Six months of bliss. Kai struggled to believe it had really happened.
As happy as he’d been going off to Darkmist Island, part of him had been sure that it couldn’t last. The island would turn out to be ruined, or they would be found and attacked, or more gods would descend to annihilate everything. It felt almost wrong that he, Zae Zin Nim, and Omilaena had been able to spend so much time living and training together.
Kai sat on the highest point of the great caldera, enjoying the mists floating around him as he stared out into the ocean. The entire island was familiar now, the closest thing he’d had to a real home in a long time. He briefly glanced over his shoulder toward the house, but then his gaze wandered back to the mist-wreathed waves around them.
How long had it been since he’d actually been happy in a world that seemed to make sense? There had been pleasant moments throughout the journey, yes, but actual peace... it probably hadn’t been since before the Hunter Trials, when he’d still had his entire life planned out.
Instead he’d taken an entirely different path. Parts of it were roughly the same: he still wanted to stop the monster incursions, the stakes were just higher now. Others were bafflingly different: being married to a cultivator from Cloudspire and a poisoner from Rosemount hadn’t featured even in his wildest dreams.
They’d truly been happy together, this past half year. Oh, there had been arguments and some issues to work out in their relationships, but as a whole it had been heaven. He wouldn’t complain about having to navigate some issues in a three-way relationship when he’d known normal marriages with far more drama.
He shielded his eyes with one hand, trying to peer through the mists for anyone who might be arriving. If they hadn’t been attacked, he’d expected that some obligation would come for them. The elves would demand their help, or Krysal would begin falling apart, or the monster incursion would come years early, or... something.
Of course, it was possible that those things were happening. Living on Darkmist Island felt like being separated from the rest of the world.
Despite having been driven so hard, and despite the threats still hanging overhead, Kai felt no guilt for taking this time for themselves. Even from a strictly power-focused perspective, this break had been the best for their growth. Unfortunately, that justification wouldn’t be valid for much longer: their dual cultivation was synchronizing, so they couldn’t gain much more strength that way. Darkmist Island had been useful for a while, but he had eaten all the native monsters, Omilaena was done with local resources, and Zae Zin Nim had cultivated as far as she could with the qi in their Immortal’s Cave.
Kai had been focused solely on training and resisting real analysis of his own soul, but now he looked over it carefully.
Name: Kai Clanless
Total Power: 576
Monstrous Hunger - XIII (nu)
Cultivation: Body Refinement 91% (119)
Savage Heart: 12 (126)
Physique Level: D-9 (245)
Beggar King's Robes: +1 (5)
Soul Level: 9 (81)
Behemoth's Heart - VIII (theta)
Thunderbird's Wings - V (epsilon)
Direboar's Strength - XIII (nu)
Baleful Breath - V (epsilon)
Tyrant's Claw - XI (iota)
Void Gaze - VI (zeta)
-
The touch that had once felt provocative was now intimately familiar, exciting in a much more comfortable way. When Kai eventually pulled back, he kept Zae Zin Nim in his arms to look at her. She put her hands against his chest, pushing back just a little, and must have seen something in his eyes.
"What next?" she asked.
"Let’s go find Omilaena and talk about it."
He set her back down and they went to look for Omilaena, but surprisingly she wasn’t in any of her usual haunts like the chakra fruit orchard. Kai was just beginning to wonder if she’d wandered even further from the island when he felt a venomous blue shadow slip into his senses from behind.
"Hey there!" Omilaena whacked his butt and playfully squeezed. "What has you looking so serious?"
"We all need to talk." Even while speaking seriously, Kai grabbed her hips and pulled her against him for a wet kiss. Her sexuality, which she had weaponized for so long, was now just a comfortable part of their relationship.
Of course, he doubted that would continue so smoothly after they left the privacy of the island. Zae Zin Nim padded closer, undisturbed by their intimacy, but Kai strongly suspected that she would get more uncomfortable when anyone else was within sight. Hopefully the bonds they’d strengthened during their honeymoon would carry them through any complications.
For now, they all sat around a circular table in the dining room. He realized that they actually hadn’t used it much, at least not together: he ate monsters, Zae Zin Nim usually had lunch in her cultivation cave, and Omilaena just ate wherever she was working. Actually sitting down together felt oddly formal, which he supposed wasn’t inappropriate.
"I hope I don’t need to argue that we’ve done all we can here," Kai said to start. His gaze shifted between them and he saw the same understanding in their eyes. "I’d love to stay, but to keep growing I think we need to move on. Except... for the first time in ages, we don’t have any problem bearing down on us. We can actually choose."
"Do you want to go back to Deadwaste to check on anyone?" Zae Zin Nim asked.
"We got to visit them before, so I don’t think that’s necessary. Ideally we’d check on them a while before the next monster incursion, but we won’t grow much there."
"Technically we could go back to Rosemount." Omilaena glanced between them and arched a blue eyebrow. "But somehow I suspect that’s not what you two are thinking."
"There’s more we could gain there, but for now..." Kai’s gaze swung back to Zae Zin Nim. "The biggest obstacles to our growth are the barriers Zin Nim is hitting, and Cloudspire is the best place for her to resolve those. The question is whether we can go there safely."
She nodded slowly, as if she had known this was coming. "I do think we need to go to Cloudspire. My father is powerful, but the continent is vast and his sect is only one of many, so his reach cannot control every corner. We may be able to slip past him."
"I think we have two advantages," Omilaena said. "First, I’ve been running tests, and your Pure Yin Shroud has completely hidden your qi now, so they can’t track you like before. Second, the audacity: you’ve been running so long, I doubt your father will expect you to come directly at him."
"Yes, we may be able to escape him for a time. However..." Zae Zin Nim’s dark eyes met Omilaena’s somberly, then shifted to Kai. "A conflict is inevitable, and we are not ready as we are now. I understand it would be less risky to train until we could face him, but I believe that would take too long. Are you willing to go up against my father, and the entire Brightwind Sect if necessary?"
"Of course." Kai reached out to grasp her hand. "That’s what we signed up for, isn’t it? Even before we got married. You won’t be free until you’ve taken care of this."
"What he said." Omilaena gave her a surprisingly warm smile. "Besides, I’ve always wanted to loot a major sect on Cloudspire."
"Is the whole sect actually our enemy?" Kai asked. "I guess I haven’t thought about it that way, but do they serve some critical purpose? Similar to the Frontier nations, or defending their home, or something like that. Would there be consequences to taking down the entire sect?"
Zae Zin Nim blinked at him several times. "No, the Brightwind Sect only seeks its own power. I won’t weep if they’re destroyed, but there may be no need. They are only a threat because they follow my father, and they will follow whoever has power."
"Well, good. We can play that by ear then. For now, everyone pack up your spatial items and get ready to-" Kai had stood to his feet, but Omilaena grabbed his shirt before he could go.
"Not so fast," she said with a lascivious grin. "Let’s go back to our room and break the bed first."
"No!" Zae Zin Nim’s sharp word drew their attention and she shrank back just a little, but her eyes remained determined. "I mean... because we will want to use it again. It is a good bed, we should not ruin it."
Omilaena laughed and Kai chuckled before sweeping them both into an embrace. She was right, of course. Kai knew that by leaving the island, he was giving up the peaceful life here, but not forever. As long as they fought, they were fighting to regain this peace one day.