Depthless Hunger

During his month of training, Kai had expected that the politics would be the hard part and actually awakening the Savage Heart would be easy. To his surprise, it was the first time he truly faltered in this wilderness. The Savage Creed members urged him to smoke strange plants, saying that he would have dreams of his "spirit beast," or to go meditate in caves to find clarity.

None of it worked for him.

He was used to cultivation and mana exercises, which were mental or spiritual, but now he was learning a real chakra art. It wasn't like what Omilaena had taught him, identifying the right type of chakra and gathering it within himself. Instead he had to eat the flesh of beasts and somehow absorb its "anger," or drink blood and stir his "ancestral memories" of hunting.

As far as he could tell - he checked with Firtrim and the others he trusted - all of these methods were offered in complete sincerity. Krugbash continued to block him at every turn, but the Savage Creed members didn't really listen to authority, so he couldn't stop everything.

Maybe Kai was just unsuited to this sort of chakra training. That would be a bitter irony, after he went to so much effort to acquire it. But he'd been bad at things before and he'd always pushed on, so he wasn't willing to give up. It just bothered him that after two weeks he'd made so little progress. It had been over a year since he'd arrived on Rosemount now, and while he was substantially stronger, he hadn't made the sort of leaps that the others had.

At the moment Kai was supposedly meditating in one of the caverns, with paintings of beasts all around him. It wasn't working. To cool his irritation, Kai turned his spiritual senses inward instead.

Name: Kai Clanless

Total Power: 393

Cultivation: Body Refinement 46% (109)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

Loose Chakra: 210 (0)

Monstrous Hunger - XI (lambda)

Behemoth's Heart - VIII (theta)

Direboar's Strength - XI (lambda)

Isulfr's Bite - VIII (theta)

Tyrant's Claw - IX (iota)

Void Gaze - VI (zeta)

-

Baleful Breath - IV (delta)

Sahagin's Soul - VII (eta)

Garuda's Wing - VII (eta)

Pegasus's Grace - VI (zeta)

Mutefang's Stealth - IX (iota)

Lizarkyl's Tail - V (epsilon)

Direurchin's Spikes - V (epsilon)

Wallcrawler's Feet - III (gamma)

Crystal Slime - I (beta)

Dreamleech - I (alpha)

Abominalgum - I (alpha)

Rose Piranha - II (beta)

Bloodtrap - III (gamma)

Deathvine - I (alpha)

Banchlain - V (epsilon)

Thunderbird (???)

Unicorn (???)

>

There were some silver linings. The Savage Heart methods of training Physique had resumed his progress there, carrying him to D-4. Yet his human strength was still stuck underneath 400 Power, a barrier that irritated him more the longer it lasted.

Things were a bit more encouraging on the monstrous side of his soul, because something within him did resonate with the Savage Heart techniques. After so long complacent at the same level, Behemoth's Heart had finally increased to Theta rank. He'd also boosted Isulfr's Bite while trying to consume sacred beasts, and Tyrant's Claw had risen while testing himself against the claws of the others.

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In fact, he counted more than ten boosts among his lesser monsters. He'd switched in abilities like Garuda's Wing or even Sahagin's Soul for some hunts and they had risen accordingly. Mutefang's Stealth had leapt all the way up to Iota rank, though he had a feeling that it would top out soon. The most important boost was actually the Banchlain, which he still hadn't fully fused, because he sometimes used its essence for increased strength.

Most likely he was facing the reverse of his old problem: his monstrous abilities had caught up to his human capacities and now they were the ones straining against their limits. Which was exactly why he'd put so much effort into pursuing the Savage Heart.

The one major improvement that had impressed the Savage Creed members was that his chakra had absolutely exploded up past 200. He couldn't expect all of that to boost his power once he mastered the ability, but the others spoke as if a sizable percentage of it would. In theory that was everything he needed, he just had to push through somehow.

Shadows passed in front of the entrance to the cave and Kai opened his eyes, just in case it was an ambush. But no, it was only Tyorcut. Maybe it was all the animalistic rituals, but he had a harder time ignoring her than usual. Those hides stretched taut over her chest and hips, and the abs in between... he couldn't help but imagining them trembling in pleasure. He forced his eyes to stay on hers, but she smirked as if she'd noticed.

"Still no luck?" she asked as she walked closer.

"Not yet," he said. "Maybe I'm not cut out for chakra."

"You're too much in your head, trying to do everything with willpower." Tyorcut flicked his forehead. "Chakra isn't wispy energy you play around with in your mind, it's what you do. You have to feel it, deep in the gut."

"I'm trying."

"No, you don't get it. I'm saying you need to stop 'trying' and actually do something." She crouched down opposite him and he saw that her smile had changed. It wasn't just his imagination or wishful thinking, she was leaning toward him. "You're actually a better follower of the Savage Creed than half of the men here. You came here and seized what you wanted. But your lingam is all out of balance."

"Lingam?" Kai was tempted to back up, but she put a hand on his knee to lean even closer.

"You don't know the word, but you know what I mean. Male and female, lingam and yoni. Yours is strong, but you're holding back. You eat what you want, take what you want... but you don't fuck who you want."

Kai swallowed, suddenly aware of the scent of her, wild and yet still feminine. He forced himself to think logically and remembered that a significant part of Tyorcut's power came from a "Fierce Yoni" ability. It must be one of the sex-based powers that he'd heard existed in the Commonwealth.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm asking because I want it." Tyorcut smiled broader, almost touching his face now. "But it's not an excuse. You need relief, and your lingam could be powerful if properly used. There are plenty of Savage Hearts that awaken through sex and yours might be one of them."

His body was tempted to take her offer, but his mind recoiled. That would be violating the promise he made to Zae Zin Nim, and he wouldn't do that even for immense power. The idea even made him feel bizarrely disloyal to Omilaena - she'd definitely encourage him to do it, but he remembered the strange vulnerability she'd shown when she made her offer.

On the other hand, he couldn't afford to keep upsetting members of the Savage Creed. Firtrim was practically the only one who liked him and Krugbash would stop him if he got enough leverage. So Kai took Tyorcut's shoulders and moved her away from him.

"You know I want to," he told her. "But I've always trained with discipline, not indulgence."

"Then you need to branch out." She sighed and backed away. "But there's strength in restraint, too. Sex is a battle between men and women, and you need to be able to control your essence. How about this? I'll teach you a lingam discipline technique. If you can actually resist, you'll boost your strength. And if you give in... well, I don't think you'll be disappointed."

Kai's curiosity got the better of him, or maybe his discipline wasn't as strong as he thought. Tyorcut pulled out a wineskin and poured some sort of chakra-dense liquid into it. When he took a drink, it seemed to shoot straight to his groin, making him rock-hard in a second. She laughed and reached down to grip his crotch.

"Either you explode and you lose your energy, or you manage to overcome the trial. I can tell you which is more fun."

"Shouldn't have challenged me." Kai tried to grin, but it was more of a grimace. "I'm definitely not giving in now."

"You say that, but how long can you last?" Tyorcut chuckled and finally moved away, swaying her hips as she left the cavern.

The chakra was coursing through him, visceral and raw. He had to admit that it completely destroyed his usual habits of over-thinking the power, since all he could focus on was his body. His chakra was growing, and more importantly it was awakening something like none of the other Savage Heart exercises. For the first time he could feel a beast within him - it was a horny beast, but a beast nonetheless.

Over the next several days Tyorcut continued to taunt him, throwing various nearly-sexual exercises at him. Kai was actually curious about all this yoni and lingam theory, and all the potential power contained in these rituals, but he refused to go further. He might be disciplined, but he was only human and he knew if he crossed a certain line, he'd give in.

Eventually he managed to overcome the challenge and absorb the chakra. Tyorcut seemed both irritated and intrigued, as if she hadn't actually expected his success. She told him that she'd be back with a new technique and then finally left him alone.

"Are you a damn fool?" Krugbash stormed in not long after she'd left, face flushed red. "What, do you prefer men? Or are you some kind of dickless monk?"

"Why are you here?" Kai asked.

"To tell you to leave. If you won't even do the most natural rituals, you'll never awaken a Savage Heart. I can't throw you out, but I'm telling you that you're wasting everyone's time." Krugbash abruptly snapped forward, trying to kick Kai in the chin.

He instinctively caught the blow and pushed the other man back. "You want to fight?" Kai leapt to his feet and flexed his fingers into claws. "I have a lot of frustration to work off."

"Just go back to the city. Fool." Krugbash snarled and stormed out of the cavern.

On his own again, Kai had to take several deep breaths to calm himself. It had been another petty attempt at intimidation, which never bothered him except that he worried they might escalate into a murder attempt. But what Krugbash had actually said might be right: it was time to go back to the city and meet up with the others again.