Depthless Hunger

Chapter 133: Off to Yulthens

Despite the fact that it concluded with a brawl, Kai's time in Romastir resolved mundanely. He spoke briefly to Unklian, who was disappointed to see him go but paid him for the fraction of the next month he'd worked. That left Kai with twenty seven thousand Goralian Eagles, which was still a mind-boggling number to him.

Or it would have been, if he hadn't known that Zae Zin Nim planned to spend nearly all of her Eagles just on transportation.

The most emotional part of leaving was actually Krainuun. When Kai announced that he was leaving the servant broke into tears. Before Kai could figure out what to do, Krainuun rushed away and returned desperately rearranging a pile of papers.

"I did everything I could to complete your last request, my lord." Krainuun bowed and shoved the papers in his direction. "These are all the reports of dangerous monsters between Romastir and Yulthens. I hope they are useful to you."

"I'm grateful, but..." Kai flipped through the papers, noting reports, drawings, and even maps. "Since I'm leaving, you don't work for me anymore. Why go to this much effort?"

"You have been the most wonderful lord I've ever served." Krainuun wiped a tear from the corner of his eye with one sleeve. "How could I not do my very best for you?"

"Seriously, is there some sort of custom that I've been failing because I don't know? Am I supposed to pay you extra or something?"

"How could you think that, my lord? No, no, Lord Unklian provides for all my needs. It is a pleasure - a wonderful pleasure! - to serve the crystalliers who defend our city, and it has been a great joy to serve you."

Krainuun turned away, practically blubbering, and Kai awkwardly patted him on the back and left. Yet at the end, right after his question, Kai thought that he'd seen something else in the man's eyes. Was it his imagination, or had he never really known the servant at all? The question bothered him on his way out, but gradually slipped away as he contemplated the journey yet to come.

The plan had been to meet Zae Zin Nim out by the edge of the city. He ended up seeing her vessel first, because it definitely stood out amid the ordinary wagons and even the floating carriages. It looked like it was composed of a single massive diamond that hovered over the ground, forming a seven-pointed star at the base with slanted walls around the edges. The frontal point was fully shielded while each of the other spikes contained enough space for a person and the central area was large enough for their tent.

Zae Zin Nim stood underneath it with a self-satisfied smile. "No more walking," she said when he approached. "Let's go."

"How much did this cost?" Kai asked as he jumped onto the side. It barely rocked at all, which impressed him.

"I didn't use a single Eagle that belongs to you, so it shouldn't matter." She alighted beside him and the crystal didn't wobble even slightly. "This has everything we should need to travel, moves at reasonable speeds, and most importantly can fly on its own so we don't need to mind it all the time."

"Well then. I suppose we should start the journey?"

"Yes. I have learned how to control the system, so you deal with the other practical concerns."

When the diamond started to move, it was so subtle that Kai barely even noticed except for the landscape shifting around him. As he investigated the vessel, however, he realized that they were accelerating to speeds faster than he could run. Perhaps it would be worth the cost after all.

The flying diamond star was larger than a carriage, but not so large that there was really much to explore. One point of it seemed to have been reserved for food and other supplies, so Kai added his purchases to them. It had cost a little to pull a few things together, but the amounts seemed trivial when he was being paid by the thousand. Another point had clearly been taken by Zae Zin Nim for her personal effects and she had left the opposite point for him. One of the others might be for preparing food, so he set up the water and fire stones in case they needed them later.

As far as Kai could tell, the only weakness of the crystal vessel was that the walls were low and slanted, more like a chariot than a carriage except for the driver's point. Truthfully, after so long in Romastir, he relished the wind on his face. If they needed to get out of the wind they could always sit down in one of the points or maybe even set up their magic tent in the center.

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They streaked over the fields of Romastir and soon enough there were few other vehicles or cultivators in the sky with them. Zae Zin Nim left her seat and sat cross-legged by the front, so Kai went to sit opposite her. The journey had begun.

"Even at these speeds, it will take us over a week to reach Yulthens," she said. "Unlike before, we can more efficiently use this time to cultivate."

"I agree with that, but I want to take some time to hunt." Kai pulled the papers back out of his pack and gestured with them. "I have some specific reports. In addition to consuming more monsters, I want to let those abilities free a little. I've spent enough time mastering suppressing them."

"We will plan on two weeks." Zae Zin Nim nodded decisively. "It is just as well. You proved yourself capable of maintaining the illusion, but we will be facing more dangerous opponents in Yulthens. Everything about your cultivation must be immaculate."

So they began right away, before the fields of Romastir were even out of sight. Even though Kai had been reasonably confident in his cultivation and shroud, Zae Zin Nim had many small objections. He didn't mind at all, since it was clear that she wanted to help him perfect his art.

Several days into the journey, Kai spotted smoke on the horizon. He had intended to argue for taking a detour, but to his surprise Zae Zin Nim didn't even object - maybe her allowance for two weeks made her less uptight about the schedule. When they drew closer, he saw the ruins of a small town still smoldering.

"I didn't know they had towns outside the city states." Kai spoke softly as he looked over the side, out of respect for the dead. He didn't see any people, but the blackened shapes beside some houses were unmistakable.

"Sometimes the Krysali leave to try to establish new cities," Zae Zin Nim said. "The crystalliers spoke of this, mostly scornfully. Apparently the success rate is not high."

"Well, it looks to me like this one was destroyed by monsters. Maybe..." Kai shuffled through his papers, looking for one of the reports he remembered. "Here it is. There's no reward, because it stays away from cities, but there are reports of something called an Infernotoad attacking travelers. The Frontier elite mentioned this one too. Could we...?"

"It produces flame? This is good, you need less brute force abilities."

Apparently that was all it took: Zae Zin Nim diverted further from their path and they began to investigate the region.

Whatever an Infernotoad was, there wasn't much information about it in Krainuun's reports. Kai was willing to bet that it hopped, which meant it probably wouldn't leave too much of a trail. They certainly didn't run into anything so obvious as a line of slime, and though they ran into a caravan that reported being attacked, there was no obvious series of destroyed villages.

After Kai sat down to think about it, he guessed that the monster was probably ranging in a specific area. They weren't exactly animals and didn't need to feed, but they still operated in regions appropriate to them. Toads were amphibious, so he guessed that they should look for somewhere with more water. Krysal wasn't so verdant away from the city states, which reduced the area they needed to search.

When they finally discovered their target, it was obvious: a small pond appeared to be boiling. The Infernotoad was a squat, ugly creature the size of a wagon, seated in the middle. Its warty skin was covered in spikes and streaked red and orange, as if to advertise just what it could do.

Monster: Infernotoad

Threat: V (Epsilon)

>

And if there was any doubt, it opened its mouth, released a deafening croak, and launched a flaming boulder at them.

Zae Zin Nim immediately shot a beam of qi at the projectile, shattering it... but the pieces kept coming. Since it had emerged from the monster's mouth, Kai had assumed that it wasn't a physical boulder and must be a spiritual technique. Even if it was, the effect was durable enough that they now had a field of rubble tumbling toward them.

Before his companion could spend more qi on a larger burst, Kai drew on Tyrant's Claw in a different way than usual. Instead of using it for raw destructive power, Kai tightened his fingers and swung his hand to the side.

The massive claw energy swept away the flaming rubble in a single swipe.

Kai leapt off the side of the crystal and hurtled downward, toward his target. It belched out another flaming boulder but Kai met it head on with his fist. Flame and stone shattered around him and he could feel a few burns, but Kai wasn't holding back anymore. He laughed as he plunged through the storm.

Not far to the Infernotoad now. It inflated the sac beneath its mouth, which glowed bright red as it gathered more energy than ever before. But this time Kai was close enough: he pulled back an arm and swung the most powerful Tyrant's Claw he could manage.

His attack cleaved directly through the emerging boulder and flattened the rubble. It had enough power left that it slashed through the Infernotoad's body, killing it instantly.

Kai had been planning to finish it off with a bite and didn't let his victory stop him: he landed atop the body and opened his monstrous jaws to take an enormous bite. The monster's flesh tasted hot, both spicy and literally burning. He swallowed it and straightened, sighing in satisfaction.

"Congratulations, you killed a big toad." Zae Zin Nim floated down beside the lake, observing him from the diamond star.

"Alright, admittedly it wasn't an epic battle." Kai settled down to consider just how much he needed to eat to absorb the essence. "But there aren't monsters that can challenge us lurking around every corner. Claw Tyrants don't grow on trees, you know."

"I haven't seen any monsters that grow on trees."

"You know what I meant."

Once Kai had finished, he wiped his mouth and jumped back up to the crystal. The Infernotoad wouldn't transform his combat style, but he thought it could be an important piece of his future advancement. Even if the other monsters weren't as powerful, each was another step forward.

He had a whole collection of targets to hunt and the entire journey to Yulthens ahead of him.

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