Chapter 165: A Conversation of Fists

Chapter 165: A Conversation of Fists

At first Kai thought about it like any other fight: dodging and striking and maneuvering. It would have been a challenging one, because the old man was as tough as his Physique suggested and the dark pit was a dangerous environmental threat. But, after Kai fought enough to realize that he wouldn't be overwhelmed, he realized that he was thinking about this wrong.

His goal wasn't to win, he needed to convince the old man, and that made the fight a conversation. It was an extension of what he'd just told Nirka about viewing combat analytically, except this time he was the one who needed to be more strategic.

When his opponent fought like a brawler, Kai responded like a brawler, trading blow for blow. The old man grew frustrated that Kai could keep up with him and shifted his stance, using tight, focused strikes like a crystallier. As soon as he did, Kai shifted to match. Realizing that he was being played, the old man gritted his teeth and tried something else, a flowing style Kai hadn't seen before.

Whatever it was, Kai could adjust to it. For all that his monstrous powers felt independent at times, they were truly a part of him, so they cooperated. Behemoth's Heart stopped restoring his strength and instead added its full power to the battle. It didn't just make him stronger and tougher, he was faster and more agile, blocking the flowing strikes at each step.

Using Tyrant's Claw or Isulfr's Bite, Kai could have ended the battle then. But he didn't want to hurt the old man, and without those techniques, he couldn't get the upper hand. So instead he kept neutralizing his opponent, making his movements into an argument.

Kai had said that different abilities could be leveraged against each other, while the old man had argued that it all came down to power in the end. But all the old man really had was his massive Physique and experience, while Kai could draw from multiple sources. So he flagrantly used all of those, refusing to match strength to strength and proving his point by keeping his opponent off balance.

Eventually the old man charged at him, trying to tackle him across the chest. Kai met him dead on, their arms grappling as they quickly reached a deadlock. Both strained against one another, teeth gritted, feet scrabbling to maintain purchase, sweat rolling down their faces.

Could he win a direct confrontation? Kai was confident in his monstrous abilities, but the amount of strength that came with a Physique of D-0 was impressive. He never got to find out the answer, because abruptly the old man laughed and let go.

As soon as he did, Kai stopped pushing. The final punctuation on his argument.

"Alright, you've made your point." The old man rubbed a sore spot on his arm where Kai had struck him. "My name is Kraetius, formerly of Yulthens. You're the first person coming to find me who I'm actually going to listen to, so you'd better make this worth my while."

Kai glanced over at Nirka, who had been watching raptly but now nodded for him to go on. This was what they had been working for, after all. Still, he pretended to catch his breath in order to consider his next strategy: the conversation could be viewed as a fight, after all.

With a name like "Kraetius" the old man was likely from the upper classes, as that definitely wasn't the sort of name they gave in the mines. His crystal cultivation being nullified suggested that this was a punishment, and the level of Physique he'd obtained made it a sure bet that he had been highly trained before. That all led to the conclusion that he was a former crystallier, or at least something similar.

"Why are you down here?" Kai asked.

"That's my business," Kraetius answered. "Why are you?"

"I got on the wrong side of the wrong merchant. I don't plan to stay... but I'm wondering why someone as strong as you is still here. With your strength, you could easily fight your way through the guards. Why not?"

"Because that would get me nowhere. Like I told you, what matters in the end is power, and I just don't have enough." The old man gestured to his body. "Oh, I've trained. I learned their Physique tricks and got tougher, looks like you have too. But it took me two decades to break from E-9 to D-0. Now look at me... strongest man in the mines, but do you think I could fight even one Diamond Crystallier? Do they still have ranks like that?"

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"They do." Kai had guessed it might be something like this and didn't suggest any easy way forward. "So I'm guessing your story is something like mine."

"You could say that. For years I thought I could break out and get revenge. Now that I see how futile it is... I don't know. I keep moving on because I don't know how to do anything else."

Convincing him to help could be difficult. Before Kai could figure out his next move, Nirka stepped forward. "Kraetius, you have to help us! We're all training, but we're blocked by the 99 Power barrier. If you help us past it, we'll give you anything we have."

"Eh? Maybe things have changed since my day, but they never had soldiers doing the work out there. The acid fumes are too toxic, it's even worse for you than the crystal mines. Used to be they said getting sent to the mines was hell, getting sent to the acid pits was double hell."

Maybe the system had changed in recent years, but Kai's mind immediately leapt to a different solution. Despite the old man's words, he thought their search had uncovered exactly what he needed. There was a solution, a path beyond not just a power barrier but the entire system. He just needed to find his way back to it.

As they walked back toward the upper levels, Kai glanced at his own soul.

Name: Kai Clanless

Total Power: 235 (172)

Cultivation: Body Refinement 3% (101)

Physique Level: E-6 (98)

Soul Level: 6 (36)

Monstrous Hunger - VIII (theta)

Behemoth's Heart - IV (delta)

Direboar's Strength - VI (zeta)

Isulfr's Bite - V (epsilon)

Tyrant's Claw - IV (delta)

Infernotoad's Burst - IV (delta)

-

Wallcrawler's Feet - I (alpha)

Beastbat's Wing - I (alpha)

Crystal Slime - I (alpha)

>

He had been more focused on strengthening himself than simple recovery, aiming toward his final potential. Now that he had a new goal, the timelines might need to shift again.

The old man thought that fighting back was completely futile. This time, it wasn't going to be so easy to convince him.