Chapter 573: Negotiations with the Elites

They met beside the abyss.

Kai wasn't sure whether or not he should have been surprised. It could have been a message, but if so, maybe a message to all of them. Maybe the location was just fitting in a way they didn't articulate. Or, given how practical the elites were, it might simply have been the central location that was best for so many of them gathering at once.

Before the meeting started, he stood at the edge and stared into the darkness. The pit was at once more and less mysterious than it once had been. On one hand, he had forged down into its depths, but on the other, he still knew basically nothing about its purpose, why it produced monsters, or why it tainted the world with its mere existence.

For now, it lay silent. No incursion yet.

"Are you ready?" someone asked.

"Do I decide that?" Kai asked as he turned back to face the group. No one answered, and he supposed that he was beyond others setting the schedule. He'd gone to all this trouble to be able to determine his own path instead of having it set for him.

Even though he was the strongest person there, facing the field of elites was still intimidating. There were centuries-old masters of their arts, like Handelrey, and grim veterans like Enalanis. Compared to all of them, his experience fighting a single incursion seemed very small. Even if he could probably beat them in a fight, they had been working harder for longer, and it felt wrong to be making grand proclamations to a group like this.

Zae Zin Nim appeared at his side and gave a small nod. Omilaena was less subtle, just elbowing him in the ribs. Their arrival jolted him from his thoughts, so Kai cleared his throat and began. Not all the elites were present, but he needed to deliver this message for all of them.

"I know there've been some disagreements," Kai said, with a nod toward Yuinafal. "People who think I want to dictate strategy or change how we approach the incursions. But I didn't leave Deadwaste in order to lead, only to gain enough power to fight the monster hordes. I don't intend to override your expertise, and our strategy hasn't changed: we try to save everyone."

"Easy words," someone called, "but not tactics."

"What about Krysal?" Sheiri asked, and others nodded.

"Yes, well, admittedly that's where I disagree with some of you." Kai didn't make eye contact this time, just swept his gaze over the group. "Since coming back, I've done the best I can to strengthen Krysal and keep its factions together. That's why I think we shouldn't sacrifice any region: we follow Krainuun's strategy of evacuating the east."

That led to disagreement, but it was surprisingly controlled. The elites didn't shout over one another or repeat points, they just made their arguments tersely, no matter how much they disagreed. Kai felt like he'd said his piece and so mostly listened, but to his surprise Omilaena jumped in when it came to Krysali developments, and Zae Zin Nim spoke up in support of the acid cultivators.

It seemed like the elites were generally impressed with how much he'd strengthened Krysal, largely making up for the lost crystalliers, but they weren't convinced that it would hold together. But Krainuun's evacuation plan was too reasonable, too much like sacrificing a region without the loss of life and sense of betrayal. And so, after bickering about the details, the elites inevitably moved to accepting it, and it seemed that other elites would handle the details.

Then... was it settled? Kai had been worrying about that so long, it didn't feel like it should be resolved so easily. He was glad that others were managing the evacuation, since it sounded like a logistical nightmare, but it was happening. With some of the eastern cities emptied, Krysal would have a buffer zone to reduce loss of life.

The details scattered into smaller groups and some of the others were restless, so Kai, now understanding how the elites operated, spoke up again.

"I already did what I could in Irun," he said, "and they'll organize their own defenses. Goralia and the Elemental Nations seem to have their act together and I'm not going to second guess those plans. So the only other thing I want to-"

"You should visit Goralia." The speaker was Talndim Bundrin, who Kai hadn't seen in a while. The old man smiled a bit when Kai met his gaze, but continued seriously. "You might have been banished by your home city, but you're still a son of Goralia. It has a variety of problems that could use another pair of eyes."

"Sure, I'll head through Goralia if there's time." Kai glanced around for any other objections, then continued. "The other thing I wanted to talk about is what I can offer you. It's nearly impossible to break out of E rank Physique in Deadwaste, but we've become good at it. Anyone who wants to, we can give you a boost."

"We've seen those injections," an Irunian elite said. "What percent of the time do they fail or react poorly?"

"I don't anticipate it happening," Omilaena said, stepping up beside Kai. "I won't say it's impossible, but that would mainly happen when the person has insufficient experience or willpower. That shouldn't be a problem here."

"You do need to hit E-9, though," Kai pointed out. "Personally, the only way I could advance was by training with new techniques. I don't know what you've already done, but if you want to talk to me about suggestions, I'm available."

"I can also provide support." Zae Zin Nim gave a shallow bow to the collected elites. "I am not skilled as a trainer, but my knowledge and methods may be more useful to some."

She had a good point, given the sheer variety of elites. Kai also considered that some of them who still resented or didn't believe him might take instruction better from a matriarch of Cloudspire. The three of them hadn't planned that, or Omilaena's addition, but they managed to work together smoothly anyway and Kai found himself smiling.

"Some of you might prefer techniques from Rosemount," he said as an idea abruptly occurred to him. "Omilaena might help, but she isn't a specialist in physical training. If any of you haven't worked with Yuinafal, he can also probably get you to E-9."

The other man looked surprised for a moment, then gave him a slight nod. They weren't exactly friends, but did they need to be? Here, they were working together as elites, and that would be enough. It didn't hurt to spread around the training anyway, since Kai had work of his own to do.

"Will this actually matter?" Enalanis asked. "Progression comes slowly at our level, and Physique is likely to be less important than phases or application of offensive power."

No one else responded and Kai realized this was on him. "I can understand why you wouldn't prioritize Physique levels," he said, "because why devote so much time to training for 3 Power? But the jump to D rank will be almost 100, and many people experience a qualitative shift in accordance with their abilities. It may not be your top priority, but it's available if you want it."

"What about these new Physique types that break the pattern?" an elite from the Elemental Nations asked. "The cultivator has one, and now they're showing up in Irun. Would it be better to wait for more of those to be developed?"

"Unfortunately, that's still unfamiliar territory." Kai glanced to Omilaena, who just gestured back to him. "Omilaena is trying to figure out one for herself, but I've gone forward to higher ranks. The process for any given method is likely to take years."

That wasn't as much of an obstacle as it might otherwise be: the elites thought about things over long time scales, after all. Looking over the group, Kai judged that at least some would take them up on the offer. Some had work they urgently needed to do, or might still be skeptical, but he hoped that he could give the whole organization a boost.

Enalanis had said that offensive power was more important, and he wasn't wrong when it came to blunting the hordes of monsters pouring out of the Frontier. But despite all their experience, the elites did occasionally lose one of their number. Kai hoped that improvements in Physique would prevent some losses so that their position would grow stronger each incursion.

Abruptly he noticed that Gunjin was standing at the back of the crowd - had he been hiding from the beginning, or had he just arrived? In any case, the older man gave Kai a respectful nod. Despite everything that had happened between them, that meant something.

"And what about you?"

The additional voice, just when Kai thought the meeting was ending, surprised him. He turned to find another elite, a Windborn woman he only recognized vaguely from teleportation, looking at him.

"The three of you are some of our strongest assets," the woman continued. "What will you be doing during the incursion?"

Kai was inclined to shrug it off, but Zae Zin Nim answered first, and much more definitively. "I will be assisting the acid cultivators," she said. "I can add considerable offense and mobility to the Krysali front."

"And I figure I'll stay in Irun," Omilaena added. "They've raised their average strength, but they could use someone with a bit more power to solve problems that can't be cut with swords."

"I plan to be an emergency handler." Even as he spoke, Kai became confident in this plan coming together. "I don't mean staying back as a last resort, I mean you can send me to wherever the current biggest problem is. I know I've added some complications, so I intend to prove it was worth it. Does that work for everyone?"

He got nods and shrugs in response, which was about the best he would expect and meant more than cheers from Krysali mobs. It looked like that might be the end of it, but then Gunjin spoke up.

"And until then?"

"Well, we don't know how long it is until the incursion." Kai instinctively glanced into the pit, even though it told him nothing. "I have a number of students I'll keep training, who can play the role of elite trainees. Other than that... we'll try to make ourselves useful. That's what we all do, right?"

That seemed to be answer enough and the meeting started to break up. Kai found himself oddly hung up on that question - for the first time in what felt like years, he had free time and no deadline impending except the incursion. He planned to use it as efficiently as possible, but that was freeing in a way he hadn't expected.

With Omilaena and Zae Zin Nim at his side, and the elites granting their approval, he actually felt optimistic.