Of course Alex never dared exert full pressure when his master demanded he precisely replicate the torments he endured, certain it was just an excuse to punish his flesh all the more, which the man was so fascinated with abusing, always flashing the brightest of smiles when Alex was fully healed by the next day.
A stumbling Alex went to his hammock early the night his dark mentor finally deigned Alex’s growing proficiency acceptable, and it was all he could do not to jump for joy.
Congratulations! Weeks of being taught the deadliest of chokes and pressure points by a trio of ruthless assassins has allowed you to advance your Find Weakness skill to Rank 5 Adept status! You have a free 50% bonus to penetrating all physical defenses when striking humanoid targets, once you have found their weakness! Which should be obvious with all your lessons! Note: this perk only applies to physical defenses and body cultivation techniques that increase physical resilience. This perk has no effect on penetrating concentration-dependent Qi Wards.
Adept Mastery allows free purchase of one additional perk from the available options:
1. Added Penetration. You know just where to strike and have an instinct for pushing past the naturally resilient flesh of even the most dedicated body cultivators! You have an additional 50% bonus to penetrating all physical defenses when striking your targets, once you have found their weakness!
2. Added Damage. You can strike the most vulnerable points of your target with pinpoint accuracy! Critical damage is increased by 50% once you have penetrated their defenses!
3. Find your opponent’s weaknesses faster than ever! +3 Ranks to your effective Find Weakness skill against physical defenses or, with successful Soul Sight skill check, Qi Wards as well!
Alex felt a moment’s pure exultation, all but chortling with the same glee that had filled his late-night gaming sessions after earning a much sought-after title as arena champion, but the sheer sense of sweet satisfaction he now felt was unlike anything he had ever felt back on Earth.
Because here, it was all real.
The skills were his own, the wonderful sense of power and strength flowing through his limbs, even as he meditated in perfect peace in his hammock, was his own....
And if he messed up even once, he would find himself in the underworld once more, praying he had the strength to lurch free of that terrible river yet again.
Because if he didn’t, if he gave in for just one moment, he would be trapped in the depths of an ice-cold river that would seal his soul for all eternity.
He shivered at the thought, ebullient mood immediately crashing back to grim practicality as he considered the skill perks before him.
All three had their strengths, and he knew his former gamer self would think it foolish to ignore any perk that would allow him to better find the flaws in his foe’s Qi Wards as well as their physical resistances, or offer a significant damage bonus multiplier with any critical strike.
But it didn’t matter.
Alex already knew the path he had to take.
Knew that his greatest opponents were neither spirit beasts, nor wujen.
They were Silver Giants so deadly and powerful that they could laugh off his blows with their steel-like bodies, multiple cultivation techniques and rigorous training no doubt minimizing the damage even his critical strikes could cause.
So, an additional 50% penetration on top of his background bonus, he supposed he would call it, from being trained by assassins, gave him what was either 100% or 75% ability to pierce his enemy’s indomitable physiques, assuming he understood the calculations behind his interface’s assumptions, which he probably didn’t.
But either way, despite its seeming redundancy and multiple limitations, it was the perk that would suit him best, and he was never one to stint from stacking his advantages as much as he possibly could.
Of course, that did absolutely nothing to help him against a wujen’s spiritual energy wards, deadly fields of flame, or even a body cultivator flooding a portion of his body with Qi to shield his flesh from his opponent’s next blow.
Fortunately, he already had the perfect counter to that.
Alex flashed a bleakly satisfied smile, his Dark Qi gauntlet flaring to life before his eyes.
Because figuring out how best to use all his diverse, unorthodox skills to best complement and cover for one another was the path to victory that might one day see him best all his foes.
A promise he made to himself as he slipped into the sweet slumber of exhaustion, so focused on his tactical insights that he completely missed the blatant hints he had been given, truths so obvious they had been said aloud by his interface when commending his most recent advancement in skill.
A lapse in judgement he might never forgive himself for making, proving himself as much the wise fool as the patron god he halfway hoped would never trouble him again.
10
Skill check made! You have successfully trapped your opponent’s naginata. Your opponent has been disarmed!
Fangsu has failed to sweep you off your feet!
You have flipped Fangsu on her back! You have Fangsu in a Jigoku Jime! Do you wish to exert lethal force?
Alex froze, not even needing Qi Perception to sense Master Yan’s sudden alarm, suppressing the deadly instincts Sha Shou’s training had begun to instill within him, immediately relaxing his arms and legs, slipping free of the young girl now radiating a confusing mix of fear and something else when she gazed into his eyes after he helped her to her feet.
“How did you do that?” she asked seconds later, rubbing her neck that thankfully wasn’t bruised.
Alex winced. The series of movements had become so natural to him by the time they began the fourth week of their journey, now truly in the wilds between trade towns and the province capital, their caravan only growing over time. And for all that Alex and his fellows kept a low profile, allowing absolutely no one to witness their training, even strangers he had never met before knew to step away from the night watch without even daring to meet their gazes and somehow, by extension, Alex was now being treated with the same fear-tinged reverence.
The other guards wouldn’t even look him in the eyes, let alone accept any overtures of sparring. In fact, it sometimes seemed that the only people to treat him like before were Master Yan and his students, who Alex still took the time to spar with during the hour between his shift ending at dawn and the time it took the caravan to actually start during the mornings, or sometimes just before his shift started in the early evenings. Yet it was only between dusk and true nightfall, when he stood tall sentinel for all to see while his fellow night watchmen took their positions in the woods around them, that he was blessed with company of a different sort.
It was during those hours between sunset and true darkness that Ehuang would often place herself on the coachman’s seat next to him with crocks of savory stew and hunks of sourdough bread slathered in soft cheese or tangy butter that an enterprising baker from the last town they had stopped at manage to bake just fine from her own specialized wagon that not even Captain Dui Zhang begrudged joining them, especially with the promise of fresh bread every day, her apprentice a fair hand at churning butter and preparing soft cheeses as well, making arrangements with the herders and showcasing the blessing of traveling alongside hundreds of cattle.
Alex quickly shook the sound of Ehuang’s husky laughter from his mind, having no idea why she chose to spend her precious free time with someone as unattainable and lost in his own world as him, but taking definite solace in her company, the warmth of her voice as she shared her day, and the food she shared with him nearly every evening, before he girded himself for yet another grueling night training under a sadist every bit as savvy as Master Panheu had been. At least when it came to teaching Alex killing arts.
Alex smiled apologetically at Fangsu, now frowning at him suspiciously. “You’re thinking of that over-endowed farm girl again, aren’t you?”
Alex felt his cheeks blaze.
He h
ad her outranked by far! How could she perceive his weakness so easily?
Fangsu smirked. “Thought so. Just don’t get so distracted you fight me as if I could actually, well, hurt you.”
Alex flourished a now-embarrassed Fangsu a sweeping bow. “This lowly kung fu brother apologizes for losing focus for even a second when such a beauty as his kung fu sister deigns to honor him with her presence.”
She chuckled softly. “Good. You shouldn’t forget that, Alex.” Fast as an adder, her lips darted for his ear. “Ehuang’s a beauty, but she can’t give you children who can cultivate.” He could feel her shiver as she dared her next words. “I can.”
Then Fangsu was darting away with a final flushed glance for him as Alex just stood there, poleaxed, a frowning Yan now shaking his head and glaring.
“What the hell just happened?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
Yan sighed. “Please don’t go seducing my students this early in the game, Alex. There’s no way in hell I’ll get her to push herself all the way to the peak of Silver, which I just know she’ll be capable of one day, if her heart’s filled with dreams of you more than dreams of ascension, and she’s spending all her days caring for your children.” He furrowed his brow. “And you damn well better be giving her a jade ring if I find her in your hammock, Alex!”
Alex felt his cheeks blaze. He defensively raised his hands. “Dude, that’s not my style. She’s clearly too young for me.”
This made the older cultivator shake his head. “Alex, she’s been of marriageable age for the past several years. And you’re what, eighteen? Nineteen? And absurdly young to be so gifted. So much so that I’m sometimes forced to wonder if a member of the royal family had a taste for the exotic, a few generations back. Frankly, no lad or lass outside of a farming community should be marrying so young, but that’s your business, not mine.”
He clapped Alex’s shoulder. “Just please, wait until you’ve both had a chance to settle in to your future home at Thunderbird Academy before daring anything more, alright?”
And the man took Alex’s apologetic smile as consent, giving a satisfied nod before heading back to the assembling livestock, as were his proteges. “You might want to get abed, Alex. I don’t recommend you slipping into any hammocks when the wagons are already moving!”
Quick as a flash, Alex did just that. And if he had any strange dreams of a far more serious Yan radiating a potency far beyond any Bronze having hard words with a sobbing girl who blazed like the sun before Alex’s Qi Perception, he certainly didn’t remember them by the time he woke up.
“You may call me Tusha Zhe, disciple. For enduring the tender instruction of my kung fu brother for over half a moon, you have earned the right to face me.”
The words sent chills down Alex’s spine as a cool evening breeze rustled the forest all around him and the night watchmen now surrounding Alex just off the road and out of sight of the sleeping caravan. Sha Shou nodded approvingly when his compatriot began to circle Alex. The third watchman, whose name Alex still didn’t know, only flashed him the iciest of smiles, saying nothing at all.
Your opponent has successfully grappled you!
Alex blinked, finding himself flying off his feet as Tusha Zhe zipped past him almost faster than he could see, flipping Alex over his hip before wrapping a vice of steel that were his arms about Alex’s throat.
His eyes bulged, heart pounding in sudden panic.
“Lessons are over, apprentice. Best fight me with everything you have, or you will never fight again.”
And Alex had no doubt the psychopath meant every word.
Frantic, partially-exaggerated struggles turned to furious focused strikes as Alex regained his feet and snapped an elbow for his foe’s solar plexus before shifting his stance and swinging one leg back, abruptly lowering his balance before grasping and yanking the man’s arm, doing his best to turn the tables on his aggressor, earning only mocking laughter in return.
“Best do better than that, apprentice.”
And an increasingly desperate Alex tried to do just that, no matter how his ears rang with the roaring of the blood in his ears, feeling sick and nauseous as he struggled and fought even while surviving on nothing but Dark Qi alone, attempting to twist back his foe’s thumbs, palm strike and force out of alignment tightly held elbows to facilitate a tuck and drop, and every other trick he could think of while his opponent steadily tightened his grip, expertly wedging his body to protect his vitals as Alex’s increasingly desperate foot stomps and elbows met nothing but glancing blows and air.
“Enough,” Sha Shou said endless moments later, Tusha Zhe’s cruel laughter washing over Alex as he slumped, senseless, to the ground.
“I’m surprised the worm survived to struggle that long. I was certain he’d be out in seconds,” Tusha Zhe noted.
Sha Shou nodded. “He is intriguing, no? Like a tick that won’t die, no matter how hard you squeeze.”
Tusha Zhe chuckled. “He is fun to train with. I’m glad we didn’t kill him that first night. Are you actually thinking of making him a disciple?”
Sha Shou shrugged. “We’ll see.” He gazed down at Alex, who only now dared open his eyes as he wheezed for breath, as if the frantic panic of near death had pushed all extraneous factors out of mind.
And how freely the three had talked during the moments Alex had been all but incapacitated, or seemed so, the aloof guards growing ever more comfortable around him, it seemed, after so many weeks together on the road. Not that this was seen as any reason to extend him any unexpected mercy, Alex knew. It was more like their sadism had been tempered by a certain degree of fondness. From the moment Alex had showed himself willing to endure their vicious form of training, Sha Shou had illuminated his suffering with grim lessons he doubted he’d be able to learn anywhere else without the darkest of commitments.
The difference between outright abuse and rigorous training that would do even Master Panheu proud transcended any demarcation in the sand, Alex knew. It was all about choice. So long as he chose this, he would see it as the hardcore path to transcendence that it was. Or so he told himself, even as he wheezed and gasped for breath, eyes bulging like a fish.
Sha Shou met Alex’s frantic gaze. “Can you continue, mascot, or have you finally had enough?”
A panting Alex forced a smile. “I like a training partner who doesn’t feel the need to hold back so much that I learn nothing. By all means. Let’s continue.” He swallowed. “Just as soon as I catch my breath.”
Sha Shou nodded, saying nothing, but flipping him a small jar of liniment. Alex bowed his head gratefully and rubbed it on his neck with what was now practiced ease, for all that he didn’t need it any more than he had the first time his rather ruthless instructors had deigned to teach him their dark arts in return for getting to savagely pummel him, knowing he would always spring back. Somehow.
“Are you ready?” Tusha Zhe asked.
Alex nodded, already knowing what would happen next.
You have successfully dodged your opponent’s lunge!
Soul Sight skill check failed! You cannot sense the Qi flow or intentions of your opponent! Opponent’s modifiers are in full effect! Find Weakness reveals basic pressure points only.
You have successfully grappled with your opponent.
Your opponent twists out of your bind!
Your opponent has knocked you off your feet.
You are pinned!
You are being asphyxiated!
Dark Qi Metabolism in effect.
And after an interminable time in excruciating agony, allowed only the tiniest of gasps he knew he had to take to stay in character, which only extended his torment, Tusha Zhe at last eased the terrible pressure on Alex’s throat and diaphragm, releasing Alex from multiple joint locks and rolling back to his feet.
His gaze was one of mild contempt as Alex gasped and heaved on the ground before him.
“I expect better from one of your appre
ntices, Sha Shou.”
Sha Shou nodded. “Get up, Alex. Kit up in your armor, and train as you do every night. And while you’re swinging your ji, think about the consequences of daring to embarrass me a second time.”
Tusha Zhe flashed a cold smile. “Because tomorrow night we’re not just grappling, worm. We’re using fists and feet. Be prepared for cracked bones if you disappoint me. But don’t worry. We won’t break them. Not completely. You’ll still be left intact enough to fight, and suffer, at our hands.”
Alex gave an exhausted bow. “Understood, Sifu Tusha Zhe, Master Sha Shou,” he said, all but dragging himself and his weapons farther back along the road, his exhausted posture not shifting to sprightly strength until he was well out of their sight and springing through the trees for the deadfall clearing his communion with the ancient woodlands had revealed to him.
Only today he was ignoring forms entirely, stripping himself of armor, weaponry as well.
He spent a few moments just taking deep, meditative breaths.
As horrid as the experience of being repeatedly mastered and suffocated had been, his limbs all but wrenched from their sockets for endless minutes at a time, his constant nightly practice of holding his breath and increasing his ability to switch from Dark Qi to aerobic respiration meant that the ordeal hadn’t been nearly as agonizing or crippling as it had been during his first couple of nights enduring those lessons.
But that little secret, much like his Qi attacks, were cards he was perfectly happy to keep close to his chest.
But his pathetically awful sparring match against Tusha Zhe had emphasized his failings with glaring clarity. That, and the fact that his advancement had plateaued, Adderstrike seemingly no closer to advancement than it had been when he had first broken through to Rank 8. And Black Swan was only increasing at a snail’s pace, for all that it was a much lower Rank 3, no matter how many deadfalls he pounded to kindling.
To chalk it up to one skill being an admittedly remarkable Rank 8, and the other an elite, Silver-tiered skill he shouldn’t even have access to was taking the easy route. Embracing a comfortable path that excused further dedication, further training. And the one thing he absolutely could not afford to do was to dare get comfortable as a lowly Bronze in a world where so many forces and figures could so easily kill him.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Redeemed: A LitRPG/Wuxian Novel - Book 5 Page 19
