“Ah…” the man said. “I don’t even know who you are. Why should I fight you?”
“Who I am? This is day one for me. I just joined the sect. Today, no less.
“If you can’t even fight a day-one disciple, do you deserve to be here?” Ash asked. “But if you need a reason to fight me, I’ll give you one.
“I’ll bet with you. Care to make a wager and then let me decorate the ground with your face?”
“You insignificant speck!” hissed the man. His entire demeanor had changed when he heard Ash had just joined. “I’ll fight you. No need to offer me a wager.”
The man dropped into a fighting pose, then charged at Ash without another word.
“Wind Slash Punch!” shouted the man, throwing his fist forward.
Swirling translucent Wind Qi surrounded the man’s fist.
To Ash, it seemed almost slow. So slow it seemed to be crawling through the air as it came at him.
We’ll make this a lesson and a point. They can leave Yan alone, or I can repeat this lesson for whoever else.
Stepping forward, Ash stomped his foot and lashed out with a punch toward the man’s stomach. At the same time, Ash made sure to dodge the attack coming his way, but with the barest of margins.
Sinking satisfyingly into the man’s stomach Ash planned his next several steps out.
Grabbing the man’s extended arm, Ash activated his Spring Step and shoved. Crunching grotesquely, the man’s elbow inverted.
Holding tightly to the now-maimed arm, Ash stomped out with his left foot, kicking out at his foe’s kneecap.
A sickening squish heralded the fact that the kneecap was now folded the wrong way.
Falling over to one side, the man was struggling to take in a breath. More than likely to scream.
Deciding to finish this off decisively, Ash snapped his elbow around and cracked it into the man’s jaw.
The man’s head was knocked to one side, and he went down in an unmoving heap.
Standing up, Ash clapped his hands together and brushed them off on his hips.
“Anyone else? If not, pick up this piece of human shit and fuck off,” Ash said, looking to the shocked crowd.
“You! How dare—” a woman started to say, stepping forward.
Moving toward the woman, Ash started to ready himself to attack her.
Freezing in place like a deer in headlights, the woman stared at Ash.
“Take. Him. Away. Or I’ll put you all down, one by one,” Ash said through clenched teeth.
Cowed and insulted, the group picked up the young man and hurried off.
Letting out a short breath, Ash turned around and headed back to Yan’s house.
Standing in her doorway, Yan was staring at him as if she’d only seen him now for the first time.
“Ash?” she asked, her voice light.
“Yeah?”
“You… you really are Ash, right?”
“Yeah, I am,” he said. Then he stopped, evaluating the look she was giving him.
The way she was peering at him made it seem as if she’d woken up next to a snake.
Maybe she needs a little time.
“I’ll leave you be for now, Yan. Let you relax and think on how you want to take this.”
Ash looked back the way he came, then towards the last three homes in the row.
House number one looked as if it were completely forgotten. To the point that even the road that led up to the path was practically overgrown.
It was out of the way and practically a non-existence.
Ignored.
He liked the idea of it. The idea that he only had one neighbor, and that people would leave him alone. He saw no reason to try and work his way up in the numbers for the sake of a simple housing ranking system.
“I think I’m going to go claim house number one right now. After that, I need to go meet some friends. Come visit me later when you’re ready to talk. I’ll try to have a cultivation ability and some skills ready for you by then.”
Ash waved a hand at Yan and made his way over to the home at the end.
Getting close, Ash looked to the wall that was on the far side of house number one. It was a large thing. At least twenty feet tall and most likely quite thick as well.
Looking at it, he couldn’t quite identify the feeling, but the wall felt out of place.
Dismissing it for now, Ash turned down the tiny path that led up to the front door.
Knocking on the door firmly but calmly, Ash waited in silence.
“Yes?” came a voice from inside.
“Good day to you,” Ash said. “I’ve come to challenge you for your home. I’m from house forty-two. You can either fight me for your home, or simply exchange me.
“In either case, I do believe you’ll technically benefit from the exchange.”
The door opened and a nondescript young man stood there in a threadbare robe.
“You want this house? You’re from house forty-two?” he asked.
“Indeed, here’s the marker. I moved in today and haven’t even gone inside. Would you exchange with me? Or shall I challenge you?” Ash said, holding out the mentioned marker.
The young man looked from Ash to the marker.
“I’ll take it,” he said. He took the marker from Ash, dropped his own in its place, and took off in a fast walk.
Nodding at his success, Ash smiled and walked into his new home.
Let’s find out what we’re missing, go see Yue, and come back.
***
“We’re the top rank already?” Moira asked, looked at the numbered home. “For being the top rank, the home seems quite poor.”
“Opposite of that. Rank one is the least. But it also only has one neighbor, and people will leave me alone.
“It also means I don’t have to fight people for their homes,” Ash said with a chuckle.
“That would definitely fit your personality,” Moira said, nodding as she opened the door and peered inside. “I can also see why you said you wanted to buy all new furniture.”
“Yeah, it’s safe to say the furniture is battered. And that’s still a compliment,” Ash said, stepping past the winged woman into the home.
With a casual walk-through of the house, he replaced all the furniture with the newer items he’d purchased.
In the end, the home had turned out to have a two-bedroom layout. It’d work for now, but Ash was already planning on digging out and creating a basement. He was no handy man, but he figured he could dig and brace the walls accordingly.
That and wood planks aren’t expensive. Board the walls, paint it up, throw in some rugs, and it’ll be a finished basement.
Well, as finished as I can make it, at least.
Sighing as he replaced the front door with a new one, which had a working lock and was solid wood through and through, Ash was done.
Moving into the second bedroom he found Moira and the Rabbit woman sitting on their beds. They were talking in low tones.
Apparently, the Kin was named Tala-Tala. Though she had asked to be addressed as Tala.
Leaning up against the door frame, Ash made enough noise to herald his arrival. He didn’t want them to think he was sneaking up on them.
Both women looked up at him.
“And what do you want, slaver?” Tala asked, her brows coming down low over her eyes.
Moira’s eyes snapped to Tala and her mouth turned into a small frown.
“Just checking on you. I imagine I’ll probably settle in for some cultivation in a moment and will end up somewhat occupied. Figured I’d see if you needed anything,” Ash said.
“I need you to free me,” Tala said, her hands clenching at her sides.
“Would if I could. It doesn’t seem I can remove the seal, though. Already tried.
“And even if I could, it’s not like you could cross the veil. It’s shut and unlikely to open any time soon.
“So… I take it there’s nothing you need?”
“
If possible, could you give her back her blade? I’d like to work on sparring with her in the backyard,” Moira said.
“Oh, of course.”
Ash opened up his storage and immediately transferred the big two-handed blade out of the space.
“Anything else?”
“Ah, no. Thank you, Ash,” Moira said, giving him a smile. “Did you decide what you wanted to do for dinner?”
“Not as of yet. It’s a pity you’ll be unable to hunt here. I was getting used to having you take care of it.”
Moira’s smile grew larger. “I’ll see what I can do, but as you said, hunting does not seem possible.”
Leaving the two women to themselves, Ash went to his own room.
“Locke, I want to enter the Hall. Did you finish up with the sight ability?
“And the abilities for Yan?”
“Yes. Both tasks are completed.”
Closing the door to his room, Ash sat on his bed and folded his legs up underneath himself.
Sinking down into a meditative state, he began to cultivate.
Letting his Qi pool above his head, he watched as Essence began to slowly flow towards it from all around him.
Feeling confident that he’d set himself up to cultivate while he was spiritually inside his ring, Ash entered the Hall.
Everything looked the same, except it wasn’t.
The grass was short.
Mowed, one might say.
The grounds were clean, the stones intact and correctly positioned. Everything about the exterior of the Hall was as one would expect it to be.
If it were new.
Walking over to the door that had been barely attached the first time, Ash found it had changed too. It was a solid door now, with a bronze handle, bronze hinges, and freshly stained.
“It’s all cleaned up,” Ash said aloud.
“I constantly pull in all the Essence you have no need of or can’t use. It’s one of the reasons you’re always gaining Essence as well. Even when you’re not cultivating,” Locke said.
“That makes sense.”
Ash walked into the Hall’s main building and continued into the library.
This room looked the same, though it seemed the number of shelves had increased significantly.
“Come down to the evaluation room. We’ll talk about the vision ability first,” Locke said.
Following the suggestion, Ash entered and looked to the projection wall, where the vision ability was listed in simple terms.
“The ability as it existed had many limitations. It mostly concerned itself with seeing through the strength of others,” Locke said.
The words on the wall blurred out and were replaced before Ash could read them all.
“I’ve rewritten the skill and blended it with some other skills we had in the Hall. I’ve also scaled it to increase in power with you.
“It won’t take more than what you can give right now, though,” Locke continued. “I think you’ll find my changes… interesting.”
“Oh? How come?” Ash said, wondering if the wall would be replaced with new data.
“You’ll see. Now, would you like to discuss your other request?”
“Ah… yeah. Let’s talk about that.”
“Nothing we have is suitable for Yan, due to her current cultivation and her Dantian.”
“I… what?”
“The cultivation skill she’s using has corrupted her Qi Sea. It’s why she’s so weak and unable to advance herself.”
Ash clicked his tongue. “Fine, I want a way to—”
“Fix it? I assumed you would. I’ve already prepped up an entire set of abilities for her.
“She’ll have to self-rupture her Dantian, though, and let her Qi Sea drain completely.
“It’ll take her a month or two to get back to where she was, but her growth will be significantly better after that,” Locke said.
“What a cluster fuck,” Ash muttered.
“On an unrelated note, I’ve taken the liberty of preparing an entire workup for Tala and Ying Yue as well. Her elemental Qi is Wood, while Tala’s is Fire,” Locke said.
“Huh? They’re not cultivators, though. Tala’s not even from this veil. How could she possibly use our abilities?”
“It would appear that she has some kind of internal power. Though it routes through her Dantian, it does not remain there. She could not store anything.
“You’ll need to apply a similar carving to her back as you did for Moira, but I do believe she’ll be able to function somewhere similar to yourself and Moira.
“Not a mage, not a cultivator, but something akin to it. Given her disposition, I also made sure to select all close-combat and strengthening abilities,” Locke said. “For Ying Yue, it is simply that her Dantian isn’t large enough to open on its own. It’s a hair shy. A fraction of a fraction. We can force it open.”
Ash ran a hand through his hair as he considered the situation.
“Alright. I’ll leave it up to them. Help me draw up the transference papers later and we’ll give it to Yue then.
“Same for the script for Tala’s back.”
“If you don’t have any other requests, I recommend returning to your cultivation. You should be able to reach the sixth rank relatively quickly.
“And be sure to test out your new vision ability.
“I called it Sneaky Peeky.”
Ash snorted at that and left the Hall.
Popping back into his body, he took in a slow, deep breath.
He could feel someone else in the room with him.
Opening his eyes, he found Jia sitting in his desk chair.
Watching him.
“The longer you cultivate, the more the Essence flows to you. It is interesting to watch. I need only be in your presence while you cultivate and I can gain benefits from it,” she said.
Blinking twice, Ash let his cultivation drop and gave Jia his full attention.
“Imagine my surprise when I showed up at your home only to find someone else there. I did not expect you to move so quickly,” she said.
Really looking at her, Ash was confused for a moment.
She was wearing a blue dress. One that fit and formed to her body, and definitely showed off her attributes as a woman.
Moving from her dress to her face, he found she’d let her hair down in a more feminine look as well, and she was once again wearing eye makeup.
“Ah?” Ash mumbled.
“Noticed, have you?” Jia asked, looking down at herself. “I realized there was no point in hiding anymore, now that I have been accepted here.
“I will not reveal who I am, but I do not need to hide as a man any longer.”
Suppose that makes sense. I wonder if I can use that ability on her?
Ash mentally tried to access Sneaky Peeky.
Two colored bars appeared above Jia’s head. One red, one yellow. Inside each bar was a series of numbers.
Below those bars were a series of small boxes with icons.
Focusing on the colored bars, Ash realized they were a health bar and a Qi bar.
Looking to the boxes, he focused on the first one.
It was colored blue, and the moment his attention caught it, it expanded until it had a small window that could be read.
You would probably win this fight… it’s not certain, though.
Moving his eyes from that box to the next one, he watched as the first one rolled back up onto itself.
Then the second one unrolled.
Slightly panicked. Elevated heart rate, breathing rate increased. Partially suppressed through concentration and abilities.
“…like the furniture though,” Jia said, her eyes moving back to his. Then she gave him a smile.
“Yeah. Uhm, yeah. Needed to do something about it, so I bought all this. The previous owner didn’t have much, it seemed.”
Shit, Locke turned my life into a HUD.
I think I’ll need to ask him how he did that, because… there are
way too many books I’ve read where they’re just stuck in a video game.
Eighteen
Ash looked at the modest meal that had been loaded up on his tray.
It was the only one the Jade Fist provided for its cultivators. The Outer Sect disciples here weren’t a high enough rank to minimize their bodily needs.
Those elevated figures only needed to eat perhaps once a week. By mutual agreement of those same figures, the meal that was to be provided was breakfast.
If you can call it that.
Sighing, Ash resigned himself to what he assumed was flavorless oatmeal and bread.
“I mean, if you can’t eat good food, what’s the point? Why bother eating at all?” Ash mumbled, moving over to an empty table.
Looking at those around him, Ash was momentarily distracted by the number of health and energy bars crowded around the room.
Turning off the sight ability, he felt immediately better.
He’d also had a long chat the night before with Locke, who had assured him in every way possible that this wasn’t a video game.
That Locke himself was providing that information via scans and the ability in real time.
“Somewhat paltry, is it not?”
Looking to his side, he watched as Jia sank into the seat next to him.
She was Jia the woman again. Jia the young man was long gone.
Smirking at her, he clicked his tongue. “Isn’t it, though? I almost wonder if it might be worth skipping it in the future and having breakfast by ourselves.”
“Is that an invitation?”
“I don’t see why not. I’ll ask the others if they’d like to join us. Maybe we could have it at Yue’s house. She’s got the biggest one amongst us.”
Jia raised an eyebrow at that. “She does? I have not seen it yet.”
“Come with me after breakfast, I planned on visiting her and making sure she’s squared away.
“I only saw her for a moment yesterday after you left.”
“You went to see her?”
“Yeah. I needed to make some last-minute purchases. That and I gave her some of my money as an investment.
“I figure she’s more likely to spin it into profit than it will do anything sitting in my ring.”
Jia wrinkled her nose as she leaned over her oatmeal. After taking her spoon in hand, she lowered it into the dull-looking meal. Looking nonplussed, she scooped out a mouthful and ate it.
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