Physical training helped Kai work off some of the unease and when it was time for the feast he felt mostly prepared. Still like he was walking directly into a battle he didn't fully understand, but mentally ready for the ambush. Krainuun and several young women who worked for the merchant attempted to help dress him and he had to fight to do things himself.

Instead of giving him Krysali robes, which looked like a pain to wrap properly, they brought him an ornate tunic more in the style of Goralia. It had buttons and trim he didn't expect, but it was all easy enough to figure out. With a shave and a haircut, Kai thought he actually looked presentable.

The feast was to be held at Crystallier Headquarters and, even though Kai argued that he could walk there on his own, he was given no choice but to go in a flying crystal carriage. It was definitely a smoother ride than anything he'd seen in Goralia, which made him think of Zae Zin Nim. Presumably she was enjoying the rides and he hoped to see her that evening.

At night the city was aglow with crystals, from the neon blue of qi to all manner of artificial colors. It was beautiful from overhead, but his vision was drawn to the headquarters complex. Again, it distinguished itself by being less bright than the rest of the city. Soft crystal lights surrounded it, emanating just enough to keep the glare of the city at bay.

He was allowed down in an ornamental forest, opposite the arena. There he discovered that a long feasting table had been laid out through the middle of a garden. It seemed that everyone ate standing, which made him think of Rayakan. Had they imported the custom from Krysal?

It seemed that few of the other crystalliers had arrived, so Kai took the opportunity to scout some food and drinks. Everything was no doubt incredibly expensive, but it struck him as less decadent than Rayakan. There were no mana potions for the sake of it, only mixed wines. He didn't see anything being wasted, beyond the extravagance of any feast. Perhaps if crystalliers were really so rare, that was just what they were due, or at least what they believed they were due.

"Doing alright?"

The voice startled him and he realized too late that Norgoan was coming up behind him. Whatever he was hiding beneath his shroud, the man probably deserved his position as the top crystallier in the city. Since he seemed friendly enough, Kai turned back to smile at him.

"I'm managing," he said. "Do you get many Goralian crystalliers here?"

"We have plenty of Goralian citizens, but your strongest tend to stay in your own country." Norgoan came to stand beside him and poured himself a large glass of wine. "I hope you're adapting alright. You arrived looking like you were used to the wastelands, not cities."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"No serious troubles, I hope? If all the pomp didn't convince you, we really do want you to feel welcome here. A city state's power might be primarily determined by its trade, but the quality of its crystalliers is critical to the balance."

"Especially because you lost at least one during the incursion?" Kai gave his blandest smile. "I'm surprised that the defense of the city was so fraught, this far from the Frontier."

"Most of us weren't required. You must understand, everything in Krysal is run with mercantile precision, so we never have as much trouble as the rest of you." Norgoan dismissed the matter with a rough wave of his cup - a little too rough, as if he wanted to change the subject. "But you're adapting well enough? I understand it must all be confusing."

"You could say that. Why do you use so much Goralian money instead of crystals?"

Norgoan smiled as if it was a slightly silly question, then quickly hid it. "I suppose it might seem strange, but think it through. We can't be trading qi crystals around all the time, there would be all kinds of trouble. Accidents, draining the qi, all kinds of things. And most of our mines are filled with crystals, not precious metals. So we allied with Goralia long ago for a common currency, since you use reliable gold. No fluctuations there."

"Fluctuations?" Kai glanced over at the older man. "You mean the value of crystals changes?"

"You might not have heard about it yet, but once you get deeper into Krysal you'll understand that there's a conversion rate. If there's a work stoppage at the mines, we get fewer new crystals, and their value increases. If a mine runs dry, the ratio of Golden Eagles per crystal can spike dangerously high. When we find new sources, it drops again. Believe me, fortunes have been made and lost with such fluctuations... this isn't too confusing for you?"

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"I received a basic education in economics." Kai thought he sounded a little too defensive, so he smiled again. "What is the rate right now?"

"About thirty Eagles to the crystal - that's a larger qi-quality crystal, not the smallest. That's a good rate, it only takes 150,000 Eagles to make a full crystallier."

Kai tried to do math in his head to figure out what exactly that meant. The amount of Power from crystal cultivation seemed to suffer from diminishing returns, perhaps according to an equation but not one he could manage in his head. Before he could figure it out, a new voice entered the conversation.

"You hadn't figured that out yet?"

It was Ailag, swaggering toward them with a glass of wine. Even though his comment was more important, Kai was distracted by his clothes: the man wore a shirt that was basically just strips of silk to make obvious how muscular he was. The immediate effect was impractical, clearly he just intended to show himself off. Now that Kai was noticing clothing, Norgoan wore a highly fitted tunic that must be designed for the feast. By contrast, Kai was very simply dressed, and his normal clothes would have looked like rags.

"Crystal cultivation isn't as slow as other paths," Ailag said. "Oh, there's time required to absorb qi, but we can make huge jumps when necessary. That's what we're all trying to do here: prove ourselves enough to get an investment. If we get enough crystals, we gain so much power that a little Physique doesn't make much of a difference."

His jibe wasn't subtle, but it didn't need to be. Even with Kai's simple math, he could see that dumping a large enough number of crystals into someone would make them massively stronger. It completely failed as a threat - clearly Ailag was posturing because he was insecure.

Maybe the crystalliers were hiding some strength that justified their confidence, but Kai had his own hidden strength now and it didn't worry him.

"That's impressive." Kai gave his most authentic smile, as if he hadn't even noticed the mockery. "I'm afraid I'm not much of a cultivator. Still dragging around weak Class mana."

"You might fit in better at Korostir." Ailag pretended to smile as he came closer. "There are some good Physique crystalliers there, even I have to admit."

"I think I recognize the name, but all I know is that it's closer to the Frontier. Is Korostir one of the larger city states?"

Norgoan snorted. "A respectable city, yes, but one of the greats? Hardly."

"They might be if they weren't so invested in incursions," Ailag said. "Some damn good crystalliers have come out of there."

"Nonsense, they don't have the industry for it."

Normally Kai would have been glad to let the two of them argue, but that was a point he was curious on, so he wedged his way back into the conversation. "Is there a formal list? Rankings of the city states, I mean."

"Not formally." Norgoan scratched at his chin as he considered. "Now, I love Romastir, but I have to admit that Yulthens is the greatest city in all Krysal. After it, I'd say there are three city states that really stand above all the rest. Romastir, of course, alongside New Laeneria and Philaster."

"But Laeneria has been going downhill ever since that Omilaena bitch took over," Ailag said. "Do they still deserve to be in the top four?"

"I say they do. She may be a demoness, but their mines haven't slowed production."

The two of them continued to argue about which cities deserved to be ranked in the top, as if it was an old debate. Kai was curious about the reference to a new leader - "that Omilaena bitch" - but let them keep talking. From their assumptions and implications, he figured out that the exact economics varied city to city. Apparently the ratio of Goralian Eagles to crystals varied depending on local mines, but not so extremely that it was easy to leverage the difference between cities. If it followed the economic laws he'd learned, those differences would already be factored into the prices.

When Kai had studied economics alongside weapons and trap-making, he'd never imagined it would actually be useful one day.

Other crystalliers had begun to arrive to join the feast. Some camped by the tables and ate vigorously, while others clustered around Uarania in a corner and appeared to be engaged in subtler politics. Kai decided to stay where he was, absorbing more information.

Was there really some rot at the heart of Krysal that he could discover? He was starting to think that the Frontier elite had just said something to get rid of him. Then again, he knew that Goralia had been sick as well, unable to keep up with the incursions. Even though everyone seemed confident that Krysal could handle any monster horde, that didn't mean they had an accurate perspective on the risk.

Practically no one did, given the apocalyptic flood of monsters he'd seen.

At least in the more relaxed environment, the other crystalliers were open to sharing information. Kai didn't want to seem like he was prying, so he tried to think of a way to play the barbarian foreigner and get the information he needed anyway. Before he could come up with a solution, the feast was interrupted by a ripple of murmurs from one side.

Kai turned to look, only mildly interested, and then stared. A group of women had arrived, clearly as dressed to impress as the men. There was plenty of female flesh on display, but Kai wasn't a naive teenager anymore and that alone couldn't sway him. What kept his gaze was the fact that Zae Zin Nim was with them.