Depthless Hunger

For the most part, Omilaena found the phase training tedious. It wasn't the sort of thing that could be skipped or improved with a genius breakthrough, it simply required hard work. Even though it was spiritual and involved the fundamental laws of reality, it was as irritating as Physique training.

Normally she could entertain herself with her own thoughts, but the problem was opportunity cost. Her Path of Venomsteel had great potential she wanted to explore and she only grudgingly accepted that the Frontier guards were the only ones who could train her to face the god abilities. If only she had some technique that could split herself into multiple bodies or at least minds that could tackle everything at once.

Her books had been waiting for so long, only checked occasionally when she needed to confirm something. She was fairly sure that there was more she hadn't yet discovered, but she could read those at any time and this was a unique opportunity.

Without interesting work to sublimate her desires into, Omilaena was getting more than a little frustrated. There were moments when she didn't want power, she just wanted to fuck somebody attractive to sleep and then read in bed. But apparently she was behaving differently now, so she just kept training.

Despite the fact that this was the most efficient path, she still welcomed interruptions that broke up the routine. It didn't surprise her when Kai or Zae Zin Nim wanted to ask something, or trade suggestions about phase training, but she didn't expect Inafay to show up at her tent.

"I, uh, need your opinion on something." Inafay rarely looked so uncomfortable and she gestured to herself. "Something new showed up in my soul, and it's not bad but I didn't expect it."

"Then I guess I'll take a look." Omilaena glanced over the younger woman's soul.

Name: Inafay Corinin

Total Power: 305

Windborn: Onceswept (52)

Physique Level: E-4 (92)

Soul Level: 7 (49)

Hybrid Essence: Highwinds (+15)

>

She'd continued to grow, but the new addition was definitely the "Hybrid Essence: Highwinds" that showed up at the end of the symbols of her soul. It looked similar to the Ironpath Physique or other similar benefits, but didn't feel similar. In fact, it was more similar to the inexplicable hybrid powers that Frontier guards tended to possess.

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"This isn't because of Frontier training?" Omilaena asked.

"Don't think so. Everything the elites have tasked us with lately has been normal."

"Then have you changed anything else? Power doesn't appear for no reason."

"Uh..." Inafay dropped eye contact and shifted awkwardly. "Are you familiar with dual cultivation?"

"Intimately familiar, you might say."

"Oh, shut up. Ever since Zae Zin Nim taught us, Orotaisin and I have been... sharing essence. At first it just strengthened our abilities slightly. But then, out of nowhere..." Inafay shrugged, apparently over her discomfort. "That showed up."

"Did he get anything?" Omilaena asked.

"No. His Windborn powers have been growing faster, but I thought that was just because my abilities are more spread out. Do you have some idea? It seemed so much like what you did in Irun that I wanted to ask you first."

"Why not ask the elites?"

"Well... it strikes me as kind of similar to some of the abilities they have, but those are supposed to be stronger. When I asked about their hybrid Classes, they always said it was too early for me. Now I'm worried I triggered something prematurely and limited my growth."

"I don't think it's that," Omilaena said. "But it also doesn't seem physical, so I don't think I can test your blood for anything. Let's go talk to them about it."

Omilaena had hoped for a quick answer, but when Talndim saw the details, he shook his head and summoned the others. In the end, despite all Inafay's questions, he waited until both Kai and Zae Zin Nim had gathered together before explaining anything.

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"Take a look at my soul," Talndim said. "It will depend on what spiritual sight techniques you've learned, but you'll most likely see something at the end, distinct from my other abilities."

Even though she knew what she was going to see, Omilaena dutifully checked again.

Name: Talndim Bundrin

Total Power: 717

Breakfist Advanced Class: 9 (327)

Crystal Cultivation: 10,000 (125)

Physique: E-7 (101)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

Hybrid Essence: Shimmering Fist (+100)

>

"I've seen that before," Inafay said. "In the Irunians, too. But I've never seen anyone with more than one, that's why I'm worried that I might have taken a wrong step."

"There isn't a hard limitation," Talndim reassured her. "What you're seeing is a combination of two different powers, for me my Class and crystal cultivation. Usually this only develops once both powers are highly mature, but you seem to have started yours early. That's why I thought we needed this lecture."

"So no harm done?"

"Probably not. But you need to understand how to develop it properly."

Kai had been listening quietly but now spoke up. "Are these Emergent Classes just raw power, or do they grant new abilities?"

Omilaena looked at him sharply as soon as he used the unfamiliar term. She saw both Talndim and Inafay labeled as "Hybrid Essence" but that might have been an imperfect understanding. It was definitely "hybrid" but the "essence" part was likely a hasty assumption due to her experience on Rosemount.

"You see it as a Class, huh?" Talndim gestured vaguely in the air where he must see his own soul. "That's not too far off in my case, but it's not exactly right, either. If somebody was combining other powers, it might give you the wrong idea."

"What about mine?" Zae Zin Nim asked. Omilaena was 99% sure she knew the answer but remained quiet.

"That's different, it's cultivation and Physique together." Talndim turned back. "Now, to answer Kai's question: it's power at the core, think about it like a kind of synergy. But once you train it to its natural limits, real experts can develop a technique that uses both together. In my case, like you might guess, it's a sort of crystal punch."

Inafay was barely containing herself now, shifting from foot to foot as if eager to fly off. "So what about me? All my abilities are wind, so there's not much difference."

"Right now you're using them to support one another. But eventually you might be able to figure out a technique that actually fuses both. Anyway, we need to teach you some basics about how to manage this, because some combinations don't work properly, but you don't need to worry."

All the others seemed to have some more questions for Talndim, so they went to talk to him after he finished. The new insight was obvious enough, but it still gave Omilaena a new way to consider everything she knew, so she retreated from the main group.

It seemed like these new sources of power represented true synergy between the fundamental components of power. Just how many could someone acquire? If every combination was viable and there were seven sources, then mathematically there should be forty-two synergies total. But she wasn't sure if the soul could sustain that many, and there was also a real possibility that a source couldn't be used in more than one synergy.

As she looked at her own soul, Omilaena realized that she had confused her own analysis by considering energy sources and the chakra methods of absorbing power. But now that she really analyzed it after so much time on Deadwaste, her Heart of Poison had more in common with the elemental powers of the north than with other chakra-based Essence techniques. She improved her poisons by drinking more, but she didn't have a store of different poisons, she summoned each via her power.

If that was true, it removed an apparent contradiction. Her Lethal Artisan ability was the real Essence-class power in her soul. When she had taken the Irunian trial, she had subconsciously known there was a conflict, so she had tried to absorb the power in a different form. In fact, she'd been trying to create a hybrid, just without the knowledge to do it properly.

So what exactly was the Path of Venomsteel? It couldn't be Essence-type if her theories about the soul were true. She supposed it might be more like a Class, or more like Physique if she took from that aspect of Irunian power. There were no tests to run to get these answers, because she was breaking new ground.

Seven fundamental capacities: Physique and Soul for everyone, then Essence, Elemental, Class, Cultivation... and one more. There had been a seventh on all the diagrams she'd found, but the term was fiendishly hard to translate. Maybe something like "Supreme Control" or "Supreme Understanding" - whatever it was, she hadn't ever encountered it in real life.

Before she could resolve any of the conundrums, Omilaena realized that Inafay had separated from the others to follow her.

"This is one of those secrets of power you're trying to unlock, isn't it?" Inafay asked. "The elites have figured out a good trick, but you're trying to understand the deeper theory."

"That's right," Omilaena said with a shrug. No sense pretending she wasn't ambitious.

"I just wanted to ask if you think I should try to develop any other abilities or if I should focus. There's an old debate about specialists vs generalists and this just makes it worse."

"If I could answer that, my research would be much further along than it really is." Suddenly tired of lacking answers, Omilaena decided to make light of it. She reached over and touched the other woman's bare midriff. "You know, you'd be the perfect test subject for me. There's such purity to combining different wind abilities... we could try to fill you up with so many others."

"I'm pretty sure I'm getting injected with Windborn essence on a regular basis," Inafay said with a smirk.

Despite herself, Omilaena laughed. "I should have known I couldn't tease you like I can the virgins."

That got an odd look from Inafay. "Uh, Kai isn't..."

"Might as well be," Omilaena said with a shrug. "I thought all Goralians were uptight about that sort of thing before I met you. But I guess Kai is just..." Her gaze only lingered on him for a moment, but Inafay caught it and her eyes narrowed.

"You know, you like to act like a temptress, but it doesn't feel like your heart is in it."

"It used to be easier, but..." Abruptly Omilaena had had too much, especially with Inafay looking at her pityingly. She scoffed and stalked away from the others so she could consider theory again.

Omilaena was unlocking the secrets of reality while running away from emotions. Almost as bad as the virgins. She grimaced and focused on theory for the rest of her training.