“Uh huh,” Ash said. He wasn’t about to agree with her. He wasn’t naive enough to believe she was wrong, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to admit she was correct either.
“Want me to carry you?” Moira asked.
“No. Thank you, though. I just… kinda want to walk it off a bit.”
“I’m going to go hunt. I’ll bring you back a rabbit. Already killed, of course,” Moira said.
Ash waved a hand at her, not responding.
A strung gust of air from her wings made his hair flutter, and she was off and away.
“She’s not wrong. It was obvious they would have killed you.”
“Whatever. Don’t want to talk about it.”
“Did you think you would just… become a cultivator and not have to hurt anyone? Foolish.
“The Chosen One is very young and naive. Maybe I should have picked someone older?”
“Shut up,” Ash said, pressing his hands to his face.
“As the Chosen One likes.”
In complete thankful silence, Ash made it back to his camp. Sitting down in front of the fire pit, he sank into himself.
There wasn’t much he could do about his actions. He wasn’t foolish enough to believe this would be the last person he’d probably kill, either.
Locke was right.
This land was brutal, violent, and to the point. The people valued life as cheaply as what the person was worth dead or alive.
“And might makes right,” Ash muttered. “The strong dictate everything. If I hadn’t showed up, there’s really no guessing what they would have done to the girl.”
Shaking his head, he let himself drift deeper into his thoughts. It was a lot to take in.
***
“Ash?” called a voice from the entrance to the valley.
Shaking himself out of his thoughts and his own pity party for his loss of moral innocence, Ash lifted his head up.
He got to his feet with a frown and looked toward the only way in. When Moira came back, it would only be by air. There was no reason for her to be walking.
Unless something happened.
When Jia walked out from the brush that hid the entry, Ash was rather surprised. He hadn’t expected anyone to know he was here, let alone her.
How did she even find me? I’ve told no one of this place.
Awkwardly, Ash raised his hand and waved at her when her eyes fell on him.
She gave him a brief flash of a smile and started towards him.
“She’s at the extent of our ability to scan, but she’s alone,” Locke said. “She’s also significantly more powerful than she was previously.
“It is probable that she emptied her entire Dantian and started over with the cultivation technique you gave her.”
“And that made her more powerful?”
“The technique was listed as very high grade. As high as your own, if not a bit better.”
“So why didn’t I take it, then?”
“Because only women can use it.”
“Oh. That makes sense,” Ash murmured, nodding.
Ash locked into place, his thoughts coming to a screaming halt.
“We… gave her a cultivation that is only usable by women.”
“Yes.”
“While she’s pretending to be a man.”
“Yes.”
“Thereby admitting we know she’s a woman.”
“Yes.”
“Ah… good. Yes… great. Now I have to wonder if she’s here to kill me to protect that secret,” Ash mumbled.
“She would have killed you at lunch in her home, Chosen One, if she wanted to.
“Even without abilities, she would have believed she simply had more strength than you.”
“That… really doesn’t help.”
Ash could only wait for her to get to him. She didn’t seem in a hurry. In fact, to Ash, it almost seemed as if she was dreading getting closer to him.
She finally stopped about five feet in front of him. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she was dressed in a flowing, blue sleeved dress rather than her acolyte robe.
Now that she wasn’t trying to hide herself away, Ash couldn’t help but appreciate her figure.
She was slim and fit, but she did have some curve to her hips and chest. It wasn’t some of the made-for-movies type of thing like back in the good ol’ US of A, but it was definitely noteworthy.
Sighing, she tilted her head to one side, looking up at him. Watching her face as she did so, Ash was surprised to discover she was even wearing a touch of eye makeup.
“I assumed I might as well dress comfortably since it was obvious you were aware of what I was,” Jia said.
“Good choice. You look good in blue, and in a dress,” Ash said with a shrug of his shoulders.
Jia lifted one sleeved wrist and looked at herself.
“Thank you. I do not find myself wearing pretty clothes like this very often,” Jia said, letting her arm drop back to her side. “It is quite comfortable, if a bit odd to be stared at so directly.”
“Uh, sorry,” Ash said, looking away.
“I did not mean you, you s—” Jia stopped talking and clicked her tongue. “I wanted to discuss this situation with you. I do not know what your intentions are.
“Especially given how much in coin you would had to have spent to get me the presents you gave me.
“Those items would be worth many a woman’s dowry individually, let alone grouped together into a cohesive Dao.”
Ash shrugged, looking back to Jia. “Nothing really. I just… wanted you to do well in the examination. It always seemed important to you.”
“That is the extent of it?” Jia asked.
“Yeah. You always supported me. Why can’t I support you?” Ash asked.
“Because of the cost of what you gave me. It is simply too much,” Jia said, annunciating “cost” roughly. “It is something even a medium-level sect would have to expend a large number of favors to get their hands on, let alone have the ability to purchase. And you brought it over with lunch.”
Her eyes were wide open, her lips a flat line. She’d moved in much closer now and was only a foot away. Standing only an inch shorter than him, she was able to stare into his face.
She jabbed a finger into his chest. “Do I have to spell it out further for you?”
“I promise I earned it all fairly and at no one’s expense.”
“Even your own?”
“Huh? Yes, not even at my own expense.”
“Someone recently put a number of the… the transference papers with elements in them for sale at the auction house.
“Did you know that?” Jia asked.
Ash blinked, not quite able to keep up as the conversation changed speed on him.
“Uh, I had heard that, yeah.”
“I managed to get a glimpse of one. I wanted to see them. The auction house held them for half a day simply to display them,” Jia said, her eyes locked on his.
“Oh?” Ash managed to get out.
“She knows. Her heart rate has increased several-fold.”
Not helping, Locke. Not helping!
“Yes. The paper. The pattern. The ink. All were the same. As if the one I received from you was one of the same batch.”
Ash said nothing. Could say nothing.
Jia tilted her head slowly to the other side, watching him.
“I would almost suspect that you were the one who sold them as well,” Jia said. “Oh… did I mention I stopped by to see your parents? I thought you’d be there.”
Ash grimaced, and he knew where this was going next.
“Imagine my surprise to find out they were moving to a much nicer neighborhood. That your home was on the market, but that they’d already purchased a new home and moved in,” Jia said, her finger still pressed to Ash’s sternum.
“Uh huh,” Ash mumbled.
“You received no help from anyone? You called in no favors and made no deals?” Jia asked.
<
br /> Ash pressed a hand to his temple.
“None of that, no. I’m sorry, it’s just I—”
Jia smiled at him and lifted her hand up in front of his face.
“You need not explain. We all have our own secrets. I cannot complain at you for keeping your own, when I kept mine from you for so long. No?
“So long as you did nothing wrong, incurred no debt, and received no help, I am fine with it as it is.”
“She’s worried you sold her secret.”
Oh. I guess that kinda makes sense.
But then… wouldn’t that mean her secret was worth something? I honestly just thought it was because she wanted to be a man.
Crossdressing and gender roles weren’t as fluid here as they’d become back home.
But it wasn’t unheard of, either.
“I didn’t tell anyone. I mean, it seems a little weird to me, but I told no one, and don’t plan on telling anyone,” Ash said, trying to get to the heart of the problem.
Jia blinked, watching him.
“Weird? Weird how?” she asked him, her tone had an edge to it.
“You’re really pretty. Beautiful, even.
“Seems weird to dress like a man when you’re as pretty as you are,” Ash said immediately.
He couldn’t deny that he was definitely attracted to her on a physical level. There was no sense in lying about her looks.
Jia had a sour look on her face and lightly shoved him backward a step.
“Fine. I think it is time we sparred. I want to try out these abilities, and you are the only one I can work with. The moment everyone else learns about them, they will start developing ways to defend,” she said.
“Sparring?”
“Yes, sparring. Nothing special. Nothing surprising. Like we used to do every day together. This time, with abilities,” Jia said, walking several paces away from him and then settling into a stance he’d never seen her in.
“You’re in a dress, though.”
“You said I looked good in it. Do you dislike it now?” Jia asked, her mouth twitching up at the corners.
“No, it’s just going to take a little to get used to sparring with a pretty girl in a dress is all,” Ash said, moving into his own stance.
“Adapt quickly then,” Jia said with a bright smile, her wrist slithering forward in a weaving motion as Qi infused with Water-elemental Essence snaked out from her hand.
Really? Damn.
***
Dropping to the ground as he panted heavily, Ash wanted nothing to do with Jia anymore.
Demoness! Sadistic training demoness.
Jia plopped down next to him and then laid down on the grass.
“It has been a while since I worked that hard,” she said, resting her hands on her stomach.
“Bah. I always had to work this hard to keep up with you before my Dantian opened.
“This is nothing new,” Ash grumbled.
Jia didn’t immediately respond. Her eyes were unfocused as she stared up into the sky.
Then she started to chuckle to herself.
“I suppose you are right. You have indeed been training much harder than everyone else up to this point.
“Well, I suppose that is the goal until the examination. Training.”
“Uh huh. Though most of the participants will all be beginner ranks in body refining, right? I mean, there might be a few threes, but most will be twos, won’t they?”
Jia shrugged. “Every exam is different. There have been years where fours and fives have shown up.”
Night was settling over the valley quickly.
“Going to take you some time to get back. If you don’t go now and move quickly, you’ll get locked out of the city,” Ash said out of concern for her.
“You will not get rid of me so quickly. I plan on staying here,” Jia said, not moving.
“Oh, uh… did you… bring a tent or supplies or…”
Jia turned her head to face him and gave him a smile.
“Yeah, you can have the tent. Supplies are just on the other side. Make yourself at home,” Ash said to her unspoken response, realizing he’d already lost.
Jia laughed to herself and slowly got to her feet. She gave him a small wave and moved over to his tent. A heartbeat later and she was gone, the tent buttoned up tight.
Moira dropped down into the grass a minute later.
Her glowing eyes were locked to the tent.
“Is that your woman?” Moira asked.
Ash shook his head immediately.
“No, she’s a friend. What’s up, Moira? Were you waiting for her to leave?”
“Yes. It isn’t good to interfere when a possible pair are considering breeding. Or so it goes in my tribe,” Moira said. She squatted down next to the fire and threw two dead rabbits onto the stone slab that served as a flat-top.
“Clearly we’re not mating,” Ash said, waving a hand at the tent.
“Yes, though I think the chance is good that she has it in mind for a future time,” Moira said.
Both Ash and Moira fell silent as the rabbits sizzled and cooked.
Moira grunted, then took the rabbits directly off the stone and hung them from sticks further from the flame.
Well, that’ll take a lot longer to cook.
“You gave her abilities?” Moira asked, turning to Ash.
“You heard all that from where you were?”
“Yes. Did you give her abilities?”
“I guess you could call it that,” Ash said, sitting up on his elbows. Looking to the owl woman, he could feel the intensity of her gaze.
“I want my magic back. I can be more useful that way,” she said. “Give it to me.”
“I… have no idea how to do that? Magic isn’t used here in this veil. It’s Essence. Essence gets converted to Qi.”
“Then make it so I can use Essence,” Moira said, nodding her head sharply.
“I don’t even think that’s possible.”
“Ask the spirit you were speaking with earlier. They might know,” Moira said, nodding her head again.
Oh… she… probably did hear me talking to Locke, didn’t she?
“It’s doable but… it won’t be pretty.”
Ash frowned, looking to Moira.
Fuck it. She’s mine, right?
My property? Any investment I put into her helps me.
“Consider everything about me a secret, and speak of it to no one, Moira,” Ash said. He waited for her to nod before he sat up completely. Looking to the side so Moira wasn’t confused, he spoke to Locke.
“How would we do it? Is it something achievable with what we have on hand?”
“Yes, but you’ll literally be carving into her flesh. And to do it fully will take time. You do not have the skills practiced. You have the memories, but none of the muscle memory or experience.
“Think of Scrivening, but drawing into her skin. Or Enchanting, but carving at her skin with the chisel.”
“Yeah, that’s not pretty. Is there a way to hide it? So it doesn’t just… wreck her? I mean, can we put it on paper and transfer it to her flesh instead?”
“It wouldn’t be as efficient for her. We could limit it to her back. Let her make the call, Chosen One.”
Ash looked back to Moira.
“So… it sounds like it’s possible. But I would literally be carving patterns into your skin. With a chisel.
“Is that something you really want? I mean, it would—”
“Yes. Come, we’ll go to the small creek nearby so you can wash the blood off as we go,” Moira said. Turning on her heel, she started to hop away from him. Bouncing and bobbing along the grass as she went.
Muttering under his breath, Ash followed along after the spritely Owl.
“You’re rather excited for someone who’s about to be turned into a wood carving,” Ash said.
“Yes! I want my magic back. I feel very weak and vulnerable without it,” Moira said. Then she stopped dead in her tracks. Her hea
d turned around and she looked to him, her neck stretched in an odd way.
“Though… what are your plans for me? You haven’t forced me into your bed so far. You don’t seem to do anything with me.
“Why did you purchase me?” Moira asked.
“I dunno. I didn’t want to see you get used as gladiator bait?” Ash said as he walked past her. “You were alone on a stage, naked and being sold.”
“They were going to use me for that end because I am not pretty,” Moira said, falling in beside him.
“Other than your eyes being a bit big, I think you’re rather pretty,” Ash said with a shrug of his shoulders. “They don’t like your coloring is all. Your race.
“Everybody in this veil is a superstitious lot. It’s almost comical.”
“And yet you don’t care?” Moira asked.
“Nope. Should I? It’s not as if you chose your genetics. White hair, black feathers, blue hair, yellow feathers, whatever.”
“Genetics?”
“Never mind.”
Ash stopped in front of the creek and looked around. He spotted a rock that would work and pointed to it.
“Go ahead and sit down. Pull your top off and that stupid collar as well so I can do this. I was thinking of just using your back for now. Try to keep it to a limited place and location so I don’t scar you up unnecessarily.”
Moira flapped her wings once and bounced to the rock. Gripping the bottom of her strangely cut tunic, she pulled it down from her shoulders. After bringing it past her waist, she stepped out of it.
“Can’t wear shirts that go over my head. My wings get in the way,” Moira said, turning to face him.
Ash got an eyeful of her chest before he looked up to her face.
“Right, uh, go ahead and sit down and face away.”
Moira stared at him, then blinked slowly.
“Does my skin disgust you? That I have small feathers in some places?”
“What? No. I just… I didn’t want to stare at your chest. Turn around already. This is going to be weird and awful enough.”
Moira watched him for a second longer before turning around and sitting on the rock.
“Overlaying several patterns into one. The first will be a large reservoir for Essence. The second will convert it to Qi. The third will act as a modifier for the Qi into whatever power source she originally used.”
Cultivating Chaos Page 10
