Kai grimaced in pain and instinctively grabbed for the hand holding the knife, but he missed. Naellia took a step back and smirked at him.

"You too?" Kai asked. "What did I do to offend you?"

"Rejecting me. Thinking you're better than everyone else. Ruining a lovely evening." Naellia manifested a second knife in her other hand and flipped both into stabbing position. "Take your pick."

He had barely even remembered the rejection, and definitely hadn't considered it as part of the social balance. As usual, he wasn't very good at the political part of things. Which meant... maybe all of this was for the best. Trying to subtly learn more wasn't getting him anywhere, so he might as well make everyone angry, start a brawl, and see what they revealed about themselves.

Naellia stabbed at him again, but Kai lunged in, intending to bind her arms. She flitted back with surprising speed and he realized that there were crystals glowing just underneath her feet. Instead of touching the ground, she skated just above it, floating on her own crystals. Whatever the technique was, it made her dangerously fast.

As he felt the trickle of blood move down his side, Kai reconsidered whether or not this had been a stupid idea. Ailag, Naellia, Norgoan... he'd started a fight against three crystalliers with over 100 Power. Kai knew he was a decent fighter, but without his monstrous abilities the odds were definitely overwhelmingly against him. The smart thing to do would be to apologize and surrender.

But no. Kai not only stepped forward, he refused to let Aquagorgon's Health heal the small wound in his side. He'd fight them all as a human and see how far he could go.

"I can tell you want to beat me down," Kai said with confidence he didn't feel. "Put me in my place. Well, come on, then! If Krysal is so superior, show me!"

Immediately Naellia snarled and threw one of her knives at him, but Kai was gone. He instead struck at Ailag, binding the man's sword arm before he could use his range. Ailag looked shocked for a moment, then pushed back. With all his qi burning, he was definitely strong, strong enough that Kai couldn't easily overpower him.

Not that he'd ever planned to. When Naellia threw another knife at his back, Kai jerked their scuffle to the side so that Ailag was the one in its path. The crystallier grimaced in pain when the knife hit his stomach and Kai was gratified to see Naellia's eyes widen in shock.

A moment later he was driven back by crystalline fists. Norgoan had chosen his moment well, dealing blow after crushing blow that would leave serious bruises if Kai met them. But he wasn't proud, not three-on-one: all he wanted was to win.

When the next fist came, Kai grabbed it with both hands, binding the crystal arm in place. Of course that left him vulnerable, and Norgoan immediately reached out to grab his arms. That left them locked in place in a struggle of raw strength that Kai knew he was eventually going to lose. Direboar's Strength growled within his soul, but he forced it to stay in check. Victory wasn't killing the three crystalliers, it was proving he was master of his new abilities.

Ailag and Naellia rushed at his back, this time coordinating their strikes so they wouldn't interfere with one another. If they'd actually reached him, the knife and sword could have ended the fight right then. Maybe even killed him, judging from their expressions.

Instead, Kai leapt into the air. He was still locked with Norgoan, and going airborne should have left him at the stronger man's mercy. But when he disappeared upward the others charged in: Naellia barely halted in time and Ailag's sword plunged on, shattering against Norgoan's breastplate.

The impact took the older crystallier entirely off guard and he lost his grip. Instead of controlling their grapple, he hesitated, which let Kai strengthen his grip and pull the man down as he arced overhead. The massive armor slammed into the ground like a falling tree.

That left Norgoan temporarily stunned and Ailag knocked backward. Kai grinned and lunged for Naellia, but she fled, disappearing into the trees.

Maybe that was fear, maybe just a tactical retreat. Kai wasn't about to chase after her, since she was more familiar with the territory. Instead he used the moment of peace to pick up a jar of jam and a plate from the destroyed table.

"Enough tricks!" Norgoan managed to get back on his feet and gestured imperiously. "Krysal is a system, so let's show him that system. Stop going for solo attacks, take him down together!"

Ailag created a new sword and Naellia returned from the forest, forming two more points in a triangle around him. That was what Kai had been afraid of: against three opponents with careful coordination, he couldn't overcome the gap in collective Power. But he wasn't out of tricks just yet, so he waited while the three stalked around him.

When they started to close in, Kai pretended to rush at Ailag. Immediately the other two intended to attack his exposed back, but that was what he had been waiting for. Kai reversed direction, hurling the plate against Naellia's next thrown knife, and then smashed the jar of jam in Norgoan's face.

The crystal armor stumbled back, pawing at its eyes. Kai had been wondering if the armor had any special senses or special cleaning techniques: judging from how Norgoan seemed to have been blinded by the helm covered in jam, apparently not.

Since the others were still off balance, Kai followed up, kicking the armored man onto his back. He leapt on top and began punching down at his chest, over and over. His studies of crystal cultivation showed that they each had a special core, the equivalent of a dantian in other systems. Breaking or damaging one was a sure way to take someone out of a fight, so he wanted to look like he was planning to do just that.

Of course the other two came for him from behind. They were coordinated again, but not fast enough. Kai kicked off the crystal armor and sent himself sliding on his back through the mess of the table. It was an undignified maneuver, but he was pleased by the shock he saw on the crystalliers' faces as he slid between and beneath them.

Slamming both hands against the ground, Kai vaulted back to his feet and closed on Ailag. The man was too startled to get his sword up in time and Kai managed to grapple that arm, then slammed him in the throat.

Pain ripped across the back of his calves.

Kai stumbled away, each step sending twinges shooting up his legs. His blow to the neck had injured Ailag, but he'd finally been too slow: Naellia had gotten behind him and slashed at his joints. It was a smart move, since he couldn't face them without his full mobility.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The battle might have ended then... but Naellia wasn't used to fighting someone with advanced Physique. Kai would have been completely disabled before, but at E rank he was only injured. He whirled on her while she was rising to stab him in the back and smashed her across the face, sending her and her knives tumbling back through the garden.

All three of his opponents were temporarily down, but Kai was wobbling too much to finish them. Pushing so hard had been a mistake: he could ignore an injury like this with his full strength, but as a human this sort of attrition would finish him.

Instead of fighting further, Kai staggered away from the garden, around the side of one of the trees. He saw several bystanders gawking at him, cursed as he realized they would ruin the plan, and forced himself on until he had a hedge between himself and the rest of the feast.

As soon as he was out of sight, Kai used his shroud. It was no invisibility trick, but he was confident that his opponents had all been focused on his mana. Kai suppressed it as much as he could and crawled underneath the hedge, ignoring the prickling against his wounds.

He was more injured than he thought: bruises from the melee with Norgoan, small cuts while binding Ailag's sword arm, bleeding points when Naellia had grazed him with a throw and he hadn't noticed. All of the injuries were superficial, so he'd been right to push past them, but they were adding up. He didn't know how much longer he could go.

"This way!" someone said. "Around the hedge!"

Kai shook his head ruefully: he hadn't counted on the others at the party trying to betray his location. It was good that he hadn't opted for a stealth technique amid the trees, because they would have prevented it from working. But for once luck went his way, because he saw Naellia's crystals skimming along the ground as she rounded the hedge to finish him.

His hands burst out of the hedge and grabbed her ankles.

Naellia cried out and went over directly onto her face, then he leapt over her. She managed to stab him once, her dagger going deep into his side, but then he struck her right over the heart. The blow knocked her into the air and cracked several of the crystals she was wearing, then she fell and lay groaning.

He had fully expected to be attacked then and he only had a few ideas left. Yet to his surprise, Kai was allowed to regain his balance. Ailag was still on the ground, clutching at his throat and swallowing pills given him by one of the bystanders. Did that mean he had forfeited, or would he attack again anyway? The blow to the throat must have done more damage than Kai expected.

"Enough!"

At the same moment Kai heard the shout, he was struck by a beam of qi. He fell a step back and one of his legs nearly buckled as his injuries cried out. Somehow he pushed through it, desperate to find the source of the attack.

Norgoan had not only returned to his feet, his armor had expanded so much that he was at least two feet taller. There were defensive spikes over his helm as well, presumably to ward off any future jam attacks. The idea almost made Kai laugh, but the pain caused by that qi beam had been too serious for him to find it funny.

"You think you can beat us with these tricks?" Norgoan brought his fists together and emitted another ray of pure qi that knocked Kai back another step.

"I have so far," Kai called back. "Look at all those spikes... are you so afraid of some jam?"

Norgoan let out a cry and his next qi beam came even faster. This one broke Kai's flesh and he felt something burning within him - his Physique made his skin far tougher than normal, but he'd found its limits. Such a blow directly to his torso could be lethal and he was surprised he didn't feel worse.

Then Kai felt a sinking sense of disappointment. It wasn't that he had shrugged off the attack: Aquagorgon's Health had automatically begun healing him, refusing to allow him to die. He was glad to know that his instincts would keep him alive, but that meant he'd failed to beat them purely as a human.

As Norgoan prepared to launch another beam of qi, Kai considered just ending it. Everyone was staring at his soul and no one seemed to think he was a monster, so he was hiding it so far. Could he push further and use Tyrant's Claw? That would be enough to finish the battle and it could easily be explained away as a technique.

He stared toward the first-ranked crystallier in the city and realized that now, in the middle of battle, his shroud was no longer effective.

<

Name: Norgoan of Romastir

Total Power: 168

Crystal Cultivation: 6730 (108)

Physique Level: F-7 (44)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

>

Was that all? Norgoan had talked such a big game, but he wasn't all that much stronger than Kai. Strong enough to be the leader of a city, yes, but Zae Zin Nim was right: they were stronger than this place. Even if Kai was beaten down in the end, it was obvious to everyone who had watched him fight three crystalliers at once that he had won.

And yet that wasn't enough for him. He hadn't just wanted to win, he'd wanted to beat them using only his human powers for a real challenge.

Even if he hadn't managed that, Kai refused to consciously draw on the rest of his abilities. He'd find another way to end this... and as Norgoan prepared to launch another qi beam, Kai realized what he needed to do.

Kai raised his hand and launched a burst of his own qi.

It wasn't much, just a pale imitation of the techniques that Zae Zin Nim used. But after everyone had watched him brawl through the entire fight, he heard several gasps. Norgoan was either too surprised or too slow in his armor to dodge it and the qi struck his faceplate.

"Alright, I'll play too." Kai grinned and began to walk forward with his hand raised. "You know I've been cultivating with your crystals, right? I'm not very good, but I'm working on it."

"Pathetic!" Norgoan shot another beam at him, but he was getting predictable. Kai managed to dodge aside and sent out another little burst of his own.

"I got this far with just a handful of crystals, you know." Kai smirked as he kept walking forward. "How many have you been fed?"

Another burst, and again he managed to dodge, getting closer. His attacks weren't doing much damage, but Norgoan flinched slightly with each one and he was getting desperate.

"At the current rate, you've spent over 200,000 Goralian Eagles on your power, haven't you?" Kai was operating almost entirely by bluffing now, but it was working. "If that isn't enough to beat some barbarian from Goralia, then are you really so superior?"

Norgoan gathered himself with a growl and attacked again. Even though his qi was more reckless now, Kai was too close to dodge perfectly. One of the qi beams struck him, and it definitely hurt, but he forced himself to keep going without healing.

"Is that all?" Kai grinned as if the beam hadn't even hurt him. "Is that all?"

For just a moment Norgoan quailed, and in that moment Kai struck. He leapt the remaining distance between them and slammed his shoulder directly into the massive armored breastplate. It didn't crack this time, but Norgoan was off balance and he tipped over. When he slammed back to the ground, Kai landed on his chest and stood triumphant.

Barely on his feet, and maybe not actually triumphant, but he knew what everyone would see. Maybe it would give one of them something to think about.

No one else attacked and Kai wavered a little. He began to second-guess this crazy idea and wonder about the consequences when he heard a mild voice from the side.

"Well, I guess there's no need for duels after all." Uarania stood at the side of the garden with all the other crystalliers in tow, including Zae Zin Nim. The older woman was pretending to be mildly amused, but he could see the fear in her eyes. She had been afraid that the new arrivals would take her comfortable position and she had been right.

"We're moving to Yulthens," Zae Zin Nim announced as she walked across the garden calmly. She leaned down beside Norgoan and removed his helmet in a gentle movement that actually involved tearing off the qi crystals. "I trust that you will approve and make everything go smoothly."

"Go." Norgoan was bleeding from one eye and his lips, and he tried to spit the blood at Kai. "You think you proved something with all this? Everyone saw you for what you really are!"

"And what is that?" Kai asked.

"A thug decorated with a few crystals. Now go, get out of my sight."

As he stepped away, Kai smiled to himself and finally allowed his monstrous essence to flow within him. Despite all the eyes on him, no one was accusing him of being a monster. It wasn't the victory that he'd originally planned, but he'd take it.

Once they were a few paces away from the others, Zae Zin Nim turned back to him. "Congratulations, but..." Her smile flipped as she looked him over. "I leave you alone for one day and you manage to turn into a deranged, filthy barbarian again?"

"Apparently so," Kai said with a smile. "But this filthy barbarian just got us to Yulthens ahead of schedule."

Zae Zin Nim did her best to hide her smile and had to turn away. "I suppose filthy barbarians have their strong points."