Chapter 268: Through the Coiled Empire

Once the elves left them, Kai was again stranded in a completely unknown foreign land. He couldn't have called the Elven Wilds home, but the wastes were at least familiar. Now they were allegedly in the northern part of the the Coiled Empire, which was a riot of colors. Trees with red and purple foliage seemed common, almost like it would have been for autumn at home, but there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the color here.

They'd left the elves behind completely to make their early preparations, mainly erasing every single trace of their association. For Kai that had just been buying some different basic clothing, but it was more difficult for the women, so he'd also gotten the diamond ship overhauled again so it looked more lamia than elven.

Now that he was finished with that, he was waiting around, trying to get his bearings. There were tons of lamias, of course, since it was the Coiled Empire, but this far north there were all kinds, even elves. Their group didn't stick out much and he saw more than a few goods from Deadwaste, especially the Elemental Nations. In fact, there was an old lamia man cooking over an eternal elemental flame just down the street.

What struck him more was that the powers were so different. He'd grown used to all elves being beautiful and graceful, so there was a part of his brain that thought everyone was plain-looking. That seemed unfair of him, so Kai used his spiritual sight instead, on a young lamia man.

Name: ???

Total Power: 86

Lamia Class: 20 (20)

Physique: E-4 (82)

Soul Level: 2 (4)

>

Even this young lamia, who looked like he was in decent shape but not a trained warrior, had a Physique in E-rank. On top of that, some sort of "Lamia Class" that also seemed to enhance durability. As far as he could tell, lamias simply gained Physique faster than other races, though it seemed to be offset by weaker powers of other types. Still, that would be an enormous advantage if it ever came to war, or even just violence in everyday life.

To contrast, he picked the strongest lamia he could find, a scarred middle-aged one missing half her tail. She seemed more on par for lamias who had actually trained:

Name: ???

Total Power: 330

Ifrit's Breath Class: 6 (30)

Lamia Class: 70 (70)

Physique: D-5 (225)

Soul Level: 5 (25)

>

Her Physique was D-5, and he was surprised for a moment before he realized it was only to be expected that someone would surpass his Physique here. Against guards like these, he would obviously still bet on himself, but he wondered just how strong they could become. Allegedly the Empress of the entire empire was a great power on Rosemount because her defenses were so high that she had never even bled.

It made him think back to the blue-skinned warrior at the Frontier. Had he been an exemplary Physique user, or were there unfathomable powers beyond that?

The other mix of powers still puzzled him a little, since it seemed novel but less diverse than he'd seen elsewhere. Everybody seemed to be carrying Classes, but they didn't look like Classes on Deadwaste. He felt certain that he was missing something, and the symbols swam a little in his eyes... in the end, he couldn't figure out what the discrepancy was, though.

Instead he looked to a street performer with tree-like hair, someone wearing a native wrap but not a lamia. He had enough power to be putting on a fancy show, lofting multi-colored balls in complex patterns, so perhaps he was more representative.

Name: ???

Total Power: 218

Eagle's Rainbow Class: 23 (115)

"I'm not sure what you expect me to see." Kai didn't want to stare at the lamia as they passed her, so he just glanced back at Omilaena.

"You're expecting to see personal powers as Classes, but you're overgeneralizing. Think about it - can there really be such as thing as a Lamia Class that the entire species has?"

"I guess... I might see it as a Class becomes it seems like a unique ability." He frowned and tried to reconsider. "I guess it's more like a natural characteristic, similar to elven soul cultivation? Huh... there was a dryad woman I met a really long time ago and I guess I read her soul wrong."

"What about the Sapphire Skylance ability?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "That looks like a Class even to me. It's definitely not cultivation."

"I think it's an elemental ability," Omilaena said. "Similar to the Elemental Nations, so you should be used to this."

Kai considered what they'd discussed and took one last look at the lamia woman. This time, his spiritual sight came in much crisper as he understood his misapprehensions.

Name: ???

Total Power: 339

Sapphire Skylance: Stage 13 (65)

Lamia Essence: 43 (43)

Physique: D-3 (215)

Soul Level: 4 (16)

>

His impression of her strength, both in quantity and quality, had been correct, but now he saw more truly. With his new knowledge her Sapphire Skylance ability resolved as something different, a power organized in stages, and her Lamia "Class" was listed as "Essence". That seemed more correct to him, but he wondered if he was still missing details.

"I dislike all these distinctions," Zae Zin Nim said with a scowl. "Yes, on Cloudspire we may wrap up too many abilities in our cultivation, but at least they're organized. What's the real difference?"

"If I had perfect answers to that, I'd be a lot stronger." Omilaena sighed and dropped back in her seat. "According to the diagram in the alien ship, there are several fundamentally different types of power, the problem is differentiating them. Elements, Essence, and what you call Class... they can all do very similar things, and they're all intrinsic to a person, but they're somehow different."

"I suppose they don't involve cultivating. Growing by gathering power, I mean."

"But it's more complicated than that. My abilities are based on the Essence principle and they can grow by incorporating new sources. The energy isn't fungible, which is a difference, but why should that be so important on a fundamental level? The fact that we don't see people jumping between different power systems is proof that the difference matters, but I don't know why."

Kai didn't have any answers, but his thoughts immediately turned practical. "Are these sorts of powers conflicting, or complementary?"

"That's exactly the question!" Omilaena snapped her fingers and pointed at him. "I believe it's the latter, but haven't proved it. It's a shame that neither of you is a fundamentally elemental fighter, or I could do some interesting experiments that I think would make you much stronger."

"You mean aligning the different powers," Zae Zin Nim said carefully. "If a person had a flame-based Class, but also a flame based... elemental power... they would be more powerful than the sum of their parts?"

"I'm pretty sure they do that at the Frontier," Kai said. "I don't know that it's always exactly the same element, but they get benefits for combining the different abilities. Admittedly, they don't seem elite compared to here, but they're working with a lot less power. They have pieces of their soul I don't ever see here."

Omilaena sighed and slouched back even further. "Welcome to my world. Would the ideal balance be one of every single type of power, or would they crowd one another out? Can they all coexist, or do they need to be merged or balanced? As far as I can tell, we don't have answers to that anywhere on Rosemount or Cloudspire, but there are people in the world for whom this stuff is essential."

Another reminder of the threat they faced beyond even their current crisis. The conversation turned to happier topics, particularly potential benefits they might find in the Commonwealth, but part of his mood remained somber. As if he was just waiting for something to go wrong.

There were no more divine beings from the sky, but well before they reached the border, they saw a demon. It was a woman standing atop a spiked hill, staring at all the travelers with her burning red eyes. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but it seemed like her gaze followed them longer than all the others.