frame, splinters coming away in his finger tips. ”Your work, Ren?” He asked, knowing that the oriental man was responsible for damaging the lock on the front door. They'd have to see if they could replace the whole door with one from the village.
”No,” Ren Zexian replied, nonchalantly and indicated the culprit. ”His.”
All eyes turned upon Shaun, who lazily looked at them from his chair, wondering how he'd get past Paul and retire to his room to sleep. He'd wanted to escape without more of Paul's mothering, but he could barely lift a finger at that moment, let alone move his wheelchair. ”Well, the zombie rabbit contributed,” he drawled, before a yawn escaped him. Paul, sensing his friend's tiredness began to push him out of the room, towards his bedroom, where he would be lifted into bed before being securely tucked in.
Autumn had ceased trembling, the shock and panic catching up with her after the ordeal was at an end and with a firm expression, she approached Ren Zexian. ”C-can you awaken my root-things?” She asked him, she'd been uncertain before, her weak confidence pressing down upon her, but she never wanted to feel so powerless ever again.
”En,” Ren Zexian agreed and glanced up at Brooke, who was crying her grievances to her man. As she met his eyes, he suggested; ”It would be a good time to begin to train Brooke as well, now the baby is safely born and mother is healthy. You can learn together.”
”Don't bother,” Brooke grumbled, however Jonah whispered something in her ear and she reluctantly retracted her statement.
*****
Autumn, with Ren Zexian, awakened a diamond root. This was a body root, waste root in the eyes of some long dead others, but in Ren Zexian's more open mind, this root was a treasure. While it could not help protect others, it would protect Autumn. She would be able to harden her skin to diamond like quality, encasing herself in a natural barrier that was nearly impossible to pierce, unless she, herself, was careless. This quality of physic could not be obtained by a normal Cultivator until they had completed the senary stage of cultivation, thus completing the body tempering phase. Her diamond like physique would also mean that her fingernails could be as sharp as cut diamonds, should she chose, giving her the ability of being a living weapon. This was unlikely, though, due to her soft temperament. Such would also not be possible until she had cultivated a while, just like obtaining full armour coverage of her plush skin.
Autumn couldn't say how she felt about the root herself, but as the eyes of others were joyful and maybe a bit envious, she understood that her ability was not a bad thing. Ren Zexian had guided her every step of the way, helping her from failing due to apprehension and lack of confidence. It had not been easy. Worse, it took her almost a week to awaken her root and open her meridians, this was pointed out by Brooke, who was just a bit smug that her own had opened without intervention.
At the beginning of this week, Nathan had filled up some pots with soil and placed them by the ivy on the house and by the vines by the bush, while others cleaned away the mess left behind by the zombie rats and fixed the carnage caused due to the small force breaking into the property. There was also talk about increasing the height of the wall, but this had not been completely decided upon. The breach had not occurred due to a lack of foundation, but due to the fact they had not counted upon creatures with the ability to climb the craggy flint and earth walls. Finishing the covering of metal should help to deter this.