Depthless Hunger

Chapter 34: Beyond the Frontier Wall

Kai flailed wildly, hoping he could catch the side of the wall, and did nothing but churn the air. Before he could think of any other plan, he slammed into the ground.

Groaning, Kai slowly rolled over onto his back and tried to muster the will to sit up. If his Physique hadn't improved, that fall would probably have killed him. As it was, he'd gotten the wind knocked out of him, but it actually wasn't as bad as he expected. He forced himself to get up and look around, just in case there was anything about to attack him.

Unlike atop the wall, the air shivered around him. It was like nothing Kai had ever experienced before, as if the world itself was a drum being beaten. He'd heard veterans talk about strange experiences at the Frontier and suddenly he understood why they didn't try to describe it. On some level he couldn't pin down, the Frontier felt wrong. If he had been weaker, even his strength back in the Hunter Trials, he might have fallen unconscious.

"This is your test?" Kai shouted up toward Gunjin, who stared down calmly. "You know I can't survive the Frontier."

"No, but you're strong enough to see it. Stay alert."

Something in his tone made Kai suspect it was more than a generic warning. He immediately pivoted, observing the environment with both ordinary and spiritual senses. At first it looked like the gray wall cutting off half his world and only wasteland in the other... until he saw the monster.

It looked like an ordinary enough breed, a dog pulled inside out. If not for the environment, Kai would have been disappointed. Nothing about it seemed particularly powerful or unusual, until he realized the absence: it didn't growl or make the slightest noise. In fact, he wasn't sure it was breathing. Instead of a dog's loping gait, it walked toward him with unnatural precision.

His Irunian bow was unharmed by the fall and never needed to be strung, so Kai quickly nocked an arrow. No reaction from the monster. Before it could get closer, he released the arrow directly toward the center of its mass.

Just before the arrow struck, the monster distorted, its flesh contorting into a spiral. His arrow passed through the empty space and a moment later the beast had snapped back to normal. Other than slightly increasing its pace, it gave no indication that it knew it had been attacked.

Bizarre as it was, Kai didn't let it unnerve him since Gunjin had said this was a test. He drew two arrows next, then loosed them in quick succession. He sent the first towards the monster's chest, then the second just to the side a second later. Again its body twisted out of the way, but his second arrow caught the twisting body and pierced through.

When the monster snapped back to normal, it had a steel bolt through its shoulder. It didn't seem to notice. By now, the ruined dog was getting close.

The next thing Kai knew, the beast's maw was stretching over him, larger than a wagon, hundreds of teeth snapping down at him. His mind froze up but his combat instincts saved him: he leapt backward and loosed a fourth arrow just like he'd been trained.

Only as Kai skidded back through wasteland shrubs did he realize what had happened. The monster must have distorted again, this time offensively: its upper mouth had expanded to an impossible size and tried to swallow him whole. He caught a glimpse of the teeth scraping back over the ground as it returned to normal size.

It still walked toward him, despite being pierced by two arrows. Kai hesitated, wondering if he should draw his sword or stick with his bow. Before he could decide, the monster charged the final distance toward him.

Kai thrust with his sword, directly into its face. Its throat opened up to become a cavern as its jaws expanded, ready to consume his entire hand, but he had been expecting something horrifying. He swung to the side, cutting through the side of the jaws.

The beast collided with his chest, claws tearing into him, and Kai crashed to the ground. Only the fact that its mouth had been cut open prevented it from biting off his head. Instead of returning to normal, the jaw hung open with enormous flaps of tooth-covered flesh. Kai reversed his grip on his sword, only for the blade to snap off when he tried to stab the monster.

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Too late, he realized that the blade had been entirely corroded down its length. The claws cutting into his chest were growing, distorting into twisted spirals that would drill into him, and his sword was useless.

Pulling out two arrows, Kai jammed them into the monster's head and its heart. Since the Irunian steel had shown no sign of corroding, he figured that was his only chance... but it wasn't enough. The monster still twitched toward him, dead eyes fixed on him utterly without passion.

Kai drew another arrow and slammed it deep, less stabbing the beast's head than hammering it with his fist. He struck over and over again, pummeling the monster until it lay still. All at once, there was no sign of distortion, only a monster corpse with several arrows through it.

For a while Kai just sat on the ground, staring at the body and wondering what the hell he had just experienced. He had listened to a lot of veteran hunters, even a few elites, and he'd never heard of something like that. The fight had exhausted him and his chest was covered in blood, but more than that, he felt mentally exhausted in a way he'd never felt before.

"That's surprising." Gunjin stepped off the side of the wall and landed lightly on one foot not far away. "I had intended only to show you the reality of the threat, then save you before you died. It's remarkable that you took out one of them, given your state."

"But that... how many are there?"

Gunjin chuckled humorlessly. "Few normally, but during an incursion, the ground crawls with them. You can see why ordinary human weapons are insufficient." Gunjin shook his head. "As you are now, you could defeat a great many hunters in Monskon C-"

"Really?"

"Most likely. Your Physique could resist their Class abilities, which would allow skill and tactics to be victorious. But that beast should show you why that isn't enough."

"What was wrong with it?" Kai began removing his arrows, checking their lengths for corrosion. Thankfully there was none, but that didn't make the apparently ordinary body any less disturbing. "Are monsters on the Frontier really that much more powerful?"

"This is less a question of power than distortion. What you fought was a perfectly ordinary monster, tainted with something far worse. That is the reason we're losing this war..." Gunjin trailed off and looked back toward the wall. "But I see our guest has arrived. We will resume this conversation later."

A man stood atop the wall, watching them quietly. He looked ordinary enough, with tan skin and red armor, but his hair immediately drew Kai's attention. The people of the Elemental Nations had immense diversity in skin color and every other trait, but their heads always made them obvious. Hair the color of flames flowed directly up from the man's head, waving in its own wind. It wasn't exactly like a fire, the way Kai had heard, but it was unmistakably unnatural.

"Let me assist you." The guest snapped his fingers and serpents of flame flowed around them. Kai flinched at first, but the flames felt only warm, not hot. With a rush of heat he was pulled back up to the top of the wall. "My name is Enalanis of Magma. That was remarkable, for a child."

Operating on instinct, Kai nodded to him politely, but he couldn't resist examining the man with his spiritual vision. At first he saw nothing comprehensible, then the man seemed to relax his defenses to allow Kai to see his true strength.

Name: Enalanis of Magma

Total Power: 728

Flameborn: Thriceburned (413)

Kindler Class: 53 (53)

Physique Level: E-6 (98)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

Emergent Class: Enkindled Soulflame (+100)

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During the Trials, Kai had seen a man who had awakened a Class called Flamecaster, but he immediately understood the difference. The Elemental Nations allegedly had entirely different sources of strength that were widely feared, and the man's Flameborn power on its own was more powerful than anyone Kai had met.

What struck him as extraordinary was Enalanis didn't rely on his primary ability alone. He also had a Class more powerful than most hunters in Goralia, plus extraordinary Physique and Soul Levels, plus some "Emergent" title Kai had never seen before. He had to wonder just what this man was capable of.

"Thank you for coming, Enalanis." Gunjin nodded to him with more respect than he'd shown anyone else Kai had seen. "Before you move on, I'd be grateful if you could test my student here."

"I understand why you would go to the expense." Enalanis stared at Kai, who only then realized that his irises burned like flames as well. "You've clearly endured much, boy. But you should know that the powers of my homeland are the most capricious and mercurial of the Frontier nations. I would bestow them upon you if I could, but what happens next is up to fate."

"You mean..." Kai looked between his mentor and the Flameborn, understanding but not quite believing. "You want me to train for elemental powers? What do I need to do?"

"The first test is simplicity itself." Enalanis raised a hand and summoned a dark red flame. "Take this and see your potential. There is nothing you can do to prepare and no way to enhance or change the result. Either you will intuit the path or you will not."

It was all happening too quickly, but Kai couldn't anger two elites by wasting their time. Gunjin nodded almost imperceptibly. Kai took a deep breath and then reached out to grasp the flame.

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