Quickness check made!
But the beast, however goaded by pain it was, wasn’t stupid.
One furious paw smashed into the ledge, a storm of rocks suddenly raining down on Alex, causing him to lose his perch, an ankle twisting awkwardly as he stumbled upon misty ground soaked with the chilliest water imaginable for all that not a single blade of grass wavered.
Vitality check made! You have avoided straining your leg!
Dark Qi Projection active! You are now covering feet and lower legs in Dark Qi! 2 Qi used per minute maintained!
Alex already knew what was coming next, the wolf pouncing the moment his prey was distracted and off balance, not expecting Alex to instantly recover, racing at a mad speed deeper into the crater, the loping wolf just feet behind.
Bullrush! Bullrush!
Snapping vicious teeth before Alex was gone in the desperate blink of an eye, seeming almost to fly through the air before smacking against the now perfectly steep ledge to the roaring, snapping wolf’s dismay as Alex embraced Bullrush and Lightness to leap another hundred feet in a pair of jumps, now two hundred feet above the wolf… but wait, that was wrong! He was barely a hundred feet as the massive creature furiously scrambled up as best it could.
And Alex could only imagine how quickly he might have been snatched up before he could even blink, had his desperate hope not started to take effect.
And a quickly stolen glance back at the wolf was all he reassurance he needed to continue with his insane plan.
“What’s the matter, having trouble following? Maybe it’s because you’re an idiot!” Alex taunted, assuring the howling wolf was too consumed by fury to think of anything else, for all that it put terrible pressure on Alex, forcing him to race as fast as he could from steep incline to the shallower slopes the school had been built upon, channeling one of his few remaining beast cores to fill up his peripheral channels just a bit faster, knowing he was taking a terrible risk as he led the wolf out of the pit along flatter terrain where his nemesis could easily keep pace before springing for Alex’s back, now just a single deadly leap away.
But Alex had learned to sense his foe’s shifts in balance and attempts to circle or head him off, keeping just ahead of deadly, snapping teeth as he dove into thick underbrush beside the ruined temple once more, grateful the beast was slowing down just a bit, for all that Alex was beginning to pant like a bellows, running at absolute maximum speed such that his thighs were throbbing with agony he hadn’t remembered since track and field day, a lifetime ago.
Until at last an exhausted, panting Alex stopped for breath in the heart of a woodland glade, crouched over, hardly seeming to pay attention to the rustling trees all around, the darkness so utter one would think none but owl or spirit beast could possibly see.
And perhaps the massive wolf thought it as well, shuffling his way into the treeless glade, chuckling coldly down at Alex, flashing its terrible teeth. “And here is where it ends, little man. Your stamina at last giving out, eyes unable to see in the darkness only one of my kind can understand!”
Alex nodded deeply, locking gazes with the giant beast before him.
Soul Sight skill check attempted. Chase familiarity bonuses in effect. Success! You have begun to sense the wild flow of beastly Qi reverberating through your opponent!
“You’re right,” Alex said. “It’s time to stop running.” He flashed a bitter smile. “Time to face the pain and fear I’ve been putting off for far too long.”
The wolf frowned. “I sense you embrace riddles. The only good riddle master is a dead riddle master.” The massive spirit beast flashed a lupine smile. “Our delicious dance is at an end. Sadly, you are a disappointment. I had expected more from he who killed my brother.”
The wolf then shrugged. “But never let it be said I can’t enjoy a good meal.”
Vicious jaws snapped downward with inhuman speed.
Before he tipped completely over, falling on his side.
Eyes wide with confusion peered into Alex’s own. “What did you do?”
Alex flashed an icy grin. “Look at your paws, fool. The answer is before you.”
Hissing, the creature did that, his snarl turning to a horrified howl. “What did you do?” Desperate to right itself, it struggled for endless moments before crashing back down, giving an exhausted whimper as desperate lupine eyes gazed imploringly into Alex’s own.
“I doomed your soul to purgatory,” Alex said without a trace of regret. “And I blinded you.”
And before the beast could blink, Alex struck.
Adderstrike! You have plunged your spear through target’s right eye! Target is prone!
Find Weakness skill check made!
You have pierced your enemy’s brain case!
You have spat Caustic Brew into remaining eye!
Your foe has been critically struck!
Your foe is blind!
Spasm sends you flying!
You have suffered 2 Medium Wounds!
Your foe is dead!
Experience earned!
And just as fast as he struck, Alex was sent flying, the sudden spasms of a dying greater spirit beast so great that not even Alex could prevent serious injury when his arm was broken and jaw smashed by the wildly whipping spear, for all that those spasms hastened the creature’s own death, the spear tearing completely through the brain with the mad jerking, the massive wolf’s shakes growing erratic before a sudden final lurch ended in death.
Desperate to orient himself as the world went spinning end over end, Alex shook away his dreamy daze, focusing all his attention on a particularly entrancing leaf swaying in the wind and instantly blinked, using two of his last five Qi points and finding himself suddenly oriented for all that his jaw, neck, and arms screamed with pain.
Power Healing engaged!
Seconds turned to a full minute before all traces of pain left, and Alex could only wonder how truly hurt he had been, quickly making his way back to the fallen wolf, knowing he didn’t have a lot of time.
He hissed as his worst nightmare quickly accelerated, the steadily encroaching doom rapidly consuming the wolf’s legs.
Alex had the sinking sensation that it would only accelerate from there.
“You shall never escape me, prey. I will claim your divine ring, and from there, your immortal soul as well!” hissed the guardian serpent’s vile voice from beyond the grave.
Alex didn’t waste time bantering, heart lurching in his chest as he frantically cleaved open the beast’s neck, separating the head before tearing open the belly, knowing he was running out of time as he felt the cool mists of death closing in... and there! Just two feet away!
Adderstrike!
Finesse check made!
Prize claimed!
Alex didn’t hesitate, stiffening his spear hand and blasting it right through toughened flesh before wrenching free and tearing open a piece of colon that, besides leaking the foulest waste and the remains of a burst cyst, also revealed the slimy, foul smelling remnant of an ancient copper ring.
Quickness check made!
Laughing with desperate relief, Alex tore free his prize just as shadowy mist devoured the corpse entire with a vindictiveness chilling to behold, the entire headless body dropping into the Netherworld soon after.
But not the head Alex had cleaved off, Alex sparing only the time necessary to make sure that yes, his ring was safe to use, and no, there was no trace of any curse or hex or doom upon it.
And the tears welling in his eyes as sheer happiness swelled through his soul, at being connected once more to his missing piece, were instantly dampened with the memory of An Li’s desperate cries.
Right before Hao Zei had killed her.
Laughter turned to a shuddering sob, Alex suddenly wracked with guilt for the girl who had bet so much on her hero, only to die before his eyes.
He clenched his jaw so tightly even he felt the pain of teeth ready to crack, before turning around and glaring with hot eyes
at the spirit beast head before him.
“I would claim you directly, but I trust nothing in this place.”
He didn’t even bother with the greater beast core.
Fool or no, he refused to be taken in yet again by Calamity’s doom, especially after playing one Calamity against another, having no doubt it would claim its due in turn.
His ring alone he would claim as his just prize, what he was now forced to acknowledge was nothing less than a piece of his very soul in artifact form, determined to hold off on accessing it or any of the prizes held within his other storage containers until he had left this cursed place far behind.
But first, he had a bastard to kill.
His heart hammered with a hate that defied anything but the most savage of reprisals against his most despised foe, flashing the most bloodthirsty of grins when he approached the monastery, only to find, much to his shock and outrage, that the place was utterly abandoned.
For all his dark boasting, Hao Zei was gone.
Only ashes, ruins, and a dozen shriveled corpses remained.
Choking back bitter tears, Alex took the time to bury all of those souls, bodies so shriveled he couldn’t even tell which had been his friends, whispering a few quiet words, hoping WiFu would guide their souls to fresh lives far sweeter than this one had been for any of them.
28
For an interminable time, Alex simply placed one foot in front of the other, grateful his Qi Perception made sight unnecessary, eyes too filled with the hot sting of unshed tears to work as properly as he would like.
It was only when he found himself struggling just to move forward along the path that he finally shook free of his stupor, trudging against an oddly powerful gust of wind now blowing right down the trail as if it had become a massive wind funnel, Alex finding himself in constant danger of tripping over endless vines and sharp jagged rocks, when he wasn’t sinking six inches deep in thankfully normal mud that nonetheless, taken in total, made moving forward all but impossible, even for a budding Bronze cultivator’s strength.
Which was chillingly odd, when he thought of it, still pushing forward, when he felt a sudden awful pressure crushing against his chest as he struggled on his day-long journey back to Erjizhen, as if his whole body had been ground to exhaustion between constant struggles, and now he faced yet another hurdle. It was only when he crashed to his mud-drenched knees that Alex began to realize just how literal his doom really was.
Willpower check made!
But Alex didn’t stop or sigh, or try find another way forward as the howling wind and treacherous roots clawed back every inch forward he made along that hardpacked road, the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach telling him what he already knew.
Whether by pitfall, predator, or other narrowly escaped doom, the detours would be endless, until he ended up right back where he started, at the lip of an ancient crater where the misty waters of the River of Souls waited, along with a vindictive serpent god working at the behest of his enemies, eager to drown Alex’s soul for all time, and deny him any rebirth at all.
“The hell with that!” he hissed.
He refused to back down or wail at the bitter unfairness of it all. Instead, he did all he could to push right through.
Even when the winds grew so fierce and brutal that they all but tore the clothes off his body.
Seeking to strip away his very soul, Alex was forced to endure the awful feeling of malevolent forces tugging at his very spirit, as if the very threads of his destiny were being yanked back by a fate ugly and cold.
A fate and a doom he refused to endure.
Bullrush! he snarled, forcing himself forward, so shocked by the sudden pressure, as if he were being crushed against a wall that only he could sense, that it was all he could do not to collapse in a daze when he finally broke through.
You have saved versus Doom Compulsion! Your meridians have suffered Mild Strain.
Yet despite the strain to his peripheral network, what he felt for just a heartbeat was a joy bordering on the euphoric as he gazed around the now quiet forest trail, violent winds replace with the gentlest of breezes, glorious dew-covered blossoms shimmering with the first rays of the dawn.
Despite the sudden lift to his exhausted spirits, the gentle rustle of inviting leaves and the cries of morning doves couldn’t completely drown out the ancient voices echoing inside his skull.
“Impossible! He countered Calamity. No one and nothing can counter Calamity! They can escape it for but a time, fated to orbit their doom until eventually it consumes them!”
WiFu’s quiet chuckle could be heard over Long Wang and the general’s outrage. “And yet he has escaped all three of your dooms in the most remarkable way imaginable, playing twin Calamities against one another, while channeling his first disaster into an insight so profound, some anxious fools might even fear it divine. Who would have thought?” And Alex could so clearly imagine WiFu’s eyes twinkling with mischief as he took a satisfied sip from his wine glass.
“What did you do, WiFu? How did you aid him?” snarled the voice of General Shalu.
WiFu’s bemused gaze turned hard as ice, frigid smile locked in place. “I did nothing to aid him, brother. That’s the point.”
The sound of Lord Zheng Yi’s fist slamming the board could be heard in the crash of thunder overhead, cold rain now drenching the forest once more, cutting visibility down to near nothing. “Enough of this farce! If your pathetic pawn is this hard to kill, that means you’ve invested yourself in his forging!” Cold laughter howled like the wind shrieking through the forest. “I think it’s time I put yet another card in play, Silver Fox. Your piece lacks a cultivator’s ruthlessness. He is weak! His weakness can be used against him. Used to stifle his cultivation base and claim his life!”
“Careful,” WiFu warned. “You’ve already played your hand, and causality is burdened with five twisted fates, this turn alone.” He flashed a chilling smile far more reminiscent of living chaos than the charming rogue that had captivated so many ladies, once upon a time. “You know what happens if you overextend, and I have yet to play a single card.”
“Nonsense!” Long Wang roared. “I saw what your pawn did in the Netherworld! There is no way he could possibly be alive if you hadn’t played a secret card.”
WiFu chuckled softly. “General?”
“He hasn’t played any cards,” Shalu snarled. “Not a single damn one. So, one of you fools get that damned piece off the board before this cursed Fox trumps us all!”
“Done,” said the ice-cold voice of Lord Zheng Yi. “And if you dare call me a fool again, you will find your armadas swept into rocky shoals, and your men starving in fields of flooded grain.”
“My apologies, Grandfather,” Shalu quickly said.
WiFu laughed. “Ah, it’s always lovely to see that prickly pride wins out against united fronts every time. I’m sure all our enemies will be all too happy to gobble up our empire while you fools drown soldiers and scream at the weather.”
“Shut up, Fox!” snapped Long Wang. “If you hadn’t seduced my wife and flooded the world with kitsune, we wouldn’t be having half the problems we are now plagued with! And what odd move was this, Grandfather? A single Knowledge card?”
Zheng Yi snorted. “And that’s all I need. A card, and an invitation. One I know WiFu’s desperate piece will accept, and my own piece will be all too happy to embrace.”
WiFu hissed. “You would kill a hundred thousand out of spite?”
“I would kill a billion mortals if it removed you from this game entirely, Fox!” roared the ancient god as lightning crashed and howling winds tore the leaves and blossoms free of countless trees in bloom, the air alive with a billion brilliant shimmering petals in the rain, a flood of pink flashing crimson between the rays of the morning sun and a god’s inconceivable hate.
Alex frowned, shaking his head and wiping the water out of his eyes, still not entirely sure if his exhausted mind was simply trying to put f
aces upon the nightmarish ordeal he had endured, or if he really was hearing the whispers of divinities eager for his death.
It was a chilling thought, either way.
But his shiver had far more to do with existential threats than the actual howling winds and ice-cold rain now drenching every inch of his person. Surprised to find only mildly annoying, when it should have been chilling him to the bone, Alex couldn’t help but feel a certain fierce pride that his Bronze Rank 2 Vitality and Dark Qi metabolism meant that his body could now handle far worse weather than this.
But it was a joy knowing that he didn’t have to.
He gazed fondly at his now gore-free copper ring, slipping it upon his finger where it nestled happily back in its proper place. He then took a deep exultant breath, before hollering for the sheer joy of having survived utter madness. Then he hopped to the highest branches of one of the many swaying trees, and entered his much beloved sanctuary that he had been denied for far too long.
Alex took a moment just smiling with sweetest delight at having reclaimed his prize and gotten the better of his enemies, at least for this round.
He wicked the water from his body with a surge of his will and the power of his ring, stepping out of his clothes and into a soothing hot tub in a room that looked so very much like his childhood home of a lifetime ago, summoned into existence by his will alone, allowing the warm waters to ease the memory of so many brutal injuries suffered by now fully healed limbs, delighting in the sweet tart taste of perfectly ripe and very real Calenbry Sunset apples from his garden, as well as juicy hunks of perfectly preserved spirit beast meat and sips of refreshing rice wine poured in a silver goblet that had once belonged to slavers before he had sent them all to their next life, many months ago.
Alex freely indulged himself, spending a good hour just savoring perfect luxury in the hot tub constructed by memory and the powers of his divine artifact before his need for sleep coaxed him from the warm soapy waters, savoring the crisp feel of cotton sheets and feather-stuffed pillows as he slept deeply in a bed that hadn’t existed anywhere else save in his imagination for at least a thousand years.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior's Oath: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 4 Page 50