Several had even shattered under his repeated blows.
He remembered so viscerally that synergistic surge of Light Qi swirling in a flood of blue as his leg whipped around in a powerful shin strike perfectly mirrored in all three kung fu disciplines, synergizing so perfectly together at that moment that the stone had exploded. For that single heartbeat in time, Alex had struck like a Silver in truth, awed by the massive bonus that had flashed across his mind’s eye in that instant, before screaming as hardened bone cracked but did not break. Unspeakable pain that had momentarily stunned him but, even then, he knew he dared not lose focus, grateful that his intense body cultivation, and the protective cushion of Light and Water Qi encasing his limb as well, had protected him from a shattered leg.
And just seconds later, those hairline cracks had been healed by his furiously supercharged Eternal Fox regeneration as he used the momentum to twist around into a spinning heel kick with his back leg, the same Silver Swan kick that had brought Sheng Jie low, finished shattering whatever his right shin had not.
And then he had paused and switched to fists, his left heel faring far worse than his right shin had, though the stone struck had fared worst of all.
But what filled him with a euphoric ecstasy far surpassing his pain were the notifications he received.
White Crane cycling technique is now at 80% efficiency!
Cleansing Breath purification technique is now at 85% efficiency!
White Crane kung fu Rank 4 achieved!
Silver Swan kung fu Rank 3 achieved! Warning: vulnerability detected! Forbidden technique channels life force directly into all advanced strikes. Lower Dantian has shifted. Procreative vitality is now directly accessed. Cultivator must abstain from all procreative activities or risk loss of cultivation base! Limitation surpassed when Adept Rank achieved and cultivator has transcended to Silver.
You have suffered significant meridian strain channeling advanced kung fu techniques! All strain has been completely healed via Eternal Fox rejuvenation techniques. Your peripheral meridian channels have expanded, and can now handle significantly greater amounts of Qi than before. They are now Resilient, and enjoy +3 to all durability checks.
A Path Cloaked in Mist - Thanks to your constant training and violent abuse and regeneration of your Qi-saturated physical form, you have permanently gained 4 points of Impact Resistance, 2 points of Cutting Resistance, and 1 point of Piercing Resistance. You have taken your second step in forging a new body cultivation technique. Details: unknown.
Alex was both awed and excited by the messages flickering across his mind’s eye, feeling an exhausted smile grace his features, humbled and amazed to sense so many skills tying so synergistically together. In addition to the formal messages, he sensed his Eternal Fox technique was well on its way to achieving another breakthrough, perhaps when White Crane cycling technique was finally mastered completely.
He chuckled ruefully, surprised by how clearly he could recall the furious onslaught of spinning strikes and whipping kicks he had generated such destruction with. He was surprised to find Silver Swan harmonizing so well with White Crane, and already knew without any master instructing him that normally it should be impossible, that he needed to fight his way to adept rank five status with White Crane, if not higher. But it seemed that channeling beast cores by the sea’s edge at one of the most potent cultivation spots in the school, just over where he himself had once contemplated balancing two divine cultivation techniques for a thousand breaths, or perhaps a thousand years and who knew how many lifetimes ago, had allowed him to bend all sorts of rules.
What really excited him was that his earlier hunch was probably right. And it explained in a highly quantified form why the wiser masters recommended students master the basics before going further. Because once you hit level five in a basic art, you could stack it atop a Bronze art. And Alex suspected that from there, you could stack a Silver on top of the Bronze discipline, so long as all underlying arts had achieved Adept rank or better.
He was sure there were limitations. He already knew that he only enjoyed a plus one to his quantified combat skill check with each White Crane rank he earned, for all that it was a Bronze skill, because Alex himself was only a basic cultivator. But now with rank five in Golden Realms and four in White Crane, his combat checks were plus nine, not including characteristic modifiers. Which might be absolutely nothing when fighting, say, Qie Qie, who had ascended to Bronze, as each of her Bronze ranks gave her a whopping plus five bonus. But as Alex already knew, that striking advantage could be mitigated.
Using Soul Sight and Find Weakness in conjunction meant that he could potentially overcome even a Bronze cultivator’s advanced ranks, despite their advanced Quickness and Finesse, which meant he at least had a fighting chance. But only against cultivators he had sparred with long enough to feel out their pattern of fighting, to sense their meridian flows, and thus sense their strikes an instant before they unleashed them.
Against cultivators like Lai Wei who had ambushed him so utterly, he had been hopelessly unprepared, and absolutely obliterated.
Alex gave a bitter shake of his head before pushing all such brooding reflections aside, plopping all his assets back into his divine storage ring and crashing into an exhausted slumber, right there just feet away from the cliff’s edge, utterly exposed to any enemy who might come for him.
Fortunately, no one did.
15
Alex intentionally beamed a bright smile when he entered the assignment center, having approached the building at a casual stroll, plenty of opportunity to walk on by as if he had no intentions at all, should the building look busy, or cold, measuring eyes be glancing his way.
Fortunately, such wasn’t the case.
“Qing Chang, good to see you! You’re looking fantastic, by the way. I take it you took my advice to savor all of life’s possibilities, hey?” Alex said with the warmest of smiles as the clerk froze and paled at the sight of him.
Alex remained deliberately oblivious of the clerk’s sudden anxiety, merely clasping a hand reflexively extended, depositing his prize within. “I know our understanding is that I would show my appreciation with every cycle of the moon, but I just wanted to say thanks with the completion of my first week. Both contacts you put me in touch with turned out to be excellent employers who appreciated my efforts, and I wanted to thank you personally.”
Qing Chang’s discomfort sharpened. Alex held his smile, eyes beaming with sincerity, before giving a rueful chuckle. “Alas, things didn’t go quite as expected. An old adversary who used to pick on me in the city below made sport of me once more, and somehow I found myself challenging him for my first week’s wages. I know, foolish, right? Well, there you are, all that work and I hardly profited a single credit! Ah well, lesson learned and all that.”
He sighed regretfully. “It was an ugly fight, too. I guess that’s what it means to fight in the cultivation world, am I right? It’s not for me to complain, only get stronger.”
Alex gaze hardened. “But if I’m going to risk my skin fighting in earnest, I want to at least get paid for my troubles, not be forced to give up all the coin I earn. Friend Qing Chang, I’m in dire need of your help, and was a fool not to pay better attention, in case you already told me before. But can you please explain the difference between secured and unsecured credits?”
Of course, he already knew the answer. Just as he knew that Qing Chang was probably the reason why he had been so easily ambushed. But he had sensed no malice, no swallowed fury when he had met the man’s gaze. Just the guilt and shame of a man who had been cowed and intimidated into making a choice that went against his own principles. And in these cynical times, Alex could forgive even a weak man, so long as he had principles he at least tried to follow when not being squeezed by dark powers with alchemical ties, such that crossing them truly was at one’s peril.
And only by showing appreciation and gratitude, and affecting a certain naivete, could Alex guarant
ee that the man before him wouldn’t feel persecuted by Alex’s gaze, transforming his shame to bitter resentment of Alex, no matter that he himself was the betrayer, the mind desperate for any way out of shame and regret, and transforming the wronged party into the wrong party was a mental trick as old as time.
Which was why sometimes immediately taking the initiative, showing not only forgiveness but appreciation for good deeds that had been done, before making the gentlest of pushes for reconciliation, was sometimes the best way to prevent a fallen friend from becoming a tragically unnecessary enemy, the mocking jackals manipulating and sabotaging them otherwise hurting both parties twice over.
Besides, no matter how craven he was, Alex needed Qing Chang.
And a Qing Chang wracked by guilt yet redeemed by forgiveness, sweaty palms clutching the fat silver coin tightly, was a man eager to make amends and be worthy of Alex’s grace and largess. A man eager to assist however he safely could, to maneuver within the constraints and traps Alex’s enemies were laying as best he could without himself falling victim to those jackals. At least now Qing Chang was not a man shamed and put on the spot, who would then firmly embrace Alex’s foe’s camp, letting all his festering guilt turn into hatred.
So outrage was a state of mind Alex absolutely could not surrender to, especially when a bit of coin and a forgiving smile would open the path to redemption, his fallen associate’s conscience eager to accept the peace offering and be worthy of Alex’s regard, and his largess, once more.
“Friend Alex, I am so very sorry to hear about your unfortunate duel! Sorrier than you know.” He actually had the grace to lower his head. “So much so, that I hesitate to take your coin.”
Of course, the coin disappeared as if by magic. “But I know that, regardless of all other circumstances, you have credits you must earn at all costs. And you’re already savvy enough to step on the most prudent path. For any student finding himself the favored target of upperclassmen eager to duel for their coin, pressuring, perhaps inappropriately, wagers that younger cultivators cannot really afford, then it is best to become the most boring of targets, one with only secured credits that cannot be gambled or wagered in any way, credits that may only be spent toward their continued scholarship or as credits for the library, enchantry, or the alchemist’s quarter.”
Alex nodded. “So some jobs reward you with secured credits, which are tied exclusively to your school account, and can only be invested in school resources, whereas unsecured credits are credits I assume can be wagered or, perhaps, even cashed out?”
Qing Chang smiled and nodded. “Indeed. This is to prevent young cultivators from taking unnecessary risks, as some paths truly are perilous. If a cultivator is so hungry for coin that he risks his life accruing credits in the riskiest of ventures, only to lose it all on a foolish wager, not only would he be putting his entire academy foundation at risk of peril, thanks to expulsion, he might feel compelled to maximize his potential gain, earning quick perilous credits, and thus risk actual physical peril as well.
“So too, it also prevents certain talented cultivators from totally dominating a field and, well, milking it, bleeding the academy dry of cashable resources when some assignments have generous rewards that can only be so generous because it is payments for services that can never exceed what a student could study here over a period of years, perhaps including the time of a more advanced cultivator, or the manufacture of cultivation pills for basic and Bronze cultivators, but no more than that.”
Alex nodded. “So it assures no cultivators can exploit the system, protects cultivators who do take on risky assignments so that their continuing room and board is assured, even if they stumble in other ways, and manages to actually be a desirable form of currency, for all that credits beyond what a student could use during his years at the academy are effectively worthless. Because secured credits cannot be cashed out, yet at least you need not worry about your hard work being extorted from your account by any other party.”
Qing Chang nodded. “Save by the Headmaster or Academy Council. But according to tradition, they have only ever awarded credits to aggrieved parties. Never taken them away. But yes, Alex, for those reasons, secured credits are actually desirable for many, at least until basic needs are met and sufficient credits to access facilities of interest are accrued.” He chuckled softly. “Credits that may be transferred into actual coin or, ahem, favors, quickly become more favorable as one rises in the ranks, but in truth, most of us will never ascend to the point where that becomes an issue. Spending all our earned credits making use of Academy resources alone, and striving to better ourselves, is the only path forward for most of us.”
Alex nodded. “But we all deserve to treat ourselves once in a while, so we can savor the journey through life, not just striving for that impossible summit!” He shared a chuckle with the clerk before him. Then his gaze abruptly hardened. “I am hoping for two favors today, friend Qing Chang.” Alex then wasted no more time in niceties, expressing his needs as crisp and concisely as possible.
Qing Chang paled. “But Alex, you could get killed! Think of your enemies. They would love nothing more than having you risk yourself like this. They would swarm about you like bees to honey!” The man paled and flushed, as if realizing he had given the game away, knowing all too well how damaged Alex had been by the ambush, and that the clerk himself had perhaps been forced to have a hand in it.
Alex just nodded. “I know. But at least this way they have to face me one on one, under the auspices of a judge. And no matter how indifferent the referee is, watching over an entire arena’s worth of bouts, even he will be forced to protest if my enemies unleash killing techniques during our matches.” He then flashed a bitter smile. “And best of all, my enemies have to pay for the pleasure of trying to beat the crap out of me. So instead of stealing my hard-earned credits, they are paying me those credits!”
Of course, there was a bit more to it than that, but that was all anyone else needed to hear, and Alex’s pretext made enough bitter sense that even the clerk couldn’t help but nod in rueful agreement.
“A perilous path, friend Alex, and as much as I hate to say it, perhaps it is one of the better ones you can take. With luck, I can assign you to cultivators who aren’t monsters. But you have to know that after the first few bouts… I can almost guarantee that all your fights will be with people who hold no love for you.”
Alex nodded, understanding what was being said between the lines. Alex’s enemies would come have a meeting with a clerk savvy enough to mime being completely on their side, earning at least their forbearance as he oozed flattery and an eagerness to assist them in setting Alex up with bouts exclusive to them, with the agreed upon rules of engagement as fast and loose as possible, maximizing the pain they could inflict upon him.
Alex smiled, happy to make things even smoother for his fixer, and the rueful smile the clerk flashed before hiding it made it clear that Qing Chang knew that Alex knew that he had been set up, but that Alex also understood, somehow, the pressure the clerk was under without despising him, and even had the grace to maneuver things so Qing Chang could flow smoothly between both parties without getting crushed against the breakwaters of their mutual hate.
The clerk’s relieved grin showed genuine gratitude.
“I understand completely,” Alex said on the surface. “No doubt my enemies will be eager to press for fights where they can maximize the damage.”
Qing Chang nodded sadly. “You will certainly find yourself flooded with openings to serve as a defensive sparring partner, wherein your enemies will be allowed pummel you mercilessly.” He flashed a bleak smile. “Of course, there are hard limits in how far they can hurt you without suffering severe repercussions, no matter how much public sentiment is against you. This is the because the school wants no precedent of defensive sparring partners being maimed, crippled, or killed.”
Alex blinked. “Really.”
Qing Chang nodded. “Believe it or not,
a number of elite Bronze and even our own Silver instructors lack suitable diversity in informal training partners, and are happy to use the job center to find suitable candidates of equal rank that they might not normally associate with. Whether involving students, elite disciples, or actual Silvers, the school council will not allow the only means we have of perfecting attack sequences to be tainted by politics or deliberate maiming or killing.”
“That actually makes good sense.”
“Indeed it does. Any detriment to the pool of potential sparring partners would weaken the advancement of our school’s elite core, and thus our academy as a whole. If cultivators suspected that our school politics were allowing death gambits within the training arenas, the pool of candidates available for extended offensive and defensive training would dwindle drastically. It would be a serious blow that our masters would not forgive.”
He flashed a cold smile. “So you will probably find your schedule filled with sparring bouts where you are allowed to fight back in full measure to be even more common than requests for a defensive sparring partner. Of course, these will be submission matches, the rarest of all compensated duels, where status points are also put into play. You and your opponent will fight until one or the other yields status points, or is too damaged to continue, and here is where your peril is greatest.”
Alex grimaced, nodding his head, having suspected as much.
“And Alex?”
“Yes?”
“As you may or may not know, your status points are everything here. The more you accrue, the greater your prestige and standing within the school. It is second only to ascending in cultivation ranks in terms of importance.”
Alex blinked. “Actually, no one told me anything about this.”
Qing Chang sighed. “Why am I not surprised? Alright, let me explain the basics. You earn a minimal number of points for your work equivalent to your credits, and for every class you take, your instructor determines the number of points you have accrued.”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Forsworn: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 3 Page 23