Ash and his team were clumped together, with Gen standing behind them. No one was standing near them.
In fact, it was as if they were plague bearers. The next closest group was twenty feet away.
It’s fairly obvious no one wants to associate with us. Even the neutral parties who weren’t against us before are against us now.
I wonder what changed.
“Everyone on this platform is carrying a Deng identification item. Mei described it as just a token that everyone carried, but she didn’t mention the energy it contained.
“I believe they’re unaware of it,” Locke said. “Makes it easy for us to identify them, at least.”
“I believe our reinforcements will be arriving tomorrow night,” Gen said. “And then… it’s just a matter of slowly leeching the strength from the Deng family.”
Mei nodded sharply at that.
“Once we break the hold in the Outer Sect, they will have a much harder time in the Inner Sect,” she said.
“Yes. Taking away the flow of trained and chosen recruits should hurt them,” Gen said as he stabbed his cane into the stones. He was probably about to start grumbling about the fact that they were stalling again when he suddenly stood up straight. “Ah, they’re done. Good. I’ll go off to my position now. I imagine we’ll be in the first match, in the hope that we get eliminated. Be ready.”
Ash turned to Jia as Gen stomped off.
“Alright, strategist of mine, what’s the plan here?” Ash asked her.
“I… do not know, Ash. Until we know what the first competition will be, I fear I cannot offer any advice,” she said, a hand coming up to touch her throat.
“Eh… fair enough. I wonder what—”
A gong sounded from up ahead, and everyone started to push in close to the front.
“Time to find out,” Moira said, pressing a hand to Ash’s lower back. Then she leaned in and kissed him firmly.
Ash’s mind floated away momentarily before he came back to himself.
“For luck,” she said, breaking the kiss and pulling away from him with a smile.
Mei eyed him speculatively, as if she were considering doing the same thing. Ash skipped forward to the front of his group, trying to get everyone moving.
“…ser, closer. We’ll be discussing the first competition shortly,” called an unknown elder.
Getting up close to the people in front of him, Ash got comfortable to wait again.
Mei and Moira suddenly flanked him. Each woman pressed in close and tight to his sides.
“Unsurprising. They’re the most forward of your women. Though I’m not sure Yue will ever break out of her worship and move to the bedroom,” Locke said.
Shut it.
“Alright, welcome, welcome. The first two teams to compete are Master Gen and Master Deng. That is, the youngest Master Deng,” said the elder at the front.
Of course it’s us. And of course he has to clarify which one. Most of these masters are all from the Deng family.
“While this is a tournament of groups, it won’t be exclusively group fights. With so many teams competing, it is likely this will take some time to have everyone compete.
“First up, Essence utilization and manipulation. Please send your representative to the examination ring, the respective teams to the boxes.
“You have the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.”
Turning around where he stood, Ash looked to the rest of his group.
“My Essence is strong, but I’m not completely sold on me being the strongest at its manipulation.
“Thoughts?” he asked.
Tala immediately shook her head. “Not me.”
“Or me,” Moira added.
“My control is good, but… I’m not confident,” Yue said.
Mei clicked her tongue, her eyes moving from Ash’s face to his belt buckle. “The abilities you gave me previously helped me strengthen my Essence, and my control was already quite good. I might be a good candidate.”
Jia didn’t say anything.
She was well aware that everyone didn’t quite trust her yet.
“Jia?” Ash asked, forcing the issue.
“Haaaaaaa,” she said, pressing a hand to her brow. “I would elect myself or Mei. Though I think I might edge her out slightly due to the density of my Essence at this time.”
Immediately, the ugliness of everyone’s opinion was clear. Clear and obvious.
They felt she was right, but they did not like it. Their resistance to the idea had nothing to do with her being right or wrong.
“I would agree,” Ash said. “And I’d further put my support behind Jia. Sorry, Mei. Your control is amazing, but I do think Jia’s might be just a bit better.”
Mei gave him a smile and shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll take the compliment for what it is.”
“Alright, so I guess we should head over to the ring, and Jia will be taking position for us,” Ash said. Indicating a direction with his hand, he waited a second. “Unless someone has something else to offer or suggest?”
Head shakes were all he got in response.
“Then off we go,” he said.
Trooping off to the ring, Ash felt his stomach twisting over on itself. The decision had been made, but that didn’t make this any easier.
They’d been mostly preparing for group fights or small-scale battles. They hadn’t really talked about something like this.
Even Gen hadn’t mentioned anything of the sort.
Which meant they were picking things that would skew the results to the Deng family.
In other words, they probably have someone with exceptional control of their Essence.
“Undeniably. It’s what I would suggest we do if the tables were turned. To be quite frank, their tactics are valid. The real problem is we are not them,” Locke said.
It was a strange and mildly frightening thought.
What would Ash do if he suddenly found that his alliance was in control of the Outer Sect? Would he protect it from outsiders? Would he seek to control it completely?
How far would he go to maintain that control, and what would he do?
What wouldn’t he do?
Shit.
As one, his group stepped up to the ring at the same time, each immediately moving into the small outlined “box” they were expected to stand in. It was just a small enclosure of wood that was waist-level high.
Almost like a dugout or a penalty box.
Jia stood with them, looking very unsure of herself.
“Alright, Jia. It’s up to you,” Ash said. Reaching out, he set a hand down on her shoulder. “I trust you; I believe in you. You can do this.”
Jia nodded, still looking a bit lost.
“Ok. You are right. I can do this. I am very capable,” Jia said, sounding like she was psyching herself up.
“That you are. So get your ass over there and get to work,” Ash said, giving her shoulder a pat. Then, grabbing her, he turned her around to face the middle of the ring and gave her a little shove.
Jia took a stuttering step, then began to walk to the center of the ring.
“You seem to be encouraging us to support her again,” Mei said, slipping an arm through Ash’s. She drew it close into her side, pressing herself to it deliberately.
“I am. I think… I think Jia doesn’t even know what she herself wants. What she did was… insulting, and stupid,” Ash said. “But it wasn’t meant to be malicious.”
Mei sighed, her fingertips starting to brush back and forth along his forearm once more.
“As you like. I’ll play nice. Or at least, more so. Though only for you.”
“I will gift her with my patience,” Tala said, crossing her arms under her breasts.
Yue sniffed once, saying nothing.
Moira didn’t seem to care one way or the other.
An elder and a young woman walked out to the center of the ring and began pulling things out of a storage item.
�
��Oh,” Mei said, a frown forming. “It’s my cousin. She’s actually rather talented at Essence manipulation. One of the best—if not the best.
“I think this will be a stacking or building competition.”
“Odd to test someone like that,” Tala said, her ears twitching.
“It’s… it’s a Deng test. It’s how we… they… measure control. This is little more than a test that is practiced almost daily for some in the family,” Mei said. “This is obviously stacked to the point that it must be obvious to others.”
Thirty-Four
Wooden blocks of varying sizes were laid out across the ring. Some were the size of a sofa, others no bigger than a finger.
To Ash it seemed almost like an insane, eclectic mix of things that had no logical sense being together.
“Normally, the goal is to stack a tower as high as you can,” Mei murmured. “Though I’m not sure what the plan is here. Many of those blocks are from different households.”
“That’s… interesting, I suppose,” Ash said.
The elder finished with his task and then turned to face the majority of the crowd.
“Today’s first task in this challenge is simple. Build the tallest tower you can, using only your Essence. Once the time limit is up, you will have to withdraw your Essence, and we will all see how tall the tower is at the same time.
“And of course, it has to stand on its own.”
The elder smiled at the young woman nearby and then looked to Jia.
“Any questions?” he asked.
“Yes. Are we allowed to interfere with the other team’s blocks at this time? Or the area around the blocks? Or the area surrounding them? Directly or indirectly?” Jia asked.
The simple fact that she was asking the question was a bit of a slap to the elder’s face. It was indirectly reinforcing every way the elder could have overlooked any type of foul, instead putting it out in the open first.
“Ah… no. Neither directly or indirectly may either side affect the other at this juncture,” the elder said, his face looking rather stiff.
“I understand. I am ready to compete, then,” Jia said, letting her arms hang loosely at her sides.
The elder looked to the other woman one final time.
She gave a small shake of her head.
“As a reminder, your blocks are those on your side of the ring. Do not cross the midpoint line.
“Otherwise… begin!” shouted the elder as he scurried off to one side, getting out of the way.
Jia spun her hands out in front of herself, her Essence splashing out of her palms like a fire hose on full blast.
Moving her body at the same time, Jia did what looked like a slow spin, her arms circling around her and her palms twisting end over end.
“It’s almost like a dance,” Ash muttered, unable to look away.
“Her control is… very complete,” Mei said. “She’s using her body to fling her Essence around at the same time.”
Now that he looked, he saw Jia really was using herself as a nozzle. With the blocks spread out everywhere around the ring, this actually meant she would be able to gather hers up much more quickly.
Water Essence Qi pooled up into a lake and swarmed over all the blocks on Jia’s half of the ring. In no time at all, she had them all flowing towards her. Buoyed and bound by her Essence itself.
“She was the right choice,” Yue said. “I haven’t forgiven her for being rude to you, but she was the right choice.”
A step in the right direction, at least. I’ll take it.
“Her heart rate still spikes whenever she looks at you,” Locke said. “Maybe you could take her to bed if you’re really looking to change her opinion, Chosen One.”
Ass.
Jia waved an arm and the blocks began to flow to the space directly in front of her.
She quickly began sorting them out visually, moving the larger blocks to one side and the smaller ones to the other.
Mei sighed and pulled at Ash’s arm. “I agree with Yue. I’m not quite… over her treatment of a Fated One yet, but she was the right choice.”
At least she said yet, rather than not at all.
So that’s better than Yue, even.
Jia turned her attention to the pile of larger blocks, and her Essence flowed over it all.
Looking to the Deng woman, Ash raised his eyebrows.
She had literally already built a tower that looked more like a giant pillar. She had clear experience in this, and had built toward something.
Ash wasn’t quite sure toward what, but he was fairly certain there was a goal.
He just had to hope Jia had already noticed and was building accordingly.
Turning his attention back to Jia, he frowned. She had formed her large blocks into a column. It was four sided and everything was interlocked surely. The height was already far above and beyond the Deng team’s, but it was much thinner.
Jia had just barely finished putting the final pieces on top when someone rang a gong.
“Time is up! Retrieve your Essence and let us see whose tower stands tallest,” called the elder.
Jia shook out her hands as her Essence began to rapidly flow back to her. She walked towards Ash and the others.
Her pillar stood tall. Unchanged and exactly as she’d left it.
“I used my Essence to create a lack of air between the pieces,” she said.
“Oh, that’s actually pretty ingenious. The suction should certainly help keep it all together,” Ash said appreciatively.
“I have been experimenting with my Essence and the abilities you gave me. I find that adding or subtracting air in the middle of it can… do some fairly volatile things,” Jia said.
“Ah, yeah. You’re basically making depth charges, I suppose. That can turn someone into goo pretty fast,” Ash said, nodding his head.
“…eam Gen has reached higher in this competition!” called the elder, who was standing next to Jia’s tower.
Apparently, they’d missed the measuring entirely.
“They have earned three points for this challenge. One for using all their blocks, one for building a sturdy tower, and one for winning.
“Team Deng has earned two points,” said the elder. “The next competition is a defense of the tower!
“Select two members and send them forth. Keep in mind, you cannot use the member who built the tower in this portion.”
Everyone turned and looked to one another in Ash’s group.
“Who should go?” Mei asked. “It’s a defense, so I think I would be rather useful as an Earth Essence user.”
That makes sense. She should be able to use the ground quite freely.
Yue coughed and then lifted her hand slightly.
“I think I could support Mei the best. I’d also help offset any problem she’d experience from a direct counter,” Yue said.
Ash agreed with that logic as well. Yue could probably support her better than he could.
My limitations seem built into fighting and fighting alone. Defending a location… doesn’t seem suitable for me.
“Have you selected your members?” asked the elder, walking up to them.
“Ah… yes. Is there any restriction on weapons?” Ash asked.
“Weapons? Hm. No. Anyone can use any registered weapon. Now hurry up. Send your people to your tower,” the elder said, waving a dismissive hand at them.
“Moira, you go with them. We’ll keep Tala back just in case there’s another event after this,” Ash said.
Moira grunted and began marching out into the field.
Mei and Yue looked to Ash for a second longer before they too joined Moira in their march.
“They did not look as angry at me,” Jia said, drifting closer to Ash.
“They aren’t. They’re still mad about how you treated me, but I think your performance helped take that anger away.
“Or at least, some of it,” Ash said with a shrug of his shoulders.
“It did. I
personally don’t care that you treated him rudely, because if the fight had been to the death, Ash would have torn your heart out and given it back to you,” Tala said. “The fact that it was just a practice match limited him.”
Jia stared at Tala, her eyes widened slightly.
“You… truly believe that?” Jia asked after a second.
“His Essence… or whatever… is rock solid. Could he not have simply formed a bow and arrow and shot you?” Tala asked. “His Essence would have powered through yours and pierced you dead.”
“We really should practice doing that,” Locke said. “We’ve never tried.”
“You can do that?” Jia asked, looking to Ash.
Holding up his right hand, Ash experimented at fashioning an arrow.
Immediately, a barbed arrow appeared in his hand. Handing it to Jia, he then formed a bow with his left hand.
For the string, he did his damnedest to will it to be more flexible.
And a bow was formed, complete with a string that looked like he could pull it.
“It is true. You could have simply killed me. This is as hard as steel,” Jia said, tapping the arrow against her palm.
“Little good it does me in a sparring match. Now let’s watch the others,” Ash said. Reaching out with his right hand, Ash reabsorbed the bow and the arrow, and put his entire focus on Mei.
A man and a woman were facing Yue and Mei. They appeared to be arguing with the elder in between the two groups.
I bet they’re arguing about Moira.
A minute later, the elder made a chopping motion with his hand, glaring at the Deng team.
Whatever argument that had happened was now over.
“The goal is simple,” the elder called, holding up his arms. “Knock over the enemy tower as much as you can. Each team has been awarded one-hundred points. They will lose one for every block lost.
“You have as long as it takes an incense stick to burn again.”
Moving to one side, the elder dropped his hands. “Begin!”
Moira’s wings burst out and she flapped them powerfully.
Like a white comet, she blew off the ground and barreled headlong for the enemy tower.
The man from the Deng team turned his focus to Moira and began throwing hand signs.
Cultivating Chaos Page 36
