Depthless Hunger

It took two weeks for them to return to the Manticore tribe's region, but with all three of them reunited, Kai didn't mind the trip at all. His training along the way was mostly for fun, while Zae Zin Nim actually advanced several levels with her Coldfire Corona. Just like with the early levels of other Class stages, releasing the pressure of the barrier seemed to make advancement easy again. And of course he wasn't complaining about getting to spend private time with his wives.

Once they returned, however, their break was over. Judging from how the tribes were marshaling, it was time for war.

As they got close, he pulled on the manticore cloak to play his official role. Despite the clothes and the tattoo, Kai reflected that he felt relatively little affinity for the Manticore tribe, nothing like his commitment to the revolution in Krysal. This was just a war between cultivators: they wanted his strength, he wanted the power he could get from them, and that was all.

Strangely, he hadn't needed to convince Zae Zin Nim or Omilaena to stay in the conflict instead of just abandoning the tribe. He got the strong sense it had less to do with any good will and more to do with their desire to try out their new power on enemies.

Still, when he leapt off the ship in his cloak, the response had an impact. Manticore tribesmen all over the camp shouted in amazement and many came to bow. Omilaena arrived in her own cloak, which awed them further, and when Kai pulled out the severed manticore head, they cheered and began to celebrate. Just by arriving, they had turned the morale of the entire camp.

Zae Zin Nim remained with the ship, refusing to wear the last cloak.

"We're honored to have you back, Patriarch." Ahn Rit Kulha gave them a bow before approaching. "Our enemies are gathering, so it's fortunate you've returned. But there i-"

"I need access to every tattoo specialist you have," Omilaena said. "And all your mana ink."

Kulha swallowed, but he obeyed with only a brief glance at Kai. Once Omilaena was off to finish up her own objective, however, he returned to Kai and gestured for him to separate from the others. Once they were alone in one of the command tents, he looked more nervous.

"The balance is closer than I want to admit," Kulha said. "The Head faction has united with the remains of the Quill faction, and even recruited the Northern Iron sect from the Northern Expanse in return for promises of our tribe's poisons. Their numbers have swelled day by day, and it is only a matter of time before they decide to attack us."

"How do the armies compare?" Kai asked.

"We have more cultivators overall, and far more alchemists and other specialists. Most of the weaker factions view us as the legitimate successors, thanks to you, and completing a manticore hunt will only increase our legitimacy. However..." Kulha coughed uncomfortably. "When it comes to strong cultivators, they have the edge. We have a dozen Earth Souls in total, where they have at least seventeen. And their Jackal mercenary has been spotted again, so they have a Sky Soul."

"We have three."

"Begging your forgiveness, but... strong as you and your women are, you aren't actually Sky Souls. Reaching the peak of cultivation holds a lot of weight here."

Kai nodded grimly, accepting that he couldn't change Cloudspire. If it came to battle, he could definitely turn the tide, killing the enemy leaders and rapidly changing the balance. But that would be a pyrrhic victory that left the Manticore tribe a broken shell of itself. Omilaena might be satisfied with that, but he wanted to find a better solution...

"I think we can change some of their minds," Kulha continued. "If some of the lesser factions meet you, they'll switch sides. I just need to arrange meetings and we can slowly draw their support out from under them."

"But you said that they were preparing to attack, so that might just trigger it." Kai waved the strategy away as he started to realize a better path. "If we go ourselves and kill off their Sky Soul, will the rest surrender?"

"I... I'm afraid not, Patriarch. Some might give up or retreat, but others never will. The Quill faction will never align with the Tail faction, for example, the hatred runs too deep."

"We need to look at those obstacles to total victory. The Jackal tribe mercenary, the Quill faction... who else is keeping the bulk of the other army from submitting to us?"

"Well..." Kulha stared at him for a while, but seemed to adjust to his strategy and began considering it. "There's a small elite faction calling itself Manticore Mane, that raises sacred beasts. Their strength is well-known, so they will rally the enemy. The Northern Iron sect is one of their strongest allies and will hold their weaker factions together. And... one of the leaders of the Manticore Head faction is a rogue member of the Ahn family, so half our followers would never accept an alliance while he lives."

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"That gives us five targets." Kai nodded as he realized that this could work. "When we do battle, we'll take them out and force the rest to surrender."

"But, Patriarch... we don't know when they'll attack, and they may not allow that strategy."

"That's why we're going to attack first. Now bring me your toughest cultivators and let's get started."

.

..

.

The others both had specific preparations, but Zae Zin Nim was free to concentrate on her own power. That was just as well, because she was much less interested in the Manticore tribe than in all her new training.

As she moved from one position to another in the new patterns she'd developed, she marveled at how much stronger her mana felt. The Coldfire Corona was truly potent now, whether or not she used it in her new palm technique. And the power felt so light, exploding skyward with every bit of training. It was tempting to focus entirely on her Class, but she reminded herself that the gains from cultivation would be greater, if much later. In however many years, when she finally reached Sky Soul, she would be glad she cultivated as well.

In the middle of her training session, Omilaena slipped into the tent. She didn't say anything in particular, just sat down in the corner and began to toy with some sort of ink, so Zae Zin Nim continued her routine. Perhaps her wife just needed a break from obnoxious tribesmen.

When Zae Zin Nim finished her exercise, closing her hands together and drawing all her mana to a point, Omilaena looked up as if she had been waiting.

"Have you finished tattooing the tribesmen?" Zae Zin Nim asked.

"Ugh, don't remind me." Omilaena groaned and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. "I've done one for each of the Earth Souls and I'm stopping there. Kulha keeps bugging me for another one, but I don't want him staring down my dress the entire time. I swear, if Kai was the average Cloudspire man, he'd have slapped Kulha's head off by now."

"Why bother spending time on their tattoos?"

"Because!" Omilaena cheerfully raised her hand and one of the tattooing needles formed in her fingers out of her own blue steel. "I finally have all the mastery I need to create a truly high level cultivation tattoo. I didn't want to make any early learning mistakes on one of us, after all."

"Ah, congratulations." Zae Zin Nim went to sit down beside her and examined the needle. "I hope that means you can remove Kai's tattoo soon."

"No, we still need the deception of him as patriarch. But actually, I was thinking of giving you one."

"A tattoo? Never!"

Omilaena chuckled and patted her arm. "Relax, I'm joking. I know you're too protective of your perfect, jade-like skin. Didn't expect you to be so disgusted by the idea of tattoos, though."

"Well..." Zae Zin Nim stared down at her hands, trying to imagine such a thing on her body. "I... would be willing to accept it, if it was the only option to advance my Physique."

"Not likely. Of course, to advance that way, we need to get more information about the Blackblood Physique in the first place. That would probably get us close to the Brightwind sect, so we probably can't try that anytime soon."

"We might have alternatives, especially now that I've broken through. The Manticore tribe doesn't have many useful Physique manuals, but I've found a few. I'm willing to undergo any necessary experiments."

"Glad to hear that."

They fell silent and Zae Zin Nim belatedly realized that there was something else behind her wife's discomfort. She had emphasized her disgust with the tattoos... and Zae Zin Nim gained an inkling of understanding. There was an insecurity to Omilaena that was easily hidden beneath all her provocation and bravado, but it had reared its head.

"I'm not sure what I said wrong," Zae Zin Nim said, "but I don't think any less of you."

Omilaena gave her a strange smile. "Thank you for that."

"What was bothering you earlier?"

"If I put a tattoo onto myself, are you going to consider it repulsive?"

"Oh!" Now that she understood, Zae Zin Nim regarded the other woman more thoughtfully. She could try to reassure her again, but maybe... "Is it going to be a giant lion monster across your chest?"

"It could be vomiting one of my breasts." Omilaena snickered, then leaned back and put an arm around her shoulders, the former tension gone. "No, I was thinking of something subtle. I should be able to contain all that ice qi in ink, so it would be a subtle tattoo down my hand and wrist..."

As she explained the pattern, tracing lines down her forearm, it actually sounded strangely beautiful to Zae Zin Nim. Of course a normal respectable woman of Cloudspire would never choose such a thing, but Omilaena had never been anything like respectable. More importantly, her methods sounded like a very effective way to put all her cultivation practice to actual use.

When they were finished, Zae Zin Nim was eager to help her with the final steps, which would require a strange mix of cultivation and alchemy. As they settled down on the floor opposite one another, however, Omilaena was still watching her strangely.

"You're sure it won't bother you?" she asked.

"Of course not." Zae Zin Nim shook her head. "If I wanted normal spouses, I would not have married you and Kai. Should we get to work?"

.

..

.

At last the Manticore tribe marched to war with Kai at the head. A local tribeswoman moved beside him, filling in for Omilaena, who had already slipped away to begin the plan. Zae Zin Nim was hidden further back, almost lost within tribal robes, as their trump card.

It had taken them roughly a week to prepare, which was all the time he thought they could afford. Aside from the threat of the enemy factions attacking, the women only had a month or two to return to the Pureflower sect in time. It might not be an urgent deadline, but he had to account for just how large the Western Wilds were.

Of course the new Manticore Guard needed years of training to be truly formidable, but they didn't have that. So long as they didn't kill themselves with their poisoned weapons, it would be good enough. What mattered was that Omilaena had finished her tattoo and Zae Zin Nim said she was ready, so it was time for them to end the war for good.

They had an army at their back, but it wasn't likely to matter, not this time. Unless they wanted to leave the entire tribe dead, he needed to win the battle on his own.