Depthless Hunger

Chapter 203: A Different Sort of Crystallier

Kai raced across Krysal to another city he hadn't heard of before in a desperate effort to hold everything together. This one was called Teraklis and, in theory, he might be able to make a difference on his own.

Merchants had responded to the fall of Slaerta with the reserve that Krainuun had predicted, but none of them had anticipated how many workers would react. The cities that kept their crystal mines and acid pits completely blockaded from the outside world were congratulating themselves on their foresight, because wherever the workers heard the news, discontent boiled over. This could lead to problems from many angles: drawing other cities into war, creating doomed uprisings, and making Slaerta into even more of a target.

They had decided to gamble that their previous logic was correct and no city state could marshal their forces to attack Slaerta in the short term. That gamble allowed them to split up and tackle multiple situations that might otherwise cause trouble.

Each of them chose a problem particularly suited to them. Omilaena had gone to a city where a single merchant was funding a private army, no doubt planning an assassination. Cragrila had gone to meet one particularly violent group of workers killing anyone not born in the mines. Zae Zin Nim had not wanted to get involved, so she stayed back and trained their forces.

And Kai went off on his own to Teraklis, where apparently a group of workers had barricaded themselves in their crystal mine and began making demands of their city state.

Frankly, their plan sounded suicidal to him. Surely their opponents would run a cost-benefit analysis and decide to just let them all die, or even help along the process. It didn't seem like they had the leverage to have any effect, but Krainuun believed that their work stoppage was important enough to destabilize the region, so Kai was going to do all he could.

Teraklis was found in a more mountainous region of Krysal, just beside the northern deserts. The land itself looked unusually rich, but the city was built half-way into a mountain. As he approached, Kai realized that the crystal mines were built deep into those mountains and suddenly a lot more of the intelligence Krainuun had given him made sense. There were no fewer than five different mines at various points on the mountain, just beside the city.

Instead of bothering with the city itself, Kai flew to the mines to see if anyone was still alive. To his surprise, the army appeared to have created a perimeter around the mine entrances instead of attacking directly. Maybe this situation was more complex than it looked.

His plan had been to fight any crystalliers causing the trouble, and there were two crystalliers there, but that no longer seemed like a good idea. After looking for any violence, or clues that he might have missed, Kai flew his crystal down to the no man's land between the mines and the army.

"No further!" One of the crystalliers, a middle-aged man, raised his hands as soon as Kai arrived. "Please, this is a delicate situation, we don't need your interference."

"And what exactly is this delicate situation?" Kai asked. As he walked toward the group, he saw the crystalliers brace and many of the soldiers retreat.

"We know who you are." The other crystallier this time, a middle-aged woman. "If you try to destroy our city, we'll fight you to the death."

"I have no intention of destroying the city. I just want to stop you from destroying them."

The two crystalliers glanced at one another, then the man stepped forward. "We see you're a foreigner and don't know our ways. But Teraklis isn't like the cities you know. We pay our workers. They may not like that pay, but they have no right to weaken the city like this."

"Do they have a right to leave?" Kai asked.

Again, the two hesitated. Kai had been accustomed to dealing with weak crystalliers who had purchased a little over 100 Power in crystal cultivation, who had dueling experience but weren't hardened killers. These two struck him as a little different. Older, definitely, and perhaps wiser. A glance at the man's soul confirmed that they were stronger, too.

Name: ???

Total Power: 201

Crystal Cultivation: 16,200 (141)

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Physique Level: F-7 (44)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

>

The man had cultivated well over ten thousand crystals, which put him well beyond the usual lazy elites, and his total Power rating was over 200. Kai let his gaze slide on to the woman, determined not to take the situation lightly.

Name: ???

Total Power: 199

Crystal Cultivation: 13,500 (132)

Physique Level: F-6 (42)

Soul Level: 5 (25)

>

Nearly as strong. Both of them were unquestionably dangerous, and if they knew how to fight together, they could be a formidable combination. Kai dropped his shroud so they could see his strength: stronger than either of them alone, but less than them together - at least as far as they could tell. Hopefully that would give them pause, but if not, his monstrous soul would tip the balance.

"We want to stay out of this," the man eventually said after a terse discussion. "Teraklis has always focused on mining and stuck to itself. Our strength is the quality of our crystals, not force of arms. Are you going to bring down the fairest system in Krysal because it isn't good enough for you?"

"I don't know," Kai said slowly. "Seems like I should probably ask the people inside the mine about it."

"Enough!" A heavyset woman moved from behind the lines of the soldiers and poked at the crystalliers. Her soul revealed a small amount of crystal cultivation and little other strength, presumably a merchant. "This man has taken down entire city states! Stop talking to him and just kill him!"

Kai glanced at the two crystalliers. "Seems like you aren't the ones making the decisions here."

"We serve Teraklis," the man said grimly. Crystal armor began to gather around his hands and feet.

"Sorry about this." The woman summoned a crystal lance, which appeared in a fraction of an instant unlike most of the slow manifestations.

They came at him together, attacking in quick succession. Kai fought carefully, first to gauge their mettle and then for the fun of it. Usually he was the one fighting together with someone else, like when he and Zae Zin Nim cooperated against another opponent. Being on the other side, against opponents who actually knew what they were doing, was an interesting experience.

To get away from the others, Kai let them drive him away from the mines up the side of the mountain. Then, when he started fighting more seriously, he realized that he hadn't been just allowing the retreat. They were good, individually and especially together.

Killing them would probably be doable, but did he really want that? The problem was that he wasn't sure he could pacify them if he wasn't fighting with his full strength. Even though they'd gotten away from the merchant who had ordered them, they hadn't let up.

"Do we have to do this?" Kai asked as he dodged away from their strikes. "You could have executed some workers as examples and forced them back to work, but you didn't."

"We don't do that here," the man hissed. "The merchants want to, and it's people like you that are making it happen! If not for the uprisings, we could have negotiated."

"Is it really a negotiation, or do you have a blade to their necks?"

Before Kai could say anything else, the woman came at him from the side, displaying a speed technique she hadn't used before that point. Kai didn't think he could block or catch it using normal skills, not given their martial skill. Instead he fixed on her and activated Void Gaze.

She stumbled, her lance falling. Compared to the impact it had on most crystalliers, she recovered fairly quickly, but not fast enough. Kai's hand was already swinging overhead in a Tyrant's Claw. Disabling one of them would give him the leverage to argue directly.

Before he could strike, the man leapt in to grab the woman and pull her out of the way. He probably should have attacked Kai instead, but it was an emotional reaction. Something about the way they gripped one another made Kai certain they were husband and wife. The husband knew his wife's strength was comparable to his own, but in the moment she was threatened, they weren't crystalliers, they were just human.

Instead of swinging down, Kai wrapped the Tyrant's Claw around the two of them and just held them in place. They probably could have broken out, given their combined strength, but something in his eyes made them hesitate... and it wasn't Void Gaze.

"This doesn't have to end in death," Kai told them. "But can you look me in the eyes and tell me that the workers will be able to negotiate fairly?"

"We serve the city," the wife started to say, but the husband shook his head.

"I think we have to tell him. This is our only chance." The husband turned to face Kai and spoke seriously. "We weren't lying to you. Our workers are better off than most. But as the gold to crystal ratio increases, none of that profit goes to them. They're demanding a share, which would make them almost equal to the merchants."

"They're split down the middle," the wife added. "Some think they should just pay and avoid the uprisings seen in other cities, others insist that's the path to revolution."

"And where do you two come out?" Kai asked. He let his Tyrant's Claw ease enough for them to stand, but kept it ready.

"I told you, we serve Teraklis." The wife stared at him, not in hatred, just grim fatalism. "We're still in debt to the council for all the coin they invested in us."

"In theory it's virtuous to help the workers," the husband added, "but if you're asking us to betray our honor and join the revolution, we must refuse. What can we do to change systems like this?"

Kai glanced between them, thinking quickly. He didn't have much information, but thanks to Krainuun's briefing he had more than in past situations. His weakness was that he wouldn't stay and the merchants would try to play him for a fool. But maybe, if he played his cards right, he could use that backstabbing against them.

"Here's what you can do," Kai said. "Tell the council that I'll leave without fighting anyone, if I can talk to the workers and confirm what you said. Tell them I'm just here to oversee negotiations. But first..."

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