Depthless Hunger

"You're wasting everyone's time," Fhazi said from the safety of his small army. "You know that you'll never come to anything, but you're still consuming Monskon City's resources."

"If you really believe that, why not spar with me for real?" As Kai spoke, he observed the environment carefully. No easy exits, and breaking into one of the buildings would just cause more problems.

"We've been defeating you ever since the Hunter Trials, but you never seem to learn. This time I decided for a more permanent lesson."

Kai shrugged with false nonchalance as he analyzed Fhazi's group. Fhazi himself had grown little stronger, but he had nine allies. Three with relatively weak Classes and Power in the low 20s: not the most significant threat, but they could use their numbers to position him for the others. Three he didn't know, but they were all rated over 30. Then the Tonjin brothers, formidable opponents in the 40s. Most dangerous of all, the woman called Yerinna had just over 50 and had already drawn several needles.

All told, he was going up against ten opponents with over three hundred Power between them.

If they really fought him together, it was impossible. Not a challenge or heroic effort, impossible. Even his F-ranked Physique couldn't endure that many hits from Classes. But since this didn't look like it would end with simple mockery, Kai began considering his options.

"How much are the Lantrians paying you for this?" Kai asked the group. "Is this what you've always dreamed of doing?"

He took a step closer, hoping that he could take Fhazi down first and make the rest decide it wasn't worth it. But before he could actually strike, Fhazi took a step back behind a squat man with an Earthenshield Class, who would no doubt defend him.

"I'm not here to listen to your sniveling." Fhazi jabbed out a hand from his position. "Beat the shit out of him! Make sure he doesn't get up this time!"

Nine hunters drew on the abilities of their Classes, raw mana flowing through them. Before they could finish, Kai had already crossed the distance and punched one of the unknown hunters in the face.

Whatever a "Lancer" was, the man wouldn't get a chance to use his abilities. They were all slow compared to Inafay, so Kai was able to take one down instantly and dodge back before they could strike. Yerinna reacted fastest, throwing a needle toward his legs.

It was easy to dodge back, but she hadn't really been planning on hitting him. Her needle pushed him further back in the alley so that the group blocking off his escape could attack him. Two of the weaker hunters were creeping toward his back, readying heavy clubs.

Kai pretended not to see them and readied his bow, then hesitated as he reached for an arrow. "I don't want to hurt anyone!" he called to the group. "Let's just talk thi-"

The ambushers struck him over the head with their clubs, but they hadn't been paying enough attention to his Physique. Both blows bounced off harmlessly and Kai whirled on them while they were shocked. Even using it improperly, his bow was a bar of solid steel: he bludgeoned both to the ground and sprinted toward the remaining two opponents in his way. If he got past them, he could retreat deeper into the alleys.

If he hadn't spent so much time training his senses, the next needles might have taken him in the back. Yerinna really did fight to kill. He had just enough forewarning to dodge aside, so only one needle hit him in the side. The assassin hurled more, but Kai grabbed one of the hunters in his path and jerked her around behind him to use as a shield.

When the needles sank in, her body slumped, which confirmed that the needles were poisoned. His side was beginning to feel numb, but his Physique was resisting the worst of it. He didn't want to find out what would happen if more of the needles hit him and he worried about how much harm they were doing to the woman he'd grabbed.

"See what you're doing?" The body he was using as a shield began to tremble violently. He'd have to hope that the poison wasn't lethal or that Fhazi's group could help her, because he couldn't play it safe with Yerinna.

He tossed his human shield and retreated from the next needles, striking at the last of the opponents behind him on the way. His plan had been to take down that man as well, but there was no time: he had to dodge around the corner to avoid another needle. When he dared to peer around the edge, he saw that Fhazi was staying back with his Earthenshield bodyguard while he urged the others forward.

Yerinna was stalking forward first, more needles in hand. It didn't take much acting for Kai to look nervous, since he wasn't sure how much of her poison his body could resist. He ran back to a safer distance so that she would pursue.

As soon as she came around the corner, Kai shot her in the stomach.

The assassin stared down at the arrow in her stomach, shocked. She looked up, as if she couldn't believe that her prey had struck back. Kai stared back at her without faking any hesitation: he didn't want to kill Fhazi's group, but he wasn't going to take a trained killer lightly.

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His second arrow caught her in the shoulder and she spun to the ground. Since her Physique was still in the G rank, Kai hoped that would be enough to take her out of the fight. The next part of the battle was likely to be the hardest.

Fhazi wasn't going to follow him first, of course, and the hunter who had been closest didn't seem eager to pursue. That left the Earthenshield, who was staying close, and the Tonjin brothers. Given his options, Kai needed to move the fight, so he began looking at the nearby windows. When Kai saw the two hulking brothers move around the corner cautiously, he wasn't surprised.

He tackled them both, using his full strength to drive them to the side. They battered at his head and shoulders, but they couldn't stop him from driving them through a wooden door. They tumbled across the floor of the abandoned home, and given the narrowness of the alley, they were all in darkness soon enough. Of course, both brothers got to their feet immediately, unharmed by such a light blow. From their sparring, Kai knew that he couldn't fight them both fairly.

So he reached into his belt pouch and pulled out the enhancement scrolls. The Tonjin brothers froze.

"These are what you needed, right?" Kai waved the scrolls in front of them while he took a hasty glance over his shoulder. He had time. "With these, you can break through with your Class and you don't need to play thugs for the Lantrian clan anymore."

"It's not that simple." Lofgan stared at him sadly. "You think they wouldn't punish us? People like us can't just break a contract. Even with the scrolls..."

"Then do something else for me: don't resist."

The brothers glanced at one another, and for a moment Kai thought his gambit would fail, but then they nodded. Relieved, Kai stepped forward and handed them each a scroll. Once they had each made their scroll disappear into their armor, Kai mouthed his thanks to them.

Then he grabbed their heads and slammed them back into the stone wall.

Even not defending themselves at all, they took several blows to bring down. He didn't hold back, since he knew the Tonjin brothers were tough enough to endure being knocked unconscious without permanent damage. As soon as they fell with suitably obvious injuries, he turned back, fearing an attack.

Still no Fhazi. Only three opponents left, but Kai was beginning to wear out and those last three weren't going to split themselves up to make things easy for him. Fhazi might be slimy, but his Grandfist could still hurt or even kill him. The Earthenshield was an unknown quantity and his defenses might ruin any other strategies. Even the remaining hunter who hadn't been brave enough to pursue had a full Class and over 30 Power. It would be so easy to make a mistake...

Kai glanced down at his belt and all the useless potions there. After a moment's thought, he started drinking.

.

..

.

It should have been easy. Fhazi Lantrian had been dreaming about it for over a week. Imagining how it would feel to see Kai's stupid determination battered away by overwhelming force. Then he could put his boot on the man's face and finally hear him surrender.

Instead, his allies had fallen one by one. Fhazi wasn't even sure how the first one had gone down: he'd still been drawing on his Class - fight hadn't even started yet! - when the man crumpled. At least Yerinna had done her job and driven Kai away, but more of the useless idiots had fallen along the way.

"Come on, cowards, with me!" Fhazi gestured at his bodyguard and the idiot who had basically stood there while Kai got around the corner. It took them a while to step over the bodies, but they carefully pursued him. No ambushes: they'd take him down the right way.

When they turned the corner, Fhazi gasped at the sight of Yerinna. She bled from two arrow wounds and struggled to draw breath. Was she dying? Was Kai such a monster that he'd just killed her? In a sense it was good that he showed his true colors, but it shouldn't have been Yerinna, she was actually useful.

No sign of Kai. There was no indication he'd fled further down the alleyway, which was a dead end anyway. A minute later Fhazi noticed the broken door. So he'd decided to flee in there. Fhazi gestured for his bodyguard and remaining ally to come up beside him and get ready.

"Come on, Kai!" Fhazi cupped his hands over his mouth to shout into the darkness inside the building. "You can't run from us forever! Come out and face me!"

An instant later Kai charged out the door, laughing wildly and dragging the Tonjin thugs behind him.

Fhazi let out a yelp and flinched as Kai hurled their bodies forward. One of them struck the man to Fhazi's right and flattened him to the ground, pinning him under the thug's ridiculous bulk. The second body flew straight for Fhazi, but his bodyguard finally stopped gaping like a fool and stepped into the way to deflect it with a wall of earth.

"You've always been so proud of your Class, Fhazi." Kai's lips were bleeding and he grinned maniacally. "But now that I've awakened my real Class, let's see how you stack up."

Impossible. Fhazi struggled to look past the other man's madness and see his soul...

Name: Kai Granfian

Total Power: 70+

Warrior Class: 2

Knight Class: 3

Scrapper Class: 2

Windcutter Class: 4

Laborer Class: 11

Physique Level: F-6

Soul Level: 4

>

It couldn't be. He didn't have just one Class, he'd somehow awakened five? Terrible new power flowed off Kai, multiple colors of mana churning around him. This was unbelievable, completely unbelievable...

"No way..." Fhazi's bodyguard stared like an idiot and lowered his guard for a moment.

In that instant, Kai struck him across the face. His bodyguard wasn't so weak as to fall with one blow, but as he started to gather another shield of stone, Kai somehow punched through it.

For several seconds Fhazi could only stare at the brutal brawl, then he remembered who he was. Fhazi Lantrian. Wielder of the Grandfist Class. He gathered his power into his new technique and stepped into position to deliver a fatal blow directly into Kai's back...

He didn't see the kick that struck him, but Fhazi tumbled back as if he'd been hit by a monster. After groaning and clutching his chest, he struggled back to his feet just in time to see Kai drop the bodyguard with another brutal blow.

"N-no!" Fhazi scrambled back as Kai turned on him, more like a beast than a man. "Get away!"

"That's enough." The voice rang through the alleyway.

Grandfather Hannagan stood there, flanked by veteran hunters. Fhazi stared at them in shock for several seconds, then breathed a sigh of relief. The plan had gone nothing like he had intended, but it had worked after all.

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