Chapter 554: Working Through Grief

When Kai hit the ground, he roared, and devastation surged from him. He hurled more attacks than he ever would normally, blasting in all directions. Anger deep within him longed to unleash Baleful Breath that would annihilate everything in his path, but he restricted himself to slashes, spines, and tail strikes, all deployed at much weaker than their normal strength.

The Irunians running in terror didn't seem to appreciate his restraint.

Of all the things Kai was required to do instead of helping Omilaena, training her soldiers came the easiest to him. For one, he felt a sense of obligation to support them while Omilaena was incapacitated, because they had been her responsibility. But for another, it felt good to cut loose and work out some of the frustration constantly building inside him.

By the time it was over, the entire squadron of Irunian soldiers was nursing wounds and repairing weapons. Even though Kai was harder on them than he perhaps should have been, he wasn't being careless. This was definitely giving them training that they weren't getting anywhere else, and while the Irunian soldiers all had strong discipline, they weren't his personal students, so they could use hardening against real adversity.

This was the moment where Kai should have gone among them and offered some advice, but he wasn't in the mood. Instead he just distributed some potions to the worst affected as he moved back across the field, toward the new spectator that he'd acquired.

Tusquo Agyama stood waiting patiently, his arms folded behind his back. If there was a bit of trepidation in his expression, he hid it well.

"You're pushing them hard," Tusquo said, "but they can't win by training alone."

"They won't." Kai snapped off a spine on his arm that was still half-formed and dropped the crumbling chakra to to the ground. "What happened with the rest?"

"It may be a cold comfort, but the new metal has proved not poisonous. In small quantities, it provides an immediate boost that seems to spread across multiple abilities, including standard Physique and the Ironpath. We suspect that even greater things are possible with complete immersion."

"Good. Anything else?"

"Kai..." Tusquo hesitated, then stepped closer and put a hand on his shoulder. "I am sorry about this, truly. If your wife never returns, Irun will forever honor her sacrifice and-"

"No." Kai snarled and knocked Tusquo's hand away, harder than he'd intended. "Don't tell me to face facts. Even if that happens... make your memorials, but leave me out of them."

"You are right." Tusquo lowered his head. "Those were the wrong words for this time. I... merely wish that I could help, yet we can do nothing."

Kai should have accepted the policy, or felt guilty for reacting so strongly, but he just shook his head and stormed away. All his nerves were stretched thin these days, and not just because of Omilaena's ongoing crisis. Instead of being a source of support, Zae Zin Nim was also stretched to a breaking point, so he needed to be strong for her as well.

There hadn't been much change. It had been confirmed that Omilaena was no longer emitting liquid metal, which was indeed marked with her spiritual essence, but the end of the process didn't make her recover. That had led to some discussion about whether it would be better to remove her from the pool, but when Kai and Zae Zin Nim agreed that it didn't seem to be doing her any harm, the discussion ended.

It was a morbid picture to imagine her metal body floating there while future Irunians entered... no, Kai refused to deal with those thoughts yet. He hadn't given up.

Even so, it was costing him to jump across the continent and continue doing his work. It had been nearly a week and he'd spent half of it in Krysal, whipping some of their troops into shape and helping with mining issues. None of that felt as important as it once had: it might be his responsibility, but he had a much greater obligation to Omilaena.

Unfortunately, he had to admit that he hadn't come up with a solution so far. Elites and healers from across the continent hadn't done any better than Gunjin's chosen healer Fornil, and Kai was out of ideas. Chakra only seemed to stabilize Omilaena, which might actually be counterproductive, and if Zae Zin Nim's qi was doing any good, it was unclear.

When a message appeared on his scroll, Kai's fingers punched holes in the side. Maybe it was the confrontation with Tusquo, maybe he was just stretched thin, but he didn't want to deal with his own students right now.

But if he didn't help them, who would? Kai forced the anger off his face, arranged a transfer and leapt across the nation to meet with Mariyay.

She was fighting in one of the remote training grounds, and when she saw his expression, she hesitated. "Is this a bad time?" she asked.

"You had a problem?" Kai folded his arms and waited for her.

"Oh, well... I've been working on what you taught me, and I can use my abilities together." Mariyay revealed a pickaxe and spun it around proudly. "I had to-"

"Stone handle from Earthborn powers, metal from Irunian steel, fused together with the Builder Class."

"...yeah." Mariyay deflated a little, and strangely that was what got through to him.

There had been a time when he had been in her position and every advancement had mattered hugely to him. At that time, the elites had been dealing with their own problems and hadn't wanted to deal with him. If he refused to help his students the instant he had any trouble of his own, did that make him any better than the others?

Changing his mood was impossible, but Kai resolved to do better and examined Mariyay's soul.

<

Name: Mariyay Hafkrir

Total Power: 198

Builder Class: 34 (44)

Earthborn: Onceshaken (43)

Path of Steel: Steel 2 (10)

Physique: E-5 (95)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

Earthpick (+10)

>

She had all three of her powers built to a decent level, giving her almost 200 total Power. He really shouldn't scorn the pickaxe she had created as well: yes, it only added 10 to her Power, but it was remarkable for someone at her level to be able to produce something with intrinsic power. That deserved encouragement, though he felt like he didn't have much to offer.

"That's pretty strong," Kai said. "What do you think is wrong with it?"

"It doesn't have enough explosive power." Mariyay waved it around awkwardly. "It's hard to demonstrate, but I was hoping to shake the earth, and it just sort of-"

"Just hit me."

"Uh..."

"Come on." Kai managed a smile he didn't feel. "I promise I won't be injured."

Mariyay smiled back, either not noticing his mood or too anxious to care. To her credit, she really went for it, putting her full strength into a strike that smashed the pickaxe against his chest. Kai was uninjured, though he took a step back when she connected so that she wouldn't feel bad about it.

"I see what you mean." Kai rubbed where the pickaxe had struck. "Probably good for breaking through armored enemies, but you want a larger scale attack?"

"I need one, for the incursion."

"Then I suggest a hammer. Make it entirely out of stone: start with Earthborn material, then strengthen it like you used to do barriers, then use Irunian steel for the caps."

"I tried that." Mariyay shook her head sadly. "I can create a pretty good hammer, for somebody who's an actual warrior. But in my hands, it's just mediocre. I can't impart enough raw power to a swing."

"Actually, I was going to suggest that you use the hammer as a tool, not a weapon. Can you unmake through it more explosively?"

"Oh, you mean with the trick you showed me earlier!" Mariyay's eyes widened and she hastened to try to follow his instructions.

She could build a barrier faster than before, partially due to experience and partially due to her increased strength. But the real key was when she tried to send the bricks flying in all directions. Her best effort was still too slow on her own, but with a test hammer, the barrier exploded much more dangerously. If she took her time to create a proper Irunian weapon fused with her other abilities, it could become a lethal skill.

Kai stayed with her a while longer, actually smiling a bit at her enthusiasm. He offered a few more suggestions, such as pre-building Irunian metal spikes that she could seed into her barriers, making their explosions even more dangerous. Of course, he had to balance that with reminders that all this was going to make her dangerous to her own allies.

By the time he left, Mariyay's mood had been transformed and he was confident she was on a more effective path. It had raised his mood as well, he just wished it had done more. He needed to be finding solutions, not helping other people train lesser versions of his own skills...

And in that moment, Kai realized that he'd been ignoring one potential answer as he sought more powerful options.

It didn't take long for him to meet up with elites, now that he had Gunjin's support, but Kai still paced restlessly as it seemed to take forever. His mind was racing and yet not necessarily working effectively, because he almost ordered them to go back to Monskon City. But that wasn't right, not anymore.

Instead he arrived near the Frontier wall, where the Tonjin brothers were undergoing training among others who had potential but sub-elite strength. More importantly, Juray had gone along with Raghi to support him, so he only needed to find her.

Even though they had changed so much and moved across the continent, he found her in a little shop. She had taken over part of one of the military buildings and made it into her own space, so it was strangely nostalgic. Too bad he had no time for nostalgia.

"Kai..." She had been smiling on her own, but her face fell when she saw him. "I heard the news indirectly, I'm so sorr-"

"Never mind that." Kai grabbed her shoulders. "How much did Omilaena teach you?"

"I mean, I learned as much as I could, but she's obviously far more powerful than me. I couldn't replicate what she does, not even if I had-"

"I don't need you to replicate it. I need you to make the best potion of your life."