Depthless Hunger

Less than a week into their voyage, the ship was struck by a vicious storm. The Waterborn sailing the ship were able to keep them on track, so the storm wouldn't slow them down beyond the usual difficulties of ocean voyages, but it did make the trip miserably wet.

Zae Zin Nim viewed it as a vindication of her decision to keep everyone together and just push across the ocean, instead of attempting more elaborate schemes, or trying to land somewhere unusual. As she viewed it, what they needed first was information, and what they needed second was teleportation to the ideal point. Until then, this was their last opportunity to train.

Throughout her life she had made many mistakes, perhaps even with the Blackblood Physique, but at least some things were turning out perfectly. The sphere of qi she'd received from the elves would be empty at nearly the exact time they reached Rosemount, thus proving that she had precisely paced all of her cultivation. She glanced at her soul in satisfaction.

Name: Zae Zin Nim

Total Power: 797

Cultivation: Earth Soul 4% (502)

Coldfire Corona: 79 (89)

Blackblood Physique Level: E-9 (107)

Blackblood Shadow (+50)

Yin Chakra: 308 (0)

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Even if she needed to wait on Physique and the Sky Soul stage was far away, she had made progress and prepared herself for even more advancement in the nearer future. At last, after so many setbacks, she felt like a genius cultivator again.

Her focus broke only once, when Kai entered the cabin after helping fight off a monster. His clothes were plastered to his body by the water, which was extremely distracting. Maybe it was all the yin energy she had been storing up, but her body burned with a desire that no storm could quench. She wanted to go to him, but it wasn't time yet.

Everything had to be perfect. Despite the difficult path her cultivation had taken, she could be a perfect maiden in the end. When everything was ready, then it would finally be time...

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The voyage itself was easy, less dangerous than the Blood Current or even their second passage. Jumping into the waves to fight monsters was basically a break for him - all of Kai's problems started when he got back on board.

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Constant waves and rain meant that everyone was soaked almost all the time. For the men that just meant their rough clothes hung heavily, but the female sailors were a distraction. Maybe it was all the talk of marriage or maybe it had just been too long for him, but Kai was struggling. Of course he didn't want a relationship with random sailors he didn't know, even though they were looking at him for some reason. The problem was that he had other options.

When she wasn't working in her cabin, Omilaena helped out on deck, ignoring the water. That meant she got as soaked as the rest of them, so her dress left little to the imagination. He could ignore it with willpower while he was working, the problem was those images returning when he needed to focus alone.

In Irun she had been worried that they'd leave her behind and he'd done his best to reassure her that they wouldn't. But if he and Zae Zin Nim ever did start a relationship, she would be the third wheel in an uncomfortable triad. Even if Zae Zin Nim didn't actively reject her, she would always be anxious, and honestly it felt wrong for him to think about Omilaena that way.

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Except she wasn't flaunting herself... sometimes she sat on the side of the ship, looking so cold and alone that he wanted to wrap her in his arms. For the first time in her life she'd actually committed to other people, and they might be leaving her.

Eventually Kai decided that it was immature of him to keep waffling. He needed to be an adult and just commit. And yet when he spent time with Zae Zin Nim, she seemed impatient or short with him. Once they kissed and she was very sweet, he thought even hungry for more, yet she eventually pulled away. Their relationship was supposed to be moving closer together, yet he felt like she was drifting further away.

Because of all that uncertainty, he tried to spend as much time hunting and eating monsters as possible. He returned to using Sahagin's Soul and really tested the limits of the Savage Heart, which would temporarily create fins along his arms. When he stayed under the water for long enough, he thought he felt something gill-like emerging on his throat.

There weren't many direct challenges, so he tried using Thunderbird's Wings underwater to see just how fast he could go. Now that he had six available slots - thanks to Omilaena - he could try even more combinations. When he looked at his soul, he knew he was making good progress.

Name: Kai Clanless

Total Power: 468

Monstrous Hunger - XI (lamda)

Cultivation: Body Refinement 53% (110)

Savage Heart: 6 (69)

Physique Level: D-5 (225)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

Behemoth's Heart - VIII (theta)

Thunderbird's Wings - III (gamma)

Direboar's Strength - XI (kappa)

Isulfr's Bite - VIII (theta)

Tyrant's Claw - IX (iota)

Void Gaze - VI (zeta)

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Baleful Breath - IV (delta)

Sahagin's Soul - IX (iota)

Mutefang's Stealth - X (kappa)

Lizarkyl's Tail - V (epsilon)

Direurchin's Spikes - V (epsilon)

Wallcrawler's Feet - III (gamma)

Abominalgum - I (alpha)

Rose Piranha - II (beta)

Bloodtrap - III (gamma)

Banchlain - V (epsilon)

Slime's Immortality - I (alpha)

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He'd already jumped over the largest barrier by grasping phases, so what he needed was to just keep advancing a bit at a time. If only everything else was that easy.

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Sometimes Omilaena seriously considered just grabbing Kai and Zae Zin Nim and pushing them together until they fucking talked to one another. Even being shut out would be better than their thick-headed sexual tension. And yet she remained at a distance, as if that would make a difference.

What did she really expect? That she would eventually give them enough power-enhancing injections that they would suddenly change personalities and announce that they loved her? Not likely.

She could analyze them well enough and guessed what would happen. Zae Zin Nim would keep Kai at a distance due to her growing desire, which would hurt him a little, but he would endure because that was the sort of man he was. When Zae Zin Nim finally reached the Kama Altar, which she'd set all of her advancement hopes on, she would try to move things forward clumsily. Kai would be surprised, but of course he'd forgive, and what man would reject a woman like her?

So technically the demons in the Commonwealth were the only thing preventing the inevitable from happening sooner. Omilaena occasionally chuckled over that. Not happily.

Instead of worrying about emotions, Omilaena focused entirely on her research. Since her books were at too much risk from the water, she concentrated on the attributes of her abilities and their balance, which proved to be exactly the approach she'd needed.

In her favor was the fact that there was so much overlap between her abilities - they were practically demanding to merge together. Against her was that same overlap: she'd already maintained a tight portfolio of abilities that grew tighter when she developed the Path of Venomsteel. She kept coming up with combinations whose redundancy was obvious just from their names: Heartvenom, Poison Artisan, Steelheart. Those were fantasies, not a meaningful combination of power.

What she needed was a fundamental that connected to all of them. She considered trying a combination of just two, but everything was so entangled in her soul that it seemed a lost cause, so it was time to experiment with three.

The question was how to properly fuse them, because she was sure she needed another ingredient. Her first attempts were all with Physique and she spent over a week drawing her own blood and rejecting every attempt. Perhaps it was the new Class energy or perhaps the fact that Heart of Poison was Elemental, but it just didn't work. After trying countless variations, she suddenly realized that she was approaching things from the wrong angle. Physique might be the dominant form of combinations on Deadwaste, but she'd seen another combination on Rosemount - elves and their soul cultivation.

Instead of Physique, she tried to use her Soul as the unifying principle, and something immediately emerged: an Azure Core.

Name: Omilaena

Total Power: 849

Heart of Poison: Level 65 (260)

Lethal Artisan: Spinel Rank (220)

Path of Venomsteel: Step 3 (45)

Physique: D-5 (225)

Soul Level: 7 (49)

Azure Core (+50)

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Omilaena smiled as the new power settled into place. She'd managed to build a spiritual foundation underneath all her other abilities, representing her fundamental self. Maybe the color wasn't essential, but it felt right. This was a synergy equal to anything she'd seen from the Frontier elites.

Now she finally had the combination she needed that could carry her forward. Things would get even better when they returned to Rosemount, especially because the Primal Loom should be done with its mystical work. She had been skeptical at first, but they would be returning to the conflict transformed.

She just hoped it would be enough.