Chapter 541: Deeper Layers of Physique

  Normally when Kai needed to hit specific timing for moving around the continent, in this case via Irunian elites, he reached the location and cultivated until they arrived. Competent teleporters were valuable, after all, and he didn't want to waste their time. Today, however, even though he needed to meet Tusquo at the top of the hour, he lingered with Omilaena.

  She had spent most of the past few days at a nearby semi-hidden base, only returning to Tusquo's home when she needed one of them for something. They'd assembled over a hundred Irunians with potential, so she was highly busy working with them.

  In fact, that day she was standing over an Irunian man who had been strapped to a table and stripped down to the waist. Normally Kai might have made some comment about that, but Omilaena had her goggles on and probably wouldn't have time for jokes. In fact, when she saw him she just gestured at him with the syringe in her hand.

  "Kai, good. Get over here to help me with something."

  "What is it?" he asked as he stepped over. He instinctively checked the Irunian's soul on the way.

  <

  Name: ???

  Total Power: 72

  Physique Level: F-9 (48)

  Soul Level: 3 (9)

  Path of Steel: Iron 3 (15)

  >

  The man had 72 Power, so he was a decent hunter by any standard, but obviously the Irunians were hoping for better than decent. Especially since Yuinafal's chakra methods were rumored to be producing good results. Omilaena seemed to feel the pressure as well, or maybe she was just passionate about her experiments.

  "The Ironpath Physique is the best option for Irunians," she explained, "and though I'm trying to boost it, I don't think I'll beat it. Problem is, not all of them can endure it. So I'm reviving an old project and trying to see if I can't give them another boost. Anyway, can I drain you?"

  "In front of an audience?" Kai asked, eyebrows rising.

  "I can't believe you'd suggest such a shockingly inappropriate thing. No, I want to use some of your blood as a primary ingredient, since you're so brimming with Physique."

  Kai shrugged and followed his wife to a side table, where she gestured for him to sit down and then strapped his arm to begin drawing blood. Due to Behemoth's Heart regenerating him, she could actually draw quite a lot, but she seemed more serious this time, drawing down his supply of qi, chakra, and mana as well. He needed to focus to prevent it from having any negative effect on his cultivation and managed to speak while she worked.

  "I actually wanted to talk to you about Physique," Kai said in a softer voice. He'd explained about his blockage and Omilaena had agreed that the problem was the 999 Power barrier, so there wasn't much else to say until now. "I'm just trying to get a better handle on what kind of shape it has in the soul, hoping I can figure out why I'm blocked. Why can't I break through and just not use all my power, like Zae Zin Nim did?"

  "There are still some uncertain variables there," Omilaena answered, "but I think while energy can build up pressure in the soul, your body has to actually change to advance. That Carnal Seed is so powerful it could have forced a breakthrough anyway, but you would have hit your spiritual limit and the result would have been a cramped Physique."

  "I didn't think that was possible. If someone is, say, E-9 like that man, isn't his power known? I thought E-9 was E-9 the world over."

  "That exactly what I would have told you, before Zin Nim had her breakthrough. Unprecedented strength in E rank... that really threw off all my theories."

  "Well, some ranks are unequal - cultivators can have different strength at the same tier, for example - so it isn't crazy to think Physique could be the same way. But how? I mean, I know you've thought about this, but it must relate to how the Blackblood Shadow took a place in her soul for a long time, right?"

  Omilaena was silent for a time, as if she hadn't heard. But after she finished drawing one syringe of blood, set it aside, and began drawing another, she spoke up. "Even though 'Physique' seems fairly standard, it isn't universal: we already talked about other species, for example. And the very fact that secondary Physique-related powers can exist must mean there's more space in the soul for them."

  "I thought those were generally for using a different source of energy."

  "Yeah, and Physique requires all three types in order to grow fully, so it's a bit of a puzzle."

  "Unless all normal forms of Physique are actually limited?" Kai suggested. "Like how crystal cultivation doesn't occupy as much of the soul as Cloudspire cultivation, leaving potential unused. It's a wild theory, but wouldn't it all make sense if we assume that 'normal' Physique is actually incomplete?"

  His wife froze, syringe needle still in his arm.

  "Uh, you alright? Was that actually a new thought?"

  "Huh." Omilaena continued drawing blood again, but she barely seemed to pay attention to it anymore, instead fixed on him with a narrow gaze. "That's a good idea. Normally I'd say it's too implausible that everyone could be wrong, but we've seen there are people absurdly more powerful than us, so maybe."

  "So we might all have been doing Physique wrong the entire time?" he asked.

  "Actually, I think it's more likely what you were talking about before: it's about soul barriers. You know how some people in energy-rich regions don't even need to worry about the 99 Power barrier? It's not crazy to think that this soul barrier could be having a limiting effect on everyone. Less everyone doing it wrong, more everyone doing the best they can given circumstances."

  "What can we actually do about that, though? We can't exactly copy what Zin Nim did."

  "That's a damn good question." Omilaena began drawing another syringe of blood, getting more excited now. "I've been hoping I can do what she did, just with poison instead. I've certainly saturated my body with it enough. The problem is that I don't have enough theory to actually pull it off. I haven't actually worked on it recently, because I have Krysal and Irun to deal with."

  "Anything I can do to help?"

  Omilaena kissed his cheek with unusually chaste speed. "You already did. Both the blood and the ideas. Keep working on this... oh, and find out anything else you can about Irunian Physique. You're meeting with some of their best, right?"

  "Sure," Kai said, "I actually need to go soon. But before I do, I have to bring up the barrier again... how am I going to break 999 from here? What type of resource would be appropriate for me?"

  "Actually, that's one problem I might be able to solve." Omilaena propped up her goggles and grinned at him. "Mad as it seems, I might be able to break the barrier for you using the vault resources as a base. Problem is, I need to finish a complex batch of pills and I'm not ready yet."

  "Alright, I'll wait for you. Until then I'll keep training everything that isn't limited."

  Once the blood was all drawn, Kai stepped out of the base, extending his senses to see if the elite had arrived to teleport him yet. No such luck. Though actually, he'd started out impatient and now he was hoping to spend more time with Omilaena, exploring the secrets of power on an even deeper level.

  Then he heard screams of pain behind him. Kai sighed and went to see what was going on.

  The Irunian soldier was thrashing wildly, bucking against his restraints and letting out roars of pain. Omilaena stood nearby, unconcerned by the violence of his movements, watching with an empty syringe in hand. Some of the man's veins had darkened, and on a spiritual level Kai could see violent power surging through him.

  "What is-"

  "Ssh." Omilaena put a finger to her lips. "This is the prototype, so it's a key moment."

  It seemed that all she intended to do was watch, though she did step in with ice qi at one point to keep the Irunian man from biting off his own tongue. Eventually he finished thrashing, having worked through all the energy, and lay still. As Omilaena began removing his restraints, the man started to weep.

  "Thank you." He almost fell to the ground, grasping at her feet. "I thought I was washed up... never useful to Irun... this is... this feels..."

  Kai hadn't particularly noticed the difference, but when he checked the man's soul, he was surprised.

  <

  Name: ???

  Total Power: 124

  Physique Level: E-0 (80)

  Enhanced Physique (+20)

  Soul Level: 3 (9)

  Path of Steel: Iron 3 (15)

  >

  The injection had broken him through to E-rank Physique, and more unusually Kai saw a new "Enhanced Physique" line of symbols. Combined, they had increased his Power to 124. In a moment, a decent hunter had become someone who could stand on the front lines, and that might not be his limits, either.

  No wonder the man was weeping. Omilaena took his arm with surprising gentleness and raised him to his feet.

  "I don't think the method was perfect," she explained carefully. "Unfortunately, you may have some limitations. But that's why it's doubly important that you train as hard as you can and report everything to me. We'll start with daily blood draws, so get out there and get started."

  "Of course. Anything." The grateful Irunian jogged out of the room with new strength and Kai found himself smiling at the infectious energy.

  Omilaena, unsurprisingly, didn't look satisfied. "Only 20 Power from the injection," she mused. "A decent boost overall - 72% if you truncate. That's a lot better than I could do before."

  "Yeah, I'm really curious how you managed that," Kai said. "You told me that the Ironpath Physique was better, but it doesn't work nearly that quickly."

  "Ah, but this is more of a cheat, not a path to growth." Omilaena smiled and then flipped a familiar potion from out of spatial storage. "You remember those cultivators boosting themselves with false immortality? I've been trying to work on a way to do something similar without burning out large portions of the soul."

  "And you used my blood?"

  "Yeah. The immortality potion required sacrificing huge numbers of people, and I can't match the raw boost, but using living blood from a strong source is healthier for the subject. Unfortunately, due to the source, it won't work on the three of us, or on our stronger allies. But in theory, now that I've made the model work, I might be able to build it into something better."

  "You're amazing." Kai wrapped an arm around her waist and tried to kiss her cheek, but Omilaena turned to kiss his mouth aggressively. She pulled back sooner than normal, staying close and catching her breath mostly from excitement.

  "Couldn't do it without using you as a raw material," she said with a grin. "You keep training yourself and I'll do my damn best to clear every obstacle out of your way."

  He wanted to stay with her, for multiple reasons, but at that moment Kai felt the elite teleport outside. When he stepped away he started to apologize, but Omilaena waved him off, already focused on her next experiment. Time for him to refocus as well, then.

  Outside he found not just an elite waiting, but several others. Tusquo stood grimly with his hands behind his back, which was average enough for him. The old woman with him was a leader of Irun, Kai thought, and that boded well. They'd also picked up Mariyay Hafkrir, so most likely...

  "Your request has been approved," Tusquo said. "We're returning to the Insanity, but we need to have a serious talk."

  Chapter 542: Negotiations at the Metallic Pools

  As they jumped through the layers of security, Kai wondered how many other non-Irunians had been allowed to see the nation's most desperate secret, much less multiple times. It was familiar to him by now, but Mariyay watched in wide-eyed astonishment as they were teleported to hide the location, then entered the ominous corridor.

  When they reached the metallic pool itself, she was amazed by the power and unable to see any weakening - and Tusquo had previously established that they wouldn't tell her. After experiencing so many more things, including another fading Insanity, Kai stared into the metallic pool and tried to see if he could sense the flaw within. It still seemed mad to him, that a little piece of metal could fuel all of Irun, but perhaps the power itself no longer seemed so impressive.

  Just what were the Insanities, and how did they relate to everything else in the world? He wished that he had answers, but he would settle for using this one to keep everyone alive.

  "And I really dive in there?" Mariyay was asking.

  "Don't worry," Kai told her, "it's spiritual metal, so you won't have a problem with breathing. Try to aim for pulling out two spheres, but one is better than overtaxing yourself and failing."

  "I know, I spoke to Tori about it. I just... didn't think I would be here, using one of Irun's private awakening pools."

  She was still short on multiple kinds of information, thinking about the Path of Steel as roughly similar to a Goralian Class. Kai thought that wouldn't inhibit her, since this was a matter of pure willpower, and she obviously had plenty of that. Whether she could use it enough to change her fate... that was another question.

  The old woman explained more about the trial and had Mariyay kneel beside the pool to meditate and prepare her spirit. While she did so, Kai examined the old woman, wondering at the life she had led to come to this place. They hadn't been properly introduced, but the way Tusquo addressed her, she must be important to Irun.

  Kai had gotten the sense that examining people directly was considered rude, so he didn't fully view her soul, just brushed against the power within her, like a glance from the corner of his eyes. He estimated she had roughly 300 Power, which made her one of the strongest Irunians who had failed to reach the Frontier elites. An uncomfortable position, he had to imagine, stronger than so many and yet aware of her weakness. Then again, she seemed to have the Irunian spirit, if she pushed people like Tusquo to surpass her.

  "I have been meaning to introduce you," Tusquo said, quietly so as not to disturb Mariyay. "This is Pourila Goryun, one of Irun's most foresighted leaders. You may not know her, but she had an impact on your life, because she was the primary elder who encouraged us to train in Goralia."

  "Then you've already introduced me to Tusquo." Kai smiled, which wasn't very Irunian, but also gave a respectful bow. "I'm grateful for it."

  "Oh, you don't need to do that," Pourila said. "Such courtesies are for guests, and whatever you are now, you are not a simple guest in Irun."

  "Uh, thank you. Sorry to impinge on your generosity so quickly, but I wanted to speak on behalf of Omilaena. I know she may be unusual, but she wants-"

  Pourila waved aside his words and gave a very un-Irunian snort. "Funny way of saying 'suspicious', but you don't need to vouch for her with me. For many of us, her development of the Ironpath Physique makes her a friend of Irun forever. I can help you with more than just your trainee, it simply took me some time to negotiate with others. For what you're asking, I needed to call in a little help."

  "I see... good." Kai had been expecting a long negotiation where he had to make his case, so he was out in front of his plans already. "I don't want to go too far, though. I know this is supposed to be a fair contest pitting Yuinafal's methods against our own."

  "You think he isn't getting support from others? No, this is just fair as far as I'm concerned. What matters is that Irun survives this."

  Their conversation was interrupted by Mariyay taking a deep breath, signaling that she was ready to begin the trial. After a few more instructions, she was allowed to jump into the pool and she disappeared within the liquid metal. When she didn't emerge immediately, Kai stepped closer to the Irunian elder again.

  "Resources aside," he said, "I have a question. Omilaena thinks that she can improve the Ironpath Physique even more, but she needs a greater understanding of Irunians. In all the different things you've tried, have there been any successes? Any anomalies that break the usual pattern of Physique?"

  "A few attempts, but none successful." Pourila glanced away from Kai with an odd expression. "Tusquo actually might have more to say about that."

  "Ah... yes, I suppose." Tusquo cleared his throat and looked down. "Quinta is from a very ancient Irunian lineage, which included... attempts to breed purer Irunians, who might reverse the decline of the source."

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  "Shameful period of our history. Not really effective."

  "That's correct. She did awaken Truesteel immediately, and took to the Ironpath Physique, but that could simply be her own talent. The methods might not have produced any sufficient results, but they did produce some effects. I suppose I see how they could be useful to y-"

  They were interrupted when Mariyay burst up from the pool, clutching a metal sphere in one hand. Her eyes moved immediately to Kai, so he urged her to head back down. She was taking a long time down there, but he didn't think that a second attempt could hurt her.

  When she was gone, Kai coughed as he tried to think about how to broach the issue. "Uh, would Quinta be willing to undergo an examination? It'd be for the sake of Irun, but I get the sense that she doesn't like Omilaena... or me."

  "That is true." Tusquo frowned and his eyes went distant. "She is always slow to warm up to people, but I am uncertain why she is so mistrustful. I had hoped that you would be friends."

  "Well, we won't force anything." Kai turned back to Pourila. "Let me know if you have anything else like that. It might be useful to examine Yuinafal's students as well, but I'm guessing that would be a bridge too far."

  "Yes, quite." Pourila shook her head. "Maybe eventually, though. There is new information I'm permitted to give you: Yuinafal is proposing a competition at the one month mark, a simple contest of arms between both groups. Since they do need testing in their new powers, the other elders are likely to approve of it."

  "So he's confident."

  "Perhaps, but this could also be viewed as a sign of uncertainty. He has learned that you got started late, so an earlier contest benefits him. Yes, he will reveal his progress, but he may be more worried about your unknown training methods."

  So there would be a contest at the half-way mark, giving each side information about the other. Kai guessed that Yuinafal would definitely be able to take advantage, and wasn't sure how he felt about that. If it meant that both sides improved themselves further, Kai was all for it, but it was possible that Yuinafal might train his students specifically to fight Omilaena's, which could undermine the whole purpose.

  Before he could say anything else, Mariyay was ejected from the pool and crashed onto the side. She was gasping for breath and went limp, but a second metal sphere rolled from her fingers.

  Pourila moved forward, congratulating her both on her performance and on attaining the Path of Steel. Mariyay knew what that meant, possibly from Tori, and looked triumphant. As they headed back out through security, she grinned at him, paying attention to the Irunians but clearly eager to talk to him.

  As soon as they had a second alone, Mariyay moved closer. "What now?" she asked. "Can I fuse this with my other abilities?"

  "One step at a time," Kai told her. "Start with the conventional training, both to get your feet under you and because you'll need it. Irunian methods are slow, but powerful, so I think the best use is a weapon that fuses your abilities. You can already think of ideas for that, right?"

  "Hell yes, I can. Kai... thank you. I can't thank you enough."

  "You can thank me by becoming strong enough to defend everyone."

  She moved away with Tusquo, who would be giving her some instruction before handing her over to other masters. That had been one of Kai's goals, so he hoped it worked out for her. Now there was nothing to do but focus on the Irunian contest and his own training.

  He ended up standing beside Pourila, not saying anything. Part of him wanted to just ask her about her history, about everything she'd seen in Irun and all the incursions she'd survived. But the old woman seemed to be looking forward, not to the past, so he doubted that she'd appreciate it. Just like what he'd said to Mariyay, what Pourila wanted from him was results.

  Before he could come up with another line of conversation, a portal appeared nearby.

  "Oh, there he is," Pourila said. "We'll talk later, but you'll be in his hands for a while."

  Kai turned to meet the elite and immediately froze, because the man who had just appeared was Gunjin Granfian.

  "Hello, Kai," his old mentor said. "I'm here to provide you some resources, but... the two of us have been delaying this conversation for too long."

  Chapter 543: Another Conversation Between Adults

  Despite the promise of conversation, they said nothing for some time. Gunjin conferred with Pourila, picked up a wrapped package, then opened another portal. When Kai stepped through it, they stepped out atop the Frontier wall. Wasteland stretched in all directions, nearly featureless. The two men stood side by side, staring out, saying nothing.

  Had conversation ever come easily for them? There had been a time, long ago, when Kai had been the orphanage's golden boy and his life had seemed clearly set out before him. Even then, however, Gunjin hadn't been exactly verbose, the silences had just passed easily because they had a common purpose.

  They might have a common purpose now, but what did they have in common other than their past? And so they stood, neither saying anything, listening to the wind howl around them.

  "The others told me that you could explain our overall tactical assessment?" Kai began, half a question and half a statement.

  "Aye," Gunjin said. "You remember the overall strategic goals?"

  "Eliminate threats at the Frontier, spread out monster hordes at the wall, then absorb them with defenses across all four border nations."

  "More or less. We have decent numbers, thanks to you and Yuinafal bringing reinforcements... but not as decent as you might think. This time we have fewer Birtaegali mercenaries than usual, and we lost elites in the last incursion."

  "So we only managed to make up for the shortfall."

  "In a sense, but we have a bigger problem this year." Gunjin sketched a diagram in midair, becoming more animated as he warmed to the topic. "For the first time in recorded history, we lost parts of the Frontier wall. They've been reinforced, and some believe the new walls will hold up, but I'm not so confident."

  Kai winced as he thought about it. "If they do break, then the monsters will plunge into the gap, and that stage of the plan will do the exact opposite of what it's meant to."

  "Which could be a huge problem, aye."

  "Where exactly are the breaks?"

  "Krysal is by far the worst, with three separate places needing repair. Interestingly, investigations have revealed that this damage actually accumulated over time: the crystalliers did an excellent job eliminating hordes, but they frequently fell short on mutual defenses, so there had been wall damage over time that went unnoticed. That all came to a head last incursion, leading to three breakages."

  Which meant that the crystallier system, which everyone was so fond of now, hadn't been quite as good as they thought. Kai kept quiet about that, because laying blame was pointless and it was zero comfort to the innocent people now in the path of monster hordes.

  "Moving on to Irun," Gunjin waved a hand east, "there are two broken sections in one region. Irun is prepared for a horde focused there, and I was hoping we could move you or your cultivator ally there to fight in the choke point if the walls fail."

  "Sounds wise," Kai agreed. "I'll talk to Zae Zin Nim about it, as she's currently set on Krysal. But are those all of them?"

  "No, there's also a damaged section in Goralia. Not broken, just cracked. We did our best to repair and reinforce, and if any of our repairs hold, it will be there. Still, we have to be prepared for things potentially getting worse in Goralia."

  "So the Elemental Nations made it through fine?"

  "More or less. They do worse in incursions when they're at war with one another, but they were unified last time. Nice to have one thing go our way for once."

  They went silent again, a little more easily this time. It felt strange to be talking strategy with his old mentor like this, treating the incursion as a problem to be solved instead of a force of nature. Kai might not be an elite technically, and his position in the organization would depend on the results of the contests, but they viewed Deadwaste from the same viewpoint.

  "So I presume the Elemental Nations will handle themselves," Kai said.

  "They may still require support, but yes. Goralia also expects to be reasonably prepared, especially with support from our southern neighbors, it's just an argument over how to distribute our hunters. Irun... well, Irun always has a clear plan, that plan will just change based on whether you or Yuinafal comes out on top."

  "Not a lot to say about that until we're done. So Krysal is the sticking point?"

  "As expected." Gunjin sighed and looked back. "There are multiple competing proposals, from utterly naive suggestions that they take the horde head on, to the elite plan to sacrifice the southeast, to Krainuun's strategy of controlled retreat."

  "And what do you think?"

  "The elite plan is more certain. Krainuun's is a good idea, but it requires political will and coordination of large numbers, and Krysal hasn't been good at cooperation lately. I'm staying out of it for now. The west is... probably in your hands."

  That was an uncharacteristically open statement for Gunjin. Kai stood alongside him and slowly realized that, for the first time he could ever remember, he could see his old mentor's soul without a shroud. Given the opportunity, he couldn't help himself.

  <

  Name: Gunjin Granfian

  Total Power: 406

  Portalcaster Class: 88 (98)

  Flameborn: Onceburned (87)

  Physique: E-9 (107)

  Soul Level: 8 (64)

  Wheel of Soulfire (+50)

  >

  It was almost shocking to find that the man who had raised him had only a little over 400 Power, as if his strength should have matched Kai's childhood view of him. Gunjin had a high level Class, but must have hit a wall before getting close to an Advanced Class. He'd awakened Flameborn powers, which only grew modestly. Other than a higher Soul Level from his experience and a partial elite synergy, his portfolio wasn't particularly remarkable.

  "That's all I have," Gunjin said ruefully, clearly having noticed his observation. "I was a big fish for Monskon City, but a pathetically small fish in the real ocean."

  "Portalcaster means teleportation?"

  "Aye. It's easiest when I just fuel prepared gates, but I can make others. When I was younger... oh, I had plans to be more than support. I was going to be cutting monsters in half with portals, teleporting enemy attacks into the sky, dominating the battlefield. But it's a lot easier to come up with clever ideas than to actually pull them off, and our reality seems built to be unfair. Most of my tricks just proved impossible."

  It was the longest Kai had ever heard his mentor talk about himself. They were both thinking about their decisions back in Monskon City, he was sure of it. Now he could understand how his mentor, bitter from his own failures, had fatalistically assumed that Kai had been cursed in the same way. And to be fair, he hadn't been wrong, Kai's curses had simply been so extreme they became something new.

  Thinking back to those days, now almost eight years ago, left Kai with a strange mix of feelings. The intensity of the old emotions had faded, leaving only an odd scar. He was less enraged by being abandoned in Monskon City than simply astonished at how much his world had changed since then. He'd understood and experienced so little.

  "But I'm not here to complain about my problems," Gunjin said gruffly. "Doesn't matter whether it's fair, we have to play the hand we're dealt."

  "Or at least the cards we can get our hands on," Kai said. "No rules in life, so we might as well cheat."

  "Heh, I suppose."

  Not wanting his mentor to clam up again, Kai searched for a less personal topic. "I've been meaning to ask, how far have the elites explored from Deadwaste? Are the oceans really endless?"

  "Just going to other continents is risky enough," Gunjin said, "and now you want to go off exploring the empty oceans? My home is on Deadwaste, and that's where my focus is. If you want speculation about further out, maybe talk to Aeglien."

  "Alright, forget the oceans, but what about other directions? Have the elites ever tried to dig within the Frontier?"

  "No luck - the ground gets more durable the closer you get to the center. Even if they blasted enough to reach the pit, it would probably just open a new path for monsters. And given how the pit reacts, it might increase the total number."

  "What about up?"

  Gunjin grunted as if in mild surprise and glanced skyward. "There I can actually tell you a few things. Some ambitious folks in the Wind Union have tried to go high before, really high, hoping to get a vantage point on the whole continent to help direct incursion defenses. What I can tell you is that as you get higher up, the air gets turbulent. More so than anyone in the Wind Union predicted. And if you go high enough..."

  His mentor trailed off. Kai waited at first, expecting just a dramatic pause, but the old man was staring into the empty blue with an odd expression. "Well?"

  "Several generations ago, a group of elites built a ship and tried to see how high they could go. They got up far higher than any other attempt... and then they were wiped out. We don't know by what. The record says that something big came out of the sky itself, and they didn't have a chance. Not clear what they mean by that, other than probably a monster. Since then, we've stayed relatively close."

  "Huh." Kai stared skyward as well, pondering that the blue expanse might not be as empty as he thought at first. Tempting fate now would be a foolish risk, but one day he hoped to soar higher and learn exactly what was up there.

  And if it was a monster, maybe he could eat it.

  "Anyway." Gunjin roused himself and dusted off his hands. "You've seen how it is out there, right? Random chance rules, and even your best can only pull people up so far. It's a big, unfair world."

  "Sure," Kai said, unsure where he was going with that.

  "You have to call them as best you can, and sometimes you get it wrong. I made a call in Monskon City, and I was wrong. I have a lot of failings, but I don't make the same mistake twice. So this time, let me know what you need. I'll get you around Deadwaste."

  Kai listened in surprise, realizing this was probably the closest that Gunjin Granfian would come to an apology. And strangely, it was enough. He would have been more embarrassed than anything if his old mentor had thrown himself at his feet and begged forgiveness, after all. Acknowledging it would ruin the moment, so Kai just grunted and nodded.

  "I think we'll start by moving around some of my students," he said. "Maybe it's the wrong call, maybe they won't be able to make a difference in the incursion, but I'm making the call."

  Chapter 544: Distributed Hunting Trials

  Gunjin's promise was more than just words: Kai immediately received a scroll that could communicate to all its sibling scrolls, creating an elite network, which granted him the ability to request teleportation at will. It was a huge privilege, and he felt a grateful impulse not to waste it. So, as much as he wanted to go visit Zae Zin Nim, he restricted his teleportation to mission critical trips.

  Exactly how much latitude he had was an open question. He had the support of some administrators, like Gunjin, and some elites, like Sheiri. But Yuinafal was actively working against him, and Kai had rubbed many people the wrong way with the revolution in Krysal. Best not to test those alliances.

  Instead he relied on other connections: he sent a message to Razz, who was still in Krysal, to gather up all the students. Because some, like Mariyay and Tori, had clear plans of training, he ended up with Ankrastor, Kyridnyiam, Untariin, and Kifaela - more importantly, he got to see Razz himself.

  "Kai!" The younger man rushed to shake his hand with a grin. "I've been wanting to talk to you, but you're always rushing around everywhere."

  "And I'm afraid I'm rushing off again," Kai said. "Only time to talk business, because I have an elite waiting to teleport us to the Elemental Nations. Thanks for pulling everyone together."

  "Not a problem, on either account. There will be time to talk after the incursion, right? There's a certain young woman... well, like you said, that can come later."

  Kai managed to hide his wince - he really did look forward to meeting Razz, but he wasn't excited about giving the young merchant advice on women. Maybe asking made sense from the outside, there were just few things he felt he was less qualified to help with.

  "You said that you had another request?" Razz asked.

  "Yeah, I wondered if you could pull some strings for me back in Goralia." Kai explained his plans and Razz bobbed around, somehow both nodding and shaking his head at once.

  "I can put in a good word for you, but I've been traveling too long. I suggest you go back to Rayakan and make arrangements there. You still have a good enough reputation, so we might be able to make it work, even this late."

  "Thanks, Razz."

  Turning away, Kai found his students all chattering with one another, reunited after some weeks in separate training. As soon as he arrived, however, they quickly settled and turned to him, waiting for their next assignment.

  "Alright," Kai said with a grin, "who's ready to hunt some monsters?"

  .

  ..

  .

  Kai sat atop a boulder, cultivating while watching his students fight monsters. Well, partially cultivating and partially swallowing disappointment, even though this was basically what he had expected.

  Some monsters were endemic to Deadwaste, but the truly dangerous ones were left over from incursions, so this close to the next, there weren't many serious monsters left. The Bloodtails had been by far the exception, drifting as they had from the Blood Current for reasons unknown. So the monsters that the trainees were fighting were just ordinary, not even worth eating.

  Still, he told himself that they were doing some good. The Elemental Nations might be in good shape, just as Gunjin had said, but that didn't mean that there weren't problems too numerous for their top fighters to handle. Kai's senses made it easy to hunt down hidden but dangerous monsters, then he left his students do the fighting - 200 Power might not be much to him, but it still made them much stronger than the local hunters.

  Just when Kai was beginning to wonder if he needed to go back to Goralia and change his plans, he felt a portal appear beside him. Not Gunjin this time... instead it was Enalanis of Magma, which made Kai get up in surprise. He still felt like he had a strange relationship with Enalanis, since the man had conducted his elemental test, but the elite acted like he didn't remember.

  "I have a target for you," Enalanis said. "Decades ago, a sacred beast called a Bydra proved too difficult to eliminate, so it was sealed. Since it cannot escape its seal, there was no reason to risk fighting it, but since you could potentially benefit..."

  "Exactly the sort of thing I was hoping for." Kai gestured out to his trainees. "Is it so dangerous that they'd be certain to die? Because I'm trying to set something up..."

  "They would definitely be at risk." Enalanis observed the students with glowing eyes as they fought. "However, the Bydra's greatest strength is defensive, so they could last. It might be productive if you seek to train them."

  "Fantastic. Will you be around to teleport us afterward?"

  "No, Gunjin will find someone to send. I am here because I am one of the few who chronicles such sealed problems."

  "Then let them finish the fight and we'll head out immediately."

  Enalanis cocked his head to one side. "Wasn't there one more? A dryad from Cloudspire?"

  "Oh, Kyridnyiam was surprisingly happy in the Water Union," Kai explained. "He practically begged for an elemental test... I'm surprised you didn't hear about it, actually."

  "I am not the sole administrator of such tests."

  "Well, he awakened Waterborn powers, so we left him to train his new ability. That leaves just these three who haven't found the synergy, hence..."

  "Very well." Enalanis took a step back, folded his arms, and closed his eyes. "I hope they do not make us wait long with their battle."

  It didn't look like it. Experience with these monsters had increased their confidence, so Untariin was showing off juggling knives, Ankrastor was trying to outdo him, and Kifaela was laughing at them both while stomping monsters. They'd needed to stretch themselves a little, but none of these monsters had outclassed them.

  That wouldn't be the case with the Bydra... Kai decided not to tell them.

  .

  ..

  .

  The Bydra proved to be an unusually large serpent-like beast, with a menacing flared head rising above a tangle of tails that went in all directions. Kai was a bit nervous sending the students against it, but they were hardened warriors, and if he couldn't trust them now, there was no point training them at all.

  Immediately they realized that this was a more serious fight and began working in unison instead of competing. Ankrastor created a rain of liquid flame that Kai hadn't seen before, which battered back the Bydra, Untariin hovered knives to intercept its movements, and Kifaela took point with raw Physique. It was a decent strategy that would have taken down most monsters in this range.

  Not the Bydra. Kai realized a little before his students did that even though its fangs were the most dramatic part of it, the real threat was all the tails: each one had a sharp tip at the end and they could attack in huge rushes that no normal hunter could block. Only careful coordination between the three prevented them from being skewered. As he watched, Kai wondered if the flared head was actually a decoy, meant to distract prey from the real threat. Since it was a sacred beast instead of a monster, it might follow hunting logic.

  While they fought, Kai spent more time looking over the Fire Union, since he hadn't spent much time there. The landscape wasn't as red as he expected, instead it had a wide array of black and gray plants that would have been at home in Irun. There were some massive red flowers, though, and great pillars of red volcanic stone across the landscape.

  Eventually the three students managed to get through: Ankrastor suppressed the tails, Kifaela struck a great blow to the Bydra's neck that sent it reeling, and Untariin decapitated it with a massive crystal blade. The severed neck twisted violently, but not as violently as the mass of tails.

  One of those tails contorted and blossomed, transforming into another head.

  To their credit, they weren't taken off guard and managed to escape the counter-attack. They also began a logical strategy, trying to sever or burn off all the other tails. Unfortunately for them, Kai could feel that the Bydra was regenerating tails as fast as they could destroy them.

  This thing was no Bloodtail, but it was still one of the strongest things he'd encountered since returning to Deadwaste and Kai felt his hunger rising. He considered consuming its regeneration ability, except that he wasn't sure he could effectively feed it to Behemoth's Heart - that fusion had been far ahead of his level at the time, so this wouldn't help much. Another possibility was to fuse it with Isulfr's Bite, since he'd long wanted to upgrade that ability, but he wasn't sure the Bydra had a potent enough bite to be worth it.

  As he watched the three students struggle against the Bydra, Kai realized that the obvious path was likely the correct one: the Bydra's most potent quality was its tails. They were agile, strong, and dangerous, with a variety of different stingers. Even if he didn't urgently need a tail ability, it made too much sense to skip.

  Meanwhile, his students weren't looking too good. Kifaela was bleeding from many wounds, Ankrastor was struggling to generate flame, and Untariin was down to a few knives. To their credit, they might have glanced toward him, but they never once begged for help.

  Before Kai, after all, the world had never given the three of them anything, only put them through terrible situations. They'd shown far more grit than most of the warriors Kai had met on Rosemount or Cloudspire, they just didn't have the fortune to be born in a stronger region. That unfair fate would have gotten them killed, if this was a real battle.

  Kai remained still, letting them believe it was real. Watched them push themselves to their limits, coming up with new ideas and even some new techniques. But in the end, it wasn't enough, because it all came down to the world's unfair math in the end.

  Then Kai came down like a meteor, consuming the Bydra's head in one bite. It must have sensed that he was a real threat, because it didn't play dead, it attacked with all its tails at once.

  And they froze under Void Gaze. Kai grinned, and his grin widened as he moved to the still beast and consumed it bite by bite. In the end, unlike a mindless monster, it stopped struggling to regenerate its tails, and so Kai finished it off as quickly as possible.

  <

  Bydra's Tail - I (alpha)

  >

  He enjoyed the feeling of the Bydra's Tail essence settling in his stomach, but there was no time for that. The essence had always been a secondary goal - what really mattered was the three trainees who were now staring at him.

  "What was this?" Kifaela asked. "Another exercise to humble us?"

  "No, it was a real incursion scenario." Kai gestured to the land beyond the Bydra. "Imagine that this had been a monster menacing a city. You managed to fight it off until reinforcements arrived, just as you'll need to do in a few months. And more importantly, you pushed your souls far enough for an awakening."

  Ankrastor jerked upright, realizing first. "Wait, do you mean...?"

  "That's right, it's time for the three of you to awaken a Goralian Class. These were your Hunter Trials, and you'll never be more ready than now."

  "But we'd need a mana pool..."

  On cue, an elite jumped down beside Kai and began to open a portal. He grinned and gestured through, to the green fields of Rayakan. "I made some arrangements, so if you'll just step through..."

  https://www.audible.com/pd/Depthless-Hunger-Audiobook/B0FX64WVSR

  https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0FXVCN78K

  other works. If not, DH will be continuing here according to the usual schedule, to the end of the fifth book and overall saga at minimum. Support the new release if you feel led, but otherwise, thanks for reading.