He flashed a mocking smile Bang Jiao’s way. “What was that you said? Small pawns like us too often get ground to dust in the disputes between kings and countries, right? But hey, if you want to personally demonstrate the validity of your warning, you’ll have redeemed yourself as an instructor in the most magnificent way possible. Even it kills you.”
As if to emphasize his point, Alex scanned the open grassy field. The verdant swath lay dotted with bright splashes of color from countless wildflowers rustling in the crisp morning breeze as a storm front began to move in, while the grand pagodas and soaring towers encircling the grassy field served as a striking backdrop that had no doubt inspired any number of students in the Aspirant’s Quarter to greatness before the Red Prince had corrupted all that had been pure and beautiful at Risen Phoenix Academy.
“No witnesses. And how lucky you fools are. So, if any rumors start, Duo Ku will know exactly who to blame, and he won’t care if it’s one of the students or you who gave it away. That is, assuming he survives at all. And with the way you idiots are dithering, that’s looking increasingly unlikely.”
Bang Jiao paled as the gravity of Alex’s words truly sunk in.
“Zha Shi, come! Help me with Duo Ku. And be careful! The last thing I need is another broken arm,” said Alex’s former instructor, desperately trying to coax the howling, blinded Duo Ku to stumble towards their desperately hoped-for salvation.
“I will see you dead one day, Ruidian!” hissed Zha Shi after getting knocked to the ground for the second time by the wildly flailing Silver Giant.
Alex said nothing, just stood tall and stared down his foes as they glared and cursed, until panic finally surpassed their anger and they dashed for all they were worth, no longer looking back, no longer daring to waste a second to glare his way.
Only then did Alex allow himself to fall to his knees, choking back screams of his own as Power Healing finally completed the excruciating process of realigning countless thousands of broken fragments and strengthening then to what they had been just a single blessed hour before.
All internal and external injuries have been healed.
Brittle Bones Flaw removed.
Willpower check made!
Your enemies will never know how close they came to breaking you!
Long moments later, Alex shook himself free of his exhausted daze, finding it difficult to believe that he was still alive, let alone triumphant in a crucible fueled by Silvers and madmen. He knew the unexpected calm he felt, with the entire camp cloaked in perfect quiet, was an illusion that could disintegrate in tragedy and blood should he dare stay a moment longer than he had to, no matter what oaths had been given, or how peaceful the glorious sky looked with clouds of gold and crimson, presaging a fresh new day.
“What now, hero?”
Alex smiled up at the young kitsune hidden in the shadows of rustling tree limbs. “Now we get out of here,” he said, heading to the gate he had summoned minutes ago as the first rays of dawn graced his golden locks, indestructible helmet removed as he donned his changshan tunic once more. Not for the first time, he felt beyond grateful that neither grime nor gore nor odor would ever mar the priceless perfection of WiFu’s gift.
“So, why did you take off your shirt in the first place?”
Alex smiled. “To make sure my foe’s skin would absorb as much of the contact poisons I sweated out as possible.”
The girl’s eyes widened. “Eternal Fox lets you do that?”
“It helps.”
“And the helmet?”
Alex kept smiling, but his eyes grew somber. “I faced down a Silver with the speed of an adder as well as the strength of a bull. Eternal Fox will pull me from the brink of any number of injuries, but if my skull is crushed so badly that my brains squirt everywhere, it’s game over.”
Xun Hu looked thoughtful for a moment. “So, your comments about him not being able to pull you by your changshan and hair were a distraction. Deception cloaked in truth. He thought you were a fool who didn’t know the score, while failing to understand that he was the target of poison and subterfuge both.”
Alex nodded. “I went through agony, but I’m alive. Had he chosen just to pound his fist through my skull…” he shuddered. “Actually, it still probably would have killed me, but at least I would have had a chance of survival.”
Xun Hu laughed softly. “You play dangerous games, hero. Quite fitting for WiFu’s deadliest pawn.”
Alex merely smirked his agreement. “What’s say we get out of here?”
“And take your golden door to paradise?”
Alex shrugged. “Or at least to a fresh start. And who knows? Maybe a shot at safety, friendship, and happiness as well.”
The kitsune girl lowered her gaze, suddenly shy before him. “Sounds like paradise to me.”
“Then don’t hesitate; just go through.”
She shot him an arch smile. “Only if you do something for me first.”
“What would that be?”
“Go get the absolute fortune in magical treasures and Spirit Pearls you won off that bastard of a cultivator.”
Alex’s eyes widened, spinning around and doing just that, feeling like an idiot for nearly forgetting.
Even so, he was grateful to find himself up not one but two magical storage treasures, one containing several luxuriously soft, down-lined belt pouches filled with a fortune in gold, platinum, and Spirit Pearls.
“What an overconfident idiot,” Xun Hu chuckled when Alex happily showed off the coins.
He nodded, sensing not one but several priceless artifacts, the very ones he had so clearly visualized Duo Ko wearing when leading the vanguard in battle, during those terrible moments when he truly had gotten a glimpse of his foe’s mind in the extremis of agony. He was surprised to find that Xun Hu could sense them as well.
“Sometimes wisdom comes at a heavy price,” Alex replied drily. “I hope that asshole finds the stat boost worth the cost.”
Xun Hu nodded. “I’m not quite sure what that means, but I agree wholeheartedly.”
Revealing the first genuine smile he had seen from her, the kitsune girl gently clasped his hand. “Take me to a better place?”
And with a single step through the shimmering golden gate, he was determined to do just that.
Before he froze stock-still, hit with a vision so awful, so tangible, it was clear that his enemies had been five steps ahead of him the whole time, without ever having to sense him at all.
His eyes widened with swift, terrible inspiration, laughing loud and long at the heavens above as a wan Xun Hu gazed at him with suddenly anxious eyes.
“Alex?”
He flashed her a maverick grin, the mirror image of WiFu’s own.
“We could do just that. Step through this gate as frightened rabbits for what I promise you is a better place in every way, never daring to confront the smug wolves who have taken over this school.”
His audacious smile grew. “Or, alternatively, we could rob these assholes blind.”
Xun Hu’s horrified gaze turned to one of awe, her exhausted features perking up in genuine enthusiasm. Her throaty chuckle washed over them both, and if she wasn’t JiangHu, then Alex was a saint.
“I can think of nothing I’d rather do more, hero, even if it kills me. But how the hell are we going to pull off this heist?”
With quickly whispered words, a bit of chalk scribbling on the ground, and hand signs she didn’t deny knowing, he went over his madcap plan, earning a furrowed brow for his troubles.
“Tell me this isn’t something you just pulled out of your ass?”
Alex smirked. “Actually, that’s exactly what it is. So, you up for rolling the dice?”
“Damn right I am, even if it kills us. Now open up your storage treasures, and let’s see if we actually have what we need to pull this bit of madness off. Because from what your vision told us, time is one thing we don’t have.”
50
“Yes! Three o
f his pawns with a single play. Well done, brother!” gloated the ragged voice of General Shalu, glaring down at the board upon which the fate of the Golden Realms perpetually rested, his vindictive smile showing only the slightest grimace of pain from the gauze-covered, weeping gashes still covering his bloated body.
“It’s over, fool!” Long Wang’s voice snarled in the back of Alex’s mind, who found himself once more glimpsing the magnificent and terrible Hall of the Gods as the giant deity glared down at his brother. Unperturbed, WiFu casually sipped from a golden chalice filled with crimson wine the color of blood. “Did you really think I’d let you or your wretched disciple have that tome?”
“And now three more of your ever-dwindling pieces are about to be removed from the board, Fox, as we tear everything away from you just as thoroughly as we did your damned pathetic excuse for a disciple!” snarled Shalu. “And when your final piece falls…”
“We’ll never have to bear your presence at this table again, per the rules of the game you yourself have sworn to adhere to, Silverfox!” declared Grandfather Zheng Yi himself, glaring at WiFu with cold satisfaction. Even a sorrowful, perpetually silent Grandmother Yi Wang was forced to bow her head in acceptance of that declaration.
Of course, this had the opposing gods, determined to wipe WiFu’s clan free of the board entirely, chuckling softly at the self-destructive antics that would, in all likelihood, doom their nemeses utterly.
“Truly our opponents are fools, so eager to waste precious resources, while destroying their own,” declared the scaled deity who looked as much serpent as man, hissing in the alabaster ear of the exquisitely beautiful and deadly cold goddess whom Alex had only heard referred to as the Ice Queen.
Even she gave a pitying shake of her head. “Never underestimate the power of hatred to destroy an organization, or a nation, from within. Or as one of my favorite pieces once said, never interfere with your opponents when they are busy destroying themselves.”
“Hold your tongue, bitch! We’ll be taking care of you soon enough!” General Shalu roared, looking more than ever like the pugnacious, hot-tempered monster Alex already knew him to be.
The serpentine god laughed. “The only skill this so-called general has is his ability to transport large numbers of troops. Other than that, he’s a complete and utter fool, so easily goaded that he still wears the marks of the River of Souls, which no god worthy of his title would even let within a world of himself! Injuries inflicted by a mortal puppet, of all things!”
The mocking reptilian smile caused Shalu to flush and tremble with rage before Zheng Yi squeezed the bloated deity’s shoulders, instantly stilling him. “My grandson is impulsive, but save for that single flaw, he is your superior in all things. But it is good to see that you think so little of him. It will make crushing you all out of existence that much sweeter.”
Those words earned the Ice Queen’s mocking laughter, but Alex purposely tuned out the insults, captivated by the vision he saw in WiFu’s eyes, as if reflected off the gameboard below.
A vision of a certain library he had only glimpsed for a handful of seconds before being chased out by the Red Prince’s own pawns… now revealing a sight that filled him with dread.
He saw a quartet of guardians in the hidden heart of the library, all of them wearing lamellar armor the color of fresh blood, their allegiance now bold as day. Worse, Elder Ru and Lady Chun An, the only two instructors in the entire school to show Alex genuine kindness, were now covered in bruises, their hands bound with silver cords secured behind their backs. They were forced to kneel before a man wearing pearlescent robes shimmering with countless enchantments who was presently ignoring his captives, all his focus on the massive door of deep green jade leading to the innermost sanctum of that hidden chamber. Cruel features twisted in a frown as he peered carefully at what looked almost like a puzzle of levers and jewels upon the face of that vault-like door, before placing a single jade slip of his own within one of a handful of slots. The entire chamber rang with the click that caused the man radiating the terrible power and potency of a Gold to chuckle coldly.
“One more piece to the puzzle than not even a Jade disciple on the Ruler’s Path can counter! And how sweet it will be to collar a pawn of such potential before forcing him to kneel at the feet of Dongfang Hong himself!”
But what filled Alex with horror and fury far in excess to the awful words echoing through the chamber, was that he recognized those aristocratic features warping into a cold smile as he turned to face the pair forced to kneel before him.
Almost, but not quite, the mirror image of former headmaster Bingwen’s own.
Features that had haunted Alex’s dreams for too many nights, aligned with the screams of a doomed princess he had thought only a figment of his past. Now, he was forced to accept that her plight had been real. Must have been real. As real as the monster he now saw reflected in WiFu’s eyes.
And he had done nothing to come to her aid, save point a single friend in the right direction, not even questioning his suddenly nightmare-free sleep, never thinking twice about it again… until now.
A friend whose visit had, at the time, seemed more dreamlike than real.
Who had dared to rescue that which Alex had forsaken.
No doubt crossing a headmaster now eager to make Cheng Lei pay for his daring, just as he did the pair of captive Silvers that Alex noted still refused to wear the Red Prince’s colors.
“You chose poorly, Ru, aligning yourself with Blue, when Red is clearly dominant!”
“That’s Headmaster Sudong!” whispered Xun Hu in terror.
How she had managed to catch a glimpse of his vision was a question he didn’t dare examine too closely, all his focus on the monster before him, who was imperiously holding out his hand before a shaking Elder Ru.
“Now, unless you wish for your granddaughter to be encased in eternal ice, you will surrender to me the final key which I know you were given stewardship over, by a headmaster far more foolish than I!”
The man’s powerful baritone voice seemed to echo endlessly around the massive torus-shaped structure encircling the inner sanctuary that Headmaster Sudong so clearly sought access to, caring nothing for the numerous shelves filled with countless tomes all around them, which Alex would have done almost anything to get ahold of.
Tomes to which Alex had been utterly denied access, just a heartbeat away from being killed outright for even daring to approach, no matter his massive credit balance.
Because the Red Prince’s influence had already infected this school long before Alex had arrived, his enemies’ cards forever assuring that, one way or another, all resources would be denied him, whether the gods could strike at him directly or no.
And for all Alex knew, he had been under the influence of that vile bane for countless lifetimes.
Whether it was due to awful coincidence, contemptuous gatekeepers, or just finding himself in the thick of internecine struggles, he was finally willing to accept that he would never be granted access to that which he most needed to advance his cultivation. No matter how hard he worked, how graciously he asked, how much he pleaded, enticed, or bribed, no matter how well he played by the rules, he would forever face obstacles and enemies who would deny him every tool of ascension that they possibly could.
And he no longer cared.
Because he was done begging for scraps in a world where all hands had been turned against him.
Summon Portal skill check modified by complexity of gate. Concentration bonus for double casting time in effect: You have successfully summoned two Complex Portals! You have successfully summoned one Basic Portal! Forty-five Qi Expended. Two out of fifteen Golden Gates now available.
“Alex? You do know who we’re facing, right?” Anxious eyes sought his own.
He gave Xun Hu his most reassuring smile as he shook his head free of the lingering remnants of his vision. “I won’t even ask how you know what you know. All I need to know is… are you ready
?”
The young kitsune swallowed and nodded bravely. “I still think it’s craziness, but yes.”
Without another word, the pair stepped through the shimmering golden gate suddenly before them, preparing themselves for one final gamble as Alex was forced to go ‘all in’ once more.
Only this time, if he actually managed to survive, he was taking the whole damned pot with him.
51
Heart pounding, Alex girded himself for the killing aura of a furious Gold when he took his final perilous step between sanctuary and dire peril.
Emerging, he beheld a scene of horror. Elder Ru began screaming when Headmaster Sudong froze his warding arm with a casual whisper, and with a single nod, the grim-faced crimson armored sentinel behind him tore it off with one vicious yank of her powerful Silver-tier muscles, smiling scornfully as she waved it in the howling old man’s face. Sudong flashed a truly vindictive smile when Lady Chun An’s porcelain demeanor of calm grace was forever shattered as she screamed in horrified outrage at the sight of her grandfather being mutilated by the sadistic monsters before her.
You have failed concentration check. Portal fails to form.
“And now you see the price of resistance,” said the malevolent-eyed Sudong, sneering in the elder’s face as he bent down to glare into the shaking cultivator’s eyes. “Now you know firsthand the agony that awaits your granddaughter, should you dare anything other than surrendering your key this very instant! And if you think to delay any longer, old man, I shall freeze off your other arm and let you try to pull your hidden prize free with your feet! Then I shall freeze them off as well, and let the entire school laugh at you as the broken, helpless cripple you are, so that all may understand to the depths of their soul the cost of daring to defy the winds of change. The winds of destiny!”
Elder Ru took a deep shaking breath and shook his head. “When I first caught sight of the peasant boy in tattered robes who had ascended beyond all expectations, eyes alight with hope, wonder, and the insights that only the golden steps can grant, I had such high hopes for his future. I could tell even then how badly he hungered to better himself. To ascend. I had hoped that hunger would be tempered with the compassion and humility that comes from being raised in humble surroundings, where everyone works for the common good, and all grow to despise lords and cultivators who have not one shred of compassion or humility for the humble farmers and craftsmen upon whose backs our entire empire is built.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path Page 74