by Jace Kang
The image flashed back to him, still wearing that ridiculous one-piece. Did they really think he would kill ordinary, unarmed humans? It went against the Code of the World of Rivers and Lakes.
“And in more news,” the broadcaster continued, “a Tivari delegation has arrived in San Francisco to discuss a peace treaty and istrium exploration rights. The Ministry of Galactic Interrelations and Peacekeepers warns citizens to avoid harassing them.”
The image shifted to a spacecraft—a real spacecraft!—flying above the Golden Gate Bridge. Protestors chanted, “No reparations, no peace.”
“Reparations?” Ryu asked.
Kentaro nodded. “For the Onslaught.”
“That was four hundred years ago." Ryu sighed. Even if humanity had come together, humans still knew how to hold a grudge.
Siena scoffed. “If the Tivari are on Earth, they’re up to no good.”
The Elestrae had been so carefree; now, there was so much venom in her voice. Ryu shook his head. “A great sage once said, Give peace a chance.”
“Confucius?” Kentaro asked.
“John Lennon.”
“Peace?” Siena just about snarled the word. “The Tivari don’t want peace. Had they succeeded in taking back one of their major istrium sources last week, they’d be launching another war.”
Apparently, this istrium caused more trouble than petroleum had in Ryu’s time. He turned away to monitor Aya’s progress.
She activated her holoprojector, and the scene from the first attack at Higashi Honganji appeared. Ryu watched as the monk went into the courtyard. The air nearby shimmered.
Just as Ryu had suspected. A portal into the World of Rivers and Lakes.
“This is where the original footage scrambled, but I was able to clean it up.” Aya grinned.
A Tofu-Kozo stepped out of the portal, with its telltale hat and plate of tofu. Ryu harrumphed.
“Do you know what he is?” Siena asked.
Ryu nodded. “They are natives of the World of Rivers and Lakes. They’re barely the equivalent of First Rank. Before the portals were closed in 1583, they’d sometimes cross over into this world in search of mischief. They were always harmless.”
In the image, the Tofu-Kozo pummeled the man into unconsciousness, then bit into his Core.
“That’s it,” Ryu said.
“What is?” Kentaro asked.
“When I left the World of Rivers and Lakes, they were at war with the Black Phoenix Sect.”
“The Black Phoenix Sect?” Siena asked.
“They’re a society that Cultivates a Fire Path.”
“Like Wing Chun?” Kentaro beamed.
“Not exactly. All those fighting styles from this plane are basic. They’re good for fundamentals, but to move to Second Rank, you need to start learning more complex systems.”
“So why did the Tofu-Kozo bite Mr. Smith’s abdomen?” Aya asked.
“It must be here to acquire Cores.”
Kentaro cocked his head. “I thought you said someone would have to be First Rank for it to solidify.”
“Yes, but even if it isn’t solid, the energy is still there. Like her.” Ryu tilted his head toward Siena, who had miraculously remained in the stance. “Even a First Rank initiate can sense it and use it.”
Kentaro stepped into the hologram, next to the Tofu-Kozo. “What style of fighting is it using?”
“It’s called the Way of the Thunder Fist.” Ryu rose into a high stance and held his fists out. He looked to the kids. “Rapid strikes. What Path does it belong to?”
“Fire,” Aya and Kentaro said in unison, then actually smiled at each other.
Maybe they were getting over their mutual dislike. Ryu nodded. “Yes. A pure Fire Path. What Path counteracts it?”
“Water,” Ken said a beat ahead of Aya. Then he looked to her. “Your Path.”
She grinned.
The master studied Siena. “I think a Fire Path might be right for you.”
“Why?” the Elestrae asked.
“It’s flighty, unpredictable, creative.”
“And beautiful?” She blinked innocently.
Ryu snorted. “Aya, can you replay the Tofu-Kozo’s attack?”
Aya nodded, and the image sprang to life.
“Good. Now, Siena, you imitate his motions. Notice how he bobs on the balls of his feet, only rooting when his fist connects?”
“Rooting? Is he a tree?” Siena stretched her arms up and out, like a tree canopy.
“In a sense, yes. A root is our connection to the ground. Without it—”
Kentaro hopped up and down. “We can’t maximize our power.”
Ryu nodded. “Good, even if you’re now demonstrating what not to do. Now how does rooting maximize power?”
Kentaro licked his lips and looked to Aya for help. She shrugged and looked at Siena.
The Elestrae tilted her head. “Please explain.”
“Do people in this day and age learn about Isaac Newton?”
Aya’s head bobbed. “Physics, at its most basic level.”
“Yes.” Ryu went over to Kentaro. He stood on his tiptoes and gave the boy a shove, sending him stumbling back.
“Hey!”
Ryu advanced again. This time he dug his toes into the ground, bent his knees and pushed Kentaro with a finger. The pressure coiled between them, and the young man went flying back three feet.
“Wow!” Aya clapped her hands.
“Cultivation?” asked Siena.
“No. Physics, at the most basic level.” Ryu turned to Kentaro. “The first time, what did you notice?”
“You were on your toes.”
Ryu nodded. “What happened when I pushed you?”
“I got pushed back.”
“No, what happened to me? Specifically, my feet?”
Ken gave a sheepish grin. “I don’t know.”
“You fell back onto your heels,” Aya said. “You even went back two millimeters.”
So exact. “Very observant.”
Aya beamed.
Ryu held up three fingers. “Newton’s Third Law of Motion. When I exert force on Kentaro, equal force is exerted on me. In this case, enough pressure to push me back. In the end, I can’t transfer as much power into my push…or strike.”
“Koralas’ Law,” Siena said. “That’s what we call it.”
Whoever Koralas was. Ryu dug his feet into the ground. “When I push from this stance, I don’t lose as much force from being pushed back. That’s rooting.”
“That’s simple,” Kentaro said.
“That’s the first aspect. The second is alignment. Alignment relates to the stance I’ve been teaching you.” Ryu sank into a low horse stance. “Your joints act as springs, both to absorb and generate power. Line your joints up in the correct kinetic chain and relax your muscles to maximize your potential.”
“This applies to the physical world.” Aya threw her hands up. “How can it help with the Qi from Cultivation?”
“I’m glad you asked. The more aligned your joints, the more smoothly your Qi will flow. That’s why the stance is so important.” He glared at Siena.
She had the sense to look demure, though it was probably part of her act to get him into bed again.
It was working. Still, the lesson wasn’t over. He took another step toward Kentaro, dropped into his stance, aligned his joints, and pushed.
Kentaro sailed ten feet through the air, landed on his butt and rolled head over heels another ten feet.
“That’s Rooting, Alignment, and finally Linkage,” Ryu said. “With your body acting as a conduit to the ground with the first two concepts, Linkage is how you connect to your opponent. In this case, I released the energy slowly enough for it to be a push.”
“What happens if you do it quickly?” Kentaro called as he staggered back.
Ryu whipped his arm. “Do you learn about elastic collisions? Impulse?”
Kentaro swirled his foot on the ground. “It’s been a long time
.”
“The shorter the time you transfer your strike’s momentum,” Aya said, “the more it will hurt.”
The girl always had a textbook definition. She was either very smart, or was somehow cheating. “What does that mean?” he asked.
Now it was Aya’s turn to be embarrassed. “I’m not sure, really.”
“Come, Ken-kun.” Ryu beckoned Kentaro over. When he got close enough, Ryu snapped a palm into the boy’s shoulder.
His knees buckled, and he crumpled to the ground. “Ow!”
“It didn’t hurt that much, did it?” Ryu asked.
Kentaro rubbed the spot. “Not really, but I felt it.” He pulled his shirt back, revealing a red handprint.
“I didn’t want to hurt you, so I pulled back and kept the penetration shallow.” Ryu held up his palm.
“You’d better not pull back and penetrate shallowly with me.” Siena looked up through her lashes.
Ryu swallowed hard, but then got back to the lesson. “If you can do these things, then Cultivation comes easier. Back to the lesson.”
After just a few tries Siena mimicked the Tofu-Kozo’s body movements perfectly, down to the timing of her root with the rapid barrage of strikes. On the surface, it looked fine, but Ryu had to make tiny adjustments to her stance.
Aya was practicing her Taiji, and her form looked perfect as well. It was an amazing accomplishment, given how physically underdeveloped she was, which was a testament to her intelligence…or at least the wiring in her brain. While Kentaro picked things up more slowly, his Xingyi forms looked better and better, the motions more coordinated.
Then he formed drills, creating fixed patterns to pit Siena’s newly-learned Thunder Fist techniques first against some motions from Yang Taiji with Aya, and then against the Xingyi Water Form with Kentaro.
After an hour of practice, which left Aya panting for breath but the others begging for more, Ryu called for a break.
“Why do you think we are doing this?”
“To fight the Tofu-Kozo!” Kentaro and Aya blurted out.
Had it been that obvious? Ryu grinned. “Now, we spar.”
“Spar?” all three said in unison, with different levels of enthusiasm.
He nodded. “Fixed patterns are a basis for learning combat, but in a real fight, nobody follows a script. We’re going to use what we learned today, and your goal is to touch your partner’s chest. A strike with anything other than the techniques of your respective styles won’t count.”
The three looked among each other.
“Who spars with whom?” Aya asked.
Ryu looked between them. Ken was so competitive, and he had a significant size advantage over Aya. Though the latter had picked the techniques up quickly, she would be no match for him.
“First,” Ryu said, “Siena against Ken-kun, you against me.”
Aya’s face brightened, and both pairs squared off and settled into stances.
Ryu placed his fist into his palm and bowed his head. “Please teach me.”
“What?” Lowering her hands, Aya cocked her head. “I thought you were teaching me!”
“It’s a customary greeting in the World of Rivers and Lakes. A way of saluting before a duel.”
“Duel?”
“Or a practice like this.”
“Oh.” Aya imitated his motion. “Please teach me.”
Mimicking the Tofu-Kozo’s Thunder Fist Form, Ryu launched the style’s Forking Fists at quarter speed. Aya responded with Wave Hands Like Clouds, redirecting his attacks with sweeps of her arms. He intentionally overextended himself, and she used the Six Sealing, Four Closing technique to capture his arm and throw him to the ground.
He rolled with the momentum and popped back to his feet, then turned and reengaged at half speed with Whirlwind Punches. She kept pace, Stepping Back with Whirling Palms, dodging into the space between his attacks before countering with the shove of a shoulder.
Had he rooted, she would’ve felt as if she’d run into a stone wall; instead, he staggered back as a little Tofu-Kozo would.
“Very good,” he said. “Now faster.”
“Faste—?”
He surged in with a quick combination of the same technique, this time at three-quarter speed. She successfully countered the Forking Fists, but was too slow with the Six Sealing, Four Closing technique. Instead of catching and redirecting his momentum, she would’ve taken three Whirlwind Punches to the head had he not held back.
“Again!” He rushed in again, speeding up the first and then second attack until she got it right at full speed, then adding a third motion.
After a few minutes she doubled over, hands on her knees, heaving for breath.
Just like he had when he’d first started training. Letting her rest, he looked over at Siena and Kentaro.
The Elestrae was overwhelming the boy’s Xingyi with her superior speed, even if her Thunder Fist techniques were sloppy. Still, his form looked good and he was doing well enough to fight against a Tofu-Kozo. He would’ve landed a punch, had she not abandoned the Thunder Fist style and pirouetted out of the way in what looked like a Sun-Moon Sect form.
With the spin, she ended behind him and swept him to the ground. As he fell, he grabbed hold of her and brought her down on top of him. Not missing a beat, she straddled him and seized both of his wrists out to the side. Her head loomed above his, her hair curtaining their faces.
They paused there, transfixed.
Ryu scratched his chin. If he could convince Siena to sleep with Kentaro, it might help the boy advance to First Rank.
With a puff of breath, Siena blew the hair out of her face. Below her, Kentaro’s face flushed red as if he’d gulped down a bottle of sake.
Right. A virgin boy concentrating enough not spill his seed inside an ethereally beautiful woman was just too much to ask.
Aya, though… Ryu looked over his shoulder. She was so frail; but if she could integrate male vitality into her Core, it could help strengthen her. Of course, his seed would be the prime candidate, given how concentrated it was…but then there was that pesky Code of Rivers and Lakes that prohibited sexual relations between master and student. Was there some way around it?
He shook the idea out of his head. For now, they had to prepare for the fight with the Tofu-Kozo.
Aya looked up. “I think I know when and where the next attack will be.”
Chapter 18:
The Hacker
T he way Ryusuke looked at her made Aya’s insides heat up in the most delicious way.
“You know where the next attack will be?” he asked.
Looking at the map Ai had projected into her vision, she nodded. “Based on the attacks at Higashi Honganji, Tofukuji, and Kinkakuji temples, I see a pattern. I—”
“Wait,” Kentaro interrupted. “Why aren’t you including the one at Kiyomizudera?”
She frowned at the Purebred. “I’m not counting it because of the differences.”
“Which differences?” he pressed.
Did she have to spell things out? She glared at him. “The three others occurred at 23:00. All the victims were male, and they had their Cores bitten out. Michiko Zhang, on the other hand, is female. She was ripped apart at a different time.”
Kentaro’s head rose and fell in slow bobs.
She continued: “I ran an algorithm on the locations and triangulated the next temple in the sequence.”
“And?” Ryusuke’s smile made her insides squirm in a delicious way.
“Here.” Fighting off her smile, she ordered Ai to project the map of Kyoto, along with the various lines that went into the algorithm.
Ryusuke and Ken both stared at it, foreheads scrunched.
Siena, however, nodded. “Brilliant. I see your reasoning. Ginkakuji.” She pointed at the Silver Pavilion’s location on the map.
“We have to walk, though,” Aya said, looking up through her lashes at Ryusuke. “We can’t take the space folders, because Kentaro’s chip is burned out, and
you don’t have one…and the government would be able to log your movements.”
“How long will it take?” he asked.
“An hour and a half, probably more if we want to avoid Peacekeepers.”
Ryusuke nodded. “Then we will set off at 20:00. That will give us three hours. In the meantime, rest and circulate your Qi while I come up with a plan.”
Doing as she was told, Aya sat in the lotus position and envisioned the energy coursing through her. As had been the case from the start of this journey, the circuitry from her neural jack felt like a tangible blockage in the flow. Still, the vitality seemed to course around it. She opened an eye and peeked at Kentaro, sitting across from her.
He seemed lost in his meditation at the moment. Earlier, he’d performed well against Siena in their sparring matches, even if he lost every time. He was far ahead in his training, even though he’d only started a day earlier.
Well, with the combat AI she’d stolen from the Peacekeepers, she’d get ahead now. Jacking into the EtherCloud, she gathered footage of all the exchanges she’d recorded—from Ryusuke’s fight with the shocktroopers, to the Tofu-Kozo’s attack on its first victim, to Siena’s fighting style.
“Ai, structure these fights into my neural engrams.”
The fox spirit bowed. Coding. Will take two hours to integrate into your motor neurons.
Satisfied, Aya jacked out and returned to meditation.
Ryusuke and Siena were having sex yet again, the Elestrae creating a noisy distraction with her moans. She’d picked up the Thunder Fist style, but didn’t seem to be learning anything about Cultivation at all.
Aya peeked out to see Kentaro casting glances at the couple.
“Let’s go to the other side of the tree,” Aya said, rising to her feet.
With a nod, he followed and sat across from her. Having him there was really helpful, actually, since he helped anchor her meditation.
He wasn’t as bad as she first thought. So much of her opinion of the Purebreds had been formed by years of indoctrination; they weren’t pitiful or stupid at all, and, annoying as he could be with his enthusiasm, Kentaro being there motivated Aya to get better.
