Chu Tianjiao

* Manhua
* Game

Chu Tianjiao (楚天骄), also known as **John Chu** and **John Bridges** in the game adaptation, was an S-Rank agent of Cassell College's *Gray List* and is the father of Chu Zihang.

During a confidential mission in Beijing, Tianjiao fell in love with a dancer named Su Xiaoyan and they had a son named Chu Zihang together. After she grew tired of their financial situation, they got divorced and she married a wealthy man, taking their son with her.

Tianjiao spent the following years trying to complete his research while watching over his lost family, one night he and his son got trapped on a Nibelungen and he attempted to make a deal with Odin, which ultimately failed. Zihang managed to escape but Tianjiao died fighting the dragon.

His death led his son to locate Cassell College and eventually face Odin once again.

## Biography

Chu Tianjiao was a member of the Execution Bureau, assigned to top secret operations. He arrived in Beijing in the 1990s, carrying nothing but a suitcase.

One day he saw the performance of a dancer named Su Xiaoyan and he was smitten, he used his charms and good looks to gain Xiaoyan's affection and promised to give her a prosperous life. The pair got married and they had a son named Chu Zihang.

Initially, they were happy together, Tianjiao used to put his son on his back and pretend to be a horse for him to ride on, they enjoyed simple activities, like going to the amusement park. The three lived on a tiny apartment and struggled to make ends meet, it became clear that Tianjiao's promises were not going to be fulfilled anytime soon and he was more unambitious than expected. Tired of his mediocrity, Xiaoyan decided to divorce him, and left her son in charge of his grandmother while she looked for work or a suitable husband in the city.

Motivated to change for the better, he paid a small rent by living on a small subterranean room under an industrial building, hoping to be able to save enough money to support his son, and he got a job as a driver for a mysterious boss. In his small apartment, Tianjiao continued his investigation of the dragons, covering a wall with clues, still holding on to his suitcase. He also became friends with the keeper of the building, and they frequently ate chicken wings together.

Xiaoyan soon found a new suitor, a wealthy businessman named Lu Tianming, head of three companies who was also divorced, the man married her and adopted Zihang, and the three of them moved to his manor.

Tianjiao watched them for afar, he would take pictures of them and write letters to Xiaoyan on the back that he never intended to send, expressing that he was already over her, just to write that he missed her on the following one. Due to visiting rights, Tianjiao could only see Zihang once a month, yet he wasn't always free to do so. He only asked Zihang to take care of his mother, and as he grew up, the boy came to resent his father's apparent disinterest in him.

Zihang once invited Tianjiao to a school recital when both of his parents couldn't attend, saying that Tianjiao was like "his uncle".

### Meeting Odin

On July 3, 2005, there was a strong typhoon on Beijing and Tianjiao showed up at Zihang's school to pick him up. During the road he constantly attempted to start a conversation, or to impress Zihang with the car he was driving, annoying him more and more. He also told Zihang that only three people could turn the car on using their voice: himself, his boss and then he asked him to guess who else. Seeing the high traffic ahead, he took an elevated road.

Tianjiao asked for his college options and Zihang expressed an interest to go abroad, fearing that he would lose him, he tried to dissuade his son, but they boy yelled at him with anger, criticizing his lifestyle and his absence from his life. Tianjiao apologized for being a bad father, but he told Zihang that they would always share a bond due to their bloodline.

At that very moment, Tianjiao noticed that they had just entered a Nibelungen. Death Servitors attacked them soon after and Chu Zihang's golden eyes started to glow, signaling his awakening as a hybrid. Tianjiao told his son that this was the moment he would learn about the real world, and asked him to remain calm, he took out his alchemic-slaying sword "Murasame" and used it to slay the servitors that chased them. He also assured his son that he was still the father he always knew, and that they weren't killing humans.

The two soon ran into a wall of fire, behind it was Odin, mounted on his eight-legged horse Sleipnir. The two got out of the car and Odin demanded something from Tianjiao. He asked Zihang to take his suitcase out of the car trunk to give it to Odin. Regardless, the god wasn't willing to let them go, as he wanted to turn them into something far greater than a Death Servitor.

Tianjiao told Zihang that it might not be a bad idea to study abroad, and he asked his son to get in the car and go back the way they came as fast as he could, remembering his father's hint, he used his voice to turn the car on and he drove away, behind him, Tianjiao jumped towards Odin, but the dragon killed him with the Gungnir lance.

### Legacy

Tianjiao's death redeemed him in Zihang's eyes, and he became determined to learn the truth of his father's nature. He was branded by Odin with the symbol of the world tree and it led him to discover the existence of Cassell College, which granted him his admission to the school.

In his quest to obtain more strength and avenge his father, Zihang learned the taboo technique Blood Rage, and it greatly endangered his life, but he was stabilized by Jörmungandr's blood.