Chapter 528: Debating Courses

Now that Kai was finally here, he felt almost unprepared. From the perspective of raw strength, he had wildly over-prepared, bringing a huge amount of firepower to the table. But when it came to military intelligence and how to actually negotiate with the Frontier elites, he was far ahead of himself.

Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena had both done excellently in their trials, however, both in displaying strength and showing the sort of character the elites would care about. When his wives came to stand beside him, he immediately felt more certain.

"Some of you are acting like we're here to dictate terms," he began, "but I never viewed it that way at all. We've been training and building up resources for the incursion, like anyone else. Now that we're back, we just want to help."

"And what does that help look like?" one of the unfamiliar elites asked.

"We'll go where we're needed once the incursion starts, of course. But even if it's early, we're likely to have a solid three months to help prepare." Kai scratched the back of his head, figuring out where to start. Probably not with Omilaena's aggressive plans, so... "The people we brought back with us have trained hard, but I think they have more potential. Is it possible to have them try to awaken Classes or elemental powers?"

"Done," Aeglien said.

Kai blinked in surprise, looking around the elites as if this might be some sort of trick or hazing ritual. He knew those things were real requests, since his old mentor Gunjin had needed to pull strings to arrange them years ago. Was it really possible they'd just been granted those favors?

He instinctively looked back to his wives - Zae Zin Nim frowned slightly, as if he shouldn't be surprised, while Omilaena smirked. Somehow that got him back on track: he was bringing the elites an unprecedented amount of power, beyond anything they'd used against an incursion in generations, so of course they were owed a few favors. Still, this wasn't the time to throw his weight around.

"Good, thank you," Kai said. "We helped them overcome their barriers, but we don't have all the answers. If any of you or your people want to take a hand, feel free. On the other hand, we can continue guiding their training if that's easier, so long as we get the necessary resources."

"Don't be so deferential." Omilaena stepped up beside him, bumping his hip with hers. "You saw what I did in Irun a few years ago? Unless they've started keeling over dead, I'd like to keep doing it. I'm bringing the resources, all I need is teleportation over there and a conversation with your experts on Irunian abilities."

"We will require teleportation in general," Zae Zin Nim added. "It would not be a productive use of our time to go trekking across Deadwaste."

"Everyone needs to teleport right now." Yuinafal spoke up in a reasonable-sounding voice, without any trace of anger on his face, yet there was no question how he was positioning himself. "That includes teleporting a considerable number of resources, which drain our abilities."

"You can't be suggesting to send them slower," Sheiri objected. "I revisited Irun and they helped more than anything I was able to do. If they're honestly helping, it would be insane not to put them where they can do the most good."

"But that doesn't mean gallivanting across the continent. I move that we send them to Krysal, since they were the ones who ruined our position there. Let them prove that they can fix their mess before we let them cause any others."

The argument was biased, but unfortunately Kai saw some agreement among the other elites. He had to admit that the revolution in Krysal had set back the region's raw power - the incursion didn't care if the new system was more fair and just. Of course, he hoped that he would more than make up for that loss now, but that argument wouldn't fly in this negotiation.

"I could do that," Omilaena said, "but we're running out of time. I'd like to get started in both Irun and Krysal. Irun especially will need more time for their bodies to adapt, even if I can come up with something."

"This is exactly what they claimed they wouldn't do." Yuinafal gestured broadly to the elites as if in demonstration of his own point. "She wants to take over Irun and make it an experimental lab."

"And you have a better plan?"

"I brought back metal chakra resources from Rosemount that are showing promise for Irunian abilities. Maybe not as fast as you like, but I prefer to do things the right way. You won't find me torturing Krysali to use as experimental subjects."

Even though Kai wanted to support his wife automatically, he had to admit that their moral position was weak there: just the other day Omilaena had been talking about using people as test subjects and only semi-ironically. The problem was that he was fairly confident her methods would be superior for the people of Irun and Krysal.

"Didn't you previously agree that conservative methods were failing?" Zae Zin Nim spoke up unexpectedly. "Your continent won't survive another incursion if you seek incremental improvements. Taking risks is the only way to survive."

"I've spent the last seven years taking risks!" Yuinafal shot back.

Things were turning into bickering and Kai still remained silent, because he wasn't sure about his target. It might be best to show their reasonableness and make concessions now, then prove themselves superior as tempers cooled. On the other hand, he agreed with Omilaena's argument that they needed time for their methods to work.

"Okay, enough." Kai didn't shout or take a stance, but all attention turned to him. "Before we debate exactly which plan would be best, we should go over the entire situation as you see it. How prepared is Deadwaste for the incursion?"

His words completely ended the argument, but no one moved to speak right away. After some glances among the elites, Sheiri spoke up.

"We're delegating and separating these days," she said, "so you need to talk to our administrators. Which we can arrange, of course. You worked under Gunjin, so you can meet with him."

"Right, good." Kai was actually a bit uncertain about meeting his former mentor again, but he smiled as if that was an unalloyed good. "We should also formally return the Clanless to you, since I always intended it to be used by the elites. If we've agreed about teleportation, others can make better use of it, anyway."

"Where exactly did you go?" Handelrey Orgoron asked. She had been completely silent up to that point and looked oddly curious in a way he couldn't put his finger on.

"There's an island in the middle of the ocean rich in mana, chakra, and qi," Kai explained. "You could get there and back in a month... actually, do any of the elites want to go train there? We might be able to arrange something."

That set off another discussion, but this one was surprisingly constructive instead of argumentative. Some of the elites believed that a safe source of powerful energy was critical, while others pointed out the uncertain starting time and potential for them to miss the incursion entirely. The conversation was settled by very sensible calculations about the value of potential growth, and in the end the elites agreed that it wasn't worth the risk with so little time left.

Still, Kai thought that the offer had earned him a little more political capital. He was pleased in general: he really did want the elites to be able to use Darkmist Island, backing up their expertise with even more power. It might not help them this incursion, but in the long term it might be more important than any of his other actions.

"I have another suggestion," Kai said as the discussion concluded. "Omilaena, would you be able to produce resources quickly enough to treat all of Irun's army?"

"Not possible." Her face was fixed in a smile, but he could see the colder Omilaena looking out from within, analyzing what he was doing and thankfully responding. "I need some time to experiment and make sure my methods will be safely compatible."

"That's what I expected. Yuinafal, did you bring back enough resources from Rosemount for the entire Irunian army?"

Yuinafal stared at him emotionlessly for a full second, then folded his arms across his chest. "You're proposing a contest, is it?"

"Not exactly." Kai gestured between them for the sake of the watching elites. "Let Yuinafal and Omilaena both work with a group of Irunian volunteers best suited to their methods. After a suitable period of time, we can begin scaling up our methods in whatever combination is most effective."

This time the pause among the elites seemed more promising. A few murmured to one another, and it looked like Yuinafal was beginning to object, but they apparently came to a consensus first.

"Give us some time to create an exact plan," Sheiri said with an apologetic smile.

They moved back a little and Kai resisted the urge to try to listen in on the elites' quiet conversation. From what he caught, it definitely sounded like they were trying to plan a competition that wouldn't involve any wasted energy. Likely no staged tournaments or elaborate contests, just both groups doing their best and then presenting the best proof they could.

That suited him just fine.

Once at a safe distance along with his wives, Kai let out his breath - he'd managed to shift the negotiation back on the right track, but he hadn't been confident about it. Zae Zin Nim gave him a slight smile and patted his arm encouragingly. Meanwhile, Omilaena barely looked at either of them, simply analyzing through narrow eyes.

"So we all get what's up Yuinafal's ass, right?" she asked.

"He went to Rosemount to find solutions of his own," Kai said, "and that means our plans are in conflict with his."

"Oh, I think it's simpler than that. He did something almost unprecedented, increased his Power over a thousand, and expected to come back and be a big damn hero. Now he's pissed that we completely overshadowed him."

"I concur," Zae Zin Nim said. "What should we do about it?"

"I don't know," Omilaena shrugged languidly, "should I just poison him now?"

"A conflict does seem inevitable, so we should accelerate the timeli-"

"Hey, no." Kai stepped in between the two of them. "Maybe he's just being petty, but we haven't even evaluated his plans. Let's just prove our point with results."

Zae Zin Nim's scowl deepened. "I still think it's a matter of pride. Maybe we can just arrange a duel between the two of you, get pride out of the way?"

"A poisoned duel," Omilaena said, but based on her smirk she was kidding now.

Before they could discuss their plans any further, the elites finished their own discussion. The way they arranged themselves in an arc, they looked almost like a tribunal. Yuinafal had been speaking with them, but now he separated from the group with several others, forming a third faction.

"We've made our decision," Sheiri announced. "This is how we will determine the future of Deadwaste..."