Alex forced a smile. “Just give me a few minutes to focus, alright?”
“Sure, Alex. It’s your coin.” Dineng didn’t hesitate to sit down beside the girl grinning up at him with such pride, kissing his cheek as she presented him with tea, warm words, and cold glares for Alex.
Alex just smiled politely and did his best to tune them both out, focusing solely on the flow of Qi. Not just the fierce pressure wave of Earth Qi that had grown increasingly intense as Alex’s forearm twisted to counter Dineng’s punch, but the flashes of alien memory he could still so distinctly recall, images of the original author of this technique using his understanding of the flow of Qi as a whole to push even a wujen’s deadliest attack away… before he suddenly understood.
It was so obvious!
And painful as this was, even if his arms were masses of bloody welts and gashes, the training was still of benefit. Profoundly so.
Power Healing engaged!
Even if he didn’t have a hope of countering his enemy’s Qi-infused strikes, he still felt the pressure wave of Spiritual Energy around them.
Felt it, and was beginning to understand how to push against it, even if only by the tiniest degree.
“You sure you want more, Alex? I’m happy to call it a night and not say a word. You won’t lose any face on my account.”
Alex forced a smile. “I like you too, Dineng. But not enough to waste my coin for nothing.”
His challenger chuckled. “Rather have me bruise you to a pulp, then?”
Alex smirked, settling into a ready stance. “If you can manage it.”
“Without your Shield of the Grove…”
“Whenever you’re ready, Dineng.”
To his credit, there was neither animosity nor lingering resentment tainting Dineng’s blows, the youth delivering nothing but the expected slow punches he had requested. He was more than happy to allow the giant youth to rest whenever his Qi was drained, which was often, giving Alex plenty of time to focus on how it felt to struggle against the fierce waves of Earth Qi pressing against him, before tearing into his flesh… Feeling just bit closer to embracing the spark of illumination as first minutes, then hours, passed.
Dineng’s good-natured expression gradually shifted to a hard scowl. “Alex…”
That immediately widened into a smile when he saw another five-credit token appear.
“I believe we are well into the second hour. How about another?” said Alex with a grin, wiping away the blood on his lips.
Wordlessly, Dineng dipped his head, Bibi also nodding her approval. “That’s more than twice what you’ll make anywhere else, hero of my heart. If the Fox’s fool wants to burn his money on you, then I won’t hate him nearly as much as I did before today.”
Alex smirked sarcastically. “Thanks.”
Bibi just snorted, but Alex was no longer paying her words any mind, focusing only on the immutable wave of Earth Qi crashing into him yet again as he poured absolutely every ounce of his will into batting it away.
Stumbling to one knee, he wanted to howl with fierce joy as he finally got the notification he had all but given up on.
You have successfully deflected Earth-based spiritual energy at melee range! Far more difficult than countering long range assaults, your attempts to master an art by enduring and deflecting a former enemy’s most powerful blows has paid off!
Qi Deflection is now Rank 2! Focus: Earth Qi!
Dineng was frowning down at the suddenly trembling Alex. “You alright?”
Alex beamed. “Better than ever.” He chuckled softly as the incredible sense of connection he was feeling with Dineng and the surge of Earth Qi he could now sense from his friend as easily as he could see him walking began to wane, replaced by a sense of everything feeling strangely off and disjointed.
Alex blinked in surprise, realizing that post-breakthrough mental fatigue was finally taking hold.
A breakthrough he now realized he had been riding for well over an hour.
“But maybe we’d better call it a night.”
Dineng just nodded, and how strange it was for Alex to find his one-time enemy guarding his back as he stumbled back to his pagoda. “Thanks for the credits. You need any more nighttime training at that rate, you just let me know.”
Alex chuckled tiredly. “You know I will,” he said, letting himself into his pagoda and carefully sealing it with a grateful nod to his almost-friend before collapsing yet again upon his mattress.
He could almost convince himself that he was pushing himself way too hard, that it was okay to take a break and just rest for a few days. But after all he had been forced to endure while fighting for his life countless times before, he knew any complaints were utterly unworthy of the singleminded focus that had allowed him to survive and prosper when he could so easily have perished, a dozen time over. And before he could castigate himself any further, he was already fast asleep.
43
“Alex, get up, you’re late!”
Alex jerked in sudden panic, as a voice so reminiscent of his mother’s washed over him.
For half a second, he thought he was late for finals, and the last thing he wanted to do was blow his GPA this close to summer vacation… when the exotic 12th century Chinese décor and the luxurious silk-lined bed he found himself in went from alien to familiar in a single heart-wrenching moment. He allowed himself a secon for a final tearful smile for the memory of his mother’s exasperated yet fond expression, before he dashed off of the silk-covered mattress, his powerful legs sprang across the tiny manor in the blink of an eye, opening his door to see none other than a worried Liqin, gazing up at him with her expressive brown eyes.
Eyes that widened with surprise, awe, and maybe just a bit of hunger, so fast had Alex opened the door… though his speed was just a shadow of her own.
She flashed an approving smile, one slender hand touching his cheeks so gently that he hardly felt it, pausing as she so curiously inspected his tear.
“Alex?”
“I dreamed of my mother last night,” he said. Perhaps all he needed to say.
Liqin gave a sympathetic nod, but her gaze turned worried. “Alex, the final call for work assignments is today. Like… right now! If you don’t at least tour the assignment pagoda, you’ll be considered an unworthy aspirant, and that’s not good.”
Alex hissed, a sudden surge of anxiety leaving him hyper-focused. “Shit, you’re right. That’s not good at all, Liqin. And why are they being so damned hardcore about the job hall again? Why should it matter how I get my credits, so long as I have the credits? Hell, I thought being able to challenge others for the contents of their purses was all about forging us in fire, not having blind obedience beaten into us by forcing us to do muck-work or random fetch quests.”
Liqin blinked at the unfamiliar phrase. “Fetch quests?" Undeterred, she quickly shook her head. "Never mind. It's like I said; the headmaster has plans. I think it’s likely that all the Elders are now feeling the pressure as well. There’s this weight behind everyone’s gaze. And from what I overheard today, they aren't backing down from the mandatory assignment thing. They really do intend for everyone below Silver to report to the assignment center, even if they've found other means to secure their expenses for who knows how many seasons or years. And if you think that's bad, just be glad you're not stuck in the servant's wing!"
Alex frowned. “Wait, the servants too?”
Her gaze grew momentarily haunted before she waved away his concern with a too bright smile. "Don't worry about us, Alex. You have enough on your plate. Especially after, well...
Alex felt a sudden twist of anxiety. "What?"
Troubled eyes locked upon his own. "Alex. The library guardians. They had… questions for me, last night.”
Alex felt his cheeks flush with unexpected heat, anger welling up inside him. “No one hurt you, did they, Liqin?”
She chuckled softly. “No, silly. Nothing like that. But it is nice to see that you care, woul
d-be hero.” She flashed an impish smile, before her gaze turned serious once more. “It’s just that, well… Alex? Promise me something?”
Alex forced a stiff smile in response, unable to shake his concern. “Anything within reason… but seriously, what’s wrong, Liqin?”
“Don’t ever enter the library again, okay?”
Alex blinked. “But what does that even…” He found himself freezing for a moment, as if he was about to walk on his own grave.
As if fate itself was waiting for him to say just the wrong thing.
Or, in a world where he was outside karma’s wheel altogether…
As if his enemies had just slammed down yet another card.
A card he would do whatever it took to avoid. Snapping his mouth shut so fast he clipped his own tongue, he preferred to spit out blood than state any question that would trigger a doom that could all too easily become his own.
“Alex, you’re bleeding!”
“Liqin, where’s the job center?”
The girl’s eyes widened. “Oh no. I got distracted; how?” She spun around so fast that even Alex was impressed, just as he caught sight of a powerfully built man with a ground-eating stride, wearing steel lamellar armor of a style and design that Alex hissed to see—not even caring to hide his affiliations, it seemed—who was now castigating a good dozen students as if he were a drillmaster in truth, before turning around and heading out of the Aspirant’s Quarter.
“Alex, that’s Master Wei. He’s just been put in charge of all student work assignments, starting today! Don’t mind the armor. He was a legionnaire, once upon a time, or so the rumor goes, and instructors or anyone who has achieved Silver, really, tends to dress as they like. Definitely a bitter fruit, though, and I won’t even tell you about his disgusting taste in food. Now hurry. You have to go!”
But he was no fool, already seeing the cold smile on the faces of one of the girls lounging near the pear trees leading to their supposed inviolate section of the school, as was the boy who had played her companion just the other day, the pair gazing at the students following Wei like wolves smiling at sheep before the slaughter.
Bullrush!
Forest Flight in effect.
Finesse check made!
In an eyeblink, Alex was in the trees, leaping from crown to crown, flexible branches springing under his feet at just the right moment until he was soaring through the air like an arrow shot from a bow, soaring over the heads of what turned out to be a full half dozen Spirit Wolves before landing gracefully by a startled Master Wei’s side.
“By Long Wang’s beard!” the man hissed, his alarmed gaze turning to a cold sneer. “So, the Ruidian chooses to join us. What a shame. I thought I’d be given permission to remove you from this school myself.”
Alex barely repressed a smirk. “So sorry to disappoint.”
This earned him a cold glare. "You may refer to me as Master Wei. Work assignments are now mandatory, and you will face severe repercussions if you fail to complete your assigned duties or displease me in any way. Are we clear, Aspirant?”
Alex gave a polite nod. “Your words are perfectly clear, Master Wei.”
The man glared at Alex for a final few seconds before shaking his head at the double handful of students accompanying him, faces Alex knew only peripherally, save for a beaming Jing Le, who immediately darted close and clasped Alex’s hand as they began cutting across the fields at a good clip.
“Alex, you made it! I was so afraid that…” Jing Le paled and lowered her head when Master Wei glared at her.
Alex just smiled, trying to put her at ease. “It’s quite alright, Jing Le. I can tell it’s been a busy morning, and it’s my own fault if I don’t keep track of these things. Isn’t that right, Master Wei?”
The man scowled at Alex for a long moment before finally jerking his head. “That’s right, Ruidian. If you all are too foolish to figure out your expected roles and sense which way the wind is blowing, you’ll have only yourselves to blame when you founder upon the rocks between Folly and Fortune!”
The man regarded him with an ice-cold contempt that he recognized so well.
A hatred echoing the corrupt schoolmasters of Dragon Academy.
Perfectly mirroring the cold stares of so many gods who would see him dead, for the simple crime of daring to be anything other than their slavishly devoted puppet. For daring to revere a master not beholden to eternally rigid order free of all growth, evolution, or change, like a perfectly preserved corpse that only thinks it’s alive.
But in this case, Alex was nearly positive the sudden shift in currents had very little to do with him personally, and everything to do with the powers vying for influence within this academy and Baidushi as a whole, even now.
Because it wasn’t just him.
Master Wei was looking at all of them as if they were less than dirt, and Alex already knew that not a single one of the students with him had even broken through to Bronze yet. There was a reason why Alex didn’t know them better, as his tendency was to bond with friends and opponents in the fiercest of settings, and he wasn’t so crass or cruel as to force challenges against students who hadn’t even cleared their meridian gateways.
He clenched his jaw, surprised by how betrayed he felt.
Not for himself, but for the students who had risked absolutely everything, their very lives, to attend this school, all in the hopes of bettering themselves.
Only to be looked at as if they were less than dirt by the towering, muscular man with a soldier’s gait, examining them all with a sneer that Alex wanted to tear right off the man’s face. The only thing keeping Alex from squeezing his fists any tighter was the surprised gasp of the fragile young female cultivator foolish enough to take an interest in someone who treaded waters as perilous as his own.
He gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Jing.”
She winced but answered with a brilliant smile. “It’s alright, Alex. My father says a strong grip is a sign of a man who can protect his own.”
Alex flushed, not quite sure what to say to that, before his attention was pulled by the mocking taunts of the Spirit Wolves who were now keeping pace with them, mocking all of them with feral, hungry smiles, as if they were wolves in truth.
More than a few students flinched, while Master Wei snorted. “Good thing we’re finally getting you all sorted out. And you’d better not cause trouble like the first group of aspirants, taking on airs simply because they had already achieved the least rank of significance, let alone daring to insult the honorable Fu Bai! You will pay a bitter price for it, if you dare.”
Alex raised an eyebrow at this threat, but Master Wei just glared at them all. “Pick up your pace, aspirants! Lest you’d like to be food for the wolves.”
And the way the fiercely smiling Spirit Wolves laughed at that declaration made it all too clear what Alex’s next move must be.
“Are these the last of them?” sighed a bloated caricature of a man on the far side of the hardwood counter which split the assignment center almost perfectly in half, beady eyes glaring at them all from a piggish face covered in pockmarks and blackheads. Alex was surprised to see few students in the massive hall save for his own party, and the handful present were staring at walls bare of anything save discolored rectangular patches that he was almost certain had been corkboards covered with open assignments and placards very much like those at the JiangHu Defender’s Association, back in Erjizhen.
Only now there was nothing save the grotesque-looking clerk eyeing them all with cold contempt as he folded his sausage-like fingers and spat to the side of the counter.
Qi Perception check made!
Alex’s gaze was drawn to the shelves full of hundreds of tightly bound scrolls covered in inky dark Shadow, and the tingle racing up and down his spine had nothing to do with the way the clerk was inspecting him alone with such odd intensity, such that Wei had to repeat himself twice before the man finally pulled away from staring at Alex’s countenan
ce.
“Yes, this is the last of them,” their surly escort snapped. “Pay attention, Fu Bai! I said to give them each a scroll. Let’s get this done.”
The clerk huffed, taking only a moment to grab out a random handful, slamming them on the counter.
“These are your work assignments. Take them and get out.”
Wei nodded and crossed his arms, turning to glare at Alex’s peers, one eyebrow raised as if to challenge the dozen basic cultivators shrinking before him.
“Well, students? You were given an order. Each of you are to take a scroll, and then we report to central processing as a group.”
Alex frowned, his growing sense of unease increasing as he took in the contemptuous gazes of Master Wei and the bloated, beady-eyed clerk Fu Bai. He was more than a little disturbed by the absolute lack of assignment boards that had clearly been such a common fixture before, which the handful of aspirants were still gaping at walls where they had once been with despair. The fact that they were being treated not as cultivators on a sacred journey together… but as rank servants…
Or perhaps… rank recruits only now being broken in.
Only then did Alex see it, desperate eyes in the shadowy alcove in the back of the job hall, lurking behind the looming clerk who sneered at Alex and his peers.
A flash of jade green eyes and desperate tear-stained cheeks. For just a heartbeat, the gloomy shadows covering the contracts was lifted.
And Alex saw a sight that made his blood run cold.
Each of those job assignments were tied with ribbons of jade and blood.
Looking exactly like the contracts used by the most corrupt of diabolic cultivators, a monster Alex would give almost anything to destroy.
The gods themselves had given that monstrous diabolist a second chance at unlife, handing a card to a master player who knew just what to do to bring himself back in truth, at the cost of countless lives.
Including a girl who had wanted nothing more than a chance at a life filled with happiness, joy, and love.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path Page 60