Depthless Hunger

Chapter 241: True Power Revealed

This 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 with some different stakes based on what he'd seen the elven hunters try. He kept the river to his west so he could retreat there if necessary, but had also placed a series of vine traps to the east to slow the Banchlain down and potentially trigger openings. A number of spears were carefully placed in the nearby trees, just in case he got a chance to pierce the eyes.

His own body was the tip of the spear, though. After spending so long adapting to chakra and the fear effect, he wanted to take the monster on himself. Once he'd done as much damage as he could, he would fall back to his traps, then if really necessary he would use Baleful Breath.

As soon as he got its attention, the monster lowered its skull plate and charged again. Despite being hunted by so many, it still viewed itself as the top predator and didn't hesitate. Kai set his feet and focused on making Direboar's Strength and Behemoth's Heart reinforce one another.

When his fist met the thick plate of bone, the impact shot back through them both. And to Kai's shock, the Banchlain's bone plate cracked.

The impact drove his feet back through the dirt and hurt his arm, but it destroyed the Banchlain. Blood wept from out of the deep cracks and it slumped forward. Still alive, but one eye had been crushed by the damaged bone and the other looked dull.

He could have finished it then if he hadn't been so surprised. Kai didn't let himself stay stunned long, though, and stuck with his commitment to end things quickly. After forming a Tyrant's Claw around one extended hand he swept it down, biting deep into the Banchlain's back to sever its spine.

A scream made the air itself tremble and raw horror flooded down Kai's throat. He had overestimated the monster's strength, but he'd been right about it having a weapon remaining. The waves of fear were more intense than he'd ever felt before, sweeping through his new chakra defenses like they weren't even there. Raw animal panic should have overtaken him.

Instead, Kai took a step forward. It was just an aura, not a real emotion. He clung to the cold predator inside him and fueled it with chakra. The forced emotions fell away and he took another step closer to the dying Banchlain even as it contained to scream.

Finally he closed his teeth and bit out the monster's core. At last the scream ended. Kai wavered as he took a step back, both from the end of the flooding emotions and from the taste. The Banchlain essence within him was definitely powerful and could easily be integrated into an offensive or defensive technique. Based on his experiments, he thought it would be a waste to try to integrate it with one of his best skills, but at least now he had a truly potent ingredient.

Kai looked around the jungle, not quite believing that it was over already. He'd made all those traps for no reason. Now that he looked, he saw that all the plants nearby were flattened, trees had lost their leaves, and insects had died in midair. That scream must have been so powerful it impacted the physical world too.

At least he hadn't attracted any watchers who might have been taken aback by his techniques. Kai used Tyrant's Claw to cut up the body more: first to hide his bite mark, then to sever the skull plate so he would have something to show the elves. Most likely they wouldn't be that grateful, but he thought if he was humble enough they would give him some more sources of chakra and they could all part on good terms.

Then he realized that there was someone watching after all, nearly invisible.

Ceryyn stood just outside the edge of the flattened area, watching with her strangely dull eyes. It was clear that she understood what she'd seen, though, and she had probably been watching for a while. When he turned back to her, she smiled and clapped her hands together.

"I didn't think you could do it yourself, but you did!" She began walking into the flattened circle without apparent fear. "How did you consume its essence at the end? It's nothing like a demon... is that a common ability on Deadwaste? I guess that would make sense, if you have to deal with all those incursions."

His first instinct was to lie, since she'd given him such an easy excuse. Yet given everything, he couldn't help but feel that she knew the answer and was baiting him. Honesty would be a mistake, even here, but he didn't want to lie to her.

"It's not a common ability," Kai said. "And I'd appreciate if you didn't talk about it."

"But why? It's so impressive!" She beamed at him, her smile as dull as before, and yet...

"I have to eat the monster's bodies to consume any essence. That tends to make people think of demons or monsters or other things I'd rather not be associated with."

"I suppose so." Ceryyn stopped a few paces away from him, tilting her head from side to side as if considering him. It definitely seemed like she was building up to a question, but before she could say anything else, there was a disruption in the trees.

The warriors of the elven village stumbled into the new clearing, moving in a formation that was disrupted by their abrupt arrival. Only a few glanced at Ceryyn, all investigated the dead Banchlain, and many then focused on Kai.

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"This our hunt!" Most of them were talking in their own language, but one accused him in Goralian. "What scheme?"

"I just wanted to help," Kai said, raising his hands to show he meant no aggression. Could even this turn against him?

"Not human hunt! Not for-"

A clear word broke through all other voices. Kai couldn't understand it, but the sound was so melodious and rich it took his breath away. No one else spoke and they all turned to one side, toward the source of the beautiful sound.

Ceryyn stood unmasked, radiating splendor. She'd become the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, with hair gleaming like the sun and emerald eyes that pierced through to his soul. Just a smile from her would have been enough to make his life complete... the elves were all falling to their knees, as everyone should before this glorious manifestation of divinity...

No. No, it was just a trick, no different from the monster's aura of fear. Kai tried to see through the glamour, but it wasn't an illusion, just an aura that augmented everything about Ceryyn so much that his soul wanted to kneel in response. He refused to let it and instead examined her as an opponent.

Name: Ceryyn

Total Power: 819

Soul Cultivation: Earth Glamour (451)

Physique Level: E-8 (104)

Soul Level: 8 (264)

>

Fighting her would certainly be a challenge, but he didn't think there was any need for that. None of Ceryyn's lies had been harmful and she'd been helpful to him... if anything, she seemed to be undercover on elvish business.

She started to speak in the elvish language, then suddenly stopped and said "Actually, wait" in Goralian. Reaching into her cloak, she withdrew a silver bangle, plain but bright. When she placed it over her wrist many of the elves cringed, but all she did was activate spatial magic and pull out a small piece of fruit. Deep purple and filled with chakra, but just a fruit.

"Eat this," she told Kai with a smile that was almost exactly like the one he remembered from the dulled Ceryyn. "It's payment for your work, and an apology for the deception. Trust me, you'll like it."

As soon as he took the fruit, she turned away and returned to elvish. Whatever she was saying, it sounded like she was giving the others some sort of lecture. Kai was more focused on the fruit, which pulsed softly in his palm. He didn't think it made any sense for her to go to all this trouble just to deceive or poison him, so he took a cautious bite.

Instantly his mind was overwhelmed by waves of sensations he could barely name. It started with a rush of chakra, harder and grittier than the energy in the jungle. Somehow it transformed into words, endless words, and a sense of relief as if he had reached out and met an old friend. Barely even thinking about it, he was eating the entire rest of the fruit. Each bite sent new sensations into his mind and for a moment he felt like his mind was going to crack.

"-came among you as a beggar, and you did only the minimum due to your kin."

He stared at Ceryyn, wondering when she had switched to Goralian. No, she was actually speaking the same language as before, yet somehow he heard it, as clearly as if the words were in his native tongue. Suddenly he remembered how clearly she spoke compared to the other elves and realized that she must be using a similar power.

"You have not been judged wanting," Ceryyn continued severely, "but your hospitality leaves much to be desired. Our communities are no better than the least of us or we are no better than the other races that constantly war with one another."

"We're so sorry, Lady Sandflower." One of the hunters spoke back, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Please forgive us."

"All will be forgiven if you remember your sisters and brothers who have fallen by the wayside. But I require something else of you." Ceryyn reached into her spatial bangle again and handed them a scroll written on golden parchment. "The Council of Elders requires all of this intelligence. If you lack something, scout until you have it. Now go."

The elven hunters shifted in many directions: the man who accepted the scroll let out a low groan, some of the others begged forgiveness again, two leapt up as if to obey her that moment. Soon enough all of the hunters were gone and it was just the two of them in the clearing.

"Well!" Ceryyn clapped her hands together cheerfully and all at once her aura vanished. She still looked jaw-droppingly beautiful, with none of the dampened presence that had previously made her seem plain, but her mere existence no longer seemed glorious.

Underneath all her grace, though, he thought that she was a little nervous. She'd been using a shroud that made her look like the weakest of elves and it had never slipped. No doubt she had done this before, and he could imagine how differently people treated her.

"What kind of fruit was that?" Kai said, then blinked at himself. "Am I speaking your language somehow? You can grow fruit this incredible in the Elven Wilds?"

"I wish." Ceryyn pouted a little, and though the expression now struck him as much cuter, more importantly it reminded him of her old self. "Alltongue Fruits only grow in the Flaeren Dominion and no one has ever figured out how they do it."

"That's an incredible gift. Why give it to-"

"It's not perfect, unfortunately. It will work best on Rosemount, but some strange languages on Cloudspire might be muddled, and you won't be able to make out a word of any dead languages."

"Wait, you mean it lets me read languages too?"

"The fruit expands the fundamentals of language in your mind so that you should be able to communicate with anyone." Ceryyn tapped her forehead cheerfully.

"All the time?" Kai asked. "If I don't want people to understand me, or if there are two languages-"

"There will be time for you to master all the subtleties later." Ceryyn reached up to grab his arm and pull him away, then hesitated. She beamed a moment later. "Oh good, you didn't collapse or do anything awkward! There aren't many people who can stand up to an Earth-tier Glamour."

Since the elves seemed to use the same hierarchy as cultivators... "Damn, are there Sky-tier Glamours?"

"Those are the Elders!" Ceryyn shook her head. "I can't hold a candle to them - I'm moderately good, but not that good, which is why I'm out here working with our distant kin. I didn't lie much to you, by the way. I really do feel we have something in common, trying to leave everywhere we go better for our presence."

That seemed like an extremely generous interpretation of anything Kai had said. And yet, while Ceryyn seemed cheerful or even bubbly, in her work she must have seen viciousness and evil, so it wasn't as if she was naive. He supposed that she had judged him right, in the end. The question was how he had judged her and where this was going.

"So why were you really here?" he asked.

"Truthfully, it wasn't to test this village. And it wasn't to hunt the Banchlain either - I was just going to kill it while I was in the neighborhood before you came along and distracted me." Ceryyn's smile faded and she fixed her eyes on him. "The truth is, the Council needs help from outsiders. The Alltongue Fruit was a gift, but I hope you'll consider helping me with something else, more profitable but far more risky..."

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