Bonding
Edrick read the latest report with a smile on his face. Everything was going just as planned so far, which was reassuring as he couldn’t do much–If anything at all–To remedy the situation if it wasn’t going correctly.
Thankfully, it seemed like the target was quite predictable…
Anoteros himself was quite busy since his return to the Elt domain. He was busy familiarising himself with the environment, various areas, as well as the people, naturally.
There were more than just the direct members of the Elt family around. There were also some offshoots and vassal clans that resided here. Though it was rather easy to tell a true member of the clan from those who were only lightly related.
The very blood in his veins seemed to know how to make the difference.
From the looks of it, most of his siblings weren’t around at the moment, seemingly off on their own adventures... As for the brother who had activated that new script, he wasn’t exactly the sort to move around much.
So ironically, he had been spending more time with older members of the clan instead, one of whom he had met was Niediao, who was much like Wenxiong, but instead of being obsessed with beasts and the likes, he was more interested in monsters.
Particularly, he wanted nothing more than to impregnate monsters. He was quite the odd character, always wearing a wooden mask and gesticulating around when going on and on about his ‘research’.
Edrick had made a good impression on him as well, after all, Anoteros also had an interest in monsters, so they got along just fine…
He had gone to several meals with his parents as well, but today, there was an additional guest.
Namely, his father’s older sister, who stood out greatly amidst the sea of gloomy and shadowy people that made up the clan.
“Oh! Are you Zixuan? Look how big you are! I bet you get all the girls you want, heh? We should go out sometimes, I’ll show you around the nearby cities! We basically own them–Actually, scratch that, we straight-up own them! I’ll show you how to have fun!”
“I do have a lot of free time these days, so I wouldn’t mind” he simply replied.
“Whoa… Usually, everyone just tries to slither away from my invitations, you know? Apparently, I have a ‘bad reputation’ or something like that. That, or everyone is always busy and has no time to relax and have fun! That’s because of my brother! Work, work, work… It's all he goes on about! And he’s been emasculated ever since he married your mother, I swear!”
“By the way, no need to use honorifics, just call me Lui–What do you say we go out right now? Anything to do today?”
Anoteros just shrugged.
“I am free” he simply replied, earning a strong slap to the back of his shoulder, which made his muscles tense up.
Lui was quite a well-known figure within the clan. Not only did she naturally stand out due to her white robes and long white hair, but she was also a staggering two meters in height. A real amazonian.
Not to mention that she was an expert at wielding lightning. One could say that she had literal lightning in her veins. In fact, her arteries shone blue, and to truly make it obvious that lightning was her favoured element, she had a scar that started from the top of her head and went through her face and neck.
At least, that was the only scar of that kind that was visible normally.
Though she still had the dark eyes of the family, and if anything, her mad tendencies already made it easy to guess that she was an Elt anyway.
Much like Ku Xing or Ting Zhenniao, she possessed a natural aura. Therefore, mere contact could cause currents to course through your body. Lui was well-known not to turn it off most of the time, resulting in an already powerful slap to the shoulder to be quite the experience…
In any case, this short interaction is what landed Edrick in another city later that day. Currently, he and his aunt were sitting in what he would describe as some sort of medieval version of an American diner crossed with a bar.
It was a bit of a strange combination, but the food was excellent, not to mention that they ate for free.
“Alright, Zixu… This is one of my favourite locations to do some hunting. There are lots of pretty girls who come here. Such places are common grounds where people find their beloved… They start talking at the bar, and then move to one of these tables to order food and discuss… You get what I mean? Of course you do, you are quite the seducer already!”
“But what I mean is that this is where I often pick up cute girls to bring to one of the local inns. They can’t resist the allure of someone of my status”
“You see, though... I prefer to do my hunting with other people, but it has gotten so hard to find anyone willing to show up! Ideally, there would be more of us for a single prey... But it is a good occasion for us to get to know one another”
Edrick listened closely, leaning against the table whilst rubbing his chin.
“I see, that does seem quite annoying… I wasn’t aware of this hobby of yours, Lui”
His aunt grinned toothily.
“What do you think of it? Still up for it?”
“Of course. I've already engaged in that sort of thing and found it quite satisfying, but I wonder, does this mean that the rumours are true?”
“The rumours? Oh, yes, I am indeed a Duuokois, never seen one before?”
“Haven’t gotten the occasion yet”
She chuckled, tapping her fingers upon the table, causing a tiny amount of smoke to rise from time to time.
“The reaction is always priceless, but they know it’s worth it…” Lui leaned back in her seat “...What do you think about this one?”
“The blonde? She seems a bit frail. I am afraid we would have to be overly gentle, but that is fine by me” he replied.
“You have a good eye for this, huh? I quite like the frail ones personally... When you’re gentle with them, they get delusions that you actually took a liking. It’s hilarious to use them until they realise that you don’t care at all” she licked her teeth as though she could already taste it…
Anoteros already felt like he and his aunt were going to get along as he swept the place with his gaze.
“What about the one with a scar on her cheek?”
“Ooh… A tough one, heh? You really want to go hard, do you?”
“I was thinking that since it is our first time out together, we might go all-out”
“I like the way you think, Zixu… Let’s call her over”