Depthless Hunger

Chapter 231: Demons and Demonic Arts

Once they got a safe distance away, Omilaena immediately went to talk to some locals without much explanation. Since it seemed to be important, Kai didn't object, but he was getting tired of being pulled around not understanding. While they waited, he glanced over to Zae Zin Nim.

"Do you know what that was about?"

"Not the politics, but the man..." She frowned and he thought he could see real anxiety behind her expression. "He was a demon. Not a user of demonic arts, the actual thing."

"I'm not sure what that really means. You have demons on Cloudspire too?"

"They're a rare species and they fight one another too much to ever form nations or anything more than small sects. I can't stress enough just how dangerous they are. All the demonic arts can be used to drain power from other people, but true demons can do it naturally. They might look human, but they're predators that prey on other intelligent races."

Kai glanced back toward the Commonwealth building despite himself. "Are you saying that he might have attacked us in the middle of Roseport?"

"Probably not, but you can never be sure." Zae Zin Nim gave a little shiver. "I might be protected by the fact that I'm still at the Nascent Foundation stage. Right now he can't drain as much power from me, but if I was at the Earth Soul stage I'd be a primary target."

"I can understand how anyone who drains power is dangerous," Kai said. And he definitely knew, with strong memories of Anaelina. "But isn't he the weakest Earth Soul we've seen? All the cultivators your father sent had at least 500 Power... unless your sect's cultivation is just stronger?"

"Demons are usually a bit weaker than you'd expect for their stage - the scary thing is just how fast they advance, since they steal cultivation. And unlike most, they aren't truly capped by an imperfect breakthrough because they can just keep draining."

Now he understood the immediate reaction, though he still wasn't sure why the appearance of one demon ruined Omilaena's plans. While they waited for her to finish her investigations, he thought back to Anaelina. Her name had a similar sound to Omilaena, especially compared to all the exotic languages he'd heard since coming to Rosemount. There might be a connection, even though they used different sorts of power.

"His soul said 'Crimson Demon'," Kai said. "Is that his inherent nature, or...?"

"No, that's a demonic art. A human or any other species can in theory learn them, if they're willing to pay the price, they just won't be able to learn as much." Zae Zin Nim cast him a somber glance. "You're thinking about Anaelina, aren't you? She had Silver Demon arts, which means she drains essence. I'm pretty sure Crimson Demons drain power through blood."

"How many dif-"

"Before you ask, I don't know all the different demonic arts. It's enough to know you shouldn't trust any of them. That was what you were going to ask, right?"

"Yeah, you got me there," Kai said with a grin. "I'll ask Omilaena."

"Of course you will." Zae Zin Nim rolled her eyes, but then shifted to a thoughtful look. "You might actually have less to fear. Back in Rayakan, Anaelina tried to drain you and failed, so you may be resistant. I still wouldn't suggest getting in their way, because they can just kill you with raw power."

"Believe me, I'm really not here to start any fights. Scary power or not, we don't actually know if they're our enemies or even doing anything wrong."

Zae Zin Nim shot him a glance as if this was an absurd thing to say, and he supposed it made sense from her perspective. Nothing would be scarier to a cultivator than someone who could steal their cultivation. But from his perspective, most cultivators seemed to live off the blood of others, at least metaphorically, and societies like Krysal were just as exploitative. He wasn't going to write off anyone just because of the power they had been born with.

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Not that he was going to go back and hug the demon, though.

They only had to wait a while longer before Omilaena emerged from an embassy building and gestured for them to follow. Her expression was less worried now, more frustrated. Hopefully she'd gained the knowledge they needed to choose their next step.

"Here's the situation," she said as they walked down the street. "The easiest option would have been to head into the Commonwealth. There we could have found a way to hide Zae Zin Nim's cultivation completely, plus it's the ideal place for us to gain more power. Now that its leadership has changed, we're going to have to find another way."

"I mainly know the abilities of Rosemount," Zae Zin Nim said, "I don't pay attention to all your random wars. Which place is this?"

"This is partially for Kai's benefit, but what you need to understand about Rosemount is that nations rise and fall about as fast as minor sects on Cloudspire. There aren't many powers that endure for generations, especially if they relied on the strength of a single powerful leader."

"That's why I don't pay attention to your squabbling."

"But this is an exception. The Commonwealth of Traebor has existed for over a thousand years, longer than many of your sects." Omilaena gestured vaguely, as if she was thinking of summoning something but resisting. "Its secret is developing robust systems that conquerors want to take over instead of destroy. For example, they mint all the Crests, which are the most widespread currency on the continent. Leadership has changed hands multiple times, but the Commonwealth endures."

Finally Kai could put enough together to join the conversation. "I'm guessing that the demon we saw represented new leadership and the Commonwealth isn't so safe anymore?"

"That's right. Rumor is that a demon of incredible strength took over, and he's attracted some others. They aren't going to burn the country down, but people like us who have power they might want to drain can't travel there safely."

"But power can easily become a shield," Zae Zin Nim said. "If we gain enough strength, they wouldn't dare attack us."

"We might be able to fight the minions, but their leader?" Omilaena shook her head. "If he's as dangerous as others are reporting, he's equal to the Empress or the Windlord. That's well above our reach for now."

They were talking about the most powerful people on the continent, and potentially much of the world, but of course Omilaena said "for now" when discussing their strength. It made Kai smile, even though he knew they needed to stay practical. In the short term, their path to power wouldn't be through taking such insane risks.

"I don't know these figures you're referencing," he said. "I assume they're the great powers of Rosemount?"

"There's no time to give you an entire lecture on continental politics. We need to decide our next strategy." Omilaena glanced down at Zae Zin Nim, as if to make it clear that the conversation was going to be mainly in between them. "We're weeks ahead of the sect cultivators, so how nervous are you feeling? We need to think long term, but how long term?"

"That depends." Zae Zin Nim seemed to be considering the matter carefully. "I do need a way to hide my presence, but I don't want to run away forever. I also need enough strength to go back and confront my father. Is the Commonwealth the best place for us to take those steps?"

"I don't know the entire continent, but it's the best one I know. Of course, I also have goals I'd really like to reach there, so I have my own interests. It's a question of opportunity cost. For example, we could travel to the Flaeren Dominion and acquire artifacts that could hide you completely. But that would require all our time and resources for a long while, so it would mean giving up on options back on this side of the continent."

Zae Zin Nim sighed but didn't say anything while Omilaena still glanced back toward the Commonwealth building occasionally. He wondered just what she wanted there and whether or not she would be honest if he asked. Despite how far they'd walked, it didn't seem like they'd made any progress on their central problem.

"Are there any foundational steps we can take?" he asked. "I mean things we can do to improve our position no matter which path we choose. That would give us time to gather more information, then we can make our decision with more power behind us."

"I need more qi," Zae Zin Nim said reluctantly, "assuming we can find pure qi here. I don't want to break through to Earth Soul while they might notice, but I do need to reach that stage regardless of how I hide my presence."

"There are a lot of resources I couldn't use before I left for Deadwaste, so I can stay busy." Omilaena shrugged but then grinned at him. "You're actually the one with the most obvious step to take. Right now, you reinforce your body and amplify your other abilities with mana and qi. If you want to fight here, you need to get used to chakra."

"Then isn't that our answer?" Kai glanced between the two women and then cracked his knuckles. "We're on a new continent, but our goal hasn't changed. Time to get to work."