Depthless Hunger

Chapter 119: Entering the Krysal City States

There was only one problem with their plan to go to the Krysal City States: a clear look at Kai's soul would still send the majority of people running for their lives. He cultivated as much as he could on their way northwest, but it became clear that he wouldn't be able to reach the peak of the first stage, not on the small amounts of qi they could drain from the crystals. So they were left running the risk of discovery and relying on Class potions.

Along the way, they discussed their other strategic concerns. Zae Zin Nim planned to take the point position, as cultivators were more common in Krysal - as she reminded him, Cloudspire was across the western ocean. At her new cultivation stage she could easily reveal part of her power and receive respect enough to get them through most situations.

Kai had no problem with that, but he did have a problem with the fact that she didn't seem to think it necessary to consider much beyond that. Apparently on Cloudspire it was enough to walk in with a lot of power and things would fall out alright.

For his part, he wanted a stronger plan, plus he was never sure if his terrible luck would come after him again. The biggest problem was lack of information, so they decided their first destination would be the city of Romastir. It was one of the only ones he'd heard of, due to being on the border with Goralia, and so they could gather information before venturing further in.

He wasn't sure what to make of the Frontier elite's comments. Somehow the Krysal City States were "rotten at heart," whatever that meant. Presumably figuring that out was part of the test, since working at the Frontier required good judgment as well as power.

When the city finally came into sight, he immediately knew that they weren't in Goralia anymore. Instead of a heavily fortified city built around a defensible point, it started with an enormous sprawl of fields and farms. This close to the Frontier wasteland, there were more animals than crops, but this close in Goralia there wouldn't be much of anything growing.

"Did they just take the best land?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "This looks much better than Goralia."

"I think their territory is more consistent," Kai said. "Southern Goralia is incredibly fertile and has strong mana, but the north is rough. The evenly spread land is why Krysal can split into different city states without collapsing."

"Does the qi get any stronger than this?"

"I can't say for sure. I'd guess that it's similar or some cities would be much more powerful than others, but that's just a guess. Presumably each region has stronger sources."

"Hmph. That's common enough."

"Of course, I think they get most of their qi from the crystal mines."

Zae Zin Nim's eyebrows rose. "And where are those? Can we go seize them?"

He wasn't entirely sure if she was joking, but he decided to just roll his eyes and laugh as if she was. The actual answer was something he wished he knew. It was difficult to imagine that something as large as a mine could be kept secret, but given their importance to Krysal, there would be strong incentive to keep them as secure as possible.

Past the fields and farms they reached the city itself. It did have a massive outer wall, which left him wondering what happened to all the farms during an incursion, but it looked much freer than Goralia. He could see balconies on the higher floors, streamers waving from windows, kites arcing overhead. As they drew closer, he saw several massive statues built into the walls, portraying the great men and women of the city.

Allegedly it was possible to buy nobility in the Krysal City States. The idea didn't tempt him even slightly, but he had to wonder at the grand statues.

When they neared one of the gates they found themselves caught up in a milling crowd that gradually filtered into a line passing through guards. As far as he could tell, each person entering the city was either presenting papers or paying money. Before Kai could get a good look at what was happening, a guard approached them and coughed.

"Excuse me, lord, lady." It was a short man wearing steel armor studded with several qi-bearing crystals. Kai nearly opened his spiritual sight before remembering that it might not be polite here. Since Zae Zin Nim just looked annoyed, Kai decided to respond.

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"What is it?"

"Are you two crystalliers?"

Kai blinked at the unfamiliar word. "I guess not. We're monster hunters, from Goralia."

"Well, if you have papers from your guild... no? Come this way with me, please. You don't need to wait in line with the rabble."

Clearly, the guards must have already used spiritual sight on them - it was a damn good thing he'd drank a Class potion out of habit before they got anywhere close. Kai wasn't used to being treated like this, but he supposed that he'd just entered a new land and should follow the customs. The guard led them away from the main crowd to a smaller door that appeared to enter the guard tower. Since eyeballing was apparently allowed, Kai examined the man as they walked.

Name: ???

Total Power: 24

Crystal Cultivation: 117 (12)

Physique Level: G-3 (8)

Soul Level: 2 (4)

>

The man's strength didn't seem like much, though Kai had to remind himself that his standards had been severely inflated over the past year. He glanced at the other guards as well and discovered that all of them were roughly similar. It wasn't until they were led to a man with fancy crystalline gilding on his armor that he saw someone a little stronger.

Name: ???

Total Power: 42

Crystal Cultivation: 507 (31)

Physique Level: G-4 (10)

Soul Level: 1 (1)

>

Curiously, the man didn't appear that much tougher, he just had stronger crystal cultivation. But there was no more time to think about that because the officer was addressing them.

"Welcome to Romastir," the officer said with an ingratiating smile. "We certainly will not refuse crystalliers of your strength, not at all, but there are a few formalities to set aside."

"Crystalliers?" Kai asked.

"Forgive me, a Goralian may not know the term. We don't have Hunters Guilds here, instead we divide our warriors into several categories based on their capabilities. Most work as guards, or occasionally hunters, but those with a Power rating over 100 are reserved for more important assignments. We call them crystalliers, and even though you may not be crystal cultivators, you will be considered in the same category."

"Thanks. What are these formalities?"

"Oh, just a few matters to ensure there will be no trouble. We need you to sign these forms, and there is a small fee. If you do not have crystals to pay, which I assume you do not, a hundred Goralian Eagles will suffice."

Kai opened his mouth to complain about the price and saw Zae Zin Nim glowering at him. Maybe she was right: they had almost 10,000 Eagles and it was petty of him to argue over such a small amount. He just hoped that the guards didn't cheat the average citizen that much... then again, the average person wouldn't have anywhere near that much. Maybe Krysal demanded more from its more powerful citizens, which would be fair.

It didn't take too long for them to finish the paperwork once they paid, then they were each given elaborate crystalline seals. They didn't seem to be made out of the qi-bearing crystal their fighters used, instead some sort of sapphire. The guards told them that crystallier seals were in high demand and would let them pass directly through many outposts. Kai wasn't sure if the material could possibly be real sapphire, but if it prevented them from having to deal with any more paperwork, he was satisfied.

On the other side, they walked into the city of Romastir and he immediately got another reminder he wasn't in Goralia anymore. He saw a fair number of people who looked familiar, but they were outnumbered by dusky Krysali heavily swathed in various cloths. There were far more varieties than he'd known existed, from somber robes to colorful wraps.

"We don't know exactly what we're looking for," Kai said to Zae Zin Nim, "so we need to survey the city methodically. Obviously we need accommodations and a place to sell the monster core. Keep your eyes open for the local equivalents to guilds, sources of crystals for cultivation, herbalists or apothecaries, and anywhere that might post about monster hunts."

She fixed him with a flat gaze. "That sounds like a lot of busywork. If everything is for sale in Krysal, can't we just hire someone to do it for us?"

"There's no substitute for doing things yourself, especially because we're not native here. We don't know what we don't know, which can be more dangerous than-"

"Hey!" A voice rang out over the hubbub of the street, originating from a rooftop. Kai looked up just in time to see five figures leap down at them.

He almost snarled and used his Tyrant's Claw before remembering he was in the middle of a crowded city. Besides, the five figures weren't attacking, just surrounding them. Three men and two women, mostly Krysali, all of them carrying crystal weapons. Kai realized who they must be just before one of the men spoke.

"The guards tipped us off about two new crystalliers," he said. He looked them over, clearly using his spiritual sight, and laughed. "Well, this is going to shake things up. Come on back, everyone is going to want to fight you."

"We aren't here to fight anyone," Kai started to say, but one of the women elbowed him in the ribs.

"Sure you are. Stop wasting time with the rabble and come join crystallier society."

It was an offer too valuable to be refused, so Kai smiled and bowed politely. He couldn't sense any true bloodlust from anyone in the group, suggesting they were telling the truth. Of course the local elites would be interested in any hunters on their level who arrived. Working with them was likely their path to better resources.

Still, Kai couldn't help but look back over his shoulder as they left the streets behind. So much for his plans to explore the city.

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