Chapter 437: Three Spiritual Visions

(Cognosticon here. There were no chapters last week, but I did post another piece of bonus content: Three Beds. That covers the Kai x Nirka request, and I'll be getting to the ZZN expansion before I cover Kai x Yurwa. In the meantime, on with normal chapters.)

As soon as she had a valid excuse, Omilaena left the Verdant River sect and headed back to the dryad village. Either Kai would be back, in which case she could compare them both, or he wouldn't yet, in which case she'd get Zin Nim to herself. Either way, she was eager to use her enhanced spiritual sight on a deeper level.

What had stalled her was needing to return the favor, helping Nymidria try to work out developing her own soul-based technique. Both of them were exploring in the dark, so she wasn't blamed when there wasn't much progress. Nymidria was definitely a fruitful partner to work with, even a mentor to drain knowledge from, but Omilaena considered her best collaborators to be Zin Nim and Kai. One way or another, they'd help her understand this on a more formal level.

When she reached the dryad entrance, at first the wall of roots refused to open for her. It took her a while to remember that she was still wearing the illusion leaves, which were apparently so effective that they hid her identity from the spells. Once she removed them, the private entrance opened up and the guards allowed her inside.

The worst outcome would be if Zin Nim had gone off on a task of her own and Kai hadn't returned, since that would mean she was stuck working on her own. There wouldn't be much to do, then, because the other dryads weren't particularly exceptional. Well, perhaps she could learn something by analyzing all of them compared to their matriarch.

One of the dryad guards intercepted her as she moved through the private quarters. "Lady Nymidria said that you would be returning," he said, "and wanted you to gather some of our materials to bring to her."

"Yeah, fine, gather them and I'll do that." Omilaena tried to look past the man. "Are the others back?"

"The woman has been cultivating, and the man returned two days ago. Will you be here long?"

"Sounds like it. You gather the stuff and I'll let you know."

She slid past him to the private rooms with a skip in her step, her priorities shifting. Much as she wanted to experiment with her spiritual sight, as soon as she came out of the fugue of analysis, she realized how much she wanted them both. Too bad she had used an umbrella, because it could have been fun to walk in soaking wet and have them peel her clothes off her.

As she got closer, Omilaena could hear the sounds of fabric from within their chambers. She shifted to walking silently, hoping that she would interrupt them. Well, not interrupt so much as watch. When Zin Nim was aware of her she tended to go for an embrace, which was pleasant enough in its way, but Omilaena enjoyed watching her when she had no idea that anyone else was there. Not that she was ever pretentious in bed, but there was a delicious lack of self-consciousness.

When she turned the final corner, she discovered that Zin Nim was just sitting on the bed, cultivating, and the cloth sound was Kai repositioning some sort of hammock. There had been hammocks from the beginning, but Omilaena had mostly ignored them because beds were superior, in her opinion. Especially with three people, where the hammock tended to lump them all together like a sack.

"Hey." Kai smiled at her over his shoulder. "Did things go well at the sect?"

"They went great," Omilaena said. "We're pretty close to being ready for the plan, assuming that you did your parts. More importantly, I have some new insights that I think you'll find interesting."

"Come and tell us." Zin Nim spoke in a slow, satisfied voice, and patted the bed beside her.

As soon as Omilaena sat down beside her, Zin Nim pulled her in closer and kissed her neck. Oh good, Kai had gotten her all softened up. Omilaena was all about foreplay, but the cultivator could be prickly and stiff for a long time unless she got a lot of teasing. Or, when Kai was on the job, he could eventually melt her into this state, which was a lot of fun.

"You know what?" Omilaena said. "The news can wait."

.

..

.

Zae Zin Nim was amazed at how, even though she was in the middle of an unfamiliar region next to an enemy sect surrounded by strange non-humans, she could feel so safe. They could still be attacked, yes, but so long as she had Kai and Omilaena with her, they imbued the room with a familiarity that left her feeling secure and happy.

Currently Omilaena was wearing nothing but her goggles, which Zae Zin Nim found simultaneously shocking and admirable. For her part, she always preferred to pull on a robe, even if they would be intimate again later. Kai's magical clothes usually flowed around his waist as well, leaving just Omilaena moving around as if she wasn't bare naked.

"I'm telling you, the goggles are easier than the technique," she was saying. "There's probably an advantage to developing our spiritual sight that far, but Nymidria said it took her a decade. For now, when we just need information, this is our best option."

"It's strange that the techniques vary," Kai said. "I thought spiritual sight was always basically the same. You might misunderstand something, especially if you're not familiar with it, but everyone is still fundamentally looking at the same power."

"Everyone can look at the same city and see completely different things. It's less a matter of vision than expertise."

For her part, Zae Zin Nim held her hands in her lap as she attempted the new methods of spiritual sight. Those skills had been drilled into her so early, it was difficult to return to them. Her wife was very likely correct that the goggles would be easier, so eventually she extended a hand for them.

"Alright, give them a try." Instead of handing them over, Omilaena slid behind her and put them onto her face. "You've tried my usual pair, so it's the same principle."

At first the world seemed too dark, like it was twilight, and the symbols she saw around the others were confusing. When she looked at Kai, the messages in her mind twisted even more violently and she almost grew faint.

"You okay?" His hand touched her thigh, comforting but not demanding, and that stabilized her more than she expected.

"It's hard to adjust," she said.

"Maybe for you, it would be easier to try yourself." Omilaena embraced her from behind, not teasing too much. "Focus on yourself, like you're cultivating. See what you can see that way."

When Zae Zin Nim attempted to do just that, it took her a moment, but her vision stabilized much more quickly. It was similar to the sight technique that Omilaena had taught, just relying heavily on the goggles. Once their shadowy nature stopped getting in her way, her soul resolved in a way she'd never seen before.

<

Name: Zae Zin Nim

Physique: Blackblood Mortal (150 year lifespan)

Soul: Enhanced Mortal (150 year lifespan)

Supremacy: None

Talent Capacity: Coldfire Corona

Elemental Capacity: Unawakened

Essence Capacity: Pure Yin Shroud

Cultivation Capacity: Brightwind Cultivation

(Heavenly Sash Bond)

>

Most of the pieces were familiar to her: her own cultivation, Coldfire Corona, and Pure Yin Shroud. Looking at herself this way, it seemed that her lifespan had been extended, though not as far as she might have expected. And yet it was also curious...

"The Pure Yin Shroud has the Essence aspect?" she asked. "I... somehow I did not expect that."

"Puzzled me too, at first," Omilaena said. "Essence means refining and concentrating something, so I think arts like that mean you refine yourself. Very much a cultivator art, no question about that."

"Nothing in the Elemental aspect... does that mean I could find another ability, as in the Elemental Nations back on Deadwaste?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Kai said. "They can be powerful, but there's so much randomness involved, it's a risk. Omilaena filled the same aspect by a different path."

"Presuming that we are correct about how much the soul can bear." But since her husband had spoken, Zae Zin Nim decided to look at him as well.

His soul was much harder to interpret, as it always had been. Ever since he'd learned to cultivate and developed all the shields they'd figured out together, the monstrous nature wasn't so obvious, but some part of her knew that it was still there. Eventually she managed to get a good look at the deeper layer of his soul.

<

Name: Kai Clanless

Physique: ??? (??? year lifespan)

Soul: ??? (??? year lifespan)

Supremacy: None

Talent Capacity: Void

Elemental Capacity: Void

Essence Capacity: Savage Heart

Cultivation Capacity: Gluttonous Cultivation

(Beggar King's Bond)

>

His soul had major portions listed as void, yet he was unquestionably strong. Did that mean he had even greater potential in the future, or were the void portions connected to his monstrous abilities? There were so many questions about that, their theories didn't seem like nearly enough.

Zae Zin Nim removed the goggles and was glad to see her spouses in normal light again. "This is interesting," she said, "but is it practical? What would we do differently?"

"I've been trying to look at immortals and comparing lifespans." Her wife slid next to her again, just in a comfortable position instead of teasing. "The truth is, they're actually harder to read than I expected. I'm pretty sure if we push far enough, we can get some useful information. Maybe I can figure out exactly how your Blackblood Physique connects to the rest, because it's listed in a different way than most of the physique abilities I've seen."

While they spoke, Kai picked up the goggles to try on himself. She could see the wince under the goggles as he adjusted to the sudden darkness. Before he could adjust, Zae Zin Nim saw that her wife was smirking and gesturing toward their husband. Well, they had nowhere they needed to be...

"What are you two-" Kai was cut off when they both tackled him.

.

..

.

Kai woke up in the early morning, more relaxed than he'd been ever since he went hunting in monstrous form. Omilaena was a sprawled tangle in the sheets, one of her legs draped over his, while Zae Zin Nim was curled up in between, trying to press against them both even in their sleep.

He wasn't complaining, but he wasn't sure what had gotten into the two of them. He'd felt a bit guilty, returning to them with no real gifts except his new problems. Information on the young heirs of the sects was not exactly romantic, and their time together was severely limited by their upcoming schemes. Yet somehow, the two of them had been in an excellent mood, behaving as if he treated them like royalty. Like he'd first thought, he wasn't complaining.

The technique Omilaena had introduced really was fascinating, including in a way he hadn't spoken aloud. When Kai had first awakened his spiritual sight, he had seen his own soul the way he saw it through the goggles. That seemed strange until Omilaena theorized that Deadwaste, with such low levels of ambient energy, forced people's spiritual sights to pick up the slightest dregs of power.

At the moment he didn't need any special vision just to appreciate the two women beside him, though. He'd let them both sleep a while longer, because it had been a wild night, but once they stirred awake... he began reaching into his spatial ring for any food, since he knew Zae Zin Nim would be hungry and Omilaena would get cranky without a snack.

"Excuse me?"

A voice came from outside their rooms, hesitant and yet still spelling the end. Kai groaned and pulled out of bed first, since the Beggar King's Robes instantly shifted to cover him. He recognized Lifrinyne's voice before he saw the young dryad.

"I'm sorry to bother you," she said, "but there's a message from Nymidria."

"What is it?"

"She didn't say everything, but apparently Yul Wei Ren got back from his trip, and he brought new guests with him. There's going to be some sort of important meeting. Is that what you've been waiting for?"

It might be. Kai glanced back at his wives, still resting in bed, and realized that their time to relax was over.