With the dragon craze finally dying down, Kai returned home by carriage. He hadn't received a dragon's blessing, but Behemoth's Heart pumped within his chest and that was more satisfying. Along the way back he finally let himself relax and take time to contemplate his next steps.

Technically, he should have been thinking about his cultivation. With his latest payments he had almost 76,000 Goralian Eagles, which felt so close to his goal but was frustratingly far. One or two months of work, depending on how much extra he could earn. That would definitely be the next step forward, but it was hard to focus on slow cultivation when so much was happening in the monstrous side of his soul.

The combination of multiple abilities had left a space for another - the emptiness had been manifestly obvious to him. He'd filled it with Infernotoad's Burst, just in case he needed a long range skill, but that was just a stopgap. It felt better to have his monstrous capacities fully filled, though he wasn't sure if it was actually stronger or it was just a subjective feeling.

As he saw it, he had two paths ahead of him. Either he would find a monster with a stronger ability and feed the Infernotoad to it, or he would consume something with a strong passive ability and replace it. He leaned toward the latter, except that he wasn't sure how they would interact. It was possible that placing some minor strengthening ability alongside something as incredible as Behemoth's Heart would just accomplish nothing. Either way, he intended to make his decisions based on long term growth instead of short term advancement.

With so many abilities merged into one, Wallcrawler's Feet stood alone in his reserve. He almost felt bad for the mostly useless little ability, but he definitely wasn't getting rid of it. His experience had just proved that he needed all the resources he could get and he never knew what might be useful.

Most likely it would be some time before he made such a massive fusion again, but Kai resolved to be better prepared. As much time as he'd taken to figure out the rules of his power, there was more to learn and he couldn't afford to make missteps.

More than the new strength pumping in his chest, Kai was proud of having overcome the technical challenge. When random chance had given him monstrous capacities, it had given him a power that could backfire incredibly easily. Caution and preparation were all that kept him from disaster and he needed to remember that. It seemed unlikely that he was ever going to run into someone who could give him the answers, so he'd have to keep forging ahead himself.

As Kai finally came into sight of Yulthens again, he realized that he was deeply hungry. It was difficult to sort through all the sensations sometimes. He no longer had an excess of monstrous essence inside him, but every ability felt oddly bloated, like it was straining against its bounds. Whenever he thought about monsters he felt another surge of hunger, yet he also felt strangely satisfied, like he'd just finished a good meal.

And as always, the deepest hunger wanted to eat more, no matter what.

Despite his training on the way back, he hadn't upgraded Behemoth's Heart, and he wasn't sure if it was because such a powerful ability advanced more slowly or because of the limits of his soul. Either way, he felt like he was overdue for some focus on human abilities. He was looking forward to spending time with Zae Zin Nim again after the lonely desert, and he even missed fighting random crystalliers.

Yulthens looked no different than before, as if the city was too vast to be affected by any trivial events that changed the lives of others. He noticed that some of the children in the streets were flying golden dragon kites alongside their floating crystals, but that was the only trace.

Life went on.

When he returned to Orillia's estate he realized for the first time that he was still filthy. He'd urged the carriage to hurry all the way back and there hadn't been time to clean up. Normally he wouldn't have cared, but he'd grown accustomed to the traditions of Yulthens.

Before he could sneak away, Orillia emerged from her front door at a brisk walk. "Kai, there you are! I wanted to tell you about how well you've done, but first priority: discussing a new problem that has come up. There is-" She drew closer to him and wrinkled her nose. "Never mind. First priority: cleaning you up. Second priority: explaining about the new problem."

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"Does it have something to do with the dragon hunt?" Kai asked. "I did the best I could."

"And you've done some real good, my boy, you have. But the world doesn't revolve around you and there have been developments in your absence." Orillia cast her gaze over her estate. "Your companion has been busy... I'll have to go get her to discuss this. But you, you need to bathe. Chop chop!"

When Kai entered the main building he was set upon by several servants who clucked and prodded him toward the baths. All of Orillia's servants were older, had been with the family for a long time, and were nearly as opinionated as their lady. They escorted him to a bathing chamber with a recessed pool that he hadn't even known existed.

It seemed like they intended to strip and scrub him themselves, but Kai put his foot down there. Instead he got the majority of the grime off with a simple bucket and then, at their insistence, slipped into the main pool. The water was scented and delightfully pleasant against his skin. Even though his burns had all healed, he still felt the burning sensation sometimes, so he luxuriated in the water.

Kai sighed and let himself sink deeper into the pool. How long had it been since he'd really taken a break instead of rushing from objective to objective?

Back in Monskon City, he had carefully managed his training and rest time to optimize both effort and growth during rest periods. Now his rest periods were determined by obligations that got in the way and he felt like he needed to spend every other second working. Of course, it had been easier to relax when he'd been with Juray. Damn, he missed her.

"-time for the auction?" The voice filtered to him from outside the bathing chamber and he instantly recognized Zae Zin Nim.

"I see no reason to wait," Orillia answered, getting closer. "The early miner gets the crystal."

Technically he should probably have scrambled to dry off and put on clothes, but Kai's body felt as though it had melted into the water. They would have to wait for him outside, at least for a few more minutes. Whatever was going on, it couldn't be a life or death matter or Orillia wouldn't have sent him to the bath. They could wait.

Or not wait. The two women walked directly into the bathing chamber.

Zae Zin Nim froze in mid-stride, let out a strangled squeak, and pivoted to turn her back. She looked as though she wanted to flee, but Orillia was coming right behind her and blocked the way.

"You didn't tell me this was a bathing chamber!" Zae Zin Nim hissed.

"There's no time for niceties." Orillia rapped her on the shoulder. "Besides, it's nothing you haven't seen a hundred times before."

"That is most certainly not true!"

His first impulse was to cover himself, but Kai realized that they were between both the towel and the steam room where he hoped his clean clothes were placed. Orillia marched directly up to the side of the pool as if she didn't even notice he was naked. For her part, Zae Zin Nim had her back firmly turned and squirmed like she wanted to slink out of the room.

"First a little catch-up for you," Orillia said sharply. "The crystalliers have been all aflutter about golden dragons, but the merchants of the city have bigger problems. There was an incident in one of the mines, a terrible disaster, and crystal shipments have slowed. We're up to forty two Eagles per crystal, and if that keeps up Krysali society will grind to a halt."

"So that's the crisis?" Kai asked. He didn't feel confident sitting there naked, but his voice actually sounded casual.

"No, no, that was weeks ago! There have been all kinds of problems and fights I'll skip over. What matters is that somehow Suortril has gotten his hands on a lot of items from overseas. They have qi that would be valuable in the best of times, so their value right now is skyrocketing."

"They're from Cloudspire," Zae Zin Nim said. She definitely didn't sound comfortable and was clearly forcing herself. "I haven't had the chance to investigate them, but they're high quality."

"To make matters worse, he's set up an auction!" Orillia threw up her hands as if this was self-evidently absurd. "Auctions are trouble, mark my words. That boy... Suortril wants to extract every last crystal from this, mark my words."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like a crisis."

"Then you don't know auctions. Oh, there shouldn't be any blood shed this time, but it will be trouble."

"What exactly do you need us for?"

"There will be people coming from all over Krysal, so bodyguards will be strictly necessary." Orillia sighed and shook her head. "Not everywhere is as civilized as Yulthens, you understand. Anyway, I need dear Hanelay here to confirm the value of auction items that aren't familiar to me, so I'll need you playing bodyguard. Now chop chop, let's go!"

Fortunately they didn't need to go right that minute, despite her protestations. The two women left, allowing him to dress in peace. Kai examined his hair in a mirror and shaved as he considered the next steps. Speaking to the servants, he was able to learn more details.

Apparently the grand auction in Mercantile Central was scheduled for next week, but there were numerous smaller auctions and sales beforehand. Orillia had many students and allies who she wanted to help and every single one of them needed a bodyguard, which was why she needed him immediately. She clucked about lost opportunities and urged him to move faster.

Out of the literal dragon fire and into the claws of merchants. Kai definitely knew which one he preferred.