Double Xu grinned. “And you’d be hammered in the crucible that is our elite officer’s core regiment until you had forged your first Bronze cord at least, learning what it means to lead men while mastering spear, gladius, and dao, and maturing into the cultivator and warrior your ascension this night makes clear is your birthright. And you damned well better believe our scholars would find the absolute best cycling tomes suitable to your proclivities. Their own yearly stipend is significantly increased for every Bronze rank you earn under the care of our scholars and trainers, with a boon in spirit pearls, should they actually manage to drag you, even if kicking and screaming, all the way to Silver!”
The pair of soldiers shared a chuckle at that, Yu right along with them, and Alex couldn’t help but grin at their knowing smiles, everyone well aware that they had hooked Yu in. It would require little additional effort to reel in a fish so eager to hop into the boat.
But still…
“And what would be the duration of his commitment, should he join the legion, as a prospective officer, no less?” Alex asked.
“Fifty years of dedicated service.” To his credit, Double Xu didn’t hesitate to name the price to such largesse.
Even Yu flinched. But he didn’t back away.
Double Xu slowly appraised the young, too-thin cultivator in a ragged peasant’s robe before beaming with approval. “And you don’t shirk from duty’s cost. Good for you, lad. Good for you. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that you have a good two centuries of prime years within you, at the very least, should you achieve no more than what your ascension this night says is your bare minimum potential. And should you ascend all the way to Silver… a thousand years or more might be your boon.”
Yu’s anxious smile widened. “And let’s be honest. There’s absolutely nowhere else in the world I’m going to find anyone as willing to give me access to the tomes a poor peasant’s son like me would need to achieve my true potential, whatever it is, let alone actually care about my ascension, or give a fig about whether I live or die, as they would be in the legion, where I would be surrounded by my brothers and sisters in uniform.”
Double Xu turned to his assistant, sharing a smile. “This boy gets it.”
“Indeed, he does.”
“I don’t think we need to offer even a single additional enticement, and he would walk through fire to join us.”
“You’re right,” Yu said, his voice a dry rasp, hiding nothing. “I would.”
Double Xu’s baritone chuckle brought a relieved smile to the boy’s features. “But we’re legion, boy, and we treat our own right. Ten spirit pearls per aspirant willing to leave this school at first light and devote the next fifty years to service and glory, and the knowledge that we will never throw away the lives of our men cheaply. We want all the training we’re going to hammer into you to pay off for the empire, and yourself as well.”
Yu’s eyes all but popped out of his head. “Ten spirit pearls? But that’s… that’s…”
“Your sign-up bonus,” Xu’s assistant confirmed. “You’ll still receive standard officers’ pay, one Silver a week per Bronze Rank achieved, and an added Gold per week per Silver rank achieved, once you’ve completed your training. It goes without saying that room and board’s on the legion, so that’s pure profit to spend on what you like, including pleasure maidens, though don’t be surprised if any number of young ladies from distinguished families make it clear they’d be open to courtship with an up-and-coming Bronze-ranked officer of the legion.”
“And if you’re looking for a safe place to store your money, the imperial bank has branches open in each and every city of the empire,” Xu assured. “Of course, don’t expect to be able to withdraw it at any branch, save the one you deposited it into, but a letter of credit for up to one tenth of your recorded savings at one branch can be withdrawn from another, though it might take anywhere from a week to a month to square the account.”
Yu immediately flowed into dogeza. “Honored officer Double Xu, I would be grateful if you would accept me into the legion.”
“Stand up straight, boy!” snapped the officer to a suddenly panicked Yu. “Officers of the legion do not kowtow to any man or woman, save that they are members of the imperial family! Is that understood?”
“Yes sir!” gushed an awed Yu, all but trembling at the comradely shoulder squeeze Xu gave him.
“You do realize that you will in all likelihood be fighting for your life after achieving your first Bronze cord, yes?”
Yu gulped, then quickly nodded. “I won’t stint from fighting off raiders, bandits, or assholes who think they have the right to bully the weak and mock our glorious empire,” Yu said, glaring hotly at the far golden staircase where the man who had so cruelly struck him had no doubt already raced up, some time ago.
“Excellent!” Double Xu exclaimed. “Then come, sit beside my second, and take a weight off your feet. Enjoy the feast and ask my man whatever questions you have about cultivation or the army! We’ll be heading out at first light.”
He then turned to the remaining aspirants. “You are all welcome to join, if you’re interested in the best teachers and cultivation manuals you’ll find anywhere, save your school’s innermost sanctum, with trainers who actively want to make you the best you can be, serving a brotherhood like no other.” He flashed a bright grin. “To say nothing of the ten spirit pearl sign-on bonus, with any number of additional rewards available for the savviest and boldest tacticians and specialists willing to do whatever is necessary for the glory of the empire.”
“Well said,” noted Cheng Lei, flashing an amused smile as he caught Double Xu’s gaze, and Alex was sure he hadn’t imagined the soldier’s widened eyes and subtle flinch, buried in a recruiter’s smile a heartbeat later.
No one who hadn’t been looking for it would have spotted it, certainly not the woman only now summoning the courage to approach. Her vitality radiated like all of those who had ascended clearly beyond the mortal realm, but her features were far less ageless than most. Lines of hard living had etched themselves into what had once no doubt been flawless features. She shivered from something other than cold, despite the threadbare cultivator’s robes and muffin cap she wore, and there was no mistaking the haunted look to her gaze, nor the desperation just underneath.
Still, she avoided even looking at the tables graced with a magnificent spread of food and wine, eyes focused only on Double Xu. “Is it true?”
The officer peered at her for long moments, hard eyes measuring her, lips pressed in a firm line. Alex could all but sense how the girl wanted to crumple before that glare. Nonetheless, she stood firm.
At last, he gave a slow nod. “It is.”
She crumpled to her knees. “Then this one would be honored to join.”
“It will not be an easy path for a broken purple,” he warned. “You will need to be reforged.”
She shuddered but nodded. “Anything. Anything to escape—”
Quick as a flash, he darted forward, lifting her to her feet. “Rule one of any new recruit: you have no past to be burdened by. Only hard-learned lessons to guide you. You do know you will be permitted no wine, only water to drink, yes?”
She swallowed and nodded.
“Good. The purification won’t be easy for a risen sister. It never is. But you’ll find you aren’t alone in your journey, and the healer accompanying us this trip will ensure you can endure life’s bitter lessons until we reach camp.”
She jerked a nod, and Alex saw the tears in her eyes, sensing her exhaustion, her desperation, and the hope suddenly flaring anew in her heart.
Alex turned to catch Zhu Li holding back a sob. “How did I not spot her?”
Alex flashed a sympathetic smile. “She didn’t want to be seen.”
She shook her head and sighed. “I can’t even imagine what she’s going through.”
Alex nodded. “It must have been hell, ascending those steps with that pain burning inside her. But sh
e made it, and now she can start anew, with people who have a vested interest in helping her.”
Cheng Lei flashed the trembling girl a sympathetic smile. “Come, my friends. I sense at least two tales coming to happier conclusions, at least for this chapter of their lives. It is time for us to advance our own stories as well.”
With those words and final nods from the smiling Silvers seeming to commend their bravado at daring to continue their ascension, the four made their way up the shimmering golden steps, only two others daring to follow their lead.
7
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Alex took a moment to gaze at the heavens in awe and wonder, captivated by the midnight sky sparkling with countless stars flashing like jewels. A brilliant nebula kissed the horizon with all the colors of the rainbow, leaving Alex increasingly certain they were glimpsing a sky that had never shone down upon the Golden Realms below.
“It is, indeed, my friend. Alien, strange, and wondrous,” declared Cheng Lei, his voice soft, almost reverential before the majestic heavenly display.
“Yes, the stars are pretty. Can we just focus on the next plateau? Please?” said an exhausted Yingpei, his hands like claws as he gripped the golden step before him for all he was worth. It was the oddest thing, Alex thought, seeing his fried fight so desperately just to keep from being flung free of the steps entirely, his struggles equally matched by a panting Zhu Bi who didn’t even have the energy to gasp a snarky rejoinder, as if alien gravities were affecting them both that touched Cheng Lei only enough to ruffle his hair, and Alex not at all.
That was when Alex heard the screams below.
He darted around, catching sight of a pair of young men in fine silken changshan shirts, who had been scaling the stairs in unison, just as one lost his grip. The other grasped futilely for his falling companion before scrabbling to secure his own perch, gazing helplessly on as the howling youth tumbled through the heavens, followed by the faintest sound of splashing, far below.
“Do you think he’ll be alright?” wondered a panting Zhu Bi, trembling as she savored a quick moment’s rest before struggling up yet another golden pedestal.
“No doubt,” gasped Yingpei. “The pool theme’s been the same for every plateau, probably to catch them. They’d be idiots to let such strong potential soldiers fall to a pointless death.”
Alex nodded. “You’re probably right,” he said, knowing the young merchant was seeking to reassure himself that his own fall wouldn’t be fatal, more than anything else. And this close to the plateau below, the pool's wards should safeguard them all against perilous injury.
A protection that faded with each additional step they took.
He frowned, exchanging a look with his noble friend, the pair not saying a word even as they simultaneously moved forward and braced themselves, leaning forward such that their friends, who seemed to be pulled by gravity other than the ground below, instead found to their immense relief that they could stabilize their feet against a rigid surface, allowing them the purchase they desperately needed.
Lin’s gaze was filled with gratitude and worry in equal measure. “Thank you, Alex. But aren’t you worried that…”
Alex grinned. “If you want to lean against me between ascents, who am I to decline? Stabilizing you upon the step you’re on was most specifically included by our benevolent guardian as a permissible act, and my hands certainly aren’t the ones pulling you up the preceding steps.” His gaze hardened. “Your hands alone will be accomplishing that.”
Zhu Bi flashed her own champion a grateful smile. “Thank you, Cheng Lei.”
Cheng Lei returned an enigmatic smile of his own. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, Zhu Bi. But if your dainty little feet leave too prominent a stain upon my fine cultivator’s robes, I’m afraid I shall be sending you the cleaning bill personally.”
Zhu Bi flushed. The young noble chuckled. “I jest, of course. My robes are enchanted. The stains will mar my attire no more than an enemy’s jian. So feel free to step on them all you like.”
Zhu Bi’s smile grew. “Well then, my personal thanks to your heroic robes and the man who wears them.”
“Noted,” Lei quipped. “Now quit delaying. With the way you’re shivering, if you don’t ascend now, you never will.”
The young kitsune blinked and swallowed, quickly doing just that, redoubling her efforts and pushing past her exhaustion, much as Yinpei himself was. By the time they reached the third and final Bronze tier, the pair’s footwear was most definitely on intimate terms with both Alex and Cheng Lei’s attire. How fortunate, Alex thought, that Silver Fox’s earliest gift took no stain or tear, even rips inflicted by enchanted weapons knitting back together in seconds.
By the time Cheng Lei and Alex both stepped over the lip into the final Bronze-tiered basin, both of them looked utterly spotless once more, their garments in pristine condition, which was quite frankly ridiculous, considering all they’d been through.
Fortunately, no one was paying much attention to their clothing, with as few occupants as there were at this plateau. Only Double Xi and the host that had commended them during their initial Bronze ascent were there to greet them at all.
Alex frowned, somewhat disappointed to see that there were no tables laid out with exotic fare, nor eagerly waiting servants, though, of course, he had no intention of risking his cultivation base by embracing that vice quite yet.
On the plus side, the pair of powerful cultivators present were gazing at Alex and friends with nothing less than frank admiration.
“Impressive. Damned impressive,” noted Double Xi.
The ivory-haired Silver smirked. “For all that the kitsune and merchant were leaning on their friends as much as the pillars themselves.”
The soldier shrugged. “All within the rules, and a tactically sound use of alliances and resources. Exactly what I’d be looking for in an officerial candidate.”
This earned a chuckle and the slightest of nods. “True. Well, children, you have managed to ascend to the top tiers of Bronze.” He held out four bronze talismans, each with three silver sigils. “Should you choose to end your trial here, each of you will be awarded a talisman that signifies your rank and what accommodations and monthly resources will be allotted to you. Equally important, it signifies the monthly allotment of challenges you may offer to fellow students of superior, inferior, and equal ranks, and how many challenges you yourself may be forced to accept per month.”
Alex blinked. “Nothing about talismans was explained with our earlier ascensions.”
The Silver elder smirked. “That’s because it’s no concern of servants, and those cultivators who have barely made it to Bronze have enough on their plate and will learn all they need to in the coming days. Most of them will have already been well-versed in the basics, should they have taken the time to speak with the cultivators who are to treat them as honored brothers and sisters for this night alone, despite knowing full well that these aspirants will be competing with them for wealth and privilege in the months and years to come. And here too the savviest among you will find opportunities overlooked by most, astute enough to form alliances with your seniors from the very start."
The jaded smile following the man’s pronouncement made it clear that this school was exactly what Alex had come to expect, for all that he sensed honor played a far larger role here than it did at Dragon Academy. That, along with their seeming acceptance of Ruidians and kitsune, and Alex would have no problem with them at all.
He was more than willing to accept the ruthless mindset held by most cultivators he had met, so long as he would not be hated on sight and given a fair chance. He would keep an eye out for those who seemed particularly ruthless or honorable and treat them in kind.
“I won’t bore you with the details now, since I sense that at least a few of you wish to ascend even further, before fatigue and the waning night stretch longer than you are willing to bear. So let me simply say that every additional pla
teau you achieve will entitle you to better starting accommodations and monthly resources. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to force more fights and to refuse a growing number of challenges, and you will have more control over what resources are up for challenge.
“Basic food, water, and your personal cultivation notes are, of course, sacrosanct. Nor can you be forced out of your initial cultivation chambers that will be your home. But every other treasure or possession you own will be in play, lest you actually manage to break through to Silver. And considering how bitter a struggle it was for at least one pair of you to make it this far, I fear that highly unlikely.” He flashed a bleak smile for Alex and Cheng Lei.
“And I’m afraid there is a price to be paid for crippling or killing cultivators, no matter your political affiliations or differences. Even for one of your considerable rank.”
Though gracious enough to name no names, and Cheng Lei didn’t bat an eye, everyone knew who the elder was talking about.
“It would serve no one if certain unfounded rumors were spread,” said Alex, knowing Cheng Lei would give nothing away, uttering the words more for his friend’s sake than for any other reason. Besides, best he know where they all stood now.
The elder flashed a bleak smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Do you think I’m a fool, Ruidian boy? Do you think I’ll allow this school to descend into the madness that almost destroyed the palace?” He gave an angry shake of his head. “Three aspirants dressed in crimson dared these steps, and only one had the courage to stay and accept his disgraceful rank. And no one shall say a word otherwise, for students, instructors, and servants are all oathbound to say nothing about what occurs during the trials to anyone.”
Sensing Cheng Lei’s unspoken relief, Alex bowed so low that the ends of his ragged hair dipped into the water they all stood in, in a sense bowing for both their sakes. “This lowly Ruidian thanks you for the information and apologizes for any inconvenience caused during our attempts at ascension.”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path Page 8