Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Reborn: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 1

by M. H. Johnson

  “If he can walk the path of the body cultivator, like me.”

  “You’ve already opened four gates, my dear. You surpass many royal soldiers in terms of potential.”

  “And that’s why I’m going to join the Royal Reserves. With a soldier’s status, the school’s hostility against our clan means nothing, since nothing trumps a royal decree. It’s why you’re allowed to work here, even after everything that happened at the school.”

  Her father sighed. “Conversations for another day. Come, Daughter. We’re dueling with long spears, first thing in the morning.”

  And Alex paid no mind as the two left, the back door to the house sliding slowly shut, focused as he was on feeling the flow of Heaven and Earth energies coursing through him, doing his best to channel them into helping him break through his meridian blockages.

  Slowly, imperceptibly, he felt his breathing steady, a constant stream of energy building within him as he meditated, invigorating his mind in ways different than sleep, finally getting the message he was waiting for.

  Purification technique: Cleansing Breath learned at Apprentice proficiency. Relative efficiency = 3% of maximum efficiency.

  Only to find the smooth sheen of the blockage’s gray surface all but impervious to the howling winds of his mind desperately trying to scrub free the contaminants.

  He did not allow himself to get discouraged, merely falling into the pattern of deep, cleansing breaths that he had learned so well. For someone who might have spent a thousand years in deep, meditative contemplation, he found spending the entire night in constant meditation a bit more difficult than he thought it should be, but still managed to persevere.

  Cleansing Breath relative efficiency = 3.25%.

  It was only as dawn lightened the heavens that he got a message that surprised him.

  Cleansing Breathe technique now ingrained. Do you wish to use stored souls towards your next level? Warning: Soul use efficiency will only be 3.25% of ideal.

  Alex blinked, surprised more than anything else, and of course it was at that moment that Liu Jian snorted behind him.

  “Couldn’t keep it up for a full night, could you? Alright, let’s see if that did any good for you, whatsoever.”

  “No, I was meditating, sir!” He protested as the elder man placed his hands upon temple and abdomen. “It’s just that...”

  “Silence.”

  Long moments passed.

  Liu Jian stepped away with a sad sigh. “Nothing. I’m sorry, Alex, no change in you at all.”

  Alex grimaced. “I know. I’ve been trying to chip away at them all night. It’s just that even with all those hours of practice, my Cleansing Breath is only 3.25% of what it could be, just the tiniest sliver of what someone who had mastered these techniques would be capable of. The good news is that I have so much room to grow into my skills. With more practice and increased efficiency, I know I’ll break through. Someday.”

  The other man gave a sad shake of his head. “It’s good to dream. Now let’s teach you something useful. The reality is that most people have no cultivation potential at all, so a good knowledge of battle arts can prove quite useful to anyone. After all, you’re far more likely to be mugged by a desperate person hungry for food or coin, and much less likely to be troubled by a cultivator. Understood?”

  Alex nodded.

  “Good. Because every man is also expected to be reserve-ready, should our city ever fall under siege, or otherwise go to war. So, from today forward, you will train with Liu Li in the garden, instead of sleeping half the morning away every day.”

  Alex blinked before slowly grinning. “You’re going to train me to use the long spear like Liu Li?”

  The older man nodded. “Of course! A long spear, good armor, and good unit training make all the difference between life and death on the killing fields. Ideally, you’ll have between two and four additional ranks of pikemen, each row with spears ready to skewer any enemy that breaks through the front line of spear heads.”

  Alex blinked. “Like the Macedonian Phalanx. Thanks to them, Alexander the Great conquered a large portion of the known world.”

  Liu Jian frowned. “I never heard of this Alexander. Is he your namesake? But it seems you understand. Good. Get up and stretch, your armor’s laid out.”

  Blinking, a bemused Alex found himself both weary and indescribably energized, as if a different part of his mind than usual had enjoyed a restful night’s sleep while he had been cultivating.

  He still smiled with wonder when he thought of how amazing it felt, feeling the spiritual energies of Heaven and Earth flowing through him. But upon learning he was only at 3.25% efficiency, and rapidly topping off, he knew he needed a far, far better technique before he would have a hope of cleansing his meridians within this lifetime, let alone think of using his stored souls to cleanse his meridians which was how he suspected he would level up in this world, assuming that even applied here.

  The armor he donned was mostly lamellar comprised of boiled rawhide plates covered with a hard, glossy lacquer that Liu Jian explained would help deflect arrows and spear tips before they could bite through the already extremely tough material. The bronze helmet was open-faced, though it did have a nose guard and cheek guards, and looked like a cross between the European and East Asian helms he used to admire looking at pictures of in museums and online.

  Alex was pleased to find that it was actually quite comfortable and his senses were in no way impaired by it. He recalled reading that outside of cavalry charges or warding against storms of arrows, many knights who used more restrictive helms would fight with their visors raised, finding the impaired vision more of a hindrance than the armor was protection.

  Though his pike and sword were blunt practice replicas, the real things would be made of high-quality steel. When he asked why the armor itself wasn't, Liu Li had given him a dirty look.

  “If you want endless forests filled with mystery, peril, and magical beasts, we have that. To say nothing of relics from bygone ages, magical wonders, and shadow empires lost within the limitless expanse of our world. And the royal storehouses have so much bronze in storage, thanks to thousands of years of cast forging arms and armaments, that we could potentially equip half the city! And after countless centuries with access to trade-routes bringing in a fortune in copper and tin every year, our bronze smiths have learned the secrets of casting bronze stronger and more resilient than ever before.

  "So too, we have yearly crops of treated hides from so many sheep, cattle, oxen, and other creatures, to say nothing of magical beasts, that the kingdom has the resources to equip millions of troops with the best quality lamellar armor, comprised of rawhide scales boiled in glue and treated with chemicals and a hardening lacquer so most arrows bounce right off, and only the most powerful thrusts of spear, sword, or Qi-enhanced techniques are going to blow through.

  “And yes, Alex. The best quality steel will always be better than the best quality bronze. But though we have enough finely forged steel spear heads and sword blades to equip an army, we don’t have enough steel mines to kit up a million soldiers in heavy plate armor. No one does.”

  She flashed a bemused smile. “But the generals that lead our armies are not fools. The front-line soldiers of every pike formation are often equipped in full plate armor, such that arrows and crossbow bolts wash off them like rain, they serving to shield all the ranks behind them as well.”

  She then gestured to herself with a wry twist to her smile. “And I, being a girl, am considered one of the flowers of the empire. So even though I, too, may join or be drafted into the Royal Army as a Rank 4 Basic Cultivator, I may fight no closer than the back ranks of any pike formation, unless the madness of battle dictates otherwise. So the suits of armor we're wearing are standard for every non-front line pikeman. Excellent armor that will ward most blows and almost any arrow raining down from a distance, or ones that skip off the front line's high-quality steel."

  Alex nodded. “That make
s sense, though it sounds like this world is huge.”

  Liu Li grinned. “You could spend a century just exploring the continent, trading as you went, and still not see the end of it. At least, that was the account I read of one famous cultivator turned trader who used his long life to forge a vast trading empire that was the envy of numerous kings and emperors, centuries ago.”

  Alex whistled. “Impressive!”

  Liu Li nodded. “Now pick up your long spear, and let me show you how to use it.

  Congratulations! You have achieved Rank 1 in Long Spear. Cross-skill learned! You now have rank 1 with all polearms.

  You have achieved Rank 1 in Golden Realm Kung Fu.

  You have achieved Rank 1 with Gladius.

  It was a long day, broken up with rest breaks and the application of fresh liniments for sore muscles. Alex’s ribs had long since healed, and he couldn’t help chuckling quietly to recognize his own creations upon his flesh, healing him at 115% standard efficacy.

  Liu Li wasted no time, showing him the basics of long spear work, emphasizing how to thrust accurately and generate speed and power while maintaining balance, all at the same time. He learned how to lunge forward with a powerful thrust then immediately pull back. Finally, he learned how to defend himself from enemy pikemen, including how to weave around an opponent’s thrusts, pivoting and dodging while moving his feet only a minimum amount as pikemen normally fought as a group, and he learned how to parry with the butt end of the spear, raising or lowering or shifting the shaft near his hands while keeping the point always in line with his target, very different from parrying or maneuvering with the saber or quarterstaff or almost any other melee weapon.

  His muscles were burning and his ribs sore once more after a full day of practice quickly became their morning routine, with Alex expected to practice cultivating for at least two hours every night, from the time dinner ended till the house behind his now permanent outside sleeping spot had gone dark. Whereupon he would immediately drop into a comatose slumber before being kicked awake by his ruthless training partner, her jade green eyes always making him blush, as if she were eyeing her favorite pet and finding him wanting.

  “Try harder, pup! I’m going easy on you!” she teased exactly two weeks from the day they had first started their training together, now pretending they were both in the crush of melee, spears dropped, left arm held at angle to ward and catch the opponents blade, right hand holding their mock gladii, ready to use them the moment they sensed an opening.

  At least Alex now knew the purpose to the metal bar fused to his armor’s forearm, using it to block Liu Li’s quick thrust before twisting his hand around to catch the blade with his mail-lined gauntlet, slamming forward with his right hand in a powerful low thrust that would have seen her disemboweled in a real fight.

  Before crying out as he suddenly found himself flipped off his feet, crashing to the ground a heartbeat before Liu Li had twisted atop him, grabbing and pinning his arm in a painful lock, her sword now against his neck.

  Her brilliant laughter filled him with a curious warmth. He could hear her laugh all day and not grow tired of it. “I win, puppy!”

  Alex couldn’t help chuckling. “You totally beat me.”

  She winked, helping him back to his feet. “You’re not too shabby for a boy so slender. You’ve studied battle arts somewhere before, I can tell.”

  He shrugged. “Would you believe I was once considered athletic? Of course, people aren’t as powerfully built where I’m from. Anyway, I took a summer or two of HEMA camp, back in the day, but I know that means nothing to you. Put another way… my father was a rich merchant before he passed on, and he had me tutored by several martial arts instructors. Speaking of which, that was definitely a throw you were using there. I thought grappling was taboo amongst cultivators?”

  "Not in warfare," she corrected with a grin. "Anything is fair game there. It's an Imperial edict."

  Alex smirked. “Fair enough.”

  “Besides, master cultivators with enough Qi to blast dozens of enemies with a single attack? No one’s even going to try to pin them. Just survive their onslaught.”

  This made Alex sigh.

  “What’s wrong, puppy?”

  “My piss-poor rate of cultivation. I’m meditating every night, breathing just like Master Liu taught me, and I still can’t get above 4% efficiency!”

  Liu Li laughed. “I love how you try to quantize everything, both here and in the shop. Sometimes it’s not about exact amounts or numerical formulae, but how things feel. Sometimes you just know when your batch is going to be perfect, or if your cultivating technique somehow needs to shift. I guess what I’m saying is, trust your instincts. It will all come with time.”

  Alex gazed thoughtfully at the knowledgeable girl, self-consciously shifting her helmet, and Alex could only imagine that it wasn’t entirely comfortable, despite the subtle alterations to her helm that he had spotted.

  “Can you show me your cultivation technique?”

  She grinned. “You already know it.”

  He blinked. “The basic one your father showed me?”

  “Of course. He used to be an instructor at Dragon Academy. Why would he teach me anything but the best? Or you, for that matter.”

  “But I thought I was sort of a hopeless cause?”

  She smirked. “True, but your meridian gateways are huge, according to Father. If he can somehow help you break through, the prestige he’d get would be priceless, and Dragon Temple would be forced to eat crow. And besides being a gifted alchemist, for all that school-affiliated students are officially forbidden from buying cultivation pills from him, he once specialized in bringing new cultivators to Bronze, if he possibly could. So why would he give you a less than optimal breakthrough techniques? It would be an insult to the revered instructor he once was.”

  Her smile turned sympathetic. “It’s cycling techniques that get tricky, being as they are dependent on elemental affinities, temperament, and what kind of cultivator you are trying to forge yourself into. And though there are other specialized purification techniques to assure not even a trace of impurities mix with your Qi, at the early stages, what matters to us more than anything else is cleaning our meridians and trying to ascend to Bronze."

  Alex nodded. “I think I get it. Break through to Bronze, then forge personal links between your meridians according to whatever pattern will best aid your interests, elemental affinities, and ability to hit Silver status, down the road."

  “True. But very, very few people have the foundation to achieve Silver. Once you make it to Bronze, then you definitely want to take great care in choosing the cycling technique that will best suit your strengths. Fortunately for most, they only have affinity with a single element, and every academy, temple, and school has many single affinity manuals. Things get tricky if you have affinity with multiple elements. A few people even have affinity with all five elements. If they are lucky, they will find a patron who will gift them with appropriate cycling manuals, those masters then enjoying prestige from fostering such rare and valuable students."

  Alex smiled at this, filled with a sudden sense of excitement. He couldn’t help visualizing himself as a cultivator, being a part of epic battles or rescuing villages from dangerous spirit beasts. Perhaps he would focus on exploring this vast, mysterious world, savoring its wonders and mystery, as he established a grand mercantile empire of his own. He would train, cultivate, and discover as many of the world’s secrets as he possibly could, until one day he could ascend the steps of immortality, and never have to fear the claws of sickness and death again.

  The possibilities were endless.

  Then he winced, rubbing his temple. “Ouch.”

  “You were daydreaming,” Liu Li smirked. “No doubt fantasizing about a glorious life as a cultivator, like most kids do.”

  He shrugged and smiled. “Guess I’m guilty.”

  Her gaze softened. “Please don’t be too mad if it doesn’t work
out, Alex.”

  He swallowed, lowering his gaze. “I know. My meridian gates are blocked by massive amounts of detritus, and even your father’s esteemed purification technique is making little headway. It’s like I’m looking at an impossibly tall tree filled with impossibly luscious fruit, but I’ll never be able to get to them.”

  Liu Li smirked. "Such are the double-edged gifts of the fox. But who knows? You're clever enough for a clueless foreigner. Maybe you’ll think of some way to have a breakthrough."

  Alex smirked at that, rubbing his small copper ring with the ball of his thumb like he often found himself doing when deep in thought.

  Liu Li frowned, her hand darting out to catch his own. “What is that?”

  Alex shrugged, heart suddenly pounding, trying to keep his cool. “It’s a ring that was given to me a while ago. I know it doesn’t look like much, but it has definite sentimental value.”

  Liu frowned. “It’s an ugly little ring. A nice silver ring would look much better against your pale skin.”

  “I don’t mind. I think it suits me.”

  She shrugged. “It’s your body, do what you will. You going to cultivate?”

  Alex nodded, soon positioning himself to do just that, knowing by now that Liu Li did the same from her private rooftop sanctuary overlooking the garden which, Alex was assured, had Heaven and Earth Qi just as rich as that which Alex enjoyed every day, despite the slight nip in the air.

  He found his fingers fiddling with his copper ring while he tried to focus on meditation, realizing he hadn’t done that much to test the limits of his divine gift. Of course, he hadn’t wanted to rob his hosts or disappear or go catatonic in front of them, but really, he knew he could be doing more.

  First thing’s first, figuring it out a bit better than he had.

  He plucked a blade of grass, placing it against his ring, imagining it safely planted in a rich fecund bed of soil he visualized within his mind, recalling that he could visualize whatever structure he wished within his ring.