As Zhen Liu attempted to enter the weird mind state and do...whatever the hell happens when he blacks out during these sessions, he was greeted by an error message of all things.
A literal error message appeared in his vision, while a computer-like voice began to read it.
<Error! Error! Aether Transference can only be done with one kaijin per day due to the userâs current power level.>
Immediately beneath this message, was a timer counting down from 24 hours.
Zhen Liuâs eye began to twitch at the sight.
âFormulas have cool down timers? How?!â {Refractory periods are unnecessary!}
<Well not all of them, just the one youâre using.>
âGreat...â{Now blow me.}
Nepherage had already come to Zhen Liuâs side as the latter argued(conversed?) with his brain buddy.
"Iâm here milord. Need me to do anything extra?"
{Bend over}"No no, change of plans. Apparently we canât level you up yet...hmm."
Zhen Liu scratched his chin in thought for a moment before settling on his next course of action, namely remembering something that the voice told him he could do now.
âHey, how does this [Possession] thing work?â {Presumably with lube and very carefully}.
Zhen Liu assumed that the voice in his head would give him a tutorial or mess with his eyeballs again, instead he was given a very simple set of instructions.
<Just channel some [Chaos] towards Nepherage while thinking about the word [possession].>
âThatâs it?â {No foreplay?}
<Thatâs it.>
âAlright...let me just...â
(Un)surprisingly, Zhen Liu was familiar with channeling [Chaos] through his body.
The first time he did so was when he eighty-sixed the Marquis De Howlite. Despite being done when he was basically half-concious, one doesnât really forget the feeling of having weird universal(multiversal?) forces flow through oneâs body.
Zhen Liu didnât close his eyes, but he did point a palm towards Nepherage as a way to direct his focus.
"Milord?"
The red jade kaijin was a bit confused about her lordâs actions, but didnât question it. He hasnât lead them wrong yet, and she doubted he would start doing so now.
âAlright where is-there it is.â
Eventually, sparks of black and rainbow energy began to leap between his finger tips as the power of [Chaos] began to build up inside him.
He took a deep breath before focusing on the keyword.
[Possession.]
"Huh? Ah!"
In the blink of an eye, Nepherage had suddenly transformed from a kaijin warrior...into a trading card that flew into Zhen Liuâs outstretched hand. He had a rather confused look on his face as he flipped Nepherageâs card back and forth.
While Nepherage was mobile on the front, even looking confused, the back of the card had the words [Kaijin Lord] written on the back in fancy font on an artistic background, complete with barcodes in the sides. Zhen Liu had questions.
[Milord, I feel like I just lost some character dimensions.]
âAlright, what the fuck{me now}?â
<Are you questioning why the kaijin has been turned into a [Possession Talisman] for the userâs ease of use? It should be straightforward as to how to use it.>
âNo, Iâm wondering why this looks a trading card designed for a cardass machine.â
[Is this permanent?,] Nepherage asked.
<Again, how the user visualize their abilities is how the abilities will manifest. Now quit being no fun and stick that card to your forehead or throw it at someone already.>
Tired of arguing, Zhen Liu just rolled his eyes and placed the card to his forehead. At which point, the cars started glowing.
"Huh. Feels kinda w-WHOOP!"
The next thing Zhen Liu knew, a surge of aether entered into his forehead and he suddenly felt like his body wasnât his anymore, rather...it wasnât "just" his anymore.
"Milord?! Why do I-why am I in your body?!," Nepherage said in Zhen Liuâs voice.
"I have no idea, but I-we? Feel hot?"
________________________________________________
From the outside POV.
"Huh? Whatâs Xiao Liu doing over there?," Jin Fang asked the other kaijin as soon as she saw Zhen Liu stick an arm towards Nepherage.
Jin Fang had been expecting the giant marionette thing to appear again and forcing the two to start dancing again.
She did not expect him to condense a weird energy she could see but not feel in the palm of his hand.
"Whoa!"
Nor did she expect Nepherage to suddenly transform into what looked like a playing card.
"What is he-wah!"
The next thing she knew Zhen Liu had placed the transformed playing card to his forehead, and his aura suddenly disappeared, replaced by an amplified Nepherage aura.
She was about to rush over and see what the hell was going on with her boyfriend now, but was stopped by Hurricroak.
"Feel it again, girlie. Maestro is still there."
Confused by the frog kaijinâs words, Jin Fang hesitated before checking more carefully.
"Wait...what on Valresta?"
When Jin Fang put more effort into her aether sensing ability, she noticed that Zhen Liuâs aura wasnât consumed by Nepherageâs aura like she had feared, rather they had merged into an almost homogenous state, to the point that most people would assume it was a single aura.
"How could this-"
"Milady!"
"Wah!"
Before she could ask about what was going on, Zhen Liu had suddenly rushed from his spot to where Jin Fang, Frosttusk, Hurricroak and the Razor Maiden were standing.
When Jin Fang stared at Zhen Liu, she was taken aback at the fact that his normally black hair had turned slightly red at the tips, with his eyes now taking on an orange-red color like magma. For some reason, Zhen Liu was looking at her with a weird look of wonderment.
"X-xiao Liu?"
"Huh...," Zhen Liu said in a voice that sounded like Nepherageâs voice was mixed in, "so thatâs what milord sees about you. Youâre beautiful."
"Eh?"
Jin Fang wasnât sure why, but she felt simultaneously embarrassed and flattered.
âWait, this is just Zhen Liu right? Why does it feel like Iâm speaking to a stranger?â
Thankfully, Hurricroak decided to voice the groupâs thoughts.
"Huh... Nepherage? Are you...inside of the Maestroâs body?"
Zhen Liu looked over his hands, feet and even pinched his cheeks before answering the question.
"I...I think so."
*Kra-kow*
Like a mental thunderbolt, the group was stunned silent at this answer. This was new territory and everyone was confused... especially the ones causing it.
"If it helps, Iâm still in control too...somehow," Zhen Liu repeated, but in his own voice this time.
Evidently, it did not.