Chapter 551: Finding An Irunian Solution

Omilaena was deep into her work, practically in a trance, when the other two showed up. Part of her was almost annoyed for a moment, since she was so busy that she had no time for distractions. And yet their expressions...

She remembered that these two were her lovers, not a distraction, and removed her goggles. "What is it?"

"These are for you." Zin Nim shoved an armful of syringes filled with blood at her.

"Blood. Just what I've always wanted," Omilaena said wryly.

"We hope they help."

"I sincerely hope you didn't just steal a bunch of blood from random people."

"It's all from me," Kai said as he stepped in. "I just broke through to B-rank Physique and we attempted some experiments in the process. Not sure if you'll be able to draw any insight from them, but it can't hurt, right?"

It definitely could hurt, yet Omilaena found herself less annoyed at their recklessness and more touched. She was too deep into her work for any sappy displays, but she reached out and pulled them both into a quick embrace.

"You're too good to me," she said softly.

"No, this is an adequate level of good." Zin Nim squeezed her back. "You are our wife and deserve as much."

"Let us know if we can do anything else," Kai added. "We want to help, and if that's not enough for you, getting control of the direction of Irun is in all our best interests."

"Such sweet words..." Omilaena mimicked wiping away a tear and pulled them in to sit wherever they could in her lab. "I'll be honest, I need the help. This is going to take more strategy than I expected - I won a contest of direct Power, but Yuinafal managed to convince a lot of elders that his path has more growth potential in the future."

"Not to mention that we'll be given a handicap, if they measure this by raw numbers."

"He's not wrong that we have the resource advantage, and frankly Irun is right to be concerned about relying heavily on finite resources." Omilaena rubbed her eyes for real this time, trying to get the grittiness out. "I believe that the Ironpath Physique has greater potential, but the problem is that only skilled people like Tusquo get the most out of it. Any random chucklefuck can absorb chakra."

"Many powerful arts are not accessible." Zin Nim folded her arms in her sleeve and considered the matter somberly. "I wish that I could help more, but my abilities are a poor match for Irun. Could we use the crowns we stole in Cloudspire, or resources from the vault?"

"Unfortunately, probably not. Those crowns are strong, but they'd just play into his argument that all we can do is throw out sources of power, and besides, I think those are best suited for allies who have high offensive abilities but limited defenses. Irunians are the opposite."

"I agree with that logic, I just wish there was something..."

"Actually, there is one thing." Omilaena stroked Zin Nim's arm with a smile. "I think I need to go all-in on Physique fundamentals - I mean I won't even try to do more work on mine until I learn more. I'll need your help with that, even beyond all these syringes."

"Anything I can do?" Kai asked.

"You've already done plenty, but you have a nice selfish option: get to Physique B-1 if you can. You're the first time I've ever gotten my hands on someone at B rank, so it would be good to confirm some theories."

"Is that all?"

"Well, it would be convenient if I could examine Quinta, but I don't think I'll get through to her."

"She dislikes me as well," Zin Nim said with a frown.

"Fuck her, then, she's just a bitch for some reason. But she isn't the only person from an enhanced Irunian lineage, not by a long shot. See if you can rustle up any others, because each one could be a piece of the puzzle."

They agreed with remarkable ease, not needing much coaching to understand what she needed. Omilaena marveled at how easy that had become: she had never considered getting married, and she had never considered that her spouses would become familiar enough with her experiments that they could serve as assistants.

Yet she hadn't spoken her darkest thoughts, because there was nothing they could do to help. If Omilaena wanted to win this contest decisively, she was going to need to take a risk... it was time to go back to the Irunian Insanity.

.

..

.

With new space in his soul unlocked, Kai was actually most eager to train his monstrous abilities. He had been fairly confident that he was near his maximum total strength, because it had been difficult to attain higher ranks with anything except new essences. Now, with his human soul having grown so much, they were limited only by his total maximum.

So he trained everything, doing the equivalent of a complete inventory. He confirmed that some abilities were overdue for an upgrade: while Direboar's Strength made him substantially stronger than at base, it wasn't nearly as effective as his other enhancement abilities. Others grew slowly: Behemoth's Heart was still far from its maximum potential. It was harder to judge utility essence, like Sahagin's Soul or Mutefang's Stealth: they were adequate for their purpose and weren't really tested beyond that.

Among his new abilities, he'd had the most fun testing Monstrous Tail. Not only was he getting faster at dealing hard blows, his control was increasing: he could lift pebbles with the end or pick a flower without crushing it. He even had the silly idea of wielding a sword with his tail and using his old swordplay training, though that was fundamentally redundant since the tail had a spike.

All of that was fun, but it wasn't enough. Kai also needed to increase his Physique, and that wasn't coming so easily. Even though improvement became easier at a new rank, he was far beyond the normal limits for Deadwaste, with no new exercises to try. There were few people in the entire known world who might have a chance to help him, and he wasn't sure the Lamia Empress's abilities would be useful to him.

Not that he wouldn't ask, if he somehow got the chance.

After a while stuck at B-0, he went back to Tusquo's house to clear his head. Omilaena wasn't there, working with her Irunian soldiers, but he could cultivate alongside Zae Zin Nim for a while. During a break, they chatted about the issues facing them, and he ended up complaining about the blockage.

"Kai..." Normally Zae Zin Nim would never criticize him for seeking power, but now she cast him a strange glance. "Do you realize your current position?"

"I know I'm very fortun-"

"I don't mean like that. When your monstrous soul catches up, your peak potential should be 2200 total Power. You realize that would make you stronger than the strongest on Cloudspire or Rosemount?"

"Yeah, I guess." Kai rubbed the back of his head, feeling a bit foolish when it was put that way. Somehow he hadn't been thinking about it. "I know over two thousand is insane to most people, but you'll get there too once you reach Sky Soul, right?"

Zae Zin Nim nodded in satisfaction. "Yes, we can be outliers together. And Omi can join us too, if we just help her reach another breakthrough. Then no one can question whether we belong together."

Kai wasn't sure if she meant that in an abstract way, or simply that everyone would be too terrified to object. It clearly made sense in her head, and based on her little smile, it was a source of satisfaction. Well, she'd overcome so many problems in her past, maybe this was what domestic bliss looked like for a cultivator born and bred.

"Any luck with other lineages?" Kai asked. "I found an old man from a past program, but Omilaena said his blood didn't teach her much."

"I have had even less fortune. I... do not like to go talking to strangers."

"That does make it a bit difficult, I guess."

"Do not reprimand me, I am trying." Zae Zin Nim frowned and looked to the side. "There are distractions. Tusquo's daughter keeps looking at me for inexplicable reasons."

"Maybe Quinta sent her to spy on you," Kai said with a chuckle.

"Unlikely, as one time she took the girl away very hastily. It seems that she is entirely closed off to us."

There was no point talking about that, so their conversation lapsed into more normal topics: their own training, communication with Krysal, and the Frontier elites. Despite containing no major breakthroughs, Kai felt better after the conversation, as he usually did after talking to his wives.

And he did have a new path: he was going to talk to Quinta and try to figure out what her problem was. He would definitely have preferred to be running off to fight some vicious monster.