At first, Kai had been convinced that the Bludshard elves must be hiding some horrible secret. They'd all turn out to be cannibals, or they transformed into monsters every month, or they were hiding some slave caste. If not for the steady presence of Zae Zin Nim's qi, he would have been checking on her regularly. Days passed and his anxieties gradually eased.
As far as he could tell, thes...
2024-05-01 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostEventually Kai decided that it was easier not to think about it. There were a lot of emotions involved and it had been a long time for him, but he was a warrior first and foremost. He didn't need to think about what Zae Zin Nim implied or how strange it was to have Omilaena hovering around them, nudging them closer. What mattered was taking the right next step forward.
Thankfully Ceryyn w...
2024-04-30 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostAs comfortable as Kai was outside civilization, he didn't mind spending some time in Sandflower City again. For one, he just wanted to explore, since he felt like he'd gotten so little time there on their first visit. So long as he was in Lady Ceryyn's company, the elves wouldn't refuse him anywhere, though he suspected he'd get a worse reception on his own.
Currently Zae Zin Nim and Omil...
2024-04-29 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostOmilaena formed another needle and then melted it into shape, finishing off the new poison filter. It wouldn't help someone against her, of course, but it would be useful for most alchemists. And more importantly, it was going to earn her a lot of money.
She'd been able to complete more expensive projects in Sandflower City, then made even more money when they teleported south to a major ...
2024-04-26 17:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostIt was just as well that Zae Zin Nim wanted to move on, because Kai wasn't sure how much more he could learn from the elves here. The balance training had been useful, but his Physique hadn't increased again and he didn't think that it would. To achieve a real breakthrough, he needed to eat something new.
Even though it had started as a mild interest, a way to stay busy in between trainin...
2024-04-25 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostOnce, reaching the Earth Soul stage would have been an incredible accomplishment, the point where she could begin earning her freedom. Now, even as Zae Zin Nim devoted herself to cultivation, she wondered if it was enough.
Reaching Earth Soul would only put her on par with her father's top cultivators as well as a great many threats on Rosemount. In theory the Blackblood Physique would fi...
2024-04-24 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostNothing. Kai stared down into the abyss, hoping for some answers, and the darkness strangled his vision.
Had he really expected anything different? A naive part of him had hoped that he'd seen answers in plain sight and a fearful part had worried he would die in the same way the southern Goralians had died when they faced the abyss. Yet this was just a hole, without even a single monster ...
2024-04-23 17:00:18 +0000 UTC View PostThe rhythms of training had lulled Kai into a false sense of complacency, tricking him into thinking that he had time. But of course he didn't. Even if Zae Zin Nim was finally free of her pursuers, they had so many problems tumbling down toward them...
It was just as well that Ceryyn couldn't arrange to take them immediately, because he needed to clean up. If the elves who guarded the Inv...
2024-04-22 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostLong after the other elves had gone back to the oasis to rest for the evening, Kai continued training atop the thin trunks. Without the need to spar with anyone, he could actually try different methods. At the moment he was doing a handstand atop two trunks and trying to raise his bodyweight. The weight itself was easy, but the flimsy foundation required him to use stabilizing muscles like neve...
2024-04-19 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostSometimes life surprised her, but not this time: Omilaena could see how all this was going to go.
She had been working on her own training when she heard the next splash, followed by laughter. When she looked up she saw that Kai was pulling himself back up to balance on the reeds again. The Cryswind elves were doing their best to mock him, but their laughter rang a bit hollower now.
At last they had reached the Sapphire Wind Oasis. Finally. Teleportation should have made everything easier, yet it only made Zae Zin Nim more impatient. Elven rituals and other distractions were only a small addition compared to a long trip, but when they could be at their destination in seconds, such diversions were intolerable. People getting in their way were just infuriating.
Most of...
2024-04-17 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe ring glittered silver on Kai's right hand.
He twisted his wrist again, staring into that shimmering metal and trying to find the hidden dimension he knew lay inside. Unlike bags and similar spatial items, he couldn't just reach inside to get items. Instead he needed to gain a sense for the ring's connection to its pocket dimension and how to access it. There were several ways, he just...
2024-04-16 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostFor a while they all just stood there in the endless sand. After the intense battle, hearing nothing but the sound of wind should have been relaxing. Yet the fact that they were in the middle of nowhere didn't bode well.
"These are the Elven Wilds," Omilaena said eventually. "Probably somewhere on the western side, which is heavily sandy due to the rain shadow and the rest of the continen...
2024-04-15 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostNo matter how Kai struggled, he couldn't find an edge against the onslaught. When he tried to attack, the demon impaled his arm with another bone spike, and when he tried to move away, the next spike hit his leg. Behemoth's Heart was desperately just trying to stop all of the shards of bone inside his body as they tried to tear him apart.
Strength and determination wouldn't be enough to g...
2024-04-12 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThe demon lunged straight at Kai, so damn fast that there wasn't even time to fully manifest a Tyrant's Claw. Instead he dodged to the side, buying just enough time to form one. He'd planned to swing it horizontally to catch his opponent, but the demon had already broken away.
He attacked Zae Zin Nim next and she desperately turned aside his swift blows. The demon thrust his hands forward...
2024-04-11 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostAfter the early agreement there were negotiations, arguments, and briefings, but the core of their decision had been made in the jungle. As far as Kai understood, they were going to strike at a pass between the Commonwealth and the Elven Wilds, taking down a small fortress and capturing the strange anti-glamour technology.
That task would almost certainly put them up against a true demon....
2024-04-10 17:00:16 +0000 UTC View PostAs much as Kai was interested in Ceryyn's offer, he wasn't about to stumble into Rosemount politics when he was still an outsider. So after getting the basics, he signaled to the others to meet in the jungle. Thankfully, Zae Zin Nim said there was no sign of her pursuers and Omilaena seemed ready to move on.
They waited together on the southern edge of the jungle for Ceryyn to contact the...
2024-04-09 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostThis had to be the time. The Banchlain had been a threat for weeks, but now unless he killed it, many of the elves were going to die. No matter if luck went against him or the monster revealed new abilities, he needed to finish the fight.
Kai treated it as his first serious monster hunt on the continent. Since the previous pit traps had been inadequate, he dug a substantially larger one w...
2024-04-08 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostKai sat in the middle of the deadly jungle, no longer fearing its threats. His strength hadn't advanced massively, but his knowledge of the region had improved so much that he was comfortable there now. Only the Banchlain, still harassing the elves, could actually threaten him, and it was nowhere to be found.
After eating so many new monsters, his soul felt painfully full. Still hungry, j...
2024-04-05 17:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostOmilaena realized that she was a hypocrite. Oh, she gleefully accepted her hypocrisy in many contexts, but this one had sneaked up on her and it rankled just a bit.
She had been persuading the other two that they needed to diversify their strength and take on new avenues, only to fail to do so herself. She still relied on Heart of Poison and Lethal Artisan, both skills she'd learned on he...
2024-04-04 17:00:04 +0000 UTC View PostAfter another week, neither Kai nor the elves had successfully killed the Banchlain. The process made them increasingly frustrated, but he was a little more optimistic every day. It was a strange feeling.
Every day he was getting better, both due to his own training and observing the elven hunters. He still felt nauseous at times and the chakra wine still overwhelmed him, but he thought h...
2024-04-03 17:00:07 +0000 UTC View PostFor once, Zae Zin Nim shouldn't have been cultivating. She could get closer to the peak of Nascent Foundation any time she had adequate qi, so she should have been pursuing more urgent goals. Yet they slipped away from her so often that she ended up back here, focused on her dantian.
Despite Omilaena's occasional taunting implications, Zae Zin Nim had a clear plan that would take her beyo...
2024-04-02 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostFor several seconds Kai just stared at the family of elves as they stared back at him. He realized that, even though he'd just saved their lives, they might not react positively to a strange man grabbing their kid. The child was still squirming in his arms and for an irrational moment he considered throwing the child over to the boat.
Of course that was a bad idea; even here on Rosemount,...
2024-04-01 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostIt took Kai three full days just to get a general sense for part of the jungle, which didn't come close to fully exploring it. There was a den surrounded by bones that he chose to avoid until later, as well as a large field of plants that seemed to be carnivorous. A river fed into a lake, which he avoided temporarily just in case it held anything particularly nasty.
What he stayed farthes...
2024-03-29 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post"It's definitely not ideal," Omilaena said. "The thugs weren't wearing any kind of insignia?"
Kai shook his head. "If you don't see anything on the items I have here, it was eaten."
"Probably just a gang, not a more significant group. This isn't catastrophic, just... not ideal."
He'd waited outside the city, going through his familiar exercise routine while alert for an attack...
2024-03-28 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostThere were thugs blocking both sides of the alley and no one else in sight. It looked like two on each side... no, there was a fifth standing on top of the buildings. Kai had expected the gang to have either made their bid or attacked already, but they seemed to be moving oddly sluggishly. He used the time to examine them properly.
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Name: ???
Total Power: 215
Fighter...
2024-03-27 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostSince they would be staying in Roseport for at least a short time, they needed to find suitable lodging. After the chaos of the ocean voyage, both women insisted that they could afford some luxury and Kai wasn't going to argue with them. They went to an inn that seemed to be reasonably nice, and perhaps more importantly, had very high security.
They hadn't discussed their exact room arran...
2024-03-26 17:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostOnce they got a safe distance away, Omilaena immediately went to talk to some locals without much explanation. Since it seemed to be important, Kai didn't object, but he was getting tired of being pulled around not understanding. While they waited, he glanced over to Zae Zin Nim.
"Do you know what that was about?"
"Not the politics, but the man..." She frowned and he thought he coul...
2024-03-25 17:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostKai was used to being called a barbarian and didn't think anything about it - the nations of the Frontier had to respect Goralia, and Zae Zin Nim meant it affectionately. When the sailors had used the same term, it hadn't really registered. But now, as they finally stood on Rosemount, he actually felt like one.
The port was huge, even larger than Yulthens, but that wasn't what floored him...
2024-03-22 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View PostDespite Kai's fears that something would go wrong and prevent their arrival, it looked like nothing else would stand in their way. Rosemount covered the horizon now and there were ships moving all around them. Everyone had acted like the continent was a constant lethal threat, but the sailors just seemed to be going about their work, no matter what species they were. He didn't see how any new d...
2024-03-21 17:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post