Chapter 76: Long Term Cultivation Plans

At first he had no idea where he was. It was worse than waking up from sleep, rougher than being hungover, far more disorienting than dizziness. His life had been continuous memories up until that point and then were was a visceral gulf he couldn't ignore in the middle of it.

Coming out the other side, Kai had no idea where he was or what he was doing. There was blood all over his hands. His entire mouth felt wet and sticky. Only as his tongue ran against his teeth and he savored the taste did he remember what had been happening before he blacked out and turned to look.

Zae Zin Nim stood at a distance, palms raised defensively. Several cuts had been torn in her tunic and she was oozing black bile in multiple places. Yet her eyes... they stared at him with caution, but not hatred.

"Did..." Kai's voice was too deep and raspy, even after he finished swallowing. "Did I attack you?"

"Yes, with considerable ferocity," she said, as if discussing the weather. "Considering that you don't usually roar like that, I didn't take it personally."

"Oh fuck, I'm sorry... I never intended, I just... I don't want to say I was overcome with rage, it was more like the 'me' that I feel in my head just disappeared..."

"You don't feel another such incident coming on?"

"No, I don't think so." Kai shook himself viciously to refocus. The terrible thing was that, even though he felt guilty, his body felt great.

Rather than think about how he'd torn into the monster core like a savage, Kai went to wash his mouth out with their new water stone. The liquid was surprisingly cool and he felt refreshed almost immediately. That faded when he looked behind him and he saw Zae Zin Nim sit down with her limbs trembling. Despite how calm she acted, the experience had not been easy for her.

Considering that she might need more time, Kai examined his soul again.

<

Name: Kai Clanless

Total Power: 74

Cultivation: Qi Condensation 20% (12)

Physique Level: F-8 (46)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

Monstrous Hunger - VII (eta)

Direboar's Strength - III (gamma)

Aquagorgon's Health - III (gamma)

Isulfr's Bite - I (alpha)

Rockspider's Claw - II (beta)

??? (???)

>

For the first time in months, his spiritual sight did him almost no good. Something new with ambiguous symbols had appeared near the bottom of his soul, undecipherable. He almost didn't notice the other difference, then realized that "Monstrous Hunger" had increased by one rank.

"We can confirm one thing," Zae Zin Nim said, again able to appear perfectly calm. "Whatever your soul is, your power is not accurately represented by your human characteristics. You hit much harder than anyone below 100 should be able to."

"Again, I'm sorry about that." He sat down opposite her, not too close. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She chuckled and it actually sounded authentic. "You tried to bite me."

"What, I... like ran up and tried to chomp your arm?"

"It was strange, but you looked very serious about it. I dodged on instinct, so I don't know what would have happened. Maybe it was foolish, but..."

"Maybe not." He immediately thought back to his fight with Barroguk and tried to think about how to explain it to her. "When I was fighting that Knight, I... projected a force somehow. I don't know how to describe it - because mana or qi, I've never had a skill like that."

"Oh, you started doing that too." She inclined her head to the side and for the first time he saw the massive claw mark, three lines torn into the stone. "Seeing it for myself gave me some thoughts, but I need more time to consider them first."

Which might also mean that she needed more time after the experience. As lightly as she played it off, he had the feeling that he had attacked her with full intent to kill, leaving her with no choice but to defend, wondering if she would need to kill him. He wouldn't have wished that experience on anyone, much less one of the only people who had been consistently kind to him since his banishment.

Maybe it would be best to shift to something completely unrelated. "Can you explain to me what's going on with your Blackblood Physique? I wasn't sure if awakening a Class would cure you or not."

"No, it's just going to unblock my cultivation. But it did improve my condition." Zae Zin Nim ran a hand over her arm and then rubbed the bile from her wound between her fingers with a frown. "If I had fought you before, I'd have been in just as bad a condition as after those elite mercenaries. It's still disgusting, but it isn't harming my health in the same way."

"So how do things look for you moving forward? Your Class development, or cultivation, or... however your path will look now."

"There's no question about that: I need to advance past this preliminary Class stage. That will refine my mana to the point where it can work with my qi, and in that time I should move closer to the peak of the Body Refinement stage. It should work just as I hoped: I'll be able to push through the blockade caused by every aspect of my essence and begin acquiring benefits from them."

"Then your condition will stop acting like an illness and start strengthening you? Do you know how?"

"Actually..." She folded her arms the way she usually did when cultivating and closed her eyes. "I am somewhat uncertain. In my path of cultivation, the body is continually reborn at each stage, so it is unclear how it develops. Advancing from the Body Refinement stage to Nascent Foundation will definitely restore me to good health. I am uncertain about... other variables."

It seemed like a sensitive topic, so Kai moved on. "So you have a pretty clear path set for you. We'll have to work together to discover what this Coldfire Class can do, then once you're comfortable with it, you can use the scroll and probably blow straight out of the Novice stage. Then I won't be able to help you at all with the cultivation part, sorry."

"I may need someone to defend me while advancing. As you have no doubt noticed, cultivation requires significant time, and does not react well to interruptions."

"Then I'll do what I can."

"I'm sure that you will." Zae Zin Nim opened her eyes again, fixing him with her gaze. "I have every intention of being helpful to you, but your cultivation strategy will heavily depend on your goals. I confess I am not certain what they are at this time."

"Good question." Kai chuckled, but it actually left him feeling a little adrift. After the confusion of the heist, it was still a little difficult to believe that he'd gotten to this point. Apparently he'd more than repaid Zae Zin Nim, so he didn't have any immediate needs. Once his entire life as a hunter had been clear in front of him, but now...

"We still have these financial records for Razzagah Lantrian. I presume that you intend to keep working with him."

"Yeah, that's a good place to start. At minimum, we fulfill our side of the bargain." Kai looked out toward Rayakan, even though it wasn't properly visible from their distance. "Here's how I see it. If our role was discovered and the Corinin clan starts sending their mercenaries after us, we have no reason to stay in the city. But if we got away with it, I think it's in our best interest to keep working with Razzagah. You have to admit, we profited a lot from this job."

"Presuming we can trust him." She caught his gaze and shrugged. "In my experience, merchants care only for profit and currying favor with the most powerful sects. But this is a different continent, and I no longer think I should be so confident I understand it all."

Kai threw up his hands. "You're asking the wrong person. I'd have told you the same, but apparently in Rayakan hunters are the greedy and wasteful ones. Maybe merchants are altruistic and kind here."

"Heh. Very well, we can continue. But after that? I presume you do not intend to stay in Rayakan for the rest of your life."

"They've predicted another monster incursion not long after the next Hunter Trial." Kai had to struggle to think about exactly how long it had been. He thought there was still about a third of a year. "I may be banished, but I still want to prove myself then. My mentor... Gunjin is a hard man, but he's open-minded. Even if he won't listen, the monster incursion would be our best chance to test our strength in a way that would make a difference."

"That will do." Zae Zin Nim folded her arms in her sleeves and nodded sharply. "I cannot teach you because you are forging a new path, but I can offer advice."

"Please do."

"We'll begin by experimenting with the Krysali crystals. I don't think you can rush the Qi Condensation stage in a meaningful amount of time, but you can make progress. Eventually you need a better method of hiding yourself than those potions... you burned through yours, by the way. You look like a monster right now."

"Shit." Kai started to grab another one, then thought better of it considering the training they might be doing. "So what else?"

"Your next advancement would definitely be your Physique, so we can focus on that. But the largest practical effect on your capabilities isn't in raw strength: you're lacking in technique. I don't mean your base skills, which are adequate, I mean abilities that can have a greater impact on the battlefield."

"Like those scratches I apparently put through stone. Or... biting, I guess."

"Indeed. I do not know any cultivation techniques for developing unknown abilities, but while fighting you, I made several observations..."