Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path

by Johnson, M. H.

  In a flash, Zhu’s spear darted for his throat. He leaned back, shifting his own spear shaft just enough to tap her weapon off-line while holding the center.

  But Zhu had only been feinting, whirling her shaft against his own before plunging forward with a sharp cry.

  It was a blow with enough power to dent even bronze, had the lead-tipped spear point actually been made of hardened steel, Alex was sure. And he thought it adorable how her eyes widened with surprise and consternation to see not only the head of her spear forced out of alignment, but the weapon twisting completely free of her hands when Alex’s own spear caressed her chest as gently as a lover’s kiss.

  White Crane Kung Fu fully synergized with Golden Realms! Feel the eternal storm of Qi swirling around you!

  “Alex? How did you do that?”

  Alex grinned as he stepped back, the pair of them ignoring the panting, grunts, and curses of other duelists to either side. “In White Crane, we learn to wind our spears as we strike, knocking our opponent’s weapons out of alignment and them off balance just as we’re about to deliver a decisive blow.”

  She slowly shook her head. “That was more than just a winding technique, Alex. I’m strong enough that you shouldn’t have been able to send my spear flying out of my hands.”

  Alex grinned. “I was also sort of channeling the storm of Qi all around us and made my thrust my metaphoric eye of the storm, batting all resistance aside as I struck.”

  She frowned. “Storm of Qi? I’ve never heard of that before.”

  Yingpei chuckled softly, effortlessly slipping into their conversation. “No doubt it’s a secret technique known only to a few,” he quipped, having watched from the sidelines while taking his time to don his armor. “Nonetheless, I wouldn’t mind trying my hand against White Crane myself!”

  Alex grinned, happily taking him on and enjoying the exercise as he mastered positioning and the bind. He carefully tapped into the storm of White Qi all around them as more than a few students were game to try their own techniques against his, and save for a few bruises at the hands of Dineng and Zhang, he counted the exercise a success.

  Of course, his blows would have been far more devastating had he been incorporating the furious, sweeping blows of Silver Swan, channeling the raging power of a mighty river, or using a fangtian ji and not just a blunted thrusting spear, but his goal was to train with them, learn from them, and perhaps strengthen his friendships with them. He had no desire to wield strikes so deadly that they would cripple or kill the majority of his fellow aspirants. He was increasingly certain that very few Bronze cultivators had anything even close to his well-rounded physical attributes, for all that many had bone and body reinforcement techniques he was increasingly envious of.

  He feared that even novice Bronze body cultivation techniques would do little to save them from the insane amount of force he generated when synergizing all three of his martial styles for a combined +71 modifier, according to his interface, to say nothing of his Strength, Quickness, and Finesse stats. Which was kind of insane, when he really thought about it, and that was just one of the reasons why he was only channeling a whisper of the power that the storm of Qi all around him promised.

  Yet as gloriously strong as he felt at that moment, limbs infused with the sweet rush of spiritual energy caressing his skin like the warm sun shining high above, savoring the euphoric taste of victory when Zheng granted him a sardonic smile and saluted with his weapon after Alex met his onslaught and slipped free of his traps to claim the match, all he had to do was catch sight of Duo Ku’s ice-cold smile for any sense of pride or complacency to instantly vanish, replaced by a desperate need to push himself all the harder. But the massive cultivator just watched them all with the lazy, self-satisfied grin of a lion knowing he could take down his chosen prey at any time, which reminded Alex how low he truly stood upon the totem pole of power.

  If his calculations were correct, every rank of a Silver art was a quantitative +25 when used by a Silver practitioner. By that same estimation, Alex’s six ranks of Silver Swan only counted as +5 per rank, or a net +30, because Alex himself was just a Bronze. But even were he to assume that Duo Ku had nothing more than four ranks in a Silver martial art, never even bothering to achieve Rank 5 and synergize it with any lesser arts—because probably most wouldn’t take the hard, bitter path Alex had, combined with more than a few fortuitous insights—that would still equal a minimum of a +100 bonus, if Alex were to quantify it tactically via his interface. And that was on top of a minimum of +65 bonus for even Rank 1 Silver quickness. Even at the bare minimum of Rank 1 Silver stats, which he more than sensed from the deadly cultivator… facing off against the man would be a death sentence, as things stood. With just two Rank 1 Silver stats, the man might be a whopping one hundred points his superior. Or more.

  Even if those numbers only told half the tale, since Alex had so many other tools at his disposal, any fights between him and Duo Ku invited gravest peril. The gulf between Bronze and Silver body cultivators was so much greater than what he had previously faced when goading his enemies at Dragon Academy.

  Alex gave a rueful shake of his head. He already knew he was outclassed by Duo Ku. His internal interface merely allowed him to quantify it, which hammered home just how badly he was outmatched by any Speed specialist who had ascended to Silver or beyond, and how badly he needed to ascend as well.

  Of course, Soul Sight could be a massive playing field leveler. But what were the chances he’d actually get a lock on Duo Ku’s internal Qi flows before the man used his inhuman speed and strength to tear Alex’s head clean off his neck?

  He shook the thoughts away, doing his best to ignore the Silver Giant’s hungry smile as everyone headed off to the central pagoda for a light lunch, focusing instead on just how glad he was to get out of the armor so favored by his enemy, assisting Yingpei and Zhu Bi once he’d freed himself. The latter gave a shiver when she glanced back the way they had come.

  Yingpei frowned. “Doesn’t that man have anything better to do than to try to intimidate the newest students?”

  Alex forced himself to shrug and smile as they seated themselves, filling his bowl with rice and lightly seasoned whitefish stew. “You would think he would have larger incentives in the quest for a fresh breakthrough, but he seems to enjoy stopping by at least once or twice a day to observe us. But there’s absolutely nothing we gain from worrying about him, only added stress threatening our own path forward, which might be exactly what he wants. So, let’s just focus on what we can control.”

  Zhu Bi nodded in agreement. “Mastering ourselves and getting better every day, so one day it will be us donning the mantle of Silver Giant body cultivator.”

  Alex grinned. “Exactly. And hey, at least we get to spar in actual steel armor, a cut above even the bronze that most legionnaires wear.”

  Yingpei fairly beamed. “And glad I am of it. Considering how deadly you are with a spear, had my Zhu Bi been warded by anything less than tempered steel…” he didn’t hesitate to squeeze an elated Zhu Bi’s hand, her ears quivering with obvious happiness, if her hum hadn’t already given it away.

  The merchant looked fondly at the girl by his side. “As I was saying, the school is very fortunate to be enjoying the patronage of the Red Prince, among other visiting royalty and various dignitaries. Among his many gifts was not one, but several hundred, sets of high-grade steel lamellar armor.”

  Alex whistled appreciatively. “That sounds impressive.”

  His friend nodded. “Truly worth a fortune in gold and Spirit Pearls. Definitely a prize fit for a king.”

  Alex forced a smile. “And the prince gets plenty of free publicity, if dozens of training cultivators are wearing his armor and his colors.”

  The incisive comment made Zhu Bi frown, though Yingpei simply chuckled. “An interesting observation. Perhaps that explains the gesture. It never hurts to be seen as magnanimous.”

  “And it is but the smallest of sacrifices,
if the rumors are accurate about the true prize he is after,” whispered Zhu Bi.

  Alex shared a look with Yingpei. “Not that either of us plan on turning down such a wonderful gift as that armor when sparring. Wouldn’t want anyone to think we were… ungrateful.”

  Yingpei smiled, the pair nodding in concert; so much understood with that simple gesture.

  They’d act just as clueless and grateful as everyone else. It was one thing to deduce gambits made by third parties, and quite another to risk offending or alarming powerful people by letting them know just how much you knew. Not when they were all low to mid-rank Bronze at best, and the court of royals was filled with Silver and Gold.

  Alex made sure to lose himself in the free-flowing conversation enjoyed by his friends and fellow cultivators at the table once Zhu Bi gently eased her shadowy wards that, she had explained, didn’t make them disappear, so much as mark them as so uninteresting as to be unworthy of anyone’s notice. The subtle technique was one that Alex inferred Zhu Bi’s mother had developed. Her matriarch was clearly a savvy innkeeper and perhaps so much more, having seemingly instilled a degree of nuance and subtlety in her use of Shadow Qi that Alex was sure would have impressed even Jidihu.

  Yet even as Alex chuckled agreeably at lighthearted jests made by some, including jokes clearly made at his expense by a smirking Dineng, he still felt Duo Ku’s cold smile burning within his psyche, and it filled him with a fierce resolve to train more intently than ever before.

  Ultimately, it didn’t matter how brightly he shone amongst the handful of new aspirants. What mattered was how he would fare against a court filled with corrupt wujen and jaded Silvers. And the bottom line was, for all his achievements, he was still as brittle as glass, his life in fragile peril of being snuffed out utterly if a single powerful Silver or Gold deemed him as anything more than an amusing eccentricity.

  He had to get stronger at all costs.

  He had never felt that truth as keenly as he did after forcing himself to train with Duo Ku’s killing gaze burning into his back that whole morning.

  26

  The constant focused meditation and his own fierce resolve had led Alex to embracing a state of awareness that left him totally open to the environment and all the students and instructors on the field containing the training dummies. Yet simultaneously, he was focused like an arrow as the five elemental instructors each began the slow process of summoning up their elemental attacks and defenses before unleashing five distinct punches at the dummies.

  “Focus, class,” Zha Shi snapped, glaring at the student body entire, while Bang Jiao gazed on with an enigmatic smile upon his features, hands clasped behind his back. “Each of you should be gathered before the adept who echoes your own elemental affinities! Watch and sense, as best you can, the buildup and flow of Qi as the men condense their spiritual energies and channel it into wards stronger than any shield, while simultaneously infusing their striking fists with the power of the elements, allowing them to hit with more force than any weapon a lesser cultivator could possibly bring to bear!”

  Today, Alex had chosen to embrace fire to the best of his ability, to glean what secrets he could from the cultivator silently instructing all of them in the arts of channeling spiritual energy by dint of constant repetition, performing the same set of actions dozens of times, allowing even the less gifted to grasp just a tiny hint about what it meant to sense another’s Qi flow.

  For a student like Alex, able to sense so much with Qi Perception and Soul Sight, having an instructor deliberately open himself to their careful study served as a boon like no other. The flow of Qi blazing brightly through the Fire adept’s meridians as he repeatedly struck his target served as better instruction for him than any lecture could ever be.

  Flame Fist comprehension is now at 50%!

  Fire Shield comprehension is now at 65%!

  After sensing the subtle collecting and holding of Fire Qi in both fist and shield form, Alex could almost taste how it all flowed together. He had been focusing so intently that he was surprised when class ended with a single ring of a bell. He could all but taste the Qi patterns resonating through his soul, and he couldn’t wait to go back to his hut and practice until he could summon it himself.

  “Alright, aspirants! The rest of the afternoon is your own! If you’re smart, you will head immediately to your bunks and peruse your elemental treatises to see if the handful of hints you gleaned today was sufficient to facilitate your breakthrough in mastering the most fundamental skills that shall serve as the bedrock upon which all other martial disciplines rest. Disciplines that you will serve you well against future opponents far more ruthless than anyone you will encounter within the walls of our sanctuary!” counseled Bang Jiao.

  Alex was surprised by the frustrated murmurs he heard.

  “Does he actually think we’ll understand how to channel Qi just by watching someone hit a training mannequin?”

  “Why did he go over all the movements so quickly?”

  “The manual is confusing enough; I’m still trying to decipher most of it. This didn’t help at all.”

  Alex carefully kept his face neutral as Qiang bitterly cursed the seeming unfairness of the world, silently heading to his own quarters and quickly making his way inside.

  “Ruidian! I challenge you…”

  Alex smirked as someone banged on his door, ignoring the cultivator as he focused his energies on the texts dealing with the basic Fire striker and warding techniques they were being taught, which a gleeful Zhu Bi had dropped off earlier, along with the other elemental treatises.

  Alex had winced at the risk she had taken, bringing them over all at once, but both she and Yingpei held Silver talismans, which few could challenge; even fewer would bother wasting a fight against a novice who probably held next to nothing, when far richer prizes no doubt awaited whatever hungry Silvers were out there. In addition, there was the fact that Zhu Bi was blessed with a kitsune's most sacred strengths. Though Alex was sure things were tougher for kitsune who hadn’t reached Bronze or benefited from a mother able to pass down their most sacred arts, he suspected that few cultivators would ever spot a Bronze-ranked fox girl as skilled as Zhu Bi, if she didn’t want to be found.

  Of course, he already had his plan of study firmly in mind, determined to do his utmost to achieve basic comprehension with Fire and Wood by striving to master them both as fully as possible before daring to crack open the tomes dealing with Water and Metal. He felt strangely certain that the insights he gleaned there would change everything for him. Either that, or whatever secrets and insights he might gain would be hopelessly warped by the other deadly forbidden techniques he had dared to master.

  His door banged three more times that night, imperious summons to a string of duels that he happily ignored as he lost himself in visions of fire, feeling that hot maelstrom of spiritual energy tingling through his meridians like never before. As much as he enjoyed challenges, he intended to take full advantage of his Silver-ranked domicile, refusing to allow himself to be constantly distracted and thrown off balance by challenge after challenge from cultivators both eager to prove themselves and claim his sweet prizes for themselves. To say nothing of whatever dark satisfaction they might get doing their best to impair his own growth, they were clearly jealous of his successes, as hyper-competitive students tended to be of each other in all fields, and perhaps all worlds.

  “Accept my challenge, Ruidian! Your talisman is weaker than mine! You have no choice!”

  Alex smirked at the faint, muffled voice, knowing that, in fact, he had every right to decline. Only if talismans were tapped could a fight be forced, and there was no way any opponent under Silver could force open that door. Heck, even Zhu Bi had tried to slip through at his behest, just as a test, and seemed genuinely surprised that it wouldn’t give at all.

  It was as if the door would now open only for his talisman and no other, which suited him just fine.

  “You are a coward, R
uidian! You hear that? A coward!” roared the frustrated voice.

  Alex couldn’t help but chuckle at the insult, his laughter the crackle of ash and fire as his left palm blazed with fiery Qi in the shape of a buckler, his right fist covered in dancing flame.

  With a shiver of delight, Alex stepped away from the tomes he had been studying, feeling as if he was slipping free of the brilliant dreams of the authors, yet embracing their memories still, in a dream of his own making.

  “Open,” he said to the door before him, and it instantly did, putting him face to face with a glaring, pockmarked young man whose triumphant smirk instantly chilled.

  “You learned Flame Fist already? No. Impossible. You’re an Earth cultivator!”

  “Close,” Alex said, the youth frowning in confusion before having to lurch back in surprise. The hut’s door slammed shut behind Alex as he made his way to the training dummies, not even bothering to glance at the gaping youth or the others muttering behind him.

  “Maybe this isn’t the best idea, Baichi,” whispered one student whom Alex could sense was little more than a basic cultivator, the flames of her soul still the barest embers of what they might one day be.

  “Ruidian looks like he’s having a breakthrough. Challenge him to dao and shield tomorrow, so he has no access to his arts,” said another.

  The girl nodded. “He’ll be so tired, you’ll be able to beat him easily, and no one can say you interfered with his breakthrough. We’ll finally win back some of our coin that bastard Dineng stole!”

  Baichi gave Alex a final glare. “Bastard Ruidian ignored me all day! I’ll challenge him tomorrow morning. He won’t weasel out of it then.”

  Alex furrowed his brow, wondering why they were speaking so openly about their plans, before realizing that their voices were the softest whispers, and he shouldn’t be able to hear them at all.