Alex took a deep, shuddering breath, savoring the tingle of glorious oxygen in his blood, pouring all his focus on the predators before him.
As it was, the trio of ebony hunting cats didn’t dare do more than hiss or dip the corners of their paws into the gelatinous liquid, flashing their massive fangs as they snarled their discontent.
Alex flashed a cold grin, tapping into his Qi Perception to the fullest, sensing another trio of hunting cats just a short distance off, with plenty of broken pillars and crumbling walls between him and them.
“So, you boys fancy a bit of dinner, do you? Well so do I!”
Then Alex’s eyes widened as one cat snuffled the pouch Alex suddenly realized he was without, terrified to be powerless without a single beast core in his possession, including the greater one the massive puma was about to swallow…
Bullrush! Adderstrike! You have stunned your opponent!
…before being sent flying with a crashing howl when Alex’s Qi-covered fist slammed into its jaw. And by some miracle it survived, minus a single massive fang, the beast now gazing back at Alex in disbelief before giving a single terrified howl as all three cats raced away in a heartbeat, totally out of sight, as were all the others when Alex darted a quick look around after snatching up his bag.
He flashed a grateful smile, finding his jewel pouch intact, grateful it hadn’t been eaten up by digestive fluids that seemed capable of dissolving everything except stone, beast cores, and Eternal Fox masters. As far as the cats went, he was secretly happy not to have to kill the sabre-toothed pumas, thinking them rather majestic beasts.
As long as they weren’t hunting him.
20
He knew he should head back to his cozy little nook in the cavern wall. He needed to rest, refuel, and reflect. He had pushed his body to its absolute limits, surviving off Dark Qi in ways he doubted any soul ever had before. But the dizziness and trembling had passed in seconds, and the terror of drowning in the gullet of a massive gelatinous slug had faded to distant memory before the captivating sight of the one intact building in these ruins.
A perfectly-preserved, squared-off obsidian pyramid surrounded by a sea of ancient ruins, radiating a pulsing aura of Qi.
He spent long minutes circling the four sides, looking for some sort of entrance, and was about to turn away in frustration, wondering if it was just a squat stone obelisk after all, when he caught sight of a trio of indentations in the rock.
Qi Perception check made!
More interesting still, each of them was shimmering with exotic twining cords of Qi.
He suddenly felt compelled to approach, like a fly to honey, certain it was a puzzle of sorts, and equally certain that if he could deduce its secrets, the path forward would be revealed.
Artificer skill check made!
He stopped cold, sensing as much as seeing the dust covered stone tiles radiating a foreboding mixture of Fire, Earth, and Metal Qi.
He took a deep breath and swallowed.
He had already died once, or damned close to it, underestimating an arcane trap. He’d be an idiot to risk the same fate again.
When he looked at the indentations themselves, he noted the complex twining of Water, Wood, and Earth Elements before him.
He thought it might be a test of sorts, and was suddenly very leery of triggering it with anything but the expected answer to the puzzle.
He frowned, took a deep breath, and with the occasional pause to make sure no predator came too close, did his best to puzzle out the key to the mystic lock before him.
Find Weakness skill check failed!
Shaking his head in frustration, his weary mind grew dizzy trying to decipher the complex weave of elemental energies forming what he suspected was a deadly fabric of powerful wardings surrounding the obsidian pyramid.
He frowned, shaking his head again.
But just to be sure, he quickly turned around and gathered the shadow puma’s broken fang, tossing it past the stone wards to knock into the temple itself.
Eyes widening as it crackled and exploded in a ball of lightning and fire.
A sight he found as vindicating as it was terrifying.
Because the original inhabitants, whoever they were, had successfully incorporated Lightning Qi into their enchantment, alongside Fire Qi.
More than ever, he wanted to enter that temple.
But he wouldn’t play the exhausted fool.
With a final hungry look, Alex turned around and quickly made his way back to the edge of the city where the massive chamber walls met the granite floor, finding the trip back far quicker, returning along his now familiar route. Still, he kept a careful eye out for stalking predators, happy to stalk them in turn, and though he hadn’t quite leveled up Stealth or Soul Sight by the time he returned to his elevated alcove, along with the shattered remains of a shadow puma that wouldn’t take no for an answer, he thought he was getting close.
You have consumed the heart and liver of a Shadow Puma! No stat boost given. You feel refreshed and invigorated!
After skinning and preserving his meat in the larger alcove he had carved into the stone wall beside his original, with a couple hand and foot holds in the rock to make shifting from one to the other as effortless as walking across the hall in his previous life, he felt satisfied with the results, and was grateful once more for the almost magical preservation solutions his former mentor had taught him that would allow him to don a perfectly-treated sabre-tooth puma skin poncho by the time he was done resting.
He couldn’t help smiling, imagining himself the hero of a high fantasy tale, knowing that if he was being true to form, he’d be cultivating all night long with zero need for sleep. But all sentient beings, even cultivators it seemed, still needed to dream. And after his Eternal Fox cultivation had hit Adept status, he had always found himself incredibly refreshed and exhilarated after a good night’s sleep, as if his body was doing its own cultivation without him. Which suited him just fine.
And now it was time to skill up his newest ability in the only way he knew how.
The crucible of combat.
Shadow Puma has torn open your shin! You have saved versus crippling injury! Power Healing in effect!
You have struck Shadow Puma with spinning back fist! Dark Qi gauntlet cracks opponent’s skull. Your foe is stunned!
Alex leaped back, accessing the lesser beast cores he now kept pressed tight to his neck with a choker of interwoven rawhide strands he had fashioned for himself, assuring the beast cores were both secure and always in contact with his skin, flashing a cold smile at the pair of growling cats readying themselves to pounce.
Find Weakness skill check made!
Qi Perception check made!
But their momentary hesitation was all he needed for his ugly gash to fade to an angry red welt by the time the closest puma launched for his throat, before being slammed in the skull as Alex weaved to the side, turning his momentum into a powerful roundhouse kick that smashed into the beast’s flank, eliciting a yelp as if struck by a steel hammer.
Alex felt a fierce surge of exhilaration when, just for an instant, his Dark Qi had formed itself into a perfect greave, though Alex didn’t hesitate to leap straight up after unleashing his kick, sensing the third stalking cat choosing that moment to leap for Alex’s back, yowling in frustration when it hit only air, Alex laughing from the crumbling wall he now perched upon.
Even if only for a moment, he had succeeded in compelling his Qi to cover his entire lower leg, doing his best to commit that strange feeling as it all clicked together in his mind before leaping into the fray of cats below and lashing out with what were now armored fists and feet, trying to take down his foes with this one ability alone.
And by the time the third howling puma collapsed when Alex’s axe heel kick broke its spine, he had gotten the message he had been striving for.
Three Shadow Pumas defeated! Three lesser beast cores claimed. Experience earned!
Congratulation
s! Dark Qi Projection is now Rank 3. With concentration, or instantaneously with a skill check, you can now extend your Qi to cover either your shins or your forearms!
Alex frowned as he headed back to the mysterious warded temple for the second time that day after bringing his kills back to his elevated camp, earlier euphoria fading as he realized he still didn’t have what he needed. Rank 3 hadn’t been the complete breakthrough he had been hoping for, he thought, glaring at the shimmering dome of Qi he could now sense effortlessly, radiating such deadly energy before him.
Taking a deep breath and being mindful of the bare beast cores against the flesh of his neck if he needed instant power healing, he slowly, steadily, placed a hand and forearm now entirely covered in Dark Qi through the shimmering barrier protecting the obsidian pyramid that only his Qi Perception even allowed him to see.
Knowing a single miscalculation could so easily cost him his life.
Breathing a sigh of relief when his arm went through without a hitch.
The Dark Qi worked exactly as he hoped it would, exactly as it had against a certain dark artifact, warding against the deadly storm of Qi entirely.
It had only been the hastily-made sheen of Dark Qi and sweat cobbled together underneath a thin cotton glove for the very first time in the real world that had failed him, and flawed as it had been, at least the Gold-ranked runes and talismans hadn’t torn him to pieces.
At least not completely, his body intact enough to jolt back with a single shocked breath upon being unceremoniously tossed into an ancient water-filled chamber, hundreds of feet below ground.
Whatever the case, his obsidian gauntlet and vambrace were protecting him perfectly now, and for the life of him, he couldn’t extend it any further than his elbow.
Frowning, he stepped back, trying to figure out what his next step should be.
Restless eyes glanced upon the ruins all around, seeing nothing his Qi Perception hadn’t already pinged, the lone pair of hunting cats still in this area giving him a pair of growls before quickly loping off, and Alex couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Far smarter than actual ancient sabre-tooths, these creatures could learn, and fast, it seemed. Despite his attempts to discreetly stalk his prey, increasing his stealth skill while lowering his risk of being outnumbered, after numerous members of their extended pack had perished to his hands, most appeared to have returned to whatever hunting grounds they had come from, this lone pair seemingly left to keep an eye on him.
Almost as if they were acting as scouts.
Alex shook the worrying thought away, gaze returning to the large sigil stone he now stood just feet away from, one of an even dozen surrounding the shimmering temple, frowning once more at the dizzying matrix of elemental strands streaming away from it and connecting to every other sigil stone, forming a dome around the ancient temple.
Artificer skill check failed! This alien masterwork is outside your paradigm and beyond your ability to fully comprehend!
Alex winced, giving a frustrated shake of his head. For all that he received fail notices more often than he liked, never before had his interface made it quite so clear how utterly outmatched he was.
Before his eyes widened and he began to chuckle, wondering if it was really that easy.
Because no matter how brilliant AI or algorithms were, able to account for so many variables and past precedents, something they could never do was think outside the box.
And what Alex was contemplating was very much outside the box.
Because if the roiling feeling in the pit of his otherwise perfectly healthy gut was telling him anything, it was that he was starting to run out of time.
Skill check failed! You have failed to manipulate Dark Qi more than 3 centimeters beyond your skin!
Unfortunately, no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t force his shimmering Dark Qi out more than an inch or two beyond his skin. Even after what must have been a solid pair of hours of practice, stopping only when he was feeling physically dizzy, not so stupid as to leave himself completely weakened with at least one pair of predators tracking his every movement.
He gave an angry shake of his head. Why was his otherwise phenomenal ability so utterly limited?
He sighed in frustration. If nothing else, at least his diligent practice had made covering his hands and forearms in Dark Qi armor an almost effortless exercise.
Then he blinked, gazing at his shimmering arm, and the dirt around the perfectly round sigil covered disk almost exactly the size of a frisbee.
He couldn’t believe it could possibly be that easy, or that it would work.
But what if it did?
Delaying no longer, he retrieved his stone spear, knowing his idea was worthless if the barrier reacted to his weapon.
And much to his surprise and relief, it didn’t, not any more than it did any other rock or pebble he had thrown through.
Even when, with hitched breath and racing heart, he dared chip and carve an indentation all the way around the sigil laden disk of stone, careful never to touch the disk itself, the ward didn’t react. Perhaps because his stone spear was of similar material, for all that it had been rendered all but indestructible, thanks to his using it to kill a greater spirit beast. The only reason why he could chip the extremely hard stone floor without his weapon itself shattering.
The ward stayed inert even when his painfully slow progress had reached a depth of a full two inches, the pair of cats returning once more, content to pin him with their cold yellow eyes while he worked on.
Only to race away the moment he turned to meet their gaze.
It was then that he stopped, the awful sensation that time was slipping through his fingertips now stronger than ever.
And considering who his patron was, he’d be a fool to ignore the roiling in his gut.
He took a deep, shuddering breath, pushing away the impending sense of doom as he slashed his wrist, deliberately halting the regeneration as he allowed his blood to pool within the ring he had carved in the stone.
Save versus cardiac arrest made! You have been stunned! You have suffered 1 Medium Wound!
Only to be thrown off his feet when the wave of current crackled through his sizzling blood, sending him flying back, crashing to the ground.
Quickness check made!
You are back on your feet!
Bullrush! You have leaped straight up in the air! You have successfully dodged disemboweling strike!
Adderstrike! Adderstrike!
Your foes fall to your blows! Experience earned!
He flipped back to his feet and leapt straight up as the pair of hunting cats pounced upon him the moment he seemed vulnerable, only to collapse with dying howls as a furious Alex shattered their skulls with an attack that now came as easy to him as breathing, taking the moments necessary to recover Qi reserves and health both as he frowned at the pair of corpses and retrieved their beast cores, leaving everything but their hearts behind.
Those shadow pumas had turned out to be truly ruthless, bloodthirsty beasts. Intent on stalking him and killing him if he dared let his guard down for even a second. But now they were no more.
Yet even with the pair dead, his sense of foreboding only grew.
He turned back to the disk surrounded by smoking blood, wondering if this was fruitless, if perhaps his best move, his only move, was struggling to find his way to the upper levels as fast as he could, before something far worse than he could imagine came for him from below.
Fists clenched, he took a deep breath, knowing he was a mad fool to try the same stunt again.
Only this time, he did it with a twist.
You are attempting an unorthodox use of Dark Qi Projection! Skill bonus in effect: your manipulation does not exceed the boundaries of your body! You are accessing one lesser beast core. You have successfully saturated your body with Dark Qi! You have successfully saturated your blood with Dark Qi.
You have successfully shorted out Ancient Relic!
Experience
earned!
Arcane Artificer is now Rank 4!
The blazing circle of blood abruptly turned as black as the liquid flowing from his wrist, Alex’s eyes widened with wonder. And when he sensed the complex mesh of Qi abruptly short out, wonder transformed to triumph.
He quickly moved to cross the barrier.
Yet he was no fool.
First, he gathered one of the beast corpses and threw it past the barrier.
Neither fire nor lightning nor any other element desecrated its corpse.
The barrier seemed to be well and truly down.
And that’s when Alex felt it, a weight and aura that left him speechless with sudden dread.
When the deathly dragon’s roar seemed to fill the entire cavern, he couldn’t help shrinking back in terror, his mind flashing back to the day he and his companions had claimed priceless cuttings for their alchemical use before being frightened out of their minds by the killing aura of a spirit beast so deadly it was neither Bronze nor Silver, but a brilliant Gold in all its glory.
And the hideous reptilian roar echoing endlessly through the cavern held the same terrible weight and intensity.
And it was all Alex could do to take one final precaution, knowing his death was just seconds away.
Insight check made!
He gazed down at the ring of Qi-saturated blood that had so perfectly cut off the living dome of elemental protection.
His Qi. His blood.
An extension of himself.
And for all that he thought it madness, he didn’t hesitate to put his finger back in that disk of liquid and command it back inside himself.
And though he expected to feel like a fool, the ring of blood did just that. A projection of not one, but all the elements that he called his own, yielding to his will.
And the elemental dome popped right back into being, good as new.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior's Oath: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 4 Page 33