Alex grimaced, glancing back at the interior of the luxuriously furnished room, with finely polished hardwood cabinets, a bedframe complete with stuffed mattress, a lacquered table, cushioned chairs, and a trunk radiating a faint aura of spiritual energy which Alex already knew was to hold items that would be far more taxing for any challenger to force a claim upon, if not outright impossible, assuming said challenger was Silver or higher, and not possessing a talisman so linked to a god of mischief who always seemed to like seeing Alex running or fighting for his life. “Thanks. I think.”
“I knew that talisman was special!” Zhu Bi grinned, “and that you could actually use it to enter this pagoda proves it!”
Alex nodded. “And the longer I can study here undisturbed, before our fellows cotton on to the fact that I can enter and leave at will, the better off I’ll be, so thanks again for bringing food.”
Yingpei chuckled. “Dineng declared you a coward who had somehow cheated and ran off with all his property. The master called him a fool, and made it clear that the only one who had bothered to defend his actions as having any merit at all was, interestingly enough, you.” He smiled. “Unsurprisingly, Dineng didn’t have much to say after that. But a certain girl, who now seems more than a little bit infatuated with you, did ask after you, Alex.”
Zhu Bi positively beamed. “Jing Le is a sweet girl, and she was terrified of being ravished by those Spirit Wolves, although I think our master isn’t quite so innocent of their presence and was using them for his own ends. Still, it was a terrifying ordeal, and you’re probably why half of us aren’t bruised and penniless as a way to motivate everyone else to study twice as hard.”
Alex smirked. “I’m just glad I was able to see past his ward.”
“So are we!” Zhu Bi assured, before her ears wilted. “I still feel the fool for not spotting it that illusion. And as for the one cultivator those wolves actually caught…” she swallowed and looked away. “He had to go to the blue pagoda, Alex. They hurt him. Badly. Badly enough after forcing him into three back-to-back challenges that I hear he might be leaving the school.”
Alex gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Then the fault lies squarely with the Spirit Wolves, and perhaps Bang Jiao for choosing to be a ruthless bastard in his attempts to motivate us all to push ourselves. So feel free to blame them all you like. But the one person you should never blame is yourself. It’s just like our misguided mentor said: your life experiences revolved around city sounds. There’s no way you could understand the secrets the trees were so eager to share. But I’ve actually done a fair amount of traveling within and, well, communing with the deepwoods, so I can read the rustling of the leaves far better than most people can.”
Alex blinked at his friends’ silent stares, wondering if he’d said too much.
Yingpei cleared his throat. “Those are some excellent points, friend Alex. You took a significant risk coming to our rescue, and your efforts have not gone entirely unnoticed. A few of our classmates have have expressed a growing curiosity about you, and there is a certain lovely young woman who wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Zhu Bi’s smile took on a positively wicked edge. “If you wanted to invite Jing Le into your pagoda, I’m sure she’d be more than willing to keep your secret and show you how much she appreciates her hero in all sorts of delicious ways.”
Yingpei nodded. “You’re a man going places with obvious resources and a good head on your shoulders. Plus, you were there when she needed a hero in a world far too ruthless for most people’s liking. How could a girl not fall for a charming man who is both kind and powerful, regardless of your background?”
Zhu Bi furrowed her pretty brow. “But don’t be a fool about it, Alex. Be careful with your heart. And don’t hurt her either.”
Alex gave an awkward laugh. “I forget how forward some people are about some things, while so incredibly reserved about others. Especially cultivators.”
Zhu Bi’s eyes widened. Then she flushed prettily, lowering her gaze. “I’m sorry, did I seem… Oh no, did I offend a Ruidian custom?”
Alex quickly shook his head. “No. None that I know of, anyway, though I don’t know that many, to be honest. Not that that matters.”
Yingpei gave a curious tilt of his head. “How can the customs of your people not matter to you?”
Alex winced. “No, it’s not that. I mean… look, we’re getting off topic. The point is, Jing Le’s a very sweet girl, but absolutely nothing can happen between us. I’d destroy myself if I even tried.”
The merchant’s puzzlement grew.
By contrast, Zhu Bi paled with sudden comprehension. “You learned a forbidden technique.”
Alex forced himself to nod. “I did.”
“Which one?”
“Keep it a secret?”
“Of course.”
Alex smiled. “Silver Swan.”
The kitsune girl visibly shivered. “Then that means… I thought that maybe there were more like you, but no, that’s too much of a coincidence. You’re…”
Alex frowned, several things suddenly clicking into place.
He chuckled softly.
Zhu Bi lowered her gaze, as if suddenly embarrassed.
“I’ll bet running an inn might be very useful to certain parties.”
She trembled at that, avoiding his knowing gaze.
Yingpei’s gentle brows furrowed. “Alex, just what is going on?”
Alex sighed. “I think maybe we have an unexpected friend in common. And certain friends, some people find embarrassing to speak of in polite company.” Alex shrugged. “Or maybe I just like sounding mysterious after a long day stuck in here, studying the same tome, hour after hour.” He flashed Yingpei a grin. “I don’t suppose you’d let me take a peek at your own manuals at some point?”
Yingpei smiled at that. “Happily! I have a pair for Water.”
“And I was given a pair for Wood,” declared Zhu Bi. “Though I have more than one element.”
Yingpei chuckled. “My Zhu Bi is very talented, isn’t she?”
Zhu Bi smiled back, heart in her gaze, then her eyes widened. “Alright, no one is looking this way, and the shadows are thick. Let’s go!”
And just like that, they were gone.
Alex chuckled softly, enjoying the chance to eat some of the savory fare his friends had brought before cracking open the second tome he had acquired and diving into the author’s extensive knowledge on how to generate a shield of spiritual energy emulating the power of Earth to its very core.
He blinked and swallowed some water when he finally pulled himself free of the tangible dream that had been the author’s ideals, aspirations, and most visceral memories, so perfectly recalling the image of the ancient cultivator warding the most powerful blows with a shield of stone.
Closing his eyes, visualizing so clearly the fear, desperation, and triumph that had run through the man as he forged his first shield of spiritual energy, Alex got the message he had been hoping for, no matter that the class had been warned that it might take weeks or longer for inexperienced students to learn even the most basic skills tied to their affinities.
Skill synergism detected! Dark Qi Projection boosts Elemental Shield projection. Spiritual Student skill check made. Critical success! You have achieved Rank 1 in Earthern Shield!
Even as the words flashed across his mind’s eye, he gazed with awe and wonder at the spinning disk of earth, stone, and spiritual energy radiating from his left fist as if he held an eighteen-inch diameter buckler.
He had done it.
He had finally learned his first elemental skill in a way that had nothing to do with mad breakthroughs or fighting for his life… even if it had relied on the memories of someone who had.
Alex couldn’t help but laugh for joy, feeling his fatigue wash instantly away, so charged he was by his breakthrough. His mind raced so fast, he could barely put into words the awe and wonder he felt as everything around him seemed to echo with prof
ound meaning. From the finely lacquered hardwood furniture to the elegant brushstrokes of the paintings upon his bamboo room dividers, to the carefully constructed pagoda that so perfectly distributed weight and force to allow for a structure far stronger than it might appear at first glance… all of it now resonated with profound inner truths to his mind’s eye.
Yet affected as he was by the sheer surge of wonder washing over him, he was enough of a gamer at heart to take advantage of his temporary boost of insight. Chuckling at his own ancient instincts, he dove back into the first transcript he had read, recalling the author’s own breakthroughs and insights and, yes, finding deeper meanings within flashes of memories he had just glimpsed before. By the time he gently closed the Stone Fist treatise, he just knew that if he clenched his fist just so, allowing the distant rumble of crashing stone to resonate sympathetically with his own Earth Qi…
He didn’t dare delay for even a second, dashing out of his pagoda in the dead of night, regardless of who might be watching. Tasting that precious glimpse of insight like a flickering dream fading away, he rode the cusp of a second breakthrough, the sound of the trembling earth growing ever fainter, ever more distant…yet he could still feel the edge of it as bare feet dashed through the wet, dewy grass… and there! There were the mannequins, set up just as before!
Alex howled with the roar of a ton of crashing stone as he struck the nearest training dummy with a blow that had nothing to do with internal Qi, or channeling the howling fury of a summer storm, but rather the rumbling roar of an avalanche of stone, pounding into the mannequin with such might that the entire construction of wood and bronze exploded into fragments of shattered wood and lamellar armor, metallic tiles glittering so prettily with flashes of the moon and the stars as they rained down back down to earth.
Congratulations! You have successfully stacked epiphanies and now enjoy a transcendent Breakthrough!
Stone Fist has been quantized at Rank 3!
You have partially learned the Earth striker technique Avalanche! Hit with the force of crashing boulders! This is a Silver-ranked technique. Temporary transcendence minimizes meridian strain. Resilient Meridians Perk minimizes meridian strain. Avalanche is now at Rank 0! (50% Comprehension achieved!)
Alex was momentarily chilled by the laughter washing over him.
“Well done, Aspirant! It pleases me to see you and Dineng both seizing the deeper insights hidden within those treatises, when most novices only grasp the barest whispers of their true potency!”
Bang Jiao gave a solemn nod as Alex turned to stare at him. “You and Dineng have become each other’s crucibles, from which you shall forge each other into deadly blades fit to destroy all your foes. So long as you do not allow the heat of your hatred to burn so hot you destroy each other entirely.”
He laughed at Alex’s stunned expression before his gaze hardened.
“Well, fool with the eyes of a sage? What are you waiting for? Grab ahold of transcendent insight for the brief moments that divine perfection deigns your flawed shell worthy! Strike those mannequins with the fury of the avalanche I see roaring in your hands! Capture that madness such that no one can take it from you!”
For a second, Alex had feared his transcendent state broken, burst like a brilliant, sparkling bubble, beautiful like a rainbow, ephemeral as Summer’s dew.
Bang Jiao’s fist against his left shoulder might have shattered it to broken fragments and gravel, but it was enough to jolt Alex right back into the roaring avalanche that would grind him to dust if he didn’t release it in a titanic slamming of force and fury… now!
Alex bellowed as he whipped his right arm forward in a powerful overhand punch that utterly obliterated a second mannequin, exploding in a shower of splinters and bronze tiles much as the first. He laughed and roared as his fist struck mannequin after mannequin, until nothing but wood dust and shrapnel filled the air.
Alex then closed his eyes and breathed deep, his shoulder knitting back into place as he recalled with crystalline clarity the feel of his fist blasting through all obstacles with the power of an avalanche behind each of his blows.
Yet even now, he could sense his insights slowly trickling away like a fading dream. It would be so easy to relax his desperate grasp for a transcendent epiphany, simply embracing a mastery of Stone Fist that would leave everyone but Dineng in a state of awed disbelief.
Yet he clenched his fists tightly, ignoring his still-throbbing left shoulder as he fiercely recalled every second of what it felt like to channel an entire avalanche of stone, locking it tightly amongst every bit of forbidden lore far beyond what any Bronze should be able to master.
No matter how his body began to sweat and tremble, he continued to cycle the mad roaring surge of Earth Qi through his strained meridians, holding tight to the insights washing through him until he finally stumbled to his knees with a triumphant smile. Dripping with rank sweat he was too exhausted to even bother washing away, he reveled in the feeling of a fierce surge of triumph at the message flashing across the interface screen in his mind’s eye.
Congratulations! You have achieved Rank 4 in Stone Fist.
Congratulations! You have achieved Rank 1 in Avalanche! This Silver tier skill can hit with the force of a crashing boulder, or more! Cost to use: Ten Qi plus risk of mild meridian strain. Note: Strike is delayed due to buildup of spiritual energy. Delay, Qi expenditures, and meridian strain are reduced with increased rank in skill or ascension to Silver Giant body cultivator.
Minutes turned to hours while Alex meditated, lost somewhere between enlightenment and bone-weary exhaustion as he gazed upon the remains of the shattered targets, determined to keep alive the dying embers of his formerly blazing transcendence for as long as he could.
It was only when deepest night turned to crimson dawn that he realized that he was no longer alone, and just how mentally exhausted he truly was.
“Look who’s out with the first light of dawn!” sneered none other than Dineng as he glared at Alex, a couple of scowling cultivators by his side.
“The fool’s trembling, covered in sweat. He looks sick in the head,” said one of his cohorts, flashing Alex an evil smile as he stepped right up in Alex’s exhausted face. “It would be nothing to take him out now…”
Alex blinked, only now registering the presence of half his class. His bleary eyes immediately fastened upon Jing Le, looking toward Alex from among the cluster of girls who had somehow formed up between one heartbeat and the next.
He couldn’t help but be touched by the way she gazed at him with such genuine concern. “Alex, are you alright?”
“Well, challenge him!” Said another of the hotheaded youths around a sneering Dineng.
Much to a dizzy Alex’s surprise, it was Zhang, the second youth amongst their group that Alex had bested with the lowly expedient of using rocks, who gave a firm shake of his head. “You guys aren’t idiots. He’s clearly just had a breakthrough.”
Dineng snorted. “What of it? He had no problem challenging me when I had one.”
“You challenged him riding the crest of your transcendence, and he still got the best of you. This poor sap’s obviously about to crash.” Zhang scowled. “You’re already on thin ice with the master, Dineng. Do you really want to antagonize him any further?”
Dineng glared, though the killing gaze he might have hoped for was ruined by the fact that his head was completely shaved, and he was wearing a very fragrant compress upon the back of his head. “Master says I can’t spar for at least a week, even with his treatment. Said light exercise is fine, but I’d be a fool to risk permanent injuries I won’t be able to afford having cured.”
“That’s because he rang your skull like a bell,” Zhang noted. “If he hits you like that again before your skull heals, the blow could kill you.”
“Only if I’m not one with my element.”
Zhang smirked briefly before his eyes widened. “By Long Wang’s hammer, the mannequins!”
“What�
��s this about mannequins?” said none other than a very chipper Yingpei Lin, beaming at everyone as he suddenly appeared amongst their number while radiating a glow that could only mean one thing, earning blushes from the girls and either envious glares or good-natured grins from the boys.
“Can you believe this guy? Just flaunting it in front of us?”
“That’s what you get when you reach Silver and can claim your own private quarters. Lucky bastard.”
“All the mannequins. They’re utterly obliterated!” Zhang exclaimed, pointing at the piles of bronze and wood littering the ground.
Yingpei, feigning utter obliviousness to the envious comments he had received, just bent down and examined them, before flashing a brilliant smile. “Not at all, my friends. I recognize this type of training mannequin. They just need sunlight to regenerate. They’ll be right as rain by the time the elemental instructors arrive.”
“Well, sure, but that’s hardly the point…”
Alex found himself jolted out of his daze as soothing shadows covered him and a familiar girl began leading him away. “Come on, Alex. While Lin distracts them, let’s get you to bed.”
Alex didn’t fight his friend in the least, giving her a tired grin when he stumbled back to his pagoda. For a second, Zhu Bi seemed flustered when it wouldn’t open for her Silver Talisman, though Alex’s own opened it without a problem.
“That was really quite clever,” he noted, after allowing himself to be put to bed by his friend who, he recalled, had worked at her family’s inn while growing up. “Letting Yingpei Lin distract them like that to turn a potentially awkward moment to your advantage.”
Zhu Bi suddenly froze, which made Alex wince.
“I’m sorry, I… sometimes forget where I am. Back where I’m from, my friends were unusually bold and almost seemed to enjoy embarrassing each other’s parents or teachers and, well, pretty much embracing the outrageous.”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path Page 37