Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path

by Johnson, M. H.

  Alex nodded to himself, immediately understanding how food and books were slipped into or taken from rooms while still maintaining absolute confidentiality, or at least, the illusion of absolute confidentiality.

  “No need for that…”

  “Ding Wei.”

  “No need for that, Ding Wei. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you the treatises and tomes most valued by the preeminent healers of Blue Pagoda. Of course you will bring me those, and every tome you have regarding the channeling of White Qi itself.”

  This earned a pregnant pause. “Forgive this lowly librarian’s temerity, honored sir. The Sacred Paths of Purification I can of course obtain for you right away. But while we have many fine treatises regarding the theoretical application of White Qi, few involve the actual manipulation of such. The very few White Qi manuals we do have are in the form of martial treatises that are uniformly considered inferior to Element-specific combat forms, being as they are far harder to master, and they do nothing to augment a cultivator’s natural affinities.”

  Alex snorted. “Well, of course they don’t. That’s not the point! The point is correlating the flow of Qi with… never mind. You’ll have the privilege of savoring my academic triumphs once my tome is complete, and the school itself commends me for forging the strongest healing techniques below Gold!”

  He paused thoughtfully, slipping into his role as he allowed the librarian a moment to properly bask in his character’s imagined greatness, pretending that his Qi Perception hadn’t grown so exquisitely sharp that he could actually sense the young man’s cynical smirk, or the way the librarian rolled his eyes and shook his head at yet another eccentric Silver who thought the school revolved around them.

  “Of course, I don’t expect you to waste credits delivering every piece of blathering trash my competitors have filled these overburdened shelves with. I need clean application and pristine techniques to examine.” Alex paused, knowing he was taking a gamble. “That means I need far more than the Blue Pagoda’s best. Whether they are proper scholarly works or merely martial treatises, I need to know what tomes you have that actually manage to harness the flow of White Qi.”

  Alex could sense the young man frowning thoughtfully. “Empty Palm, White Crane, and Ghost Horse, sir. I can see if there are any other disciplines, if you like.”

  Ever more grateful for the privacy, Alex indulged in a fierce smile. “Well then, get me all of them, lad, and any others you can find as well. But do be discreet about it. I’m not the only scholar seeking greatness, and I will allow no man or woman to steal my work!”

  The young librarian muffled a sigh. “Fear not, honored scholar. All librarians are oathbound to keep their client’s secrets close.” He cleared his throat. “Forgive the clarification, revered scholar, but I will be pulling a total of seven tomes, in addition to whatever other White Qi cultivation manuals I can find that meet with your approval. The cost to borrow these first seven will be thirty-one credits that will renew itself every day with the lunch bell, starting tomorrow. Is this acceptable?”

  “Of course. It goes without saying that I will return whatever tomes I find beneath my regard.”

  “We wouldn’t have it any other way, honored scholar. Will there be anything else?”

  “A meal worthy of my station, and a bottle of rice wine that doesn’t taste like wood varnish!”

  This earned a polite chuckle. “Of course, sir. Your food and drink will be an additional three credits.”

  “More than acceptable,” Alex declared in his exaggerated Yidushian accent. He was about to ask how long it would take, just as any arrogant, self-absorbed cultivator might, but his Qi Perception made it clear that the young librarian was already gone.

  “Here you are, sir. I deeply regret to inform you that the Ghost Horse treatise is already in use by another cultivator, but I was able secure both the Empty Palm and all three of our White Crane cultivation manuals. Of course, we have multiple pristine copies of both the Wood and Water Paths of Purification, and I took the liberty of including a copy of The Conjoined Path of Pristine Perfection, our preeminent healing tome. It requires a rare dual-specialized healer, and therefore is relegated to second-tier status, but for those with the talents…”

  “Excellent!” Alex said heartily. “Resourcefulness is a virtue in too short supply. I’m glad you were not found lacking.”

  Alex frowned at the still-closed book and meal slot.

  “Um… forgive me, honored scholar…”

  Alex flushed, quickly putting his talisman to the jade sigil within the door, not surprised at the message flashing across his mind’s eye.

  Do you wish to approve this thirty-one-credit transaction? The titles of the books then flashed across his mind’s eye.

  Alex nodded and thought ‘yes,’ pleased when the slot opened, and the librarian quickly passed through seven tomes glowing with spiritual energy. One, of course, he was already familiar with, having read it front to back, but for the sake of his cover, he would accept it without batting an eye.

  “Thank you. As for additional writing materials, beyond the scraps left for common scholars…”

  No sooner had he said the word than several exquisitely-bound vellum journals and two large sheets of calfskin were deposited as well, including several dark, waxy sticks and a scrunched up knot of wool that the librarian explained could be used with the calfskin much like a chalkboard, allowing him to take notes or make experimental diagrams, before transferring them into the vellum journals.

  Alex flashed a genuine smile, which of course the librarian couldn’t see. “Thank you.”

  “It is a pleasure to serve. The meal will arrive shortly. It goes without saying, of course…”

  Alex chuckled. “No need to worry. I am not such a barbarian as to eat at the same table that I will use for my research.”

  “Very good, sir,” said the librarian with audible relief. “Will there be anything else?”

  “I assume if one of my assistants comes by with an urgent matter, that I may safely leave my materials here?”

  “It would be best if you rung the bell and explained the situation to myself or whichever librarian is on duty. A guardian will stand outside the room if you plan on returning and you have renewed your room. Should you fail to return, the books will be collected, and your notes bundled and stored and left with the guardians at the front desk of the library, who will retrieve it for a nominal three-credit storage fee.”

  “More than acceptable. Thank you, Ding Wei. That will be all.”

  “Very good, sir.”

  Alex permitted himself a fierce, satisfied smile, pausing only to make sure had touched each of the cultivation treatises before focusing on the one that called out to him above all others; his true objective, outside of the inner sanctum.

  Of the three White Crane tomes before him, one radiated a faint patina of White Qi, one radiated almost nothing at all, and one, to his Qi Perception, glowed like the sun.

  Barely holding back his excitement, he slowly, almost reverentially opened the cover of that shimmering tome, eager to glimpse the secrets within.

  “Your food is ready, honored guest!”

  The words jolted Alex out of his bubble of transcendent insight.

  Countless hours spent living the life of the brilliant sage who had scribed that masterwork, sensing his insights, passions, and fierce determination to forge the humblest of disciplines into the mightiest of martial arts, dissipated in a flash. He’d been on the cusp of learning not just how to project spiritual energy, the least of all applications, but how to use White Qi it in its entirety to both strike and protect… and pierce all other elemental forms.

  Pristine insights so similar to Master Liu Jian’s own. And he could all but taste the author’s brilliance, his revolutionary breakthroughs, before Alex was jolted free of his epiphany, transcendent insight fade away like a mirage, slipping from his metaphoric fingertips just seconds, hours, or days, before he could make the
m his own.

  For a second, he glared at the door as the dreamlike reverie left him.

  Until recalling that the fault was entirely his own. He had ordered lunch, after all.

  “One second,” he called, forgetting in his fugue to switch his voice for the arrogant, imperious scholar he had been trying to emulate.

  “Alex?”

  His eyes widened. “Shit.”

  He knew that voice.

  “Alex, you open this door right this instant!”

  And a flushing Alex did just that, momentarily caught off guard to such a degree that by the time he realized he didn’t need to obey, the door was already open. He found himself gazing into Liqin’s expressive brown eyes, the tray filled with a delectable array of fish rolls, roasted duck, and shark fin stew all but forgotten.

  She shot him a delighted grin, quickly putting down the tray and closing the door. “You actually did it! Your amulet actually unlocked a Deep Silver door. And to think, you seemed no stronger than Copper, just two weeks ago!” She flushed. “Your amulet, I mean,” she said, before her widened eyes took in the room as a whole.

  Her smile melted into awe, and she whistled as she took in the room’s grandeur. “And to think that you actually accrued so many credits that you could waste them on this wonder of a room!” she declared, giving the training dummy a practice kick and wincing. “Ow, that actually hurt!”

  Alex gazed carefully at the human-shaped mannequin of wood that his extremely fast, but not overly tough, friend had struck.

  Qi Perception check made!

  Artificer skill check made!

  He grinned when it all suddenly made sense. “It’s different from the training mannequins in the Aspirant’s Quarter. I think this one is warded by Metal Qi. Which makes sense if you’re practicing your technique by striking it with metal weapons, or you have to make do with Wood and discover a deadly technique to pierce that disadvantage. Most decent soldiers and many cultivators are covered in bronze armor, rawhide, or, if they’re truly elite, steel.” He carefully inspected the mannequin. “And if you can power through that Bronze-ranked ward, I’m guessing most armor will be no problem for you.”

  Liqin chuckled. “I figured that much, Alex. Still, I’m surprised it stung.”

  Alex graced his friend with a sympathetic smile. “Just one reason why it’s useful to embrace a body cultivation technique that enhances your physique as well as your incredible speed and inhuman reflexes.”

  She shrugged, unconcerned. “I am what I am, Alex, with the same blessings and limitations of my father. I’ll never be some monster who can bend steel with his hand, or laugh off a sword slash, even a mortal’s.”

  Alex winced at her solemn straightforwardness. “You’re right, I… sorry, I was acting like you had full control over your body’s strengths. As if you could deliberately choose where to place your character points… I mean, fine-tune your specific path of cultivation, to focus on musculature or speed, or whatever trait you wanted to level-up. I mean, improve.”

  She smirked. “Which no one can do. All we can do is maximize our strengths and shore up our weaknesses as best we can. But don’t worry about me. I’m stronger than I look. Much stronger.” She winked. “I just don’t have toughened flesh that can laugh off… well, kicking a force ward too hard.

  Alex chuckled. “That’s simply a matter of training up your Golden Realms kung fu skill,” he said.

  She eyed him thoughtfully for a long moment. “Teach me?”

  Alex blinked, taking in the tall, coltish cultivator with her sleek, athletic torso and powerful thighs. She flushed under his regard but gazed boldly back at him as he took in her short-skirted cheongsam worn over cotton leggings that ended at her calves. It was a combination he had seen more than a few martially focused female cultivators wearing, and was no doubt far more practical than an ankle-length dress for a girl used to cooking and racing through the college.

  She arched a smile. “Like what you see?” Soft brown eyes met his fearlessly, for all that her cheeks flushed as scarlet as Alex felt his own becoming.

  He coughed and cleared his throat. “Very much,” he admitted with a smile. “Reminding me yet again of the price I paid for daring to follow the path I have.”

  She tilted her head. “I think you told me that once before. Were you serious? Or just, well… helping me save face?”

  “Very serious.”

  She furrowed her brow. “Most forbidden paths are forbidden for reasons other than, well, chastity. Are you sure you’re not having me on?”

  Alex winked. “Cultivator’s Oath not to tell anyone?”

  She chuckled. “Of course.”

  “Silver Swan.”

  Her smile froze upon her lips. “Alex…” Her brow furrowed. “Did you get that name from the plays down in the city? Tales of kings and emperors and their maiden assassins? According to the stories I’ve read in the library downstairs, that’s a forbidden art, practiced only by the emperor’s virgin concubines before he claimed them. It’s how the earliest Jade emperor ensured his future mistresses would be pure before coming to his bed. And those stories were dark, cruel. No matter how many enemies one of his chosen girls killed for him, if she should weaken and sicken, he would assume she had betrayed him and have her executed. And it was only a matter of time before he himself claimed them for his bed. Even then, most of the girls he chose were forever debilitated, no longer fit to serve in any capacity save as his bed warmer.”

  Alex winced. “That is pretty dark.”

  Her gaze hardened. “It gets worse. Once he impregnated them, the children, always boys in the stories, would be born strong and healthy, thriving as the birth mother wasted away and died by the child’s first birthday. Our supposed first emperor went through half a dozen concubines like this until he finally claimed a girl who did not falter or become incapacitated after sharing his bed, and she went on to bear him three healthy children.” She frowned thoughtfully. “Kuia Jie was her name in the stories, and she became his first wife and eventually achieved Gold, a general in her own right, who led the armies that helped forge the Golden Empire as we know it today, later ruled by her firstborn son.”

  She flashed a bleak smile. “Of course, that was only after Kuia Jie had arranged for the deaths of all the other would-be heirs, within months of our glorious first emperor’s own untimely demise.”

  Alex winced, all too easily imagining Hao Chan suffering a similar fate to the girls who had died so young. If the two of them had shown just an ounce less willpower than they’d had, if they had given in to their hungers even once... how close they had come to inevitable peril that went far beyond a mere weakening of their cultivation bases?

  “Save for the concubine who became his wife, that doesn’t sound like the happiest of tales.”

  Liqin snorted. “Come now, Alex. What play or story doesn’t have a tragic ending of one sort or another?”

  He blinked in surprise. “Are tragic endings a thing here?”

  Her gaze turned curious. “Is it different where you’re from? Do legends actually have happy endings like a merchant bragging about his exploits?”

  Alex couldn’t help laughing at that. “As a matter of fact, yes. I prefer stories with happier endings, myself.”

  The animated girl smirked. “That’s what life is for. Stories are a moment’s distraction, a bit of wistful reverie before the bitter pulls you free of fantasy’s seductive embrace, hopefully with a bit of wisdom to better your own life, and gratitude for the health and happiness that is your own.”

  “That’s one way of looking at it,” Alex said with a smile. “And I don’t blame anyone for trying to instill a bit of wisdom in their tale, or seeking to inspire a reader, or an audience, to appreciate their own lives that much more. But if you ask me, there’s nothing at all wrong with a happy ending.”

  Undeterred, her gaze intensified. “So why are you telling me stories, Alex? I’m not such a fool as to think any man could master a
woman’s—”

  Blackswan!

  3 Qi expended! Saving throw versus meridian strain made!

  You have ruptured Bronze Wards! You have obliterated your target!

  Liqin stared for long moments at the mannequin that had just exploded in a shower of kindling with Alex’s deadly whipping heel kick, wards effortlessly pierced by his Silver-ranked killing blow. The cutting edge of the built-up pressure wave of Qi had cleaved the mannequin’s force-hardened frame as his leg blasted through the enchanted wood with the force and fury of a tsunami.

  The result became that the entire room was filled with slivers of wood only now settling to the ground. Alex sucked in a deep, shuddering breath, realizing he was being an idiot, but he was unable to keep from grinning at Liqin’s horrified expression.

  “You were saying?”

  Her mouth opened and closed several times. “You shouldn’t… I could feel that ward when I kicked it. It was like steel! And you’re only… what are you?”

  He shrugged. “Someone burdened with a forbidden art. Which makes life really tough sometimes, especially when incredibly pretty girls are smiling at you when you wake up beside them, and you just know that if you give in to your hunger, you’ll end up just as wan and weak as all the girls in your Emperor’s tale.”

  Qirin blinked in astonishment at the honesty in his tone. “You were serious.”

  Alex nodded solemnly. “I was.”

  “But…how?”

  He smirked, unwilling to divulge too many of his secrets. “That’s a long story, and hopefully one that will be spared a tragic ending. But considering the fact that the librarian enjoyed playing a prank on me and that the Silver floor guardians have made it exceedingly clear that a Ruidian will not be tolerated within their sights, my tale has taken an unexpected turn for the worse, no matter how enlightened Baidushi might be regarding guests of unusual origins.”

  But his words hardly seemed to register, as Liqin continued to stare at the splinters coating the floor. “You completely destroyed that mannequin. And the way you moved with that whipping kick… most men can’t twist themselves around like that.”