Depthless Hunger

Chapter 21: Delving into Classes

Kai sat in the center of the Corinin yard, pretending that he was pushing deep into his own soul and mainly worrying that he just looked constipated. The new exercise involved focusing on his own mana and straining to push it deeper outside his body, which just felt awkward. He'd been much better at the differentiating exercises that Inafay had taught him first.

Inafay herself was walking around the square, doing a more elaborate version of the same exercise. He wasn't sure exactly why she was pushing so hard on this new spiritual training, other than that it had something to do with her Class. Whatever the reason, she'd been passionate about it for their past two sessions.

Struggling to push aside such thoughts, Kai returned to his meditation... and realized that he had finally done it. While thoroughly distracted, he'd managed to push a bead of pure mana into the world. It was a murky brown, incredibly mundane compared to the iridescent pearl that Inafay had shown him, but he was still shocked to have done it.

"Uh... I think..." He didn't want to say too much or raise his voice for fear that it would vanish. Fortunately, Inafay heard him and hopped closer to peer at it.

"Not bad, Kai, not bad. Your work paid off and it came out right the first time: this is the pure form of your Class mana, nothing else. It's easy to get it all muddled if you rush."

"And that's... good? What do I do with it?"

"You don't feel anything unusual?" Inafay bent closer, examining his face with the bead of mana between them. "Look at the mana, really look, and you should start feeling intuitions. There are all kinds of metaphors... imagine finding a weapon you've never seen before. You can tell something about it by the edge, the balance, and so on, right? Do the same with your mana."

Such abstract exercises weren't Kai's strength, but he'd forced himself through plenty of mana preparation training in the past. He tried to filter out the rest of the world and focused solely on the bead. This was allegedly a manifestation of his Class itself, so surely it could reveal something.

Gradually he began feeling a phantom ache, like he'd spent all day on manual labor. When he stared into the murkiness of the mana, he thought he saw glimpses of himself training as he usually did. Something within him pulsed in response and he felt certain that this mana was infusing his body, making him just a little stronger and more durable.

But that was all. He hadn't expected to discover that his Class possessed hidden legendary powers or anything so fantastical, but he had expected something. Kai looked up to see if Inafay had any new hope for him, but she sighed and dropped to sit on the cobblestones opposite him.

"No big revelations, judging from your face. Sorry about that."

"Why did you suggest this exercise?" Kai asked. "Should it have revealed something new?"

"It's not just a training exercise: there are lots of other ways to strengthen your Class. This one helps you understand it better." Inafay waved a hand near her chest and he had a feeling she saw her own symbols hovering there. "Some Classes are common, but new types show up every year, so of course they've developed ways to explore unknown ones. Even mine is a bit new, so I had to do all this to figure out the limits of what I could do."

"But nothing much in my case, unless I did it wrong."

"No, I think you did everything right. There's at least a silver lining: manifesting your mana like this can be good for making potions. I figure you can use the help there too, right?"

"That's kind of you." Kai smiled, but he was concerned about the new expression on her face. "Inafay, is everything alright?"

She stared at him, then laughed oddly. "What? No, nothing serious. I just didn't want to say that I'm not going to be able to make our training sessions for a while. Gotta go away for some intensive training."

"Is that why you were trying to teach me all these new things?"

"I guess so, yeah. I'll be back eventually, since I still need to improve my Physique Level, but you'll be on your own for a while with... everything. I wanted us to be square before I left."

That would disrupt his plans to prepare for the trip, but Kai focused on what she was saying. "Why are you leaving for this special training?"

"Because I'm about to break through!" Inafay hopped up as if she was too excited to stay seated. "Everyone in the clan is claiming credit, but I'm sure it's you! Fighting here I just feel so much more in touch with my Class... it's like the wind has been getting more and more intense, and now it's about to burst."

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"That's great." Kai swallowed his bitterness and got up to congratulate her. "So you leave the Novice classification behind and get a boost?"

"Actually, the boost itself isn't that significant, not like with Physique rankings. But the main thing is that, instead of running up against the limits of my Class, I'll be starting over fresh. I should be able to gain strength rapidly in their intensive training course, and after it, I'll be able to go Class-to-Class with some adult hunters. Of course, I'm not aiming so low, so I'll be back to keep training."

"You'll blow past most of the people here, then. I assume that means you're destined for better things?"

"Either I go south to the wealthier cities or, if I'm good enough, to fight on the Frontier with the elites." Inafay's enthusiasm finally faded and she gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I know boasting about all this must seem cruel to you."

"No, it's... the way things are."

"I don't have any answers, but I do have this!" Inafay reached into a pouch and then thrust out a fist. "You said you wanted a mana seedling, right? Well, I couldn't get one, but this overdrive pill is as close as I could find. It's not a potion, because apparently they concentrate mana in pills over in Krysal. But it should work, if you use it right!"

Carefully accepting the gift, Kai found himself staring at a crystalline sphere in his palm. Instead of the hum of a mana-filled potion, it seemed to tremble with a different sort of mana. Allegedly his training was enough to absorb mana from any source, but that wasn't the biggest problem. "Are you... sure you want to give this to me?"

"I will punch you if you refuse! I was serious about you being the one to get me to this point, and none of the information I've given you is a fair payment. With this, we're even. I insist."

Even if it was partially charity, Kai accepted the pill without further objections. "What were you saying about using it correctly?"

"This one is actually pretty dangerous." Inafay put her hands on her hips and frowned down at it. "Apparently it throws your body into overdrive, putting so much stress on you that it could do more harm than good if you don't use it at a time when you're already going to take a beating. Like, they stressed to me that I shouldn't use it even in serious sparring. But the overdrive pill could help you pull through a crisis point and get stronger, so I figured it would do you some good."

"Thank you, Inafay."

"No, thank you. I'll get in touch after my training is done, alright?" With that, she leapt away and left only a streak of green mana piercing the trees.

Kai stared after her, wondering if that could have been his life if fate had chosen a little differently. Instead of being stuck with a useless Class, he would be competing with her to fully awaken his Class and develop new abilities. Part of him was happy for her, yes, but he couldn't help feeling bitter.

Since there was nothing he could do about that, Kai focused on the practical: her absence threw off his plans to prepare for Tusquo's trip. He only had a week and a half to prepare for a journey that would be dangerous at the best of times, and apparently the Hunters Guild would be watching closely for a reason to kick him out. His only chance of keeping up with everyone else was definitely on the line.

As he developed a new training schedule in his head, Kai walked back to the lower city. Since he had more time, he should return to Juray and explore the possibilities for his new mana techniques. Most likely they wouldn't result in anything, but he couldn't leave the chance on the table.

"Hello again, Kai." Juray gave him a broad smile and ushered him closer to her shop window. "I'm afraid there's no chance I can finish your second potion in time for your big trip, if that's why you're here."

"No, I wanted to talk about something else." Kai drew his focus together and hoped he didn't look too stupid as he tried to concentrate mana. "Can you create potions from pure Class mana?"

Her eyebrows immediately shot up. "Well, is there any kind of training you aren't doing? I know what you're talking about, but I don't have much experience with it. I've met some more skilled Herbalists who can take mana from extremely powerful hunters and distill it into a potion that briefly grants someone a bit of their essence. There are also mixes that try to feed a person with their own power. But, to be honest... I wouldn't get your hopes up."

"But can we try?" Kai finally finished and lifted in a bead of muddy mana in his cupped palms.

Instead of answering directly, Juray disappeared into her shop and returned with a small bowl. It was unusually thick and formed from a dark metal, but otherwise Kai couldn't tell anything about it. Maybe an arcane metal from Irun?

She coaxed the bead of mana into the bowl, where it not only maintained its cohesion away from him, it hovered in the center. Juray sighed in relief, then began running a number of experiments. Since he had no idea what she was doing, Kai simply watched as she poked, extracted, heated, and otherwise analyzed his mana.

Eventually she straightened up and shook her head. "I hope you weren't expecting to learn that your Class had some amazing application in potion-making."

"I'm not even slightly surprised." Kai stared down at the bowl forlornly. "Is it any good at all?"

"You could probably sell it to day laborers who need refreshment, but it would be too expensive for them. There's a chance that making potent ones and drinking them yourself could help a little... but probably not a lot."

"I think we have to try."

They discussed an exact plan, since the potions would require purchasing new ingredients that Juray didn't have on hand. In the end, Kai decided to spend another ten Eagles to fund the creation of an entire set of the potions. His dwindling money wasn't doing him any good sitting in a sack, after all.

Besides, if he succeeded at Tusquo's request, he'd soon be paid more anyway. Either he'd have more money, his life would be ruined, or he'd be dead.