Depthless Hunger

For several days Kai anxiously alternated between the training yards and the library. There were more complex exercises available, but they were fundamentally different from what the other young hunters were doing. It seemed that the clan had deeper secrets for advanced training which they didn't share with everyone. He suspected that they involved leaning into one's Class, so he wasn't sure if they would even be effective for him.

But all of that was just trying to fill his time efficiently before his meeting with Inafay. When the day she'd identified arrived, he eagerly headed out into Monskon City.

The Corinin clan was too important to have a single complex: buildings they owned were strewn all across the upper city. For that matter, they had connections all across Goralia: each clan was bigger than a single city, to one degree or another. Whatever the overall clan politics, at the moment what mattered was that Inafay had asked him to meet her in a space they owned, but didn't fully control.

Kai left early in case he couldn't find the place, only to figure it out almost immediately. That left him potentially arriving too early, which would be more than simply awkward: given the weakness of his position, he couldn't afford to look desperate. Her letter had been friendly, but also hasty, so he wasn't sure about her real position.

"Yo!" Inafay dropped out of a nearby tree right beside him, then grinned at him cheerfully while wiping off her butt. "You finally get here!"

"Uh, sorry if I was late." Kai made sure to keep his gaze professional, even though her clothing was even more casual than before. Still practical, but she clearly didn't expect a serious attack. Had her abdominal muscles gotten even more toned?

"No problem, no problem," Inafay said. "No sword this time, huh?"

"The, uh, the Direboar stomped it."

"That's okay, we've got extras. All kinds of practice stuff here." Inafay led him over to the side of a training yard that was more like a private garden. The central cobblestone space was shaded by a canopy of trees, carefully pruned over the years to provide a green space in the middle of the city.

More relevant to his purposes, there was a rack filled with wooden training weapons. Though Kai had gone with a long sword previously, he selected a spear instead. If his Class didn't use any particular weapon, and he still hadn't specialized, he might as well use a weapon that was well-suited to an opponent with such a frustrating combination of long range and close range capabilities.

"I want to talk later," Inafay said as she pulled on her spiked gauntlets, "but let's spar first."

Only then did Kai realize that he had failed to look at her with his spiritual sight. He'd been developing the habit of examining everyone, but the importance of their meeting had thoroughly distracted him. As they squared off, Kai amended that error.

Name: Inafay Corinin

Total Power: 25

Windcutter Novice Class: 9 (9)

Physique Level: G-5 (12)

Soul Level: 2 (4)

>

In the short time since their previous fight, her power had almost doubled. He wasn't surprised that she'd developed her Class, but he was a bit intimidated that her Physique Level had almost caught up to his. It wasn't too visible physically, since she'd been fit from the start, but he could feel a more potent current of mana running through her body.

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"Just until first blood, or a blow that would draw blood." She banged her gauntlets together cheerfully. "Oh, and breaking the trees counts as a loss. Let's go!"

Inafay was standing near one of the trees, so Kai started with a thrust at full extension, hoping to get her to damage some branches with her wind magic. It seemed like her control had improved, since she easily redirected his blow with a current of emerald wind that barely rustled the leaves. She raised her fists, grinning, and began hopping back and forth with wind at her heels.

As he dodged her wind-fueled strikes, Kai wondered who would win if they fought for real. He didn't have as much of an edge as before and her Class had clearly become more flexible, but neither of them was putting their all into the fight. Soon he put aside such thoughts and focused fully on enjoying the sparring match.

Anything more than a glancing blow from her wind would be disabling, if she didn't hold back. Kai managed to stay ahead of her until the end, when she leapt into the air in a move that looked foolish... and then redirected herself with a burst of wind that put her gauntlet just beside his jaw.

"And that's match!" Inafay tapped the side of his head with a grin, then pulled back. "I'd like to say we're even now, but you weren't anywhere near as serious about this."

"I wasn't taking you lightly," Kai said.

"Oh, I didn't mean it that way. But during our fight, you looked deadly serious."

They walked away from the training yard to a mossy area centered around a pool filled with clear water. While Inafay tugged off a gauntlet and pushed her windswept hair into place, Kai drank his fill. She grabbed the dipper after he was done, drank and splashed her face, then sat down on the side of the pool.

"Did you really agree to meet just to spar?" Kai asked as he sat down nearby. Inafay only shrugged.

"Yes and no. I want someone willing to kick the crap out of me, because none of the other Corinins will. Oh, don't get me wrong, they work me pretty hard. But I feel like I'm missing something and I don't want to rely on the clan for everything. So I think we can help each other."

"I don't know how much I can offer, but I'm glad I was the first person to come to mind when you needed someone to kick the crap out of a woman."

"Oh, don't start." Inafay punched his shoulder, not lightly. "I heard you had terrible luck with your Class, and I don't know what to tell you. No good ideas from me. But it's really fucking unfair that they took your rewards away from you."

Kai resisted the urge to hug her, but his smile might have been a little misty-eyed. "That's, uh... thanks. But how much help can I really be? If you'd landed with a real blow, it probably would have taken me out."

"Injured you horribly? Yes. Taken you out? Don't think so. You're a physical beast, Kai. I'm hoping that you can help me break through into F rank Physique Levels, probably by getting there first. It might not solve your problem, but at least you'll be able to resist Classes."

"Resist Classes?"

Inafay cast him an odd look, then shrugged. "Do they really not tell you this? Going from G-9 to F-0 isn't just another little step, it means your body is permanently reinforced with mana. All hunters are required to hit at least F-0 to go on any really dangerous hunts. But more importantly for you, if you can reach that point, mana that tears through flesh won't immediately disable you."

"Huh." Kai had known about warriors becoming reinforced with mana, but the fact that it was tied to the letter grade was news to him. That probably explained why so many hunters he saw were in the low F rankings. "It seems to get harder the higher you go."

"Don't I know it. I've been stuck at the peak of Windcutter for a while now."

"You were at 6 before, so... I suppose you've only managed three stages in two weeks?"

"It's even worse than that, because I hit seven right after fighting you." Inafay stuck out her tongue irritably. "I know these are the easy beginning stages, but I hate being stalled like this. My trainers have all kinds of ideas about how I can break through, but they've been wrong so far. Some said I needed to develop my Class with different skills, but as you can see that didn't help at all. Others said it was about Physique Levels, but that didn't work either."

"What about Soul?"

"Nobody seems to know exactly how that works, but they say it has nothing to do with your Class."

Kai observed her in his spiritual sight again, and though he didn't uncover any secrets, he was already feeling more comfortable. This wasn't just pity. "So you're looking to use your time productively instead of just grinding against the wall. I don't know how much I can help, but I guess I can show you some new exercises."

"I'll take them, but I brought some of my own. You see, as soon as your Class awakens, there are all kinds of mana resistance exercises..."

Those exercises proved to be exactly the sort of thing that the clan had been withholding from Kai. They couldn't entirely replace his ordinary training, but he could sense that new spiritual muscles were being exercised and felt like they might help him progress. Fortunately, he had a few tricks to offer Inafay as well, so she seemed eager for their next sparring match.

They scheduled another meeting in two days and Kai left in a good mood. For once, things were looking up. He was sure that fate had something awful in store for him, but he planned to charge straight into it.

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