A little after going through his unusual breakthrough, a courier had arrived at his location to inform him that his parents were calling for him for a private meeting. While he wasn't sure of the nature of this meeting, he had to at least play the role of the dutiful son like his predecessor had been, so he quickly made his way back to the compound to see why they had called for him.
It was when he had arrived that they had informed him of his participation in the upcoming Prospector's Challenge.
Zhen Yan and Daria Nerisa-Zhen were quietly sitting as they waited for Zhen Liu to get over his moment of shock. The atmosphere would've turned awkward by now, had it not been for Zhen Liu's younger siblings, Zhen Bai and Zhen Hei, being cute little toddlers and bouncing on Daria's knees while playing with some cloth toys.
Multiverse law: The mere existence of babies can cut through awkwardness.
"You seem surprised," Zhen Yan commented as he observed his son's shocked behavior. He had figured his son would be be more ecstatic at the prospect, seeing how he hadn't been able to participate in these competitions until very recently. Granted, stunned silence worked too.
"Is something the matter?," Daria asked.
Zhen Liu quickly shook his head to get back into focus before answering.
"No? It's just that...doesn't grand-I mean the Patriarch, usually send cousin Zhen Yue or Zhen Hai to participate in the Prospector's Challenge?"
"Normally yes," Zhen Yan answered, "but this year's...complicated. You'll be working alongside them. It's a team effort this time."
"What?"
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For context, the Prospector's Challenge was an biennial competition that the Four Powers of Stone Claw City hosted as a means to "facilitate healthy competition between the members of the younger generation so that they may learn from one another". In reality, this was a way for all of the major and minor factions of Stone Claw City to secretly compete with each other for the sake of bragging rights, glory and whatever lucrative prizes the four big factions were giving away for the competition in conjunction to what was dug up during the competition.
As for what the Prospector's Challenge entailed, it was very straightforward.
The Diggers Union would mark off some section of the tunnels underneath the city and the major faction leaders would clear out any super dangerous elements from them.
The competitors would then have six hours to navigate through these tunnels, dig up any valuable minerals or hunt down any beasts they can from the tunnels and then make their way back to the surface as quickly as possible.
There were only three hard rules for this competition: All competitors must return to the surface in the allotted time or be disqualified, all acquired treasures must be from the designated area and no killing.This basically meant that almost everything from stealing, to cheating, to alliances was fair game until the end of the competition.
The winner of the contest was determined by who could bring up the most valuable item to the surface before time was up, and they would not only receive the prizes set forth by Four Powers,. but they would also get to keep the materials that all of the other contestants dug up too.
By and large this was normally a solo competition, so it was very weird to Zhen Liu that he'd be sent with his cousins to participate....in fact it was just weird that his cousins, plural, were participating.
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"Have you heard of the rumors of what the Wolfe Family had recently discovered?," Daria asked.
"Kinda? They said they found some man-made tunnels that led to some underground ruins, right?"
"That was the case...initially. It turns out that they dug up a wandering ruin," Zhen Yan answered.
Zhen Liu was about to retort and ask why it mattered it to him, but his father continued before he could a get word in.
"The Wolfe Family attempted to enter the wandering ruins a few days back, but it turned out to be under the protection of a rather unusual barrier. Nobody above twenty years of age is able to get pass the entrance due to it," Zhen Yan explained, "When this restriction was revealed to the Wolfe patriarch, they attempted to keep it a secret. However, a member of the Diggers leaked it to the public and so it was agreed by the City Lord and the other faction leaders, that it would serve as the site for this year's Prospector's Challenge."
"And that's where my cousins and I come in," Zhen Liu answered, filling in the blank.
Zhen Yan nodded. "Competitors will form teams of three members, each accompanied by a Union Digger. Rules will remain the same, just that it'll be a team competition and more fail-safes will be included."
"Aren't I too new for this though? I only just started practicing in earnest, are you sure grand-I mean the patriarch, is okay with this? Why not one of my more 'battle-trained' cousins."
"Well..."
"He was the one who suggested it," Daria answered for Zhen Yan.
"Huh?"
"Father believes that you and your puppet will give us an edge over the competition due to it's...unusual strength and abilities," Zhen Yan elaborated.
"He also heard about your sparring session with Zhen Xing," Daria added, "And how you threw him around like he was rag-doll." Coincidentally, Zhen Bai and Zhen Hei threw their toys down to the ground at the same time when their mother said the word, "rag-doll". Comedic timing be damned.
"In my defense, Zhen Xing started it," Zhen Liu began to say, "I just ended it."
"Regardless of the circumstances, Father-in-law believes you are more than able to provide your cousins a helping hand in the upcoming competition." Daria raised up three fingers. "It's happening in three days time. Be sure to prepare accordingly and make whatever modifications to your puppet in time for the competition. Okay?"
Zhen Liu was about to protest, until a thought came to him which caused him to agree to participate in the challenge.
'I need some crazy material for a new kaijin, and there's not better place than a wandering ruins! Dungeon Event, let's go!'