Depthless Hunger

After years of training, Tusquo Agyama was a man with a sober awareness of his own limits. He was reasonably adept at the Path of Steel, not the best. Competent in Physique, not extraordinary. One of the more successful attempts to learn a Goralian Class, not a revolution. Well above the average warrior in Irun but well below the strongest on the continent.

Going out to confront a predatory mercenary group completely alone seemed essentially suicidal.

He actually wondered if they were overplaying their hand with this move, since even Birtaegalese mercenaries might suspect him. They considered themselves superior to Irunians but they were familiar enough with people hiding their power not to attack just anyone.

So Inafay and her immediate allies stayed in Brasyan, doing highly visible work to help rebuild one of the broken walls. Tusquo missed their presence, because they were all worthy warriors who would have made the fight more equal. This corrupt mercenary band was essentially a small army, including a dozen servants, twenty warriors, fifteen veterans, and four elites.

On his side, he had three people.

When the mercenaries saw him coming, they stopped their carousing to look at him. One of the veterans hopped off a wagon they were looting to approach him.

"Just a security operation," the man said. "Head on back. It isn't safe out here."

"I'm afraid I'm here on official business." Tusquo showed them his sigil of Irun. "In light of your recent actions, the city of Brasyan and the nation of Irun have decided to sever your contract. You are free to travel back to Birtaegal."

"Hey, you can't do that." One of the others lurched to her feet angrily. "We've saved your sorry hides. We fight for you, for a bunch of rubbish gold, and you just throw us out?"

"I think the offer is more than generous, considering your actions." Tusquo revealed a slip of paper and began reading off it. "We've recorded one murder, four rapes, almost twenty cases of serious harassment, and countless incidents of theft. If not for your status as foreign guests, you would face the full wrath of Irunian law."

"It's not 'cause of our fucking status." The first mercenary drew his sword and waved it at Tusquo. "It's 'cause you're not strong enough to defend yourselves. Now, you can burn that paper and run back home or you'll see the difference."

"I can't do that." Tusquo reached down to grip the handle of his sword. "This is your last opportunity to accept and salvage whatever little honor you have left."

"Fuck that. You Irunians are so stupid, you think you can come out here and-"

When the mercenary started to swing his sword, Tusquo acted faster. His sword left his sheath in an instant, cutting through the nearest mercenary while also releasing an arc of mana that struck the second. She staggered and Tusquo drew back, preparing for a follow-up attack.

That was the last thing he did in the battle.

Tusquo had seen Kai's robed companion in the past, but she had entirely transformed. She struck the block of mercenaries ahead of him in a whirlwind of limbs. Her palms touched armor and yet somehow the mercenaries were knocked backward or fell bleeding. Tusquo had always been skeptical that a martial artist without defensive powers could face bladed weapons, but she easily turned them aside, even catching some with her whipping sleeves and tugging them out of her opponent's hands.

The foreign mercenaries weren't fools, and those who were left pulled into a defensive formation of shields and blades, designed to chew through martial artists. But somehow Zae Zin Nim struck the first on the chest so hard that he flew backward, sending the entire group tumbling like a pile of sticks.

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One of the stronger mercenaries on the other side of the camp was drawing a bow, preparing mana for a ranged attack. Tusquo raised his sword, intending to create a mana arc to intercept his arrow. Before he could swing, a needle appeared through the mercenary's throat and he collapsed gurgling.

Kai's second companion, the new one named Omilaena, whirled through the center of camp, hurling needles in all directions. Based on her clothing and behavior, Tusquo had presumed that she used some sexual art from Rosemount, but now she fought with blinding speed. A group of the more armored mercenaries tried to bunch together and turtle up, only for her to exhale a cloud of blue smoke that covered them entirely.

Tusquo didn't need to wait for the smoke to clear to know that group was done. He was astonished by the power displayed by the two women, but his mind still worked well enough for another thought: he wanted to see Kai.

The Goralian barreled past him a moment later, plowing into a group of mercenaries and simply ignoring their blades futilely bouncing off his skin. It seemed unusually brutish until Tusquo realized that Kai was taking them out one at a time, always with blows to the head. He wasn't sure why, but there was no time to ask.

One of the elites had escaped the other two and now raised a sphere burning with mana. She cried out in anger and raised it toward Kai's back while he was still in the middle of the melee.

All Kai did was reach in her direction. A claw of dark force closed around the mercenary, crushing her mana as it lifted her off the ground.

When Kai leapt the air seemed to explode behind him, knocking the mercenaries trying to attack him to the ground. In midair he flicked his hand and the claw of force hurled the elite to the ground, bowling over a group of archers.

The remaining elites and veterans were retreating, trying to set up a new formation with one of the Irunian wagons at their flank. And then they just stopped. Tusquo was baffled until he saw Kai land, his eyes burning with an infernal light that somehow fixed the remaining mercenaries in place.

With their formation broken, they only lasted a matter of seconds against Kai's allies, who demolished them in a few movements. Even as he watched in awe, Tusquo distantly realized that they were being very precise. Not avoiding killing but avoiding damage, which seemed puzzling. He might have been able to figure it out if he hadn't been astonished by power he'd never seen outside the top Frontier elites.

In the wake of the battle a few pieces of armor clattered to the ground. Zae Zin Nim stuck her hands into her sleeves, her robes and hair falling perfectly back into place as if she hadn't moved. Omilaena casually blew a thin stream of smoke toward one of the mercenaries still struggling. Kai dropped the mercenary he was holding and for just a moment his hand looked more like a claw.

As the silence stretched, Tusquo returned his sword to its sheath.

"I told you we should have just done this," Zae Zin Nim said. "Let's go take out the others. We can let Inafay use them for practice."

"How long do you think it would take us to clear out the country?" Omilaena asked.

"Wait!" Tusquo forced himself to walk up to the imposing trio and gave a respectful bow. "Obviously we are all grateful for your help. But not every band of Birtaegalese mercenaries is as abusive as this one, and despite their predation, Irun does rely on their protection."

"For all the good it does." Omilaena poked at one of the bodies with her foot.

"Are you staying here forever? Unless you are, Irun requires something to replace their forces or we will be worse off than before, because we'll also have burned our relationship with Birtaegal."

Kai stepped away from the other two and looked at him with a little more understanding. "We left many of them alive," he said. "I hoped they could serve as an example. If Irun executes or exiles some of the worst offenders, that will send a message to the others."

"It will scare some, but not enough, and they may take it out on the people." Tusquo shook his head. "Again, I cannot repay the debt we owe for this, but we need true solutions."

Zae Zin Nim sighed as if mildly annoyed and then sat down on the wagon, apparently intending to sit out the conversation as well. Kai looked like he was struggling to think of what to say next, but it was his other companion who spoke up next. Omilaena had crouched down beside one of the fallen mercenaries and began stripping off her armor.

"I don't know about a solution," she said, "but we were thinking about that. See this armor? It's chakra-imbued steel, not as good as yours in some respects but definitely tougher. Seems to me that you claimed all of this from criminals as an official state action, so it's yours now."

"We... we can't go around wearing armor stolen from Birtaegalese mercenaries."

"That was never the plan." Omilaena eyed the armor and then it began to melt, the ornamentation and ties falling away. Tusquo had no idea what that meant, but at that moment Kai stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

"We didn't come back to kill some mercenaries," Kai told him. "We've done more than just get a little stronger. I couldn't help Irun before, but I can now."

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