Alex forced himself to smile. “I’m trying, Mom. No matter how bad the struggle. No matter how much it hurts to breathe.”
“I know you are, love.” He could sense the tears underneath her smile. “Your father would be so proud of you, if he could have seen how his little boy had grown into a man.”
Alex swallowed back bittersweet tears. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
His mother’s hand squeezed his own, elegant perfume displacing the septic hospital smell all around them. “What on earth do you have to be sorry for, Alexander?”
“For what I put you and Dad through when I was fifteen. Before... the accident. For dying on you and leaving you alone. For never telling you how much I loved you. For not being able to hug you as much as I want to, because you’re just a dream, or maybe it’s me. But if this were real, if you could truly hear my words, please know how much I loved you. Every time you comforted me when I was a puking wreck, wiped my brow when I was sick, or teased me through a bad breakup, you were always, always there for me. And I will always be grateful to you.”
And much to his surprise, he felt warm arms wrap tightly around him. “And I will always love you, even dreaming of my frozen son living out his dreams in the adventure games he always loved to play. And I can only hope that somehow, in some way, your soul will be reborn into a family who loves you as much as I always will.”
And in a single pristine moment that left him breathless with awe, Alex was sobbing with relief and joy in his mother’s arms.
Before his eyes opened wide with a jolt.
“Mom!”
Beholding a battlefield of mangled flesh and shattered stone and utter silence, the beeps of ancient machines and the fearsome howls of shadow jackals both relegated to memory once more.
Alex chocked back a sob, blinking free the hot sting of tears and bittersweet memory, forcing himself to do what he needed to do, if he was to have any hope of surviving what was to come.
19
Congratulations! You have claimed two Lesser Beast Cores and one Pristine Greater Beast Core!
Alex flashed a smile of pleased satisfaction as he finally tore out the magnificent shimmering jewel lodged in the skull of his greatest foe, needing to make use of Adderstrike and Dark Qi gloves in tandem to finally shatter the nearly indestructible bone. It shimmered and sparkled like the most wondrous of prizes, no matter that he was now in a massive cavern lit only by oddly shimmering patches of algae growing on the walls of numerous broken buildings like a strange sort of ivory, and scattered patches of moss glowing upon the impossibly distant cavern ceiling overhead like distant twinkling stars he could only just make out.
The light given off was impossibly dim, but his eyes had quickly adapted. Even during the mad fight, his vision had grown ever more acute, Eternal Fox no doubt boosting him in yet another subtle way as he struggled just to survive. That, along with his incredibly powerful Qi Perception, had been sufficient for him to orient and fight as if he had benefited from the full light of day.
Alex took a deep breath, allowing himself to feel, for just a moment, a tiny bit of hope for his future.
No matter that he was still naked and nearly without resources, save for a handful of beast cores and a long, narrow, spear-like sliver of stone that was now nearly indestructible, his dying nemesis had let certain truths slip. His terrible foes had been the alpha pack within this part of the shadowy realm he now found himself within, having killed everything else that had dared intrude, most especially mortal and cultivating adventurers.
So Alex had at least a little bit of time, or so he prayed, to find or construct himself some sort of base he could use for rest and shelter before fresh predators moved into this area. A base would also be incredibly beneficial for when he decided to explore this underground world in earnest, enticed by the prospect of some magnificent treasure he did not doubt that the spirit jackals had, in fact, been guarding, though Alex had known his foe would never tell him exactly what it was, only trying to goad him into getting foolishly close.
Yet the final secret his foe had let slip had been the grandest of all. To find himself in an ancient city so cloaked in Dark Qi that it seemed no power above could spy its secrets. And perhaps, Alex could only hope, that included all the vile powers calling themselves gods that had taken such fierce delight in shattering Alex’s life and sabotaging him at every turn.
Alex knew it was a crazy hope. But perhaps, if there was something of value down here... He looked at the corpses before him, knowing rot and decay would occur all too soon back on Earth, but here, in this place, so many kills saturated with Qi, one of them a greater spirit beast no less... He sighed, wishing he still had his ring.
But he didn’t. So he could only hope that by dressing his kill with the help of the serrated edge of his stone spear and draping the meat to dry on various stone slabs, or at least, be surrounded by Air Qi and not Earth, it would help to preserve it. And how bitterly he regretted the lack of fire or any burnable material, and having failed to learn any Fire Qi technique at all for generating the tiniest bit of flame.
But really, when did he ever have a chance? He had been pushed to transcend at a mad pace, and before he could study a single Qi skill, he had been literally pushed out of the nest, forced to fly or die before he could even borrow a single cultivation tome, coming to the rescue of his friends with a sacred prize safely stored that the gods themselves had effectively demanded he surrender immediately or, like the greatest of tyrants, they would butcher everyone he had ever loved if their resources or themselves were deemed to be deliberately aiding Alex’s mad quest in any way.
And then he had somehow ended up in the temple above, outfoxing a treacherous bastard he had come so close to trusting, as if some part of him had been desperate to believe in at least one warm, patronly figure, before nearly dying for his folly. His father’s desperate shout had been all that had allowed him to pull himself free of the River of Souls, just before surrendering to their black depths forevermore.
And even that miraculous recovery, and the final middle finger gambit that had Alex steal his foes’ greatest prize under their noses when his arm flopped past a certain cursed door after teasing meanings in arrogantly given declarations by enemies who assumed Alex’s final destination was preordained, had meant nothing.
For the gods had simply cheated, enticing their living pawns with the sweetest of promises, if only they would imperil their own souls and steal Alex’s divine artifact, a prize which had been declared inviolate for countless incarnations, according to WiFu, unless Alex was foolish enough to surrender it himself. And unlike his divine tomes, he never had. Thus, Alex had been denied all the secrets of not one, not two, but three libraries; the gods themselves breaking their own rules and twisting the souls of mortal men, desperate to assure the threat they despised would be denied any chance to grow at all, while doing their utmost to kill him.
Alex shook his head, refusing to give in to bitter frustration, though he couldn’t help gazing at his stone spear with a certain amount of bemused disbelief. Bizarre as it sounded, he had filled the requirements needed to forge a fresh indestructible weapon, using it as the catalyst to slay a greater spirit beast while himself in a pristine unsoiled body, whether he liked it or not. At least until he hit Silver, anyway.
Even so, the razor-sharp staff would have been awkwardly balanced if Alex couldn’t whip it about as effortlessly as most mortals could a thin bamboo rod, thanks to his Rank 1 Bronze strength. And so long as he paid the least amount of care in how he handled it, his 4 points of Cutting Resistance assured he took no injury, though he used it only with Dark Qi gauntlets, just to be safe.
And what a wonder it was to be able to pull together fabric of darkest Qi summoned from the saturated ether all around him into indestructible gloves as hard as steel. His gaze grew thoughtful, Alex contemplating all the mad, exciting possibilities. If only he could tease his pristine gauntlets to flow down his wrist and forearms like proper
vambraces...
Skill check failed!
Only for them to bubble away to nothing after stretching just past his wrist.
But he was getting better at it. He was almost certain of that, at least, if nothing else. And his grumbling belly made it clear it was time to face that which he had put off too long.
Luscious as it tasted cooked, Alex had no real desire to eat spirit beast meat raw. But knew he had no choice but to feast upon the flesh of his enemies, even if the comforts of fire were forever denied him.
Steeling himself against vile tastes and the sudden fear of deathly virulent plagues, he gazed at his foe’s dripping heart, forcing his quivering tongue to taste a single drop of his foe’s coagulating blood.
His eyes widened with something close to awe.
It was the most scrumptious meat he had ever tasted!
With all the unctuous flavor of Wagyu beef and crispy bacon, a heavenly melody of succulent meat and tasty fat, he found himself ravenously tearing into his fallen foe, devouring great hunks of soft succulent liver and heart, giving guttural throaty growls of pleasure like a true carnivore as he tore into his kill.
Three macro-colonies of pathogenic parasites have been effortlessly destroyed! You have successfully consumed ten pounds of Greater Spirit Beast meat! Eternal Fox regeneration allows you to metabolize, sequester, and store resources faster and more efficiently than any predator under the sun!
Yet he did not stop.
His hunger only grew.
Muscles itching like they sometimes used to as a young teen, he felt as ravenous as he once had during summer football practice, eating his fill before feeling famished, just a couple hours later.
Until, at last, he stepped back, blinking bleary eyes in a strange daze, having consumed massive quantities of all his foe’s organs before crashing into an exhausted stupor, wearing his now dressed kill almost like a blanket as he swam in the depths of exhaustion.
He could only hope he wasn’t playing the complete fool. Surrounded by hundreds of pounds of meat with good air flow and a sheltering rib cage that would prevent even a fragile mortal from being crushed or asphyxiated, any scavengers or predators would be confronted by a near literal ton of choice spirit meat before they’d even encounter the hunter safely buried in his kill. Giving him plenty of time to wake up and blink away before stuffed predators could, or would even want to, bother with him.
Willpower check failed!
You surrender to exhaustion!
You have slept a full 24 hours processing the incredible boon transforming your body!
You have devoured the heart of a Pristine Greater Spirit beast! Strength has increased by 1 Rank!
You have devoured the liver of a Pristine Greater Spirit beast! Vitality has increased by 1 Rank!
You have devoured the brain of a Pristine Greater Spirit beast! Scholarship has increased by 1 point!
You have devoured the eyes of a Pristine Greater Spirit beast aligned with Shadow! Perception has increased by 2 points!
Hidden Affinity awakened! You now have Lesser Shadow Affinity! You cannot Shadowcloak, but you can now sense Shadow Qi! You have +5 to spot all those using Shadow to ambush or confuse you! What else can you do with this insight?
Alex awoke with a jolt, awed by the messages flashing across his mind’s eye even as he instinctively felt out with his Qi Perception, more than surprised to find that his drying meat racks and the massive kill he had slept within were completely undisturbed. There wasn’t a single predator in range that he could sense or smell, and how awed and amazed he was to find his senses sharper and his memory of recent events clearer than ever before.
He then took just a moment to savor all the ways he had grown, pulling up his abbreviated character sheet and focusing only on his improvements, deliberately not looking at the extended display of all the worldly possessions he had lost.
_______________________________________________________
Alex Hammer
Class – Cultivator: Disciple of the Dual Path (Unlimited potential. This is a Divine path.)
Rank 1 Pristine Bronze Cultivation Achieved
Physical Characteristics
Strength - Bronze Rank 2 (25) (Relentless Resolve is now recognized as a core element of your path.)
Vitality - Bronze Rank 2 (26) (Eternal Resilience is now recognized as a core element of your path.)
Quickness - Bronze Rank 1 (20) (Chaotic Unpredictability is now recognized as a core element of your path.)
Finesse - Bronze Rank 1 (20) (Mastery of Oneself is now recognized as a core element of your path.)
Spiritual Characteristics
Scholarship - 12 (Exceeds 75% of Population.)
Perception - 17 (Exceeds 99% of Population.)
Willpower - 16 (Exceeds 98% of Population.)
Qi Pool - 16 (All meridian gateways are open.)
Health Points: 365
Qi Powers and Skill Improvements
Lesser Shadow Affinity achieved. You cannot Shadowcloak, but you can now sense Shadow Qi! You have +5 to spot all those using Shadow to ambush or confuse you.
Bullrush – Rank 4 (6) (Instantly move 5-50 feet in any direction / Lightness / Maneuverability)
Storm Flight – Rank 3 (You may now travel along ley lines as fast as a phoenix, whether or not foul weather manifests. Multiple experiences riding along magical conveyances channeling the energies of Heaven, Hades, Earth, and Shadow have allowed you to transcend mortal limits! So long as you have within your possession artifacts of all Four Realms, peripheral channel strain is minimized! Lacking these artifacts, Silver must be achieved to avoid meridian strain.)
Qi Absorption – Rank 3 (Fire & Poison aspect specialization results in additional 5-point reduction in all attacks aligned to those elements.)
Dark Qi Projection – Rank 2 (You may now forge gauntlets or shoes of pristine indestructible Dark Qi that will last for as long as you can concentrate on them, in any place saturated with Dark Qi.)
Eternal Fox – Rank 9 (Though your rank has not increased, your dedication and constant use in the most perilous of circumstances means you can now Power Heal injuries in the middle of combat, so long as you have a split second to leap or maneuver around your foes! You can now move and heal at will.)
Biochemical Mastery – Rank 6 (You are now able to near effortlessly synthesize any compound naturally found in even trace quantities within the body, as well as synthesize or cure any poison or alchemical formulae mastered, save those reliant upon silverbell or shadow blossoms. You may now store modest amounts of said concoctions in your body indefinitely, and no longer feel weak or dizzy synthesizing limited quantities of reagents using your own personal physical reserves.)
___________________________________________________________
Alex flashed a smile of fierce pride. No matter that he was buck naked, save for gauntlets of Qi and the five-foot jagged splinter of stone he held, he had managed to face and survive all obstacles placed squarely before him and flourish where he suspected most others would have been ground to dust. Nonetheless, he knew he dare not take his ease. Not when there was so much to be done if he was to have any hope of long-term survival, let alone escape. Assuming he wanted to escape at all. He could just imagine the spiteful gazes of all the gods glaring down at him from the heavens, so many eager for his death.
Which made it all the more important he take stock and try his utmost to furnish basic gear at the very least, before finding or forging some kind of base or shelter. Because his nemesis had revealed that there were secrets to be discovered, glorious and grand, within this vast underground complex. And however lucky Alex had been so far, he knew rapacious predators, or foes of an even darker sort, would eventually come.
Because it was only a matter of time before a certain treacherous Silver with infernal ties would realize that his target had somehow made off with his academy’s entire library and would be no doubt eager to retrieve a certain corpse, or slaughter any enemy so
resourceful as to survive both the Gold-warded door and the toss into the hellish pit that had followed. Of course, Xiao Shen had no idea that Alex’s sacrosanct ring had already been stolen, a certain desperate monk now nothing more than a memory in the gullet of a fearsome spirit beast now transporting Alex’s divine ring far beyond his reach, as laughing gods gloating at Alex’s plight from the heavens had no doubt intended all along.
Nonetheless, Alex had no doubt that his enemies would eventually return, eager to retrieve what they could, or gift the thorn in their side who had claimed their prize with the most hideous of deaths.
It was only a matter of time.
Yet before bitterness or fear could claim his heart, Alex locked all such thoughts away, reveling in the sheer joy of fierce independence as Liu Jian’s careful lessons and a hundred Self-Tube survival videos all percolated through his mind as he attempted the most basic of survival tasks, skinning his kill and gathering what resources he could.
At first, he found it extremely difficult, though spending hours trying to hold razor-sharp rock fragments with gloves of Dark Qi was great practice for his newest skill. Fortunately, his initial despair that his future garments would stink to high heaven quickly transformed to triumph when he found that generating tanning solutions perfectly mimicking Liu Jian’s own careful hide treating tinctures was now as simple as spitting it out, thanks to Rank 6 Biochemical Mastery. All he needed to do was recall their sharp pungent smells, and the odd tingle on the tip of his tongue let him know he could generate it at will, with the same confidence that he felt about riding a bike or singing a simple song.
And if there was one advantage to his definitely inhuman strength at Rank 2 Bronze which, compared to the human statistical bell curve where well over 99% of the population had numeric stats between 3 and 18, put him at an absurdly glorious 25, was just how easy it was, relative to any mortal, for him to pound, chip, and dig himself a large pit in the stone floor of the massive ruin-filled cavern. Not that it was effortless. He worked rapidly and intensely enough that his muscles got a good burn, but what he accomplished with an indestructible stone rod would normally be impossible without a full work crew equipped with jackhammers and perhaps a pile driver.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior's Oath: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 4 Page 31