Depthless Hunger

Chapter 232: The Great Powers of Rosemount

Since they would be staying in Roseport for at least a short time, they needed to find suitable lodging. After the chaos of the ocean voyage, both women insisted that they could afford some luxury and Kai wasn't going to argue with them. They went to an inn that seemed to be reasonably nice, and perhaps more importantly, had very high security.

They hadn't discussed their exact room arrangements, which he hadn't realized could be a problem. When Omilaena requested a single room, the woman running the inn raised her eyebrows. Kai couldn't understand what she said in response, but he definitely understood the tone of Zae Zin Nim's awkward stammering response. She was denying anything, despite the innkeeper not seeming particularly scandalized.

As far as Kai knew, cultures on Rosemount were generally more relaxed about sex than on Deadwaste, and far more so than Cloudspire. It seemed a bit absurd to him, as the three of them had spent months together on the ship. There was no need for tension, they just worked together.

When they reached their room, which was luxurious despite the small size, it seemed like other concerns took over. "I can't wait to finally be clean," Zae Zin Nim said. "Getting a room with a bath was entirely worth it. I'm going first."

"You think you want this more than me?" Omilaena examined her own fingernails with a look of disgust. "I'm basically a filthy beggar. I will fight you for this."

"Clearly you're used to filth. I'm going first."

"Why don't we just go together, then?" Omilaena wiggled her eyebrows and tried to slip her arm around Zae Zin Nim's waist, only for the other woman to grab her arm and try to throw her.

Omilaena slipped out of it and danced back, apparently planning to enter the bathing chamber by force.

"Let chance decide!" Zae Zin Nim announced, and hurled one of their golden coins into the other woman's path. Omilaena just laughed and deflected it, sending it straight back at the shorter woman's face. The two of them struck back and forth, sending the coin flying with force that threatened to bend the metal.

However their contest worked, Omilaena seemed to win. She flounced into the bathing chamber while Zae Zin Nim went off to sulk and cultivate. All of that seemed fine to Kai, not a serious conflict, except that it left his sense of focus in tatters. Now all he could think about was the fact that both of them would be bathing just one wall away.

How long had it been since he'd been intimate with anyone? Technically, it had been the night before the final battle in Yulthens, but since then there had been ordeals of all kinds, from braving the Blood Current to the quieter stress of losing his relationships with Nirka and Yurwa. He'd spent that entire time in combat mode, running on pure monstrous hunger. Lurching back in the other direction all at once made him feel like a horny youth.

It was more than just physical, though. He no longer yearned for Juray in quite the same way, and hoped that she had moved on, but he missed coming home to someone. Or even having anywhere to come home to.

To control his thoughts by force, Kai decided to cultivate as well. He'd been so focused on monstrous essence and physical training that his cultivation could use work. Even if he was far behind Zae Zin Nim, he would need that power along with all his others if they wanted to compete in this new environment. There was no point thinking about that nonsense when they had so far to go.

His concentration held until Omilaena finished cleaning up and emerged in a robe. It was fairly thick and covered her torso, but the way it cinched tight at the waist and didn't even reach her knees... he did his best to return to cultivation and ignore both women.

"I decided not to torment you," Omilaena said, "and I refreshed the water. You'll have to heat it, but the chakra burner is easy to use. Enjoy yourself."

"Thank you," Zae Zin Nim said stiffly, then entered the bathroom.

Kai kept his back turned. It was just obvious that they'd want to clean up and he was used to fighting in dirty conditions. He could go last and simply not think about what they were doing until then. Back to cultivation... cultivation... cultivation...

"Look who's being a proper gentleman." Omilaena leaned on his shoulder and he could feel the heat of her body practically touching his back. This didn't help at all. "I guess I should have invited you to join me."

"Weren't you lecturing me about how seriously I needed to take Rosemount?" he asked sharply.

"You really need a way to unwind. Come to think of it, we were on the same ship so long... you must be under a lot of pressure unless you were - ahem - taking care of business under the water. Or maybe you met some sexy aquatic monsters?"

Her statement just raised the same question about her and he was fairly sure that was her trap. Kai swatted her hand and spun around to face her, not letting her intimidate him. She might be wearing a short robe with her hips cocked to one side, but he knew Omilaena well enough to know that he could puncture all her teasing.

"If we're really going to split up, I need more information," he told her in his most serious voice. "I thought you'd told us enough about Rosemount, but now... I don't recognize a tenth of the different factions we see in the city. Can you run through all the details again for me?"

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"Ah, but Rosemount is a more complex continent than Deadwaste. The energies are so rich here, they produce countless types of power. I couldn't list them all for you if we had a year, in part because I don't know them all myself. The factions and little kingdoms especially just keep changing."

"At least tell me enough so I don't do something stupid."

"If you insist." Omilaena sighed and flopped back onto the bed. For once he didn't think she was flaunting herself, the problem was in his own head, so he averted his eyes. "I already told you the basics about the laws here - self-defense applies to everything unless you attack someone really important. If you do, retreat to one of our backup points north of the city. If someone attacks you, fight back unless they're head of a major faction."

"But that's exactly the sort of thing I don't know."

"Basically, Rosemount has three major powers and two persistent ones. Crescilor manages to control a lot of trade, and we already talked about the Commonwealth. Neither had a great power, at least until the demons arrived."

"Are the major powers the ones with the strongest warriors you talked about?"

"That's right. The Flaeren Dominion in the far east is ruled by the Windlord and hopefully you won't have to deal with them any time soon. Then there's the Coiled Empire on the big peninsula, with its immortal Empress. And the Elven Wilds have, you guessed it, elves."

"Elves?" He blinked in surprise. The word sounded slightly familiar, now that it came up, but he wasn't sure.

"Oh, you've seen them." Omilaena propped herself up on one elbow and looked at him as if slightly surprised. "They have the pointy ears. Even though they look pretty similar to humans, they're a completely different species overall. There are other types on Cloudspire, and I thought in the very east of Deadwaste, but I guess you haven't run into them. The ones here live in a huge desert called the Elven Wilds. They have multiple factions, but together they're a major power."

Now he knew who she meant: a large percentage of the people he'd thought were human at first were actually the bronze-skinned elves. That skin made sense if they lived in a desert, he supposed. Now that he thought about it, their skin was similar to Omilaena's golden brown. Her ears looked normal... most likely it was just a coincidence, because of course people came in all sorts of different colors.

"Anyway, the Windlord, the Empress, and the Elven Elders," Omilaena ticked off each one on slender fingers, "each have some sort of massive advantage that renders them unstoppable, called god abilities. Don't ask me to explain those in full, because if I understood I'd be a lot closer to true power. The three of them have more to lose than to gain fighting each other, so they generally don't. They say the demon who took over the Commonwealth can stand on the same playing field, so that's four supreme warriors or great powers."

"I guess we should learn more about them, but..." Kai shook his head. "People here aren't stupid. Presumably there are whole factions trying to figure out their secrets."

"You're right about that, but you have your eyes on the right targets. If we have a chance to get closer to any of those factions, that could potentially take us in the right direction."

Now at least he had a view of the continent in his head. Still an over-simplified view, but it was better than just imagining a vast island of jungles and monsters.

When it was his turn to bathe, Kai cleaned up quickly and put on new clothes that weren't so torn apart. He'd expected his thoughts to wander in the bath, but he'd reverted to old hungers for power. There would be time to think about personal issues when they'd escaped their current problems. In some senses, despite all the strength he'd gained, he was still a young hunter who needed to establish his life.

He remembered that he should have asked about the "Soul Cultivation" he'd seen, especially by some of the elves. Anything that broke the apparent rules of power had to be important. But when he emerged, everyone was too tired to talk, as it had been a long day even without any combat. Kai slept on the floor while the other two took opposite sides of the bed.

In the morning, he was surprised to sleep in as he almost never did. Both women were already awake and fully dressed. Now that they had their bearings, it was time to begin investigating what Roseport had to offer.

"Three branches to this plan," Omilaena told them smoothly. "I'm going to explore sources of chakra and local politics, get the lay of the land. Zae Zin Nim, you're heading north to the qi quarter. You should buy the resources you actually need, but also be seen trying to charter a ship back to Cloudspire."

"Should I use my real identity?" Zae Zin Nim asked.

"No, let's make your father's minions work a little for it. There will be enough suspicious details trying to set a false trail, so let's not make ourselves too obvious."

"What do I do?" Kai asked. "I don't suppose there's a Goralian quarter?"

"It's all Deadwaste here," Omilaena said with a shrug. "But yes, you'll be headed south. There's a poorer region of Roseport that deals in materials from Deadwaste and even has some immigrants. They'd definitely react poorly to the two of us, so you going alone might get through to them."

"But do they have anything we need?"

"That's what you're going to find out."

They split up, finally going in separate directions after so long sailing together. Part of Kai enjoyed walking through the city at a more leisurely pace, just soaking in the new environment. Another part of him was deeply alienated, surrounded by people he didn't know and languages he didn't understand. In one sense he could take care of himself, but in another sense he was stumbling through a foreign land.

Once he got further south he began to see a few people he recognized. They were mostly people with hair from the Elemental Nations, which made sense since that region was closest to Rosemount. He found a shop selling weapons from Irun, which actually went for surprisingly high prices. Judging from the conversation there, apparently Irunian steel was excellent for imbuing with chakra.

There was nothing he actually needed there, but as Kai wandered into a sketchier part of the city, he discovered a stall actually selling Goralian potions. Just the sight of them warmed him and he spent longer there than necessary. He spent several thousand Crests on a thin pair of potions: one was allegedly a mix of mana and qi that he thought would be perfect for Zae Zin Nim, while the second was a physical development potion stronger than any he'd seen. Maybe not enough for D-rank Physique, but it was worth the experiment.

Kai walked on, into smaller alleys, and his instincts started to warn him of something. Too late, he realized that he'd brought this on himself: he'd forgotten that thousands of Crests was an insane number for average people, even on Rosemount. By purchasing those so casually, he'd likely painted a target on his own back.

"Welcome to Rosemount." A man slouched into the alley in front of him and there were several others coming from behind. There was no question what they were there to do. "You look new here, why don't you let us show you around?"

It was a bitter irony that he traveled across the world to this deadly continent, then the first people to attack him were his own kinsmen. But these thugs were a dozen times more powerful than any he'd ever seen before, and they were closing in around him.