Chapter 546: Embracing and Forsaking Classes (Patreon)

Due to being banished, Kai had never actually gotten to take on the role of a senior hunter, guiding the next generation through the Hunter Trials. He supposed that technically he had helped Zae Zin Nim awaken a Class, though that had involved stealing the mana pool and had only worked due to her talent. This time he'd done things more properly... yet he still worried as he paced outside the guild hall of Rayakan.

None of the trainees had been as thoroughly cursed as he had, but what if their Classes didn't work out for them? He'd gone to a lot of effort to get them approval to use a mana pool at this time of year, when most were in a drained state, plus prepare them through fighting the Bydra. If they did all that and didn't obtain something useful, it would be a blow to his plans, and his reputation among the elites.

And he had no control over that. Surely fate wouldn't try to screw him over indirectly?

It had been years since he'd been in Rayakan, and when he could pull his attention back, he was surprised both by how much and how little it had changed. In many ways, it was the same wealthy southern Goralian city, yet he'd seen so much more of the world that his view of it had shifted. These simple buildings clustered around a river no longer seemed so decadent to him.

The Hunters Guild hall looked more austere than before, and he thought that wasn't just his subjective impression. He'd been told that his actions had been a shock to the system, which had caused both positive and negative changes. Razz thought they were mostly positive, and Kai hoped he was correct, because he couldn't spend more time here.

While he was staring toward the Guild, Soeraina emerged and approached him, one hand on her sword. She looked harder as well, with a new scar across her cheek and a bit more power at a basic glance, though he stayed focused on her eyes.

"They all made it through," Soeraina told him. "Give them some time to get used to their new powers and I'm sure they'll be glad to show you."

"Thanks for arranging this," Kai told her. "I know Rayakan's not so rich that it can afford to just throw mana pools away."

"It should still recover, and anyway I view it as a good investment. Where are you off to after this?"

"We won't be leaving just yet. I thought the trainees could stay here and help you with some monster hunts, just to get a handle on their new powers. Consider it partial payment for using your mana, plus they could use some guidance from experienced Goralians."

"Fine, we can do that. The Rayakan Hunters Guild is more serious than it was when you were here." Soeraina regarded him with a calculating expression, then shook her head. "Though I suppose with how absurdly strong you've gotten, you might not notice the difference."

"Hey, I wouldn't say that," Kai said as he took a better look at her soul.

<

Name: Soeraina Corinin

Total Power: 119

Warrior Class: 51 (61)

Physique Level: F-6 (42)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

>

Soeraina had leapt from a mid-rank hunter dependent on a Class to a decent one with 119 Power. Maybe it wasn't much on the scale of the entire country, but that was worthy of being head of the local guild. On the other hand, he wasn't sure how to say any of that without sounding like he was damning her with faint praise.

"Hey, you broke the 99 Power barrier," he decided to say. "Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since that was how you helped me out last time."

She snorted. "It's absurd how much more you needed that item than me. You needed it right away, and it took me five years to need to break through. Even thinking of keeping it to myself was ridiculous."

"Funny coincidence, though - I meet you again right when I'm dealing with another barrier. I don't suppose you have any treasures that can break the 999 Power barrier?"

"Uh..." Soeraina was doing her best to control her expression, but her eyes still bulged a little. "No, can't say that we do."

"That's fine, my wife is working on it." Kai realized that might be an awkward thing to say, especially since it might set off a round of small talk. She would ask him about his marriage, he would be obligated to return the favor, and it would go on for too long. They'd met for a short time years ago; it wasn't like they were good friends.

Both of them were saved by the arrival of Kai's students, who burst out the doors of the guild showing more good cheer than he'd seen in some time. Ankrastor had fire flickering around his head, Kifaela was holding a new sword, and Untariin just looked smug. They all tried to talk at once, thanking him or explaining what Classes they had awakened, and Kai raised a hand to stop them.

"No, don't tell me now," he ordered. "Too many hunters try to rely on a strong Class, but you all know better. We have a week until we need to leave, so use that time to train your mana. Then, at the end, you can show me what you can do."

"And what are you going to do?" Soeraina asked him.

"Oh, I have some training of my own to do."

"Seriously? More?"

"Honestly, it's overdue."

.

..

.

Of course Kai hadn't neglected his cultivation, Physique training, or chakra reinforcement. But it had been some time since he'd merged monstrous abilities together and he was eager to get started. Since the battle with the Bydra, he'd been training up his new abilities, preparing them for a merger, and he took another day to polish them before considering his options.

<

Behemoth's Heart - X (kappa)

Thunderbird's Wings - X (kappa)

Baleful Breath - VIII (theta)

Manticore's Spine - V (epsilon)

Tyrant's Claw - XII (mu)

Famished World - V (epsilon)

Direboar's Strength - XV (omicron)

Void Gaze - VIII (theta)

Mutefang's Stealth - XV (omicron)

Isulfr's Bite - X (kappa)

Sahagin's Soul - XII (mu)

Lizarkyl's Tail - VIII (theta)

Wallcrawler's Feet - IV (delta)

Abominalgum - II (beta)

Rose Piranha - IV (delta)

Cloud Piranha - IV (delta)

Bloodtrap - III (gamma)

Slime's Immortality - II (beta)

Silver Demon - II (beta)

Voidmaw's Bite - II (beta)

Great Cetae - III (gamma)

Bloodtail's Armor - III (gamma)

Bloodtail's Tail - VIII (theta)

Bydra's Tail - VIII (theta)

>

All the additional essence within him wasn't doing any harm, but he was glad to finally merge some abilities again. Maybe just because he was rusty, maybe because the monsters within him actually hungered in a different way. He was surprised that the Lizarkyl, which had been a less memorable monster becoming what he thought was a useless ability, was now proving worthwhile after all.

Eventually he hoped to do more, especially with some of the pieces of his soul that remained mysteries to him, but today his work was obvious. He had three tail abilities, so he was going to give himself a tail.

Physically changing his body that quickly was unlikely, of course, and even transforming with the Savage Heart would take a while to grow a full tail. But now that he had better control over his abilities, he could manifest the tail spiritually, or even rapidly as a mana attack, so he thought it would be a good option. Monsters could have a lot of limbs, like the Bloodtails, and now he would have another of his own to fight them.

Kai returned to his wasteland training ground, just in case, and looked inwardly. This time there were no complications: he fed the tail essences to one another simultaneously in a single wheel of consumption and they all merged into a single ability:

<

Monstrous Tail - II (beta)

>

The fused "Monstrous Tail" ability might not be enormously powerful, but he already had several heavy-hitting attacks, so it was good to acquire more flexibility. More importantly, he still had several days left to test and train the new ability.

Almost immediately, it proved easy to use for basic attacks. Kai could manifest a mana tail that lashed out in a blow about as strong as one of his punches, so it was like a third arm. Except, being a spiritual limb, it could extend much further, giving him unexpected reach. That alone was a handy little ability.

Using a tail with chakra proved harder, as expected, and he had mixed results in Savage Form. That didn't worry him, however, because the qi version of the tail proved stable and useful. He could easily use it to grab and hurl a boulder, for example, and though he needed an equal sparring partner to know for sure, he thought the tail could grab an incoming attack.

All of that passed in a flash, so Kai continued training, seeing what else he could discover. Since he'd been focused on flexibility when he fused the ability, it proved more variable as well, sometimes in surprising ways. In natural form it emerged with a spike at the end, but he could also make a mace-like end for blunt attacks. With a little bit of training, he was even able to fire a Manticore's Sting from the end of the tail.

It seemed as useful as he'd hoped... and that put him in an awkward position. Kai could only use six monstrous abilities at once, and by his count he had a full twelve that he might theoretically want to use. Hopefully once he broke the 999 Power barrier, the theory would be confirmed and he would gain a seventh slot, but even then he'd need to choose intelligently. Life would have been much easier, and required less thinking, if he could just use everything at once.

Fortunately, he didn't need to be so selective now, when he wasn't dealing with truly dangerous opponents. The largest threat was the competition against Yuinafal... which he realized was almost upon them. For all the time he'd spent training, he hadn't actually been preparing for this moment.

Soon enough, he would gather his students and leave Rayakan. As he looked back toward the city, Kai considered, not for the first time, whether he should have tried to enter the mana pool himself. Thanks to months and months of work with the mana tattoo, he had somehow restored his mana capacity, so in theory he could awaken something new. With his Physique blocked, it was so tempting to reach for an easy source of power.

But no, he rejected the idea then, as he had before. For one, it was entirely possible that he would just end up with a useless Laborer Class again. Perhaps more importantly, he now set his sights far higher than being a hunter in Goralia. His mana capacity was a precious advantage and he could afford to wait to find something perfect for it.

Until then, he could only continue forward and hope it was enough.