Chapter 22: Not the Intended Preparations

One day. Just one more day.

Kai had prepared himself about as well as he could, in terms of his own strength. He'd undergone a brutal training regimen combining all the exercises he'd learned up to that point, but now he needed to rest or he would be too exhausted to fight. Though he hadn't been able to spar with Inafay, he'd spent time with the Irunians to make sure they could work as a team.

They'd had some new ideas for him, but he'd focused on exercises he'd already mastered to avoid injuring himself. As he walked back into the city, Kai used his spiritual sight to see the strength he'd be leaving the city with:

<

Name: Kai Granfian

Total Power: 34

Laborer Class: 7 (7)

Physique Level: G-8 (18)

Soul Level: 3 (9)

???: ???

>

As hard as he'd worked, hitting G-9 had proved impossible. His useless Class had continued advancing thanks to his new experiments, but he'd take what he could get. The fact that his Soul Level hadn't improved had frustrated him until he read in the Granfian Library that it almost never developed with pure training, only in true combat.

Since he couldn't increase his Physique rank, he'd decided to leave his special flask with Juray: the risk of it breaking in the wastelands was too high. Instead, he carried a number of cheap healing potions. They'd drained his funds yet further, but he needed to put everything on surviving this mission.

To avoid draining himself further, Kai had scheduled all of his other preparations for the final day. Going around Monskon City purchasing ordinary supplies like tents and flints was practically a vacation compared to his usual training schedule. Though he looked longingly at some of the mana-enhanced equipment, he just purchased the cheapest options of decent quality. The goal was to increase his survivability, not travel in comfort.

His errands were all finished by early evening, so Kai found himself wandering and trying to imagine what else could help. He couldn't think of any other purchases to make and he had no one to really relax with, so he headed to the Hunters Guild. Perhaps the veterans there could tell him more about monsters along the Irunians' chosen route.

Along the side of the primary Guild building there were a number of terraces crowning the city. Some held chambers for the top hunters, others stored valuable materials, and a few offered other amenities. One of the lowest held the Guild restaurant and bar, which Kai technically was permitted to enter but hadn't had time for before that point.

As he entered he looked over the veterans, wondering how many would be willing to speak to him. No doubt they had heard about his disappointing Class, but he thought he had a decent relationship with many of them. Maybe they could commiserate, at least...

Then Kai saw Fhazi and realized that nothing was going the way he planned.

The young Lantrian scion sat at one of the largest tables, surrounded by a group that included the two huge goons and the ever-present quiet woman. They were relatively far away, though, compared to all the wealthy young people Fhazi was socializing with. Members of the Orgoron and Corinin clans, Krysali merchants standing out with their dusky skin and colored robes, even a couple of Irunians. All the types of people who made the world move and no longer had anything to do with Kai's life.

"Kai Granfian!" Fhazi stood up with a wicked grin. "Have you mastered your Class yet? Does the mighty Laborer Class let you bring us a round of drinks better than any servant here?"

Kai could feel the warriors at the table examining him, observing his useless Class. Those who lacked spiritual sight took in his shabby robe and rough hands and learned everything they needed. Instead of responding, Kai ignored all of them and moved to the bar.

Though Fhazi could be impetuous, he wasn't foolishly cruel. This overt malice was clearly trying to provoke a response. If Kai started a fight, or even spoke back too aggressively, then Hannagan would immediately take the opportunity to expel him from the Hunters Guild. Since he wasn't about to fall for that, Kai took the higher path and ignored the taunting.

A mug of beer splashed over his head, drenching his hair and soaking into his shirt. Kai whirled, a fist raised, and held back an inch from Fhazi's smug face.

"You really want to trade punches?" Fhazi asked. "Because my Grandfist has been getting stronger and stronger. Go ahead, I'll give you the first hit. Just so long as you don't go crying back home when mine hurts way worse."

"If I'm not welcome here, I'll leave." Kai gave the entire group a flat smile, pretending that their smug looks didn't hurt. At least a few had the decency not to laugh, though it was hard to tell anything on the largest thugs' dull faces. "Have a lovely evening."

He turned around and left with as much dignity as he could while dripping with beer. Fhazi shouted a few more insults, which accomplished nothing, and then hurled the empty mug at him. Now that he was ready, Kai easily caught the mug before it could strike his back, then set it down on a table with exaggerated care.

Once he was out of sight of the Guild, however, his composure crumbled. He had wanted to punch Fhazi directly in his smug face and a darker part of him wanted to tear out his throat. Maybe with his teeth. Trying not to think about where that savagery came from, Kai wrung out his hair and tried to dry his shirt a little.

"It's not right, for him to do that."

The voice took Kai completely off guard. He didn't recognize it at all and whirled suspiciously, only to freeze. To his surprise, one of Fhazi's enormous goons had followed him. The man loomed on the shadowy street, but he didn't look like he planned to start any trouble. His face didn't give anything away, but if anything, he looked... sympathetic?

"I'm sorry I can't do anything." The enormous man cracked his knuckles on one fist, but instead of a threat, it conveyed nervousness. "But I thought you should know. Some of us think it's not right. It's not your fault you got a bad Class."

"If you feel so bad for me," Kai spat, "then why do you go along with everything Fhazi does?"

"Don't got a choice. We need the Lantrian clan to help us advance. They told us to take care of Fhazi, so that's what we gotta do."

"There's no way that's true. With your strength, any clan would hire you. If you stick around with that little shit, that's on you."

"Maybe that's true for somebody like you." The man started on the knuckles of his other hand, his eyes constantly downward. "When you're as big as my brother and me, everybody knows what you're gonna be. We're not dumb, not like everybody thinks. But we're not as smart as you. They'd never train us in swords and traps and everything. Just brawling."

Part of Kai still wanted to be angry, but the bile drained out of him. Actually, he was the one being shitty and petty when the man was trying to reach out. Kai took a deep breath, tried to forget about the smell of beer all over himself, and forced a smile.

"Maybe we've gotten off on the wrong foot. What's your name?"

"Raghi Tonjin."

"Tonjin?"

"Yeah." Raghi shrugged with a sheepish grin. "Nobody knows us, and we're not really a clan. But that's our name. It's just me and Lofgan now. That's my brother."

For the first time, Kai tried to really look at the man, not just assume a stereotype about him. Yes, he was built like a particularly uninspired pile of bricks and lacked anything resembling a neck. But based on everything he had said, it was wrong to simply lump him in with Fhazi's hangers-on. Kai opened his spiritual sight to truly examine the man.

<

Name: Raghi Tonjin

Total Power: 25

Scrapper Novice Class: 7 (7)

Physique Level: G-6 (14)

Soul Level: 2 (4)

>

The fact that Raghi had grown so much stronger since the Hunter Trials should have angered Kai, but he couldn't think about anything the same way anymore. Raghi and his brother weren't just being handed power, they were struggling to get whatever they could. After Kai had seen how hard it was for those without backing, it would be wrong to look down on anyone for doing what they had to.

"If you just wanted to apologize," Kai said, "your apology is accepted. I understand why you have to serve a major clan, but that isn't going to help me the next time Fhazi orders you to hit me."

"We're sorry about that." The new voice took Kai off guard and he whirled to see the other brother emerge from the shadows. Lofgan looked even more nervous than his brother. "But no hard feelings? You seem like you enjoy a good fight."

"I guess so." Kai looked between the two and found himself smiling. "I wish I could convince you to join another clan, but I guess you have your reasons. Can you at least tell me why Fhazi hates me so much?"

"He thinks you took everything he deserved," Raghi answered. "You and people like you. He thought he was going to be the greatest monster hunter, then people like you blew past him. He really tried for a while, but he couldn't keep up. Even with all his father's wealth, he isn't advancing."

"Did his father hire you two to protect him?"

"That's right."

Kai glanced back toward the bar, thinking over the usual fighters that surrounded Fhazi. "Some of those with him are Lantrians, but not all. Just how many of his people are hired? Do the rest of them feel like you do?"

"Not really." Raghi answered simply and shook his head, but Lofgan spoke up again.

"You've gotta be careful about Yerinna. She's the woman with the needles, you've seen her. I'm not sure why, but she's real loyal. And lethal."

"Yeah." Raghi raised his hands and squeezed the air. "In a straight fight, if I could get my hands on her, she'd be dead. But in reality, she'd cut my throat while I was asleep or something. She's dangerous."

Lofgan bobbed his head in agreement. "No idea where she came from, and the others don't know either. She's not very friendly with anybody, even Fhazi."

That was valuable intelligence, but Kai found himself wondering exactly where this conversation was going. Since the brothers seemed more earnest than conniving, he decided to just be direct. "Alright, you've apologized and answered my question. Is there something else you wanted?"

The two looked at one another and shuffled awkwardly before Lofgan spoke up quietly. "Maybe a drink? Umm, one not poured over your head."

Despite himself, Kai laughed and joined the brothers. He was worried that being seen together would ruin their reputation, but they took him not only out of the inner city, but even past the outer wall. Apparently there were bars in the outskirts, never visited by hunters. Though he didn't ask, Kai got the sense that the Tonjin brothers had been born in the outermost city before being recruited.

As the three of them shared a drink, Kai came to know the brothers better than he had ever expected. Though they looked very similar, Raghi was actually two years older and had a different father. They didn't like to talk about their parents, but they were glad to talk about anything and everything else. Kai got the sense that they didn't get the chance to truly communicate with someone often, since Fhazi mainly wanted to hear himself.

Instead of viewing the two as matching thugs, Kai began to wonder how he ever saw them as identical goons. Raghi had darker hair and a scar across his jaw, while Lofgan had a leaner face. Lofgan drank beer as copiously as you'd expect for a man his size, but Raghi actually preferred mulberry wine. Though Raghi had manifested a typical Scrapper Class, Lofgan was something called a Whistlewind that no one was sure what to make of.

By the end of the night, Kai couldn't exactly say they had become friends. The brothers did have a stubborn loyalty toward the Lantrian clan and they didn't seem inclined to think about certain subjects very much. They weren't likely to become regular drinking partners. But as he finished his last drink and wished them well, Kai was glad he'd gotten to know them.

Walking home down the darkening streets, Kai began to reverse that conclusion. Seeing Monskon City from their perspective, there was even more injustice than he had realized. Even if he'd shed blood and tears for everything he'd earned, there were other people who started with worse fates.

A night of relaxed drinking should have been exactly what he needed before a stressful journey. As Kai tried to go to sleep, he wondered if this hadn't been the worst possible start. Everything had seemed so much simpler that morning.