Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path

by Johnson, M. H.

  “Know what? All I did was what you asked me. I touched talisman to jade slip, and you know the rest.”

  “Normally, you shouldn’t be able to store more than a thousand credits at a time. Not even a Rank 1 Silver talisman can hold more.”

  Alex frowned. “But I thought Silvers gained a monthly stipend and such?”

  “Of course. Any balance beyond a thousand, we would store in credit here. You would come see me when you ran out.”

  “Ah.”

  “Whereas your talisman, which hardly looks like a proper talisman at all…”

  He shrugged. “Nothing I can do about that.”

  Thoughtful eyes met his own. “True.”

  Alex smiled awkwardly. “It was curiosity about my talisman that piqued Elder Ru’s interest in me in the first place. I’m sure if there was any problem with it, he would have let me know, wouldn’t he?”

  Lady Cai sighed. “Clearly, it’s a talisman, if both Elder Ru—who specifically permitted you full use of the library—and the jade slip containing the bounty he left for you confirm it. Though it is most definitely an unusual one.”

  “I’m guessing that’s because of my heritage?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why Elder Ru left him a bounty of 7,500 credits, or access to the second floor!” the cultivator behind Alex hissed.

  Lady Cai smiled. “It doesn’t. You’re under no obligation to tell us, Alex, but…”

  Alex smirked. “First, I have to ask; are either of you friends of the Spirit Wolves?”

  This earned a snort from his rear. “Of course not. Those leeches are abusing the precepts of this school,” snarled the girl behind Alex.

  “We certainly have our differences, but it’s been a while since any Wolf dared to challenge me, and I certainly wouldn’t mind the exercise,” said Lady Cai with a lethal little smile.

  Alex grinned back. “Well perhaps—just perhaps, mind you—I stumbled upon a Spirit Wolf who hadn’t just bullied a healer affiliated with the Blue Pavilion and robbed him of herbs earmarked for their use, but had beaten the boy up so badly that his windpipe had been damaged, leaving him to suffer a slow death.” His smile hardened. “The Spirit Wolf associate and I had a most interesting chat. By the end of it, he agreed that his possessions were far better off in my hands, including a healing potion that allowed the suffocating youth to breathe again, though the healer had come closer to death than I would have liked.”

  Considering how to continue his explanation, he shrugged. “From there, a few of the more arrogant Aspirants saw how fat a target the Spirit Wolf’s purses, including the clan’s tithes, I’m guessing, had made me, so they felt the need to challenge me.” His smile widened. “Repeatedly. And each loss on their end made me all the juicier a prize, so I decided to break the cycle by giving almost everything I had won to Elder Ru in the hopes that he would condescend to secure me at least a few library credits, and perhaps return those Qi-rich cuttings and blossoms to the healing pavilion that could make the most use of them. That way, I would have some secured credits, while not looking like such a tempting target that my fellows felt the constant need to challenge me.”

  This earned him a smirk. “7500 credits, for a handful of spirit grass?”

  “Well, maybe there were a couple of Spirit Pearls, a bag or two of gold, and a small fortune in lesser beast cores as well,” he admitted, earning a surprised blink.

  “By Long Wang’s hammer!” cursed the girl behind him. “You, a newly risen student in the Aspirant’s Quarter, actually managed to claim all that in less than a week?”

  He shrugged and smiled. “What can I say? The idiots who kept challenging me were actually pretty well off. One, I’m given to understand, had just made his coin by challenging a handful of other aspirants over the previous few days. I thought that wasn’t even normally allowed, but I take it aspirants are still allowed to challenge each other, even if they are protected from the challenges of more experienced cultivators. And Bang Jiao, much like my former master, isn’t afraid to forge his students in fire.”

  Lady Cai flashed a genuine smile. “Now things begin to make sense.”

  The sentinel still behind Alex chuckled. “Oh, this boy’s going to have a very colorful time while he’s at this school,” she said. “I hope he takes his challenges to the central combat pagoda. I’m eager to see just how well he fights.”

  Lady Cai nodded before her gaze turned frigid as a winter gale. “But there are to be no challenges with your peers within the library. Is that understood?”

  Alex considered the woman for long moments before nodding. “Yes, it is, Lady Cai.”

  “Good. Enjoy your visit to the library, Alex Hammer,” she said, and with a discreet nod, Alex found himself being quickly led out of the chamber and back to the central hallway. The sentinel who had been ready to kill him in truth, should he reveal himself an enemy of the crown princess or the empire as a whole, was now flashing an amused smile. “You are a curious one, Alex. Definitely threw my sword-sister for a loop.”

  Alex grinned as the assistant before the central door quickly released the seal with a nod from his armed escort. “Thanks. I think. I don’t suppose you can give me any advice before I enter? I got played for a bit of a fool during my last visit.”

  This earned him a smirk. “You don’t have to pay the librarians for casual assistance; they are obligated to answer basic questions and lead you to resources on the first floor. If you have specific questions or need more intensive assistance, you shouldn’t feel obligated to tip more than two credits per hours’ worth of assistance. And believe me, they would happily work by your side all day for that rate. Anyone would absolutely love to earn ten hours’ worth of credits in a single day.”

  Alex swallowed and nodded, appreciating once more how challenging it would be to earn credits for most jobs, it seemed, as well as emphasizing just how incredible a fortune—in terms of library credits, at least—that he now held in his possession.

  The guardian then drew his attention to a flight of stairs nearby. “You can also rent private study areas. For those scholars deep in the throes of research, with credits to burn, they can rent rooms on the upper floors for multiple days in a row. But don’t expect to be able to treat it like personal quarters with servants plucking priceless tomes at your beck and call,” she warned. “Not unless you like burning your credits. Still, scholars sometimes hole themselves up for days, triangulating insights from multiple documents, in a desperate, often futile quest for a breakthrough before exhaustion finally hits them.” She eyed him consideringly and shrugged. “But it gives the library credits, and probably helps those desperate cultivators at least to a degree, so there you go.”

  Alex blinked, suppressing the sudden surge of excitement as he began fully grasping the possibilities before him.

  “And how much would these…”

  His escort abruptly spun him around with such speed it chilled him. It was all he could do not to respond in ways that would have spelled absolute disaster as he was shoved out the bronze doorway and back in the lobby where he started, just one aspirant among a small crowd of cultivators seeking access to the tomes within.

  “Ask one of the librarians. They’ll get you all sorted out.”

  Alex didn’t even bother turning around when the vault-like door closed behind him, more than happy for the Silver sentinel to lose all interest him, now turning his attention to the main entranceway, beyond excited to finally have access to the countless tomes exploring cultivation’s mysteries in the chambers just beyond, and he was more than happy to wait his turn as the line of mostly Bronze cultivators was quickly assisted. The petite guardian he soon found himself facing was also equipped with a killing blade at her hip and a pale white uniform radiating protective enchantments, but at least her smile was welcoming, and Alex happily allowed himself to be ushered inside the library proper, followed by a parting comment of, “Master Bang Jiao can be found in
the central area of the Bronze section. Enjoy your stay!”

  Alex quickly made his way past grand shelves filled with numerous books of vellum, papyrus, or some durable version of paper, the tomes bound together with cloth, wood, thick leather or supple calfskin. Some radiated a subtle aura of Spiritual Energy similar to the handful of tomes Yingpei had purchased on his behalf, and Alex suspected that they were treatises specializing in a single technique, or perhaps even a complete cultivation manual, which were exactly the types of tomes that might allow Alex to access the very thoughts and memories of the cultivator who wrote them, and would give him an incredible boost in his rate of learning.

  Then again, he knew there were risks to that path as well, his Lower Dantian twinging in sympathetic memory of the strain he had almost caused himself by daring to read a Metal tome after having so utterly embraced a forbidden art that meshed Steel and Water inextricably together. The combination had absolutely no effect on his ability to learn pristine Water techniques, but it conflicted wholly with any treatise that did not treat Metal as both a solid and a liquid. And from what his friends had told him after a few discrete questions the other day, almost no Qi discipline treated Metal as anything but a solid just as rigid as Earth, save for elite manuals forged for royal clans that dared to fuse Fire and Metal in ways that refined without destroying. Masterwork tomes which Alex was dead certain would never be found in the Bronze section of any cultivation library. The only other known exception was, of course, the forbidden art he had striven so hard to master.

  He shook the random thoughts away. As much as he dearly wanted to explore the possibilities on every shelf, heart skipping with excitement and wonder, he made his way toward Master Bang Jiao at a thoughtful pace, his fingertips casually brushing against the second row of books along the bookshelves he passed. It was an act that he knew would spark outrage or killing fury if any sentinel figured out that he was effectively stealing a copy of every tome and manual he touched, all of them replicated perfectly and stored in his palatial library, nestled at the heart of his World Seed.

  He sighed, suddenly longing for his peaceful realm of luscious fruit groves, priceless arboreal treasures, and a palace as well equipped for luxury as the grandest hotels, with endless feasts of whatever culinary delights he craved. It lacked only the electronic distractions of a lifetime ago. But his World Seed was a sanctuary he dared not return to. Not until his mission was at last complete, and he was safely away from this school.

  Alex shook himself free of his thoughts when he felt the sudden weight of Bang Jiao’s gaze and half a dozen measuring stares from his peers as he reached his destination. His fingers skipped across the spines of a dozen nearby books as he solemnly moved forward to bow before his instructor.

  “This one apologizes for any inconvenience he has inadvertently caused his fellow students and instructor,” he said.

  Qiang, peering at several tomes that Dineng was pulling from a nearby shelf, snorted. “Your very existence is an inconvenience, Outsider. I’m surprised they didn’t kick you out of this school altogether.”

  “Knock it off, Qiang; you are lucky to even be here,” snapped Zhang. Even Dineng’s eyes twinkled at that, though he was polite enough not to say anything openly.

  Bang Jiao and Alex shared an unexpected smile, as if in mutual contempt for the yapping dog at their heels, so pathetic, it wasn’t even worth noting.

  And perhaps Qiang felt something of the group’s disdain, his features blanching with humiliated rage as he slammed down the books he had been holding and stalked off, earning a glare from Dineng, one of the few students who even bothered to put up with him.

  “I trust everything is in order, Aspirant?”

  Alex bowed a second time. “Yes, master. Upon being assured that even one such as I felt love and reverence for the princess, and proper gratitude for being permitted within the halls of this academy, they saw fit to permit me access to the library without restriction.”

  For just a heartbeat, Alex saw the man’s eyes widen. But all he did was grace Alex with an approving smile. “Excellent. I will leave you to your pursuits, then.”

  Alex dipped his head, carefully containing his excitement. But first, he needed to see just how much rope he had been handed to hang himself, or, perhaps, ascend the steepest slopes of cultivation. “Thanks again for making the library available to us today.”

  Bang Jiao cracked a wry smile. “It’s always available to you and every other student, so long as you have the credits to make use of it, and through grace, savvy, or ability, you can assure yourself safe passage to and from this sanctuary of learning.”

  Alex grinned at that. “So, I won’t suffer any penalty if I bury myself so deeply in the tomes that I lose track of time?”

  The elder shrugged, his calculating gaze at odds with the concern in his voice. “You may study here for as long as you like, Alex, so long as you can afford the cost. But should you find yourself lost in the wisdom of ancients after the first dinner bell, you will have to find your own way back to the Aspirant’s Quarter, and, regrettably, that will be a more perilous trial for you than most other aspirants, for reasons that transcend the credits in your possession.”

  “Because you managed to offend the Alpha of that entire pack of Spirit Wolves,” Dineng snorted, still picking up the books that Qiang had knocked over. “But word does get around. I hear you actually saved a young healer’s life. Maybe you aren’t as much of a rotten apple as I thought. Insufferably arrogant, maybe, but not a complete waste.”

  Alex grinned as he helped his fellow cultivator with the last of scattered books. “That reminds me, I believe I have something in my possession that I should have returned to you long ago.” Without further ado, he pulled out the Granite Mountain cultivation technique manual, solemnly handing it to a wide-eyed Dineng.

  Much to Alex’s surprise, the cultivator actually looked choked up for a second, clenching his fist and shaking his head. “When I saw you actually taking on those Adepts, summoning a Silver-ranked shield, I… I knew I was never going to win that tome back.”

  Alex grinned. “Are you sure about that? I know you’ve been training just as hard as I have.”

  This earned him a bitter chuckle. “You’re Wood, Alex. You damned arrogant, brilliant Ruidian, mastering techniques of Earth and its weakness! With a Silver-ranked shield and a fist that would drill through my strongest stone defense like topsoil… yeah. I knew I was going to be working long and hard just to pay to replace that book, let alone earn the right to study its secrets.”

  He gazed pensively at Alex for long moments before finally bowing formally at the waist. “Thank you, Alex. You might be far too big for your changshan shirt, but you actually know what it means to be part of a group.” He swallowed, meeting Alex’s eyes sheepishly. “Part of a team.”

  Alex grinned. “Damn right I do. Now why don’t you study all its secrets, so you can actually be a challenge the next time we spar.”

  “You’re on, Ruidian!” Dineng’s eyes positively beamed. “And if I practice enough with you, maybe I’ll actually find the secrets of forming a granite shell so tough that not even wooden roots can crack my surface. Then I’ll be the strongest Bronze in the entire school!”

  Alex grinned at the cultivator’s excitement. “It’s good to dream.”

  Dineng smirked, but his eyes lacked their former rage. “Joke all you want. With this gift? You’ve earned it.” With that admission, he turned and bowed low before an entertained-looking Bang Jiao, who was thoughtfully stroking his silver-white goatee. “With your permission, Master…”

  “Of course, Dineng. I obtained the book for your benefit, after all. I will make sure the librarians allow you to take it out without difficulty, and anyone who would challenge you for that book…” His smile grew. “Will serve as fitting instruction for my wayward pupils.”

  Dineng wasted no time, bowing low once more and darting for the nearest study room as if afraid their master would
unexpectedly change his mind, all the other books left behind.

  Bang Jiao peered thoughtfully at Alex. “Giving much needed resources to a former enemy who had challenged you for everything. Either the act of a fool, or a man far wiser than he looks.”

  Alex chuckled diffidently. “I think I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “As you should.” The elder glanced around the room. “You may make use of whatever tomes you like, here in the Bronze section. Each treatise or cultivation tome you bring into a study room will cost you one credit. Few would bring more than two tomes, at most, no matter how long they will be studying, unless they are pursuing a nuance of mastery far beyond what any Bronze need worry about.”

  Alex blinked. “Wait, I can borrow any book for as long as I want down here and make full use of the study rooms, all for just a single credit?” He quickly averted his gaze, not wanting the elder to see the hot flush of fury he felt, appreciating anew just how badly that smirking librarian on the second floor had fleeced him.

  “That is correct. Multiple rooms are available down the corridor outside the library. They are spartan affairs, secured by your talisman, with chair, table, pitcher of water, and corked chamber pot. You are, of course, expected to clean up after yourself fully when you have finished. But since the rooms are only secure for so long as you are in them…”

  Alex blinked, suddenly understanding. “Oh… so if one were to wander off to use one of the bathrooms…”

  “One might come back to find his chamber free of books and notes, with a hefty fine placed on his account.”

  Alex winced. “Ouch. That doesn’t seem particularly fair to the girls…”

  His mentor shrugged. “Who said life is fair? It wasn’t that many centuries back when female cultivation was forbidden, save for the paths of pleasure and fertility. At that time, the only other exceptions were royal body guards disguised as servants and a king’s own maiden assassins were permitted the use of arts so deadly, warping their Dantians in ways so perilous, that many women perished in the pursuit of those treacherous paths. Mercifully, most of those forbidden arts are now lost to time’s caress. Of course, the few records remaining are forbidden to all but the wisest of cultivators, for their own protection.”