He had been a fool not to suspect that the panicked helplessness had been an act.
The man had been so cavalier about the risks, save the moments he put on his facade.
Because he had felt no fear at all.
He had been happy to let his men die as sacrifices to whatever dark lord of destruction he worshipped, just days after starting their journey. And since then he had happily stayed in the carriage, watching Alex, measuring him whenever trouble came their way, and all too happy to collect the spirit stones from Alex’s hard work.
Alex had always suspected dark truths lay hidden, happy to take blind advantage of the odd warps and distortions of Qi around the vast contrast of currents between carriage top and dark interior, like a magnetic field catalyzed to wondrous reactions, he and his friends blossoming at a frightful pace.
As had the man who so clearly walked an infernal path, his slave of a cultivator the only one to wither under the weight of the terrible energies they had all embraced.
Then he screamed with pain as a madly grinning Hao Zei began to pull him apart.
You have taken 1 Medium Wound and 30 Damage. -3 to all physical skill checks until healed.
Alex fought and struggled as best he could, desperate to lash out, to embrace his deadly Qi attacks.
Skill check failed!
Strength check failed!
But his hideously strong foe, as fierce as an ogre, as strong as a giant, had effortlessly stretched him out, one hand squeezing his shin so hard Alex felt flesh burst under the strain, the other squeezing his wrist so tightly he felt the shockingly bright pain of his wrist bones shattering. The monstrous cultivator wearing the guise of a bloated merchant then flipped Alex around like a wet noodle, Alex screaming in agony as he met the horrified gazes of his friends.
So damned arrogant, so confident he had been, now suffering the bitter fruits of his failure as he was overwhelmed by terror and pain, with no way to defend himself. He gazed longingly at the school, preparing to slip into his ring, knowing once word of that ability got out, he would probably never be able to safely attend any school.
You have taken 1 Heavy Wound. Trapezoid crushed. You have suffered 40 Damage. Left hand at -6 to usage.
But he had no choice at this point, no choice save to scream and die. And he was about to be ripped apart.
The aloof-looking cultivator smirked at the seething merchant as he unwrapped the scroll he’d taken from a speechless Hao Chan’s hand, gazing with horror at what the man she had thought of as her father was doing.
“And a third remanded into our custody. Very well, your letter of introduction and the martial prowess she displayed is enough for me to recommend that she be allowed to attend the trials.”
He flashed a cold smile. “But ripping the Ruidian in half will not absolve you of the debt you owe this college, compounded by the room, board, and tuition you will owe for the girl granted a noblewoman’s privilege.”
“I did no such thing!” the merchant roared, Alex stretched so tight he had no maneuverability, no leverage. He was pinned like a victim on a rack, with no way to direct the Qi screaming for release. For the chance to defend himself. Now, like never before, he understood why grappling was so despised by cultivators. It cut out all other variables save brute strength and skill, once a man was pinned. And specializing in such skills would do little good in warfare, when a dozen spears could pierce anyone foolish enough to grapple for endless minutes.
“Return them to me. You must! I’ll find other buyers for the fox and the brat. Just return those damned scrolls! They’re fakes. Forgeries. They must be!”
The sentinel just shook his head, tutting softly. “Poor merchant, thought himself so clever, attempting to obey the letter of the contract while blatantly distorting its meaning, now asking us to ignore what is written in your very distinct handwriting, clear for all the world to see.”
The merchant’s fist bunched up in fury, Alex screaming with the pain. “You damned temple cultivators think yourselves so clever, remanding all obligations of karma to fools desperate enough to do your work, demanding papers assuring pristine assets the golden law declares virtuous and just, the city itself absorbing your sin when we all know every slave is just a broken fool at the wrong place and the wrong time. Don’t pretend you’re any better than me, Zhao Doushi! You’re just as dark. Just as depraved! How many lonely nights have you visited establishments like the Purple Pavilion over the years? You want slaves in fighting shape? Fine! I will bring you a dozen. Bring you a score before the fights! Pay me the minimum silver, I care not! But hand me those treacherous brats who think they can get the best of Hao Zei! They are mine, and before the night is through, they will learn the cost of betraying their master!”
Alex’s guts heaved at the stench of brimstone suddenly permeating the air.
The cultivator’s dark, bemused smile suddenly transformed to something cold and fearsome. Even in the extremis of torment, Alex could feel deadly dark waves of Water Qi emanating from Zhao Doushi. “You will contain your passions now, infernalist, or this academy will be closed to you and your mercantile associates for all time. As it stands, you have an obligation to us, and that now includes sponsoring the two children your markers, freely given, clearly indicate are to be given the most gracious treatment a kitsune and a gifted mortal could hope to receive. If you refuse to accept those obligations, you may consider yourself banished from Yidushi forevermore, and not even your black superiors will object to the exile of any fool who breaks covenant with the edicts that have allowed for peace within the major cities for countless years. And if you dare to think you can best me...”
The man flashed a smile, radiating a deadly killing intent Alex feared almost as much as the man holding him stretched above his head as if it were nothing at all. “Then I promise you that contractual obligations will be the least of your concerns.”
The merchant’s guttural snarl reminded Alex of creatures slithering free of the pits of hell. “Fine!” he snapped, suddenly flipping Alex around by his leg and spinning him with such deadly snapping force that his ankle was crushed and he nearly passed out from disorientation and pain. “Then take this damned Ruidian as the first part of my payment. I’ll be back soon enough, with more slaves for your bloody games than you can spit at!”
And before he even knew what was happening, a dazed and damaged Alex, just a hairsbreadth from passing out, was flying through the air, tossed end over end, sailing right over the open gate before the spinning ground rose up to meet him.
Orientation check failed!
Alex had tried desperately to focus himself enough to Bullrush to a tree, a building, or anything he could get a lock on, but he was too dazed and disoriented and tortured with pain to set his sights onto anything.
Skill check failed!
Desperate just to raise his hands in time to meet the ground rushing up to him.
-6 to Strength check with broken wrist. Strength check failed!
Screaming when his wrist crumpled, a heartbeat before his entire body crashed into the soft, loamy ground, bouncing and sliding into a tormented heap, tortured lungs tight in his chest as he struggled just to breathe.
Multiple bones broken. Left ankle crushed. Liver bruised. Diaphragm bruised.
Wheezing only when a panicked-looking Hao Yin peered desperately into his eyes, massaging his diaphragm. In that awful half-moment of agonized disorientation, Alex suddenly remembered she had apprenticed under a healer for a time.
For some reason, she looked terrified.
Which made no sense, since Alex had freed her from the monster who had sought to enslave them all.
Oh, that’s right, he thought. She was terrified for his sake.
Alex would have smiled if he could.
It looked like that bloated, spiteful merchant had hardly been the pushover he had looked.
Alex closed his eyes, desperate just to rest.
“No, damn it, don’t you dare go out on me, A
lex! You can beat this. I know you!” Soft lips caressed his ear. “Alex! Use your damned cultivation technique. What are you waiting for?”
Alex wanted to flush for being a fool. After training for so many hours, it should be reflex. And of course he would have, regardless of who saw. But the shock he had felt, being literally whipped about like a rag doll, by a man who belied every erroneous notion Alex had about his growing prowess, wiping clean away every idiotic delusion that he could possibly be a threat to anyone… it had stunned him psychologically just heartbeats before the spinning top of death move had stunned him physically, and he had been about to black out. And whether or not he would have ever gotten back up alive again without Hao Yin jolting him back to his senses, he would never know.
Truly he was a fool, he thought, now fighting past the pain to deliberately focus the flow of Qi through his peripheral channels, desperately trying to slip into the breathing pattern that came so naturally to him when he was coaxing his cells into miraculous regeneration.
But the damage had been significant and deep.
And his technique was now enduring the ultimate test, a powerful cultivator that could only be Silver peering down at him, his eyes and expression utterly void of emotion as he solemnly tugged upon Alex’s collar, revealing the hated slave collar that he had never been able to remove.
Chan, who had just dashed over, gasped. “Alex! What did that monster do to you?” She showed no reaction to his collar, having sparred with him for a full month, their bonds such that she had never questioned, just gave his hand an understanding squeeze. “We’ll get you to a blacksmith, one we can trust,” was all she had ever said, and never a word on it again. Even then, she had instinctively known that her supposed father must never know. Not that it had done them any good.
Yet Yin’s gentle gaze revealed no trace of surprise. Only sympathy. Somehow, the kitsune girl had always known, even before they had ever sparred.
But a wide-eyed Hao Lin gasped. “Alex! You were a slave?”
“That hardly matters!” Hao Chan sobbed. “We have to help him. He’s dying!” She favored the temple cultivator with a beseeching gaze. “Please, you have to help him! He saved our lives.”
“I assume you are referring to his work as a guard,” the man cautioned. “For if there was any truth to that vile merchant’s aspersions that those contracts were made in anything but good faith...”
Yin paled. “Yes, of course that’s what my dear cousin means, honored cultivator.” She flourished a deep curtsy. “We are more grateful to be here than words can possibly convey. But right now, we are mad with worry for our friend.”
Zhao Doushi’s gaze was hard as granite. “Unfortunately, he is both a Ruidian and one burdened with the collar of a slave. There can be only one fate for any enslaved Ruidian who dares enter temple lands.”
Chan paled. “Heaven’s mercy. You mean Alex is doomed to die, after all he’s done for us? After he rescued me from those monsters?”
She quickly wilted under the cultivator’s hard gaze, before he conceded the smallest measure of comfort. “In all likelihood, your friend, injured as he has been, will not survive his first bout. Yet despite the ugly realities our temple must embrace in the forging of cultivators truly ready for war, even we offer a measure of hope. No matter the crime that resulted in their lawful purchase, any slave who survives the trials is granted a boon.”
He sighed, shaking his head. “I will see if any student of Water or Wood following the Healer’s Path has any interest in earning extra academy points this evening. And it will be a far more generous amount than any Ruidian could hope to be worth.”
Internal hemorrhaging stabilized. Trapezium repaired. Hairline fractures in spinal column repaired. Medium Wounds stabilized. Critical Wound upgraded to Heavy Wound.
Chan’s helpless gaze lingered on the man, Yin’s dexterous fingers looping with her cousin’s, pulling them both down into another curtsey. “These unworthy students thank you for your grace and forbearance, master cultivator.”
Zhao Doushi smirked. “Your humility does you credit, kitsune. Fortunate indeed that the cards you have laid out allows for the Noble’s Path. For noble kitsune are treated in a manner their patron would approve of, unlike those rare unfortunate exceptions who dare approach these halls without any sponsor at all.”
Chan furrowed her brow. “Is it true, then? Are fox girls from poor backgrounds treated little better than servants?”
Yin glared daggers at her cousin. “What my cousin means to say is that we are beyond grateful that my dear ‘uncle’ was generous enough to assure my sponsorship, despite his silly bluster, though I fear he played far too rough with our Ruidian friend.”
The cultivator smirked but nodded, gesturing to a pair of young shaven-headed initiates who immediately came rushing over, gazing at Alex with both alarm and distaste when instructions were given. But Alex paid them no mind, just grateful that Yin had taken a still-overwhelmed Chan’s hand when it was time for the pair to follow Zhao Doushi’s lead, as they were led to the Academy proper, and Alex had no doubt his friend would shine in the trials to come.
Even as Alex was carried into the bowels of the keep by cursing cultivators who glared at Alex’s broken body with contempt even as they used their stretcher to cart him down endless stairs, caring nothing if they bumped or jostled him, Alex simply grateful they didn’t actively injure him any worse than he already had been.
And within moments, finest architecture was replaced by damp stone and dreary lighting, Alex finding himself roughly deposited within a spartan room with a single damp futon for furniture.
“One of the students might be down to see you, if one can be bothered, Ruidian,” sneered one.
“You’re lucky we don’t want to be burdened with the karma of a dying slave, Ruidian. So here. A woolen blanket and a flask of water, should you actually be strong enough to drink it.”
Exchanging meaning-filled glances with one another, the pair solemnly got up and left, closing and locking the thick wooden door behind them.
And Alex smiled with relief, finally able to embrace his Eternal Fox technique with the boost he needed if he wanted his night to end in anything but agony.
You have 43 Lesser Beast Cores and 1 Greater Beast Cores in your inventory. Do you wish to claim the power and potency of these stones?
A still-gasping Alex responded by pulling a single Lesser Beast Core into the palm of his hand. Do you wish to claim the power and potency of this stone?
Yes!
With a fierce smile of pride, he began to cultivate at a thousand-fold his normal rate until the stone was no more, and his injuries were fully healed.
Even as he collapsed in relief an hour later, wholly restored once more, though drained by all he had endured and in desperate need of rest, he couldn’t help but chuckle ruefully at the irony of it all.
After desperate rescues and daring escapes, pitting his life numerous times against forces diabolical and vile, he had come full circle, his dreams of entering Dragon Academy fulfilled at last.
For all that he was now the lowest of the low, deemed a slave once more with an iron collar still around his neck, who would soon have to fight for the right not to attend this gloriously brutal academy, but just to survive.
And no one expected him to even make it through his first fight.
He couldn’t help chuckling in the darkness, happily cultivating through the night, even when no healer bothered to show up at all.
No matter how bad his circumstances, he had still managed to enter school grounds, a feat which should have been impossible.
Things could only improve from here.
Either that, or he would die horribly during the trials.
As the inky night slowly bled into crimson dawn, as revealed by the light shining from the single barred window of his cell, an idea slowly began to take shape in his mind.
It was bold, and definitely risky. But if it worked?
If it
worked…
He’d claim his prize in directions his enemies never saw coming.
Much like a certain infernal merchant who was no doubt shrieking his rage even now, when he finally discovered just how badly Alex had fleeced him.
He chuckled at the thought of all those lovingly-prepared scrolls of damnation and binding, all the silk-lined bags of gold eagles and platinum phoenix the poor merchant had hoarded, all so carefully arranged and secured in an enchanted steel box that would have proved invulnerable to almost any mortal attempts at theft.
But for the prizes to slip free of a metal box once claimed before, plucked free into his ring to jingle merrily in the half second of distraction he had anxiously hoped for during the entire trip?
That had gone smoother than he could have possibly dreamed.
True, he would soon be fighting for his life against ruthless cultivators intent on killing him, the odds so stacked against the slaves that the school would actually dare to grant boons to any who survived, but no one ever said the life of a cultivator would be easy.
By all rights, Alex should already be dead.
Things were definitely looking up.
28
Alex took a deep breath and smiled as a shaft of golden sunlight from the elevated barred window caressed his brow as he sat in quiet repose, having cultivated through the night. He couldn’t help but chuckle at his dreary surroundings, his body now hale and healthy, though his seventh meridian channel blockage was almost as large as ever.
But his focus hadn’t been on clearing his final channel this last month, having grown in other ways profound and startling, achieving Rank 5 Adept status in multiple skills, devising his own divine body cultivation technique, getting the best out of slavers and merchants corrupt and foul, and perhaps most importantly, rescuing three youths he had grown surprisingly close to.
Even now, the sound of Hao Chan’s laughter as her beautiful face lit up with the warmest of smiles echoed through his memory and his soul.
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior Reforged: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 2 Page 38
