by Jace Kang
“Is that hard?”
Master Ryu adjusted Ken’s arm position. “To give you context, I’m eight hundred years old, and I’ve only reached Greater Yang in the Water Path.”
Ken’s heart sank. “How high…or low is that?”
“It’s either Third or Fourth Rank, depending on if you start on a Yin Path or a Yang Path.”
It was too confusing. “What am I starting on?”
“A Yin Path.”
“And what does that mean, exactly?”
Master Ryu moved in a flurry of punches and kicks. “Yang is hot, intangible, and energetic. Yin is cool, fluid, and nourishing.” He slammed his fist downward into his palm as he sank into a deep stance. The grassy area compressed in a perfect circle around him.
His heart, so demoralized a second before, now fluttered. “That’s Chen Family Taiji!”
“Yes.” Master Ryu grinned. “Mastering it is the foundation of Lesser Yin Water Rank.”
This was exciting, but something didn’t make sense. “But you said I am Fire, so wouldn’t it make sense for me to fortify Yang?”
Putting his hands together, the master spread them vertically. “Yin and Yang are like a candle.”
“A what?”
“Fire, which uses wax as a fuel. You know, what you put on a birthday cake.”
Whatever that was. Ken shook his head.
The master sighed. With a finger, he drew a vertical rectangle, a straight line, and then an oval. “Fire on top of wax. If the Fire is too strong, like yours, it will burn the wax down too quickly. If someone has too much wax, like Bodhi—and me when I was younger—the Fire might not light. If the wax is too small, it won’t support even a weak flame for very long.”
Ken supposed it made sense. “How long will it take for me to reach… Wait, where am I starting?”
“Wood. You are starting with the Lesser Yin aspect of Wood.” Master Ryu’s brow scrunched up. “As for how long…without elixirs and pills, not to mention real food, it will take longer.”
Hope guttered in Ken’s chest, and his shoulders would’ve slumped if he hadn’t held them up to maintain the stance. “Are you able to promote me?”
The master shook his head. “It’s not so subjective as me judging your form and giving you a colored belt.”
“Belt?” Ken had seen them in movies from the Age of Greed, but nobody needed them anymore because of clothing technology and fashion. “Why would it have color?”
Master Ryu pantomimed wrapping an imaginary belt around his waist and tying a knot in front. “To denote rank? Maybe they don’t have such things anymore.”
“No.”
The master chuffed, then started brushing a hand down his opposite arm. “Well, the short explanation is: as you open your meridians and purge toxins, your body will rebuild your tendons, muscles, and connective tissue. Once this process is complete, you will feel the change. Any First Rank Cultivator will be able to sense it through their Path.”
Maybe this was all hopeless. Sweat trickled down Ken’s head. He couldn’t hold his arms up any longer.
The master eyed him. “All right, deep breath.”
Ken’s inhalation filled his lungs with warm, humid air.
“Now, exhaling, lower your arms so your hands are above and below your Core. Imagine you are holding a ball, right hand cupping it from beneath, and left hand resting on top.” Master Ryu demonstrated, settling in what looked to be a position from an old movie, The Taiji Master.
Ken followed. Warmth sank down his arms into his hands.
“Do you feel the Qi Ball?” The master rolled his hands around and round.
That would explain the buzzing in Ken’s fingers. Either that, or just the sudden restoration of blood flow. He followed Master Ryu’s lead.
There it was, a pulsating sphere in his hands. Though it wasn’t visible, it was unmistakable.
“Now, inhale and press it into your Core, left hand on top of right.” He demonstrated the motion, the index fingers and thumbs of either hand forming an open circle at a point below his navel.
Warmth flooded through Ken’s belly.
“You’ve just added to your Core. It’s the energy you will need to start Cultivating. Visualize it as water. Bend your knees more, and imagine some of that water draining through your muscles to your feet and into the ground.”
When he did as told, it felt as if he were sinking deeper into the soft ground.
“Now, follow my motions.” From an upright stance, Master Ken stepped and stomped, his hands thrusting into various positions each time. The ground shook. Even the air vibrated.
Ken imitated the motions, to much less effect. Five different patterns, ending in different stances.
“This is Xingyi Fist, also known as Form Intention Style,” Ryu said as he continued. “One pattern for each of the Elements, each with its own function, each teaching you how to visualize your Qi flow.”
“If it has all Five Elements, then how does this help me with the Yin aspect of Wood?”
“The Five Elements are in everything. Xingyi is predominantly Wood. Flexible like a vine. Tenacious like a weed. Yin in nature.”
After an hour, Ken collapsed against a tree, sweating and panting.
Master Ryu tsked. “Without any elixirs or pills, we have a long road ahead of us. I’m not sure how much time I have…”
“Why not?” Ken straightened.
Master Ryu shook his head. “Never mind. If only you were a woman.”
A woman? “Why?”
“Because a man and a woman can join their Central meridians and transfer energy.” The master drew two loops in the air, one clockwise, the other counterclockwise, which overlapped each other.
“Just a man and woman?”
“Well, two women can. And two men can, too, but that’s not my preference, and it would be the same as adding more Yang energy to your already-blazing Yang.” Master Ryu made an exploding sound.
Ken had a feeling he didn’t want to know what this transfer entailed.
Master Ryu’s expression brightened. “I have an idea. Stand up.”
Did Ken really want to know? His body protested as he pushed himself to his feet.
“Back in the Zhan Zhuang.”
“Master, I—”
“Do it. If you are even the slightest bit misaligned, it could possibly damage your meridians forever.”
Ken swallowed hard. Was this a good idea? He settled into Zhan Zhuang, his knees nearly buckling, his arms refusing to lift.
Master Ryu settled into an identical stance in front of him and closed his eyes. With several deep breaths, he created a Qi ball, one so intense that tangible warmth and static pulsed off of it. If Ken didn’t know any better, he’d swear he could see a ghostly sphere.
Opening his eyes, the master studied Ken for a moment. “Relax your shoulders. Good. Tilt your hips forward. Are you ready?”
Ready for what? Despite his misgivings, Ken gave a definitive nod.
Master Ryu compressed his hands together. “Breath in.”
Ken started to suck his breath in.
The master pressed the Qi ball into Ken’s abdomen. Heat and electricity coursed through him.
“Visualize that energy as vines growing through your tendons and muscles, to your palms and soles.”
When Ken did, the energy felt as if it were skittering through him. When it reached his hands and feet, he collapsed.
Master Ryu knelt beside him, took his wrists and turned his hands over. A foul-smelling sludge oozed from Ken’s palms.
Disgusting! Ken tried to pull back from his own hands.
The master laughed. “Yes, it is foul. It’s coming out of your soles too, at the Bubbling Well point.”
“What did you do?”
“Luckily for you, I am a Water Path Cultivator. Water nourishes Wood. I used Water Energy to scour your meridians.”
“Can you do it again?” Ken started to bounce on his toes, but thought the better of i
t when the master stared him down.
“I need to conserve my energy for my mission, but that’s a good jump-start.”
Jump-start?’
“Now, we need to get you good food. Beef tendon, chicken gristle.”
Ken shook his head. “We don’t raise animals like that anymore.”
“Then we’ll have to do things the hard way.”
Chapter 11:
The Cultivator
R yu looked at the poor boy, who sat in a lotus position beneath a giant cedar. If only Ryu had his robes; its pockets held several extra pills which might help Kentaro progress. As was, it would be a tough climb for the boy with the resources at hand on this plane. They didn’t have real meat, let alone meat from the spirit creatures of the World of Rivers and Lakes which fortified Qi and Essence.
No, all the food here was artificially processed to some scientifically agreed standard of nutritional value. At least the grilled beef-flavored cubes had tasted real…
Ryu shook the memory of dinner out of his mind and pondered. Maybe he could show Kentaro the portal into the World of Rivers and Lakes—
No. What was Ryu thinking? With the elixir he’d taken to preserve his Core in this world, he couldn’t go back to the World of Rivers and Lakes, anyway; and his mission was to seal the crossing points across planes, not let more people in. Certainly not a boy he hardly knew.
Sure, Kentaro’s Core gave him incredible potential to Cultivate, and he had helped Ryu escape Kyoto Central. He had a thirst for knowledge, too.
Beyond that, though, Ryu didn’t know anything about the young man, save for the fact he and his people were oppressed by the so-called XHumans. The Purebreds might live in a sparkling, comfortable neighborhood, but they were still second-class citizens.
As someone who’d suffered from a chronic disease in a country which shunned anything different, Ryu knew how that felt.
If people back then weren’t being overly cautious over his disability, they were busy mocking him. He’d expected his Spirit to waver upon his return to Kyoto; but the city had changed so much, it hadn’t triggered that response.
It did now, though, when thinking about the Takashi brothers, who’d pushed and shoved his six-year-old self on the way to school, while he coughed on phlegm.
He banished those old scars and insecurities. Those boys were long dead, and he was stronger and healthier than they could’ve ever dreamed. The Code of Rivers and Lakes meant defending the weak, and he’d do what he could for Kentaro.
With what time he had left.
Somewhere in there, he’d like to have an hour with a pretty woman. The Elestrae’s perfect face appeared in his memory, but he banished it. Fairies never slept with humans. He thought instead of Captain Keiko. Of all the XHumans, she’d been the most reasonable. Maybe their paths would cross again, and he’d win her over with his charm. However, it looked as if Kentaro liked her, and it would crush him to know his teacher had slept with the object of his affection.
Sighing, Ryu looked back.
Kentaro was holding the Zhan Zhuang stance again. And despite the fatigue he must be feeling, first from the training, and then from Ryu’s Pure Water Scouring Meridians technique, his form looked better.
Smiling to himself, Ryu went over. “I am going to launch the Xingyi Metal Pattern at you. When you see me move, you will counter with the Fire Pattern. Now.” Ryu stomped in with the motion, going at one-tenth normal speed and putting no power behind it.
Ken’s Fire Pattern was the perfect counter, his hands buffeting Ryu’s Metal position.
“Fire Tempers Metal. Now, Metal!” Ryu snaked in with the Wood Pattern.
Kentaro sliced forward with the decisive Metal strike, which cut off the Wood attack.
“Metal Prunes Wood. Now, Wood.” Ryu sank into a low Earth attack.
Imitating Ryu’s technique from a moment before, Kentaro engaged with the entangling motions of the Wood Form, which moved around Ryu’s defenses.
“Wood Roots Earth. Now, Earth.” Flowing with the Water technique, Ryu attacked with a fluid series of punches.
Kentaro’s low Earth stance and sinking arms channeled Ryu’s motions downward.
“Earth Furrows Water. Now, Water.” Ryu attacked with a fiery flurry.
The Water movement flowed around the Fire motions and buried them.
“Water Douses Fire.”
They repeated the cycle over and over again, and Kentaro’s form went from passable to decent faster than many of the clan children. Despite his inevitable fatigue, his expression brightened.
Ryu held up a hand, allowing the boy to rest.
“Master,” Kentaro said, “The Xingyi forms show how one Element overcomes another, but they are fixed motions.”
“Yes. Remember, each Element is a means of describing the nature of the Ten Thousand Things. Xingyi Fist is just one aspect, but it gives you a framework for understanding the Elements.”
Kentaro’s forehead crinkled. If he pondered any harder, he might break something.
“Think about the Earth Form.” Ryu stomped into the low stance, combined with the sinking hand motions. “The offensive and defensive nature is sinking. It’s perfect for redirecting the fluid, adaptable nature of Water. However, it is vulnerable to the tenacious, probing, and spreading nature of Wood.”
Kentaro’s head bobbed, but he didn’t look like he fully understood.
“It’s the concept, not just the motion. Execute the Earth pattern.”
Kentaro complied, sinking in his stance. Ryu darted in, tangled up Kentaro’s arms, and landed six gentle punches in a second.
Eyes widening, Kentaro retreated a step. “What was that? It wasn’t Xingyi; at least, not what you taught me.”
“No, it’s not Xingyi. It’s Wing Chun, a Wood Yang style. Notice how I tied your arms up so you couldn’t defend yourself.”
Kentaro nodded.
“Wood generates Fire. The entangling of your arms is Wood in nature, which was followed by the Fire: namely, a rapid flurry of attacks.”
“So what you’re saying is that any martial form can have multiple Elements, but is predominantly one or another?”
“Yes!” Ryu patted him on the head. “And that each Element manifests in different ways with each style. Generally, the Cycle of Control works in countering.”
“Generally?”
“I, as a Fourth-Ranked Water practitioner, could overwhelm a Third-Ranked Fire Cultivator, and easily defeat a Fourth-Ranked.” Ryu pantomimed splashing water downward and made a fizzling sound with his breath. “However, a Fifth-Ranked Fire Cultivator would be difficult. I would win, but possibly sustain injuries.”
“What about a Sixth-Ranked one?” Kentaro looked up with those puppy eyes.
“Like a fire boiling water.” Ryu flicked his fingers upward. “A Sixth-Ranked Fire Grandmaster could overwhelm a Third-Ranked Water Adept.”
Understanding bloomed in Kentaro’s expression. “Like fire boiling water into steam.”
“Yes!” Ryu nodded. The boy was quick. “And imagine a Sixth-Ranked Fire Grandmaster against a First-Ranked Water Initiate.”
“Instant vaporization,” Ken said.
“Like water being separated into hydrogen and oxygen.” Ryu shook his head. “Of course, you can’t just stand there and guess what Element you’re being attacked with, and then think of a counter. As you practice more and more, it will become a natural reaction.”
“Can we do the Xingyi patterns again?” Kentaro looked at him, expression pleading.
“Part of Cultivation is rest. You don’t want to push yourself too hard. Not on the first day, especially.” Ryu’s ears, their hearing enhanced by the Water Path, twitched.
Someone was hiding behind a tree about sixty meters away, coughing. The wet, phlegmy sound brought back memories of his own youth, when his lungs had been so weak.
Ryu reached out with his Qi through the Water Vapor, sensing.
Yin predominant, she was a female, w
ith brittle Metal and infertile Earth, clogged meridians, and a small, empty Core. Not so frail as the XHumans, though, since she seemed to have the potential to Cultivate.
“Come out,” Ryu said. “I know you are there.”
Kentaro startled and looked in the same direction.
A head poked out from behind the tree, with a thin helmet and visor covering her face. It was the same headgear many of the tactical Peacekeepers wore.
Kentaro dropped into Xingyi’s Metal stance. It was low-key cute, given there was nothing he could do from this range.
“I’m Bodhi,” she said, voice a light rasp that probably only Ryu’s enhanced hearing could detect.
“She says she’s Bodhi.” Ryu gestured Kentaro to follow.
“She?” Kentaro came out of his stance and hurried to catch up. “Bodhi was a male. Maybe the Peacekeepers reviewed the footage and are setting a trap for you.”
Ryu chuckled. “It wouldn’t be a very good trap, since she’s here alone.” He stretched out his Qi, just to ensure that was the case. With so much water vapor in the air after the rain, his senses reached even farther. There was no one within a hundred meters.
“She’s wearing a Peacekeeper helmet. Those are almost impossible to come by, unless you’re a Peacekeeper.” Kentaro slowed a step before hurrying to catch up again.
“Like your ear dot?” Ryu grinned.
Kentaro chuckled nervously.
Even if Bodhi wasn’t male as he’d to be appeared at Kyoto Central, the brittle Metal, infertile Earth, and clogged meridians suggested she’d been telling the truth about having cystic fibrosis. Which meant… “She’s Purebred.”
“No, a Purebred can’t be a Peacekeeper.” Kentaro shook his head. He raised his voice, addressing the interloper. “What’s your real name, Bodhi?”
Her head didn’t turn to Ken, instead facing Ryu. Purebreds were socially invisible, even in their own district.
Ryu ahemmed. “Answer Ken. What’s your name?”
“Aya.”
“Come out,” Kentaro said. “Lift your visor.”
Her head turned toward Kentaro, then settled back on Ryu.
“Do as Ken-kun says.”
She took a step out from behind the tree. The Peacekeeper tactical uniform clung to her thin body. With a tentative hand, she lifted her visor.