Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path

by Johnson, M. H.

  Or perhaps his Spiritual Student skill and Soul Sight had synergized in ways that now allowed him to learn faster than would otherwise be possible without spending his potency points on those skills, precious as they were.

  Then he chuckled to himself. For all he knew, the incredible internal pressure he had felt with so much spiritual energy flooding his soul, practically demanding his advancement before his meridian matrix burst, was now being channeled into his breakthroughs and quick mastery of these skills.

  Which was totally fine with him, as he feared it would be at least another week or two before he’d have any chance to safely leave this place and retreat to his personal World Seed, the only place he dared to fully embrace his breakthroughs and ascend through the ranks of Bronze. He felt almost certain that divine disaster would somehow sabotage the perfect breakthroughs he knew he needed to obtain if he dared to level up anywhere else, no matter the cards of Fate supposedly in play.

  He frowned then, gazing down at hands that had finally stopped trembling from the constant flood of Qi and perhaps the adrenaline crash of fighting so hard for so long. Eternal Fox technique aside, he still felt amped-up even after a quiet walk with his friends to the dining hall.

  He sighed and shook his head after long moments, considering his all-too-fragile body, before finally digging into the perfectly prepared fish stew before him.

  “That was some fight!” enthused an animated Zhu Bi.

  Alex nodded. “It was.”

  Yingpei grinned. “I’ll admit, I was surprised to see him take you down so… unexpectedly. And for just a heartbeat…”

  “You saw how utterly vulnerable that one stupid mistake had made me, how easily he could have crushed my skull?”

  “But you rolled away!” Zhu Bi soothed. “All he did was tag your ankle, and you were fine!”

  Alex smirked. “He did far worse than tag… but you’re right. I’m fine, and I learned some valuable lessons from that fight.”

  His merchant friend nodded. “I noticed. I sensed you holding back, and I was somehow certain that you could have done so much more…”

  “But your goal wasn’t to crush Dineng,” the kitsune said, gazing at Alex with newly appraising eyes. “You were playing with him like a cat plays with a mouse! Always in control, just bettering your ability to snatch!”

  Alex grinned. “Or, to put it another way, doing my best to master my Earthern Shield and Stone Fist techniques. And at Rank 4 in one and Rank 5 in the other, I’m feeling pretty confident I’ll get there.”

  Zhu Bi chuckled softly, eyes twinkling as her boyfriend furrowed his brow.

  “Rank 4, Alex? I’m not quite sure…”

  “Figure of speech. And I learned something important, besides how best to counter Dineng’s blows.”

  Zhu Bi’s ears perked. “And what would that be?”

  Alex grinned. “How much I need to learn practical body cultivation techniques to strengthen my physical defenses. Advancing up the ranks of Bronze is my goal, first and foremost, and I’ve picked up a deadly trick or two along the way. But if vitality alone is all that strengthens my bones, then it’s nearly effortless for a cultivator who has mastered multiple bone and flesh hardening body cultivation techniques to pound me to dust, no matter that our Bronze ranks or underlying physical attributes might actually be pretty similar.” He shrugged. “I might be fairly quick, but that didn’t change the fact that if I had mistimed any of Dineng’s blows worse than that first one, he could have crushed my skull to paste.”

  His friends’ gazes grew solemn. Only belatedly did Alex sense the comforting cloak of shadows about them.

  “Alex, are you saying you’re not physically enhanced right now? No arcane artifacts, wujen wards, or flesh-hardening techniques, and you’re still challenging multiple Bronzes?” exclaimed a somewhat incredulous Yingpei. “None of us are fools, Alex. We all know how hard Dineng stomped you at least once, and I think our master was actually relieved to know that you were using something to toughen yourself when you got up from that blow…”

  Alex winced, suddenly feeling the fool as he took in all his fellow disciples eating in the hall, all of them deliberately acting as if they hadn’t heard a single thing he or Yinpei had said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  Zhu Bi flashed a strangely sympathetic smile. “Alex, I had our voices warded in Shadow the minute we entered the dining all, with you so clearly in a daze. And whether dazed or drunk, a good proprietress assures that her guests, or friends, have no cause for regret on the morrow.”

  Alex’s eyes widened. “You can do that?”

  Low, throaty laughter washed over them. “I was raised in an inn, remember. One of the finest in the city. And my mother… she had connections and an understanding with the powers that be. Wealthy clients paid good silver, sometimes even gold, for the assurance of discretion as much as for quality accommodations.”

  Yingpei nodded. “Our dear Zhu Bi’s very resourceful. And you, friend Alex, need a strong body cultivation technique.” He gazed thoughtfully at Alex before flashing a reassuring grin. “As is now obvious to everyone, you have a natural affinity for Earth and have successfully claimed a very valuable Silver-ranked Body Cultivation tome. Perhaps that manual has exactly what you need. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you were to spend a few days holed up in a certain Silver-tiered pagoda, that no one would say a word about it, not even Master Bang Jiao. He was positively beaming when he saw the way you and Dineng were growing as warriors, even as you bested one another.”

  Alex gave a thoughtful nod. “You know, I really should make a point of gleaning what I can from that tome before returning it to Dineng, which Master Bang Jiao so clearly wants me to do. And since I want to stay on the man’s good side…” he then peered intently at the pair before him. “Forgive me if this seems a presumptuous request, but if I’m going to spend a few days doing things completely my way… I was thinking of taking full advantage of a nocturnal schedule.”

  His friends gazed at him curiously. “What are you saying, Alex?”

  Alex grinned. “Actually, I was wondering if I could take advantage of your mercantile skills, friend Yingpei. As grateful as I am to have these treatises, Earth isn’t the only element I have an affinity for.”

  His friends exchanged quick looks and nodded. “I think that’s a wonderful idea, Alex,” said Yingpei with a knowing smile. “And it just so happens that I might be able to acquire a few second-hand treatises for you at a very reasonable price.”

  Alex nodded. “I would be grateful. But to be honest… if there’s any chance of securing an original copy…”

  His friend frowned. “Unfortunately, those might be a bit more expensive…”

  Wordlessly, Alex handed his friend the half-full purse he kept on hand, having already gambled the fortune in herbs, Spirit Pearls, gold, and beast cores he had claimed in his earlier fights in the hopes that a certain Spirit Doctor could put it to good use on his behalf before he lost it in a future fight, and he feared his inevitable crushing defeat was just a matter of time. This final bag and the equal sized bag of credits was all he dared to keep, and he was, in truth, a bit surprised by his friend’s wide-eyed gaze.

  “Alex,” Yingpei said at last, somewhat breathlessly. “This is a fortune!”

  Alex grinned, having given his friend a sum equal to that which he deliberately kept under, not inside, his silver chest. So if anyone dared to push a challenge that far, no matter that for absolutely everyone else, only Gold could challenge for rights to that chest… all they would receive for their efforts was a single silver coin, which was all that his chest actually contained. Alex could take at least that much comfort in frustrating his future foes when his inevitably overpowered opponents did their best to utterly destroy him.

  “You mean for a starting Bronze, right?”

  Yingpei solemnly shook his head. “Each of these are ten-credit coins. You have over two hundred credits’ worth, right here.”<
br />
  Alex grinned. “Then hopefully that will assure me a couple of first editions.”

  His friend chuckled softly. “If by that, you mean originals… yes. I believe I know just who to speak to in order to acquire some additional Bronze elemental battle treatises for you.” He gazed at Alex curiously. “Just what elements do you have affinity for?”

  Alex smiled. “Keep a secret?”

  “Of course.”

  “All of them.”

  Zhu Bi’s eyes widened as she gasped in surprise.

  “But not Shadow,” Alex was quick to clarify. “Or Fate, or Time.”

  If anything, Zhu Bi’s pallor grew. “Alex…”

  “Yes?”

  She looked on the verge of saying something, swallowed, and just shook her head.

  Alex winced. All he had to do was look at Zhu Bi’s troubled expression to realize she knew exactly what he was talking about and that she was far more savvy, with a far more colorful background, than her bubbly personality might otherwise lead one to believe.

  Alex had the gall to wink. “Does Yingpei even know what’s in store for him?”

  This earned him a surprised blush, then a mischievous grin. “Probably not,” her smile said.

  Alex then turned to his friend, who was still staring at him with an expression of awed disbelief. “Alex, are you serious?”

  Alex grinned. “As the grave. So, how much will it cost in credits to secure those treatises?”

  His friend frowned in thought. “For top quality tomes that might actually impart a whisper of knowledge to the true student, or at least serve as fine additions to your own clan’s cultivation collection, I suspect I could get you all eight of those tomes for roughly twenty credits per volume. That would be one hundred and sixty credits in all. I wish I could offer them for you at an even better price, but that’s factoring in a considerable discount for what’s almost a full set.”

  Alex nodded. “Excellent. Sounds more than fair to me. Here’s an idea. How about you purchase them as my gift to you, to use as you see fit, compliments of a friend who thinks you will go far in life.”

  He smiled at his friend’s stunned expression. “Of course, if you see fit to leave them safely in your strongbox, and are amenable to my borrowing one or more—purely at your discretion, of course, and I might ask to ‘borrow’ one or more during the day and return it when I’m done—I’m sure such courtesies are extended to students here, just as they are in the larger world, as a matter of course. And to the best of my knowledge, no one can challenge me for your property, whether or not you’ve consented to let me make use of it from time to time.”

  “I think that’s a marvelous idea!” Zhu Bi enthused. “This way, if you’re forced into impossible fights, since it seems like anyone can challenge your talisman, you won’t lose absolutely everything you own.” She frowned thoughtfully. “Well, you probably will lose everything with the entire Spirit Wolf gang after you, but that won’t prevent you from continuing to ‘borrow’ your favorite tomes from us! Only a Gold-ranked talisman holder will be able to challenge for access to our Box, and why would they even bother hunting a novice’s paltry prizes? From what the masters say, they have far better things to worry about than the likes of us.”

  Alex grinned. “My thoughts exactly.”

  “And don’t worry about picking those tomes up. I’ll be the one to drop it off to you at night.”

  Alex nodded, not for the first time appreciating a kitsune’s greatest strength, at least as far as combat and stealth were concerned. “I would be extremely grateful to both of you.”

  His friends adamantly shook their heads. “No, Alex. It is we who are grateful to you. To you and… he who we shall think of only as our patron friend. At least this gives us a way to begin to pay you back for the priceless debt we owe you,” assured the young merchant, Zhu Bi giving an animated nod.

  Alex smiled, raising his mug in toast. “To friendship!”

  His friends laughed and joined him in his toast, and the three of them enjoyed the rest of the dinner in relative peace and quiet, despite the occasional surly glare sent their way.

  After dinner, an excited Alex quickly made his way back to his quarters, eager to see if perhaps a certain tome would prove useful to him after all, although he already had an idea about what technique would be best for him, and how frustrating it was to know that he wasn’t even sure where to start his research, or even what questions to ask. It would be a real challenge to track down someone who could help him without giving away information best kept to himself.

  But after resolutely slamming shut the fine leather covers of the priceless tome he now held, he was forced to accept that for a proponent of Eternal Fox with affinity for all Light Qi elements, he would need something exceedingly different from the single element Earth tome he now couldn’t stand the sight of, rather feeling viscerally repelled after communing with an author who was fully convinced that Earth alone was the one true element, and all the agility and grace of Water, the deadly, cutting quickness of Steel, and the passionate fury of Fire had to be completely forsaken for the rigid durability of stone.

  Alex shuddered at the discordance echoing inside his head, embracing a modified series of Silver Swan and White Crane kung fu exercises just to wash away the residual feel of granite stiffening up his joints and bones.

  For all that he was almost certain that the disconcerting feeling of pebbles in his meridians was all in his head, he still took comfort when he glanced at the interface message blinking in his mind’s eye.

  You have discovered an incompatible body cultivation technique!

  You have successfully saved versus disorientation.

  No long-term adverse effects suffered.

  Warning! Eternal Fox Unified Cultivation Technique and fully harmonized elemental cords preclude all incompatible body-altering techniques.

  He was both relieved and troubled by the message. In spite of taking brilliantly to Qi striking and warding techniques, these were, in effect, projections of his own Qi at very short range. They were not actual alterations to his body, granting him the natural resiliency of steel or granite. As soon as he stopped focusing on these techniques, their effects ended as well.

  He took a calming breath, going over his mental plans once more. Eager as he was to find out all he could about this school and eventually return to the library for some very serious study, right now, he wanted nothing more than to learn the basics of channeling Qi wards and attacks for all five of the recognized elements, in the hopes that it would both give him illumination regarding his own path forward and grant him extra tools for the next time he was either dueling or fighting for his life.

  Knowing the challenges he would soon face, the importance of finding a strong body cultivation technique was more important than ever because, as the deadly Silver Duo Ku’s predatory smile had made perfectly clear, he was already living on borrowed time.

  Qi Perception check made!

  His gut knotted when he noted a grinning Bang Jiao waiting outside the door of his pagoda. Alex couldn’t help wondering if he was in trouble already, but all the man’s smile didn’t falter. “Come with me,” he said and began walking to the practice area, Alex following dutifully behind.

  Alex lost himself in the sound of nighttime crickets and the soft rustle of the leaves on the branches overhead as a cool breeze tousled his bright blond locks of hair, his footsteps leaving a damp trail through the dew-covered grass as he hurried to Bang Jiao’s side. He felt a curious roil in his belly as they approached the training area of their miniature tree-lined sanctuary.

  His instructor’s hands were clasped behind his back, the man completely ignoring the mannequins of bronze and wood. All his attention lay upon a human-sized statue that looked to be made of shimmering mercury or a metallic liquid somehow frozen into the perfect life-like image of a man with his fists raised, ready for battle.

  Artificer Skillcheck made! Water, Wood, & Earth Elements de
tected.

  Alex couldn’t help whistling. “That is one impressive-looking magical treasure, Master Bang Jiao.”

  His instructor gave an approving nod. “It is indeed, Alex. Silver-ranked, it should be all but immune to lasting damage from anyone lacking certain specialized skills, or the ability to channel a Gold-ranked technique. Which means for all but a shockingly small handful of disciples and masters, this mannequin is nigh indestructible. The true cost of forging such an artifact is not one I shall get into, lest bitter burdens and past regrets taint the joy we feel in taking full advantage of this wonderful artifact!”

  Alex bowed his head. “It certainly is a marvel, Master.”

  The man gave an absent grunt of agreement. “It is, isn’t it?” His head abruptly snapped around, hard, cold eyes locking upon Alex’s own. “So why don’t you do your best to break it?”

  Alex blinked. “I’m sorry, Master?”

  Bang Jiao’s gaze hardened.

  Alex locked his jaw, refusing to tremble before the man’s glare.

  “I said, do your best to break it. Use the very technique you used to smash the five lesser mannequins to oblivion the night before!”

  For a moment Alex froze, thrown off by the unexpected request and his mentor’s rock-hard gaze.

  To make matters worse, he sensed eyes that held no love for him boring down upon him as well.

  “Don’t disappoint me, disciple.” The words were as much threat as warning.

  Alex forced his racing heart to calm.

  A soft rustle that could have been the grass caressed his legs with the gentlest of breezes.

  Or it could have been the faintest tremble of the earth.

  Slowly building.

  A bone-deep vibration slowly built up into the roaring crescendo of dozens, then hundreds, of rocks and boulders roaring down a mountainside in a wave of incalculable destruction.