Chapter 553: Catastrophic Unintended Consequences

  Having done all he could, Kai stood still as chaos unfolded around him.

  There was lots of shouting from the Irunians, but the sound that hurt most was the quiet strangled sob from Zae Zin Nim. She threw herself forward, embracing Omilaena with little regard for the liquid metal staining her robes. With desperate energy, she placed a hand over their wife's stomach, her own qi surging out.

  "Her qi is still strong!" Zae Zin Nim immediately pulled one of the medicinal pills they'd taken from the Brightwind vault, one of the deeper treasures, and tried to place it in Omilaena's mouth.

  When the other woman's blue lips parted, however, silver ran from them. Zae Zin Nim moved in, kissing fiercely, then pulled back and spat out the metal. She tried a second and third kiss, but it seemed like endless metal poured from Omilaena's body.

  "Kai, you have to help!" Zae Zin Nim gestured to him desperately.

  He didn't think that they could suck out the metal like that, but Zae Zin Nim looked so forlorn, he had to do something. First, Kai remembered the scroll the elites had given him and sent a quick message, then he bent down to help. It seemed that Zae Zin Nim was placing her hands over Omilaena's lungs, trying some sort of technique, and she gestured upward.

  Kai bent down and winced at how Omilaena's lips felt so lifeless, and coated in a layer of running metal. He still locked lips and sucked in, taking as much liquid metal as he dared before spitting it out. But he didn't think that this was going to work, and based on how Omilaena had stopped coughing after the injection, he didn't think she was in imminent danger of suffocation. The problem was that he had no idea what would help.

  Zae Zin Nim's technique must not have worked either, because she looked toward him miserably and then dropped against Omilaena, hiding her face. Kai instinctively went to her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her against their wife. Omilaena was still warm, but her skin didn't feel quite like flesh, and he was afraid there was a metallic glint to it.

  Around them, the Irunians only made a few attempts to help before stepping back in defeat. Sheiri made eye contact once and shook her head sadly. Tusquo and Quinta were standing to one side, expressions frozen, but he had no time for them, he barely saw the couple enough to note they were staying out of the way.

  "Is there a chance that this is part of the process?" Pourila asked from beside the pool. Zae Zin Nim twitched in his arms and he wanted to curse the older woman for giving more hope.

  "We can't say for sure." Kai gestured at her. "Clear the room unless you have more experts on the source metal."

  Despite everything, part of Kai really did hope that this was only an unexpected step, that Omilaena would open her eyes and smirk at them as if nothing was wrong. But as time wore on and her condition didn't change, he gave up that hope. The panic had ended, but the numb uncertainty was almost worse. He wanted to do something, yet all he could do was hold Zae Zin Nim and hide her tears.

  A portal appeared directly in the chamber and Gunjin stepped out with another elite behind him. Kai barely noticed the man was a thin Goralian and didn't pay much attention to him, just fixed his eyes on his mentor as they approached.

  "Looks bad," Gunjin said. In a strange way, his emotionless voice helped more than empty comfort. "I don't know if we can help, but this is our best chance. Meet Fornil Andalion, the best healer we've got."

  Kai gave the man a better look as he suddenly became relevant. Fornil was a thin Goralian man with a well-groomed beard, wearing a dark blue robe. More importantly, his soul...

  <

  Name: Fornil Andalion

  Total Power: 708

  Healer Advanced Class: 26 (378)

  Manaknife: 75 (105)

  Physique: E-3 (89)

  Soul Level: 6 (36)

  Hybrid Essence: Healer's Scalpel (+100)

  >

  Yes, the man had an elite's soul, with over 700 Power, mostly from an Advanced Healer Class. Kai felt a surge of gratitude for his mentor, even as hope and despair warred within him.

  "She entered the pool to transmute it using her body?" Fornil asked a few well-chosen questions, then bent down on the opposite side of Omilaena. Zae Zin Nim watched him suspiciously, but pulled back enough for him to work.

  Direct healers were rare, but Kai had seen a few work: they could close wounds with a touch or heal diseases with a surge of mana. Fornil was by far the most powerful that he'd ever felt before, and the man's mana flowed out in complex nets that sank into Omilaena's body.

  It culminated in placing his hand over her head, carefully gathering mana. When it suddenly intensified, Kai realized that he was witnessing some sort of healing phase: the healing energy was being compressed into a more intense form, as effective as any kind of attack. All of it surged through Omilaena's body with an intense glow... and then the healer pulled back.

  "I'm sorry," Fornil said. "What I can tell you is that she's still alive, and she's not dying."

  "What's happened to her?" Zae Zin Nim demanded.

  "This is uncharted territory. It is... possible for Physique breakthroughs to go wrong, to break apart the body. In this case, it is more like the body has grown still and armored. Blunt healing will never work, because there isn't any injury, the problem is actually too much power."

  "And what does that mean for her?" Kai asked. "Surely this can't be good."

  "I wish I could tell you that it's harmless, but it might not be." Fornil looked each of them in the eye grimly. "It is entirely possible for excess power to harm the user - I saw a woman from the Fire Union burn herself alive in an attunement gone wrong. There's no imminent danger, but what she needs isn't healing."

  "What might work?"

  "Something specific to her. More brute force healing won't work, I'm confident of that. If she has any chakra sources of power that she uses herself, those might help. Don't use Irunian materials, she has an excess of those. But otherwise... all I can say is that the solution will be unique to her."

  It seemed that he was on his way again, but Kai followed and explained about the syringe. Based on their terse conversation, Fornil thought that might have saved Omilaena's life, and that was the sort of intervention she needed to recover. But it didn't sound like the same thing would work again and there were obviously no easy answers.

  "Sorry I couldn't do more," Gunjin said as they stepped away. "Keep in touch if you have an idea. But..." He trailed off, not saying it to Kai's face. Kai only nodded.

  When he turned back to the room, he saw that Zae Zin Nim had dried her tears but remained fixed beside Omilaena's body, half-submerged in the pool of bluish-silver liquid. Omilaena floated easily on the top, disturbingly peaceful. Zae Zin Nim wiped away the liquid metal on her lips, closed her eyes, and tilted her head to a natural position, then began fussing with her clothes, as if she could set things right by putting them in order.

  For now, all Kai could do was comfort her.

  .

  ..

  .

  A day later, no one even dared to hope that this was a temporary condition that would resolve itself. Omilaena remained in repose as if sleeping, but she wasn't breathing and Kai was certain that her skin was gradually turning more metallic. Even if she wasn't dying, he knew this state was unnatural and doubted she should remain in it.

  The problem was that he'd already thrown the best he had at the problem and come up empty.

  They had taken chakra from Omilaena's satchel as well as injected her with her own poison. Her body had seemed to respond slightly to both, but she hadn't woken. Zae Zin Nim remained near her at all times, stroking her hand with the ice tattoo, sending in her own qi as if it would wake her up.

  Heart aching, Kai bent down beside her again. "Zin Nim..."

  "Go." She spoke so intensely that for a moment he feared that she was angry, then she looked up at him and he saw her pain. "I will stay and defend her, someone must. But there are two of us. Go and look for a solution... and if you have to deal with other things, handle them. Just come back to us."

  "I will." Kai embraced her briefly, then he rose to his feet.

  Aside from the overwhelming priority to him, Kai knew that others were still worried about the incursion and related issues. Most pressingly, there were Irunians moving around outside, wanting to see the pool, and he was afraid that Zae Zin Nim would attack one of them. So Kai got a jar and scooped up some of the new metal to take out to them.

  "Thank you." Tusquo bowed deeply as he accepted the jar. "Of course, we'll tell you immediately if we discover anything that might help."

  "See what effect it has first," Kai said. "There's a chance it could poison someone else. But if it doesn't, we might be able to learn something."

  And so, even though his emotions screamed at him, Kai ended up walking away from his wife as she slowly grew more metallic. He didn't want to think about anything else, but there was no choice, and he'd never find a cure for Omilaena if he didn't move forward.

  Chapter 554: Working Through Grief

  When Kai hit the ground, he roared, and devastation surged from him. He hurled more attacks than he ever would normally, blasting in all directions. Anger deep within him longed to unleash Baleful Breath that would annihilate everything in his path, but he restricted himself to slashes, spines, and tail strikes, all deployed at much weaker than their normal strength.

  The Irunians running in terror didn't seem to appreciate his restraint.

  Of all the things Kai was required to do instead of helping Omilaena, training her soldiers came the easiest to him. For one, he felt a sense of obligation to support them while Omilaena was incapacitated, because they had been her responsibility. But for another, it felt good to cut loose and work out some of the frustration constantly building inside him.

  By the time it was over, the entire squadron of Irunian soldiers was nursing wounds and repairing weapons. Even though Kai was harder on them than he perhaps should have been, he wasn't being careless. This was definitely giving them training that they weren't getting anywhere else, and while the Irunian soldiers all had strong discipline, they weren't his personal students, so they could use hardening against real adversity.

  This was the moment where Kai should have gone among them and offered some advice, but he wasn't in the mood. Instead he just distributed some potions to the worst affected as he moved back across the field, toward the new spectator that he'd acquired.

  Tusquo Agyama stood waiting patiently, his arms folded behind his back. If there was a bit of trepidation in his expression, he hid it well.

  "You're pushing them hard," Tusquo said, "but they can't win by training alone."

  "They won't." Kai snapped off a spine on his arm that was still half-formed and dropped the crumbling chakra to to the ground. "What happened with the rest?"

  "It may be a cold comfort, but the new metal has proved not poisonous. In small quantities, it provides an immediate boost that seems to spread across multiple abilities, including standard Physique and the Ironpath. We suspect that even greater things are possible with complete immersion."

  "Good. Anything else?"

  "Kai..." Tusquo hesitated, then stepped closer and put a hand on his shoulder. "I am sorry about this, truly. If your wife never returns, Irun will forever honor her sacrifice and-"

  "No." Kai snarled and knocked Tusquo's hand away, harder than he'd intended. "Don't tell me to face facts. Even if that happens... make your memorials, but leave me out of them."

  "You are right." Tusquo lowered his head. "Those were the wrong words for this time. I... merely wish that I could help, yet we can do nothing."

  Kai should have accepted the policy, or felt guilty for reacting so strongly, but he just shook his head and stormed away. All his nerves were stretched thin these days, and not just because of Omilaena's ongoing crisis. Instead of being a source of support, Zae Zin Nim was also stretched to a breaking point, so he needed to be strong for her as well.

  There hadn't been much change. It had been confirmed that Omilaena was no longer emitting liquid metal, which was indeed marked with her spiritual essence, but the end of the process didn't make her recover. That had led to some discussion about whether it would be better to remove her from the pool, but when Kai and Zae Zin Nim agreed that it didn't seem to be doing her any harm, the discussion ended.

  It was a morbid picture to imagine her metal body floating there while future Irunians entered... no, Kai refused to deal with those thoughts yet. He hadn't given up.

  Even so, it was costing him to jump across the continent and continue doing his work. It had been nearly a week and he'd spent half of it in Krysal, whipping some of their troops into shape and helping with mining issues. None of that felt as important as it once had: it might be his responsibility, but he had a much greater obligation to Omilaena.

  Unfortunately, he had to admit that he hadn't come up with a solution so far. Elites and healers from across the continent hadn't done any better than Gunjin's chosen healer Fornil, and Kai was out of ideas. Chakra only seemed to stabilize Omilaena, which might actually be counterproductive, and if Zae Zin Nim's qi was doing any good, it was unclear.

  When a message appeared on his scroll, Kai's fingers punched holes in the side. Maybe it was the confrontation with Tusquo, maybe he was just stretched thin, but he didn't want to deal with his own students right now.

  But if he didn't help them, who would? Kai forced the anger off his face, arranged a transfer and leapt across the nation to meet with Mariyay.

  She was fighting in one of the remote training grounds, and when she saw his expression, she hesitated. "Is this a bad time?" she asked.

  "You had a problem?" Kai folded his arms and waited for her.

  "Oh, well... I've been working on what you taught me, and I can use my abilities together." Mariyay revealed a pickaxe and spun it around proudly. "I had to-"

  "Stone handle from Earthborn powers, metal from Irunian steel, fused together with the Builder Class."

  "...yeah." Mariyay deflated a little, and strangely that was what got through to him.

  There had been a time when he had been in her position and every advancement had mattered hugely to him. At that time, the elites had been dealing with their own problems and hadn't wanted to deal with him. If he refused to help his students the instant he had any trouble of his own, did that make him any better than the others?

  Changing his mood was impossible, but Kai resolved to do better and examined Mariyay's soul.

  <

  Name: Mariyay Hafkrir

  Total Power: 198

  Builder Class: 34 (44)

  Earthborn: Onceshaken (43)

  Path of Steel: Steel 2 (10)

  Physique: E-5 (95)

  Soul Level: 4 (16)

  Earthpick (+10)

  >

  She had all three of her powers built to a decent level, giving her almost 200 total Power. He really shouldn't scorn the pickaxe she had created as well: yes, it only added 10 to her Power, but it was remarkable for someone at her level to be able to produce something with intrinsic power. That deserved encouragement, though he felt like he didn't have much to offer.

  "That's pretty strong," Kai said. "What do you think is wrong with it?"

  "It doesn't have enough explosive power." Mariyay waved it around awkwardly. "It's hard to demonstrate, but I was hoping to shake the earth, and it just sort of-"

  "Just hit me."

  "Uh..."

  "Come on." Kai managed a smile he didn't feel. "I promise I won't be injured."

  Mariyay smiled back, either not noticing his mood or too anxious to care. To her credit, she really went for it, putting her full strength into a strike that smashed the pickaxe against his chest. Kai was uninjured, though he took a step back when she connected so that she wouldn't feel bad about it.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  "I see what you mean." Kai rubbed where the pickaxe had struck. "Probably good for breaking through armored enemies, but you want a larger scale attack?"

  "I need one, for the incursion."

  "Then I suggest a hammer. Make it entirely out of stone: start with Earthborn material, then strengthen it like you used to do barriers, then use Irunian steel for the caps."

  "I tried that." Mariyay shook her head sadly. "I can create a pretty good hammer, for somebody who's an actual warrior. But in my hands, it's just mediocre. I can't impart enough raw power to a swing."

  "Actually, I was going to suggest that you use the hammer as a tool, not a weapon. Can you unmake through it more explosively?"

  "Oh, you mean with the trick you showed me earlier!" Mariyay's eyes widened and she hastened to try to follow his instructions.

  She could build a barrier faster than before, partially due to experience and partially due to her increased strength. But the real key was when she tried to send the bricks flying in all directions. Her best effort was still too slow on her own, but with a test hammer, the barrier exploded much more dangerously. If she took her time to create a proper Irunian weapon fused with her other abilities, it could become a lethal skill.

  Kai stayed with her a while longer, actually smiling a bit at her enthusiasm. He offered a few more suggestions, such as pre-building Irunian metal spikes that she could seed into her barriers, making their explosions even more dangerous. Of course, he had to balance that with reminders that all this was going to make her dangerous to her own allies.

  By the time he left, Mariyay's mood had been transformed and he was confident she was on a more effective path. It had raised his mood as well, he just wished it had done more. He needed to be finding solutions, not helping other people train lesser versions of his own skills...

  And in that moment, Kai realized that he'd been ignoring one potential answer as he sought more powerful options.

  It didn't take long for him to meet up with elites, now that he had Gunjin's support, but Kai still paced restlessly as it seemed to take forever. His mind was racing and yet not necessarily working effectively, because he almost ordered them to go back to Monskon City. But that wasn't right, not anymore.

  Instead he arrived near the Frontier wall, where the Tonjin brothers were undergoing training among others who had potential but sub-elite strength. More importantly, Juray had gone along with Raghi to support him, so he only needed to find her.

  Even though they had changed so much and moved across the continent, he found her in a little shop. She had taken over part of one of the military buildings and made it into her own space, so it was strangely nostalgic. Too bad he had no time for nostalgia.

  "Kai..." She had been smiling on her own, but her face fell when she saw him. "I heard the news indirectly, I'm so sorr-"

  "Never mind that." Kai grabbed her shoulders. "How much did Omilaena teach you?"

  "I mean, I learned as much as I could, but she's obviously far more powerful than me. I couldn't replicate what she does, not even if I had-"

  "I don't need you to replicate it. I need you to make the best potion of your life."

  Chapter 555: The Heights of Potioncraft

  They returned to Omilaena's pool, which normally would be under higher security, but no one stopped Kai as he marched in with Juray. There, they found Zae Zin Nim still over Omilaena's body, snarling at an Irunian who was trying to extract some metal. Her cultivation left her looking as elegant and composed as always, yet something in her eyes and the slight dishevelment of her hair gave her the look of a feral animal.

  When she saw Kai she calmed somewhat, and though her eyes barely glanced at Juray at first, then they returned with a tiny spark of hope.

  "Oh no..." Juray waded into the pool and reached out toward Omilaena, then pulled back. "She's in stasis... this is a matter of power far beyond me..."

  "But you used her techniques." Zae Zin Nim was now regarding Juray with a narrow-eyed interest that would have been unnerving in other contexts. "She doesn't need conventional healing, she needs something to restore her essence. A potion might be better for that than a pill."

  "I can't imagine refusing, but I'm... not hopeful. Can we move her out of this metal? It would be easier to work out there."

  Kai strode in to lift Omilaena and carry her to the side while the women waded out, their clothes thick with the metal. Omilaena was also surprisingly heavy, much denser than she was normally. Was she even heavier than she had been at the beginning? It was hard to tell, and he was too inside his own head to be sure of his impressions.

  "So..." Juray knelt down beside Omilaena and began shuffling through her spatial pack. "I'm not sure how to go about this, but... we worked on a variety of potions together. Many of those were designed for recovery, or used chakra-like components. Perhaps we should start with an antidote for a sort of soul poison."

  "Does she need an antidote?" Zae Zin Nim asked sharply. "Omi is made of poison, so an antidote might hurt her."

  "W-well, poison and antidote are more related than you might think. I'm going to... invert the process, I guess... uh..."

  Clearly, Juray was anxious to be thrown into such a high-stakes situation, and it probably didn't help that Zae Zin Nim was hovering over her shoulder and watching like a hawk. Kai stepped in and put a hand on Juray's shoulder, massaging it a little.

  "Relax," he told her. "She's been in this condition for days and won't change immediately. Take your time and brew the best potion you can."

  "Right." Juray gave a sharp nod and then got to work.

  In a bizarre way, it was like their time years ago when he'd helped out in her potion shop. This time, he was good for more than fetching ingredients or chopping up herbs. Juray walked through her process aloud, beginning with a basis of a restorative potion and giving it a poison aspect. After hearing about how they shared energy, she took some mana from Kai and Zae Zin Nim, which substantially increased the power of the potion while also making sure it would only work for Omilaena.

  Once they had a potion, which glowed a bright blue in its glass, they were left with the awkward situation of using it. Omilaena's body still seemed to be filled with liquid metal even if it wasn't seeping out, but after some discussion, they concluded that it was fine to inject it into her body. That wasn't the normal method, but Omilaena was highly adjusted to such injections.

  Juray gathered herself, pressed the head of the syringe, and injected it.

  And they waited.

  As the wait continued with no change, Juray sagged and Kai let out a sigh. Zae Zin Nim remained beside Omilaena, wearing an impenetrable expression, stroking her arm as if that alone could wake her. Eventually Juray rose and took a step back.

  "I'm sorry," she said, "but the gap in power is just too large. I don't think I can-"

  "No." Zae Zin Nim suddenly leapt to her feet, grabbing Juray's hands. "Your potion made her power surge, I felt it. None of the other attempts did that. A shock to awaken her might be just what she needs, we just need a more powerful version."

  "But that was the best I c-"

  "Then we need to make you better." Zae Zin Nim immediately scrutinized Juray and Kai joined her in examining the woman's soul.

  <

  Name: Juray Phrissan

  Total Power: 161

  Herbalist Class: 97 (107)

  Dryad Crucible (+25)

  Physique Level: G-9 (20)

  Soul Level: 3 (9)

  >

  "You're close to an Advanced Class," Zae Zin Nim said. "What does it take for an 'Herbalist' to break through?"

  "Well, I need to work with more powerful ingredients," Juray responded nervously. "I grew while I was on Darkmist Island, but I was plateauing there, and then I hit a wall after working with Omilaena's ingredients. Herbalist isn't a strong Class, I don't think there's ever been one that-"

  "Take my mana!" Zae Zin Nim began thrusting her Coldfire Corona out, nearly panicking Juray at the intensity of the technique until Kai got in between them.

  "We need to hurry without rushing," he said evenly. "Juray, we're going to try to push you to the next stage, but it's going to take a lot of work. Are you ready?"

  She nodded, and a strange period of training began, unlike anything Kai had experienced before.

  They got an easy win early, as Zae Zin Nim learned to donate her mana in harmless form. After a little experimentation, Juray was able to create something she called a Coldfire Potion - it was redundant for Zae Zin Nim, but could grant someone else a brief aura of defensive flame.

  Creating that potion made Juray leap up to Level 98, which gave them a false sense of optimism, but growth became harder after that. They fed Juray various powerful ingredients, whether from the Brightwind vault or the new liquid metal or their elite connections, and she made some exceptional potions, but she didn't advance again. Juray said that she felt like she was getting stronger, but it took a lot so close to the limit.

  So Kai began pushing his other connections, anyone he could think of. They pulled in Talndim Bundrin because he had an Advanced Class, and the man did have some training exercises to suggest. Apparently at the peak of a Class, supporting abilities often helped a person get closer, so they began to expand Juray's training.

  This time it took longer, but he eventually got Fornil to come back. The elite healer spoke with Juray for over an hour in quiet voices before he donated some mana and walked out. On his way he stopped with them, since they were basically lying in wait.

  "I've never seen an Herbalist this strong," he said in a tone of mild surprise. "I thought the Class was limited because it has to work with preexisting ingredients, but she can actually make them stronger. I can't make promises, but it might work."

  "Did you give her phased healing?" Zae Zin Nim asked.

  "You could never bottle power like that, not unless you had phased glass and a phased potion-brewing ability. But... yes, I gave her some. If she can manage something with that, that might take her closer, but it's only likely to work once."

  "Then what else can we do?"

  "An Advanced Class changes the body, and hers isn't as conditioned as the average warrior. Do whatever you can to prepare her."

  Juray was indeed able to make a potion from Fornil's mana, a potion powerful enough that it could restore even elites. They took it for their resources, which Kai distantly hoped was good repayment for all the resources they were spending on Omilaena, even if he would have gladly gone into debt for her. Unfortunately, Omilaena was a step up from even the elites.

  The phased healing ingredients took Juray to Herbalist 99 and she seemed to feel going any further was impossible. Kai decided to press her from a different angle, putting her on a program of brutal Physique training. She had been sitting at G-9 for a long time, so she was closer than she thought, even if she didn't emphasize physical strength. Normally Juray would have complained good-naturedly, but she took on the exercises with grim determination.

  Meanwhile, since they were guarding Omilaena, Zae Zin Nim swept around the continent, meeting with elites and returning to Krysal to gather resources. In the end she was able to find a valuable source that synergized with Juray's Dryad Crucible ability. Though it wasn't powerful, with a little help it was enough for her to develop a synergistic boost, which was a first for her.

  Omilaena herself would have been proud. Kai just hoped it was enough.

  Through all the rushing, Kai knew that they were running out of time. It was only a little over a week before the second month had elapsed, and though he didn't want to pay much attention to the contest, he knew that Yuinafal's soldiers had all gotten a secondary boost copying Omilaena's work. More importantly, the impending incursion meant that they couldn't afford to slowly build up Juray... the problem was that he didn't see what else they could do.

  Juray herself came to him the next morning. "I think it's time to try something drastic," she said.

  "You mean this hasn't been drastic enough?" Kai instinctively spoke lightly, but the tension lurked underneath his tone.

  "Getting an Advanced Class is a phase change, right? I don't think I'm ever going to get there just by brewing normal potions. This is just a feeling... based on talking to other healers, but still just intuition... I think I need to use a potion on myself. As in, be heavily injured and then heal myself."

  "I guess you're the expert." Kai stroked his chin as he considered it. "How do you want to be injured, and what sort of potion do you think would push you over the edge?"

  "Well... I think you should do it. Maybe that's twisted, but I'd trust you more." She gave him a lopsided smile, so much like the old days. "As for what potion, it has to be a monstrous one. Monster ingredients are the best way to create a restorative surge of energy."

  "Just tell me the type of monster. They're getting a bit thin on the ground these days, but I-"

  "Uh, I was thinking of you for that too."

  Kai blinked as he rearranged his thoughts. "I guess that could work, depending on what you need. I don't think I really have a monster core, though. I mean, I could tear out my own heart, but..."

  "Hopefully just a sample of flesh should be enough." Juray pulled out of one of her jars and began preparing a seal. "I don't know what you need to do, but whenever you're ready."

  It was a good thing that Kai had spent so long adjusting to his monstrous form, because this was using it in a very unusual way. The monster within him understood only hunger and rage, so it had no idea of how urgent the situation with Omilaena was. He depended on cool control instead, seeking the Savage Heart and slowly letting his monstrous traits take over.

  Juray's eyes widened as she watched him, and he realized that he was viewing her from an increasing height. The combination of three passive techniques seemed to increase his monstrous mass even more, so by the time the dark armor had slid over his body, his head was brushing the ceiling.

  "Ready?" Kai's voice sounded deep and rumbling even to him.

  "Whenever you are." Juray said.

  Maybe just a tiny fraction of blood would work, but Juray needed substantial materials and Omilaena's life was at stake. He finished growing his claws and then thrust them into his stomach. The pain was different than before, his own power twisting on itself, but he plunged in. Through his own blood, he gripped something that felt distinctly monstrous, then tore it out.

  To his surprise, he dropped down to one knee. He didn't feel drained, exactly, more like he'd taken an injury he couldn't heal. There was a throbbing orb in his hand, still trailing dark strands that shouldn't exist in the human body.

  "Will this do?" he asked, voice rasping.

  "It should." Juray's voice was much lighter, and she gingerly took the monster core from his claw.

  Now it took her far less time to process the core, melting down half into her jar before she added healing herbs and her own mana. Once it was mixed, she added more of the core and continued stirring in mana. By this point Kai had shed monstrous features and was feeling better, but Behemoth's Heart was pounding and he felt as though something was missing.

  "Alright." Juray finished her potion and then took a deep breath. "I need you to injure me. Seriously. It's possible that a minor injury might do it, but it doesn't look like we can make lots of these potions, so it's better to aim for overkill."

  "You're sure?" Kai raised one hand, letting his fingers extend into claws.

  "This potion can cure a mortal wound, guaranteed. So don't hold back."

  Obviously he wasn't going to truly hit her with his full power, but as Juray took off her outer robe, he readied himself to deal her a serious injury. She looked determined and Zae Zin Nim hovered nearby in case things went wrong. Eventually Juray gripped her potion in one hand, gestured across her stomach and ribs with the other, and nodded to him.

  Kai cut out, and his claws sliced through her body terrifyingly easily. Juray made a soft "Oh" sound and crumpled, dropping the potion. Only Zae Zin Nim's quick reaction let her catch the jar, and Kai caught Juray before she fell.

  This was what they had planned, yet for now all he could feel was the blood gushing out...

  Chapter 556: The Omilaena Potion

  Juray was losing blood at a terrifying rate and her eyes were unfocusing, so they might not have much time. Kai held her neck steady and opened her lips while Zae Zin Nim tried to force the potion into her mouth.

  For a terrible moment he feared that it wouldn't work and he had just killed Juray.

  As some of the potion made it into her throat, she swallowed, slowly at first and then more forcefully. Suddenly she surged, raising a bloody hand to grab the jar from Zae Zin Nim. Juray gripped it in both hands and began guzzling the entire thing even though it was glowing red hot and the mana seemed to be exploding within her.

  When it was done, she hurled the jar away from her and it shattered with surprising force. Juray was a sight, her robe drenched with her own blood and her eyes ablaze. For several seconds there was no sound in the chamber except her heaving breaths, as she seemed to be recovering from the intense experience herself.

  "That was..." Juray's expression softened into her own smile. "Too close for comfort. I guess I forgot just how fragile I am compared to you."

  "Less so now," Zae Zin Nim said, regarding her thoughtfully. Caught up in the nearly mortal injury, Kai had forgotten to check her soul and see if their entire reason for doing all this had been justified.

  <

  Name: Juray Phrissan

  Total Power: 389

  Herbalist Advanced Class: 1 (303)

  Dryad Crucible (+35)

  Physique Level: F-0 (30)

  Soul Level: 4 (16)

  Herb of Life (+15)

  >

  With everything combined, they had brought Juray up to 389 Power, the majority of it coming from her new Advanced Class. There had apparently never been an Herbalist of her power before, and she was obviously far beyond any individual Goralian city. She was closer to the healers of the Frontier elites than the healers who worked on the front lines.

  "Congratulations," Kai told her.

  "I feel incredible." Juray stared down at her own hands in wonder. "I feel so much stronger, sharper... but the real potential will be in potions..."

  "Which you must use to help Omilaena," Zae Zin Nim said firmly.

  During the transition Kai had been worried about Juray, but now all his concern funneled back to Omilaena. They had done all this, spent significant time and resources over multiple days, in the hope that Juray could help bring Omilaena back to life. It was entirely possible that she wouldn't actually be able to do it, rendering all their effort useless.

  "Right." Juray moved to her work station and placed a new jar in the center of her table. "I could repeat the recipe for a restorative person that I tried before, and it would be far more powerful, but I'm not sure that's enough. There's still a gap in power, and her condition is uniquely serious."

  "What else can we do?" Zae Zin Nim asked.

  "Well, we need to restore her to herself, right? I was thinking that we should make an over-packed potion, filled with more different energies than a person can normally sustain. The trouble will be finding enough, specifically related to her, that won't clash."

  "We have more poison."

  "And that's a good first step, but there's a more obvious component." Juray pointed at the silver-blue pool that Omilaena had occupied until recently. "It came directly from her, and after practicing making potions for the Irunians, I think I can convert it into a form that won't make things any worse."

  Zae Zin Nim scowled. "You think?"

  "I'm confident it wouldn't make things worse, only moderately certain that I can do it."

  "Then try," Kai said, "but I doubt that will be enough. I know potions are usually based on mana, but should we try to get qi and chakra fully represented as well?"

  "I can handle the mana," Juray said as she dipped another jar into the pool, "and the liquid metal can be converted into chakra. But I don't know nearly enough about qi to be sure what would be compatible with her. I'm told that qi is more personal, less fungible, so we'd have to be careful."

  "There is an option for that." Zae Zin Nim nodded and went to stand beside Kai. "Our dual cultivation energies should be perfect for her."

  Kai cast her a narrow look. "Uh, here and now?"

  "Not like that!" Despite everything that had passed, Zae Zin Nim looked away and hid her face with her hair. "People might usually use the term in a wanton sense, but it doesn't have to mean that. It can also be the two of us cultivating side-by-side... because our qi has mingled with Omilaena's, it should be well-suited to her."

  "Then how can I say no?"

  They sat down at the side of the room, back to back. At first they both sat in lotus position, qi gathering around them and then channeled into an aura instead of back into their dantians. At that point Zae Zin Nim reached over and, when he met her hand, laced their fingers together so they could begin merging energy.

  The process was surprisingly smooth, though he thought that was because they had already been intimate in so many ways: when they had merged so much energy, just cultivating together was simple. But their goal this time was not to trade yin and yang energy, but to fuse their power together into a single stream that unified their qi.

  Meanwhile, Juray was working up a storm with all of her ingredients. The results of her Class change were nowhere near as dramatic as most others, yet Kai began to see the subtle differences. When she ground up an herb, it crumbled in her fingers. Liquids seemed to lean into her touch, pouring just as she wanted them. And of course the mana that fused the results together was far more intense, and Juray wouldn't have attempted something like this before.

  "I can't incorporate purely spiritual energy into a potion," Juray said, looking at their position with a frown. "But I guess... Omilaena left me that cauldron, and it turns qi into pills, so..."

  She pulled out the cauldron from the Brightwind vault and began experimenting, clearly having a general idea how it worked. Soon enough Kai felt something gently tugging on his qi: when he loosened his control, he was able to direct the stream into the cauldron. In surprisingly little time, Juray managed to fuse a single new pill.

  After that, she melted it down and stirred it into the rest of the potion. Its colors had ranged wildly, influenced by the newest ingredients, but all at once the potion shifted to a deep blue, the same color as Omilaena's hair or lips.

  "This is the best I can do." Juray took a deep breath and picked the jar up gingerly before extending it in their direction. "And with that, I can't do anything else. It works or it doesn't."

  Zae Zin Nim rushed to grasp the potion and, after scrutinizing it to her satisfaction, found another of Omilaena's syringes. Meanwhile Kai went to her body, still heavy and silvery, and gently lifted her upper body into his lap.

  "Into her vein?" Zae Zin Nim asked.

  "I think that would be too much," Juray said. "People can absorb some as pure energy, but if you inject too much into the bloodstream, it could kill someone."

  "Try the neck," Kai suggested. "Apparently it's the best point for distributing energy through muscle, spirit, and meridians. At least I think I remember her saying something like that."

  "Yes." Zae Zin Nim nodded. "She is always aiming for the neck."

  And so she injected their wife while Kai held her gently.

  This time there was no explosion of power, no great surge, and for a moment he feared that it had been a failure. Yet then he noticed a subtle change: the silvery coloring seemed to be receding. Omilaena's lips parted and no liquid metal emerged - a string of it stretched between her lips, then while he watched it was absorbed into her body.

  Suddenly her eyes opened, glowing brilliant blue, and Omilaena surged upward with a gasp.

  "Omi!" Zae Zin Nim practically tackled her, knocking her straight into Kai's lap again. He wrapped his arms around both as Zae Zin Nim desperately kissed their wife over and over.

  "Hey now, hey now." Omilaena seemed almost mystified at first, then Kai saw her eyes flicker from the outburst to the pool of liquid to Juray hovering nearby. To her, it must have seemed like no time at all, but she was putting together how serious it must have been. "I guess I underestimated how difficult it is to process an Insanity, but it worked out in the end."

  "It almost didn't," Kai told her. "You were unconscious and I was afraid you were going to turn to metal. We had to-"

  "Kai tore out his heart for you!" Zae Zin Nim burst in. "It was romantic but it was also horrible!"

  "That's a bit dramatic. You should thank Juray, because we couldn't have done it without her. Seems like you taught her enough that we could create a potion to bring you back."

  "Doing me proud." Omilaena stroked Zae Zin Nim's back with one hand while extending the other to point at Juray. "Let me see if I can't find a way to thank you later. I'll start with a robe that isn't a bloody rag, but you deserve more than that."

  "Oh, I think I only repaid you for teaching me so much." Juray looked split between joy that it had worked, embarrassment at the attention... and maybe growing awkwardness as the three of them clung together. "I don't think you need a healer to check that you're alright, because you obviously are. Do you need anything else?"

  "Just help me get my orientation. I see I made a pool, but did it work? How much time do we have?"

  "It worked well, and just over a week."

  "Fuuuck." Omilaena drew out the word, her head falling back against Kai's chest, then she snapped into motion, full of energy as if she had actually slept for a week. "Okay, we have a hell of a lot to do and not much time to do it in. Even if the pool exceeded expectations, our opponent is resourceful, so-"

  "Not yet!" Zae Zin Nim stayed latched to her waist, dragging her down as she tried to get up. "I thought you were dead or dying for so long, you can't run back to your lab! You... you have to make amends for making me worry so much."

  Omilaena chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. "Alright, work can wait a little longer."

  Kai squeezed them both tighter, Juray beat a hasty retreat, and at last the world was right again.