Depthless Hunger

Chapter 415: Entering the Southern Rivers

The month of travel to the Southern Rivers was honestly a relief, not solely from the warfare but from being entangled with other people and organizations. They had to stop occasionally, but otherwise it was just the three of them, almost like their honeymoon on Darkmist Island again. That suggested sex, but the biggest factor for Kai was just their presence, the ability to talk and train together with the women he loved, without interruption.

Not that there wasn't sex. Before their marriage, he had been worried that dual cultivation was going to involve a lot of weird rituals, but mostly it just meant sharing their energy while being intimate. They'd maximized the value during their honeymoon, but now that they had all grown further, they could benefit again. For example, Zae Zin Nim could take qi from Omilaena for her own cultivation and the act didn't require anything specific... as much as Omilaena might claim otherwise.

That was only a small benefit, however, and they all had their own tasks to focus on. None of them had imminent breakthroughs except for Physique, which continued to loom over them in stalled form. For his part, Kai wanted to keep increasing his monstrous strength to match his human advancements. There weren't any convenient monsters, but he could train his essence and try to strengthen it.

He sat cross-legged by the front, sorting through all the monstrous essence in his soul. His new Manticore's Quill ability was useful, but he hadn't used it enough to raise it beyond beta rank. Just shooting at nothing hadn't accomplished much aside from improving his aim, so maybe he needed live targets.

While he navigated himself, the women were cultivating at the side of the ship. It seemed to be going fine until Omilaena groaned and flopped back onto the deck.

"This is interminable. Cultivation is the worst."

"I thought you said Physique training was the worst," Zae Zin Nim pointed out.

"That is also the worst." Omilaena rolled over onto her side to address them both. "Your chosen methods are all so repetitive. Physical training insists that you have to lift a thousand rocks, cultivation is just sitting in a thousand caves."

"Then... then chakra training is just engaging in a thousand acts of sex."

"Well, look at you! But it would have been catchier if you'd said a thousand fucks."

"Don't be vulgar."

"If you mean a thousand different people, that'd be a challenging path to power." Omilaena suddenly shot across the deck, wrapping herself around Zae Zin Nim's back to embrace her from behind. "But if you mean a thousand times, well, I haven't been counting, so why don't we start at zero?"

"You are insatiable." Zae Zin Nim squirmed in her arms, but she didn't try to squirm away. And if she wasn't cultivating at that moment, the more relaxed atmosphere seemed to have done her progress a lot of good.

Kai smiled from his position but didn't join in. If he'd told himself years ago that these two women would end up being so comfortable with one another, he never would have believed it. Zae Zin Nim even fought back with her own teasing on occasion, which delighted Omilaena every time. She stuck close to cultivator propriety in public, but it was great to see her stretching herself in private.

If not for the threats hanging over them, he would have been happy to spend his life like this. But they needed to keep training, and to make progress they needed to gain new resources, so they continued into the Southern Rivers region.

Though the Western Wilds hadn't been as much of a desert as the reputation suggested, it was absolutely desolate compared to the Southern Rivers. As they crossed over the barrier the trees gathered into forests, a green sea that extended in all directions. After another day of travel, the forests were interrupted by a riot of color: rivers snaked through the trees, and all along its banks new plants blossomed in dozens of colors.

"Not that one." Zae Zin Nim spoke as she came up behind him and clasped his arm to lean against. "I don't remember all the names, but the westernmost rivers are slower and wilder. We want a civilized main channel that will take us to the heart of the region."

Kai practically hurled himself over the edge and enjoyed the impact as he hit the water. Given their river path, he had Sahagin's Soul prepared at all times, so as soon as he was partially submerged, he shot forward. The fish tried to swarm him and he actually laughed out loud into the water.

It was fun, yes, but it was also over all too soon. Back when he'd first arrived on Rosemount he'd been able to fight a swarm of Rose Piranhas, and he was far stronger than he had been then. His speed was far greater, they couldn't pierce his skin, and the only damage they did to his clothes was repaired by the Beggar King's Robes.

When Kai leapt back up on deck, he had a whole armful of dead piranhas in his arms. He'd eaten plenty under the water, tearing them in half or swallowing them whole, but the sight of monsters had awakened a different sort of hunger. Not the deepest one, just a nostalgia for the old flavors.

"Really?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "We have plenty of supplies."

"Yeah, but I feel like eating monsters," Kai said. "And I doubt they'll let us do that sort of thing once we reach Floodisle City, so this is the time."

He set up an old-fashioned fire beneath a spit, even used the fire stone he'd purchased back in Goralia - it was still sitting around in a corner of his spatial ring, unused. When the fire wasn't quite enough for the qi-dense fish, he blew a little wisp of Baleful Breath to make sure they were done.

The first one tasted surprisingly good and he closed his eyes as he savored it. There was nothing stopping him from eating the fish raw, but he liked the taste when they had all their toxins and corruptions burned away.

To his surprise, Zae Zin Nim approached and sat down on his leg, then took a fish of her own. She nibbled on it at first, then finished the entire thing and nodded in satisfaction.

"It may not be fine dining," she said, "but it is strangely satisfying. I remember when this was all we had to eat."

"Right?" Kai wrapped one arm around her and held her closer while they both took another fish.

Omilaena approached skeptically, sniffed at the fire, then gingerly took one. "I remember these being absolutely awful," she said as she bit into it. "Not fit for human consumption. But this... actually, this isn't bad. I doubt you've become a masterful cook or anything, so I wonder what changed."

"Could it be a fundamental shift?" Kai asked. "Maybe exposure to me made you more compatible with monstrous power, even if just a little."

"I was going to say it's because I've gotten so much practice eating one particular monster that I've gotten used to the taste."

Zae Zin Nim threw a fish at her face, but Omilaena caught it out of the air with her teeth. She danced closer and sat on Kai's other side, trying to feed Zae Zin Nim the fish with her mouth, which prompted protests at first and then laughter. Kai joined in and they enjoyed the crude but gratifying meal. If they could have continued like that, he would have been happy.

But the next day they began to see other ships along the river, and great walls on the horizon. The sound of flowing water increased as multiple rivers came together into a great lake, with the city of Floodisle City rising high over it, larger than any Kai had ever seen.

They had finally arrived and it was time for their preparations to be truly tested.