Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path

by Johnson, M. H.

“SOUL CLEAVE!”

  His foe's desperate gurgles were cut off forevermore when Alex embraced the most perilous of all his arts yet again, lashing out with a ridge-hand strike that sent his foe’s confused, blinking head flying through the air in a shower of blood.

  You have successfully saved versus oblivion! (+4 Reaver’s Insight modifier in effect, despite Critical Injuries!)

  Soul Cleave pierces all defenses and wards!

  You have decapitated your opponent!

  You have successfully channeled excess potency into Power Healing and Black Swan (Soul Cleave).

  You have successfully regenerated your arm using the river’s own waters! You have prevented interface rupture!

  The serpent deity Shui Jun laughs at your madness and hopes you will remember her offer when you one day face the gods above!

  Note: you have successfully triangulated Interface Point: River of Souls across multiple dimensions and countless lives. You intimately understand the river’s flow and may step out any time you like!

  Alex allowed the messages to wash over him, having eyes only for his enemy’s howling, twisting soul, bobbing in waters that slowly flooded this corner of the massive hall. He barely registered the frightened screams of cultivators gazing on in wide-eyed terror when his brilliantly shimmering hand speared down his decapitated opponent’s throat, forcing wide the incorporeal head of the furious spirit whose ghostly head was still attached to its body.

  And by some horrific miracle, the fallen soul did not crumple up and shrivel like a prune in the sun from an act that had utterly destroyed all others whom Alex had faced in that terrible state between life and death. Instead, it grew bloated, purpling with inconceivable rage and fury.

  Spirit Crane Strike modifiers in effect.

  You have failed to claim your foe’s Soul Stone!

  Doing all it could to gnaw completely through Alex’s arm.

  “Fool! Did you truly think a pathetic mortal could defeat one such as I? Death is nothing for one who follows the Path of Darkest Avarice! I shall rise from death itself, squeezing forth eternal life from the souls I have claimed as my own, and yours too shall join me, worm!”

  For a moment, Alex’s eyes widened with furious horror as the snarling thing that was neither spirit nor infernalist clamped down bitter, sharp teeth upon Alex’s flesh… sensing at that moment that if he dared lose his focus upon his Dark Qi gauntlet and yanked his arm back from his attack, his foe’s back angled teeth would snap his limb off, feeding upon blood and life force both.

  The creature’s eyes, now more demonic than human, widened with glee, sensing that dread truth as well, and clamping down with savage ferocity.

  Willpower check made! Absolute commitment in all things embraced!

  Alex swallowed his terror, glaring down at his deadly foe, more fearsome in death than in life, now pulling them both down into the styxian depths as a certain serpent god’s laughter became the pounding waterfall of a river without end.

  Only then did Alex spot the furious, gibbering countenances of countless demons of hell, churning in those waters which he was now sinking into, though he noted that they couldn’t quite break free, nor disturb those resting souls bobbing in the River who were glowing with the golden light of positive karma that the dark shadows didn’t dare touch.

  Soul Sight skill check made!

  And worse, far worse, than the hideous leaden weight of the object sinking inexorably towards the roiling waters were all the threads of tainted Silver and crimson shadow, tying the infernal Fu Bai’s essence to countless victims which Alex sensed both near and far, whether in the land of the living or forever trapped in the River of Souls, unable to reincarnate due to the cursed strands bonding them to the will of the infernalist.

  The power and potency of hundreds of souls, explaining the Fallen cultivator’s spiritual strength in a land that normally doomed all spirits to powerlessness, dragged Alex and ever deeper into the deathly waters already rising above his waist; his own doom was now just a matter of time.

  Alex glared down at the bloated, snarling soul, doing all it could to gnaw Alex’s arm off as they were both pulled towards chillingly vast hordes of demons who sought to claim so many bound victims, already having consumed hundreds of fools and innocents who had the misfortune to encounter a merchant perhaps just as conniving as Hao Zei.

  Alex’s heart pounded with fury at the thought of those monsters damning countless virtuous souls for all time.

  “Surrender your arm and the lifeblood within, sweet nectar with which I will rise again! Or I will pull you all down to hell along with me!”

  Soul Sight skill check made. Bonuses for naked soul who knows the taste of your blood for all time. – Critical success!

  Alex’s eyes widened as his foe snarled and gnashed its teeth, doing all it could to shred the Dark Qi gauntlet, which was far weaker here and now than they had ever been against any other opponent. Yet now Alex could sense the source of his foe’s power, knowing where all those hundreds of tormented spirit threads were anchored.

  Within the beating heart of his enemy.

  Pulsing with the blood of so many victims, who Alex sensed collapsing in sudden agony in the world above, their lives now being drained for the sake of this abomination.

  An undead heart forever beating, not with living flesh, but the stitched-together remnants of Fu Bai’s own soul.

  “Curse your unexpected blow! You had taken me by surprise for just a heartbeat! If only you hadn’t taken my head so quickly, I would have already finished you off!” snarled the beast, furiously gnawing on Alex’s steadily weakening Dark Qi gauntlet.

  A defense that would only last seconds.

  Just long enough for Alex to accept that there would be no return from the crimson path he would now embrace.

  Dark Qi Projection skill check made!

  No longer needing to pull his arm back, he instead rammed it forward just as his Dark Qi gauntlet failed, but not before momentarily doubling in sized and thickness, just long enough to capture and tear free dozens of hooking teeth when Alex rammed his entire arm down Fu Bai’s throat.

  Spirit Crane Strike successfully used with Adderstrike!

  Blasting through all resistance as his foe’s eyes bulged with horrified surprise, Alex glared down at the suddenly bucking and swirling abomination, now more demonic fish than man, pulling him ever deeper into those frigid waters.

  Yet Fu Bai’s desperate struggles did nothing to halt Alex’s questing fingers, sensing at last the source of vile filth that was his enemy’s heart-shaped soul which beat with the life-force of countless hundreds of mortals, slowly perishing in the world above.

  “No! Stop! You must stop!” shrieked the now toothless abomination, yanking at Alex’s unmovable grip like a fish twisting on a line for all it was worth. Then Alex sensed the awakened fury of a creature even fouler than this one, the bond of master and slave, Fu Bai’s owner now howling his outrage that his piece was in peril.

  Alex flashed a grin so cold that the Styxian waters around him began to freeze.

  “I’m coming for you next, Hao Zei!” The declaration echoed with the howling shrieks of the spirit husk as Alex crushed the beating abomination in his hand with furious resolve, still thrumming with the power of death’s river pounding through his veins. Squeezing the rotting heart for all he was worth, the laws of reality itself twisted to his will as he strove to do that which could never be undone.

  Saving throw versus oblivion made! You have managed to channel the River of Souls in ways never intended, destroying your enemy for all time!

  And with a final discordant shriek, causing all the surviving students to stumble back with hands clapped to bloodied ears, it was over.

  A spirit crushed to oblivion, never to rise again, as countless souls were freed from the darkest of fates, corrupted contracts destroyed with the spirit that had served as the lynchpin for it all.

  An act witnessed by no one, save a double handful of
trembling cultivators who stared at Alex as if he were death incarnate, when the heavy weight of destiny itself passed judgment upon his soul.

  He flashed a final bitter smile as he swallowed his prize, now pristine and free of all taint or allegiance, the spirit that had hosted it forever destroyed. Only then did he bob up from the icy death-saturated waters that had been just inches away from covering his head, stepping free and glaring down at the demons snarling from the river’s reflection as they faded away to nothing, their connection to the earthly realm shattered for all time.

  You have righteously slain one diabolist in mortal combat! Positive Karma achieved! You will find yourself in greater harmony with the world, finding friends in unexpected places, as people naturally take a shine to a soul as just and noble as your own.

  Cleaved Fates Card in effect! Your virtues and crimes shall have no effect upon karma’s gaze.

  You have dared to pluck free an eternal Soul Stone (Silver Rank 6) from your foe! This dark act is among the most heinous of crimes, relegating your victim to mortal status for countless future lives, and will forever taint your spirit! You have continued to uphold your internal oath, only claiming Soul Stones from the most corrupt of opponents.

  Honorable Hellion status maintained!

  Divine Judgement has been passed! You have dared to use your transcendent potency to eternally destroy a soul! You have inflicted Final Death! This soul will never reincarnate again!

  This is the darkest of acts from which there can be no redemption!

  Divine Edicts of Local Pantheon dictate the immediate expulsion of any invading deity or power who dares such an act.

  Exile exempted!

  Your seat at the Table of the Gods has been acknowledged by at least one other player. You have been judged to be a member of the Local Pantheon. Fate itself considers you a Contender!

  You have saved two hundred and fifty-seven souls from damnation, an act of sublime virtue which none other than the holiest of monks could hope to achieve. Saintly Status has been achieved!

  Cleaved Fates Card in effect! Fallen status has been nullified! Saintly status has been nullified! Your virtues and crimes shall have no effect upon karma’s gaze.

  For a single endless moment, Alex gazed longingly at the waters, hoping against hope that it wasn’t too late. That he could somehow save Jing Le.

  Only to sense countless spirits racing away like a brilliant waterfall of light, a host of panicked fireflies desperately swimming for the next life, daring to waste not a moment longer in redemption or repose with the dread avatar of oblivion now amongst them.

  And for just a heartbeat, Alex could sense the horror of a thousand incarnations of a thousand lives, fearing nothing in all of existence so much as they did him, the ultimate god of entropy and destruction, coming to claim his due at last.

  With a desperate lurch he broke free of that vision, feeling the weight of ebony wings upon his shoulders crushing him to purgatory… instantly cleaved free by the very cards his enemies had used to damn him. Then it was just Alex, looking the same as he always did, save for his tattered clothing, stepping upon hardwood tiles now rotting to nothingness under the lapping waves of oblivion, wearily eyeing a dozen cultivators looking back at him as if he were death incarnate.

  Alex choked down his bitter sorrow and readied himself to say what needed saying.

  But first, to do what needed doing.

  If anyone in that room noticed the brilliant flash of golden light during the timeless moment in which they had all taken each other's measure, none gave any indication.

  It was only when Alex stepped completely free of those waters and dared stride forward that the frozen tableau broke, and a dozen screaming souls fled his presence, scraping and clawing at the golden portal now blocking their exit.

  “I think we should talk, don’t you?”

  Shuddered gasps and sobs filled the room as terrified countenances turned around, tear-filled eyes spearing into his own.

  “What are you?” Reedy words whispered by a girl who had once cheered on his fights with Dineng, and save for a single fond smile, had stopped looking his way the moment Jing Le had shown an interest. Now that he thought about it, noting her stained clothes, ragged hair, and shell-shocked features, he believed the pair of them might have been friends.

  Alex swallowed, surprised at how difficult it was to get the words out. “Someone who regrets being unable to save Jing Le from that monster. Someone who will always be grateful to the girl who probably saved his life.”

  “We saw you devour that man’s soul! What the hell are you?!” screamed the girl a second time, before her mouth was clamped shut by one of the Bronze cultivators whom Alex had tried to warn about the cursed scrolls before it was too late. And with a hard glare for all the trembling novices behind him, the robust cultivator flowed into dogeza, the entire band of initiates and fellow Bronze quickly following suit.

  “We unworthy supplicants thank you for your… timely intervention and incalculable mercy, Revered One. We are grateful for your gracious intervention and stand ready to tell the world whatever message WiFu’s eternal disciple might have for us.”

  Alex flushed at that. “Shit. Is it that obvious?”

  He shook his head. Of course it was. He seemed to be the only Ruidian in all of the legends involving WiFu that he had ever heard of. All of them named Alex, all of them with bright blond hair and blue eyes, and for some reason, no one ever associated those stories with him until he started ascending the steps of legend himself. Again.

  Only to be knocked off countless times over countless lives by a pantheon that detested his very existence. Flashes of memory mercifully no more real than wisps of readily forgotten dream most of the time, save for moments like this, when he risked drowning in memories’ painful vice, mourning incalculable loss and the deaths of countless loved ones from lives lost centuries ago.

  Alex took a shuddering breath, feeling the weight of the deadly river around him still.

  For all his growing mastery, to lose focus until dawn’s blessed light washed over him once more would be the height of folly.

  “I regret to say that you all have a very simple choice to make,” he said, his voice as hard and cold as he knew it had to be. “Your first choice is to take the Golden door before you, after swearing a cultivator’s oath to never deliberately hinder, harm, or steal from the lord of that realm. Should you acquiesce to such, you will have the opportunity to start your lives anew in a mystical palace overlooking a magnificent forest filled with countless treasures of beauty and wonder. You will have at your disposal a cultivation library like no other, and you will never have to worry about hunger with the tastiest meals you can imagine, with nearly a hundred apartments available to the worthy with beds so finely made no nightmare shall ever trouble you again.”

  “May I ask what our other choice is, Revered One?” asked the cultivator who had spoken before, licking his lips and watching Alex with an odd mixture of hope and terror.

  Alex sighed. “To do nothing but sit there just as you are, cowering in fear, as the River of Souls slowly consumes this chamber entire. The moment these chilly waters touch your physical bodies, you will already be slipping into its waters, awaiting your next lives, wherever and whenever they might happen to be.”

  The Bronze cultivators paled or frowned, keeping their composure, while Alex’s classmates just gaped at him in shocked disbelief or trembled with mindless terror.

  “Why can’t we just go back to class?” begged one plaintive voice. “We won’t tell a soul what we saw, we swear it.”

  “I know you won’t,” Alex said, his voice for some reason causing the group to shake like leaves. “But if you actually think the Red Prince’s pawns have any future in store for you other than serving in Dongfang Hong’s legions or brothels, then you truly are fools.”

  More than one girl hissed at the declaration, glaring at Alex as if he was the one threatening them.

  �
�It’s true,” said the soft voice of the green-eyed kitsune from the rear of the assignment hall. “Dongfang Hong owns this school now. The headmaster himself has taken the prince’s coin for the promise of a noble title, once the Dongfang Hong claims my kitsune sister in marriage and annexes this territory. And the bastard wasn’t above having the former clerk killed and an infernalist who specializes in tainted contracts put in his place.”

  The tired voice raised in pitch. “And if my ultimate sire’s eternal champion would be so gracious as to free this lowly girl from an infernalist’s bindings before these waters tear free my soul, I would be really, really grateful!”

  Bullrush!

  Artificer Skillcheck made!

  In a blink Alex leaped over the shattered counter and was before the terrified girl presently chained to a scroll shelf by a slave collar whose mark and make he recognized all too well.

  Alex choked back his fury. At least the monster who had so savagely marked this girl with the haunted eyes was well and truly gone forever.

  “May I?” he asked the beautiful kitsune, who jerked an anxious a nod as he gently probed the collar with a key of pristine Dark Qi. But not before using Qi Projection to protect the most sacred treasure in that room.

  Desperation and a hunger for redemption (and massive Qi reserves) compel you to use your gift like never before! You have successfully forged a Band of Dark Qi between Kitsune Slave and Infernal Collar. Now your target will enjoy minutes of endless agony and not the instant death of a broken neck if you mess this up!

  Twenty Qi expended for Unorthodox Use of this skill!

  Congratulations! Dark Qi projection is now Rank 5!

  Insight made! Who says Piercing Strike is limited to active wards?

  Piercing Strike has been Synergistically used with Artificer skill and Dark Qi projection!

  You have successfully ruptured an arcane artifact and popped open an unbreakable lock!

  Piercing Strike is now Rank 5!

  In an eyeblink, Alex freed the girl from shelves full of tainted scrolls collapsing upon disintegrating boards, the contents slipping into the shallow waters of oblivion that he was more than happy to let consume this building entire. He felt a certain surge of dark satisfaction to hear the screams of whatever taint bound those scrolls shrieking to oblivion as the water destroyed them utterly.