Alex smiled as the fresh hot air caressed his cheeks and filled his lungs, increasingly appreciating the stark beauty of endless ochre sands before the backdrop of a deep blue sky, the brooding cliffside of a distant plateau the only distinguishing feature after so many days under the endless hot sands of the true deep desert, as the caravanners liked to put it.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Said none other than Ye Pan, the ever-cheerful baker, handling Alex a fresh hot loaf with a double helping of his choicest chutney as the pair took in the majesty the day.
Alex paused in his cultivating, replacing the pristine stream of eight element spiritual energy flowing in through his lungs and circulating through his Dantians before spiraling into his Dantian which, in some weird way, seemed to be connected to that distant massive supercable that had somehow ascended to become the accretion disk around the metaphoric blackhole of his future core.
Or perhaps that was just delusion, and the constant flood of spiritual energy he felt his Dantian endlessly consume was a flaw of his own nature, the price to be paid from being reborn yet again. Whatever the case was, he was happy to trade spiritual energy for physical nourishment, and was happy to let the man know just how much he appreciated the grub.
“Absolutely fantastic, Ye Pan!” Alex commended. “Honesty, I don’t know how you do it. It goes so damned well with these olives! Are you sure you’re not a cultivator? Or an alchemist of the baker’s arts, perhaps?”
This earned a polite chuckle. “Nothing so glorious, friend Alex. The fresh baked bread is the result of years of ingenuity and hard work, and my special reserved olives and first-pressed oil are from my uncle’s farms in Qianshi.” The man abruptly coughed, before taking a sip from his belt flask. “And doing my part to feed the heroes of this expedition, without whom we’d all have surely been swallowed up by the desert sands, is the least I can do.”
Alex saluted the man with his loaf. “Well thank you, Ye Pan. Truly, I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I...” He was surprised to find himself choking up, abruptly wiping a stinging eye with the back of one hand. He forced a laugh. “What can I say? It’s been awhile.” Alex frowned in sudden concern. “You’re not too hot, are you? It’s midday, and everyone else is enjoying their midday nap. Because what else are you going to do in this heat, right?”
“Cultivate the fires of the sun like the powerful cultivators defending our caravan?” Ye Pan said with a grin.
Alex smiled. “Could be. But assuming that’s not your path...”
“It’s alright, Alex. I’ve been enjoying the desert sun since I was a boy. As you can probably tell by skin far darker than yours… and how is it that you’re not red as a blood orange? I know of very few Ruidians that aren’t all but nocturnal out of simple necessity. Yet you seem to revel in the midday heat.”
Alex smirked. “What can I say? It’s the path I walk.”
The baker nodded solemnly. “But we’ve been out here for most of the day, after so many hours fleeing that rift as fast as we could manage. We’ve stopped for more than just resting the horses, haven’t we?”
Alex nodded. “We have.”
The baker looked thoughtful. “Luo and Xiao, the two who thought they were destined for fortuitous encounters before losing our youngest recruit, and what a shame that was, they’re keeping a look out with impressive vigilance. I’m guessing that ties into why we’ve stopped?”
Alex shrugged, face carefully neutral. “Could be.”
Ye Pan’s gaze turned pointed. “I’ll be honest, Alex, some of the Caravanners are worried. They’re afraid that if any of you took serious injury in the rift… our own odds of surviving the trip to Liushi go down significantly. Especially if bandits and the like are now infesting the trade road.”
Alex gave the man a reassuring pat on the back. “Don’t worry, Ye Pan. The rift actually was fortuitous for most of us, despite the unfortunate loss. As it stands, once our companions are done with their closed-door cultivation, we’ll be in a better position than ever, and should have no problems with the rest of the trip to Liushi.”
Ye Pan flashed a relieved smile. “That’s good to hear. Because as it stands, we only have enough water for another day.”
Alex’s eyes widened at this. “Are you serious? I had no idea… why did no one tell me?”
The man shrugged. “Probably because we’ve been relying on your master to refill the water supplies with fresh blocks of ice, as he does regularly. Only he was supposed to complete that yesterday, and, as you said, he’s now in closed-door cultivation.”
“Thanks for letting me know,” Alex said. “I’ll be sure to pass the word about the caravan’s concerns, and make sure we have access to water, one way or another.”
Ye Pan positively beamed at that. “Thank you, Alex. That would mean a lot to all of us.”
Shortly thereafter the baker returned to his own wagon as Alex munched the delightfully chewy bread with a rich thick crust and contemplated his own talents, wondering if he could take over where Qing Wu had apparently left off.
You have successfully summoned standard Water Shield (free of all metallic salts.)
You have attempted to place bucket in Water Shield.
Bucket has ruptured!
Alex winced, not having appreciated just how effective a whirling disk of furiously spinning water reinforced by Qi could be at both forcing attacks off-line, the ultimate winding parry, and shattering weaker things thrust at it. Like arrows, or a poorly made bucket.
He frowned, deciding to take an easier path, this time imagining the roaring currents whirling about his left fist to lessen in intensity to that of a babbling brook that he then dipped his water flask into, surprised by the result.
You have successfully placed water flask into Water Currents. You have elected to divert a portion of your shield into water formation.
Even as the words flowed across his mind’s eye, he sensed something shift in the air, somehow sensing watery currents both so distant they were more a metaphor of a reality far higher than his own, and just as close as a waterflask now filled to bursting that had sprayed him with its pristine offering.
You have successfully claimed one liter of water!
1 Qi Point temporarily drained.
Alex smiled, actually pleased by the momentary fatigue before his once more initiated Desert Fox cultivation, topping off his Qi Pool once more. Because if it cost extra spiritual energy to pull the concept of water into reality, hopefully that meant that the water was really here in every way that mattered.
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He then frowned down at his flask, wondering if it was really safe to drink, or if he’d end up feeling parched an hour later if the water just faded into nothing...before realizing how silly that was.
“How many times have I restored myself with Eternal Fox, once upon a time?” he muttered to himself. “All that matter, generated out of desperation and thin air. Of course Qi Pools can generate actual permanent matter, Einsteins conservational concerns having no truck here. Because if it were otherwise, I would have collapsed dead the moment I stopped thinking of my newly restored body after regenerating half of my body weight, affter taking on Li Jaw-Long who came so damn close to killing me.”
But still, just to be sure… he patted his backup water flask, intending to have Reny check it. Because if it worked as he was almost certain it would… if he could effectively generate his own water at will, it meant that he never had to fear the desert sands again. So long as he had the Qi reserves to cover the cost.
It was then that he sensed it, the sharp scent of cinnamon and sandalwood intermingled with the warm embrace of the hot desert sands.
“A water shield in the middle of the desert. How fitting,” teased a sultry voice that had Alex spin around. Widening at the sight of Ya Ling like he’d never seen her before. Radiating a power and potency he could all but taste, thrumming through the air. Her almond eyes twinkled with all the secrets of the desert.
Alex gazed at her in surprise. “Ya Ling… you broke through again?”
She chuckled throatily, spreading her shapely arms wide. “I can feel it. Like an old scar that pinched and pulled but never quite went away, no matter how one stretched or rubbed it with liniments. That’s what it was like, Alex.”
Her eyes blazed. “That’s what it was like before I took your tincture, infused with your potency. Your blood.”
Alex opened his mouth to protest. Then froze. Recalling the additional steps he had taken, lost in a fugue of creation, determined to empower the formulae as best he could.
He had intended to use Biochemical Mastery to stabilize it, to calibrate it to exquisite perfection, already knowing how potent Reny’s baseline brew was, he sought only to mirror it as best he could.
And yes, at one point…
He shook his head in bemusement. “That’s right. I really had added a few drops of my essence right to the brew.”
Reny arched her back, breathing deep, before standing straight once more, a challenging look to her smile. “I felt it melting that awful scar doomed to fester for an eternity. Melted it like a sore back after working to hard, eased away by the most delightful of warm, scented baths.”
In the blink of any eye, her jian was in her hands, the beautiful desert princess whirling graceful minarets through the air, her polished blade flashing in the sun.
“Wow. Finesse and Quickness both. Double boost. Nice.”
Reny’s smile widened. “And I feel a deeper connection to my core than I ever have before!”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “Qi Pool as well? 3 Stats? That’s extremely rare for most people, at least where I’m from. That means your on a Royal path. At least.”
Ya Ling laughed. “Enough analysis. Come, Alex. Dance the dance of steel with me, under the hot desert stands. Help me solidify my breakthrough, and I will do the same for you.”
Alex couldn’t quite hide the enthusiasm in his grin, his heart beating with excitement he only felt when crossing blades, or training staves, with a worthy opponent or peer. Because as much as he yearned for all the wisdom and insight he might uncover at Silver Sands Academy, he had initially been forged and honed to a fine killing blade in the crucible of steel.
Soul Sight baseline skill check made. - The desert sands and a deity’s gift obscure past lives that really are none of your business. Yet you still sense that your opponent is infatuated with you!
Find Weakness skillcheck: Failed! The desert’s sands have overwhelmed you.
You have successfully countered Swirling Strike!
You have lost your balance!
Steel flashed against training staff under the hot desert sun.
Alex held nothing back save the choice of weapon as he weaved and danced about a laughing Ya Ling who had never looked so in her element as she did right then, weaving her weapon against his spear shaft so gracefully that he hardly felt his force being redirected, for all that the blunted tip of his spear was always inches from Ya Ling’s smirking features, her own graceful rebuttals and twirling blade forcing him to leap back, winding his spear against her jian at an increasingly desperate pace. The difference between the injured girl he had first sparred with and the Ya Ling of today, fully healed, ascended two Bronze ranks, and clearly suffering no stress to her cultivation base whatsoever… truly was night and day.
Whatever admittedly snide comments he had had about her chosen weapon… he was soundly reminded of why so many cultivators happily took up the path of the sword, and that one in particular, when his enthusiastic thrusts met nothing but sand, steel flashing past all his winding parries like the mongoose darting past the charging boar before striking with precision so exquisite that Alex didn’t even feel the blow until the sands were already running red with his blood.
“Alex!” Ya Ling’s eyes widened, her Sage’s Insight replaced by sudden alarm.
“It’s alright!” Alex said, waving away her concern with a rueful chuckle. “I think I just got put in my place something fierce, dissing your favored weapon so cavalierly without ever bothering to learn its strengths for myself.” He then wiped off skin now free of blemish. “There, see? All better.”
Ya Ling’s gaze narrowed. “Alex, I had pinked you. Not deeply, but I definitely drew… what happened?”
Alex winked. “Who can say? Maybe I’m just a fast healer. Shall we go for a rematch?”
Her eyes flashed with unmistakable hunger as she nodded, and Alex found himself desperately parrying flashing steel for all he was worth, lips stretched wide in a rictus of a grin, filled with the fierce sweet exhilaration of being pushed harder than he had been for a very, very long time, as he weaved and darted past wicked sharp steel before finding his feet swept out from under him as the very sands played into his opponent’s hands, and then he was flat on his back and gazing into soft brown eyes locked with his own, Ya Ling panting with the exertion of their battle and perhaps so much more as Alex froze, captivated by the beauty before him.
Then her dusky lips touched his own.
And his world became fire.
“Alex! Ya Ling! Caravan’s getting ready to leave! You got until Dui Zhong claims the lead wagon!”
A dizzy Alex came to himself to find Ya Ling squeezing him tight, trembling with need that matched his own, cheeks flushed with sudden awkwardness as they broke away from their kiss.
“Thank you for the sparring match, Alex,” Ya Ling whispered shyly.
Alex gently squeezed her hand. “Best sparring match I’ve had in a very, very long time.”
She quirked a smile at that. “Kiss a lot of your opponents, do you?”
“Only the really cute ones.”
She looked up then, honey-brown eyes hiding nothing of the hunger she felt.
The desire to make him her own.
He flushed then, cheeks reddening with sudden shame, and looked away.
Having forgotten in the heat of battle and a too sweet kiss that which he had wanted to hold sacred for a lifetime.
But it seemed that lifetime had already past.
“Alex?”
He winced at the hurt in her voice, lowering his head.
“I’m sorry.”
For long tense moments, she said nothing. When he finally looked up, she was nowhere to found. Only the sight of the caravan wagons being led by desert aligned spirit mounts through the sand, meandering toward the trade road, their detour complete.
Alex gazed at the wagons for long moments, before uncorking his second flask and taking a sip of the water within.
It was perfectly fine.