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Chapter 215 – The Green Goblin, the Nature of Teenagers, and a ’67 Stang
🕑 Added 2025-03-14 03:06:44 +0000 UTCBenton threw all the orbs and the cake into his spatial ring and Quickstepped into the amphitheater, ready to start decorating. Just after he distributed all the colored lights in the air and readied the cake on a giant slab of wood that he fashioned into a table, he realized he hadn’t got the kids gifts yet. And he was running out of time!
He panicked, trying to think of what to do.
As his eyes darted about seeking something to give him inspiration, he noticed the windows of the Martial Pavilion not far away.
Hmm. If he knew Yang Xiu—and by that point he thought that he did—she would definitely use her vantage point to peek at what he was doing, the little scamp. He couldn’t have that, could he?
Benton Quickstepped to the top of the stadium wall and began inscribing. The formation was only a rank one, so even considering the large size of the circumference of the building, it didn’t take him long to complete it. And as soon as he did, he activated it.
There. If her perception could somehow penetrate a wall of light absorption, she deserved the early glimpse.
He felt satisfied that he’d solved one problem, but that solution had, unfortunately, only taken up more of his very limited time.
Focus. Gifts. What should he get the twins?
The easy route for grandparents was the envelope of cash or, in this case, spirit coins. That was such a cop out, though. Unavoidable when the grandkids lived far away and they got older, of course. It was almost impossible to know their ever-shifting likes and dislikes at that point. And cash was always welcome for a teenager.
On the other hand, there were generic gifts that were always appreciated as well. The latest iPhone or iPad. Whatever gaming system they were into. Headphones were really big for a while.
The cultivation world was sadly lacking in consumer electronics, however, and he didn’t have time to invent anything.
Well, not anything as complicated as a phone or gaming device, anyway. There had to be something he could make.
Weapons were an obvious choice. Too obvious. Anyone could get them a new weapon. He wanted to stand out. And it wasn’t like they needed new ones. They had better gear than he did at Foundation Establishment.
Besides, he didn’t want to get them something they needed. They worked hard. Really, really hard. They never did anything just for fun.
Though he appreciated the work ethic, he was a little concerned that they took it too far. His gift should encourage them to play a bit.
But what?
His decision was further complicated by the fact that he definitely didn’t have time to invent two things, so ideally, he’d make one thing and replicate it.
Okay, so what could he make that both kids would really enjoy? To satisfy both of them, the object would have to have almost universal appeal. So what did everyone want to do.
The answer popped into his head—fly.
They were years away from Golden Core and being able to fly. What if he could invent something that would let them do that?
An airplane was a hard no. Too complicated. Magic carpet? He had no idea where to even begin.
An image came to him—Willem Dafoe in a green costume flying on a glider.
Well, it was a bit physics defying for Earth, but here, Benton basically had magic. Qi would do just about anything he wanted it to do. A little bit of Gravity qi to give the thing lift and some Wind qi to give it forward thrust…
Yeah. The arrays would be easy peasy. And the materials only needed to be mortal grade. Xun Wu could whip up what he needed in a short time probably.
Of course, maneuvering such a thing would be tricky, requiring supernatural reflexes. Luckily, both the intended recipients did, in fact, possess such abilities.
But that thought brought Evelyn’s voice to Benton’s head again.
“Dear, you can do it, but should you?” she said.
Benton had gotten his driver’s license at fifteen, and his dad had given him a ’67 Mustang, one with a small block 302. A light car. A big engine. A fifteen-year-old boy.
He’d been a good kid. Never got into trouble. Made good grades. Relatively responsible for his age. But that car had nearly been the death of him several times. The temptation for going fast was too great.
That decision was not one he replicated for any of his kids and not just because Evelyn would have put her foot down. The only way any of their cars were getting from zero to sixty in under ten seconds was if they pushed it off a cliff.
As a parent, one had to ask oneself, “If I give my kid this gift, am I spoiling him or her?”
As a grandparent, that question went out the window. In fact, if anything, a yes answer to that question was a positive.
Another question any parent had to ask about a potential gift was, “Is this gift dangerous?”
That question still applied even as a grandparent.
Giving a fast car to a teenager was obviously a problem. One wrong move could end in disaster. And at first glance, giving a teenager a glider was just as dangerous. Actually, it seemed more dangerous.
Of course, there were things he could do to make it safer, like controlling the maximum altitude and velocity by throttling back both qi outputs. Which would have the bonus effect of making the device more efficient.
The real difference, though, was in the kids. And no, he wasn’t thinking that they were more responsible than teenagers on Earth. He was positive they’d do stuff on the glider just as stupid as he would have at that age.
Those kids, in contrast to their Earthly counterparts, could get in a crash going over a hundred miles per hour while not wearing seatbelts and walk away with only scratches. Yang Xiu and Yang Ru were in the Foundation Establishment realm and at the peak of Bronze Body Cultivation. They were, in a word, tough.
As long as they didn’t fly much faster than they could run and were limited to a few hundred feet above the ground, they would be fine.
Probably.
Hopefully.
Well, that analysis might not have been enough for Evelyn to vote yes, but it was more than adequate for Benton. He Quickstepped to the Alchemy Pavilion and found Xun Wu.
###
“You want what?” Xun Wu said.
The sect leader had appeared out of nowhere, nearly causing him to drop a piece of red hot steel, and started spouting nonsense.
“A piece of metal strong enough to hold a cultivator’s weight,” Benton said.
“Any the purpose of the piece of metal is what, again?”
“Flying.”
Xun Wu didn’t even know what to do with that. Back in the village, people had mainly come to him for tools, horseshoes, and nails. Since joining the sect, he’d made a lot of weapons. And arrowheads. So many arrowheads. He wouldn’t doubt that, after the last little while, he’d made more arrowheads in his lifetime than nails and horseshoes combined.
A flying piece of metal was a new one for him, though.
The sect leader pulled out a piece of parchment and sketched a rough triangle.
“See,” he said, pointing, “you put your feet here, so you’ll need something akin to the bottom of a stirrup. Other than that, it’s pretty basic. Speed is more important than looks, though if you can jazz it up a bit, I’d appreciate it. Maybe add some little design elements or a cool color or something?”
Xun Wu grimaced. “Why not just use a sword like everyone else? If you can get this contraption to fly for the kids, you can get a sword to do it just as easily.”
“Because this will be much cooler!”
If anyone else had come to Xun Wu asking for something so hairbrained, he’d have refused on general principle, but it was the sect leader asking, the man who had provided an amazing forge and magical skills. If Xun Wu owed anyone anything, it was the sect leader.
“Come back in an hour,” Xun Wu said.
###
Yang Xiu ate from her lukewarm bowl of stewed spirit beast meat over rice. Her master could put a meal fresh off the fire in his spatial ring and pull it out months later still steaming hot. Neither hers nor her brother’s were quite that good.
Food and other items wouldn’t stay fresh forever, but the rings did provide a stasis effect, just not as strong as Master’s. She’d placed the rice dish in there three days prior, and while not as hot as she’d prefer, it was still decently warm.
The convenience of not having to leave the Martial Pavilion to get food every day made up for any shortcomings in the food freshness. Her new practice was to stock up when she visited the cafeteria every few days.
“Is it time to go yet?” she said.
Yang Ru grunted.
“I know,” she said, “but I’m excited. Master told us there’d be cake and presents.”
Yang Ru grunted again.
“Okay. Fine,” she said. “Master heavily implied that there would be cake and presents; he didn’t actually tell us there would be. Still, I’ve never been to a birthday party, much less a birthday party for me.”
He grunted yet again.
“Fine!” she said. “A birthday party for us. Heavens!”
Yang Xiu walked to the window. The amphitheater was across the road to the left, clearly visible to her. There was something strange about it, though.
It was dusk, leaving plenty of light for her cultivation enhanced eyes to pick out details, and the road and outside of the stadium and all the other buildings were clearly visible to her. Above the amphitheater, though, was pure darkness. Impenetrable darkness. She couldn’t make out a thing inside the building’s open walls.
“Yang Ru! Master has hidden the party from view! I bet it’s going to be incredible. Let’s go!”
Her brother sighed. “Fine. After we get Kang Lin.”
Luckily, Yang Xiu’s hopefully soon to be sister was downstairs sparring with Pan Jiang and another of her Poison Claw Sect members. Easy enough to gather on the way out of the pavilion.
Yang Xiu couldn’t wait to see what Master had in store for them.
###
An hour to smith the glider bases was too long. That was all there was to it. In an hour, the party would be in full swing.
On the other hand, presents could be given well after the cake, so maybe Benton could make that work. He Quickstepped back to the amphitheater to wait for his first guests.
And obviously, who should arrive first but the birthday boy and girl, Yang Xiu and Yang Ru, followed by Kang Lin and a couple of her sect mates.
The first guests were at the party, which wasn’t surprising as people tended in his new society tended to be punctual. All he had to do was delay things long enough to give Xun Wu time to complete the presents.
And then, of course, figure out how to disappear long enough to inscribe the arrays and test the devices for safety…
Ugh.
Comments
Christabel Amanoh
So there’s cake, decorations, and presents (in progress). Any other food or games? It’s gonna be pretty hard for Benton to pop out and finish his gift if everyone is staring at him and wondering what they’re supposed to do at a birthday party after eating the cake.
