Depthless Hunger

Finally, all three of them were reunited and moving in the right direction. Kai somewhat resented all the time they'd needed to sneak around and arrange indirect meetings, but that was the price they paid for being weaker than the Brightwind Sect. Hopefully, if they learned all he hoped at the Frontier, they'd be one step closer to competing directly.

For now, it would take them another week to return to the Frontier outpost where they could hopefully begin their training immediately. He was able to accept this delay mainly because he had so much he wanted to say to everyone. Zae Zin Nim clearly missed him, he could always talk more with Inafay, and he wanted to spend some time with the Tonjin brothers.

It was Omilaena, however, who attracted his attention first. No one else seemed to notice, so he wondered if he was just imagining things, but her behavior was withdrawn and muted.

So one night, after he'd finished mana training with the others, he found her out at the end of the Wind Union ship. With the land dark beneath them and the stars above obscured by clouds, they seemed to be in their own little world of darkness. If they turned their backs to the others, it might as well be just the two of them.

"You said you finally made a breakthrough?" he asked.

"I did!" She spun around to face him and he thought her grin was real this time. "I could talk for ages about the broad theory, but the problem is I'm not completely sure I'm right. So let's start from the angle I really hope I have: why can you use only six abilities?"

"No idea. I figured that was just how it works, like how different Classes and abilities evolve at different times."

"Nonsense. Those numbers, from levels to Power, all have some basis in reality. Your abilities are unusual, maybe unprecedented, but they must still have some connection to the rules of power. There are other systems that have limited abilities as well, though they usually work in slightly different ways. The power-bearers in the Coiled Empire learn one skill at each stage, for example."

"Then why hasn't mine changed?"

"But it has!" Omilaena raised a finger sharply. "All abilities start with one 'place' in the soul. Some only need one, like how cultivation stores everything in a dantian. But others, particularly ability-based powers, grow to occupy more places over time. I was reading a very old source when I read about an ability where the capacities increased every time the soul itself expands."

"Like with the 99 Power barrier?" Kai asked. "I definitely felt my soul expand, but I didn't think it made a huge difference for my monstrous abilities."

"Ah, but were you struggling with a limited number of slots then?"

"I suppose I had less than six back then. I only ate enough essence to overload after the incursion."

"And you're forgetting that there's technically a 9 Power barrier, though the Goralian awakening ceremony vaults right over it." Omilaena began ticking off fingers. "So one ability to start with, a second at the 9 Power barrier, and a third at 99."

"Where do the other three come from?"

"Remember that you didn't have any of this power until your soul collapsed and incorporated the monstrous essence - or at least that's my theory. And what happened to you before then? You gave away your Irunian steel, you burned out your elemental capacity, and then you tore out your own Class."

Kai grinned as she said it. He had no idea about the deeper theory, but the idea felt right to him. "I can buy that. When I woke up, the power I'd absorbed had seemed to fill up the empty space. I think it all adds up. So does that mean I'll gain a seventh slot when I pass 999 Power?"

"I'm confident you will, and that would be great validation for my theory." Omilaena's smile finally faded and she sighed. "I know that seems like a far-off goal."

"Yeah, you and Zae Zin Nim will be facing that problem first. How difficult is it to break through the 999 Power barrier, by the way?"

"Probably impossible on Deadwaste. There are items that can do it on the other continents, but they're rare even there. Hopefully we'll be able to get appropriate ones before we hit that point."

"If I got one now, do you think I'd gain a new ability slot immediately?"

"Huh. Good question." Omilaena tapped a finger against her lips for a while as she thought. "With normal people, trying too early could cause serious harm. You might be able to do it... but the next barrier is a tougher one because there's nothing universal like moonmelt pills. For example, Zae Zin Nim will almost certainly need a highly refined qi source that wouldn't work for me. I actually have no idea what sort of power would work for you."

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Something else to worry about in the future, though this one didn't weigh too heavily on him. Thanks to the greater potential of his monstrous soul, he could keep up with his allies well beyond the point they broke through. If his human soul alone actually reached the 900s, he'd be a match for some of the strongest in the world.

"The big question is how many abilities you can burn out," Omilaena said. "I'm pretty sure you can't just try some minor type of magic to gain a new slot - it's related to fundamental capacities. But what are the limits? For example, I'm quite confident you'd gain another slot if you burned out your ability to cultivate, but that wouldn't be worth it."

"Definitely not." Kai shook his head as he thought it over. "I wouldn't want to lose whatever lets me use the Savage Heart, either. In fact, I think that'd be a hard decision to make. Not that I had a choice, but would an elemental power have been more useful to me than one more monster slot?"

"There's one big problem with my theory, one that might be good for you, or might mean I'm full of shit. I'm not sure the burned out parts of your soul are totally gone. For example, according to my theories, when you gave up your Class, you shouldn't have been able to use mana anymore."

"I didn't have any trouble with that at all. Mana seems to flow directly into my other abilities."

"Exactly. That's one of the things that made me realize that it must be more complicated than just seven different types of energy." Omilaena gestured vaguely at the night sky. "Beyond a certain point I'm just blundering in the dark. We may not have enough power here to see the real shape of reality."

"You see a lot further than I can." Kai put a hand on her shoulder and was surprised at how slender it felt. He knew how strong she was from personal experience, but in that moment Omilaena felt very vulnerable. Then the sensation was gone.

"I'm pretty sure I can help already!" She tapped at his chest with one fingernail. "You've done a good job figuring out your powers, but I think you've made one big mistake: your 'Monstrous Hunger' isn't an ability."

"What do you mean? Of course it is. It has a slot and a rank like all the rest."

"But it doesn't come from a specific monster, right? If I'm right, that's a reflection of you, your monstrous capabilities. But it isn't one of those abilities any more than the fundamental capacity to cultivate is a cultivation technique. Human souls were never designed for this, so you've been clinging to that connection, but I think you can let it go."

"Get rid of it? No, that's wrong." Kai looked into his own soul and shook his head. "It's definitely part of me... but maybe you're right, it's a different part..."

"Contradictory as it might seem, I think Monstrous Hunger is a human ability. When we discussed Physique and your other breakthroughs, it sounds like you've been increasingly embracing the connections. You don't need it as a crutch anymore, you can use that capacity to its fullest."

"If I've been just wasting a slot like an idiot, I'm going to kick myself."

Omilaena grinned more like her usual self. "Give yourself a break; you're mapping new territory here. And I don't know that it will be easy. Everything you see in your soul reflects something real, so you can't just tamper with it idly. But actually taking advantage of this idea will be up to you, so all I can say is be careful and good luck."

"Better not say that last part. I don't have a good track record with luck."

As it turned out, the shift was even more difficult than he'd expected. It wasn't simply a matter of making the decision, and when he tried to push the statues around in his soul visualization, it didn't work. This was a connection between the sides of his soul, and he balanced a deep contradiction there.

Even though it was coherent to think about his soul as having two different halves, he knew it was all him in the end. Abilities like the Savage Heart made that literal, and his Physique had been changing in a monstrous direction. The problem was applying all those lessons to himself, altering his soul instead of his body. It felt like trying to tie a tiny piece of string into a knot, the edges always slipping from his fingers.

When he finally managed it, it wasn't through some great revelation or show of willpower. He just thought about what Omilaena said, saw his soul for what it was, and the pieces finally clicked into place.

Name: Kai Clanless

Total Power: 460

Monstrous Hunger - XI (lambda)

Cultivation: Body Refinement 51% (110)

Savage Heart: 6 (61)

Physique Level: D-5 (225)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

Behemoth's Heart - VIII (theta)

Thunderbird's Wings - III (gamma)

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 - VIII (theta)

Mutefang's Stealth - IX (iota)

Lizarkyl's Tail - V (epsilon)

Direurchin's Spikes - V (epsilon)

Wallcrawler's Feet - III (gamma)

Crystal Slime - II (beta)

Dreamleech - I (alpha)

Abominalgum - I (alpha)

Rose Piranha - II (beta)

Bloodtrap - III (gamma)

Deathvine - I (alpha)

Banchlain - V (epsilon)

>

Monstrous Hunger now sat just beneath his total Power, exactly where it belonged since it increased his soul. Its ranking still had some real weight in his mind too, perhaps a limit on all his other monstrous abilities... or perhaps a summation of his potential with them. Either way, the fundamental theory was correct: now that he no longer needed to use part of his power to tie his soul together, he had an extra slot available.

He would still need to make his choices carefully, but he felt much less restricted now. He could keep Behemoth's Heart and Thunderbird's Wings active at all times and still play around with four other options. That would let him use Direboar's Strength without limiting his flexibility, use one of his supplemental abilities, or just combine multiple techniques.

This was a huge breakthrough and he wanted to thank Omilaena for it. But when he looked around for her again, she was gone.