Depthless Hunger

So began one of the most intense months of training in Kai's life. He'd always worked hard, but now that he had gathered so much information about different training schedules, he could prepare something far more extensive.

When Juray or Inafay asked, he said that it was to prepare for fighting stronger monsters. That was partially true, since he felt certain that it posed a massive threat. But truthfully, when he was pushing himself past the breaking point, it was for his own sake. Now that he was content with leaving his Class behind, he needed to put everything on the line and prove that he could succeed without it.

Still most of a year until the monster incursion, if the predictions were correct. Kai gave himself a month for this rumored monster and got to work as if the incursion would happen then.

In all the time he had been avoiding the Granfian training yards, or working around Inafay's schedule, or talking to the Tonjin brothers, Kai had gotten a very clear sense for exactly how much work everyone put in. Despite all the differences, there were common threads.

Every hunter trainee spent at least four hours in the practice yard, but as he'd seen during his own training, too many treated it like a game. It was time to socialize and show off a few tricks, not drive themselves to their limits. By contrast, the serious hunters in the Granfian clan worked hard at least eight hours a day: two hours each on physical conditioning, combat training, Class development, and study.

To his surprise, not every clan divided their work so evenly. The scions of the Orgoron clan spent a full four hours a day developing their Class, with four other hours divided between exercise, sparring, study, and social etiquette. He'd been scornful of the final section at first, but far more went into social etiquette than he had expected. Fully trained Orgoron hunters could negotiate deals with warriors, merchants, or nobles anywhere across the Frontier.

From his time traveling with Tusquo, Kai knew that Irunians on the Path of Steel would spend half their day training their specific martial skills, two hours on exercise, and two on their national abilities. Tusquo himself put in several additional hours of pure combat practice as well as advanced training combining the Path of Steel with exercises.

Kai hadn't been able to learn the full schedules of all Corinin clan members, but he had a strong idea of Inafay's training routine. Her clan demanded that she spend three hours developing her Class, two on exercise and sparring, and one on etiquette. She additionally put in at least four more hours of her own time on wildly varying training, from Physique development to specific skills.

Not everything came down to hours worked. The Tonjin brothers were generally relegated to the role of thugs by the Lantrian clan: instead of Class-focused training like their primary hunters, the brothers were given a full four hours of physical training, with only single hours dedicated to sparring and Class development. But those four hours included methods for physical strength and stamina that he'd seen nowhere else, so he eagerly incorporated them.

When planning his schedule, Kai decided to do absolutely everything.

He woke up before dawn and began with two hours of the physical conditioning that had always begun his day. When the other hunters began to arrive at the training yard, he would leave to join the Tonjin brothers and participate in the final and most grueling two hours of their strength training. Once all of that had exhausted him, he would go to the Hunters Guild and spar with any veteran who would fight him for an hour.

Originally he'd wanted to work straight through the day, but after five hours of constant work he noticed that his improvements waned. So he had reluctantly accepted a break in the middle of his day, eating a full meal and letting his body recover. Since he had six hundred Goralian Eagles sitting unused, he spent some of them buying potions from Juray that would help his recovery time and strengthen his Physique.

While that recovery process was ongoing, he pushed himself through two hours of pure mana training. He no longer wasted any time on his Class, but he performed many of the same exercises the clan scions used to develop their souls. If his progress ever slowed there, he could trade in practice with his spiritual sight, Class mana isolation, or other secondary skills.

Once his body was completely restored, he would leave the city to venture into the wilderness and fight as many monsters as he could find. So close to the city, he couldn't always find enough targets, but it gave him some real experience and the monster cores partially reduced all his other costs. In between the monsters, he worked on his survival skills.

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After two or more hours of that, he would return to the city exhausted and bleeding. The next portion of his day was a bit of a wildcard, sometimes training with Inafay or sometimes fighting against anyone who was willing to use their Class against him. He wasn't sure how much it was strengthening him, but he knew that his body was getting used to the pain of mana slamming into it over and over.

Once that was done, he'd join Juray for two less structured evening hours. By that point he was starving, and they often ended up in bed together, but often it was just talking or relaxing in one another's presence. When she didn't want his attention, he'd read books from the Granfian library, searching for new techniques or studying encyclopedias of monsters.

Juray said that she wouldn't accept such a demanding schedule from a husband, but she smiled when she said it.

After Juray settled into her night routine, Kai would return to the training yard, which had been abandoned by everyone else, and eke out the last drops of his potential. Depending on how difficult the day had been, it would take one or two hours for him to collapse and then drag himself back to bed, only to repeat it all again the following day.

By the end of the month, he wouldn't have a clue which fork he was supposed to use with clan leaders, but he'd have a much better chance of stabbing them to death with it.

Was all of it enough? He could never really be sure. During some of his study periods, he attempted to track down reports of a monster called an Isulfr at the Hunters Guild. The name wasn't on the official lists, but there were reports of strange monsters that appeared during incursions that matched what the old man had described. After pinpointing several entries that seemed similar, Kai studied them as well as he could.

Most likely, the perfect information he needed was only available at the Frontier. But for all his ambition, Kai knew there were certain things that were impossible. He wouldn't be able to gain anything from the Frontier unless he succeeded at everything he was attempting.

One advantage of working himself so hard was that he never ran into Fhazi or Hannagan Lantrian. If Fhazi never saw him, his vendetta would cool down, and Hannagan couldn't call him weak and then complain about his training. The days were grueling, yet surprisingly peaceful. It was never the life he had dreamed of, but it was a good life.

Near the end of the month, Juray presented him with a flask that he'd nearly forgotten: she had completed his second request after the Hunter Trials. Actually, she had completed the request a long time ago, but she had been working on enhancing it. Normally he received no supplies for free as her partner, because that wasn't their relationship, but she jokingly said that he deserved the improved potion for serving as her test subject.

When it came time to attempt the monster fights, Kai took that flask along with him. Given the old man's behavior, there was a chance that the Isulfr would mortally wound him. He wanted to win, but if it came to the worst, Juray's flask should keep him alive and let him come out the other end stronger.

Along the way, he turned his spiritual gaze inward to check his progress.

Name: Kai Granfian

Total Power: 63

Laborer Class: 11 (9)

Physique Level: F-4 (38)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

???: ???

???: ???

>

It might not be dramatic, but he was proud of having increased his Physique by two steps. There were veteran hunters who went years to increase it by one, or never went beyond F-0. Hopefully that would be enough.

Going to the monster arena was the one thing he'd never told his friends about, and Kai wasn't sure exactly why. Maybe because it was foolish or they'd try to talk him out of it. Something about putting himself up against such a powerful beast felt personal. He'd nearly died against several dangerous monsters and they would be the ultimate standard against which all his progress was measured.

He retraced his steps to find the old man, but was instead met by several shady hunters who escorted him out of the city. Not failed hunters or Irregular Classes, either: full hunters with Power between 50 and 100. The tension in his body began to increase as they traveled, especially as they barely said a word to him.

In the end they reached a pit instead of a building. A varied audience sat on the upper levels, divided by fences from the lowest area. He could see several tunnels leading into the sides of the pit, as if it had once been some sort of mine. Most tunnels had been converted to pens and he could see monsters prowling within. More than anything else he had done, this was truly breaking the rules of Monskon City: monsters were to be exterminated, not used for entertainment.

Kai told himself that it was fine because he was coming to kill them. Truth be told, though, he was growing eager for the fight.

He'd given himself one day without physical training to make sure that his body was fully recovered. Was that enough? There was a strange density to his muscles and he honestly wasn't sure whether it was strain or weariness or injury. After so long being accustomed to pain and exhaustion, it was strange to feel so normal.

Then, as he was escorted toward the lowest level, the air began to tremble. He hadn't felt that sensation since he'd been at the Frontier and his eyes were inexorably drawn toward one of the largest tunnels.

The Isulfr lurked in the darkness, utterly still.

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