Once the elves left them, Kai was again stranded in apletely unknown foreignnd. 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 seemedmon, 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 behindpletely 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 moremia than elven.


    Now that he was finished with that, he was waiting around, trying to get his bearings. There were tons ofmias, 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 oldmia man cooking over an eternal elemental me 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 in-looking. That seemed unfair of him, so Kai used his spiritual sight instead, on a youngmia man.


    Name: ???


    Total Power: 86


    Lamia ss: 20 (20)


    Physique: E-4 (82)


    Soul Level: 2 (4)>


    Even this youngmia, 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 ss" that also seemed to enhance durability. As far as he could tell,mias 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 strongestmia he could find, a scarred middle-aged one missing half her tail. She seemed more on par formias who had actually trained:


    Name: ???


    Total Power: 330


    Ifrit''s Breath ss: 6 (30)


    Lamia ss: 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 be. 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 exemry 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 sses, but they didn''t look like sses 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 amia. He had enough power to be putting on a fancy show, lofting multi-colored balls inplex patterns, so perhaps he was more representative.


    Name: ???


    Total Power: 218


    Eagle''s Rainbow ss: 23 (115)


    Physique: E-8 (94)


    Soul Level: 3 (9)


    >


    Another random person who could have been a strong crystallier in Krysal, though he was used to that by now. More interesting was the man''s "Rainbow" power, which didn''t sound like any ss Kai had ever heard of. It granted him an enormous amount of Power, though, so it must be effective enough. None of these people were using "chakra-engorged" sses, so he had to wonder if this was a local variation.


    This tale has been uwfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Sorry to make you wait."


    Thanks to the Alltongue Fruit Kai could follow the babble of differentnguages around him, but the familiar voice was still a relief. He turned to meet Zae Zin Nim, ready to tell her that it was no problem, and the words dried up in his throat.


    His uncharitable impression of the crowds didn''t apply to hispanions: they might not be using mours, but they still looked incredible. Zae Zin Nim had foregone her usual to wear red robes that left her arms and lower legs bare - that should have been nothing, but it was so strange for her that it distracted him. Omena was still wearing a tight blouse, of course, and had apparently given up her usual slits up the thigh for pants iid with some sort of blue metal that made them strikingly form-fitting.


    Kai wasn''t staring, though, he just smiled. Distracting as it was to realize his closest allies were these women, he was mainly just d to see them. They smiled back, and Omena looked over his outfit with a raised eyebrow that suggested she found it interesting too.


    "I, uh, just bought something ordinary." Kai nced down at the pants and long tunic with coiling patterns, which seemed to be the local style.


    "It suits you," Omena said. "Try to go at least a few days without ruining it."


    "Are we ready to go north?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "I would like to be off."


    "You don''t want to explore the Coiled Empire at least a little first?"


    "Perhapster. For now... well, you know what we must do."


    He gestured for them to follow him and they leapt into the diamond star. Since there didn''t seem to be any prohibitions against flying vehicles here, the only thing slowing them down was navigating around all the other flying objects in the sky. Unlike before, he found himself getting frustrated by how slowly it movedpared to his own flight.


    "We should cross the border in three days at this rate," Omena said. "We can show our ''trade goods'' from the spatial ring if necessary, but most likely no one will stop us. The Commonwealth has always been sessful via its policy of openness. Of course, they don''t exactly police much else, so we''ll have to fend for ourselves."


    "Just like it''s always been." Kai shrugged and settled back in to the flight, but he found himself ncing to the side at amia woman who was flying through the air.


    Name: ???


    Total Power: 339


    Sapphire Sknce ss: 13 (65)


    Lamia ss: 43 (43)


    Physique: D-3 (215)


    Soul Level: 4 (16)


    >


    "That woman has some sort of ''Sapphire Sknce'' ss?" he suggested. "But she also has a Lamia ss, and I didn''t think you could have two. I''m not sure I understand how the local powers work."


    "Are you sure it''s a ss?" Omena leaned on his shoulder but didn''t press against him unnecessarily. "Look a little more carefully. You''re seeing her in Goralian terms, which isn''t quite urate."


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


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


    "I guess... I might see it as a ss bes it seems like a unique ability." He frowned and tried to reconsider. "I guess it''s more like a natural characteristic, simr 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 Sknce ability?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "That looks like a ss even to me. It''s definitely not cultivation."


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


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


    Name: ???


    Total Power: 339


    Sapphire Sknce: 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 Sknce ability resolved as something different, a power organized in stages, and her Lamia "ss" 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." Omena sighed and dropped back in her seat. "ording 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 ss... they can all do very simr 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 moreplicated 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, orplementary?"


    "That''s exactly the question!" Omena snapped her fingers and pointed at him. "I believe it''s thetter, 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 me-based ss, but also a me 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 forbining the different abilities. Admittedly, they don''t seem elitepared to here, but they''re working with a lot less power. They have pieces of their soul I don''t ever see here."


    Omena sighed and slouched back even further. "Wee to my world. Would the ideal bnce 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 bnced? 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, particrly 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.