Alex didn’t even bother glancing the professor’s way when he exited the class, well able to imagine his look of apoplectic outrage. The bastard had broken their unspoken truce, spewing his invective at Alex directly, so he had responded as he felt appropriate. Tit for tat. Perfect reciprocity.
Of course, Fu Shen had managed to rile up his classmates, who never hesitated to address Alex directly.
“I can’t wait to see you put in your place, Ruidian.”
“Your kind should be purged from this city. You shouldn’t even be here!”
Alex locked gazes with the pair of young men, basic cultivators like him, glaring his way. “Any time you boys want to challenge me for my right to be here, you just let me know. Loser leaves, never to return.” And the icy smile he flashed their way always left them speechless with hate and fear in equal measure, though they normally fled with final hostile glares.
Today, however, was different. One of the boys, Yu Meng, spat at Alex’s feet. “I can’t wait to see you get put in your place, Ruidian. By the time Lai Wei is done with you, you’ll be begging to be allowed to return to your homeland, your rotting tail between your legs!”
Alex smirked. “You know Ruidians don’t actually have tails, right?”
“I know you’re really a demon!” Yu Meng barked back. “Mocking us by taking human form!”
Alex couldn’t help it. He burst out in laughter.
The young cultivator turned pale with rage before spinning on his back foot and stomping away, back stiff as a board.
And of the half dozen cultivators glancing their way, half were smiling in shared amusement with Alex, even if the other half looked like they too thought he was a demon taking human form.
His other classes passed by quickly in a haze of cultivation and sparring, though even Qie Qie was hesitant to fight with the vigor she usually did. “I don’t want to risk bruising you too bad,” she confessed, flashing a teasing smile. “You need to be at full strength for what’s coming your way, today.”
Alex winced. “You just had to remind me.”
“Indeed she did!” declared none other than a smiling Master Pan. “You need to be at full strength before you take on a Bronze cultivator. And I, for one, am anxious to see how well you perform under that pressure!” He turned to the class, positively beaming. “And of course, we’ll all be watching your bout. No doubt there will be all sorts of lessons we can glean from your trial.”
“I’ve got two silver on you lasting at least a minute, Alex. Don’t disappoint!” crowed one of his classmates.
“I’m betting he makes two minutes!” declared another.
Alex couldn’t help wincing at the smiles and soft chuckles to be heard throughout the training hall, just grateful that most seemed to be good-natured, nothing like his first period class.
“I’ll do my best not to disappoint!” Alex declared before making his way to the academy arena, Qie Qie having been gracious enough to double check and tighten the straps of his armor, as it was what he would be wearing in the sparring match to come.
And Alex took no comfort in sensing at least a few of his classmates and professor in the crowd of casual spectators watching the handful of bouts always in play. He knew damn well that his peers would turn on him with mockery and derision should he play the fool and lose spectacularly, just as they had turned on poor, broken Sheng Jie who might or might not ever make a full recovery, but whose illusion of a world where he mattered had been forever shattered.
No matter that Master Pan himself had condemned their ruthlessness, he simultaneously fostered it, instilling in them a fierce desire to better themselves at all costs, such that they feared the shame of failure and loss of status as almost as much as death itself. Which might help pressure them into achieving ever greater breakthroughs, but fostered an attitude of viewing all failure or setbacks with contempt.
Which might make the upcoming days difficult, Alex reflected, as a smirking Lai Wei, looking every inch the noble scion with his polished armor, impressive physique, and mocking sneer, finally deigned to look Alex’s way.
Because the odds of Alex winning this were beyond infinitesimally small.
“Well, well. The Ruidian actually showed,” said Lai Wei, his deadly saber flashing in lazy moulinets. “Good. You know the rules, right, vermin?”
Alex, heart pounding, nodded. “Submission match. We go on until one party cries yield, or is too broken to continue.”
“Wrong!” snapped a suddenly furious Lai Wei. “We go on until I say we’re done!”
Alex frowned. “That’s not how submission matches work, Lai Wei. The match is over when the half hour slot has passed, or when one party or the other has suffered to the point that they cry surrender, and the winner takes all status points.”
Lai Wei flashed a cold smile. “If you think your bleating cries for mercy will stop your just punishments, or that Judge Weng will actually listen to your cries, you truly are a fool. Now begin!”
And before he had even finished uttering the words, Lai Wei had sprung forth, his bright-flashing dao seemingly kissed by flame as it darted for Alex’s throat so quickly it was all he could do to keep from getting struck.
Lai Wei chuckled softly. “Ah. You have improved since the last time I utterly crushed you. Good. I wouldn’t want this to end too swiftly.”
With those words, Alex’s opponent began to fight in earnest. And if Alex thought his hours spent intensely cultivating or training diligently against Qie Qie would prepare him for the onslaught of hideous strength and speed he faced, he was sorely mistaken.
Soul Sense skill check has failed! Find Weakness skill check is unsuccessful. You are unable to read your opponent at this time.
Opponent has overwhelmed your defenses! You have suffered 2 Light Wounds.
Opponent has overwhelmed your defenses! You have been critically hit! Armor has degraded one tier. You have suffered 1 Medium Wound.
For all that they used training blades, and by rights a blade balanced for quick slashes like a dao, not hacking cuts like an axe, should have been barely felt with full armor, his opponent’s deceptive strength made the mortal armor Alex wore almost laughable, Lai Wei’s weapon further reinforced such that he could give powerful thrusts that actually cracked the plates of Alex’s lamellar armor, sending him crashing to the ground with brutal strikes blowing right past Alex’s pathetic attempts to defend.
Alex groaned as he crashed to the ground for what must have been the third time in less than two minutes, coughing up blood, hot burning Qi scorching him from the inside even as his foe’s deadly gladius-style thrusts bruised muscles and organs.
Alex gave a bitter shake of his head as his opponent laughed in his face. He knew damn well that he was going to get beaten today, but he was somehow certain active Qi assaults on other students were not the norm for these sorts of engagements, and equally certain that a coldly-smiling Judge Weng in the background would do nothing but sneer, if Alex were to make any sort of complaint.
Lai Wei flashed a malicious smile. “Had enough, Ruidian? Well too damned bad. You think you can earn safe credits sparring with your peers? Think again, fool! You’re going to bleed for every credit you earn!”
Your opponent has successfully seized the initiative!
Your opponent now controls the bind!
Your opponent’s blade has wound past your own.
Light Wound taken to right wrist! Your hand is numb! You have dropped your blade!
You have suffered 1 Medium Wound.
You are stunned!
Alex groaned as he crashed to the ground yet again, Lai Wei moving so fast in between blinks of an eye that his blade had snaked around Alex’s own before flicking it free of his now-burning palm. And before Alex could do more than hiss with dismay, he had been gut punched so hard he was sent flying, a devastating blow that cracked yet another lamellar plate.
Alex choked back a sob, knowing that at least one rib was cracked. And for all that
he had failed to get any read on his foe, he didn’t need Soul Sight to know that his nemesis’s Strength and Quickness were both Bronze-ranked, which meant at least twenty. Five points beyond his own. Elite gold medalist level, if eighteen was at the very tip of normal, assuming the odd bell curve sense he had for stat points, very much like his favorite childhood games, was accurate. Or at least, that was how his interface interpreted stats in this world. And if Lai Wei was above rank one… then one of those stats at least was super human.
Breathe.
Even as his mind raced, he realized he had been close to blacking out, snapping into himself when he heard Qie Qie’s frantic holler, knowing something was wrong.
Power Healing accessed.
He felt a sudden flood of release, a wheezing breath coming as he tapped into one of his twenty-nine remaining lesser spirit beast cores.
Lai Wei smirked down at Alex, lifting his foot as if to slam his skull. “Guess this is the end, worm. Let’s see you try to pretend you’re anything other than worthless Ruidian filth when I crush that pretty face of yours and pound your fingers to dust!”
“Lai Wei, you will hold.” Cold words that made his nemesis snarl, curling his lips. “This is a sparring match against a cultivator one full order below yourself. It is to submission. It is not to maiming or death. He is a slave no longer, remember that.”
Alex choked down a sob of weakness, recognizing that voice. None other than Master Pan, gazing coldly at Lai Wei. A man Alex would have thought would have been just as happy to see Alex get crushed, should it instruct his own students in some crucial way, like don’t dare bite off more than you can chew. Or don’t play the fool like the Ruidian cultivator.
“You’re not the judge of this bout,” Lai Wei coldly said. “Until I am formally called, I will proceed as I see fit.”
Master Pan snorted, gazing at the suddenly uncomfortable-looking judge who did not dare meet Master Pan’s eyes, before turning to his students. “And herein lies yet another lesson. Be wary of ever accepting a contest against, or competing against, men or women who hold sway and influence over those who would pass judgement. For the Lai clan are powerful alchemists, and few would dare get on their bad side. Unless you have access to independent sources of cultivation elixirs or pills, or have chosen the arduous path of a warrior monk like myself, eschewing all alchemical aid as you refine the blade of your soul by your own efforts alone, you had best make sure you steer clear of conflicts that put you at odds with the local power base.”
Alex’s sworn foe chuckled coldly. “And since few are so foolish as to waste decades struggling for a breakthrough at the upper limits of Bronze or the dawn of Silver, they have no choice but to rely on cultivation elixirs.”
Lai Wei flashed Alex’s entire class a contemptuous smirk. “And since my clan has gotten rid of the last of those rebellious, unlawful, unregistered alchemists daring to pit their will against my uncle, they will find that crossing my clan comes at a very steep price indeed.”
Master Pan beamed. “My point exactly,” he said, as if in complete agreement with Lai Wei, before pivoting his gaze to Alex. “Ah. Wonderful! It looks like my student is fit to continue the bout. Well, don’t let me keep you. By all means, carry on.”
Several students, however, were frowning, looking up at the sky.
“Crap, we’re about to get drenched. Sea squall coming up fast,” noted one student.
“That’s impossible, the sky was clear just minutes ago!” said Qie Qie.
“Well, at least it’s not like that hurricane that popped up out of nowhere the other night. It’s the Fox’s own luck that it didn’t make it to shore,” said another.
Lai Wei hissed, instantly pivoting around, brows furrowing as he caught sight of Alex measuring him quietly, blade held in tierce, stance low to the ground, ready to spring in any direction.
Power Healing successful!
Alex flashed his opponent a grim smile, grateful his master had assured him just a few minutes of respite. It had been all he needed to synergize Power Healing with his White Crane-boosted Eternal Fox regeneration technique which, with all modifiers in effect, would now regenerate thirty pounds of missing flesh per ten hours, three pounds in an hour, or a tenth of a pound in the two-minute reprieve he had been given. More than enough time to mend what had turned out to be three cracked ribs, and numerous bruises and burns.
Of course, synergizing Power Healing with his White Crane cycling technique, tapping into the swirling storm of Air and Water Qi he could sense all around him, had been a stroke of either genius or idiocy, but really, it wasn’t that different from directly channeling the beast core with the wild storm of Qi all around him, as he had done the other night. Of course, this was only a tenth as potent, but it was a hell of a lot less risky and he could stop at any time.
Like right now, readying himself for his enemy’s onslaught.
“Don’t quit now, Lai Wei. We’re just getting started!”
He couldn’t help the cocky grin he flashed his suddenly enraged foe, who pummeled him with inhuman fury, striking so fast and hard that Alex could only counter one out of four blows before being sent crashing to the ground in unspeakable agony once more.
Lai Wei mocked him with his laughter. “You’re like a dog that doesn’t know when to quit! Just leave this school, worm, and maybe I’ll show you mercy.”
Alex just groaned, curling into a ball while Master Pan spent a few minutes mocking Lai Wei, just long enough for Alex to pull himself back together and repeat the process.
Again, and again.
Perhaps the most agonizing hour he deliberately put himself through, ever.
And his only accomplishment, save catching a single hot flash of his enemy’s meridian channels, was increasing his rate of parry from a miserable one out of every four to only missing two out of every three of his enemy’s deadly strikes.
Until at last the gong marking the end of the hour rang, twice as long as the match should have been, and not even the corrupt and admittedly embarrassed-looking judge could deny that the submission match was finally over.
For all that he was on the ground and struggling to rise to his feet, his nemesis looked surprised to find him capable of even that much.
“I broke you. Repeatedly. How the hell are you even standing?”
Alex didn’t bother answering. It was a struggle just to rise, Alex dizzy beyond words, more than a little surprised to find Qie Qie helping him to his feet, keeping him from toppling over.
Alex frowned. It seemed like his Power Healing hadn’t quite kept up with the injuries he was suffering. Not completely.
Lai Wei furrowed his brow at Qie Qie’s intervention. “You’re actually helping this dog?”
“Who the hell are you to call anyone a dog?” snorted Qie Qie. “All I saw was a Bronze beating on a basic for the last hour, refereed by a judge too terrified of your uncle to say a word!”
Lai Wei paled. “You’d best watch your tongue, girl, or the price you pay will be bitter indeed.”
But Qie Qie was paying him no further mind. “Come on, Alex. Let’s get you to the infirmary. Whatever your injuries, I’m sure the spirit doctors can fix you right up. Best of all, it’s coming out of the young prince’s pocket.”
Alex smirked at the backhanded insult, for Lai Wei did indeed act like an arrogant young scion, vindictive and humorless.
“I’m not paying a single credit for this dog’s intervention!” snapped Lai Wei. “His injuries are his own fault for daring to step into the ring with me!”
“I’m afraid whoever taught you that did you a disservice,” said none other than Master Pan. “Any student hired out by another as a striking target or submission challenger becomes the responsibility of the payor. That would be you, in this case, Lai Wei. You are responsible for any and all injuries suffered that a single night of intense cultivation can’t cure, and should the Ruidian have perished, you would owe his master a blood price equivalent to a year’s wor
th of credits, to say nothing of a debt in coin owed to his family.”
Lai Wei frowned, glaring at the judge. “Then it’s Judge Peng’s fault, for not properly refereeing the fight!”
The judge looked both surprised and outraged at those words.
Master Pan snorted. “Manipulative and treacherous! Oh, how glad I am that my own path forsakes the use of all the enhancements that so many of you fools are desperate for.”
Alex flashed a cheeky grin. “It’s quite alright, Master Pan. Lai Wei’s good at throwing me off balance, the gods know my rear’s taken a bruising, but he doesn’t hit nearly as hard as he thinks he does, otherwise there’s no way I’d be feeling nothing more than a tad bit dizzy. In fact, I don’t think I need to go to the spirit doctors at all. A good nap, and I should be right as rain.”
He had the gall to flash his enemy a mocking grin. “Thanks for the wonderful match, Lai! I hope we can do it again real soon. Only next time, try to hit with a little more force, will you? I think all those cultivation pills you’ve been taking might already be burning out your fragile Bronze channels.”
Of course it was a lie. His foe had hit like a truck. But the momentary flash of confused uncertainty warmed Alex’s heart to see.
It was the hardest blow he had managed to land all day.
“What are you doing?” Qie Qie hissed. “Are you insane? Goading him like that when he nearly killed you?”
Alex just laughed. “Come on, Qie Qie. Let’s grab something to eat. I don’t know about you, but I’m absolutely starving!” He happily waved at a furious-looking Lai Wai. “Can’t wait until next time, and thanks again for the credits! Easiest five I’ve made all semester!”
It was only when they were well out of sight of the wide-eyed spectators in the arena that had been so enjoying the show, so to speak, that Alex finally surrendered to his pain and dizziness, leaning heavily on Qie Qie as she led him back to his master’s residence, their elite area of the academy free of the hustle and bustle of the central hub.
Qie Qie hissed, finally sensing how weak Alex was feeling. “You were fronting. I knew it! You’re a mad fool, Alex, goading your enemy like that. I know you have pride, and we all enjoyed seeing you get his goat, winning the game of words even after he had crushed you in the ring, but now you have an enemy for life, and next time he’ll fight even more savagely!”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Forsworn: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 3 Page 26
