Depthless Hunger

Once the elves left them, Kai was again stranded in a completely unknown foreign land. He couldn't have called the Elven Wilds home, but the wastes were at least familiar. Now they were allegedly in the northern part of the the Coiled Empire, which was a riot of colors. Trees with red and purple foliage seemed common, almost like it would have been for autumn at home, but there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the color here.

They'd left the elves behind completely to make their early preparations, mainly erasing every single trace of their association. For Kai that had just been buying some different basic clothing, but it was more difficult for the women, so he'd also gotten the diamond ship overhauled again so it looked more lamia than elven.

Now that he was finished with that, he was waiting around, trying to get his bearings. There were tons of lamias, of course, since it was the Coiled Empire, but this far north there were all kinds, even elves. Their group didn't stick out much and he saw more than a few goods from Deadwaste, especially the Elemental Nations. In fact, there was an old lamia man cooking over an eternal elemental flame just down the street.

What struck him more was that the powers were so different. He'd grown used to all elves being beautiful and graceful, so there was a part of his brain that thought everyone was plain-looking. That seemed unfair of him, so Kai used his spiritual sight instead, on a young lamia man.

Name: ???

Total Power: 86

Lamia Class: 20 (20)

Physique: E-4 (82)

Soul Level: 2 (4)

Even this young lamia, who looked like he was in decent shape but not a trained warrior, had a Physique in E-rank. On top of that, some sort of "Lamia Class" that also seemed to enhance durability. As far as he could tell, lamias simply gained Physique faster than other races, though it seemed to be offset by weaker powers of other types. Still, that would be an enormous advantage if it ever came to war, or even just violence in everyday life.

To contrast, he picked the strongest lamia he could find, a scarred middle-aged one missing half her tail. She seemed more on par for lamias who had actually trained:

Name: ???

Total Power: 330

Ifrit's Breath Class: 6 (30)

Lamia Class: 70 (70)

Physique: D-5 (225)

Soul Level: 5 (25)

>

Her Physique was D-5, and he was surprised for a moment before he realized it was only to be expected that someone would surpass his Physique here. Against guards like these, he would obviously still bet on himself, but he wondered just how strong they could become. Allegedly the Empress of the entire empire was a great power on Rosemount because her defenses were so high that she had never even bled.

It made him think back to the blue-skinned warrior at the Frontier. Had he been an exemplary Physique user, or were there unfathomable powers beyond that?

The other mix of powers still puzzled him a little, since it seemed novel but less diverse than he'd seen elsewhere. Everybody seemed to be carrying Classes, but they didn't look like Classes on Deadwaste. He felt certain that he was missing something, and the symbols swam a little in his eyes... in the end, he couldn't figure out what the discrepancy was, though.

Instead he looked to a street performer with tree-like hair, someone wearing a native wrap but not a lamia. He had enough power to be putting on a fancy show, lofting multi-colored balls in complex patterns, so perhaps he was more representative.

Name: ???

Total Power: 218

Eagle's Rainbow Class: 23 (115)

Physique: E-8 (94)

Soul Level: 3 (9)

>

Another random person who could have been a strong crystallier in Krysal, though he was used to that by now. More interesting was the man's "Rainbow" power, which didn't sound like any Class Kai had ever heard of. It granted him an enormous amount of Power, though, so it must be effective enough. None of these people were using "chakra-engorged" Classes, so he had to wonder if this was a local variation.

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"Sorry to make you wait."

Thanks to the Alltongue Fruit Kai could follow the babble of different languages around him, but the familiar voice was still a relief. He turned to meet Zae Zin Nim, ready to tell her that it was no problem, and the words dried up in his throat.

His uncharitable impression of the crowds didn't apply to his companions: they might not be using glamours, but they still looked incredible. Zae Zin Nim had foregone her usual to wear red robes that left her arms and lower legs bare - that should have been nothing, but it was so strange for her that it distracted him. Omilaena was still wearing a tight blouse, of course, and had apparently given up her usual slits up the thigh for pants inlaid with some sort of blue metal that made them strikingly form-fitting.

Kai wasn't staring, though, he just smiled. Distracting as it was to realize his closest allies were these women, he was mainly just glad to see them. They smiled back, and Omilaena looked over his outfit with a raised eyebrow that suggested she found it interesting too.

"I, uh, just bought something ordinary." Kai glanced down at the pants and long tunic with coiling patterns, which seemed to be the local style.

"It suits you," Omilaena said. "Try to go at least a few days without ruining it."

"Are we ready to go north?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "I would like to be off."

"You don't want to explore the Coiled Empire at least a little first?"

"Perhaps later. For now... well, you know what we must do."

He gestured for them to follow him and they leapt into the diamond star. Since there didn't seem to be any prohibitions against flying vehicles here, the only thing slowing them down was navigating around all the other flying objects in the sky. Unlike before, he found himself getting frustrated by how slowly it moved compared to his own flight.

"We should cross the border in three days at this rate," Omilaena said. "We can show our 'trade goods' from the spatial ring if necessary, but most likely no one will stop us. The Commonwealth has always been successful via its policy of openness. Of course, they don't exactly police much else, so we'll have to fend for ourselves."

"Just like it's always been." Kai shrugged and settled back in to the flight, but he found himself glancing to the side at a lamia woman who was flying through the air.

Name: ???

Total Power: 339

Sapphire Skylance Class: 13 (65)

Lamia Class: 43 (43)

Physique: D-3 (215)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

>

"That woman has some sort of 'Sapphire Skylance' Class?" he suggested. "But she also has a Lamia Class, and I didn't think you could have two. I'm not sure I understand how the local powers work."

"Are you sure it's a Class?" Omilaena leaned on his shoulder but didn't press against him unnecessarily. "Look a little more carefully. You're seeing her in Goralian terms, which isn't quite accurate."

"I'm not sure what you expect me to see." Kai didn't want to stare at the lamia as they passed her, so he just glanced back at Omilaena.

"You're expecting to see personal powers as Classes, but you're overgeneralizing. Think about it - can there really be such as thing as a Lamia Class that the entire species has?"

"I guess... I might see it as a Class becomes it seems like a unique ability." He frowned and tried to reconsider. "I guess it's more like a natural characteristic, similar to elven soul cultivation? Huh... there was a dryad woman I met a really long time ago and I guess I read her soul wrong."

"What about the Sapphire Skylance ability?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "That looks like a Class even to me. It's definitely not cultivation."

"I think it's an elemental ability," Omilaena said. "Similar to the Elemental Nations, so you should be used to this."

Kai considered what they'd discussed and took one last look at the lamia woman. This time, his spiritual sight came in much crisper as he understood his misapprehensions.

Name: ???

Total Power: 339

Sapphire Skylance: Stage 13 (65)

Lamia Essence: 43 (43)

Physique: D-3 (215)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

>

His impression of her strength, both in quantity and quality, had been correct, but now he saw more truly. With his new knowledge her Sapphire Skylance ability resolved as something different, a power organized in stages, and her Lamia "Class" was listed as "Essence". That seemed more correct to him, but he wondered if he was still missing details.

"I dislike all these distinctions," Zae Zin Nim said with a scowl. "Yes, on Cloudspire we may wrap up too many abilities in our cultivation, but at least they're organized. What's the real difference?"

"If I had perfect answers to that, I'd be a lot stronger." Omilaena sighed and dropped back in her seat. "According to the diagram in the alien ship, there are several fundamentally different types of power, the problem is differentiating them. Elements, Essence, and what you call Class... they can all do very similar things, and they're all intrinsic to a person, but they're somehow different."

"I suppose they don't involve cultivating. Growing by gathering power, I mean."

"But it's more complicated than that. My abilities are based on the Essence principle and they can grow by incorporating new sources. The energy isn't fungible, which is a difference, but why should that be so important on a fundamental level? The fact that we don't see people jumping between different power systems is proof that the difference matters, but I don't know why."

Kai didn't have any answers, but his thoughts immediately turned practical. "Are these sorts of powers conflicting, or complementary?"

"That's exactly the question!" Omilaena snapped her fingers and pointed at him. "I believe it's the latter, but haven't proved it. It's a shame that neither of you is a fundamentally elemental fighter, or I could do some interesting experiments that I think would make you much stronger."

"You mean aligning the different powers," Zae Zin Nim said carefully. "If a person had a flame-based Class, but also a flame based... elemental power... they would be more powerful than the sum of their parts?"

"I'm pretty sure they do that at the Frontier," Kai said. "I don't know that it's always exactly the same element, but they get benefits for combining the different abilities. Admittedly, they don't seem elite compared to here, but they're working with a lot less power. They have pieces of their soul I don't ever see here."

Omilaena sighed and slouched back even further. "Welcome to my world. Would the ideal balance be one of every single type of power, or would they crowd one another out? Can they all coexist, or do they need to be merged or balanced? As far as I can tell, we don't have answers to that anywhere on Rosemount or Cloudspire, but there are people in the world for whom this stuff is essential."

Another reminder of the threat they faced beyond even their current crisis. The conversation turned to happier topics, particularly potential benefits they might find in the Commonwealth, but part of his mood remained somber. As if he was just waiting for something to go wrong.

There were no more divine beings from the sky, but well before they reached the border, they saw a demon. It was a woman standing atop a spiked hill, staring at all the travelers with her burning red eyes. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but it seemed like her gaze followed them longer than all the others.