Their task in the Earth Union was taking longer than expected, but Kai didn't mind at all. While he tried to figure out the mystery of the blob-like monster he had plenty of time for training, both his normal work and the new Frontier compression exercises. Even after half a month he was still making great progress.

The only thing that worried him was that politics might be getting worse on Rosemount in his absence. There was no way to contact them across continents, so the Elven Wilds might be invaded or the demons might be doing something terrible in the Commonwealth. He had a feeling that Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena would laugh at him if he expressed those concerns, but he didn't care, he'd spent time with those people and didn't want bad things to happen to them.

So he reminded himself of the other reason his worries were stupid: right now he wasn't strong enough to get involved in war at the highest level. If he wanted to make a difference, he needed both mastery of the phases and more power.

Currently he was taking a break from the immortal blob in order to help the Tonjin brothers, who were taking on the Prince of Pebble's bizarre request to carry stones. Kai was fairly sure it had something to do with manipulating the earth elements in the region, but whatever the real reason, the challenge involved feats of strength. And when it came to lifting heavy and unwieldy things, naturally that fell to the large men.

All three of them ran while hefting one of the enormous stones, generally on their backs or over one shoulder. Kai was experimenting with holding it directly overhead, which was only stable if he used his Savage Heart to transform his hands into claws. He made great progress until the transformation slipped and his human-sized hand couldn't stabilize the weight.

It tumbled into the dust and he dropped back, cursing under his breath. The Tonjin brothers caught up with him, but instead of making fun they set down their own boulders beside him.

"That seems pretty impressive already," Raghi said. "You sure you need to hold it like that?"

"The skill is supposed to lead to sustained transformations." Kai flexed his fingers, trying to find the claw again. "I didn't train with them long enough, so I'm still figuring it out."

"Well, we're glad to have you back. You've taught us a lot of Physique training methods."

"I learn more pretty much everywhere I go, so I'm just sharing." Kai glanced at the quieter brother. "You doing okay, Lofgan?"

"Just resting..." he said between breaths. "Not as strong... as you two..."

"He's being modest," Raghi said with a roll of his eyes. "Right now it looks like I'm stronger, but if he could ever get to E-rank Physique, he'd blow past me. He's way better with Class training."

"It's nice not being treated as a thug here," Lofgan said quietly.

"Of course, we both benefit from you being around, Kai. Makes us look like sleek intellectuals. How do you just keep getting taller?"

"It's not on purpose, I swear," Kai said. "Of course, learning the Savage Heart probably won't help..."

They lapsed into silence for a while. Not uncomfortable, but Kai felt as though there was more they hadn't said. It seemed to him like the Tonjin brothers might not have fully overcome their inferiority complex: they'd advanced beyond everyone in Monskon City, but at the Frontier their fellow trainees were all exceptional. In an environment like that, they could easily feel like brutes.

Kai wasn't sure how to help anyone be exceptional, and in a way he might be making things worse with his Physique advice. But it was what he had to offer, and he wanted the Tonjin brothers to succeed, so he did what he could. Once they had caught their breath, Kai lifted his boulder again.

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"Back to moving these, but this time you're going to keep your elbows bent and only run mana through your biceps," he told them. "No joint reinforcement, just the main muscle. You'll be feeling it in the stabilizing muscles soon, I guarantee it."

Both brothers groaned, but they lifted their boulders and began staggering into the wasteland again. Kai managed to pull out his claws again and followed them. Wherever this went, he was just glad to spend time with them again.

.

..

.

The bridge across the canyon swayed... and creaked... and held. A cheer went up among the workers and Omilaena allowed herself a little smile. She didn't have the structural engineering skills, but she'd taken on the job anyway. It hadn't taken long for her to figure out the weakest points and craft stronger components out of Rosemount metals.

So now the bridge was complete and the Prince of Pebbles could stop whining. Despite his reputation, Omilaena suspected he was much smarter than he let on. This bridge connected two major parts of the Earth Union via a route that was normally crossed via flying vessels, so having a bridge would make trade more accessible.

During the process she'd also made some connections with merchants in the Earth Union. She'd found some mildly useful poisons to drink and no worthwhile metals. In general the only thing they had to offer was money: she'd made several hundred thousand Goralian Eagles in the process.

"Those are some damn strong knots," one of the workers said as he came up beside her. "You're a miracle worker."

"Just don't wreck it," Omilaena told him lightly. "I can only make so many replacement parts."

"Oh, but we need an excuse to get you back here! Come on, we finished the bridge, what do you say we celebrate? Come back to the tent and I'll rock your world."

"Buy me a drink and we'll see what happens," Omilaena said with an exaggerated wink.

Her banter with the workers was meaningless, since most of them didn't think they had the slightest chance with her. They were just starved for female attention, even the joking kind. She didn't mind giving it, since it was harmless and seemed to lift their spirits. Just a little affable flirting.

Of course, there was always the chance that one of them would turn out to be not so affable after all, in which case someone would end up poisoned.

Even though things stayed positive, Omilaena's thoughts darkened. While she was out here, making bridges to appease the local idiots and earning a little money, Kai and Zae Zin Nim were pulling further and further ahead of her. And if she tried to flirt with them it would never end well.

"You comin'?" the worker asked.

"Can't wait."

.

..

.

Most of Kai's time was spent either trying to kill the slime or helping the Tonjin brothers, so he didn't make it back to the Adobe Retreat very often. The rooms there were probably more comfortable, but he was already relaxed enough in Deadwaste and didn't want to take any time away from training.

This time when he returned he was surprised to find Inafay and Zae Zin Nim training together. They seemed to be getting along, exploring some sort of strange synergy between their ability sets. He didn't think that the Zae Zin Nim of years ago would ever have been open to training with a Class-user, but she actually seemed happy. There was some real progress after all.

When he passed the training garden, Inafay bounded up with wind around her feet and slid over to him. "Everything alright, Kai?"

"Just fine. You?"

"Things are moving pretty fast now. We're probably going to try to do the duels pretty soon, because one of them is scheduled for next week."

"Ah." Kai tried to think back to the restrictions, since he hadn't been paying attention to those. "Do you need me for one of the fights?"

"Probably not, and they'd just accuse you of cheating anyway." Inafay gave an odd shrug. "I think we need to really convince them, not just win. But on that note, I hope you can get this monster figured out soon. We want the Prince of Pebbles completely happy with us when this happens."

"It's not overwhelmingly powerful, just... stubborn. I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, Kai. This should work out."

He nodded to her and headed back into the wasteland toward the abandoned town. The truth was that, while he had a few more ideas for the immortal slime, he'd actually failed to kill it. Or rather, he killed it repeatedly and it just kept coming back. Once when he'd tried to use Isulfr's Bite to consume its essence directly it had run away, so he hoped that would work, but he was more interested in testing himself by experimenting on it.

But that time was over. If they were almost done in the Earth Union, this might be his last chance.