It had been a dizzying ordeal, gaining a sense of that vile amoeba’s properties, and it had been all Alex could do not to bolt at the sight of the now-unrecognizable remains. If only one pseudopod had bulged forth... but it hadn’t. And despite the nature of this environment, the slimy residue had proven so viscous, toxic, and durable, that despite the thin inert crust it had gained that blended in so well with the rock, underneath that thin layer was the same viscous caustic nightmare that had almost cost him his life and had dissolved all the rat-like prey it had come into contact with within seconds.
Had he not achieved both Pristine Form, rendering him extremely resilient to any poison or caustic agent, and the ability to stabilize his metabolism using Dark Qi alone, no matter how agonizing an experience it might be, like drowning without end, he wouldn’t even be bones right now. Just cytoplasm within a massive cell.
He couldn’t help but shake his head in disbelief.
After everything he’d been through, after all he had endured, he had come so close to losing it all to an overgrown amoeba.
Alex gazed with satisfaction at the patch of ground in what served as an alley between several fully-intact sections of wall, rare as they were in these ancient ruins. If nothing else, he thought, at least now he could generate viscous slime that blended in perfectly with its environment. This was especially true after being sprinkled with handfuls of dust as Alex carried all the broken rubble away, more than slightly pleased with the two-foot-deep pit of jagged broken rock he had constructed. Best of all, Lightness meant he could leap right for it, and his weight wouldn’t disturb a feather, so long as he Bullrushed off before a twitch or misstep could ruin everything.
Now he had just one final step, he thought, gazing at the largest stones he could carry, carefully place on the far side of a number of choke points throughout the ancient ruins.
And then, just before he could give everything a final check, the time for preparations was over.
His guests had finally arrived.
Like a nameless itch, he could feel them out there, just entering the periphery of the ruins.
His ruins.
Intruders had dared to enter his domain.
He flashed a bleak smile, the jolt of apprehension he felt quickly transforming to intent resolve. A more prudent cultivator in his position, no doubt both outmatched and outnumbered by his opponents, might take this opportunity to lose himself in the depths of this ancient lost city. Alex chose instead to head in the direction where he was somehow utterly certain his enemies lay in wait. And much to his fierce exhilaration, his hunch proved correct, Qi Perception now pinging with certainty upon the nearby presence of his foes where he had had only vague suspicions before.
Cloaked in darkness and shielded by the hollow shells of ancient buildings, Alex felt a curious dark thrill as he listened in on the conversations of his foes, surly gazes glaring out into the darkness.
He counted six cultivators in all, four faces he didn’t recognize wearing lamellar armor and helmets of steel. Of the two faces he did recognize, one filled him with wrath, the other chagrin.
Xiao Shen, whose genial mask of concern had been ripped away to reveal the cold determined gaze of a cultivator on a desperate hunt, steely eyes pitiless and merciless, worthy of any true graduate of Dragon Academy.
Alex clenched his fist just seeing that treacherous bastard.
He choked back his own bitter wrath, unable to help but think of poor An Li and Yohan, the ill-fated Ruidians who had been so eager to adventure and explore the ruins and caverns near the temple, not realizing the treachery that had awaited them all.
Alex could sense neither on his interface, and he could only hope that meant they were well out of range, that their lives hadn’t been thrown away like dross as all the other Ruidian slaves had.
Xiao Shen abruptly frowned, gaze snapping Alex’s way as he peered into the darkness. But Alex had already ducked back under cover, squeezing his fists, knowing he needed absolute control. He needed to give nothing away. Cold dispassion would serve him best even as he marked for death the six cultivators all but glowing upon his internalized map, his only regret being the healer who had also been dragged down here, wondering if there was any possible way he could avoid the inevitable.
Before his exquisite ears let him know in no uncertain terms that his pity was utterly misplaced.
“Well, Xiao? He didn’t drown in the lake, and the fish within have not tasted his flesh. My Water Qi tells me that much without even trying. That means he’s still alive!” snapped the healer, wearing leather boots and a changshan tunic with a magua jacket over top, all of dark colors that easily blended into the background. He wore no proper armor or weapons at all, though he did carry a backpack that glimmered faintly with Qi, even from this distance. “So, let’s hurry up and collect his head as fast as we damn well can. Even your crimson blessing can only minimize the taint’s damage. Not eliminate it completely.”
Xiao Shen, dressed in a sea blue robe that shimmered with his every movement, radiating a faint corona of protective Earth Qi, turned back to glare at the healer. “This will take time, Bolin. Even if he managed to find a way to survive the deepest level of the caverns by hiding away in some makeshift nook, we still have to find him. And, like as not, the fool was devoured by one of the denizens within. If he’s a corpse, a finding ritual will uncover him and his storage artifact soon enough, but that will take a solid day.”
“That’s too long!” the healer snapped.
Xiao snorted. “It’s your own fault for only accepting the Lesser Rite, Bolin. A life-ward is not the same thing as truly communing with the darkness. There is power here, for those who dare, and some few of our members actually learn to channel the darkness for their own ends.”
Bolin chuckled coldly. “It’s one thing to slice the throat of Ruidian cattle. No more stain upon my soul than cooking a goat for dinner. But I draw the line at sacrificing real people, Xiao, and I’m not such a fool as to taint my soul with so much waste Qi that I spend the next three lifetimes as a hungry ghost or a tormented spirit!”
All four armored men turned to glare at the healer.
Alex noted that the two wielding bronze shields with dao and maces at their hips were powerfully-built and radiated a deadly sort of competency. Even a quick glance made it clear they were body cultivators who specialized in defense. Tanks, in other words, and Alex had no doubt they were powerful Bronzes. The largest of the crew, whose muscles all but bulged out of his armor, wielded a fangtian ji, while the cold-eyed man beside him, considerably more slender but darting his eyes about with frightful quickness, wielded a bladed staff.
All of them were presently glaring at the healer.
Xiao Shen frowned, instantly taking command of his crew. “Calm yourselves. Bolin has taken the first step. His sacrifice has been recognized. He is no cleaner than any of us, whatever he chooses to believe. All that matters is that he serves by our side, ready to heal us as needed. He is our heart, and we, his shield. So quit glaring at the man whose hands your lives are now in, and get back in formation!”
The pair of cultivators wearing identical armor and expressions took the lead, drawing their dao as one. Alex glanced at the shimmering knotted rope ladder that sparkled with an odd mixture of Dark and Light Qi they were leaving behind as they left the shore by the underground lake and entered the ruins proper.
The mystical rope ladder shimmering like a starry night sky seemed to ascend all the way up to the barely visible shaft of light high above. A powerful artifact, Alex was sure, just as he was sure the barrier between this dark netherrealm and the surface was far more than a few hundred spatial feet, for all that his foes had been able to drop him in without a problem.
He frowned, noting that the ladder had been tied off right at the edge of the lake, the anchoring rock surrounded by paper talismans sparkling with wards or curses no doubt in place to assure no shadow beast or desperate Ruidian could double back on them.
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Alex flashed a cold smile at the thought, even as he effortlessly tracked the party of six now slowly making their way into the ruined city.
He had no doubt that even if he got past the wards, the magical ladder would be sacrificed long before he made it all the way up. And if reality really had folded since he had first been dropped within, he suspected any attempts to ascend that ladder that ended in sabotage would end the life of the climber as well, torn apart by a storm beyond imagining.
He put all such thoughts out of mind, focusing all his attention on tailing the group of men so eager for his death, listening in on conversations that seemed to echo through the ruins, catching what glimpses of their posture and expressions he could, always staying a safe half-step out of their direct line of sight.
He had no special abilities that allowed him to blend into the darkness or turn invisible. He had no real Shadow abilities at all. But his ability to sense everything within a sixty foot radius was an unparalleled asset, and his desperate struggle against those shadow jackals that hid so well even from his senses, to say nothing of the pair of greater spirit beast eyes he had devoured, had boosted his perception to an unparalleled degree, such that he could not only keep track of his opponent’s movements, like looking top down at a digital map at his enemy’s glowing red beacons, able to infer with exquisite clarity not only the direction they faced, but even the way they held their weapons, all while keeping perfect cover himself, staying out of sight between multiple barriers and wrecked buildings. All of which, taken together, gave him an unparalleled advantage.
Alex couldn’t help thinking it was just like playing Call of Battle with both wall and radar hacks in play. An unbeatable edge, as far as tracking one’s foes and getting the drop on the other team went.
That, along with the Lightness-modified Bullrush perk, meant that he could dart from one crumbling wall, pillar, or edifice to another in the blink of an eye without disturbing a single pebble as his enemies floundered in the dark, two of their number raising the spirit pearl equivalent of torches, looking for any evidence of a desperately hiding Ruidian they still assumed would be utterly terrified of the hunters coming after him.
Alex flashed a cold smile as he popped out of cover once more, just twenty feet away, the moment he sensed them moving forward, their backs to him. He carefully eyed the hunters who would so soon be the hunted, striving to glean every useful tell from them while he could, before the trap was sprung.
And like a call to action, the spine-chilling roars and pounces of a half a dozen shadow pumas who had been lying in careful wait for the party of cultivators to cross into their territory rang through the air. An ambush Alex had sensed them walking right into. His Qi Perception and the puma’s growing fear of him meant that he had little to fear in that regard, but he had done nothing to scare or hunt the pumas in this section of the ruins, having hoped for just such an encounter as the one playing out before his eyes.
“Wu! Xien! Ward our front! Tang, Kuaisu, guard our flanks! I’ll take them out!” snapped none other than Xiao Shen himself as Bolin stepped back, hands raised as if to cast healing spells as needed as the half dome of men before him were suddenly swamped by charging shadow beasts.
Soul Sight successful! Artificer skill check successful!
And a heartbeat before Alex acted, he noted the way the healer rubbed his middle finger, sensing the sudden field of power emanating from the ring on his hand as the air filled with the howls of pumas and the roars of men.
Find Weakness check made!
Alex frowned, finding the shimmering ward of Earth Qi enveloping the healer almost strangely familiar... before it instantly clicked, recognizing all too well the defensive ward his old master Liu Jian had once made him practice his Piercing Strike upon. And how he had struggled just to pierce it even once.
Alex flashed a smile at the memory, even as his fists and forearms sheathed themselves in Dark Qi. How hard he had fought just to pierce that very same ward, once upon a time.
And how far he had come since that fateful day.
Bullrush! Bullrush! Adderstrike!
Dark Qi Projection bypasses Arcane Ward! You have successfully struck your opponent!
Critical damage inflicted!
Experience earned!
Shrapnel disorients your opponents!
Quickness check made! You have successfully claimed your objective!
You have evaded detection!
Stealth is now Rank 3!
“Brace yourselves!” Xiao roared.
Alex timed his attack perfectly, darting forward when all eyes were on the pack of sabre-toothed spirit beasts leaping through the air for their throats, shields and weapons braced for impact. Xiao Shen’s eyes were on the ambushing felines as his hands crackled with violent emanations of Metal Qi, while Bolin whispered soft words under his breath, as if readying a healing spell.
Alex’s enemies were fully focused on the frontal assault, yet completely oblivious to whatever might or might not be stalking them from behind, even as he followed the most important rule of any PvP playbook he had ever followed or written.
Take out the healer before anyone else.
Once your opponent’s ability to recover is gone, the game’s already over, even if the opposing team doesn’t know it yet.
Alex flashed a bleak smile as Adderstrike enhanced by a bronze cultivator’s strength and a Dark Qi gauntlet effortlessly bypassed the Earth ward before striking the healer’s neck with such force that blood and bone shrapnel splashed against the unsuspecting backs of the five cultivators facing the pumas.
Not enough to do any real damage against Bronze-ranked body cultivators, of course, but the feel of warm spray and bone splinters slamming against your back and neck would jolt anyone out of focus, more than enough time for Alex to rip a certain enchanted pack free of lifeless shoulders and Bullrush for the wall fifty feet away before leaping yet again and again, now zigzagging away in deep cover while his enemies were still blinking in confusion as shadow pumas tore into their ranks.
“The healer’s down!” said a surprised voice.
“I know that, fool! Now kill those damned pumas!” Xiao shouted.
“They tried to hamstring me!” said another.
“Circle up! Weapons forward! Strike them dead!” Xiao roared with a commander’s voice, and Alex had no doubt that the quartet of deadly Bronze along with their Silver leader would do just that.
Yet any injuries they suffered would prove more than just a temporary inconvenience, because their healer was dead. A healer who had also been acting as their pack mule, and it seemed that Alex had claimed all their supplies as well.
Alex squeezed the pack tightly with fierce satisfaction, recalling for just a moment the look of horrified surprise from the face that had been forced back with Alex’s blow so abruptly that his spine had literally exploded out of his ruptured neck.
His death had been nearly instant, but Alex sincerely hoped that the healer had been alive just long enough to appreciate who had done him in. Because the moment Bolin made it clear that he considered Ruidians less than human, Alex had felt the same way about him.
You have found five crimson potions of healing, fifteen Poultices of Purification, three potions of unknown origin, basic camping supplies, and six weeks’ worth of water and rations.
Alex flashed a fierce grin of satisfaction as he carefully went over the items stored inside what he mentally dubbed a backpack of holding, the artifact being effectively open to whoever held it, the contents within instantly known. He took some delight pulling out a ripe red apple saturated with spiritual energy and taking a satisfying bite out of the sweet crunchy fruit. Truly, nothing tasted better than the victuals of conquest, Alex thought before quickly analyzing the contents of the potions and coming to a few quick adaptations of his strategy.
Two of the unknown potions appeared to be extremely potent soporifics, as determined by a cautious taste with his tongue. He knew he dare not
waste too much time, but was delighted to get a welcome notification when he chugged the entire potion, feeling dizzy for mere moments as Eternal Fox Pristine Body kicked him, granting him virtual immunity to the poison, even as Biochemical Mastery picked up another useful formula.
Save versus catatonic sleep is automatic!
You have gained 25% Immunity to Sweet Lotus Tincture.
You have gained 50% Immunity to Sweet Lotus Tincture.
You have gained 100% Immunity to Sweet Lotus Tincture.
You have mastered Sweet Lotus Tincture, and may use Biochemical Mastery to generate the compounds of this potent soporific at will! Eternal Fox synergism detected. When used with Power Healing, you may generate extensive amounts of this compound without having to worry about micronutrient depletion!
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a contact poison, but tasted like sweet liquor and could no doubt easily be slipped into food or drink. Alex felt the warm glow of a plan coming together as he filled up the now-empty flask with a concoction of his own devising within seconds, tapping into a lesser beast core just enough to prevent nutrient depletion, doing the same with the flasks obtained from a second and third potion, which turned out to be a tincture of poppy extract, in two of the water bladders making up the basic camping supplies.
Though he still wore no more than the recently skinned and minimally treated hide of his latest shadow puma kill, he counted himself beyond lucky to obtain a perfectly serviceable leather gear belt, complete with storage pouches, unhooking the all-purpose survival gear and filling the pouches instead with two of his flasks, leaving the third, along with his newly claimed pack of holding, inside his base of operations and what would ultimately be his lure: his presently unwarded obsidian temple. Anyone or anything could cross the barrier and claim his pack, even dare the secrets within the obsidian temple itself. And the ward would remain inert until he commanded his blood to retreat from the channel he had constructed around the runestone.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior's Oath: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 4 Page 38
