Chapters 478-481

(Cognosticon here. Just reminding everyone that chapters are temporarily going to a weekly batch while I travel.)

Chapter 478: To the Frontier Abyss

Back to the Frontier again, thankfully not wasting any time thanks to teleportation. When Kai arrived, he found himself standing on the interior of the wall next to some of the outposts. It looked like they had fully repaired damage to the wall, though the fact that it was still easy to tell was a reminder that those repairs might not hold up for the incursion.

The only person within sight was Lofgan Tonjin, who looked startled to see him. He smiled, but didn't get up from his seat on a large rock.

"You're, uh, early." Lofgan's gaze shifted away again. "An elite will be coming soon."

"You're still training here, huh?" Kai asked.

"Yes."

Lofgan didn't say any more than that, and Kai realized that the direct conversation was making him uncomfortable. He probably volunteered to wait to have some peace and quiet, which backfired when Kai showed up early. Instead of bothering him further, Kai sat down on the same rock looking in a different direction and got a look at his soul surreptitiously.

<

Name: Lofgan Tonjin

Total Power: 255

Whistlewind Class: 68 (78)

Waterborn: Oncedrowned (55)

Physique Level: E-2 (86)

Soul Level: 6 (36)

>

It looked like he'd continued to show strong progress, with total Power above 250. Like his brother he was highly muscular, but he had never been as interested in physical training, so he was still at Physique Level E-2. That was made up for by his Whistlewind Class, though, and strangely he seemed to have acquired Waterborn powers. That was different from what Kai remembered on his last visit.

"I, uh, didn't get what I expected," Lofgan said quietly, as if guessing his thoughts. "I have a wind Class, so everyone was certain..."

"Get the wind element?" Kai finished. "Like Inafay?"

"Yeah."

They remained silent for a while before Lofgan spoke again.

"But I could have received nothing, so I'm lucky. I'll have to figure out how to work with these powers."

"They're making you stronger, at least." Kai privately wondered whether those two abilities might be able to work together, but he didn't know the details and in any case he wasn't an expert. Once again, he wished that he had Omilaena there for analysis.

The two of them made intermittent but not uncomfortable conversation for a while as they waited. Some people blossomed when they entered a more free environment, but it seemed like Lofgan had retreated, no longer needing to bluster like a thug in the employ of the Lantrian clan. Despite his quietness, he seemed happier than before, strangely content.

Eventually someone leapt from the wall and Kai was surprised to see Talndim again. Then again, there weren't all that many Frontier elites, so it wasn't a surprise that he met some of them again. He got to his feet and grabbed the burly man's hand while checking his soul.

<

Name: Talndim Bundrin

Total Power: 723

Breakfist Advanced Class: 10 (330)

Crystal Cultivation: 10,000 (125)

Physique: E-8 (104)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

Hybrid Essence: Shimmering Fist (+100)

>

Like many elites, Talndim was very close to his limits, at least on Deadwaste. Still, with 700 Power and a strong grasp of phases, Kai placed him as far stronger than any Earth Soul. He wanted to ask the man about all the work he'd done on phases since then, but Talndim didn't seem in the mood for training.

"We're about to do something generally considered stupid," he said as soon as the pleasantries were done. "You can find monsters in the abyss, sure, but fighting in it just riles them up. Some years they tried to weaken the incursion before it started and they actually made things worse."

"Then why let us?" Kai asked.

"Because this is the time for taking big risks. Besides, for most of us monsters are just training at best, but you can get something from them. We're taking in a small group and I'll be leading us. Not that there's much of anything down there."

"No one has ever reached an end? There's a similar pit in Rosemount, but they have that one under control, and they've been to the bottom."

"If one exists, no one has gotten close enough to see it." Talndim gave an expansive shrug. "Technically there was a group that went down and never came back, a few hundred years ago. But most likely they're all dead, so I wouldn't count on it. This is just to show you that it's no use."

"Who else is coming?" Lofgan asked.

"Come along and I'll show you. Right this way."

They left the wall and headed straight inward toward the abyss. Talndim threw down a series of crystals for them to step on and they flew at a surprising pace, faster than most flying swords Kai had seen. As soon as they got away from the wall they stopped encountering anyone and the landscape became increasingly desolate.

A distortion in the world filled the air, vaguely unsettling, but it was nothing compared to what Kai had felt during the incursion. If he was worried about anything, it was the resonance he felt within himself.

Just when he was starting to wonder if the others would only meet them at the edge, he saw two people flying in their direction. Even before he could make out the details, he saw the flicker of green qi and knew that it was Inafay.

"Kai!" She caught his neck as she passed him and her momentum looped her around, laughing. "I heard you were back and I've been itching for a chance to meet up again!"

"Glad to see you too, Inafay." Kai hugged her tightly before pulling back, and to his surprise she easily hovered beside him as they flew. It seemed like her control of her wind powers had grown since they last spoke, which reminded him to check her soul.

<

Name: Inafay Corinin

Total Power: 424

Windcutter Class: 96 (106)

Windborn: Twiceswept (112)

Physique Level: E-9 (107)

Soul Level: 7 (49)

Highwinds Essence (+50)

>

That was impressive growth for Deadwaste, putting her on track to become one of the top elites within an incursion cycle or two. Yet as he looked over her soul, he found himself thinking that she had far more potential. Maybe, given the proper resources...

"You've gotten a lot stronger," he said.

"That's just annoying, coming from you." Inafay punched his shoulder. "But yeah, I'm trying to polish myself up before the incursion. This crazy adventure sounded like just the thing."

Meanwhile her fiance Ivonailin had approached at a more sedate pace, keeping at a distance. He nodded to Lofgan, who nodded back, almost as if they had some history. Afterward he also said hello, and Inafay began discussing their training so eagerly that Kai barely had a chance to examine his soul.

<

Name: Ivonailin of Mistral

Total Power: 450

Windborn: Thriceswept (288)

Physique Level: E-7 (101)

Soul Level: 6 (36)

Highwinds Essence (+25)

>

It looked like Ivonailin had continued to grow, focused on his Windborn powers. The two really did seem to be a good match, in power as well as personality.

Both of them were strong, but it would be so easy for them to die in a place like Cloudspire. Kai had seen so many Earth Souls get cut down left and right... he absolutely couldn't let that happen with people like Inafay and Ivonailin, who had so much more potential. Another reason he needed to take care of Yul Wei Ren and Grandpa Wan Fei.

But he could forget about that for a little while: it was time for a monster hunt.

They all chatted freely as they flew inward, except for Talndim, who kept himself some distance apart. Even Lofgan seemed to relax a little now that he could float along within the conversation instead of having too much attention on him. It seemed that, despite his surprise Waterborn nature, he had kept in contact with the Wind Union trainees, in particular Inafay and Ivonailin.

Before Kai could ask about them further, they finally arrived at the abyss. And as he drew close and saw the ground swallowed by the enormous pit, he couldn't bring himself to chat or joke any longer.

The perfectly smooth hole in the earth was astonishing, even though he'd seen it once before, even after having traveled through two other continents. Now that he stood in front of it, there was absolutely no comparison with the abyss on Rosemount... it was like comparing a pebble to a mountain. Just the difference in size couldn't convey the enormity when he faced it and saw the opposite wall descending into darkness that seemed to go on forever.

"Things are quiet now," Talndim said, "and some speculate this incursion will be a little late. But I say there's no way to be sure, so let's stay cautious."

"Could it start early?" Kai asked.

At the exact same second, Inafay asked, "Is it usually quiet before an incursion?"

"Not this early, but yes, respectively." Talndim rolled his shoulders and began to build reinforced qi armor around his chest. "We have to fly from here on. Years ago some Irunian idiots tried to build some kind of outpost down there, a way to block the incursion early, and it got annihilated. Worse, there's absolutely no trace left of it. Don't take this place lightly."

Kai felt as though they should do more preparation, but realized there was nothing to be done. They had all been training for years, they had plenty of supplies in his spatial ring, and they knew what they were getting into. There was nothing to do but fly to the edge of the hole and enter.

During the last incursion, Goralians had died simply from looking inside. Whatever power had killed them was gone now, as if the entire pit was inactive. It should have been peaceful, but as they flew downward and the walls of the abyss started to block out the sun, Kai realized that it was more like the silence of a graveyard.

They descended into the darkness until they needed to raise lights, whether mana or qi. The lights extended below, illuminating nothing but more smooth and featureless wall, as if the abyss could go on forever. There was no sign of anything... but he began to hear claws rising from the depths.

Chapter 479: Deep into the Abyss

The first monsters that crawled up the sides of the pit were almost underwhelming. Gnashing teeth, yes, glowing red eyes, obviously, unnatural claws locked to the pit walls, of course. But all of them had fought monsters before, and these weren't overwhelming in numbers or strength.

Yet there was something different about them, something primeval. When Kai kicked one off the side of the pit, it fell into the darkness completely silently, as if was no more than a mote rejoining the whole.

When another one got close to him, Kai picked it up to investigate. Outside, the majority of monsters looked like twisted versions of animals: Goralia's most common monster was dogs that had been turned inside-out, for example. Yet these resembled some sort of overgrown bugs, with armored backs and bottoms covered in serrated legs. All of those lashed out at him, endlessly and mindlessly angry, but their tips skittered off his skin.

Even up close, he couldn't quite pin down anything about them: no name or threat level. All his other instincts made him confident that these were relatively weak, yet they seemed to embody something deeper and darker. The distorted feeling that became more intense around the abyss was especially strong within each monster, which could make them lethal to an unprepared fighter.

He could feel there wasn't enough essence to consume, so he just crushed the monster in his hands and tossed the remains at another on the opposite side. Both fell into the darkness, which seemed to swallow even the sound of the impact.

To take his mind off the oddity of it, Kai looked to the others. Inafay and Ivonailin were practically dancing around one another in midair, clearly enjoying the use of their wind powers. Talndim used a crystal lance to stab the monsters one at a time, making no extra movements, as if he planned to be doing this for days. Lofgan was the most at risk, since he had to fight on a platform created by Talndim, but he wasn't having trouble. He stood silently with his eyes closed, then occasionally there was a gust of wind and monsters split in half.

"Do they just keep coming forever?" Kai asked.

"Seems so." Talndim shrugged in mid-thrust, then tossed the monster corpse aside. "They seem to attack more when they're confronted."

Kai had actually seen much worse: when the god-like beings had come to the Frontier, the monsters had grown in intensity almost as if to match. He hadn't understood at the time, but now he thought that the monsters gained the capability to use phases, or perhaps their power was just so concentrated that only humans using phases could keep up.

As they ventured lower, the sky overhead turning into a faint speck, the giant bugs were joined by flying insects. They weren't as mobile as any of their fliers, but they changed the game and required new tactics. Then they began to see larger monsters occasionally, beasts that towered over the others with long scythe-like limbs.

Just how many monsters could the abyss unleash? If the example from the last incursion was anything to go by, it seemed infinite, but that didn't make any sense. Just what was this pit, that so many forces were interested in it? And why did it have to threaten everything he cared about?

While fighting through the horde, Kai wondered what would happen if they left. If the Frontier elite failed to stop the monsters, there was no doubt that the next incursion would sweep over all of Deadwaste. But if there was no one to oppose the monsters, if they somehow transported millions of people off the continent, what would happen? Would the monsters dissipate with nothing to kill? Or would they spread until they consumed the entire world?

His thoughts had been idle musing, but in that moment Kai felt a deep hunger growling within him. He didn't know what would happen for certain, but somehow he knew they wanted to consume everything. Their hunger wasn't something that could be filled, just an endless need that would never be satisfied.

At last the flow of monsters trickled away... he could still hear the movement of claws against the sides of the pit, but it wasn't getting closer, just like the sound of a river in the distance. They all took a moment to catch their breath, and when he turned to the others, he was startled to see how small everyone looked. Their lights, which had illuminated large portions of the wall on the way down, now barely extended to small spheres around them. They were all just little motes in the dark that could be snuffed out at any moment.

"How long do we keep this up?" Inafay asked. Even she seemed muted, despite not having taken an injury yet.

"Until you kids get bored." Talndim sat down on his crystal platform, put his lance across his knees, and looked like he might nap. "The intensity comes and goes in waves. We never figured out exactly why, but the theory heads think it's the same thing as the incursions. Just very long waves, roughly every seven years."

"And so some are worse than others," Kai finished. "Then the last incursion might have been an extraordinary exception, a culmination of all possible factors."

"Maybe, but are you willing to bet everyone's lives on it?"

The others seemed to need the break, so Kai didn't keep talking. He saw that Inafay had flown over to Ivonailin and rested against him, which just made him think about Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena again. Lofgan crouched on his platform and seemed like he was meditating. If that was just the first wave, how intense could things become?

He floated over next to Talndim and spoke in a softer voice. "What happens if I go down rapidly and come back up?"

"Well, assuming you survive, it'd be just like the whole expedition. Riles up the monsters, triggers new waves of them, then we have to deal with it." Talndim opened one eye to peer at him. "Because it never seemed to help even slightly, we haven't investigated it in full. You can try if you really want."

Kai talked it over with the others while they got fully rested, and they seemed open to the idea, Inafay especially. It seemed clear that if they wanted a full, long term investigation he would need a larger group, ideally with Omilaena and Zae Zin Nim, all of them fully prepared. For this trip, his best shot was to punch down and see what he could find.

So he took a deep breath, readied Thunderbird's Wings, and then plunged.

For nearly a minute he plummeted straight down, the walls of the pit flashing around him covered in monsters that failed to react in time to strike at him. Yet as he traveled further the monsters grew larger, more grotesque, covered by too many mouths and undulating tentacles. It became a surrealist nightmare as if he had dived into the gullet of some impossibly large beast.

Then, with very little warning, one of the monsters leapt off the wall, much faster than any of the others. It was a beast composed almost entirely of blades and lashed out at him with at least ten limbs, several of which actually drew blood. Kai kicked it away on instinct and it crashed into the wall, sending it and other monsters tumbling into the dark.

That one would have been worth eating, but he didn't see any sign of it returning. The slower monsters on the walls were all beginning to turn toward him now, and some might be able to make the jump all the way to the center, so he plunged further.

For an instant he thought that he'd actually found something different, a lump on the wall that broke the normally smooth sides. Then it opened a dozen eyes and the enormous monster jumped at him, releasing a wail that shook his soul. Both of them slammed into the opposite wall and for a second Kai was swarmed by monsters slashing into him from all sides.

He exhaled Baleful Breath, surrounding himself in a cloud of death that bought him a few seconds to recover. But before it even faded, a monster with a heavy shell leapt through, not caring that it was burning, just slamming into his wings and then tearing into them.

Momentarily shocked, Kai fell from the wall, plummeting deeper. Monsters began launching themselves from every side, slamming him off course, turning his fall into a wild tumble between jarring impacts. There was no light at all now, just his unnatural sight and hunger.

Eventually he managed to catch himself and shot back up, the shockwave from Thunderbird's Wings knocking away the next wave of enemies. Yet when he bought himself a free moment, he felt as though there was still something hanging in the abyss, some entity that was unaffected by the shockwave. Before the monsters could attack again, he reversed course one more time...

And landed on something hard and fleshy.

Kai knew he had only seconds before monsters began attacking, yet he had to spend them figuring out what he had touched. The pit still extended below him, as far as he could sense with no change, yet for the very first time there was something in the center. It was a fleshy sphere half the size of his body, connected to the walls by strings of unnatural skin.

An egg? No, it felt more like a monster core than anything. As monsters began to leap at him, Kai struck them aside with wild blows as he tried to examine the sphere further.

This might be all he got from within the pit, so he refused to just abandon it. First he tried to bite into the surface, but his hunger didn't react in the usual way, as if it wasn't a monster core. At least he could take it out... Kai used another shockwave to knock the monsters back, then wrapped his arms around the core and ripped the sphere free of its bonds, intending to carry it upwards.

To his shock, it dissolved in his arms. Something flooded into him that he couldn't explain - not mana, not chakra, not qi. The only piece of it that was comprehensible was that the Monstrous Hunger in his soul leapt from Xi rank to Omicron in an instant.

Could that thing have been some unnatural type of monster core? Was it related to how the abyss seemed to spawn endless monsters? He had no answers and clearly it was impossible to carry the fleshy core back up, so he could only report and ask the elites about what he'd discovered. And yet, even though he'd found something... part of him wanted to go lower, to find more of them.

He realized that the monsters hadn't attacked him for several seconds and looked around to find them hesitating. For a brief moment he hoped that they were submitting to him, that he could gain some control, but he was wrong.

The monsters weren't responding to him: they froze before a specter that was rising from the depths.

Chapter 480: The Starvation Wraith

The entity from the depths struck all his instincts as a monster, yet Kai couldn't resolve it in his spiritual sight. Even though the abyss was nearly pitch black, the entity was visible because it was somehow darker, clear even within the endless darkness.

It had a central shape something like the upper body of a human, but the bottom trailed away into a long spine. The head, if it was a head, was just a lumpy sphere. Two claw-like arms extended from the torso, as long as his body.

Suddenly its presence swept out, and Kai ran.

He hadn't intended to do it, he was just shooting upwards with Thunderbird's Wings before his conscious mind could engage. It was almost like a presence technique, reaching out to grab him on a visceral level.

For a moment he considered going up: he'd already gained something of value and the abyss would clearly only get more dangerous. The entity was still below and he couldn't tell if it was pursuing or not. Staying was irrational and only put others at risk.

Yet that aura was like the monstrous equivalent of a presence technique... he needed it.

Kai forced himself back down, piercing through the aura with sheer force of will. When he came into sight of the wraith-like monster again, he could finally resolve it in his spiritual sight.

<

Monster: Starvation Wraith

Threat: ???

>

So it was called a Starvation Wraith. Kai threw himself down at it with all the speed he could, prepared for an intense struggle.

Yet to his surprise, his body passed directly through. It felt slightly chilly, but he moved through the wraith like it was no more than smoke. He struggled to stop his momentum lower in the pit, worried about all the lower monsters that were turning to attack him.

The Starvation Wraith was already in pursuit, swinging one of those long claws. When it hit him, it was no phantom: great rents were torn in his side and Kai grimaced in pain. He launched ordinary qi bolts at the monster and they passed through harmlessly, only for it to sweep another claw at him.

Kai retreated upward before the other monsters could mob him. As he flew, he realized that the claw injury wasn't healing the way it normally would. In the heat of the moment, he wasn't sure if it was healing at all. Behemoth's Heart was pounding as if he was half dead and yet he had no idea what it was actually doing, if it was having any effect whatsoever.

And the Starvation Wraith was still coming after him.

Its aura of fear was no longer in control of his mind, but Kai decided to retreat. This far down, there were multiple monsters that could be dangerous to him, so fighting here was too much of a risk. He shot upward, unleashing multiple shockwaves with Thunderbird's Wings to keep the mass off him, climbing upward.

The Starvation Wraith followed, untouched by the shockwaves.

After a minute of shooting straight up, Kai saw that he was leaving the monster behind. The wraith had slowed, beginning to sink back down into the darkness. That left him with a choice: maybe it was better to leave something so dangerous behind, but he wasn't likely to get a chance like this again.

Almost before he'd made a conscious decision, Kai threw himself down. This time when the wrath drew back to strike at him, he exhaled a cloud of Baleful Breath.

For the first time it actually drew back. It didn't look harmed in the slightest, but it avoided the cloud. In the abyss the dark cloud should have been invisible, yet he still saw its shape illuminated by the motes of red and yellow. When the Starvation Wraith moved to attack, it floated around the cloud instead of through.

A scythe tore through Kai's back and he grimaced in pain. The monsters on the walls were still focused on him, and some of them could cut through his defenses. As more leapt from all sides, he shot upwards.

This time the Starvation Wraith continued pursuing, showing no signs of falling back. Good. Kai was willing to take risks, but not suicidal ones for no reason. The best strategic decision would be to lure the Starvation Wraith up into the higher parts of the pit where the monsters were less dangerous and the others could provide support.

Moving at top speed, he was able to tear upward without further problems, the wraith steadily pursuing. When he finally saw the others, who were fighting off a small wave of monsters, Kai shouted out a warning.

"Got a bad one coming!"

There was no question as to what he meant: when the Starvation Wraith approached, it carried its aura with it. An unprepared group might have been annihilated, but everyone with him had extensive experience at the Frontier. They flinched, but they didn't hesitate.

Mana-charged wind, crystals, and several knives hurtled down into the Starvation Wraith. All passed through its body harmlessly, but it slowed as it approached them. For the first time the faceless being seemed to hesitate, as if considering the new targets, then it lunged for Kai again.

Now that he was prepared, he was able to dodge aside, but the attack came closer than he wanted. Kai launched several Manticore Quills at it, formed from qi, mana, and chakra - all passed through harmlessly. If he was going to beat this thing, he had to figure out its limits and find its weaknesses.

Assuming that it had any. Life had never been obligated to be fair to him.

After several sweeps, the Starvation Wraith suddenly turned away from him, bearing down on the others faster than he could react. Its claw swept through Talndim and his thin layer of crystal armor shrieked. The crystals saved his life, but his body slammed into the side of the pit in an instant. Not even slowing down, the wraith swept toward Inafay, both claws slashing out in a cage.

Kai used Void Gaze from his position, desperately hoping it would be enough. For the first time the Starvation Wraith froze... not bound in place, but acknowledging him in some way. Even though it had no face, when it turned he felt that it was focusing on him, and the intensity of its presence struck back. He hadn't felt anything like that since the Void Witness that had given him the technique.

As the two of them fixated on one another, locked into place, the others unleashed every attack they could. It didn't seem to be doing any good whatsoever, and Kai began to worry that he'd made a fatal error luring this monster so high.

Then he heard a subtle whistling and an arc of wind tore through the Starvation Wraith's ragged side.

Lofgan dropped to one knee on his platform, clutching his head. The attack had been successful, but could he do that again? For the first time the monster acknowledged someone else as a threat, tearing away from Void Gaze to streak toward Lofgan.

Before it could arrive, Talndim intercepted it. He no longer wielded a crystal lance, only a single dagger that shone with blinding light. The darkness around the wraith swallowed the light, but when he swung, the monster pulled back.

Kai joined in with more Baleful Breath and the Starvation Wraith finally retreated, sliding down into the depths... but it wasn't gone. They could feel it there, waiting in the darkness.

Around them, the monsters continued to crawl up the sides, some of them now jumping to attack. Compared to the wraith, those were nothing, yet the threat was still growing.

Inafay turned to him in midair, face split between admiration and disbelief. "Kai, just what have you gotten us into?"

.

..

.

Hope of a quick resolution was ended after the next two attacks by the Starvation Wraith. It seemed to be a spiritual entity, disregarding even normal types of energy. Only the most refined forms of power could touch it, and even then only with a half-phase of power. That severely limited their options.

But what made victory impossible was that the Starvation Wraith didn't attack mindlessly. When he managed to partially burn it, or one of the others cut through its body, it would retreat into the darkness for a time, then return whole again. Once Talndim almost severed one of its claws, but even that injury didn't last long.

Given the increasing waves of monsters, they couldn't safely pursue. When the Starvation Wraith attacked at the same time as the other monsters, their group was nearly overwhelmed and had to retreat further up the pit.

During the brief breaks, they caught their breath on the floating crystal. Lofgan handed out potions from Juray to keep them going and heal injuries, though Kai refused - supplies were limited and he could endure for longer. They also talked about whatever they could, trying to come up with a strategy for all the good it did.

"I've never heard of a monster core like that," Talndim said after Kai explained what he'd found. "Now, I don't know exactly how fast you were going, but when the elites made a real push, they traveled down for days. And they didn't report anything like that."

"Anything like the wraith?" Kai asked.

"Oh, there were a ton of reports of monsters no one had ever seen before. I told you, poking around in the abyss just makes things worse."

That certainly seemed to be true in terms of normal monsters, which were coming in larger waves. The scythe-like beings he'd seen below were starting to appear again now, and they were serious threats on their own, requiring a major attack from one of them to defeat. When they attacked along with the Starvation Wraith, the humans were all at serious risk for their lives.

Breaks in between the attacks became increasingly grim, focused on recovery and preparation for the inevitable. Monsters continued to trickle in even between the large pushes, forcing one of them to stay on guard. Kai eventually remained awake alone, warding off the Starvation Wraith, so that the rest of them could take some time to sleep.

How long had it been? There seemed to be no time down here, and the circle of sky overhead was so small it barely mattered whether it was night or day. Yet he felt like he was getting closer... their strongest attacks could harm it, he just needed a way to consume the monster.

The others woke up just before the Starvation Wraith attacked again, its presence flooding upward. Some rest had done them good in terms of resisting and they split up in their newest strategy, aiming to attack from both sides. Inafay and Ivonailin were getting better at concentrating wind techniques enough that they could hinder it, while Lofgan and Talndim had managed to find methods that worked to some degree. They just needed the right opportunity...

As the battle raged, Kai waited for his moment. His first theory was that the Starvation Wraith had to become corporeal to attack, but that had been proved wrong: his claw went straight through it even as it injured someone else. Yet he was convinced that it did become vulnerable when it was under assault. He needed not just to kill it, but to consume it.

When Lofgan whistled again, Kai saw his moment: at the same instant the wind cut into the wraith, he launched a Manticore Quill. It actually struck the wraith in the neck and it twisted as if in pain, making Kai leap up eagerly from his position.

As it thrashed, one of those unnaturally long arms slashed out, catching Lofgan across the chest. He let out a gurgle and plummeted off the side of the crystal, into the darkness.

Chapter 481: Omens of an Incursion

Kai burst downward with a wordless cry, chasing the man falling into the darkness. Lofgan fell faster with every passing moment, so Kai had to push himself to the limit to catch up. When he matched speed and caught Lofgan, the man's body felt like nothing but a piece of meat.

Slowing down strained his wings as he struggled to reverse course, even as monsters began to launch themselves at him. Kai had no idea if the body he was carrying was alive or dead, he just lashed out with Manticore Quills, dropping every monster that came at them. Eventually he shot back up, trying to catch his breath enough to ward off the Starvation Wraith.

Maybe they slipped past one another in the rush, maybe it had hidden itself, but when he reached the crystal platforms, only his allies remained.

One of Talndim's arms was severely injured, kept in position against his chest by a crystal sling. Inafay and Ivonailin, while not harmed, slumped together on the crystal platform, gasping for breath. When Kai set down Lofgan, he let out a groan but didn't wake up.

"You see?" Talndim stared down into the darkness and shook his head. "It'll be back soon enough. We'll be lucky if it doesn't come to the surface after us."

"How long do we keep trying?" Inafay asked. Even her usual irrepressible enthusiasm seemed muted now, her hair limp around her head. "We almost lost one of us, and if it comes with all the other monsters..."

"Not yet," Kai said, even though he didn't have any answers.

While they spoke, Ivonailin took the more practical step of tilting a potion into Lofgan's mouth and forcing him to swallow. They didn't have many of those left either. Kai could keep fighting, but Behemoth's Heart had been pushing him for ages and he hadn't slept at all.

He didn't want to come this far just to give up. Kai sat down at the edge of the crystal, less to rest than to think.

So far, his attempts to attack with more spiritual methods had been only partially successful. It wasn't simply an issue of physicality, otherwise the wind techniques would have worked immediately, and Talndim's concentrated crystal knife would have been ineffective. Maybe he was thinking about this all wrong...

As he looked through the essence in his soul, Kai realized that he had neglected something. Isulfr's Bite might be a physical-seeming technique, but it had always been deeply connected to his hunger. Even though it wasn't strictly necessary for him to consume monsters, using it had always naturally absorbed their essence. Maybe... he struggled to shift his weary soul and move the essence back into the active portion.

Below them, a deeper darkness was stirring again.

"Kai..." Ivonailin looked over at him and only spoke his name.

"Once more." Kai slowly stood up and took a deep breath. "Use the technique you've been working on. Don't try to cut it apart, just make intense enough wind to pin it down. Just give me one chance."

"Alright." Inafay slumped as she rose, but then threw her shoulders back and forced a grin. "We'll give it a shot."

Meanwhile Talndim retracted part of the crystal platform, wrapping up Lofgan and raising him to a safer position. There was no telling if the elite would support them any further, but it might not make a difference either way.

When the Starvation Wraith attacked again, it did so at the head of a flood of monsters. More than before, with dangerous varieties snarling from the depths. Kai flew in a circle around the side of the pit, exhaling enough Baleful Breath to create a ring that would slow the monsters, at least for a while.

The Starvation Wraith shot past him, aiming to kill the others. Inafay and Ivonailin hovered in its path, holding hands as they gathered their power together. When its claws swept out to tear through them, they finally unleashed a storm that shone so intensely that even the abyss was briefly illuminated.

In that moment the Starvation Wraith was pinned in place, fully visible as the energy crashed around it. Kai leapt, not as a hunter but with pure hunger, and his maw opened wide. The wrath twitched toward him, as if startled for the first time, and his jaws snapped closed.

Darkness.

Kai opened his eyes, bleary and disoriented. He could only have been out for an instant, but now he was being carried upward by Ivonailin. He could see Inafay behind them, desperately hurling bursts of wind at the monsters that were charging after them. When Kai managed to turn his head, he saw Talndim's platform retreating skyward as well. It was actually getting brighter as they ascended, but the monsters were coming after them in a flood.

Had he somehow triggered the incursion early? Had he doomed everyone? Kai shook off his fatigue and flew for himself, unleashing Manticore Quills into the rush of monsters as they continued their fighting retreat.

When they burst out into the open air, it almost didn't seem real. His world had contracted down to the circular space, but now that he was on the surface again, he realized just how vast the pit was. There were monsters crawling up from every side, more than they could hold back on their own...

At that moment the Frontier elites arrived, rushing from the wall in every direction. Magma, qi, thorny vines, and hundreds of other attacks rained in from all sides, annihilating the monsters as they tried to crawl to the surface.

The others retreated to a safe distance and collapsed, while Kai hung in the air supported only by Thunderbird's Wings. He knew that he should help, but for once even the idea of an incursion couldn't motivate him to act. Everything about his soul felt wrung out and all he wanted to do was look and see if it had been worth it. His eyes blurred, but finally he spotted what he'd hoped for:

<

Starvation Wraith - alpha (I)

>

Yes, he could feel the wraith's essence in his soul. As the flood of monsters began to slow to a trickle, Kai finally let himself smile. It had been worth it.

As they retreated with the others, their grueling ordeal dissolved into giddy relief. When one of the elites helped heal Lofgan and he woke up, the exhaustion lifted further. Talndim actually cracked a smile and Ivonailin kissed Inafay full on the mouth. Even though some of the elites seemed to be unhappy about the entire operation, they softened when they saw the enthusiastic response.

Kai knew that they had done him a favor, letting him do this at the cost of so much of their effort, and the risk of utter disaster. Yet that just made him even more confident that working with them had been the right decision, and more determined to pay them back. When the real incursion came, he would be there with all the power he could gain.

"You happy?" Talndim asked gruffly.

"Yeah, I really am." Kai couldn't help but grin back. "Thanks, we couldn't have done it without you."

"This didn't weaken the incursion at all, you gotta understand. Slowed it down a little, at best. When it happens, it will be just as bad as it would have been or worse. Now you see why we don't try to push down there?"

"I got it, I won't make another attempt. But this was worth it."

While they spoke, Inafay and Ivonailin approached, still with arms around one another's waists. She grinned up at him. "It was crazy how your mouth just opened and... I don't know how you ate the entire thing in one bite, but you did. What happens now?"

"There's still some business I have to deal with, like getting my ship completely built, and finding the last cultivators. But..." Maybe it was the exhilaration from the victory, but Kai felt like he could do anything in that moment. "I want to thank you for what you did. Come with me when I go back to Cloudspire... I can get you sources of power you've never seen before."

"Are you sure we'll be back in time?" Inafay asked. "Only about... three quarters of a year left until the earliest time the incursion could start."

"If the ship is as fast as I hope, there's time. I won't just be returning with allies, you'll be fresh off new training. We'll be able to make a difference this time."

Inafay glanced at Ivonailin, and his expression was impossible for Kai to read, but after she grinned at him. "We're in! How many people can you take in that ship of yours?"

"That's a good question." Kai looked over to Talndim, who grimaced at the whole idea.

"We can't stop you if you want," Talndim said, "and it's true you've given us benefits we couldn't get anywhere else. We can teleport anyone else who's willing. But we're not formally sending any trainees with you. The historical odds on people going to Cloudspire are still bad."

"Make sure to get Raghi and Juray as well, I have ideas for them." Kai started to turn away, then hesitated and turned back. "Actually... this shouldn't be limited to people I know. Let the other elite trainees know about the offer. Find anyone who has potential, but hasn't gotten lucky. I can't make any promises, but I want to give them a second shot at a different fate."

Talndim grunted and went to speak to the other elites. With the hunt finally over, Kai's mind was moving in too many directions to rest. Just the time spent talking with the others had given Behemoth's Heart enough time to restore him, so while he didn't want to fight another battle like that soon, he could move easily.

"Hey," Inafay called after him. "We'll get everyone else together, but what are you doing now?"

Kai grinned and cracked his knuckles. "It's past time I took care of some Cloudspire business."

(I'm sure some won't like this, but hey, you got this whole sequence with no cliffhangers.)