Chapter 518: The New Generation of Clanless

Kai hadn't realized how much he was accustomed to traveling with just his wives until he had to deal with other people. It wasn't just that the others didn't have spatial items to make packing easy, it was all kinds of irritating inefficiencies. They didn't get their things together, milled around aimlessly, didn't know where to go, and generally wasted time instead of boarding the Clanless.

He waited nearby, pacing restlessly to release his impatience. By his best estimate, there were still over five months until the incursion, so four and a half once they got back. But that meant that each day they delayed here was burning time they didn't have to waste.

As far as he was concerned, he'd already been lenient. Instead of demanding they all join immediately, he'd given them a day to adjust and prepare - truthfully, he'd enjoyed it as well. The bed on the Clanless was nice, but it was a relief to be off the ship and sleeping on solid ground, just Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena together in their honeymoon bed again. But now, the next day, nothing was coming together and he was growing irritated.

When he paced to one of the training courtyards, he discovered two of the women just chatting with one another and gritted his teeth. A Goralian and an Irunian... he thought their names were Tori Quondan and Mariyay Hafkrir based on his memories of the first trip. Tori was an unusually small woman in traditional gray Irunian robes, while Mariyay was muscular and wearing a dirty tunic. He decided not to guess at their names and just spoke authoritatively.

"We need to be going," he told them. "Are your things already on the Clanless?"

"No, apologies." Tori gave an ashamed Irunian bow and started to back away.

Meanwhile, Mariyay's eyebrows knitted together. It looked like she might be about to say something, but then she closed her mouth.

"Is there a problem?" Kai asked, taking a step forward to loom over her. "If you need help, I'll do what I can, but we need to get moving."

"Excuse me." The new voice interrupted and a man jumped from the hill by the house to land in the training courtyard.

This one was a man a few years younger than Kai, one of the new trainees, but Kai didn't remember him at first. Whoever he was, he had bushy eyebrows with hints of flame, like he was from the Fire Union... except he wore elaborate blue Water Union robes. That jogged Kai's memory and he realized that this was the man who had been bred for water powers, only to become Flameborn.

For a moment they just stared at one another and Kai wondered if they were really going to face off. The other man - still a blank on the name - was only a little shorter than Kai, but there was absolutely no comparison in their strength. If he'd survived this long with a bad hand, surely he couldn't be so stupid...

Then he dropped down to his knees and planted his face in the ground.

"Please give us more time," the young Flameborn man said. "I know we have no right to ask anything, not when you've already given us access to your personal island. But the power here is unlike anything we've ever felt before. Some of us are close... we fear that if we leave, we won't be able to break through on Deadwaste."

It was a reasoned argument, so Kai glanced at the man's soul, simultaneously remembering his name.

<

Name: Ankrastor of the Undertow

Total Power: 226

Flameborn: Twiceburned (103)

Physique: E-9 (107)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

>

"Ankrastor of the Undertow" was remarkable for Deadwaste at 226 Power, especially since he relied mostly on his Flameborn ability, having broken into the Twiceburned rank. Kai understood why the other man might be desperate: he had E-9 Physique, and D rank was almost unheard of on Deadwaste. So it made sense from his perspective, but speed was still paramount.

"That's not a problem," Kai told him. "Omilaena can probably create an injection to get you to D rank Physique, here or on Deadwaste. So let's go."

"Please." Ankrastor kept his forehead against the ground. "It isn't just me, many of us are on the edge of advancement. We want to learn from you, and we'll obey whatever you say. But we all failed on Deadwaste... if we go back without breaking through..."

Behind him, the plea seemed to have rallied the others: Mariyay folded her arms and nodded agreement, while even Tori stopped retreating and came to stand beside them. They were staring at him, both defiantly and earnestly. It looked like they were going to get down and kneel as well, so Kai reached for a phase of speed and thought furiously while they seemed to slow.

He glanced at Mariyay's soul first...

<

Name: Mariyay Hafkrir

Total Power: 174

Builder Class: 14 (24)

Earthborn: Onceshaken (43)

Physique: E-3 (91)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

>

Mariyay only had 174 Power and Tori was even lower, so they wouldn't make much difference... except Kai recoiled from that thought as soon as it entered his mind. He never wanted to become an arrogant cultivator who forgot what those few points of Power could mean to someone weaker. Even if he'd earned his success, he'd earned it via the intense magic of Rosemount and Cloudspire. And he wasn't trying to train these people up to fight Sky Souls, only to keep Deadwaste alive through the incursion.

That made him realize that he was being stubborn: raising up allies for the incursion was the entire reason he was rushing back home. Yes, they needed time to build the armies of Krysal and Irun, but a few days wouldn't make a huge difference. These trainees they had left on Darkmist Island were significant assets.

And, when it came down to it, he refused to deny them the opportunities that had been denied him. Everyone had given up on him when his abilities hadn't come through properly, citing the brutal equations of surviving the incursions. Now he'd nearly done the same.

"You're right." Kai took a deep breath, then grabbed Ankrastor's shoulders and pulled him upright. "We'll train you on the Clanless, but we should take some time to prepare here. I'll go talk to Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena about our new plans... everyone who wants final training, gather in the northern field."

Kai went to check on his wives to confirm the new plans, which he belatedly realized he shouldn't have declared without checking. Omilaena had already helped Juray pack up entirely, but just rolled her eyes and nodded. He'd expected Zae Zin Nim to raise objections, but she was happily cultivating in the Immortal's Cave and seemed unconcerned.

So he returned to the field... and found almost two dozen trainees waiting there for him.

"I'm not good at speeches," Kai told them as he bounded up to the group. "You probably don't need one. We're going to train like you've never trained before - I'm not saying you're going to work harder, you're going to work smarter. If we understand what all of you need, we can help you take the next step. It may not be the one you expect."

As he spoke, Kai glanced over the group with his spiritual senses. With some exceptions, they all had around 150-200 Power, which was impressive considering the group had an average closer to 100 when he'd left them. To them that growth must have seemed even more insane: their strength had doubled and they'd gone from being a strong fighter in one city to being one of the strongest in a whole region. He understood why they were so adamant about staying on the island as long as they could.

Speech over, Kai just had the group do various sparring and training exercises while he examined their souls, then spoke to them a little. Many were understandably desperate to train Physique: the dense energy of Darkmist Island had gotten them into E rank and they wanted more. That was definitely one option, though he intended to find some more creative solutions.

Only one of the trainees really surprised him, a blue-skinned woman he remembered was named Kifaela.

<

Name: Kifaela

Total Power: 227

Naiad Essence: 8 (1)

Unformed Plague Chakra (5)

Physique: D-1 (205)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

>

She had 227 Power despite the fact that her fundamental Naiad Essence was stuck at a mere 1 Power. Now that he saw her again, he remembered hearing about her before: the others had whispered that she had some sort of wasting disease that left much of her skin covered in scars and one eye a milky white, though she tried to hide this with her hair. More importantly, it made her incapable in her own race's art.

Not so different from him, but what captured Kai's attention was that she'd attained a Physique of D-1, the only trainee to have broken into D rank. Naiads usually didn't have Physique at all, since that capacity was rolled into their essence, so that was a puzzle - Omilaena would definitely want to examine the woman later. Beyond that, though, Kai was honestly eager to talk to her about Physique training for his own sake, to see if she had anything he could use.

As much as he wanted to do that, he reminded himself that he was there to help the entire group, so he kept looking. He saw that while most of the trainees were working together, some enthusiastically, two hung around at the edges, rejects among rejects.

That couldn't be allowed. Kai strolled around the group to intercept the first, a man who was somewhat older than the group in his early thirties. Dark hair, tanned skin... Kai realized that he was Birtaegali and then remembered his name because it was "Bonto" or something like that. It sounded silly to Goralian ears, but he'd run into a lot of unusual names in his travels since.

<

Name: Bonto Birtaegali

Total Power: 213

Manalance: 22 (42)

Crystal Cultivation: 1153 (57)

Physique: E-6 (98)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

>

Bonto was in the 200+ Power category, some of it coming from his native Manalance ability. It was modestly powerful by Deadwaste standards, but apparently not enough in Birtaegal, because he'd somehow accumulated crystals in Krysal for cultivation. Despite those two abilities, his Physique was currently the source of the majority of his strength.

"What brings you here, Bonto?" Kai asked.

"I..." The Birtaegali man swallowed and looked away. Kai wasn't sure if it was because of the oddity of their ages, Kai being younger yet so much more powerful... or it could be that they'd heard about the Birtaegali mercenaries he'd killed back in Irun.

"It's not a challenge. I just need to understand what led you here. Birtaegali don't usually travel all the way to Krysal, and I don't feel anything broken in your talent."

"Just never took to it, that's all." Bonto shuffled back and rubbed his arms as if cold. "Army or mercenaries, it's all about ranks. Manalance is common, and mine wasn't great, so I realized I'd never be anything. They called me Buffuno... yeah, it's dumb, but they might be right."

"You say that," Kai pointed out, "yet somehow you traveled all the way to Krysal on your own strength."

"Yeah, well... first I went to the Elemental Nations, but their power just burned out in me. I kept going, ended up in Krysal. Their cultivation seemed strong, but I only had enough money to buy a few crystals. And then, well... the revolution happened, and foreigners couldn't buy them anymore."

That was a perspective Kai hadn't considered: fortunes had been ruined in the Krysali revolution, and others had been raised up from slavery, but there were also people just getting along who had their lives thrown into chaos. Fortunately, in this one single case, he could do something about it.

"I know some Krysali leaders, so I can get you some more crystals," Kai promised. "But you can't rely on that alone, the power levels off too fast. We'll train your Manalance too, and maybe we can get that Physique up a rank, huh?"

Bonto's eyes widened as if that was significantly more aggressive than he had been considering, but the man nodded, perhaps a little encouraged. Kai clapped him on the shoulder and moved on, again circling the group to look for issues.

They might have averages of 200 Power now, but many were close to breakthroughs that would make them grow explosively. Moreover, he saw a determination in their eyes that he remembered in his own. If he just gave them the opportunities he never had, they'd grow strong, he was sure of it.

Except, as Kai rounded the group, he realized that the second person on the outskirts was an exception to most patterns. With a lot of qi and silvery green skin, the man was probably a dryad from Cloudspire, which was unexpected.

<

Name: ???

Total Power: 118

Dryad Essence: 31 (93)

Cultivation: Qi Condensation 88% (16)

Soul Level: 3 (9)

>

At 118 Power, he was significantly weaker than the group average, without the solid Soul Level of the others, and only a cultivation breakthrough in the near future. Maybe he was just there hoping to take some resources... but Kai decided to set aside skepticism and approached him with a smile.

"I don't believe we've been introduced?"

"Sorry," the dryad said. He rubbed his neck underneath his leafy hair. "Maybe it's not allowed. I know I'm not from Deadwaste, and-"

"I didn't say anything like that." Kai clapped him on the shoulder. "What's your name?"

"I'm, uh, Kyridnyiam. From the dryad community. The one that, you know..."

"I'm sorry we couldn't do anything to stop them."

"But that's just it, you did." Kyridnyiam suddenly moved forward, eyes fixed on Kai's. "Nymidria was our angel... you were her best ally, you fought with her until the end, and you finally took revenge for her. I would have taken revenge myself, if I had the strength. I want... I want to do what you do. To overthrow the... the..."

His energy faded out as he ended up spluttering, running out of words. Kai didn't claim to understand Cloudspire psychology, but he thought he could understand a little of what the young dryad was thinking.

"Nymidria was a great woman," he said softly. "If you want to train with us, you're welcome, just try to be worthy of her name."

"Oh, thank you!" Kyridnyiam started to drop to his knees, then forced himself to straighten up and nod instead. He began to babble more thanks, but Kai shut it down with another clap to the shoulder and then guided him into the group for introductions.

There was so little time left to build anything, and Kai was never good at building compared to destroying. But for now, for just a little while, he would make a difference in all these lives that could have been his own.