Yet for him they had only contempt, Master Pan himself perfectly happy to use him as an object lesson for his students.
He had been a fool to trust the warm smile, the friendly patter Pan had fronted with, acting as if he was beginning to accept Alex being there.
He wasn’t any sort of beloved student. He was just a sucker being set up for a lesson.
A sentiment Zhao Doushi went to great lengths to convey.
“Only a fool assumes a match is a game, Alex. Pan even gave you fair warning! First blood or submission is what he favors for his students, and you didn’t even clarify which you were facing. You just assumed it would be a friendly bout! The boy was fully armored, and your blades were dull. Clearly it wasn’t to first blood! And only a naive idiot lets down his defenses! Did you truly think for one second that Master Pan saw you as anything but a foreigner, an interloper, a Ruidian showing up two months late to his class, daring the right to spar as if he was one of them? Were you truly so disarmed by his silly patter? You didn’t even ask for the rules of the bout! What, did you just assume it would be explained to you by your opponent? I was trying to warn you, fool, but you wouldn’t even look my way!”
Alex squeezed eyes stinging with hot moisture he swore was from his throbbing head and the pain of his swollen knee alone. “Yes, I know!” Alex hissed, choking back bitter bile. “I was a fool to think his smile was genuine, to think that any one of them would give me a chance to be anything but a caricature of all they hate! No matter what I say or do, they’re going to despise me!”
“So leave!” Zhao Doushi snapped, glaring at Alex, not even caring that he said it loud enough that several students actually heard, turning their gazes to Alex, eyes now twinkling with their mocking smiles.
Alex’s cheeks burned with shame. Zhao Doushi sighed, grabbing Alex and dragging him off once more, his voice now almost pitying. “Leave, Ruidian. Take your winnings and head to one of the nameless walled towns and villages made up of mixed-bloods who share your heritage. You’d be a rich man in any of those towns. Not that your clan isn’t already a power among them anyway.”
Alex blinked, shame transformed to momentary confusion. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Zhao Doushi snorted. “We’re not fools, Alex. We all know that the countless villages and towns subservient to the great cities have their own customs, taxes, even dynasties. Some are even made up of bands of Ruidians that fled Yidushi after sentiment turned against them when raiders first began to pillage our shores, over a thousand years ago. So long as they pay their tariffs and tithes in food and goods while supplying the great cities with bountiful crops, they can rule themselves as they see fit, royal administrators happy to be free of all those burdens and headaches.
“Elder Panheu and I have already deduced that you’re the noble scion of some town underlord or another, a community that’s managed to keep it’s bloodlines relatively pure, perhaps the get of an actual Legionnaire. Rare as they are, the only place Ruidian half-bloods are tolerated is in the Royal Army, where meritocracy is everything. And nothing else would explain your surprising speed and savvy, when you’re not playing the fool! No doubt a traitor within, or an enemy of your clan captured and sold your family to slavers, and you now seek to learn the skills needed to assure your victory in whatever dynastic dispute consumes the towns that supply Yidushi.”
Zhao Doushi’s gaze pierced Alex to the quick. “But whatever noble tale you think your life to be, you will find no answers here, Ruidian. Not in the major cities that are but the smallest capillaries of our glorious empire. And of the countless thousands of tiny towns which comprise the squabbling masses that supply our empire’s cities with sustenance, like the air we breathe? Are less than nothing in the grand scheme of things.”
Zhao sighed, giving a pitying shake of his head. “Leave, Alex. You have no friends here. No allies, save a master who enjoys seeing your struggle for its own sake. And though he may raise a glass in toast to your successes, he will shed not one tear should you fall, merely enjoy the tale your spent life has told.”
Zhao Doushi said not another word as they finished the painful journey back to Elder Panheu’s property, the silver-haired cultivator raising a goblet of wine at that very moment to his smiling lips.
“How went the first day?” he asked mildly.
“The fool almost managed to get himself killed, and against a noble idiot who would have died thrice over in the arena!”
Panheu’s cold measuring stare met Alex’s own. “What did you learn today, Ruidian?”
“That I must never take my eyes off of my opponent. That even in a so-called friendly bout, other cultivators are out to cripple or kill me, no matter how big their smiles. That even the friendliest instructor would cheerfully sacrifice my well-being and happiness if it meant imparting a single bit of wisdom to students they actually cared about.”
Panheu chuckled, saluting Alex with his goblet. “It sounds like you had a fine day indeed!” His smile hardened. “You grew soft, training under my care alone. Comfort, safety, a sense of security were all allowed to fester, such that you assumed accords and respect promised to no one who has not earned them!”
Alex swallowed the bile in his throat, dipping his head, his knee now a throbbing mass of agony. “Yes, Elder Panheu.”
His mentor sighed. “You earned the honor of being treated like one us with me, and me alone. A lowly Ruidian, nothing in the grand scheme of things, who risked his life, making me an absolute fortune.” He winked and smiled, raising his cup. “And who even had the gall to turn tragedy into triumph, profiting from the defeat of his foes, even clever enough to feign weakness, goading his enemy into folly, and doubling his gold!”
Alex swallowed, the odd mixture of pride and shame he felt leaving him queasy.
Elder Panheu took a thoughtful sip of his wine. “I’m up three hundred and forty spirit pearls, and you were wise enough not to contest surrendering your share to me as well. Thus, you have earned my forbearance, and more, my patronage. And for one not of true blood who dares to attend this school, there is no greater prize you could possibly hope for.”
Enduring the pain, Alex performed Dogeza before his master. “And this lowly one is extremely grateful, master.”
Panheu nodded, noting his discomfort. “You have been tossed into the crucible of a cultivator’s expectations, and you find the flames hot. Two paths are now before you. Which will you take?”
Alex forced himself to think and speak calmly, despite his agony. “I choose to be forged in fire. I will not give up. I will not surrender as run-off slag! I will forge myself into a bright steel blade, wicked sharp, and eager for the blood of his enemies!”
Panheu nodded. “Good. Return to your quarters and meditate upon all you have learned this day.” He frowned at Alex’s leg. “Am I correct in assuming that won’t be a problem for you, come morning?”
Alex flushed under those ice-blue measuring eyes. Seeing and understanding so much, sensing secrets Alex felt leerier than ever of sharing. But his mentor had always been honest, if ruthless. And honorable, at least in terms of acknowledging a debt worth a fortune in spirit pearls.
Alex swallowed and nodded. “I think it will be fine. If not...”
“If not, I’ll send for a healer. The best of the best.” He flashed a cold smile at Alex’s relieved grin. “And his fee will, of course, come out of the credit hours you are expected to earn.”
Alex winced. “Of course, Elder Panheu.”
Panheu frowned at Zhao Doushi. “Did you get him any assignments that won’t get him killed his first week?”
Zhao’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “He has heavy labor at the front gate in less than an hour.”
Panheu grinned. “Excellent. I’d get meditating, Alex. Feel free to use some of my liniments; you know where they are. You’d hate to make a bad impression on your first day, after all.”
Alex groaned but quickly nodded, limping into the centermos
t pagoda to obtain the supplies he wouldn’t use before making his way to his garden shack, gazing with exhausted longing at his pillow before focusing himself and embracing the Eternal Fox body cultivation technique once more.
You have engaged in Power Healing! Healing rate has been accelerated 100-fold. Previously tapped spirit core is being used at 60% efficiency.
Mild concussion has been fully healed. Bruising has subsided. Meningeal inflammation has subsided. Hairline fracture of left patella has been mended. Multiple torn ligaments have been mended.
You are now fully healed.
Alex took a deep breath, opening his eyes. He was fully aware of his environment, but felt like he was learning more about his own inner-workings when closing his eyes as he sensed the flow of Dark and Light Qi percolating and mending his damaged cells. And his hearing, as he had found somewhat to his embarrassment, had become incredibly acute, and oddly focused. Even with his eyes closed, he was utterly aware of his surroundings, and his Qi Perception let him know when a cultivator was within forty feet.
Except for his master, of course. But if the man wanted Alex dead, he was dead.
Still, he had taken the day’s bitter lessons to heart. He refused to ever let his guard down again at this school, even now. He refused to directly absorb the power of an entire spirit stone, for all that it would be ten times as efficient as Power Healing, if channelled via his Eternal Fox technique, equivalent to a thousand hours of intense cultivation per single hour spent. After all the bitter lessons he had endured this day, he absolutely refused to be locked in a helpless trance for a full hour, or resorting to slipping into his spirit ring. For if anyone discovered the nature of his priceless divine treasure, even the honorable if somewhat mercenary Elder Panheu, Alex had no doubt he’d be killed in a heartbeat, his prize seized and delivered to the Sovereign Prince, or perhaps even the king above him, who would no doubt reward the deliverer handsomely and shower him with such treasure that even a cultivator’s broken oath would be assuaged, before the king in turn presented it to the emperor himself.
Or, at least, that was the sense Alex had gotten from the only pair of cultivators to actually treat him like family, Liu Jian all but adopting him as a nephew, Liu Li as close as any sister, and perhaps so much more. Only now did he appreciate what a rare and priceless boon it had been. Of course, he had grown equally close to Hao Chan and Hao Yin, but their bonding had been a transcendent, almost magical experience forged in endless mock battles amidst a sea of divine and infernal conflict occurring just under the surface of their strange carriage journey that Alex didn’t think he’d ever fully understand.
Yet his feelings for the lush and beautiful Hao Chan were anything but brotherly. He hungered to consume her in all his dreams, his heart lanced by sweetest affection for her smile that could almost be called love. And he dared not even reach out to her, lest the taint of his presence corrupt the gentle halo of acceptance she had been blessed with upon entering this academy, having charmed professor and cultivator alike with her captivating beauty and grace.
Alex shook his head wistfully. He had been innocent of so much, even as he risked his life for the sake of those he cared for, but now he understood.
If he was going to make it in this school, he had to be willing to fight for every scrap of acknowledgement and respect he could get, while guarding himself from acts of contempt and treachery from all angles, at all times.
He knew that, at least for the moment, he had neither allies nor friends outside of his master’s sanctuary. He could only hope that at least some people would give him a chance.
But even now, knowing he was risking yet more trouble, he refused to leave his shed until several hours had passed, not the fraction of an hour it had actually taken to heal his injuries. He could regenerate up to six pounds of lost tissue per thousand hours. Power Healing meant he could heal six tenths of a pound in a single hour, and the bruised flesh and hairline cracks in his patella were the tiniest fraction of that.
But two hours waiting for the swelling to go down, with his knee wrapped in liniments it didn’t need, was much more within expectations, even for his unique Ruidian constitution, as he had heard Zhao put it once. Of course, he knew his mentor had sensed something of his potential when he had been pushed to his limits on the arena sands, but the more normal he seemed now, recovering at a rate that didn’t seem truly absurd, the better.
He had even done his best to imply, without actually saying it aloud, that a stealthily sipped potion from his former master was what had allowed him to recover so rapidly in the arena. And his bitter lessons that day had only reinforced the value of discretion. Save for being honest about what he learned, so his mentor could properly instruct him, the less people that truly understood his capabilities, the better.
“Sir? With your permission, I’d like to make my way to the gate, see if they still have use for me.”
Panheu raised a surprised eyebrow, his expression quickly flowing into a pleased smile. “Willing to embrace the bitter to better yourself? That’s what I expect from all of my chosen students.” His gaze hardened. “But don’t push yourself if you’ve taken significant injury. Crippling yourself with pride or a desperate desire to please would compound your failures to an unforgivable degree.”
Alex respectfully bowed his head. “I feel much better, and thank you again for the liniment.”
Panheu only nodded. “Just be careful heading back, Alex. If you’re challenged, you know what I expect of you.”
Alex nodded once more, though in truth he had no idea what the man expected of him. It was probably a resounding victory, no matter how Alex was feeling. Questions better left for another time, he thought, quickly making his way past the relatively serene cultivation area favored by the school’s most elite masters.
His path was much like walking past exclusive manors on the way to an exotic Eastern Ivy League campus, assuming it was a campus where students were being forged into highly-trained killers, and most of the student body viewed him as gutter trash, Alex hearing the phrase under the breath of a number of cultivators when he entered the far more busy central area of the campus, along with several other murmured curses as he quickly weaved past a number of hurrying students, carefully keeping his head lowered and touching absolutely no one, as he made his way to the gate.
6
“Reporting for my work assignment, sir,” said a breathless Alex to the frowning gate guard looking at the pile of recently dropped-off supplies with hands on hips.
“You’re late!” the guard snapped. “And your partner never showed.” He flashed a cold smile. “So I guess you get to cart everything back to the storage house yourself. Now get going, boy!”
Alex blinked, noting the massive collection of hemp bags and boxes, grateful only that they looked portable by a single man, if barely. “Wait, this is a two-person job, and I’m expected to do the work of two men?”
The guard glared. “No excuses, Ruidian. If you don’t do your damned job, I’ll be happy to tell the overseer you refused to do the duty you signed up for! Now get going!”
Alex choked down his bitter wrath, suddenly certain he was being screwed over yet again, just knowing this guard wouldn’t dare speak this way to any cultivator save himself. But now was neither the time nor the place. It helped to just think of it as a test, he told himself. He had endured mortal peril to get here. He wouldn’t let himself get thrown out just for picking a fight with a puffed-up self-important guard who expected him to do the work of two men.
“Can you at least show me where this storage house is?” Alex asked through clenched teeth.
The man spat at Alex’s feet. “Find it yourself, Ruidian trash.” He then turned his back to Alex, as if he was beneath contempt.
Alex squeezed his fists, trembling with rage. He wanted nothing more than to beat that smirking bastard to a pulp, and the sidelong glance the man sent Alex’s way made it clear the guard could sense his fury.
“Well, trash? You got something to say, or are you going to get to work like a good dog?”
A cold chill raced down his spine. Alex spent long moments looking at the supplies, memorizing its placement as best he could, before turning on his heel and quickly walking away.
He was being set up somehow, he was sure of it. The missing helper, the obnoxious guard daring to insult a student cultivator, all but goading Alex into a fight.
Alex quickly made his way back to the assignment center.
“Can I help you?” asked the polite-faced young man acting as a job clerk who had answered Zhao’s questions earlier, his expression shifting to a scowl the moment he caught sight of Alex. “Oh. It’s you.”
Alex took a deep breath, gazing calmly at the slender cultivator glaring back at him.
“There is a problem with my assignment. It’s a two-person job, at least, and my partner has yet to show, to say nothing of the guard who actually spat at my feet when I asked him for simple directions.”
The clerk smirked. “Yes, he showed, you did not. Since he was not the one at fault, he was allowed to cancel his assignment without penalty. Now it falls onto you.”
Alex frowned. “Wait, my partner isn’t obliged to at least do his half? And what if the other party was late due to injury, how is that my fault?”
The clerk’s smirk grew. “Like you said, it’s a two-person job, so he’s not obligated to do anything. And you look perfectly fine to me. Do you have a healer reference? No? Then I suggest you get to work, Ruidian. And if anything is missing or out of place, it’s coming out of your hide!”
Alex froze at those words, gazing coldly at the aquiline-featured cultivator, catching the tell.
“I am formally declining the assignment.”
The clerk clenched his teeth. “You can’t do that, Ruidian. It’s your assignment, it’s your responsibility to finish it!”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Forsworn: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 3 Page 8
