Turning his head to look at the unconscious Zeri and the blood continuing to drip from her lower abdomen, Faen realized he needed to find a place out of the rain to bandage her wounds.
He had a good impression of this little girl who wanted to fight for the rights of the workers and resist the tyranny of the Chem-Barons.
But having just arrived in Zaun, he was unfamiliar with the place...
Looking at Zeri, Faen unceremoniously reached out and patted her down. Perhaps because she lived on the streets, the girl who looked scrawny was actually quite well-proportioned; she would probably show off some nice curves in a pair of yoga pants.
He didn't grope around too much, after all, Zeri was still bleeding. After finding her wallet, Faen walked towards a hotel in the distance.
Money talks—especially when it's not your own money.
Booking a room, Faen took out some more money to buy some simple medicine from the owner. Finally, under the numb and lifeless gaze of the innkeeper, he carried Zeri upstairs to rest.
Cleaning the wound, applying medicine, and bandaging.
Afterward, Faen began to meditate, carefully recalling the gains from the battle just now and reviewing what could be optimized in the process.
Having suddenly gained such powerful strength, Faen knew very well that if his basic skills exercised over the past ten years hadn't been solid enough to burst the water flow in time to disperse the force, his arm wouldn't have been saved the moment he shattered that bounty hunter—the force was too great, and the recoil alone was enough to shatter bones.
On the other side, Zeri was running, running, running. People behind her were constantly chasing. Suddenly stepping into empty air, Zeri jerked up from the bed—it was a nightmare!
Then—Ah~!!
Clutching the wound on her lower abdomen, Zeri immediately let out a scream like a little bird.
"Awake?" Hearing Zeri's scream, Faen ended his meditation, opened his eyes to look at the girl, and said, "How do you feel now? Is the wound on your stomach okay?"
"Uh?"
Hearing this, she froze for a moment, then Zeri quickly recalled what happened last night. Her face turned pale, and she subconsciously wanted to stand up from the bed and escape.
But facing Faen's gentle gaze, Zeri, with one foot already on the ground, stopped hesitantly and asked stumblingly, "Um... you're not here to catch me?"
"Why would I catch you?" Faen shrugged. "I should be the one wondering why I helped you, yet you shot at me. Although, even if the gun worked, you couldn't hit me."
There are only a few champions whose auto-attacks can be dodged, and Zeri is one of them.
To this, Zeri said somewhat helplessly, " The situation was a bit tense at the time, you know, I was being chased... Besides, why did you help me? You even cleaned my wound and applied medicine; do we know each other?"
Zeri looked down at the gauze on her tummy, looking at Faen with a hint of doubt.
Faen said frankly, "I come from Ionia. As for now... consider me fighting for joy."
"Fighting for joy?" Hearing this, Zeri stared at Faen suspiciously for a while.
Before the Noxian invasion, Ionia could definitely be considered the most beautiful paradise in all of Runeterra. Growing up, practicing, and exercising in a favorable environment, Faen was definitely up to par in terms of appearance, if nothing else.
His solid body frame was broad, and his full muscles presented a streamline that combined flexibility and explosive power. His face was handsome, with short, capable hair. Wearing a sleeveless open shirt, his clearly defined muscles glowed rosily under the morning sun outside the window.
Previously, because of pessimism about the future, there was still a trace of gloom in Faen's eyes. But now, blessed by Ashlesh... or cursed? Faen's eyes were filled with a liveliness and joy full of vitality.
In short, he was a sunny boy that could absolutely never appear in a place like Zaun.
Facing Zeri's suspicion, Faen responded with a frank and brilliant smile.
Faen and Zeri couldn't be considered familiar, and regardless of whether it was in the main LoL game or the spin-off card game Legends of Runeterra, the background story description of Zeri was very brief.
But leaving aside everything else, just the fact that Zeri was willing to fight bravely for those in Zaun who were powerless to resist was enough for Faen to have a good impression of her.
Feeling this brilliant smile that could never be bred in the sumps of Zaun, Zeri scratched her head in embarrassment, then asked hesitantly, "Then... what are you doing in Zaun? And what is this 'fighting for joy' you mentioned?"
"It's a long story." Hearing this, Faen sighed helplessly, then asked, "Have you heard of Ashlesh?"
"Ashlesh? What is that?"
"That is an ancient story."
Looking at the bewildered Zeri, Faen sat cross-legged directly on the bed and said:
"A long, long time ago, a demon with seven arms was born from people's joy. Her name was Ashlesh. She constantly absorbed people's joy and created more joy. But slowly, her desire for joy became stronger and stronger, and the threshold for joy constantly increased. So Ashlesh looked towards the celestial realm of the gods, her hunger growing day by day..."
Few people knew of Ashlesh's existence, but strictly speaking, it wasn't a secret. After all, while demons weren't everywhere in Runeterra, they definitely weren't rare. It was just that compared to Ashlesh, most of these demons were of a lower level.
Like Tahm Kench, Evelynn, etc.
While describing Ashlesh's story to Zeri, Faen was actually organizing the information about Ashlesh in his own mind.
While Zeri was resting, Faen had more or less realized what ability Ashlesh had bestowed upon him.
Joy—the more joy, the greater the power.
When he punched apart that bounty hunter who called himself the Crusher, accompanied by the joy of victory, Faen could feel his strength grow a bit.
However, according to Faen's perception, this joy wasn't useful just by being produced. Because joy needs contrast, and constant joy raises the threshold for joy. According to Faen's tests, the most effective way was joy generated 'because of him'.
Either make himself happier and happier, or make more and more people happy because of him.
Considering that under the effect of Ashlesh's curse, Faen could convert almost all emotions into joy, in other words, stimulation—whether it was pain or despair, as long as it was an emotion, it could produce equivalent joy under Ashlesh's effect. Based on this point, stimulation beyond the senses was also one of Ashlesh's authorities.
Demons don't distinguish between good and evil; they are just loyal to their own nature.
Having clear rationality, Faen didn't intend to try the extreme sensory stimulation route... Ashlesh got high out of her mind back then, got carried away, and reached her claws towards the Celestial Realm, only to be sealed for thousands of years. With such a precedent, trying extreme stimulation again would be pure insanity.
That is to say, to alleviate the mental effects brought by Ashlesh's curse, he must do things that make people happy, and in this process, he can also become stronger and stronger.
Thinking this, Faen explained the ancient legends about Ashlesh, how he met Nilah, and how he received Ashlesh's blessing.
Thanks to his training in Ionia, Faen's speaking skills were excellent. Combined with the body movements of a battle dancer, although Zeri grew up in the Sump of Zaun without much cultural influence or worldly experience, she was stunned by Faen's vivid narration. Her eyes followed Faen's moving hands, and the two buns on her head bounced back and forth.
"Finally, I was swept by the seawater into Zaun's sewage pipe. Just as I climbed out, I met you."
Hearing Faen finish, Zeri nodded belatedly, but then her eyes revealed deep suspicion: "Although the story you told is great, but... you're not going to ask to borrow money from me next, and say something like appointing me as the High Priestess once the sect is established, right?"
Hearing this, Faen was amused: "Huh? Is Zaun this advanced?"
Hearing Faen's words, Zeri looked left and right, then clutching her small tummy, walked with difficulty to the mat at the door of the room, felt around, and soon brought back a flyer to hand to Faen.
Taking the flyer, it boldly read: 'I am Azir, the last emperor of the Shurima Empire. Xerath betrayed me, but actually, I didn't die; I was just suppressed under the altar. Mail the essence to the designated account, and when Shurima welcomes its revival, I will appoint you as the Princess Consort!'
Setting aside whether the person who wrote the flyer is actually Azir, other aspects were actually factual!
Seeing Faen's great interest, considering that Faen claimed to be a country bumpkin from the isolated Ionia, Zeri reminded him, "Don't believe it. These flyers are everywhere along the Piltover Sun Gate route. Yesterday I heard someone was scammed out of more than a hundred essences."
Essence, one of the universal trading items in Runeterra, belongs to the international hard currency of Runeterra, similar to precious metals. But besides that, each region has its own currency. Even the pirates of Bilgewater have their own Golden Krakens and Silver Serpents.
Putting the flyer aside and meeting Zeri's gaze, Faen continued to ask, "You seem to have something else you want to ask, ask it all, so I can answer it all at once."
"Alright." Hearing Faen's words, Zeri nodded decisively and said, "How did you know about me? I remember I haven't met you before. And you said this is your first time leaving Ionia, so... why did you recognize me at a glance? We don't know each other, right?"
"Because I am born with the ability to see some fragments of the future," Faen said. "These future fragments are not connected, sometimes they are even things that happened in the past—like Ashlesh whom I just mentioned. And in these fragments, I saw information about you."
"Zeri, a girl born in Zaun, naturally capable of electric magic, which becomes stronger or weaker with her emotions. But possessing this ability, she didn't do evil, but wanted to help the people of the district resist the evil tyranny of the Chem-Barons—"
As he spoke, Faen grinned and gave Zeri a thumbs up: "You have a kind heart, I like it very much!"
"Eh? Is that so? Hehe... actually I'm not that good..." Hearing someone praise what she was secretly doing for the first time, Zeri scratched her head, feeling flattered and showing an embarrassed expression.
But soon Zeri shook her head and said, "No, no, no! Compared to this, doesn't that make you like a legendary prophet? Knowing the past and the future!"
"Sort of, but since they are just fragments, I'm not very clear about what exactly will happen or when. Instead, because of these future things, the previous me was always looking forward and backward, living in fear."
Saying this, Faen moved his body a bit and said, "Now that I'm cursed by joy, I feel my mental state is much better. You don't know, before when I was relieving fascia pressure for Irelia... that is, my little junior sister, she said I was gloomy all day long, not like a battle dancer who can dance out the rhythm of life at all."
"Is that so?"
Nodding thoughtfully, but looking at Faen, Zeri still said somewhat awkwardly, "But... but you know, it sounds hard to believe what you said is true. After all... a prophet or whatever, right? Although I believe you are a good person, but demons and prophets..."
Seeing Zeri's embarrassment, Faen touched his chin, then clapped his hands and said, "How about this, let me make you happy for a bit."
"Uh... make me happy?" Hearing this, Zeri blinked hesitantly, then asked cautiously, "The 'make me happy' you mentioned... it's not that kind of bad thing, is it?"
"No, just pure emotion of joy."
Hearing Zeri's worry, Faen shook his head, then mobilized the power of Ashlesh in his body to gather at his fingertips and said, "Open your mouth."
"Oh, ah." Although she didn't know what Faen was going to do, Zeri opened her mouth. But immediately, before Zeri could react, Faen stuck his finger into Zeri's mouth.
"Uh? Mmph!" Sensing something was wrong, Zeri subconsciously wanted to resist, but before she could move, Faen said, "Don't worry, and don't be nervous. Ashlesh's power resides in flowing water. My blood can convey this power. Feel it carefully, and you will soon understand the 'joy' I mentioned."
Hearing Faen's explanation, although Zeri still had doubts, associating it with the fact that Faen saved her and hadn't done anything out of line while talking to her except for now, Zeri forced herself to suppress the discomfort in her mouth, closed her eyes, and let Faen transfer the blood.