Now that the battle was over, the Manticore tribesmen didn't seem inclined to start murdering one another again. Kai spent a while cultivating atop one of the stone outcroppings, just watching both sides while they prepared, but they had retreated to treat their wounds and otherwise recover from the battle. Other than burying the bodies, they didn't seem particularly concerned with their losses.
Eventually the large tribesman from earlier approached, with only a bandage over one of his injuries. The Manticore tribe must have been decent at healing, even though they weren't known for it. After catching Kai's gaze, the man bounded forward to stand beside him.
"Never introduced myself before," he said with a quick bow. "My name is Ahn Rit Kulha, head of the Tail faction."
"One of the main branches." Kai nodded as he glanced to either side. "Is this the whole branch? Does that make you one of the four strongest people in the tribe?"
"Hah! We aren't quite as strong as we used to be, but we haven't fallen that far. No, this is only a part of the Tail faction. I'm our strongest Earth Soul, but we have half a dozen more with the other groups. I suppose we need to talk about all that."
"You implied the tribe is in decline?"
"Enough talk out here in the cold." Ahn Rit Kulha gestured toward the tents, which were beginning to light up as the sun set. "We've prepared a whole feast for you, so come back and enjoy first."
It seemed like even tribes that were called barbarians by others had a sense of hospitality. When Kai entered the largest tent alongside the faction leader, he was surprised to find that it wasn't slabs of meat in every direction. Clearly that was his bias: instead the tables were covered with hundreds of different dishes.
They proved to be similar to those he'd eaten elsewhere in Cloudspire, though they were much spicier on average. Some of them looked to see if he would be surprised, but Kai could eat essentially anything by that point and didn't flinch. Mostly, he was just glad that there wasn't any shellfish, which had been a daily food in the Bloodcoral sect.
Once they'd eaten most of the food, Ahn Rit Kulha sat back with a satisfied sigh. "Never let it be said we can't put on a good feast, even out here. Are you from the Western Wilds? I didn't think there were any tribes that grew that big."
"I'm actually from the Bloodcoral sect." Kai fished his medallion from under his shirt and held it out in case he needed proof. "I'm not here on behalf of them, though, I'm just pursuing my own cultivation."
"Bloodcoral sect, eh? Met a few of them, and they're not bad. I don't mind saying that I don't usually think much of the coastal cultivators, but the Bloodcorals are strong enough. What brings you all the way out east? Is our reputation really that prestigious?"
"Ahn Rit K-"
"Call me Kulha. These are the real Western Wilds, not the cities! No sense standing on ceremony out here."
"Fine, Kulha. I'm glad you want to talk, but I need to understand." Kai looked across the table at the other man, ignoring all the remaining dishes. "What's going on with the Manticore tribe?"
"Well, that's a story." Kulha sat back and shook his head. "Our patriarch is a Sky Soul, and a strong one. But he pursued strength instead of immortality, and then in his later years... never quite attained immortality. He's getting old now... that was supposed to be a secret, but it's widely known now."
"So without your leader, the tribe has a problem."
"Oh, problems. Tons of them. Some factions are striking off on their own, or trying to join other tribes while they still have leverage. We have ancillary tribes who aren't obeying us anymore. And... well, like you saw, we're fighting each other." Kulha clenched a fist around the edge of the table. "If someone could unite the factions, they might pull most of the Manticore tribe together. But with every failure, we bleed each other out."
At least he finally had a proper explanation, though Kai wasn't sure he approved. Asking about the tribe's willingness to kill its own didn't sound like the right line of questioning, especially since there were other cultivators listening from nearby tables. Ṙ�
"Kulha tried that too," Kai said between bites. "I'm married."
"So?" Feida stopped the seductress act and just stared at him as if her eyes could drill into his skin. "You somehow have the strength of a Sky Soul, and anyone with that much power can take whatever they want."
"Does no one on this continent have a happy marriage?" Kai set down his chopsticks and met her stare without blinking. "I'm not going to pick either faction based on what luxuries they can offer. What I want is power, and I'm not convinced that either of your little factions can actually help me gain the Manticore tribe's full strength."
For a painfully long moment the tribeswoman just stared at him. Kai met her gaze for several heartbeats before he went back to eating.
"Very well." Feida made an expression that might have been a smile or a grimace and her tone shifted again. "It's true that we don't have access to the entire tribe's resources, but we're the only people who are likely to get them. The other faction leaders are fools, nepotists, or mindless warlords. We have the legitimacy and resources to potentially seize control."
"And so that's why...?"
"Yes, I attacked Kulha to decapitate the enemy. He may be a bore, but he has strong cultivators and loyalty across the tribe. If I'd won, his cultivators would have followed me, then I'd have two of the four factions under my control. Now things are more complicated."
"Would it really have been so easy?" Kai asked. "Your followers seemed so willing to kill one another, it's hard to imagine them having much loyalty to anyone."
"That's life in the Western Wilds." Feida shook her head. "This is no tiny tribe or family sect, where everyone has strong bonds. The Manticore tribe has conquered or absorbed so many tribes over the years, most barely know one another. They follow strength, and if the Manticore tribe can't give them that strength, they'll go somewhere else."
"Well, consider me one of them. Why should I get involved?"
"You weren't swayed by coin, you won't be swayed by flesh... what do you want, a manticore tattoo across your back? Most cultivators consider it an inferior power, despite its strength."
"I want all the information about how they're created, and the resources to do so. I'll figure out the rest."
Feida sat back and considered him for long, silent seconds before she eventually spoke. "You know you have the advantage over us here, because you could beat any of our champions. If you intend to go back and forth from feast to feast, you could easily bid us up beyond what we can bear. We may be important faction leaders, but Kulha and I have limited resources."
Kai set down his chopsticks again and pushed back. "Then who has what I want?"
"Wait. The Manticore Head faction is heading toward disaster, and the Manticore Quill faction cannot be trusted. Let me tell you a truth that the others won't... we can't offer you a cultivation tattoo, not now. The experts of the tribe, and the mana ink they need to work, are split across too many factions."
He smiled and didn't say anything. Feida sighed and rubbed her eyes.
"I see where this is going. If you think you can make yourself leader of the Manticore tribe, you might be able to kill your way there, but you could never command the loyalty of-"
"I don't want to be leader," Kai said, "I just want the end result. Can you offer that, or should I walk out and leave you to your war?"