Chapter 37: Scorn and Marriage

Chapter 37: Scorn and Marriage

When it was finally time to meet with Inafay again, Kai found himself oddly nervous. Their relationship had always been comfortable, yet there had been so many new thoughts going through his mind lately. Or maybe it was the fact that everything had turned against him while she had just finished an extensive clan-funded training.

At first when he arrived to find her absent, he was worried that her priorities had shifted, but she joined him not long after. Oddly, she was wearing light armor over a long tunic, quite unlike her usual outfits. Her hair was back in a bun as well, which was an odd look for her.

"Sorry, I've been all formal lately." She poked at the bun irritably, but didn't undo it. "Anyway, stop looking at this, use your spiritual sight!"

"I, uh, thought it might be impolite."

"I demand you check out my progress!"

If she was being so insistent...

Name: Inafay Corinin

Total Power: 49

Windcutter Class: 17 (27)

Physique Level: G-8 (18)

Soul Level: 2 (4)

>

Kai let out a low whistle. After fully developing her Class, its power had shot up until it was the majority of her overall strength. She'd kept up with her physical training as well, so once she broke through to the F rank, she would be immensely strong. At the moment they were still somewhat evenly matched, but he could easily imagine her leaving him behind.

"That's impressive, Inafay. Not to make light of your work, but I take it things were easier after the barrier?"

"Oh, it's no insult, it was a lot easier." She put her hands on her hips and mock-scowled at him. "But you have no right to act all impressed when you've come so far. How the hell are you outdoing everyone when it comes to Physique Levels?"

"Breaking through obstacles by ramming them with my face, I guess." He didn't want to complain with her, so he just grinned. "I assume you want to get back to work to get yourself over the barrier?"

"I do, but I think it's going to take a while. There's actually something else I need an outside trainer for. This will be weird until I explain it, but I want you to attack me completely at random. Like, no set start to the match, just take a swing when I'm not-"

Kai punched her in the shoulder with a fair bit of his strength. She winced and fell back, laughing.

"Alright, I guess I asked for that! And it actually proved my point."

"Which is?" Kai asked as they walked to the center of the private training yard.

"While training, I've noticed that Class abilities seem to take a while to warm up. That delay has been improving as I train, but it still takes too much time to connect with the mana, gather it into the appropriate form, and deploy it. I can do it quickly in an exercise, but real combat is too different."

Kai was too taken off guard to respond and Inafay looked shocked as well. She recovered first and jabbed a finger at the taller man. "Back off, Balgahai."

"I'm just telling the truth. You need to pay more attention t-"

When Inafay struck, there was almost no warning. Green arcs of cutting wind exploded around her arm even as it thrust forward. Balgahai's eyes widened and he began to summon his hammer, but he was too slow. Her blow swept him off his feet and a small tornado threw him into the two others, knocking them over and shattering the shingles.

"If any of you have a problem with me," Inafay said quietly, "you can schedule a match. Otherwise, keep your mouths shut."

It looked like the Flamecaster was about to say something else, but the woman pulled him away. Balgahai returned to his feet and brushed himself off, more angry than harmed. He didn't say a word as they turned away and returned to the upper city.

Leaving a very uncomfortable silence in the courtyard.

"You, uh..." Inafay turned back to him with an odd expression. "You weren't trying anything like that, were you? I didn't think so, but I'm terrible at picking up hints."

"Uh, no." Kai swallowed. "Umm, not that you aren't attractive, but I mainly wanted to spar with you. Does this make things awkward?"

"No, I'd prefer it if everyone was just honest about these things! No weird ambiguous flirting."

"Then maybe we'd better talk, just to be sure?"

Inafay tilted her head from side to side while working her mouth, as if trying to make the thoughts roll into place. "I'm afraid I'll say something dumb but I'm just going to go for it. I like you fine, but not in that way. If my parents were going to force me to marry someone, and you were one of the options, I'd be relieved. I mean, I think you're pretty handsome and we get along great. But given the way things are..."

"Your parents might have married you off like that?"

"Even if I'd awakened a weak Class, the Corinin name has some weight." Inafay visibly forced herself to grin and summoned a sphere of wind around her fist. "But now, nobody can tell me what to do. I want to focus on training first and wait until I'm really swept off my feet in love, you know? Maybe it's silly to believe in soulmates, but I'm still hoping."

It was surprisingly romantic, given what he'd seen of Inafay, and Kai found himself smiling. "I guess I feel the same way. It looks like my best hope in life might be getting married by someone stronger, so I wouldn't be upset if you were offering. But since you're not going the decadent route and taking ten husbands..."

"Has this all been a roundabout way of submitting your application for concubinage?" Inafay's grin turned real and she punched him in the shoulder. "No way, you deserve better than that. I have no idea what to tell you about Classes, but I think you're the best fighter of any of us. This is just a game or a way to get status to most, but you have this vicious edge that I wish I could match. So whatever happens to you, I hope you find someone who really loves you."

"That's..." He wasn't sure what to say to that, so he just swallowed the strange sadness. "I hope you do too."

"Okay, enough sappy talk! I guess we'll need to figure out a way to prevent them from harassing us again."

"Is that the reason we've been moving around?"

"Yeah, I wanted to spare you all that shit. Plus, I don't want them learning about the new advantages I'm trying to develop. Thanks for not defending yourself and revealing anything, by the way. It's best if they think I'm just wasting my time out here."

"Uh, no problem." He'd been too puzzled to speak, but he was happy to let Inafay think he had been honorably stoic.

They made arrangements for their next training session and Kai made himself smile until he left. As he walked back home, he had no idea if he felt better or worse.