Kaijin Fighter: So I Have to Make Monsters, So What?-Chapter 1519: A Cold Look Into History

A passage from the History of the Echoing Valley

...

Despite the cold and viciously cold aether beasts that call the Echoing Valley home, several dozen or so tribes have managed to carve out their own little niches and thrive against the harsh conditions.

For example, the Thunderfeather tribe have survived the harsh conditions by following the migratory patterns of the local Thunder Crows, using their fallen feathers as wards against local dangers.

Another such tribe, the Frozenshell tribe, lives in tunnels under the Ice Turtle Mountain, using its winding internals as a way of repelling invaders and ambushing prey.

Amongst these tribes, though, the one with the most storied history is known as the Stormsinger tribe.

Why?

Because centuries ago, they were the ones to save the Echoing Valley from annihilation.

Granted...there are those who would say that they put the entire valley at risk in the first place...

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Out of all of his Kaijin, Frosttusk had always been a bit of an enigma.

Despite creating Frosttusk, knowing him for months, and having his literal soul bound to him, Zhen Liu actually understood and knew very little about the icy mammoth Kaijin who had been the second to answer his calls.

To be more precise, he knew very little about the beings that were recorded inside of the [Death Echo Amber].

From what Logos and Pathos had once said, the [Death Echo Amber] contained the last remnants of both a powerful warrior and an even more dangerous aether beast that was on the verge of becoming a king.

At the time, Zhen Liu wasn't able to fully tap into the memories and power of the [Death Echo Amber] because of his lack of cultivation. Since then, though, he had grown by leaps and bounds.

"All I really know about Frosttusk is that he is technically related to that Stormsinger kid, Hakon," Zhen Liu commented to Logos and Pathos. "And even then, that kid is unusually quiet...well, for good reason, but still."

From what Zhen Liu could remember, the Stormsinger tribes all had an innate bloodline ability that allowed them to basically speak storms into existence and concentrated blasts of power.

"Huh…"

Zhen Liu couldn't help but notice a certain…coincidental overlap between the Stormsingers and a certain video game he used to play involving a viking that could shout concussive blasts of power, but he dismissed the thought due to having more important things to worry about…like the previous life of his kaijin, Frosttusk.

"Wait…why…does that feel like a distinction without a difference?"

=Well, to start off this deep dive into Frosttusk, we should probably preface that everything we're about to tell you has been sourced from outside third parties,= Logos began to answer. =Well, sources we have managed to verify after analyzing the [Death Echo Amber] that serves as Frosttusk's basis.=

With their power, Logos and Pathos summoned a pair of illusions that took on the form of a giant icy mammoth that seemed to radiate disdain for the entire universe and a fierce warrior that was dressed in furs, decorated with tattoos and bones, and wielding a vicious battle-axe.

Looking at the two illusions, Zhen Liu could see bits and pieces of Frosttusk in both.

"Okay…don't like the implications of this already…" Zhen Liu muttered as he stared at the two.

Pathos, however, didn't care as she went on her spiel about the two illusionary figures.

<So if you haven't figured it out by now, Frosttusk was technically enhanced with the power of not one particular individual, but two. More specifically, a high-tier aether beast and an equally high-tier aether warrior who died in glorious combat with one another, > Pathos stated while gesturing to the two illusions. <The big, bad and hairy beastie over here was a peak seventh-tier Iceblood Mammoth. A lot fo Frosttusk's current abilities and brute strength comes from this guy as reference.>

"Wait…I think I've heard of those before…aren't they extinct?" Zhen Liu interjected.

It should be noted that Valresta is actually home to a variety of mammoth-type aether beasts; the particular genus mentioned here actually did go extinct.

As their name implied, Iceblood Mammoths were powerful aether beasts that had blood that was as cold as, if not colder than, ice. But this kind of power came with some notable drawbacks.

For starters, Iceblood Mammoths could only live in certain types of environments that could maintain their frosty internals, and their concentrated ice aether-rich body parts made them highly prized to aether warriors who cultivated the power of ice and snow or wanted to make powerful ice-aligned treasures.

The combination of ever-changing environment and greedy mortal warriors led the Iceblood Mammoths to get wiped off the face of the planet…at least, as far as the majority of the world was aware of.

=They did go extinct about ten thousand or so years ago, at least officially,= Logos answered while pulling out a scroll that detailed the biology and ecology of the aforementioned mammoths. =There are said to be traces of this species still existing elsewhere, but we don't have those records on hand. =

"That feels like a lie, but I am not interested in hunting these beasties anyways," Zhen Liu commented as he dismissed the idea of absorbing a powerful chunk of aether ice to match the aether fires burning through his body. "What about the warrior? He actually looks a lot like Frosttusk whenever he has to take on a human form. Well, he lacks the beard and looks a touch angrier than him, but still."

At this question, Logos dismissed the original scroll he had on hand and replaced it with a leather-bound journal.

=The warrior before you was known amongst the Stormsinger tribe as Chief Fraden the Mountain-splitter, hence the massive battle-axe,= Logos answered. =Historical records indicate that before his death, he had managed to reach the tier of Aether Overlord and was just about to step into the ranks of Aether Saint.=

"Oh…shit."

The gap between Aether Overlord and Saint was unfathomably massive, to the point that Zhen Liu didn't even want to think about the lengths that one would have to go to in order to become one. All he knew was that such warriors would be strong enough to render his cheat-like [Chaos] shield like it was nothing more than a paper plate in the face of a firehose…full of burning gasoline.

Either way, Zhen Liu couldn't help but think that his fucked-up karmic void luck was kicking in now that he understood that Frosttusk's past was anything but simple.

"Alright, so I'm just going to take a guess here, but it's probably safe to assume that Fraden here tried to hunt down this Iceblood Mammoth but failed, and they both died in the process?"

Zhen Liu had heard this story a thousand times before; hell, his family had been forced to deliver this story to loved ones a thousand times before as well.

More than once, some uppity noble thought that they could hunt some aether beast that was beyond their experience level and paid the ultimate price as a result. After those incidents, the Zhen Clan would be sent out to either get revenge or retrieve what they could of the deceased.

=I can see how you would come to that conclusion, milord, but…the historical record indicates it was a bit less…noble than that. =

"Oh?"

Instead of continuing their explanation, Logos stepped back to allow Pathos to take the lead. Under their direction, the illusions of Fraden and the Iceblood Mammoth began to come to life.

<Now, you wouldn't know this, but Iceblood Mammoths are actually relatively peaceful in comparison to most other aether beasts,> Pathos began to explain. <However, they are known to hold incredibly powerful grudges, on the level of wiping out someone for revenge and all of the people that just so happen to be in their general vicinity. >

"Uh oh…"

Under Pathos's manipulation, the illusion of Fraden was shown to hurt the Iceblood Mammoth in some unclear manner, causing the mammoth to go berserk and unleash a blizzard of destruction towards him…and his tribesmen.

<There are conflicting statements on this, but it was just agreed by most scholars that the Stormsinger tribe had somehow drawn the ire of the Iceblood Mammoth and had decided that the best way to take revenge was to turn the Echoing Valley, the homeland of the Stormsinger tribe, into an arctic desert. >

After this statement was made, Zhen Liu could see the illusionary tribesmen of Fraden had become encased in ice, while he himself was spared from the initial blast…but not for long.

<Regardless, Fraden proved to be the only one strong enough to face this living natural disaster and decided that the best course of action was to simply attack it head-on. >

The illusion of Fraden and the Iceblood Mammoth began to trade blows, neither side yielding, both sides having fire burning in their eyes.

<Now, whether or not one side had a distinct advantage over the other is unclear, but there is at least one thing that was agreed upon by the wider historical community: it ended in mutual destruction. >