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Kai reconsidered that theory more seriously and examined his newest quarry.

Beast: Pegasus (young)

Total Power: 67

Pegasus Essence: 53

Soul Level: 2 (14)

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His spiritual sense made the beast look half-way to a full soul, completely unlike the normal animals that he\'d glanced at before. No Physique Levels in this case, just a certain amount of essence chakra and a Soul Level. The fact that it had soul power, and more than would be expected just like an elf, was actually support for his theory.

It was easy to see how some of the species on Rosemount could be scornful of humans. Even stupid animals could gain refined souls beyond them. Not that any of it was going to save the pegasi from him.

During the day he practiced Garuda\'s Wing, taking it to Delta rank quickly as he became faster and more agile. Still not enough to catch the pegasi, who were born for the sky, but he was getting closer. Yonto had given them two weeks, implying that was the minimum amount of time he expected the hunt to take.

For meals and evenings Kai went back to camp with Omilaena, who was busy with training of her own. She\'d finally raised her Physique to D-1, which he thought meant she was catching up on the sorts of training she\'d neglected. It had seemed to encourage her and he wondered how fast she would improve if she stuck with it.

After two more days, Kai managed to catch a young pegasus with a slightly malformed wing. He let it go, deciding that was unworthy of him. If he was really going to eat one of these for its essence, it needed to be an exemplary one. Since they had clearly visible souls, that was easy to determine.

He managed to almost catch several healthy adults before he finally saw it: the largest and brightest pegasus he\'d seen so far.

Beast: Splendid Pegasus

Total Power: 228

Pegasus Essence: 112

Soul Level: 4 (116)

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It was the most powerful by far, with over 100 Power in pure essence and a soul that outshone all the others, even comparable to an elven glamour. Of course he didn\'t get even close, but Kai kept throwing himself into the task.

Six days in, with Garuda\'s Wing at Epsilon rank, he finally managed to catch his first full-grown pegasus. He struggled with it for a while, and hunger growled deep within him, but in the end he let it go. Even if he knew how to absorb the power of sacred beasts, he didn\'t think he\'d gain much just eating them all. The vast majority of his power would come from the single strongest meal.

Now that he was making so much progress, in the evenings he spent more time with Omilaena, trying to follow her lessons on sacred beast flesh. He actually felt like he was making some progress, even if he didn\'t have the knack. When she requested it he caught and cleanly killed a normal pegasus - there was some chakra in the meat, but it was only a tiny boost. Omilaena didn\'t seem concerned and urged him to keep working, so he didn\'t hesitate.

Catching an old pegasus with tattered wings proved surprisingly difficult, because it was a wily old beast that pushed his abilities to the limit. Kai couldn\'t yet fly, but he could arc his path through the air enough that it was the next best thing. Still, he wasn\'t able to catch the old pegasus until he raised Garuda\'s Wing to Zeta rank. It felt like it was more difficult to increase after that, just like his abilities at Kappa hit a wall.

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Nine days in he was starting to get discouraged, coming close to the strongest pegasus and failing time and time again. He was tempted to just use one of his offensive techniques, but that would defeat the point. A little more chakra did him no good compared to a true improvement in his abilities.

Ten days in, after plowing into the mountainside again, Kai was about to give up. He made himself try again by sheer force of will.

Eleven days in, everything clicked. It was like there were a dozen smaller skills that he was just slightly substandard in, then they all began to improve. He went from feeling clumsy chasing the largest pegasus to pursuing it doggedly to finally bringing it down in the center of the valley.

He pinned it down with one foot and stared as the creature\'s visible eye rolled wildly. Should he let it go and try again? Yet he didn\'t feel like he had anything more to learn from it... this had been a good challenge, but the power would be more useful against the Thunderbird.

"Three days early," Omilaena said as she landed beside him. "Good work."

"Should I eat it now?" Kai asked. "I\'m not sure I\'m ready. Sacred beasts still feel too different."

"I\'ve been working on something of my own that should help." She bent down beside the pegasus and injected something into its thick neck. Something odd shimmered over its body, as if light was flowing all through its veins. The beast shivered... and then went still, abruptly dead.

"Was that supposed to happen?"

"I wasn\'t sure if it would die, but that was most likely." Omilaena tapped her empty syringe. "That was refined monstrous essence. Normally the stuff is lethal to all life... except you, apparently. But it should have changed enough that I think you should try eating it."

Even though it was just an animal, Kai found himself nodding to the corpse as if in respect. He considered trying to do a formal ritual with the body and decided it was best to just use Isulfr\'s Bite. There was no sense in hiding what he was ultimately doing.

When he swallowed the first massive bite, he felt the power explode within him. The taste felt right somehow, different than before. It wasn\'t a monster, but his hunger wanted to consume it. And this time, as he finished the sacred beast, he could feel its power filling him.

Pegasus\'s Grace - III (gamma)

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The "Pegasus\'s Grace" ability was moderately useful on his own, but it would be even stronger after training and fusion with Garuda\'s Wing. He wanted to try it out immediately, only to feel light-headed when he lifted into the air. Seemed like it would take him a little while to digest the new power.

Since they were ahead of schedule, Kai let his monstrous hunger worry about the details and assisted Omilaena for the rest of the day. She\'d helped him so much, the least he could do was guide her Physique training. Most of the time there was little he could do, since she picked up everything quickly, but she did have trouble with some of the mana-based exercises.

"Tighten your core," he told her. "Imagine a fist clenching your lower stomach. The mine workers had trouble with this too; I don\'t know why it\'s so counter-intuitive for cultivator types."

"Alright, now you\'re just insulting me," Omilaena said through gritted teeth. "Do you have to get angry for this to work?"

"You don\'t need emotion for mana exercises. And if it\'s any comfort, you\'ve mastered in a week what took most of the workers months."

"Great. I\'m equal to several people who smash rocks for a living."

"Tighter and lower," Kai told her.

"Dammit, just get over here and show me!" Omilaena sounded honestly irritated, so Kai stepped up behind her. He realized that he was going to be touching her body, but she seemed so focused on training, he decided to approach this with the same energy.

That lasted until he actually touched her, his fingers pressing just below her navel. Her clothing was so soaked that there was practically nothing between his hands and her skin. Somehow that touch stripped away all his focus. If she\'d backed up against him, as she\'d done when they were enemies, she would have felt the effect she was having on him. He should have pulled his hand away but he didn\'t, especially when Omilaena looked over her shoulder at him.

"We have nothing to do but train and wait," she said softly. "What\'s the harm?"

"I... no." Kai pulled his hand away. "I promised Zae Zin Nim I\'d wait for her. I don\'t know what that means, but... it wouldn\'t feel right."

"Of course. I understand."

Omilaena\'s smile was slightly sad, but she didn\'t make a bigger deal of it. And soon after he left, trying to get the touch out of his mind, she mastered the exercise. Maybe it was really that easy for her and he was the only horny kid here.

.

..

.

Motherfucker.

While Kai flounced around the sky, Omilaena trained furiously. She\'d had him, she was sure of it. Unlike the first encounters when he hadn\'t trusted her and his brain had overridden his instincts, this time she thought they actually connected. And now it was some stupid fucking moral code.

The worst part of it was that it was all her fault, playing matchmaker between him and Zae Zin Nim. He was being a stupid romantic again, saying he was "waiting for her" even though she barely had her own emotions figured out. Dammit, the two of them were going to awkwardly flirt for years before eventually having fumbling sex and she was going to have to watch all of it.

She managed to suppress her frustration with discipline and focused on her training. As an added exercise, she tried to deploy her spiritual sight against Kai as he continued working on aerial maneuvers. It was still impossible for her to see his full soul as he saw it, but by examining him like a monster, she could get flickering impressions.

According to those, she could feel his threat rising steadily during their last days in the valley. His new pegasus ability rose from Gamma to Delta to Epsilon and he grew correspondingly more graceful. The real leap was when, on the very last day, he began using two abilities at once.

When Yonto showed up again, he seemed a little surprised that they\'d completed their hunt. Then again, it was difficult to tell with him. In any case, he didn\'t have any complaints about taking them back - since there was no news from Zae Zin Nim, he teleported them directly to the northern plains.

Omilaena rolled her shoulders and realized that she\'d picked up the habit from Kai. It seemed to unwind the knots in her muscles somehow, even though she wasn\'t likely to fight. Her major part in this was over and she could only see if the results of her experiment were successful.

"Ready?" she asked.

Kai grinned and leapt into the air. The sky was clear at first, then in the distance she saw the dark clouds beginning to grow.