Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Reborn: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 1

by M. H. Johnson

  “Now!”

  And before Master Liu could do more than blink, Alex’s dull training blade was unsheathed and plunging for the man’s sternum before Alex found himself tumbling through the air as the man hip-tossed him effortlessly before yanking Alex’s arm sharply back, disarming him, Liu’s own blade now kissing Alex’s neck.

  “Well done, boy. You can draw your blade when your spear’s lost and you’re in the crush of combat. Now let’s teach you how to use it! And your fist and feet as well.”

  And the next few days became an exercise in pain, exhaustion, and perseverance as Alex learned how to feint, weave, and strike with blinding speed with his short blade even as his reinforced gauntlet sought to catch and bind his foe’s weapon for just long enough for Alex to slash vulnerable wrists, or lunge for the kill.

  It seemed Liu Li's intensive two month's training regimen had but served to lay the most basic of foundations upon which Master Liu was determined to plant a fortress of combat prowess upon, showing neither mercy nor lenience, no matter how Alex's muscles cried out with exhaustion. He would merely snort and pause when Alex finally collapsed, allowing him a few precious moments to recover his stamina using his Dual Path Cultivation Technique which, thanks to its incredible efficiency and the massive blockages of Qi he was still processing, flooded him with Qi that washed away fatigue in very short order.

  Nonetheless, every time he found his legs kicked out from under him, or was sent flying through the air as his mentor tossed him through any one of a dozen techniques, he was reminded that though clinching cultivators might be frowned upon, flipping your opponent through the air or spin-kicking his legs out from under him was apparently more than acceptable, leaving them instantly vulnerable to a Qi-enhanced blow, no choke-hold or arm-bar needed.

  And of course, as Liu Jian was quick to remind Alex, he had best prepare for choke-holds as well, for every killing art was sanctioned in warfare.

  "It is only during temple duels that you need to resist the impulse to grapple and choke your opponent out or snap their joints," his mentor reminded him as a dizzy Alex picked himself up yet again, his head still ringing with the spinning heel kick that would have no doubt killed the younger, weaker version of Alex. But of course, Master Liu's Silver rank and years as a Dragon Temple instructor meant he knew exactly how far he could push his student.

  “Now let’s try that again!”

  And this time when the older man lunged with his gladius, Alex was ready, slamming down with his gauntleted hand to trap the blade as he stepped forward, twisting his hips for explosive power, his blade not going in for a powerful low thrust designed to plunge in the gap between lamellar hauberk and quilted trousers, where Master Liu's own battle gauntlet lay ready to snatch his own blade like a serpent's head a mouse, but rather pommel first, Alex's arm whipping downward in a vicious hammer-strike against the older man's bronze helmet, denting the metal with a sharp crack before slamming forward, well-trained hands moving as fast as lightning, and it was suddenly Alex's blade against the surprised older man's neck.

  Alex blinked as the pair froze, and Alex was filled with a sudden terrible foreboding as ice-cold eyes took his measure. Before suddenly crinkling in a smile, the first nod of approval Alex had seen from the man on the training field in quite some time. "Well done, Alex. Well done. I think you're finally ready to learn how to focus and use your Qi!"

  And Master Liu’s demeanor became twice as hard from that day onward as Alex did his utmost to sense the silver-white flow of Qi itself, gently infusing his body from his opened meridian gates.

  The first technique Alex was to master involved a short, incredibly powerful lunge that would, for a split second, hit as hard as a charging knight’s lance, smashing all defenses aside.

  He held his ji in his hands once more, dusty and grimy from the dozens of times he had dropped it, or he himself had stumbled over, trying to master the herculean task of directing the wild surge of power that was his Qi being corralled to specific purpose for the first time in Alex’s life.

  And he was already exhausted, having to spend a good number of minutes after every handful of practice lunges regaining the spiritual energy needed to continue.

  “Focus on the energy flowing through you, Alex. Can you feel it? Can you sense the flow of power from your meridians infusing your body?”

  “Yes, Master Liu," Alex said, voice ragged, pushing himself beyond exhaustion, infected with a bone-weary fatigue beyond what ten minute meditation sessions could restore.

  The old man snorted. “You’ve been saying that all day, Alex.”

  Which was true. But it didn't stop the small, exhausted smile from slipping free. For in that moment, at the height of his weariness and hours of increasingly brutal training, he had felt it, for just the barest heartbeat, when he had last lunged forward.

  Before the insight had fled him, his balance and movements slipping from transcendent to mundane once more, the sudden acceleration causing him to lurch forward, off-balance, falling on his face.

  And as humiliating as the constant failure was, something had changed.

  That flash of insight from before was now a steady awareness that had incorporated itself in his stance, balance, and movements. When next Liu Jian would give the word…

  “Now!”

  Adderstrike! Alex roared in his own mind as he blasted off his back foot, blunted ji head slamming into the padded wooden stump of a target with such speed and force that the crack of splitting wood could clearly be heard.

  Alex blinked, gazing at his weapon. Both the sharpened steel spearhead and the top quarter of the crescent axe heads had torn right through the padding, biting deep into the wood beyond.

  For a heartbeat, Alex was afraid his wrists or the wooden shaft might have shattered.

  But apparently one of the advantages of achieving Rank 3 with all the weapons his mentors had insisted he train with meant that he and the weapon were one when they fought, at least when it came to the flow of Qi.

  Master Liu gazed at Alex for long moments before chuckling softly. “I was wondering why it took you so damn long to master the very basics, with all the promise your absurdly large meridians hinted at. I guess all your potential translated into ridiculous power, with very little in the way spared for finesse.”

  Alex grimaced. “Thanks. I think.” Talk about backhanded compliments.

  The man snorted. “I’d make you pry it out to teach you a lesson in humility, but that would be counterproductive. It’s good that you learn to master your Qi techniques to the utmost, striking with every ounce of power you have, so as to utterly crush your foes." He glared at Alex's hip. "And that's why you should always have a backup weapon in hand. For when your ji or spear is completely wedged in a fallen cultivator, no one will give you time to trounce back home for a second one if you're in the middle of a war!"

  Alex grimaced and swallowed. He had taken off pretty much everything but his padded gambeson and ji, focusing only on mastering the basics before trying to do it kitted up in full gear. And Master Liu hadn’t said a thing about it before.

  “Good. At least I see you have some potential." Hard eyes crackled into his own. His mentor flashed a sadistic smile. "Now I want to see you repeat that feat one hundred times before another morsel of food passes your lips."

  Alex’s eyes widened. “Master Liu!”

  “Do you think you always get to fight, well-rested and with a full belly? Do you think you can rely on techniques you haven’t mastered as thoroughly as breathing? Techniques you would bet your life on?” He chuckled coldly. “Hate me all you like, boy. Only grateful praise will leave your lips when you whisper my name after your first taste of war, baptized in blood, fighting for your life against entire regiments that would see you and all your fellows dead!” He gave a hard nod. “As has every disciple I ever deigned to teach before you.”

  He then flashed Alex a sympathetic smile. "But only a fool pushes his tool to the breaking point. Rest a
s you need it. Rest, sleep, cultivate, and drink all the water you like. It is only the gnawing of your belly that I insist you endure. A torment to remind you of your peril, death slowly creeping, should you fail to master this skill. Should you fail to strengthen yourself in the crucible of perfection!”

  He chuckled coldly. “And with your improved Vitality and the meat now on your bones, you can survive for many months without food, boy. Just add salt to your water, and you can fight without dizziness as well.”

  And Alex could only bow his head, the next handful of days lost in a daze of deepest cultivation, exhaustive training, and sleep. For all that it was brutal, and the gnawing in his belly was painful by the second day, by the third his hunger had faded entirely, and by the fourth day he could summon the flood of Qi needed to catalyze his Adderstrike just as quickly as he could lunge with his fangtian ji.

  And for this accomplishment, his master did but give him a wry half-smile, now demanding he repeat the same feat with every other weapon he was proficient with, just as soon as he had finished the feast now before him. Alex sighed, though he delighted in Liu Li’s teasing grin, always doing her best to lighten Alex’s burden with gentle chatter whenever they ate together, as rare as that had become.

  It broke his heart, seeing how weak and wan she still appeared, for all that it filled him with a fierce sense of satisfaction and somehow simultaneously, the deepest and humblest gratitude just to see her alive and on the mend, her jade green eyes promising his heart she was getting better every day.

  “You are indeed, my daughter," her father would assure. "Your meridians are already at 50% of what they once were. Once you have exceeded 100%, then and only then will I have you teach by my side. Perhaps, between the two of us, we can make something of this wayward student."

  Alex could only sigh and gaze at his food as the dining table rang with Liu Li’s gentle laughter. “I’m sure he’s not that hopeless, Father. He’s already mastered Adderstrike with fangtian ji, long spear, and gladius. When he can use it with his fists and feet, he might actually be worth all the effort you’ve poured into him.”

  “Not likely,” her father snorted, digging into the plentiful spirit beast game they had caught, the one tiny blessing in the midst of the tragic encounter that had almost killed them, all of it perfectly preserved in Alex’s ring. “But at least seeing him fall on his face is mildly amusing.”

  Alex smirked. He was increasingly certain that the alchemist was incapable of giving praise free of any critique on the training ring.

  Of course, when it came to Alchemy, it was a different story.

  When he had first entered the laboratory, eyes widening at the display of alembics, crucibles, and distillers, the entire laboratory filled with flasks and beakers and exotic tubing, he had been blown away. It was as if a 19th-century mad scientist's lab had somehow been fused with the most luxuriously equipped of apothecary imaginable to create the marvel before him.

  And the hard taskmaster that trained him mercilessly from the crack of dawn to noon every day was gone, replaced by a genial master eager to teach Alex all he could, and dutifully impressed by Alex's ability to master almost any alchemical formula he was taught. Of course, Alex might understand the quantities and potencies of ingredients involved, and the reasons behind the methodological processes. He might even appreciate how distillation and trituration would intensify the potency and efficacy of the final product, but one crucial gift he lacked, that made all the difference between a gifted apothecary and a genuine alchemist, involved the ability to harness and manipulate the flow of Qi to further enhance or tap into the properties of magical ingredients.

  But as impressed as Liu Jian seemed to be, as diligently as Alex sought to master every tidbit of craft and lore his mentor threw at him, there was one major roadblock he couldn’t seem to pass.

  A sympathetic sigh and a soft pat on the shoulders greeted Alex’s frustrated attempts to mirror Master Liu’s Basic Cultivation pills.

  “You’ve done a fine job, Alex. As good as I could hope for. The quantities are perfect, the active components exquisite in their purity. You have prepped the ingredients more thoroughly than any laboratory assistant I’ve ever had before.”

  Alex gave a rueful chuckle. “Save for my inability to infuse it with Qi of my own, of course.”

  The older man glared. "What you have done is beyond remarkable, especially for one who is still a basic cultivator! You have no elemental affinities as of yet. We can only hope they will include Fire, Earth, and Metal, as rare and priceless a combination as that would be. And even if those affinities never blossom, for all that I hope continuous exposure might influence your potential, there is still no cause for despair!

  "For an assistant as skilled in purifying and refining basic ingredients as you are, able to make masterwork-quality tinctures and poisons, even the most prestigious of alchemists would consider himself extremely fortunate to have an assistant as talented as you are. They would be more than willing to pay you a generous stipend in gold that would leave many lesser merchants green with envy, and far more than any craftsman who was not already a cultivator could hope to earn in a lifetime!”

  Alex swallowed, bowing his head. “Of course you are right, Master. This one apologizes.”

  The old man snorted. “And false humility in the laboratory isn’t going to change your sentence on the training grounds, Alex.” Intent eyes blazed into his own. “I have already seen what you are capable of, boy! Rare as it is that a warrior could achieve such before being well into the Bronze… my sentence still stands. You’re permitted to eat your fill of victuals tonight in celebration of your latest step on the path to mastery, but not a bite more until your fists can hit the target just as hard as your ji!”

  Alex paled.

  The old man flashed a grin that had no place in the fatherly atmosphere he normally projected in his lab. “And after you accomplish that and regain your strength? I’m expecting the same with your shins!”

  Alex blinked. “Like a freakin’ Muay Thai master… next you’ll be wanting my elbows and heels just as strong.”

  The old man's grin widened. "What an excellent idea. I approve."

  Alex winced, bowing his head. "This foolish one will leave the apothecary then and begin his training. I will return when I have accomplished the first of those steps."

  The older man's eyes widened. "But you're permitted to eat your fill today, Alex, and you're doing wonderfully, here in the lab."

  Alex smirked. “I already stuffed myself once today. And every hour I'm in here and not practicing on the training ground is one more hour I don't eat tomorrow.”

  The old man sighed. “You need time to rest your brain, Alex, and the change of pace is good for you. But, ultimately, you’re right. This is your trial. You must overcome it in the way you see fit.”

  Alex tilted his head. “Can I ask a frank question?”

  His mentor nodded.

  “Why are you so gracious to me in here, and so, well… ruthless to me on the training grounds?”

  Liu Jian actually smiled. “Because you’re a brilliant compounder, Alex, and I miss teaching gifted students the most sacred of all Cultivation arts. And because you truly are like a lost nephew, I am grateful to be able to take under my wing.”

  His gentle gaze hardened. “And because on the battlefield, there is neither love nor mercy. Only the killing hatred of all those men who have trained longer than you. Harder than you. Who have forged their bitterness into a deadly honed blade capable of cleaving your head from your shoulders and ending all of your dreams with a single stroke. Because I will not let weakness or softness spare you lessons that will give you the strength to survive masters far crueler than me, Alex! Because the master who will take over my reins if I dare let up for even a minute is Death himself! Do you understand?"

  Alex paled, bowing from the waist. “Thank you, Master Liu. Please forgive my ignorance.”

  Chilled by his mentor’s word
s, he increased his training regimen evermore, taking hard satisfaction both when his Dual Path Purification technique reached 94% and when his left fist could slam into the padded target so powerfully it left massive indentations, Alex coming ever closer to mastering the use of Adderstrike in every context imaginable, only now appreciating its ability to make the weapon in use temporarily invulnerable even as it blasted through all resistance.

  He chuckled ruefully, gazing at his presently wrapped right hand. His constant cultivation, increased Vitality, and Master Liu's infused liniments assuring that the bones should be completely healed within a day, the limb sturdy enough for further training within two.

  He sighed, grateful that at least his master had seen fit to provide a target of sand and clay for the first steps towards training his other limbs.

  Pausing only to stretch and limber his lower body, Alex then proceeded to slam the second target with his left leg, girding his Qi and resolve before summoning Adderstrike once more, hissing as the burst of power took him of balance, his shin aching with the crack of flesh against padding and clay.

  He didn’t let the pain deter him, focusing only on mastering this technique with the most basic of kicks, mentally visualizing it as if his limb were a spear, and he determined to smash through all resistance.

  He continued to train, even when his flesh was bruised and bleeding, pausing only to wrap both legs tight with medicinal liniments and extra padding, eager for the breakthrough that would allow him to use his shins as if they were weapons. For in those moments that his Qi would properly infuse his limbs, they would be impervious to damage.

  In other words, only through bitterly enduring the practice and arriving at the other side of mastery, would his pain finally come to an end.