As much as Kai had enjoyed traveling and training for the past months, they were overdue for a visit to the acid pits. Once they'd built up enough healing potions, and Zae Zin Nim said that Gundle was ready, they took their group of six out of Yulthens. The journey that had once required searching now felt like a short trip in the diamond star.

In theory, they would meet Omilaena nearby at the appointed date. He hoped she wouldn't arrive first and decide to pursue her own schemes.

So far he thought their plan of subtly gearing up for the conflict had worked, in part thanks to Krainuun's suggestions. Maggle and Nirka had made contact with the other mines while he was gone, providing them with training and moonmelt pills that won them over. Without him they were limited in some ways, but the mine workers embraced their own readily.

Kai hadn't really considered how much altering the gold to crystal ratio would inhibit their opponents' ability to fund new crystalliers. The ratio was lower in Yulthens, because they were more insulated from the events in the east, but thanks to the crystal mines slowing work, it had risen several Eagles just while they were there.

How long could that continue without being noticed? Because the mine workers had new sources of food and medicine, they could actually stop trading their crystal ore entirely. They tapered off their production and pretended to suffer for it in order to avoid attention, but it couldn't last. A conspiracy with this many members, even isolated ones, would have to break eventually.

When that happened, they'd have to be ready.

He had fewer concerns about the acid pits because the community there was so tight knit. When they arrived he was welcomed as a hero again, and his companions with him. Everyone looked better, since they were no longer suffering from the worst acid, but not as good as Gundle and Yurwa.

They eagerly accepted the healing potions, which might manage to take their Physique above rock bottom, and many dedicated themselves to the new techniques of acid cultivation. So in theory they could spend the next several weeks turning the pit workers into a combat-ready force.

Gundle and Zae Zin Nim were in charge of developing the fundamental theory of acid cultivation. Yurwa wasn't quite as fast as her son, but she proved to be a much better teacher: she could explain the concepts clearly, meeting the others with what they understood and helping them advance. Between the three of them, Kai felt like there wasn't much for him to do.

In theory, he was in charge of the unification of all the other work. Theory and cultivation weren't much use if the user wasn't prepared to use them in battle. And Kai was afraid that they weren't close to ready. Most people in Krysal seemed to think that power alone was most important, but he continually thought that old fashioned training like they started with in Goralia was still essential.

"Is everything alright?" Yurwa shuffled up beside him one day between lessons. "I'm trying to teach them as best I can."

"You're doing wonderfully," he told her with a smile. She looked away and blushed, and he realized that he needed to be a little more reserved now. "I'm just thinking that they need practice under real conditions. If not..."

"What do you mean?" Yurwa regarded him seriously and he decided that he should be straight with her.

"Right now they have offensive power, but they'd make themselves a target. I want to help everyone in the pits, not just use them as a tool. As they are now, I'm afraid they'd all be cut down by crystalliers in minutes, unless I was there to stop them."

"This is still partially a game to them. A hope for the future, not preparation for real battle."

She had a point. Kai considered how to change that, but hadn't come to conclusions when Nirka approached, slipping past Yurwa to wrap an arm around his side. "Hey. Still training the acid cultivators?"

"They have a lot of work to do." Kai slid an arm around Nirka's shoulders and pulled her closer. "What about you, how has your training been going?"

"I think I'm going to focus on what I'm already learning instead of branching out - plus Maggle won't shut up about acid cultivation. I tried some of what you talked about, training in the acid, but it just burns me so much... I think I'm not ready."

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"It's wise not to push yourself too far." Kai squeezed her shoulder to take the edge off, since he was proud of her progression. Zae Zin Nim seemed dismissive of the workers' progress, but he still remembered not long ago when he had the same strength they did. Each one of these advancements was significant to them, and it could mean their survival, provided they didn't try to take on any elite opponents.

"Kai was just saying that we'd be vulnerable to crystalliers," Yurwa said. She smiled at Nirka and it seemed authentic. "We'll be relying on all of you to help defend us, since you're so much stronger."

"We'll definitely put our bodies in the way." Nirka smiled and flexed an arm, but immediately grew somber. "I thought I'd had a rough life, but what I've seen here... I wish I could do more. We'll form the front guard and you take out their crystal equipment."

"I'm glad to hear it. But we'll have to train more, or we'll drop acid on you."

When had Yurwa and Nirka become such good friends? Kai wasn't sure, but he was glad that the mine and acid workers seemed to commiserate with one another. In any case, both women were now regarding him somberly.

"What are our tactics?" Yurwa asked. "If we have the miners in front, acid cultivators in back, and you to intercept anyone stronger... isn't that a good plan? Or do I not understand because I don't have the experience?"

"The problem is that we might not be able to stick to that strategy," Kai said. "We might not get to pick our battlefield, so any group could end up separated from the others. Things will probably go wrong, too, so we may have to fight on multiple fronts."

"I think I understand, but how do we teach that?"

"You know, maybe we need a demonstration. Tell all the acid cultivators to get ready - no, actually, tell some of the mine workers too. We'll give them a real taste of fighting."

Yurwa nodded and walked away, coughing only a little. Nirka remained against his side, so he glanced down at her.

"Don't you need to get the others?"

"No, they know Yurwa now." Nirka smiled after her. "She's a strong woman, in a different way than I understood at first."

"I'm glad you're getting along," Kai said. "I wasn't sure how you'd feel about the acid pits."

"They're not pleasant, but better to live out here than in the decadent city." Nirka chuckled and shifted against him, sliding her hips against his thigh. "The one thing I really miss is that bed. They do their best to make the caverns home, but they're just not as soft as-"

"Ahem." Zae Zin Nim landed not far away, clearing her throat artificially. "Are you ready to proceed?"

"With what?" Nirka asked. "We just told them to get organized."

"By coincidence, I had come to a similar conclusion. I had planned to show them a demonstration of acid cultivation against conventional qi techniques. However, I think that Kai may be a... more visceral experience. Let's go and show them that they aren't warriors yet."

So they headed out to the central pits and Kai let go of Nirka, since this wasn't the time for flirting. He could tell that Zae Zin Nim was unhappy, but wasn't sure why she had interrupted them so sharply. Normally he believed it was best to just talk, but she held her emotions very close to the chest, and sometimes he wondered if she was sure of them herself.

The warriors from pits and mines had all gathered, waiting for him. Kai hadn't planned to say anything in particular, he'd just been thinking about it as a training exercise. Now that he saw them all looking at him, and noticed Yurwa give him an encouraging nod, he realized that they needed him for more than strength.

"You've all done well," Kai told them. "But there's a difference between practicing techniques while everything is calm and using them in battle. Right now, I'd give you good odds against soldiers like the ones that keep you imprisoned. But you're going to have to fight crystalliers, so I thought I'd give you some practice." He stepped out toward the center of the group and cracked his knuckles. "Think of me as a crystallier. Do your best to take me down."

"We don't want to hurt you," someone said from the back.

Kai grinned. "Trust me, you won't."

What followed was the most extreme demonstration of strength versus skill that Kai had ever seen. Yes, many of the mine workers had over 100 Power, like they were veteran hunters, and the acid cultivators had incredibly dangerous abilities. But they weren't trained to use them in combat and he set about demonstrating that as gently as he could.

So he slipped around attacks, used his superior mobility to hit and run, turned them against one another. Some of the acid cultivators hit their own protectors, leading to curses and shouted apologies. But the laughter at their own incompetence started to fade as they realized how outmatched they were fighting just one opponent.

Toward the end, Kai stopped using strategy and just showed them raw power: he marched forward, ignoring the acid splattering off his skin, grabbing the weapons thrust at him and tossing them away. By the time he knocked down the last group, he saw a hint of fear in their eyes.

"This is why we aren't attacking Yulthens today," Kai told them in the silence. "But finish your training, and we'll attack when you're ready."

That got a cheer, as he managed to turn some of their fear into motivation. But the demonstration that had been intended to break their naivety had actually had more of an effect on him. As Kai stared around at all the smiling faces, he hoped that he wasn't sending these people to their deaths.