Cultivating Chaos

by William D. Arand

  “Long since complete. There are no abilities that match the parameters you gave, at your level.”

  “What if you modified the ability so it did less, but was still usable?” Ash asked, curious. “One that could work based on my style of fighting?

  “In addition to that, is there a low-grade shielding ability? Or a defensive type of Qi shield? Something that could help me shrug off what Gong did?”

  Wait, what really is my style?

  If I had to define it, it seems to match my martial arts foundation. Be formless, be shapeless.

  Flow.

  Be momentum.

  “Add another request. Is there an ability at any level that would allow me to receive an attack and redirect it? I don’t have to steal anything from it, or utilize it in any way, or even negate it.

  “Just… redirect its…” Ash paused and searched for a word. Except none really fit. “Its flow, I guess… but without changing its momentum.”

  “Parameters have been updated. Several skills can be modified to fit specifications of all three requests, but none that would prove immediately usable.”

  “Great, load those up for later and we’ll go over them. For now… let’s set Spring Step to be a variable of however much Qi we’re drawing from the opponent. Something like fifty percent of whatever it is, at all times,” Ash said.

  That’ll at least provide me with a means to escape if I truly need to, right? I mean, what if I could use that ability to jump straight into the air? I probably could have cleared Gong’s attack that way.

  “Are you praying?”

  Ash’s eyes snapped open to look to the unknown speaker.

  It was Xiao-Yan.

  He was staring down at Ash with an arrogant cast to his face.

  “Contemplating, actually,” Ash said neutrally.

  “Contemplate later. It’s time for you to lose.”

  “Fighters,” interrupted an elder of the sect. “Take your positions.”

  Getting to his feet, Ash gave his body a shake from head to toe. Trying to loosen himself up and get ready to move.

  To flow. To go with the momentum.

  To be the momentum.

  I shall be the snowflake that lands at the top of a mountain.

  Ash activated his abilities and waited.

  Xiao-Yan chuckled to himself and straightened up in an imperious-looking pose. As he flexed his muscles, his skin rapidly coated itself in a layer of dense Metal-elemental Qi.

  Shit.

  “Come, start the fight so I can show him how pointless this is. I am the bar of steel that will crush him,” Xiao-Yan said, looking to the elder.

  The older man looked to Ash, one hand raised above his head. The dropping of said hand would signal the start of the fight.

  Instead, he stared at Ash.

  In fact, the entire crowd was watching Ash.

  “Based on the culture that has been observed so far, Chosen One, it is expected that you make a remark in response.

  “It would almost be considered the proper ‘etiquette’ of the situation.”

  Ash thought quickly and shook his head.

  “As you like. I’ll beat your body into the shape I desire with as many hammer blows as it takes.

  “Perhaps when I’m done, I can forge your flesh into a chamber pot,” Ash said. “Then use it.”

  The elder decided that was a perfect moment to start the fight, and he dropped his hand.

  Xiao-Yan started to stomp his way toward Ash. “I’m going to tear off your head!”

  Moving to his right, Ash started to try and circle to the side of Xiao-Yan. He wanted no part of facing this golem nose to nose.

  Reaching Ash, Xiao-Yan lashed out with a kick. So fast was the strike, it actually caught Ash off guard.

  Using both hands, he blocked the attack and deflected it at the same time.

  Dancing back several steps, Ash shook his hands out. They were numb from fingertips to elbows.

  Damn, that was a heavy blow. Damn, damn, damn.

  Xiao-Yan let out a muffled shout and rubbed at his foot where it had connected with Ash. Apparently the Qi Thorns could burn through his Metal Qi.

  Shaking out his hands, Ash grinned at Xiao-Yan.

  “Care to exchange some more pointers?” Ash asked with far more bravado than he felt.

  Xiao-Yan eyed him for a second before swinging a heavy punch at him while shouting. “I’ll crush you with a single blow, you runt!”

  Realizing he couldn’t take the strike head on, Ash instead deflected it with as little contact as possible. In the same movement, he struck out at Xiao-Yan’s arm.

  Moving with his attack, Ash slid along Xiao-Yan’s side and struck him with his elbow.

  Coming out the other side, Ash pressed his aching hands to his hips to lock the chains in place.

  I feel like I broke my hands. I can’t keep exchanging in close quarters with him.

  Keeping the grimace from his face, Ash let out a breath and took up a neutral stance. Making up his mind, he began to throw out multiple quick strikes, launching a Leech Strike with every usage.

  The metallic Qi balls sped through the air and stuck to Xiao-Yan’s back.

  He ignored them as if they didn’t even exist. In fact, he was still shaking his hand as if it was in pain.

  In no time at all, Ash was panting, his Qi pool drastically reduced. He’d launched so many Leech Strikes that Xiao-Yan’s looked more like a sack of bowling balls than a young man.

  Except Ash could actually feel the strength coming back to him. Drop by drop, sip by sip, stolen from Xiao-Yan.

  Ok, so that works.

  Xiao-Yan finally turned around to face Ash. Panting, he flexed his arms as if shaking something off.

  “That all you got? You didn’t event dent me. I’m going to use my strongest attack now. Maybe you should give up before you get killed.

  “Don’t take it lightly!” he shouted.

  Ash mentally sighed at the theatrics but kept himself steady.

  “Metal Punch!” Xiao-Yan said, striking out with both hands.

  If Ash thought for a second that striking this bigmouth as he yelled his attack would stop him, it’d have happened.

  Two giant, silvery-white fists appeared from thin air and struck out at Ash.

  Everything seemed to slow down momentarily around him. His thoughts sped up and his body was burning with the need to move.

  To get out of the way. Be anywhere other than where he was right then and there.

  Tapping into his Spring Step, Ash unloaded the entire reservoir it held. His joints screamed in protest as he moved. Skirting the massive Qi attack, Ash worked to slide along the edge of it. The energy screaming off of it seemed to pushed him along as he went.

  It was as if Ash had practically vanished from where he’d stood and reappeared behind Xiao-Yan in the time it took to blink.

  Continuing his attack as if he didn’t even realize Ash was gone, Xiao-Yan didn’t move. The view from his side of things was probably just a giant ball of Metal Qi.

  Taking this opportunity for battering away at Xiao-Yan, Ash balled his fists and mentally sacrificed his bones to the fight.

  He had to win.

  Had to win and move on to the next round.

  As quickly as his fists could move, Ash battered away at Xiao-Yan’s already Qi-ball-filled back.

  With strike after strike, he burned the dregs of Spring Step’s Qi as it filled.

  Xiao-Yan finished his monstrous attack, staggering forward a step. Taking this as his time to get back out of range, Ash backed up six steps.

  Panting heavily, Ash felt like his body was shaking. Practically quivering from head to toe.

  His Qi was refilling steadily, but he was suffering from a lack of endurance at this point.

  Glancing at his hands, Ash realized there was a second problem. His fists were broken red pieces of meat.

  He gritted his teeth. There wasn’t much he could do about it right now. He on
ly had to fight once today, thankfully. His next bout would be tomorrow.

  Providing we win, maybe we can spend some of those spirit stones we should have earned at the auction today.

  Get some healing pills and get ready for tomorrow.

  If we win.

  Settling his resolve, Ash lifted his brutalized hands and got ready for whatever Xiao-Yan did next.

  Turning around, the metal-clad young man set his eyes on Ash with an evil glint.

  “Look at you. You’ll… you’ll not… you’ll not get away… this… time,” Xiao-Yan said. His voice started to falter as he finished his sentence.

  “He’s going to drop. If you don’t cancel the chains after the Qi shell of his disappears, he’ll die.”

  He’ll die?

  “This is a good time to remind you that you’ll get a massive bonus to your cultivation if you kill someone.”

  Ash blinked at the sudden and evil push from Locke.

  Xiao-Yan’s Metal Qi failed, and he slumped to his knees.

  Without thinking about it, Ash canceled all his chains and let his hands fall to his sides.

  Deactivating his toggled abilities, Ash stood there, gasping for air.

  “Winner… Winner Ashley Sheng,” announced the elder.

  All around him were the stunned faces of the entire crowd. No one had expected him to do well.

  Let alone win.

  He was the proverbial dark horse.

  Delicately, Ash pressed his mangled fists together and bowed his head to Xiao-Yan. Then he carefully left the ring, heading straight for the auction house.

  Fourteen

  “Are you alright?”

  Ash blinked and gave himself a small shake. Turning his head to the side, he found Ying Yue.

  “Yes. I need to go get some money and go to a doctor,” Ash said.

  For some reason, his voice felt oddly hollow in his own ears.

  “Oh. I have some of your money. I think it’s more than enough to go to a healer,” Ying Yue said.

  She was watching him with an odd look to her face.

  “Here, come with me. I’ll take you there,” she said. She looped her arm through his and began pulling him along somewhere.

  “Alright. I think I’m tired,” Ash said.

  “Yes. I would wager you are. Also, you might be in shock from the pain of your poor hands.

  “How much are you willing to spend on the healer?”

  Ash forced his mind to consider her words. To truly think on what she had just asked him.

  “As much as I have in that card I gave you. If we need more, I need to go to the auction house,” Ash said.

  “Got it. I don’t think it’ll be more than you have in the card—that’s for sure. But it’ll be pricey.”

  Ying Yue kept them moving. A number of streets went by while Ash struggled to pull his thoughts back up from the deep.

  By the time Ash was dragged into a building, he was mostly coherent. Having Ying Yue lead him along had let him focus on trying to beat his brain into shape.

  Then he was being pushed down into a chair.

  An older man leaned in close over him, peering into Ash’s face. He was bald with light-brown eyes. His face looked stern, though not unkind.

  “Ah… he isn’t suffering from any type of Qi problem,” said the older man.

  Peeling Ash’s eyelids up, the man peered in.

  “Huh?” Ash said.

  “He seems… lost,” Ying Yue said.

  “It’s just shock,” the old man said. “I imagine he slipped away before the tournament handlers could catch him. Normally they’d take care of him as best as they were able.

  “Though I do think they would have eliminated him from the tournament with these hands after they fixed him. They’re fairly mauled.”

  “Can you heal them?” Ying Yue asked, her face appearing over the old man’s shoulder.

  Letting go of Ash’s eyelids, the man pressed his cold, dry fingertips to Ash’s throat instead.

  “If I didn’t know how to fix broken bones in the hands and wrists, I’d be a terrible healer.

  “And yes, I most certainly can. Though his hands won’t be fully healed by tomorrow. So long as he doesn’t go overboard, they’ll be fine in two days,” said the healer, letting go of Ash entirely. “I’ll treat it mostly with pills so his Qi isn’t overrun by my own. Though I’ll have to use some.

  “Amazingly, his Qi is pure. Pure and without a trace of elemental Essence.”

  “It’s… pure?” Ying Yue asked.

  “Indeed. Alright, I’ll get the pills. Cost will be about—”

  “I’m sorry, could you quote the price in spirit stones? We have no hard currency on us otherwise,” Ying Yue said apologetically.

  “Nnn. Nothing wrong with that, just not exactly ordinary. I suppose… for the pills and assessment it’d be about a hundred stones?

  “The cost is mostly in the pills.”

  The old healer was in front of Ash again. He pushed a small, hard pill into Ash’s mouth and then pinched his nose shut. “Swallow. You’ll be feeling better in no time. Go home and sleep.

  “Pill should work fairly quickly. But it’ll also—”

  ***

  Flexing his hands open and closed, Ash sat at the small table in the inn room he’d woken up in.

  The late dawn sun was streaming in through a window, and he knew his battle would be in an hour or two.

  He couldn’t quite remember how he’d gotten here, but he wasn’t concerned about the lack of memories. Or about being in this place.

  The room was filled with packs and mercantile goods.

  That and Ying Yue was sleeping on the small couch with a few covers over herself.

  Ash smiled with one side of his mouth, looking back to his hands.

  They were covered in thin, hair-like scars, but they felt strong.

  Felt good.

  Perhaps not perfect, but good enough.

  “The damage was fairly extensive. While you were unconscious, I finished the action you requested, Chosen One,” Locke said.

  “Oh?” Ash said softly.

  “I have crafted a Qi shield, a small healing ability, and a channel that redirects incoming attacks to eighty-percent effectiveness,” Locke said.

  “Ok, I thought you said I can’t learn anymore?”

  “The Qi shield builds off the Qi Thorns, the heal is tied to the Battle Cultivation, and the redirect is part of the Leech Strike. You’ll have to strike the incoming attack, target it with one hand, and redirect with the second.

  “They will cost nothing new, but the pain will be significant when you learn them.”

  “Oh, how significant?”

  “You will pass out for about two minutes.”

  “Alright, go ahead and do it as soon as I lay do—”

  Ash’s face locked into place as the new abilities smashed him down into the chair, straight into unconsciousness.

  He came to what only felt like a minute or two later, his head swimming. Groaning, Ash sat up straight in the chair and touched a hand to his head.

  “Task complete, Chosen One,” Locke said with absolute glee.

  “I’m going to figure out a way to delete you or modify your programming one of these days,” Ash mumbled.

  Getting to his feet slowly, Ash activated the Battle Cultivation technique. Since it would supposedly heal him, there was no reason to not have it active now.

  Maybe it’ll help my hands along.

  “Ashley?” murmured a sleepy voice.

  Looking to the couch, he saw Ying Yue’s eyes fluttering open and closed as she woke up.

  Grasping the covers, she pulled them up to her chin, her eyes slowly focusing on him.

  “She took very good care of you,” Locke interjected suddenly.

  Making a snap decision, Ash bowed his head deeply to Ying Yue.

  “I’m in your debt, Yue. Please, call me Ash. If you ever have a need, please do not hesitate to ask it of me.
I’ll do my best to meet whatever it is,” he said.

  Raising his head to face her, he lifted a hand. “Please do not fight this. Simply accept it.

  “Now, I must go to the tournament. I believe my fight will be soon, and I must prepare as I’m able. After that, I’ll meet you back here so we can plan our trip together.

  “It wouldn’t do to have you take on such a burden by yourself if we’re traveling with one another.”

  “Ah, alright. You’re welcome to help me in the planning, then, and I’ll join you for your match,” the merchant said with a smile.

  It didn’t take long for them to get cleaned up and make their way to the tournament field.

  Everyone was already watching a match, which meant Ash could move about freely without worrying about others.

  He walked up to the board and gave it a once-over.

  “So it seems Jia moved on. That wasn’t really ever in question,” Ash muttered, reading the bracket. “And my opponent is… Shen.

  “That’ll be interesting, I suppose, since I don’t know a thing about him.”

  “You will do fine,” said a new voice from behind him.

  Glancing over his shoulder, Ash found Jia right behind him.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence. Jia, this is Ying Yue—Ying Yue, Jia,” Ash said, indicating the younger woman next to him. “She’s the one who got me to the healer yesterday.”

  Jia eyed Ying Yue expressionlessly. Finally, she bowed her head several inches to the merchant. “I thank you for caring for him. He is foolish but good hearted.”

  “Yes. Yes, he is,” Ying Yue said, nodding.

  “Well, seems like my fight is next. I’ll just go to the ring and prepare,” Ash said, shrugging his shoulders.

  “A wise idea,” Jia said. “Ying Yue and I will accompany you and watch. I am curious to see how you hold up.

  “Shen is… formidable.”

  “Oh? Could you beat him?” Ash asked.

  “I… am honestly not sure. From what I have seen of him, yes. I fear he has hidden his talent and abilities deep, though. His strength is not visible from the surface,” Jia said. “Should I bet on someone with our proceeds?”

  “Me. And after that, don’t bet any further,” Ash said.