Chapter 28: What's Left Behind

His failure on the Path of Steel had been gutting at first, but Kai was surprised how quickly he accepted it. Maybe he was getting used to disappointment, or maybe it was just that hopes carried for a few days couldn't compare to those crushed by his Class awakening. Sometimes he even found himself laughing. Of course fate couldn't let him have anything.

Even in his less acerbic moments, Kai began letting go of the idea. He had seen how useful the Path of Steel could be, but he didn't want to be a craftsman. Even if he could form mana-enhanced bronze, it wouldn't compare to ordinary steel, much less the highest grades of steel made for elites. The one thing he needed was power, and the spheres in his palm couldn't give him that.

Despite his disappointment, Kai was still willing to press himself harder than anyone else if he had a chance. But there were only so many hours in the day, and he couldn't afford to pursue every path at once or he would end up weak in every one.

As soon as he decided that, Kai managed to feel some hope again. He knew his Class was never going to uncover any secret strength, but he'd just proved that he could excel with the magic of a different nation. At minimum, he could visit Krysal and the Elemental Nations to see if his destiny-granted abilities there were stronger. If necessary, he could even journey beyond the Frontier nations until he found the skill that was right for him.

Once he'd made that decision, Kai didn't waste time and went to tell Tusquo. The Irunian nodded somberly and helped him disengage from the spheres. In some ways, the exercise was the inverse of everything he'd learned with Inafay: pushing away part of himself instead of delving deeper. Given his experience, it didn't take long to make his decision final.

Even after Tusquo departed with the spheres, Kai still saw a haze of symbols for Bronze drifting across his essence. Similar to the blurring symbols he didn't understand, but these bothered him. Wanting to turn away from this failure entirely, Kai focused until he managed to eradicate even the faintest traces. Now he had returned to a proper Goralian balance.

Deciding that he had spent too long wallowing in his misery, Kai went to check on the others. Everyone seemed to have recovered and Anoqa was steadily working on improving control of her Class. The other Irunians seemed too awkward around him to talk at any length, so he didn't try.

Instead he found Yangil sitting on a rock away from camp. Not sure what to say, Kai walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" Yangil struck his hand off with real force, leaving a welt on Kai's arm. "If you had been a real hunter, Curaina might not have died!"

"If I..." Kai choked down the rest of his rage. There weren't many of them out there and they needed to stick together. He tried to tell himself that Yangil was just dealing with guilt. "None of us realized that the Aquagorgon was setting a trap. It's tragic, but th-"

"Don't talk like you understand." Yangil rose and stabbed a finger at his chest. "Did you learn nothing from all this? When we get back, I'm telling Gunjin to have you removed from the clan."

Kai didn't step back, glaring at the man who had been a fellow clan member not long ago. The difference in power between them wasn't so large anymore, and if Kai could keep the man from drawing his sword, get around his armor...

Once again the anger drained out of him. No, there was nothing for him this way. Instead Kai simply walked in the other direction and kept his distance.

Before tension could rise too high in the camp, other hunters arrived in a great mana-powered wagon. It was a group of mixed Irunians and local hunters, and the way they treated one another, Kai thought there were political tensions. Apparently Tusquo had been right and the pool was a major point of conflict.

But he'd also been correct about the goal of finding it early. It seemed like Goralia and Irun had made a deal, one that overall benefited Irun. Or, if the Irunians were really struggling so much, just allowed them to keep their footing instead of falling behind. Kai preferred not to think about it anymore, so he prepared to leave along with the group returning to Monskon City.

On the morning he was going to depart, Kai was met by Tusquo. Without saying a word, the Irunian man handed him a metal case, with fittings perfectly molded for three metal spheres. Instead of being filled with potential like the Bronze seeds from the pool, these trembled as if eager to take a shape. Only after Kai closed the case did Tusquo speak.

"These may not be what you need, but they are the best I can create. If you touch one and envision what you want clearly, you will have your weapon. I believe they will be equal to any of your needs for the near future."

And, if Kai remained stuck in his current position, equal to anything he could ever accomplish. But he shoved that thought aside and smiled at Tusquo. "Thank you. Are you staying here?"

"Yes, I intend to work with my people to establish our presence here. But we're not too far from Monskon City, and the wilderness between us will grow safer. Perhaps we'll be able to visit."

"Don't be a stranger." Yet, as Kai turned away to join the returning group, he had a feeling that was exactly what they were going to become.

On his own, he examined his spirit again.

<

Name: Kai Granfian

Total Power: 44

Laborer Class: 8 (8)

Physique Level: G-9 (20)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

???: ???

???: ???

>

He actually felt better without the Path of Steel in his soul, like he'd cast off dead weight. Now that he wasn't so discouraged, he was pleased to see his Soul Level, which had become a surprisingly large part of his power. He felt it, too: a deep abiding strength despite its formlessness. That and his Physique had always been the core of his power. For a moment he almost wished he could get rid of his Laborer Class as well, but he pulled back. No, if he wanted to advance, he needed to focus all his efforts.

None of the new hunters were eager to talk to him: if anything, they seemed to view shepherding the group home as a necessary chore. This group was on average much stronger, most rated at 60 or higher... Kai found himself thinking about how things might have gone differently if there were no politics and a larger group had gone together. Curaina might still be alive.

The wagon moved faster than a group could walk, but they were taking a safer curved path around dangerous territory, so the journey was still expected to take eight days. That was about all Kai could get out of them. Yangil turned many of the hunters against him, then departed with a group running ahead to the city as quickly as possible. Kai would have been worried about his reputation, if Tusquo's message hadn't already established that the mission had been a success.

Even at their pace, they still encountered a few monsters, and the hunters occasionally went out of their way to eliminate one. After the first, Kai decided that he needed to participate. He couldn't afford to waste even these few days.

Since his halberd had been rendered unusable by the Aquagorgon's slime, Kai instead used the first of the metal spheres to form a bow. Perhaps a bit of a risk, but Tusquo's promise held. The longbow had an immense draw weight usable only by an enhanced warrior - it was actually a bit too much for him, but Kai hoped to advance to F-rank Physique and use it more comfortably. Even better than he expected, the weapon sphere also formed a quiver of ten arrows. He'd been thinking about it, but hadn't expected them to come out.

The second time they encountered monsters, Kai did his part from a distance. With little danger to himself and the other hunters engaging the beasts, Kai was able to drop several, even an armored one with a shot through the eye. He had always been a worse archer than swordsman, but along the way home he brushed up on those old skills.

Since he only had ten arrows, Kai needed to be meticulous about retrieving them, but otherwise they were perfect. The fletchings rippled almost like real feathers and never received any damage. When they hit, they tended to punch through with some added magical strength he couldn't pinpoint. Until Kai could find a ranged skill of his own, he was pleased with his choice.

Uncomfortable as the company might be, Kai was mostly just eager to get back to Monskon City. Yes, so he could pick up his flask from Juray and see about advancing. But more than that, he just wanted to be in a familiar environment among allies again. Hell, he'd even go out for a drink with the Tonjin brothers.

Focused on the return, Kai barely paid attention to their surroundings beyond searching for monsters. It was the flicker of movement in the distance that finally drew his attention, because he had to check in case it was an attack. When he confirmed that it was only humans far in the distance, he nearly ignored them entirely, but then he found himself looking again.

There were a shocking number of buildings for a settlement in the wilderness. Actually, now that he looked more carefully, he thought he saw a tower in the distance. Run down, but several stories tall. He knew of a few settlements outside of Monskon City, but they weren't in this direction, and they should have been better guarded. Just what was this place not far outside his home city that he'd never even heard about?

"Hey." Kai moved to the front of the wagon and tapped one of the hunters on the shoulder. "What's that place?"

"Eh?" The man looked out, then dismissed it with a grunt. "Used to be an outlying town, before a monster incursion. That was before our time. Anyone out here now is either a bandit or an idiot."

"But they just live out here? We can't be more than five days' travel from the city..."

"Maybe they can't afford it, or maybe they like it better here. The main thing is, they're not our problem. It's their fault if they want to live somewhere without good walls."

That explanation didn't truly satisfy Kai, so he watched the horizon until they stopped for the midday meal. Since the hunters were always on the road, they enjoyed their moments of relaxation and took long lunch breaks. Kai told them he would be back soon, got only grunts in response, and ran off to explore the strange settlement.

As he got closer, he confirmed his suspicions. There were actually several towers, as well as a whole street of buildings with two stories that hadn't been visible from his old vantage point. The streets were overgrown with weeds, but they stretched in multiple directions. This hadn't been some tiny village, it must have been an important outlying area of Monskon City. And he'd literally never even heard of it.

Once he got near the outskirts, Kai began to see the signs of the monster incursion. There had once been a wall, but it had been shattered in the attack, then looted over the years. One enormous cornerstone too large to move had claw marks through it, each cut wider than his head. Something had melted one of the towers to slag and there were several strange pits as if something had clawed its way free. The villagers were burning things in them now and using the tower for shade, but the sight had an impact on him.

This was exactly the sort of thing he'd always wanted to stop. All the tales he'd heard of the worst monster incursions had come true here, annihilating what had once been a productive settlement. Hunters existed to stop exactly this.

And yet this settlement sat abandoned, no longer defended by anyone, and no one seemed to care. Kai turned back to look toward the wagon, wondering how they could be so apathetic... and saw them pulling away.

He shouted and started after them, but he'd run too far. The mana-powered wagon was already gone down the road, leaving him alone in the ruins of an unknown town.