Chapter 517: Brewing Unreality

Nothing on Darkmist Island felt real. Honestly, the sense of unreality had started when Kai took them all away on his strange new ship, but Juray had been completely adrift ever since they landed in this mysterious place.

Most obviously, the place was a paradise of energy, from mana to chakra to qi. It constantly left her paranoid, thinking that it had to be some kind of trap because it wasn't possible that power could just be handed to her like this. Apparently this was actually just the way people lived on other continents, which still boggled her mind.

It wasn't so difficult to believe that Kai would just give them this opportunity, though. Despite everything that had happened to him, he hadn't changed.

The dark side of the unreality, however, was that they were utterly separated from the outside world. Back home, the incursion was only a few months away and would be threatening everyone... except if they didn't get back, they'd never know. Deadwaste could be wiped out and Darkmist Island could be as peaceful as it had ever been, every day like the next with the strange peaceful dark sky.

For that matter, Kai was apparently fighting for his life on Cloudspire, and anything could be happening, and Juray would never know. She wanted to believe in him, but in dark moments she couldn't help but think that he might have died and they would simply be abandoned here. It wasn't about pessimism, just realism: she had seen plenty of other hunters go off and die, and the fact that he was unbelievably powerful wouldn't protect him from stronger opponents and a world that seemed to hate him.

It was an odd comparison that left her feeling strangely blessed. Technically, Kai had access to this island and its incredible natural resources for a much longer period, yet for him it had been a desperately needed step to gaining power... for her, it was a surreal gift.

As she gathered herbs - herbs that would have been worth thousands of Goralian Eagles back home - Juray examined her own soul again.

<

Name: Juray Phrissan

Total Power: 145

Herbalist Class: 91 (101)

Dryad Crucible (+15)

Physique Level: G-9 (20)

Soul Level: 3 (9)

>

After slaving for ages to move from 115 to 120, on Darkmist Island she had leapt up to 145 total Power in just a couple of months. The most shocking development had been watching her Herbalist Class skyrocket - compared to her glacial progress previously, it seemed to leap upward effortlessly until she hit 90, and even the recent level hadn't been bad compared to what she was used to.

As for her Physique, she had risen to G-9 almost without meaning to. She'd continued to exercise and train a little with Raghi, but she hadn't expected that to result in any meaningful progress. But here, maybe because of the food or maybe just breathing in the air, those same exercises had brought her all the way to G-9.

Getting up into E-rank Physique would be more difficult, especially for someone like her without any extensive physical training. That seemed mad to her - physical titans like Raghi and Lofgan were in that tier... being in the same rank as either of the Tonjin brothers just didn't make any sense to her.

Well, that was something to worry about another time. Juray knew she would never be a fighter compared to the others, so she focused on being as good an Herbalist as she could be. Without her potions, Raghi would probably have died fighting one of the invading cultivators... next time, she hoped to do better for him.

Juray chopped the herbs into precise quantities, then melted everything together with some of her own mana. Just the strengthening of that alone had improved her potions, though it was knowledge that produced the real leaps in potion quality. One she had the base properly developed, she added some of Lofgan's donated mana to produce the final product.

Soon enough she had a glowing green potion, which she tried on herself. It made her body tremble with the new power, but she managed to sustain it and checked her soul again.

<

Name: Juray Phrissan

Total Power: 195

Herbalist Class: 91 (101)

Whistlewind Potion (+50)

Dryad Crucible (+15)

Physique Level: G-9 (20)

Soul Level: 3 (9)

>

Her Whistlewind Potion couldn't come close to mimicking Lofgan's Class ability, but it made mana thrum through the body and surrounded the drinker with a thin aura of defensive wind. Drinking it, Juray had nearly 200 Power, which was yet another unreality as far as she was concerned.

With all this, she could actually fight many of the "veteran hunters" who had scorned her in back in Monskon City. Not that she was as skilled as them, or that her Class offered any great abilities, but her minimal Physique combined with the raw mana meant that she could do some damage. If she managed to land a blow, she wouldn't be just a weak support.

Not that she intended to ever be in that position. No, her best defense was supporting all her allies.

She was strong enough to test her potions on herself now, but the real trial was always their actual use by fighters. Juray finished up a couple of new potions she wanted the Tonjins to test, plus some strengthening potions she hoped would help the younger trainees. Even though she felt much closer to the Tonjin brothers, it had been a pleasure to meet so many others from Deadwaste who had gone against what was expected of them.

Once she had everything packed up in her basket, Juray headed out to check on everyone training. She found Lofgan first, meditating on his Class near the brazier in the mana shrine. He looked very focused, but opened one eye when she arrived.

"Mm?"

"Just wanted to tell you that the potion worked," she told him. "I could use some more mana when you get a chance."

"Sure." Lofgan closed his eye again and returned to meditating. Others might have taken that as rude, but she knew that was just his way. As she left, Juray took a glance at his soul.

<

Name: Lofgan Tonjin

Total Power: 337

Whistlewind Class: 96 (106)

Waterborn: Oncedrowned (88)

Physique Level: E-9 (107)

Soul Level: 6 (36)

>

Lofgan was the only one who had made even more progress on his Class than she had, getting up to Level 96. They actually had more to talk about, when he was talking. That advancement had come at the expense of his Physique training, but he was still an incredibly formidable warrior by Goralian standards with a total of 337 Power.

Next up it was time to check on Raghi, who was in the training yard as usual. She unabashedly admired him, since he'd been looking better ever since his Physique had increased a rank - he was bulkier, yes, but she was fine with that, and he wore the muscle well. It looked good in his soul, too.

<

Name: Raghi Tonjin

Total Power: 349

Scrapper Class: 73 (83)

Ironfist: Quartz Rank (20)

Physique Level: D-2 (210)

Soul Level: 6 (36)

>

With his huge leap to D-rank Physique, Raghi had surpassed his brother at nearly 350 Power. He had made the incredibly difficult leap from E-rank via her potions, but that was almost entirely due to the powerful materials of this place, so she didn't feel like she could take credit.

Juray would take credit for the new "Ironfist" ability in his soul, however. It was a chakra-based ability, something she was working on mastering now that she had access to it. This one let him draw on and reinforce the Irunian gauntlets he wore, adding a respectable 20 Power to his soul. That was just the beginning, as he needed to train it further and that had proved tricky.

"Good work." As he finished his training, she walked up and kissed him on the cheek. "I have some potion refills for you."

"I don't think we'll run into any more monsters, though," Raghi said.

"Hey, let me keep you safe however I can. I have some improvements in there."

He grasped her waist and kissed her more properly. Juray let herself relax against him a little, despite feeling like there was so much to do. Maybe she needed to throw herself into making potions every minute, maybe not - it was hard to tell in this place. But since she needed to pace herself for years of work, it wouldn't hurt to relax and clear her mind. Whatever happened, they would keep moving forward together.

Then, without warning, god-like power dropped out of the sky.

They had plunged to the island in the Clanless before, but Juray hadn't imagined just how jarring it would be to see the ship come piercing through the misty illusions. It looked as though it would crash until nearly the last second, when it pivoted and came to a halt, the power sending ripples throughout the grasslands.

Someone was landing the ship, and Juray could feel other inhabitants, but she had eyes for only three: Kai and his wives leapt from the side to land nearby. And they redefined her ideas of both power and progress.

Each woman had Power in the 1700s, which was downright unbelievable to Juray. Kai felt like he had over 900 Power, which if the pattern held true meant his true monstrous strength was well over 1800. As far as she knew, none of the Frontier elites had reached four digits, so this level of strength was simply unimaginable.

Clearly they had been successful in their fight. Zae Zin Nim had turned gray somehow, yet she seemed happy and content. The other woman had to be Omilaena, and she was more stunning than Juray had imagined based on the description. She rolled her hips as she walked forward in a way that was both sexual and predatory, and her eyes were a very cold blue.

Kai was the first one to arrive, though, putting a hand on her shoulder and smiling. "Glad to see you, Juray. No one got hurt?"

"I should be the one asking you that," Juray said with a smile. "You were the ones fighting a war, we just hung out on your private island. We had a few scares with the local monsters, but everyone's fine."

"Good. Everyone we took with us is fine too." Kai gripped her in a quick hug, which Juray appreciated, but also extracted herself from as soon as possible.

She was surprised that he was willing to do that, right in front of his wives. Juray glanced nervously at Zae Zin Nim, but the cultivator didn't seem as jealous as she would have expected, not threatened by their friendship. And Inafay had suggested Omilaena was an incorrigible flirt, so she was probably not offended... though the other woman was examining her with an unpleasantly analytical gaze.

They all began chatting about what had happened, especially once Inafay and her partner emerged from the ship. It seemed like there was a lot to talk about, more than they could manage now, especially since there was impatience in the group.

"What's our schedule?" Juray asked as soon as she could get everyone's attention. "I'm guessing you're wanting to get back to prep for the incursion?"

"As soon as reasonable," Kai agreed. "We can take part of a day if anyone needs to gather materials, but you should all get ready to move."

"You should talk to Raghi about their training. Otherwise that's fine, I'll get starting packing up all my work and we can catch up on the way back."

Juray hadn't meant it as an instruction, but everyone seemed to agree, because they moved instantly. Zae Zin Nim went straight to the Immortal's Cave on an unclear mission while Kai left to check in with the others. Inafay wanted to chat, but Juray was sincere about needing to pack up all her things, so she slipped away.

Back in her room, she looked over all her experiments with less enthusiasm than before. Yes, she was making progress as a Herbalist, but did any of that even rate compared to such incredible power? She told herself that her work mattered, since Raghi and so many other people like him still needed support.

The door creaked closed. Juray turned in surprise, saw a blue-nailed hand, then realized that Omilaena had been waiting behind it.

"So..." Omilaena prowled forward, eyes like ice. "I understand you're the one who broke in my husband."

"I..." Juray shifted back and bumped against her work table. Her throat was dry and she struggled to speak. "I don't think I was actually Kai's first..."

"But you took a lot of firsts." Omilaena had her practically pinned to the table now, with only a hair of space between them. Then, without warning, her vicious expression dissolved into a smirk. "I'm kidding, I'm actually grateful to you."

"Wait, what?"

"So many men with a lot of power are absolute garbage in bed, just smashing and pounding everything. You clearly nudged Kai onto the right path, and believe me, I'm reaping the rewards of that."

Juray took a breath as she realized that it might be okay. "So you just... decided to make me fear for my life for fun?"

"I have a nasty sense of fun." Omilaena put a hand on her shoulder, still pinning her to the table, but Juray realized that this was just teasing sexuality, not a serious threat or proposition. "I was being honest, though. It sounds like you've done some good work, despite having so little to work with. I want to change that."

"You mean..." Juray glanced back to her work table.

"I've been wanting someone else to talk to about potions and pills. Pack your shit and we can get started on the way."