Depthless Hunger

Chapter 126: Entering Unbalanced Streets

Kai sprinted through the wastes, chasing down the scent of blood. He could feel it before he could see it, almost like he could see on the other side of the rocks. Instead of going around he leapt directly to the top and found himself staring down at what the locals called a Diresnake.

It was a serpent as thick around as his waist and considerably longer than a person, lurking on the other side of the stones, waiting in ambush. Kai raised a hand, ready to tear it apart with a claw.

The Diresnake turned, far faster than he had expected, and struck out.

All he could do was grab the sides of its flared head, holding it back from biting his face. Its weight drove him off the rock and to the ground, where the Diresnake continued snapping at him. He held it back easily until its tongue flicked out, and to his surprise the barbed tip cut through his cheek.

Most humans would have been at a disadvantage in that situation, but Kai wasn't most humans. Kai opened his mouth, felt his soul gape open, and then closed down around the Direserpent's head. The bite erased the top of the monster and the corpse began twisting and thrashing on the ground.

"Ugh." Kai wiped his mouth as he stood up and stepped away from the body. The cut on his cheek might have been poisoned, but Aquagorgon's Health was already purging it, just like it healed the cut itself. He had more than enough strength and stamina to deal with minor injuries.

If anything, his weakness was probably speed: a supernaturally fast monster could still outpace him. Could he absorb the Direserpent's striking speed somehow? But it also had a dangerous bite and it might be wiser to merge the essence with Isulfr's Bite. Making a monster serve as both passive strength and a technique seemed impossible so far. As he began eating the body, Kai looked inward to be sure of what he absorbed.

Name: Kai Clanless

Total Power: 133

Cultivation: Qi Condensation 90% (22)

Physique Level: E-2 (86)

Soul Level: 5 (25)

Bestial Traits: 11/6 - !!!

Monstrous Hunger - VII (eta)

Direboar's Strength - V (epsilon)

Aquagorgon's Health - V (epsilon)

Gomodo's Stamina - V (epsilon)

Isulfr's Bite - III (gamma)

Tyrant's Claw - II (beta)

Direclam's Shell - I (alpha)

Wallcrawler's Feet - I (alpha)

Direserpent (???)

Behemoth's Heart (???)

??? (???)

>

Just as he'd hoped, he'd absorbed the Direserpent's essence entirely and he could probably shape what he drew from it. This one didn't feel as powerful to him, certainly not compared to the behemoth from the battle at Monskon City, but it was another ability to experiment on.

During their journey to New Laeneria he'd needed to save the caravan from monsters on several occasions. Each time he'd taken an opportunity to slip away and eat one, but all of them had been too weak and were immediately absorbed into his soul as fuel. It had taken the Direserpent, which had honestly been out of his way, to finally absorb a new potential ability.

Normally he might have enjoyed the meal longer, but Kai didn't want to let anyone attack the caravan while he was out hunting. He finished eating, made sure that he was presentable, and then took the tail back as a trophy. On second thought, he used a single finger of Tyrant's Claw to cut off the end of the tail so it looked like a cleaner cut instead of a bite mark. The workers mostly seemed to like him, so no sense giving them something else to be scared about.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

As had become second nature, he drank a Class potion before returning, just in case anything had slipped through. The workers at the caravan wouldn't notice, but someone at their destination might.

On his way back, Kai found himself whistling. Being out in the wastelands and eating a few monsters had done him a world of good. Just eating monster flesh had eased the hunger inside him, the swelling full sensations weren't so bad anymore, and something about the hunt helped him ignore the physical loneliness.

He felt focused... which was exactly what he needed to be, if New Laeneria was as dangerous as promised.

"You got the monster, boss?" One of the workers stood atop the front wagon and waved to him.

"No problem." Kai held up the severed tail. "Any problems here?"

"All clear. But you'd better stick with us for this next part."

They advanced more slowly as they entered the borders of the new city state. After all the rumors, Kai had expected it to be a burning expanse of ruined fields, but everything looked normal. There were fewer soldiers on the periphery and not quite as many workers bustling around, a bit more like life in Goralia. Nothing obviously wrong, though he reminded himself that problems could lurk beneath the surface.

It was only once they drew closer to the city walls that he started to feel the tension. There were people watching them from the sides of the road, many of them carrying weapons. Strangely he didn't see very many who were well-dressed or in crisp uniforms, instead just Krysali citizens swathed in mismatched cloths. Maybe a different culture, or maybe a sign that something was wrong.

No one stopped them from entering through the main gate, which appeared to stand open without guards. As they entered the street, he was surprised to see that it looked just as clean as Romastir, maybe cleaner. Yet there were no festive banners, no dancing in the streets. It seemed like a few people had been going about their business, but they rapidly cleared out when they saw the caravan.

"Is this normal?" Kai whispered to the driver. The man shook his head.

"This place used to have tons of soldiers. They used to skim off the top, but this... this is worse. No idea what to expect."

"Hold for now. I'll investigate but stay close." Kai jumped off the armored wagon and began examining the street as carefully as he could.

The buildings were taller than in Romastir, several stories high on both sides, and made of a sober bluish stone. He could sense ordinary citizens moving around in them, many moving away from the caravan. No one particularly strong and he didn't notice any shrouds. There were stronger forces moving at a distance, but they weren't converging on the location or anything suspicious.

As much as he wanted to rely on his senses, Kai thought that he should try something much more obvious: just asking. The people in the street were moving away from him, but Kai spotted an old man who couldn't move fast enough and stepped into his way.

"Excuse me, grandfather. May I ask you a few questions?" Kai asked.

"Of course." The old man immediately lowered his head. "How can I serve you?"

"We're from Romastir, delivering a shipment of supplies. What's going on in New Laeneria?"

"You haven't heard? Lady Omilaena took control of the city."

"I heard that it's descended into chaos. This doesn't look like chaos."

"Well..." The old man looked extremely uncomfortable, but couldn't escape. "It isn't so bad. The soldiers have all moved further out, so they can't harass us. Most neighborhoods defend themselves now. We manage, day to day, but I worry about if monsters attack."

Kai tried to push for more information, but it was clear the old man was frightened and Kai didn't want to terrorize the citizens. When it became clear that there was no critical information to be had, Kai thanked the old man and returned to the wagons.

They began to move again, heading deeper into the city toward the mansion where the buyer supposedly lived. The people on the streets cleared out as they continued and the workers began to look more and more nervous. Kai stayed alert for any change, but could only sense random citizens in the buildings around them... until a more powerful force streaked closer.

"Alright, that's far enough!" A woman carrying an ornate crystal spear that looked far more expensive than everything she was wearing combined jumped into the street in front of them. "Stay right there!"

The caravan halted and Kai automatically examined her with his spiritual sight.

Name: ???

Total Power: 74

Disordered Crystals: 1090 (7)

Physique Level: F-4 (38)

Soul Level: 3 (9)

Crystallier Spear: 20

>

She had 54 natural Power, which was a lot for someone who wasn't a warrior trained from birth. As he'd expected, her spear seemed much stronger than she would normally possess, adding an additional 20. The strangest thing was that she didn't seem to be a crystal cultivator, instead possessing "Disordered Crystals" that granted her much less power. Stolen instead of properly cultivated, perhaps?

As a whole, he guessed that she was the leader of a gang, probably the strongest they could put forward. She could probably have taken many hunters, but she definitely wasn't capable of fighting him... or a crystallier.

"Don't move!" The woman thrust her spear in his direction and he saw desperation in her movement. He'd only half-finished his work on a shroud, so she probably identified him as a crystallier. But if she knew that it would be a pitched fight, why pick it? Something didn't add up.

"We're not moving." Kai raised his hands as if he was harmless and gave her a pleasant smile, though he had a Tyrant's Claw ready. "All we want to do is deliver this shipment of crystals."

"That's exactly what we can't let you do. I know you're a crystallier, and you're probably thinking that you can tear off my head and use it as a ball." The bandit woman gestured with her off hand and the buildings around them began shifting. "But we prepared for this. Every one of those archers is drawing an anti-crystallier arrow, capable of piercing even your defenses."

Kai cursed himself as he realized that they were surrounded. Most of the archers were weak, so he'd barely noticed their presence. But judging from the gleaming tips of those arrows, the threat was very real and they were surrounded.