Sometimes Playing Hero Gets you Shot at

Zhen Liu tossed and turned as he slept. Meanwhile, a worried Mini and a not-so-worried Tiny kept watch over him.

"Ghk...gii...AHH!"

"Kuu?!"

Zhen Liu shot up into a seated position as he abruptly regained consciousness, surprising Mini while mildly annoying Tiny.

"What? When? Where? Why?", Zhen Liu asked in a rapid-fire manner as he tried to figure out what had just happened to him.

As his eyes darted about, Zhen Liu realized that he wasn't inside the Library anymore. He had somehow been moved to the shores of the Jade Lake. Confused, Zhen Liu began to scratch his head.

"When the hell did I get here? Was it you guys? Well, thanks for-What the hell are these things on my hand?!"

Zhen Liu's show of gratitude was cut short as he discovered that his left hand, aside from healing, had undergone some changes. Instead of a scar, imprinted onto Zhen Liu's formerly wounded left hand was a strange aether diagram tattooed in blackish-green ink. It had an overall jagged and chaotic appearance, but as he stared at the diagram he couldn't help but feel a sense of profoundness radiating off of it. Additionally, there was a weird bronze ring etched with runes on his middle finger.

"Wait a minute", Zhen Liu muttered as he studied the diagram further, "This looks like that diagram from my dream. The one that that sloppy guy was using...then what was the deal with the drunken rambling?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHH."

Zhen Liu's musings were suddenly cut short by a loud scream piercing through the air. Birds began to fly out of their trees as yet another scream rang out from the forest. This was the sound of someone running for their life, one that he had screamed not too long ago.

"Sounds like someone needs helps? Out here?", Zhen Liu pondered as he got to his feet with surprising ease. He pointed to the two hippo beasts. "You two stay here, I'm going to go see what's causing that racket or die tr-BAH!"

As soon as Zhen Liu tried to run in the direction of the screaming, he somehow launched himself into a nearby jade "tree" and got himself embedded inside it.

"Okay, that's new...", he thought to himself, "Now let's see if...pah!"

Zhen Liu managed to push his undamaged body out of the tree, looking rather shocked at the sizable crater he made into the sturdy pillar of jade.

"Alright, chances of me dying has dropped considerably", he commented with short nod as the screams turned into tearful sobs for help.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Zhen Liu was ready to bolt again, but managed to force himself not to crash into any more pillars and to move in a slightly more controlled manner. Every step he took became more controlled until he could finally control his sudden increase of strength.

_________________________________________________

"Help! Please! Anybody!", a young woman dressed in noble traveling clothes shouted as she ran through the Jade Forest. The clothes were of made of surprisingly durable material, yet it wasn't enough to repel the attacks of her pursuers. Various cuts and tears could be seen throughout her outfit, matching several bloody , purple wounds upon her skin. The amount of dirt packed onto her boots, a testimony to her running.

Following close behind her was a gang of unruly looking men and women with steam coming out of their bodies and adorned in armor made of Scarlet Hyena hide. Mud caked their bodies and boots, but they were all wearing blood thirsty grins. This hunt had been fun, but it was almost time for the pay off!

"Come on girlie, we just want to play! You won't even feel anything after the first few days!"

"We don't bite! Just let me nibble at your legs!"

"Hehehehehe! I bet I can make her scream louder than a Banshee Hawk!"

The woman's face paled as she heard the bandits' vulgar threats, forcing herself to move despite her worsening wounds.

To think she would encounter the Bloody Boilers here of all places. Despite looking rather run-of-the-mill, she could recognize three traits that identified them as such.

First, a majority of the Bloody Boilers were all practitioners of a minor tier Ethereal Formula called "Blood Boiler Body". This formula required practitioners to channel fire aether into their heart, stomach, groin and brain at all times, resulting in the aforementioned areas to turn red or glow if the user was strong enough. Practitioners of this formula would see sharp increases in their strength and stamina, but their bodies would be heated up to the point of releasing steam, like a boiler.

Second, the Bloody Boilers were actually one of the minor factions under the umbrella of the Blood Burner Sect, one of the top powers in the Stampeding Bison Continent. As the name implied, the Blood Burners specialized in skills and formulas involving blood or fire aether. Any and all branches, minor factions or associated groups who worked with the Blood Burners also specialized in one of those two aether types and named their groups in a similar vein as a sign of respect.

Lastly, it is a known fact that the Bloody Boilers tend to leave nothing more than their victim's bloodstains and some burns marks as proof of their attacks. A feat she had witnessed firsthand.

In essence, this young lady was very much in trouble if no one came to help her soon.

"I got her in my sights! [Blood Boost]!"

One of the chasing Bloody Boilers began to rapidly circulate their aether into his feet, causing the air around him to distort due to the immense heat produced from such an action. A moment later, a burst of blood red steam ejected from his feet, launching him towards the fleeing woman.

"I got you now, you little trollop!"

"No!", she shouted in fear.

"Incoming!"

However, just as the bloodthirsty bandit was just about to tackle the young woman, some heroic idiot came flying from the opposite direction and landed a flying lariat on him. This idiot was none other than Zhen Liu and the flying lariat just knocked the bandit out like it was nothing.

"Huh?!"

"Who's the freaking kid?!"

"Daaaammitall! Johnny owed me ten luna! I want this prick dead!"

Both the bandits and the young woman paused in shock at the sudden appearance of Zhen Liu, though the experienced killers decided to shift focus rather quickly. Zhen Liu on the other hand didn't really notice, he was a bit too absorbed trying to process what the hell just happened.

"Okay that guy was at least a second ring Aether Acolyte and I just knocked him out without using a technique", Zhen Liu thought to himself, " that can't happen unless I used a high tier skill or I'm suddenly punching in the same weight class as that guy."

Going off of his gut, Zhen Liu quickly closed his eyes and placed a thumb on his forehead. This was an old technique that the cultivators in the Zhen Clan used to quickly check the progression of their formulas and cultivation. It wasn't universal though, so the unusually casual action forced the Bloody Boilers to take a few steps back out of caution.

"What the hell is this guy doing?"

"Who cares?! He took Johnny out with a single blow, I say we blast him before he does anything funny!", a Blood Boiler wearing a red bandana around his neck shouted as he made a finger gun and began circulating aether into the tip of his index finger.

"Right!"

"Die asshole!"

Following the first one's lead, two other Blood Boilers performed the same gesture and began to circulate their aether in the same manner.

[Blood Banger!]

The Blood Boilers fired off three simultaneous blood bullets that rapidly flew towards Zhen Liu.

"Hey! Look out!", the woman yelled out unhelpfully as the three bullets crashed into each other and exploded into a mix of dust and red steam.

"That's... dangerous...," she continued weakly as she watched Zhen Liu explode.