Depthless Hunger

Kai's muscles screamed as he forced his hand upward, gripping the next protruding rock. The climb should have been easy, but the beast hides wrapped around his limbs choked off his spiritual strength. Chakra, qi, and even mana were useless to him as he struggled up the side of the Death Bluff.

Even though he was used to working his body hard, when he finally reached over the top and pulled himself up, relief flooded through him. He crawled to a better position and dropped onto his back, his chest heaving as he recovered.

An older woman crouched down beside him, regarding him thoughtfully. Her name was Firtrim and she seemed to be the Savage Creed's Physique specialist, with an impressive C-5 rank. She was also one of the only ones he actually liked, so he hoped that his climb had been good enough. This was the third time she'd sent him up the side of the Death Bluff in the past month.

"You pass, of course." Firtrim dropped a fang with dark purple paint onto his chest. "Honestly, you should have passed the first time."

"I wondered about that." Kai picked up the fang and forced himself to sit up even though his torso muscles groaned in complaint.

"Krugbash told us to truly challenge you. I don't have to obey him, but when you got up the Bluff on your first try, I wondered just how far you could be pushed. But there's nothing more you can learn from me now."

"Are you sure? Your Physique is so much higher than mine..." "Nothing but decades spent feeding my Savage Heart." Firtrim shook her head. "Focus on your other tasks."

"Alright." He began stringing the fang onto his cord with all the others. "It's almost the next full moon... if I don't complete them all, will Krugbash block me from learning more?"

Firtrim laughed. "Our acolytes are considered fast if they earn one fang per month. Most of them take at least five years to complete all the challenges, and there are some carrying Savage Hearts who never finished them all." She laughed again and jumped off the edge of the bluff.

Currently Kai's cord had eight fangs: he'd blown through the Death Bluff and the "Savage Roar" had proved to be similar to mana exercises he already knew. At every step along the way, he'd proved himself and won new fangs. So far he'd hunted eleven out of the twelve great beasts, which had taken more of his time since he needed to learn their patterns.

That left the last great beast, which seemed to only be hunted at certain times... and the heart kindling. Kai thought that Krugbash was blocking him there, because no one would give him all the information about the heart ability. It sounded like that was actually the last step to obtaining the Savage Heart power.

Only two days left until the next full moon, so it all came down to whether or not he could hunt the last of the great beasts. Fortunately, the next day he managed to spot a clustering of the trainees, as some of the older hunters had suggested would happen. He caught up to them in time to see Tyorcut arrive and speak to the group.

"The moon scorpions are dangerous prey," she told them, "and the most venomous of the twelve great beasts. They can be lured out near any full moon, but we perform the rituals only rarely. If you fail now, this is your last chance for three months."

The acolytes moved closer together, most watching hungrily. There was a dynamic he didn't fully understand, but it shouldn't matter for hunting these moon scorpions. He had spoken to some of the other trainees and not particularly connected with any of them. Even though they were about his age, many actually several years older, they might as well be from a different world.

"If you successfully kill one, you'll be a step closer to a Savage Heart. If you're stung, you will definitely die. If you manage to perform excellently... maybe you'll get a reward from me." She said this last one with a smile and many of the trainees roared.

They were all boisterous and arrogant, but they didn't seem particularly strong to Kai. The majority of them just had power glutted on the chakra of Rosemount, not much in the way of experience. Surprisingly low Soul Levels for people supposedly surviving out in the wilderness. He wondered if it was just some quirk of fate that this group had developed a power he needed so much.

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As the moon rose that night, older hunters began beating great drums and the young group spread out over a massive field. It looked simply lumpy to Kai before he realized that he was seeing the entrances to some sort of hive or at least tunnel. Could all of those contain scorpions? If so, the hunt would be almost insultingly easy, just a fight.

The moon scorpions proved rarer than that and the hunters spread out over the field until not many were ever in sight at the same time. Kai once spotted a light blue scorpion emerge in the distance, but several hunters set upon it. They actually fought with one another first, which resulted in one of them being struck by the stinger.

There was a younger man coming after him, so Kai turned back to him. "If you're thinking of doing the same thing, think again."

"It's not like that!" The young man quickly lowered his spear. "I just want to watch how you hunt. You've hunted the other sublime beasts so quickly, faster than anyone... I think I can learn something."

"Where I come from, there are more monsters than magical beasts," Kai said. He wasn't sure if the other man was telling the truth, but it didn't hurt to be open. "Some of the same skills apply, but not all."

"I won't steal your kill. I promise."

They moved together over the knolls and pits. Kai explained a few tricks, but he couldn't exactly admit that he was navigating by monstrous hunger. Most of the scorpions seemed to be deeper in the tunnels, but as they moved forward, he felt a couple crawl out to their left. Instead of saying anything, he pretended not to notice, just to see if his companion would say anything.

"Th-there!" The younger man thrust out his spear. "Two of them!"

"It feels like there are even more moving up," Kai told him, since he'd been honest. "Stay back and don't touch anything. The ground is unstable here."

Kai prowled toward the moon scorpions, which scuttled in his direction as soon as they saw him. Unlike ordinary animals, these sacred beasts were half his size and attacked immediately. He met the first one with a Tyrant's Claw, tearing it apart and leaving only a stinger to take back as a trophy.

The second rushed in to sting him, but Kai grabbed the stinger out of the air. He decided that he didn't care if anyone was watching and consumed the scorpion with Isulfr's Bite. Its essence surged within him... but burned away, consumed. That was closer than he'd ever gotten with a sacred beast before, but it seemed he couldn't quite absorb their essence without help from Omilaena.

When he heard a cry behind him, he figured that someone had seen him and been horrified. But when he turned, he saw the younger man was stumbling away from several more scorpions. The idiot had broken open one of the hives and they were swarming out. Before Kai could get to him, one of the stingers stabbed him in the thigh and he went down, already unconscious.

A dark figure landed nearby, splattering two scorpions with both feet. Kai stared in surprise as he saw it was Gorutiel, who picked up another scorpion by its stinger before tossing it aside in disgust.

"What are you doing here?" Kai asked.

"Just checking in. Figured I'd help." Gorutiel bent down beside the poisoned hunter, his eyes burning brightly.

"Wait a minute. He helped me, and he's still young, you don't want to eat-"

"Nah, not doing that." Gorutiel reached out and gripped the place where the young man had been stung with a claw-like hand. The flesh twitched and a dark liquid tore out of it, then the rest seemed to heal over. "He should be fine, unless he's weak."

"Why jump in to help him?" Kai asked. "Or is it just raising livestock to you?"

Gorutiel stayed crouched and grinned up at him. "Is that what you think of us? Well, it's basically true for some. But I don't buy into all that superiority nonsense. Life is meant to be fought, and the fights are more fun when things are fair. The kid didn't try to stab you in the back, so I figure he deserves a second chance."

That hadn't been what Kai had expected. Normally he didn't want to press a demon, particularly one that might be intending to eat him, but he decided to ask. "There are Savage Hearts all around now. Why don't you eat one of them?"

"You have one in mind?" Gorutiel lunged upward, eyes bright again, and Kai had to resist taking a step back.

"Uh... I figured you were just going to attack."

"None of them I've seen are tough enough to be worth a real fight. No, I'm curious what you'll do. Do you have the guts to sacrifice one of them?"

Kai swallowed. "Is that what this is about?"

"We need more demonic arts users with balls. Real balls, not just running around eating whatever they want." Gorutiel shifted back as if a little disappointed. "You're still hesitating, or maybe you just want the power. Fine. I'm still keeping the others from attacking your women. But if you don't bring me someone soon... well, let's just say I'll get bored."

The demon vanished in black smoke. Apparently this had been about more than the Savage Heart - they were trying to recruit him. Kai stared at the place where he'd stood for a while before sighing and going to help the young hunter. Seemed like he would survive the injury, since the poison had been removed.

The next night Kai returned to the standing stones with nine fangs and all but the last challenge complete. He didn't make any arguments or even say a word, he just thrust the cord of fangs over his head. Krugbash glowered at him, but he couldn't stop the others from welcoming Kai to the Savage Creed.

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