Malware: A Cultivation Academy Series (Bastion Academy Book 2)

by J D Astra

  I pivoted like a dancer—just the way Hana had shown me—and let loose a blast of bright ry from the palm of my hand. Tae-do roared in agony, but kept coming as he shielded his eyes. I rolled to the right and let him run straight past me into the door, then took off for the far wall. I hunted along the wall for any tree tall enough or any stacks of manure, wood-chips, or the likes intended for the garden.

  There was nothing. Just wall.

  Well, just wall was going to have to do. I glanced over my shoulder to see Tae-do only ten meters back. He was gaining on me. I spared a cycling breath for en munje, then sliced my arm through the air and cast the magic out in an arrow of blue light. The munje slapped against the stone ahead and seeped in.

  ‘Isolate bricks from the wall in this shape,’ I thought to Mae as I envisioned spread out stairs in my mind. With a poof of white dust, the brick wall shifted. Narrow rectangles only a few centimeters deep pulled out from the protective barrier and created a steppingstone ramp to the top.

  I activated the zo interlaced with my legs and jumped from the ground to the first step. I gasped as the brick shifted downward from my weight and pushed off with extra effort to compensate. My heart jackhammered in my chest as I landed on the second stone and pushed off for the next.

  Mun-de-Jayu, it was working!

  I made it to the final step and gave a huge leap to the finish, hands reaching out for the tall pillar of white stone that protruded from the top. Tae-do bellowed in anger, and I looked back to see him still charging the wall. Good. I couldn’t have him give up.

  “How will you reach me now, aga?” I taunted again, no ry required. He was already in a rage.

  “I’ll kill you!” Tae-do roared below as a deathly black aura flared around him. He jumped for the wall and slammed a massive fist into it with a crack. He hung by one hand, then he fitted his feet and other hand into holds we had made by creating the stairs.

  ‘Where now?’ I asked.

  Mae created a similar ramp down the other side of the wall to the streets below. The city was buzzing with activity. It was one of the last warm rest nights of the year, and everyone was out in throngs to enjoy it.

  I hopped down the stones with more speed than precision as I heard Tae-do scream. I glanced back to see his head poke up over the edge, that same feral joy on his face. He scrambled to get his feet under him, then leered down at me with triumph. So, he could climb a wall... but he wouldn’t have an easy time down. The stones I’d used dropped to the ground, and I smiled back up at him.

  “Cross to the right and follow that street south,” Mae said as a blue arrow appeared in my vision pointing toward a red-canvased tent at the entrance to the next street.

  I followed the arrow and rotated my bands for ry mixed with en. My heart revved faster than the sawblades at the arborum. I spared a breath to collect the heat gathering in my body, then converted it. I had no doubt that Tae-do would be on my tail in seconds, and I’d need another distraction.

  ‘Can you create my body double like Hana did last year?’

  “Maybe,” Mae said with a heavy tone of doubt.

  The recycled ry circulated through my body until I felt it in every corner, ready to burst free. I held it at bay, trying to remember what I looked like in the mirror. It was no good, I would have to use Cho with darker hair. I skidded around the corner to the next street and darted past a young, elegant couple holding hands.

  They shouted their surprise, and I glanced back and yelled, “Move!” They looked around in a confused daze instead of moving, and I returned my attention to the road ahead. I heard Tae-do barrel around the corner like a madman, knocking them both to the ground with terrified screams. I couldn’t waste another glance back as I vaulted over a railing near a dark alley.

  ‘Now!’ I thought, and the purple ry munje ripped out of my body through every pore. The semi-transparent glow of someone who looked sort of like me kept running forward. I dove left into the alley. I used a second tiny burst of ry to shroud myself in shadows as Tae-do ran past, chasing the vision.

  I was back on my feet pursuing him in a flash, but he was so quick. Bar patrons shouted and children pointed as Tae-do hunted down my fast-fading ry like a ravenous ty-gre. He was gaining on the spectral image of me. The arrow in my vision pointed lazily to the right, and just in time.

  I turned down the next street and the ry trickery faded away on the wind, out of munje. Tae-do skidded to a halt and turned on the spot, his eyes locking on me. With his attention back on the real me, I passed from view onto the next road.

  A trolley zipped by, and I caught the back end of it. I pulled myself around the other side as riders gave startled gasps. I was peering through the window to see Tae-do run full-bore around the corner blindly when a woman whacked me with her bag. I scowled at her and dropped to the ground rubbing my head.

  Tae-do pushed into the crowd, and I calmed my breathing as I kept a fast walk after him. I cycled another bit of ry and cast a weak glimmer over my hair to change the color. After a minute of pushing his way through, Tae-do stopped and turned in a circle. I ducked below the taller heads in the crowd and followed Mae’s arrow in my vision as it turned east.

  “We’re getting close,” she whispered to me. “The ping resolution is under a quarter of a second, so we have to be within a kilometer.”

  “Where are you?” Tae-do roared with rage, and the crowd collectively faltered, half of them looking at Tae-do with confusion. I moved toward the next street, keeping my head low until I reached a break in the crowd. I popped my face up and dropped the glimmer on my hair.

  “Over here!” I waved my hand overhead, and Tae-do snarled. He pushed and pressed, knocking people aside with abandon as he charged me.

  I gave my legs as much zo as possible and I sprinted toward the signal source. What in Mun-Jayu was I going to do when I got there? I couldn’t run forever, and Tae-do would surely catch me if I tried. Fighting him wasn’t a great option, either...

  ‘Mae, have any ideas?’ I asked, hopeful as the throng in the streets died down. There would be no one and nothing to hide behind.

  She sighed. “Why am I not surprised? My best advice is to scream for help.”

  The smell of salty sea-water wafted on the air, and I knew we were getting close to one of the inland docks. That would be an excellent location for someone to set up shop if they were importing the drugs from somewhere outside of Busa-nan...

  “Your whole family will wish you were never born, ganhan!” Tae-do yelled much too close behind me, and I pumped my arms and legs harder. Sweat soaked into my dobok but dried against the skin on my face as the cool night air wicked it away.

  Mae’s arrow blinked and pointed hard right. I ducked and put my feet into a slide against the gravelly concrete while I rounded the corner. Tae-do’s tackling swing went wide over my head, and he stumbled past me. I shot down the dark street with a head start, but the sound of his heavy footfalls was near. I sucked in a breath through my nose and cycled another round of heat through my band for en munje.

  Mae’s alert was music to me as she said, “We’re here! Location marked. Routing back to Bastion.”

  The arrow in my vison pointed right again, and I followed blindly in the near darkness. There was a tug on the back of my dobok, and I fell back into something hard—likely Tae-do’s knee. Sharp pain split down the side of my head, and I fell to the rough stone ground. I rolled to a stop with a grunt and my ears rang like mad. Something hot trickled down my sweaty neck as I pushed myself back to standing.

  Black fire licked up Tae-do’s arms in the darkness, and steam rose from his head. He leered with madness, his white teeth glinting in the moonlight. “Now I’ve got you.”

  Chapter 19

  I PUT MY HANDS UP IN the Wing Chun form, ready to deflect and redirect his powerful blows. Tae-do put his fists up in a brawler pose and took two steps closer. I backed away, circling left as he swung in recklessly. I slapped back one fist, dodged, then countered his low
kick with my foot, pushing the assault away.

  The force of his hands hitting my guard sent lances of pain through my bones. I couldn’t let him lay a hand on me, but needed to get in close enough to put him down. I watched his posture carefully. He moved in again, fists flying, but I wasn’t fast enough. The air whooshed from my lungs, and I sucked in a pained gasp as my guts rearranged.

  I grabbed the offending fist and held tight, then forced the en munje down my arm in a brilliant blue arc of lightning. Tae-do shook violently, his teeth bared in a grimace as his eyes rolled back. He hit the ground with a grunt, and I sighed, dropping to my knees beside him.

  He still had a pulse and was breathing, but his skin was molten hot. If I couldn’t get his temperature down, his brain would cook. There was no guarantee that hadn’t already happened with the way he was acting.

  ‘How far are the docks?’

  “About twenty meters left,” came Mae’s cool reply.

  I squeezed down a narrow alley until I found the edge of the water. I pulled some from the bay with blue glowing en and walked back to Tae-do. It wasn’t the cleanest water, but it was cool, and would help control his temperature when he couldn’t.

  I splashed the water down across his chest and was surprised when it didn’t rouse him.

  ‘Did I do serious damage?’

  “I don’t think so. His hand is burned, and there’s nerve damage along his arm, but it will heal with some assistance from the infirmary. He is still burning up, though. If we don’t get him back to the school soon, there could be lasting damage from his own stupidity,” Mae said with annoyance.

  I looked down at the massive boy and then at the arrow in my vision with the distance listed below it. It was incredibly handy, and I was amazed at how Mae learned to overcome our communication restrictions on the fly. But that amazement wasn’t making the task ahead any easier.

  My muscles were already weak from utilizing all the infused zo, but I couldn’t leave him here. Nor could we stay and wait for help. If the agents responsible for the drugs and my mother’s illness were nearby, both of us could be at risk.

  I took a moment to cycle a few breaths of energy to create zo, and then pulled Tae-do up over my shoulder. I groaned as I came up to standing with his weight. He must’ve been at least twenty kilos heavier than I was. This was what I got for going along with this plan... but now I didn’t have to fight with Hana about who would be taking the potion to track it.

  With great effort and several stops, I made my way back to the bustling entertainment district near Bastion. From there, I found a rickshaw driver willing to take us up to the school. Tae-do remained unconscious for the entire trip.

  We came around the corner near campus to see Bastion instructors with hands alight combing the streets. Pung-sah gasped when he saw me and ran towards the rickshaw.

  “What happened?” he demanded as I paid the driver.

  I reached back to pull Tae-do out. “Help me with him, he’s heavy.”

  We situated him between us and pulled his arms over our shoulders. His feet dragged behind us as we made our way toward the school. A man in the green-trimmed robes of the infirmary staff came out with a gurney, and we set Tae-do down at the gates, then strapped him on. He was still heavy, but the gurney made it much easier.

  There were no students roaming the grounds as we came through, and every light on the perimeter had been activated. There were instructors at the far wall repairing the damage Tae-do and I had caused, and more instructors huddled in a circle talking in hushed voices.

  Min-hwan approached from one of the discussion groups. Concern turned his lips downward in a frown. “Are you two alright?”

  I allowed one of the other instructors to take my gurney handle and stopped to speak with Min-hwan. My hands shook as I released Tae-do to the others. My heart hammered in my chest, and my guts ached from the blow Tae-do had delivered. Blackness swam at the edges of my vision, and I panted.

  “Easy now,” Min-hwan said as he helped me gently to the ground.

  “Grandmaster, I believe we need to discuss something in your office,” I said with heavy breaths. My throat was ashen dry, and hot. I needed a shower. My sweat—mixed with Tae-do’s stinking bay water smell—was all over me, and I wanted nothing more than to escape the prying eyes and wrinkled noses of the instructors.

  Min-hwan nodded. “Yes, I think we do.”

  “Are you going to tell him everything?” Mae asked ever so quietly in my mind.

  It was a gentle reminder for something I was far too relaxed on: Trust. The grandmaster had always been fair—at least as fair as he could be—but he was still a man of the kingdom. I wasn’t sure if I could trust him with all our knowledge. At least, not yet.

  With Min-hwan’s help, I rose on trembling legs. I would need to do a massive cleansing cycle soon or risk serious pain and illness tomorrow. I limped slowly toward Min-hwan’s office, and he was kind enough to walk beside me at the same pace. I tried cleansing while I walked, but the pain of ripping the munje out of my leg tissue threatened to floor me, so I decided to wait.

  He opened his grand door with the flick of his wrist and a blink of golden ma munje. His office was just as amazing as it had been the first time I’d seen it. Long, shimmering posters of light adorned the upper walls, weapons that glowed with ghostly power sat in glass cases around the room, and shelves upon shelves of ancient tombs crowded in everywhere else.

  Min-hwan pulled out a chair for me to sit, and I bowed to him, grateful for the assistance. My arms and legs felt like overcooked noodles, ready to rip apart at any second. I sank down into the seat. I swore hadn’t been this comfortable the last time I’d been in it. My muscles melted into the cushions, and I lay my head back.

  Exhaustion, unlike anything I’d ever felt, weighed me down, and my eyes fluttered as Min-hwan moved to a small desk near the tall, narrow window at the back of the room. I let my eyes close while I listened to him clinking glass, stirring, and crushing dry leaves.

  A second later, I was startled awake by the whistle of a teakettle. I closed my mouth and swallowed, feeling the dry ache in my throat that came from snoring. Min-hwan returned to his desk with two steaming cups of tea.

  “It’s a special brew. It’ll help with your cleanse,” he said as he set the cup in front of me.

  I bowed, feeling the tightness in the muscles of my back. “Thank you, Grandmaster.”

  I took a sip at Min-hwan’s urging. It tasted of fresh melon, and tangy citron, with a bite of something bitter at the finish. The heat traveled down to my stomach and then out through my body. The feeling spread similar to how Woong-ji’s ma elixir had filled me with warmth, but this was much more pleasant. It was healing me and reducing the swelling in my aching muscles.

  “Now, what happened?” he asked with a heavy sigh as he settled into his chair.

  I recounted the events of the evening—remembering that my mother’s bento was still on the floor of the dining hall where I’d dropped it—but left out the parts where Mae had led me through the city to the signal source. I didn’t know how deep the plot went, and if Min-hwan had something to do with it, I didn’t want him knowing I knew anything about it.

  The sagely grandmaster nodded as my story concluded. He sipped his tea and gestured for me to do the same. We drank in peace for a few minutes. I wasn’t bothered by his thoughtful stare into space while he processed the information I’d given him. In fact, I enjoyed the bit of quiet as I drank the healing tea.

  Finally, when our cups were empty, he spoke. “I’m sorry this happened. What would you like me to do?”

  I scowled. “I don’t understand.”

  “I’m sure you’ve heard of the Wong family by now. I’m sure you know how powerful they are; every son a Bastion graduate, strongest dojang in the kingdom, six-generation legacy of elite fighters who survived every war they fought in, most called upon mercenaries...”

  He trailed off as my eyes grew wider and wider. This was new
information to me, but I now understood Shin-soo’s warning. The Wongs were powerful, not only in strength, but influence, and their reach was unknowable.

  “I’ve heard things,” I said with a nod. “But why would you ask me what to do?”

  Min-hwan leaned forward, folding his hands as if preparing to speak plainly. “When wansil Wong discovers you were involved in his youngest son’s expulsion from Bastion, it could be very bad for you. Bastion can offer protection while you are here, but not for your family, or when you’re home for the summer.”

  My blood boiled at the thought of anyone laying a single harmful finger on my family, and I snorted. “I get it.”

  “Anything that could be proven would be held accountable in a high court, but I doubt wansil Wong would do it himself or leave any evidence.”

  I thought about how I wanted Tae-do handled and settled on the best punishment I could muster within the rules. “No dueling until the final week of school, confined to the grounds on rest day.”

  Min-hwan nodded. “Appropriate. Now, for the matter of you.”

  I straightened. “Me?”

  He chuckled. “Yes, you. Your performance tonight, though it was outside the bounds of the duel, was impressive. People are going to wonder,” he said with gravitas as he looked down toward the device burned into my chest.

  I nodded. I heard the undertones. Forming perfect rectangles from stone, moving them with precision, holding them in the air as I stepped from stone to stone, and whatever else I’d asked Mae to do while I ran in a panic, needed to be things I could do on my own. It was my goal to become powerful at Bastion, but if I was going to show off, I had to show my work. The other students, and instructors, needed to see that performance in my classes.

  I’d specifically abstained from using Mae’s help in school because it would be cheating, but now that I’d used it on school grounds to run for my life, people would wonder what was going on. Drugs would be the likely conclusion before thinking I’d merged with an artificial intelligence from the time of the ancient ones, but one of those would get me expelled, and the other would get me dissected.