Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior’s Path

by Johnson, M. H.

  Only to stumble and curse when Alex whipped around the man’s blind spot, flanking him with the fluid dancer’s grace he had learned by Hao Chan’s side, such that the stone shield was more a hindrance to the Earth cultivator than to him as he feinted with strikes to the head before punishing his foe with foot stomps and shin kicks, finding it almost effortless to weave past the now stumbling Earth cultivator’s increasingly desperate punches.

  “Wu Ta! Watch your flank! Force him back and pound him dead!” roared someone in the crowd.

  Wu Ta scowled as he struggled to control the center between them, clearly intending to do just that.

  But Alex just smiled when Wu Ta lashed out with his shield before whipping around with a spinning backhand infused with a massive amount of Earth Qi, no doubt seeking to catch Alex off-guard.

  Soul Sight skill check made!

  Catching only air, the Adept cried out when his shield was suddenly yanked offline with strength far beyond what Alex should have been capable of, a right cross snapping around to pound into the cultivator’s temple. Wu Ta groaned and fell to one knee as a shockwave of Water and Steel Qi slammed into his skull with devastating force, for Alex channeled not just his own strength, but the power of a mighty river flooding its banks, and the swirling storm of Qi around them all.

  Had Alex channeled Black Swan with that blow, he would have instantly shattered all wards and ruptured the man’s meridians as well, perhaps crippling his ability to channel Qi entirely, without the aid of a spirit doctor. Of course, Wu Ta’s head would have exploded in a shower of blood and gore, killing him instantly.

  Which would have been a waste, as far as Alex was concerned. Not only of a life, but of a chance to continue forging himself in the fires of conflict, learning how to best overcome cultivators with affinities most likely to imperil practitioners of his own forbidden art.

  So Alex stepped back and smiled to the hisses and groans of the crowd, allowing a dizzy Wu Ta a moment’s reprieve as he caught his breath and called Alex a fool.

  “You think to mock me, aping a nobleman’s grace? I was holding back before, Ruidian scum. Now I will truly make you pay!”

  To his credit, Wu Ta did indeed know at least a few impressive Earth techniques. A massive stone club whipped through the air where a smiling Alex had stood just moments before, yet he was never quite where his lumbering foe expected him to be, seeming to disappear before an ever more desperate Wu Ta. The livid cultivator was kept perpetually off balance, his shield continuing to prove more hindrance than help when Alex used his own defenses against him, jerking the shield with the strength of the encompassing storm of Qi to force his foes’ attacks off-target. And all the while Alex’s own low angle kicks pounded into bruised and battered thighs that now trembled under Wu Ta’s own weight, foot stomps slamming down upon feet whose granite resistance could only endure so much of the storm’s incessant fury before they eventually began to bones began to splinter and break, corroding like the strongest obelisks perpetually exposed to the pounding waves of the sea.

  Until at last, just like those ancient obelisks, the Adept finally collapsed. Wu Ta was then forced to endure blow after blow from fists infused with Water and Steel, shattering jaw, eye socket, knees, and ribs.

  For Alex had taken his measure in full, and now could feel his opponent’s desperate surges of Qi, ever more broken and erratic, as if they were his own.

  Vindicated, Alex couldn’t help but smile fiercely, even surrounded by enemies who were being curtailed only by a single oath. He reveled in being able to strike at full force, using the unified power of sky and sea to break the powerful man before him, like crashing waves wearing down even the stoutest granite ridge, until at last Wu Ta collapsed, heaving in exhaustion with bitter tears streaming from his battered face as he conceded defeat.

  “You have bested me, you damned Ruidian. The match is yours!” The broken words were rendered near incomprehensible, thanks to shattered jaw and broken teeth, but his interface denied Alex the luxury of self-deception.

  Alex froze in that instant, glaring down at his gasping enemy, only a heartbeat from unleashing a lethal axe kick upon the battered cultivator that would have ended the match as decisively as death itself. And for a single furious heartbeat, high on blood and battle, Alex wanted nothing more than to give in to that terrible hunger and savor Wu Ta’s final moments of despair before destroying him utterly.

  Instead, he slowly lowered his leg and nodded, taking advantage of the momentary lull. “I accept your surrender.”

  But his opponent was paying no attention, curling up in a ball and groaning as the extent of his injuries were quickly made apparent when Bang Jiao rushed to the man’s side. The master’s probing fingers elicited involuntary cries as the man frowned and gently touched multiple areas, turning to glare at Alex before addressing the students now in the Red Prince’s favor. “Organs have been ruptured, and his Stone Fist has deteriorated to a child’s blow.” Unyielding eyes promised Alex that there would be a price to pay, before glaring at a pair of anxious-looking students. “I have already expended more energy and resources than I should have, healing three young fools too stupid to dodge daggers of ice. You two, grab a stretcher and head to the Blue Pagoda right away!”

  Bang Jiao’s glare transformed to an oddly approving smile as he lowered his head an infinitesimal notch. “So many clever tricks from the maelstrom of chaos in our midst. It appears our master was right about you.” He barked a harsh chuckle. “But if you think your petty triumphs here are any match for what’s in store for you—“

  Power Healing complete!

  “Hold that thought,” Alex said with a raised hand, Qi Perception immediately alerting him to the frantically departing Metal Adept, his legs flashing with a metallic sheen as he sprinted away, clearly desperate to avoid Alex at all costs.

  You have successfully chained Bullrush five times!

  Finesse check made!

  Yet it was the fiercely smiling Metal Adept who spun around in an eyeblink, his triple-sigiled Bronze talisman slamming into Alex’s own, the cultivator’s instantaneous challenge still ringing in his ears when the first blow was struck.

  “I challenge you to a fight to death without restriction! The stakes being absolutely everything either of us have ever laid claim to!”

  Alex’s talisman paled exactly as Alex had known it would, confirming that now there could be no reprieve. Death alone would decide the outcome of this battle, so death it would be.

  The adept was fast, Alex had to give him credit for that, not bothering with anything fancy as he summoned a basic Metal ward in the form of a physical shield instantly manifesting as he unsheathed a vibrating jian radiating Metal Qi. A Silver tier artifact that Alex was almost certain could cleave his head off as easily as slicing through warm butter.

  The Adept was fast, Alex had to give him credit for that, not bothering with anything fancy as he manifested his gleaming basic Metal ward in the form of a physical shield before lashing out with a vibrating blade unsheathed in the blink of an eye that a desperately backpedaling Alex was almost certain could have cut his head off.

  Alex did his best to center himself and exist only in the moment as he fought for his life against a deadly fast cultivator wielding a Silver tier treasure that would cut through mortal armor like it wasn’t even there.

  Unified martial arts skill check made! All Golden Realms, White Crane, and Silver Swan modifiers are in effect!

  “You’re dead, Ruidian!” hissed the incensed cultivator, and Alex could tell by the twisted smile that this savvy opponent had been embracing the oldest trick in the book, leading Alex on a chase and feigning weakness despite his strength, waiting for him to over-commit, just like the ancient Roman Legionnaires had once done to Alex’s Scandinavian ancestors.

  But unlike his ancestors, Alex’s limbs were sheathed in Dark Qi that rang like a gong when struck by the deadly vorpal weapon, which meant he barely registered the sting of his nose b
eing sliced open, thanks to Dark Qi gauntlets he braced just the slightest bit off-center before… there!

  Find Weakness skill check made!

  In a heartbeat, it was over, his foe not even realizing his time had come to an end when Alex abruptly seized the blade that clanged against his obsidian plating and lashed out with a spear hand strike with the same deadly grace his former dark mentors had instilled in him over countless nighttime training sessions, crushing the man’s trachea in the blink of an eye.

  You have critically struck your opponent!

  Duo Ku chuckled coldly into the horrified silence as the Metal Adept collapsed with a choking gurgle. Feet kicking the ground as his hands gripped his throat, the cultivator’s eyes bulged like a dying fish as he gulped for air that wouldn’t come. “I didn’t think that maggot had it in him.”

  Alex was grateful for the endless moment of shocked disbelief.

  “Zha Shi! Pour this down his throat and get him to the Blue Pagoda immediately! You and you, accompany him!” roared an apoplectic Bang Jiao, no longer cloaking his ire in bemused contempt, his killing aura finally bared for the entire horrified class to see. “You monster, that you would dare murder one of your instructors! You will be hunted down for this!”

  “If you fools interfere with this fight before it’s ended, it’s you who’ll pay the price. Not me,” Alex declared to a rapidly approaching Zha Shi and his assistants who froze at those words, even as their eyes promised Alex a horrible death.

  Alex then turned to face his former mentor. “If you’ll recall, ‘Master’ Bang Jiao, the fool on the ground was the one who forced the death match on me. With no room for mercy or submission. And my talisman accepted.”

  Qi Perception check made. Artificer skill check successful! His eyes grew icy as he stood over the clearly dying man, tapping their talismans together and tearing free the dying man’s belt pouch before indulging in a pleased laugh when he sensed the prizes hidden within. Nor did he hesitate to grab and store the Silver tier jian radiating such potent Metal Qi before tearing open the dying man’s sparring gi, happy to find and claim an additional small pouch secured to drawstrings under the man’s left armpit, grinning like a madman when he sensed the vast wealth it contained.

  Only then did he step away with a pitiless smile. “Without aid, he is a dead man. My talisman considers the fight ended. What you do with his dying body is no longer my concern.”

  Unfazed, Alex moved aside for the murderous-looking Zha Shi, and his hunch was proven correct. Despite his attempts at intimidation, trying to pin Alex with his killing aura, even that man hadn’t dared force Alex aside. Not when there remained the slightest chance that the talismans that bound this whole school considered the fight still in play.

  The look on Bang Jiao’s face made it clear he’d love nothing more than to see Alex die in the ring. And yet it did nothing to slow Alex’s stride, refusing to break eye contact as he approached the wiry cultivator, whose tiny crows-feet, in contrast to his sleekly muscled frame, gave hints of centuries too long deferred.

  Alex could feel Bang Jiao’s lethal aura washing over him in waves. It was nothing for him to cut through it with his own icy disdain, smiling coldly when the man he would have called mentor blanched and stepped back with a glower.

  “I could kill you effortlessly,” Bang Jiao hissed.

  Alex nodded. “Probably. But if you make one mistake, I’ll tear free your soul faster than you can blink, then kick you straight down to hell.”

  This earned shocked gasps from the remaining onlookers, his former mentor’s face shifting from shock to humiliation, then outrage. “You would dare to threaten me?” roared Bang Jiao.

  Alex folded his arms, tilting his head, limbs still sheathed in Dark Qi. “Ready to break your oath already?” He shot the seething elder a bleak smile. “Then maybe my odds won’t be so bad after all.”

  The remaining students who had sworn to follow the Prince’s crimson banner eyed Alex with feigned contempt and disdain, but Alex was almost certain he sensed an undercurrent of excited glee as well. That one of their number would actually have the gall to mouth off to the masters who had effectively forced the most unfortunate of choices upon them, meant that even if they hated Alex, for that one priceless moment, they wanted nothing more than to be him as well.

  With what seemed a herculean effort, the cultivator’s face was suddenly free of all wrath, all emotion save wry contempt. “Time is ticking, Alex. And how deeply I am looking forward to the end of the hour.” Bang Jiao flashed a deadly smile. “And I fear that there is absolutely nowhere you can run to, no place you can go, that your enemies won’t find you.”

  Alex smirked, then turned around and ignored Bang Jiao completely.

  He immediately caught Tie Tan’s gaze, the Wood Adept watching Alex with his tightly clenched jaw, unable to control the tremble in his limbs.

  For all that Alex burned with bitter hate for this whole damned corrupt school, in that moment, he couldn’t help feeling a certain appreciation for the man, who, despite his arrogant contempt, felt a love for the forest as deep and reverential as his own. It was an irrevocable truth he knew just as deeply as he understood how the man moved and fought, Soul Sight revealing so many insights when they had last sparred in the ring.

  So, when Alex’s talisman caressed his soon-to-be opponent’s, he did not strike when Tie Tan took one step back and bowed his head. “I concede the match.”

  Alex dipped his head, showing no emotion, even as the students behind him hissed and jeered.

  “Fine. I accept. Keep your purse, I don’t want it.”

  The man’s eyes widened, giving a quick nod before backing away, pointedly not looking Bang Jiao’s way.

  But Alex did, gazing with derision at the cold-eyed cultivator who had ultimately proven himself absolutely nothing like the cynical yet honorable Panheu.

  Elder Panheu might have profited off Alex’s struggles, but his former mentor had taken pride in his victories as well, treating him like a long-lost nephew even while using him unmercifully.

  Whereas this pathetic excuse for an instructor had been all too happy to sell out scores of youths who had been counting on him for leadership, counsel, instruction, and to keep their best interests at heart.

  In that moment, Alex pitied the ruby-wearing students whom he realized were guilty of nothing more than assuring their own survival as best they knew how.

  But all he had for Bang Jiao was absolute contempt, now seeing him for what he truly was. A pathetic cowardly cockroach willing to sell out an entire class of trusting students, if it assured his own survival.

  “I’m afraid you’re going to have to hold off on your murderous fantasies for a bit longer, you pathetic excuse for an instructor,” Alex said with a smile that was all teeth, holding out his hand.

  Bang Jiao’s eyes practically bulged out of his head. “What? How dare you—“

  “Victor’s Talisman. Now.”

  Everyone froze at that moment, realizing that what might have been meant in jest, an almost mocking impossibility, was now a truth forged in the crucible of battle.

  How smug Bang Jiao had looked, promising a Victor’s Talisman and the right to compete in the vaunted trials to come later this year, should anyone actually be able to master their techniques better than the Adepts who would be competing themselves.

  It had been Alex who had suggested that perhaps an exception could be made, if any one of them actually managed to defeat all five instructors.

  How smug they had all looked, with snickers in the background, readily agreeing to the jest.

  And now here Alex was, smiling mercilessly over the broken bodies of his enemies, demanding the prize which his former instructor was now forced to surrender.

  “By Long Wang’s beard, he played us all from the start!” hissed one student to several others, earning animated whispers and nods of agreement. Alex carefully refrained from looking their way as a crimson-faced Bang Jiao squeezed t
he pearlescent Victor’s Talisman in a trembling fist, barely able to contain his wrath.

  “Just give him the damned thing,” Duo Ku, of all people, said. “He’s goading you into rupturing your own foundation. It’s his only chance of survival, because you and I both know he’ll be dead long before the Destined are formally admitted and the true semester begins.”

  Shockingly, it was none other than the fearsomely powerful Spirit Wolf who delivered the prize, looming over Alex so abruptly that he had barely caught the movement. The giant began squeezing Alex’s wrist with such exquisite control it couldn’t even be called injury, slowly placing the shimmering Victor’s Talisman in Alex’s unresisting hand.

  His teeth widened in a feral grin as he tapped Alex’s cheek. “You’ve been holding back, Ruidian. Hiding so many delicious secrets, so many deadly techniques, and lulling us all like fools, before seizing the dice and claiming your prize.” He paused, giving an almost friendly nod. “I can respect that, worm. And if you actually manage to survive till nightfall, you’ll prove yourself far more capable than most spies, and have a tool at your disposal that your master might actually find useful.”

  His mocking tone hardened. “You now have less than half a glass to live, Ruidian. Best you make the most of it.”

  And before Alex could protest, the inhumanely fast monster, whose Silver-ranked Speed and Strength could shatter Alex’s skull in an eyeblink, flashed a too-wide smile promising death as he dipped his head in mock respect.

  “An interesting first round, worm. I eagerly await the next.”

  Alex kept his head high as he made his way back to his pagoda, even finding it within himself to smile at Bang Jiao’s homicidal glare. “This aspirant is grateful for your thoughtful instruction. I feel enriched by your wisdom in countless ways,” he said, juggling the pouches and talisman he had claimed, finding the man’s look of insensate fury every bit as satisfying as it was terrifying before turning his back on so many pairs of glaring eyes as he gave them all a final derisive chuckle before entering his sanctuary at last. Only then did he dare to show the weakness so close to crippling his soul, falling to his knees under the remembered weight of so many bloodthirsty glares.