“But Lord Xuon, we’re in a crisis! Isn’t it the duty of the headmaster to encourage as much delving as possible in this, our most perilous hour?”
“How many cultivators have already lost their lives to your desperate foolishness, Te Chang? Too many!” A cold, imperious voice declared as Alex and his companions approached the Senior Cultivator’s grand pagoda.
“My decree stands. As acting headmaster, all delves are now forbidden, save for those under my direct supervision. Is that clear, Senior Cultivator?”
A drawn out pause so tense that Alex could taste it in the air as he and his companions quickly pivoted to the rear of the pagoda.
The cultured voice turned to an angry snarl. “I said, is that clear, Senior Cultivator?”
“Yes… Lord Xuon. Your words are perfectly clear.”
“Good. And should any Ruidians dare to reveal themselves to you, you will remand them into my care at once! It’s becoming increasingly clear that they’re to blame for the repeated disasters occurring at this academy and to the delves remanded to our care. Is that understood, Senior Cultivator Te Chang?”
If anything, the tension between the pair of men inside the pagoda grew thicker, Alex sensing multiple other presences as well. At last Te Chang spoke. “My apologies… acting headmaster. But the Royal Edicts forbid me from enacting any pogrom against our Ruidian guests. They are specifically protected from racial profiling or group-wide persecution. Of course if you have any evidence of individual misdeeds committed by any particular Ruidian, I will treat that with the utmost seriousness… just as I do when any school cultivator or guest is accused of a crime.”
“Not good enough!” Lord Xuon roared. “Our city is in peril. The fate of this school hangs on a single thread, and I will not have your intransigence imperil this centuries-old institution! You may consider yourself relieved of all duty, as of this very moment. Men, escort him from the school.”
“You go too far, Xuon!” Snapped none other than Instructor Sulia, Alex remembering all too well her cool, imperious gaze. She was a woman who had clearly expected perfection from all her students, and clearly she was unwilling to accept a blatant coup right in front of her face either.
“Being appointed interim headmaster is not a license to shape the school into a tool for your clan, no matter how dearly you wish it were so,” snarled Instructor Rah, the cheerful arms instructor’s voice turning hard and cold.
Then Alex heard Dui Zhong as well, snorting his contempt. “This is what I traded my camels in for? A corrupt backstabbing bastard eager to use the school’s misfortune to grab power for his clan? A clan that has a vested interest in making sure that the rivers never flow soundly again? You’re a farcical disgrace, Xuon! And my contemporaries may be too graceful to say it, but none of us are blind to your blatant attempts at a coup! And where is the headmistress, anyway? She was to be confined to her quarters with nothing more than an honor guard, yet no trace of her can be found whatsoever!”
“Enough of your insolence!” Roared a voice promising oblivion as the weight of a Deep Silver abruptly washed over them all. The farthest thing from those who had just broken through or even a half-step away.
The air was suddenly thick with killing intent.
Alex’s heart was pounding. Knowing he was entering a powder keg… yet absolutely refusing to let his friends fall to a monster and his pawns without doing his part, however paltry it might be with no access to his Prismatic Ward or Strike. Flaws he had every intention of correcting and reforging as stronger than ever… if only he had the time.
Instead his fist pounded against the door. “Senior Cultivator Te Chang! We demand your immediate attention! Your school has turned hostile to our kind, so we’re here to cash our credits and leave!”
The door was torn off its hinges by a powerful gust of wind, Alex finding himself meeting the hot-eyed gaze of a deep wujen glaring down at him with a hook-nosed sneer that he recognized so damn well that his own heart pounded with sudden killing intent.
The man sneered and stat. “You! Ruidian scum dare to linger here in our academy after all you’ve done? Men! Arrest them at once!”
“You will do no such thing!” Te Chang roared behind him. “You heard his words as clearly as I. They already sense your clear contempt for their kind as you seize the reins of power. None of us are fools, Xuon! They wish to cash out their credits and leave? Then we will allow them to do just that! Or are you that eager to see if you and your thugs can handle ten of us at once?”
The would-be headmaster paled, eyes flashing with killing fury as the pair of men behind him, dao’s abruptly unsheathed, radiating the essence of razor sharp Metal and bitter cold.
“You would dare, Te Chang?” Xuon’s words froze the grass at their feet as a massive spike of ice formed in his hand. He flashed a killing smile. “To threaten the headmaster violates your oath, fool. Your cultivation base is already forfeit!”
Te Chang flashed a chilly smile as a shield radiating the essence of the mountain formed in his off-hand, his body suddenly radiating the gravity and presence of the caldera entire. “I would never threaten the headmistress. Only the pretender who profits far too greatly from the destruction of multiple rifts and the fall of our school.”
The closest of the pair of sentinels at Xuon’s side burst out of the pagoda, a massive Giant wielding a guandao more than capable of slicing a spirit ox in half. Alex, heart pounding with pre-battle exhilaration, could sense all too well the powerful enchantments and wards radiating from multiple spiritual treasures on the man, giving his plain-looking cultivator’s robe near to bursting from the mans muscles the strength of quarter-inch steel plates at least. “You will surrender yourselves to us at once, Ruidian scum. Or be executed on the spot as the treacherous worm you are!”
The man’s sneer froze as Alex drew his blade of obsidian darkness now whirling with the shriek of metal dyed obsidian along the edge of its blade. Even with his heart pounding with fierce exhilaration from the crimson taste of battle in the air, he kept focus, kept control. And kept his Doom Blade from extending even an inch beyond the steel now resonating with Dark Qi, sensing all too well that the Qi Drain would ensue.
Once blood was shed, however…
Alex felt his lips crawl in a hungry wolf-like grin even as three other halves of him filled the air with ice and flame.
To Alex’s fierce satisfaction, the Silver Giant paled. Even the would-be usurper Xuon paled, only in that moment, perhaps, realizing that against so many opponents, some using attack modalities he clearly wasn’t familiar with, the outcome was far from assured, no matter his own status as a Deep Silver or the sneering giants by his side.
“What foul arts do you dare practice, Ruidian?” The man hissed, glaring Alex’s way before jabbing a finger in sudden accusatory glee. “You dare channel darkness itself! Admit it, cur! You are responsible for the loss of our water as creatures of darkness seize our rifts!”
Alex’s grin widened as a swirling storm of Water, Metal, Wind and Lightning formed in his shield hand, causing all three of their would-be opponents to step back with a hiss. “Wouldn’t that be convenient? If I was actually stupid enough to destroy the very things assuring Ruidians sanctuary and decent treatment in your city? If I were to ruin the only bulwarks against your clan seizing control of this city before enacting genocidal pogroms, eager to purge the desert of all clans that you can’t control? Lest your own clan lose Water supremacy once more?”
Xuon visibly flinched as Alex dared say aloud what had only been hinted at before.
Without moving a muscle, his opponent struck, as swirling winds grabbed ahold of his hair with sufficient force to send him hurtling into the sky.
Qi Perception check made! You sense Maelstrom attempting to seize and destroy you!
Enhanced Wind Qi Deflection & Wind Affinity allows you to slip free of whirlwind!
Wind Walking successfully anchors you!
Spell Cleave has ruptured your opponent’s ritual!
“Alex!” Ya Ling’s panicked voice washed over him as he was suddenly consumed by an exquisitely controlled cyclone of wind.
Xuon chuckled coldly. “See what happens to all those who dare to defy the Duo Li clan! One way or another, we will always emerge victorious over our foes!”
His sneering countenance transformed to horror when he finally noted Alex’s smiling countenance, not moving an inch from the ground, for all that his hair whipped wildly about in the whirlwind he dared stand tall within. “Impossible!” Xuon shouted, stumbling back before the crack and boom of lightning, blinded by the momentary flash only to open his eyes and see Alex standing there, smiling so coldly as his obsidian blade crackled with Lightning and the promise of oblivion.
Alex’s smile grew cold and hungry. “Is that really the best you can do?”
Xuon lurched back. “You would dare to attack the headmaster? That is a killing offense!” He turned to his lackeys, gazing at Alex with the fierce intensity of warriors who were no longer underestimating their opponent.
“He moves like a Silver,” noted the first.
“His killing aura doesn’t lie,” acknowledge the second with a cool nod that was almost one of respect, twirling his Guandao about his powerful frame in a flashy display of martial prowess. “Very well, Ruidian. I acknowledge you as more than broken jewel trash. Show me what you can do.”
Alex chuckled coldly. “Let it be known that I have attacked no one here! I merely wish to collect my prizes and leave this school.” His lips hardened in a snarl, even as Linnea’s maelstrom of fire grew into a massive pyre of death just a single whisper away from drowning them all in killing flame. “But if you dare impede my cashing out my points, then your own codicil gives me free rights to do whatever I must to seize treasures owed.”
Xuon’s eyes widened as he took a shuddering breath, unable to completely hide his fear after Alex had so easily shredded his Wind arts. He immediately grabbed the arm of the Silver Giant who looked so eager to test Alex with a snarl. “Come. This trash isn’t worth the effort.” He turned to sneer at a completely expressionless Te Chang. “I will exercise merciful forbearance this night alone! Cash these Ruidian abominations out. Give them their full worth in prizes and make it clear that they are never welcome in this institution again! And you’d best pray I choose to forgive your insolence by first light, Te Chang,” Xuon said with a final glare before leaping into the night sky and flying aloft in chilly currents as Alex smirked at his retreating form.
The pair of Silvers looked momentarily nonplussed to find themselves alone and surrounded by nearly a dozen cultivators and elementalists staring them down.
The closest straightened the collar of his robe, cracking his neck. “Another time, Ruidian,” he said with a parting sneer, brazenly making his way from the pagoda, and Alex calmly stepped back, giving the man plenty of room to pass.
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Alex and his companions found themselves staring intently at the backs of the pair of Silver Giants for long moments, Alex taking a final look up at the star-filled sky for any trace of a certain would-be headmaster, calming his pounding heart with the caress of hot desert sand mixing with the scents of distant fertile fields and night blossoms perfuming the air.
“Why, Alex?”
Alex turned to Ya Ling, instantly understanding the question in her luminous brown eyes.
Why hadn’t he struck Xuon down when he had the chance?
His overconfident enemy had all but begged for death, and so many problems could have been solved with a single determined cut.
Ya Ling knew damn well the power of his obsidian blade, humming with Dark Qi at that very moment. She no doubt recalled how furiously he had fought to take down a Gold tier Sand Worm with scales that had once seemed impervious to nearly any attack. If the two of them had managed to overcome such odds...why hadn’t he done his utmost to tear through whatever Wind Wards the acting headmaster had used to defend himself? The element that, ironically, Alex and Ya Ling were now best at countering?
Alex flashed a bitter smile, Lord Xuon’s arrogant sneer something that he would never forget, mirroring so closely the countenances of other headmasters and would-be usurpers who had found themselves at just the place and time to make Alex’s life a living hell… and doing all they could to make that a reality.
“Because we would have suffered a retributive strike that would have been our doom.”
Those words earned a surprised wince from Ya Ling. “That actually makes perfect sense. I was an idiot not to consider it.”
Alex shook his head, already knowing that the foolish conniver might be many things, but a battle tactician was not one of them. Protective wards he had a-plenty, but not one retributive blast that would have served as a deterrent at least as strong as wards that Alex was quietly certain his Doom Strike would have cleaved right through.
Yet it wasn’t Lord Xuon that Alex was worried about.
It was the monster who’s face he mirrored. Yet another many generations removed descendant of Lord Justice who was anything but. A bitter, spite-filled god who, along with his foul offspring, had taken such monstrous delight in countless generations of Alex’s suffering. And after suffering such awful tribulations, even enduring a thousand years lost from the world just to finally be free of their spite-filled gazes, Alex now felt nothing but horrified revulsion at the thought of doing anything to ever get on their radar again.
And if that meant actually having enough discipline not to attempt the slaughter of the one single man in the entire city with ties strong enough to actually alert his ancient foes to his continued existence, then Alex would damn well find the discipline to keep his blade in its bloody sheath, no matter how much his aching wrist shook with need.
He had suffered enough. Far more than anyone had the right to demand of him. He had endured the bitter for far, far too long. And after all he had been through, all he was risking even now, throwing himself into peril yet again for the sake of a city he had enjoyed for just a double handful of days, damn if he wouldn’t at least hold tight to the protections that assured that he would finally be able to savor the sweet, enjoy years of growth, warm sunsets, happy memories and maybe, if and when he finally managed to ascend, sweetest love and children not doomed to die to a tyrant’s hate.
If the price to finally be able to savor those dreams meant keeping his blade sheathed and marking some people as forever off limits, then he would do just that.
Let someone else play the righteous hero and cut down Zheng Yi’s many generations removed descendant. Some other idealistic fool could deal with the horrific fallout. Alex had no intention of even going near Lord Xuon or giving Lord Justice cause to suspect his continued existence ever again.
Only then did he turn to catch Senior Cultivator Te Chang’s luminous gaze, feeling the sudden weight of too many auras as former acquaintances and instructors dissected him with their stares while Te Chang abruptly welcomed them in his pagoda with a wave.
“Your timing is exceptional, young Alex. And your display… most impressive. Please come in.”
Alex dipped his head and did just that, waiting until his friends had entered as well before securely shutting the door. And before Te Chang or his fellows could completely pepper him with questions, he held out a clenched fist that startled them all.
“Is this place secure?”
Instructor Sulia glared at his insolence. “You have potential, boy. I see that now. But you will show respect to your elders, as is only proper!” she scolded, but Te Chang waved their concerns away, dipping his head in acknowledgment of the question before turning to the diminutive healer curled in a corner like a frightened rabbit wilting before the killing auras of a pack of wolves.
“It’s all right, Fu Tan,” Te Chang soothed. “We just need to make sure the chamber is secure.”
The young woman quickly nodded and placed her hands on the door, closing her eyes before flashing him a bright smile. “All is well, master. No one unauthorized will hear a whisper of your conversation.”
“Good,” snapped Sulia, turning to glare at Alex, hands on her hips. “Now perhaps you can explain what’s going on with the rifts and why you’ve focused exclusively on them since you arrived.”
Te Chang raised his eyebrows. “Sulia...”
“It needs to be asked, husband, you know that. Better he explain it to us than a hostile jury controlled by our enemies who wish only for an excuse to claim his head… and ours as well.”
Alex flashed a cold smile. “Alright, let’s skip the small talk.” With a grace beyond most cultivators, he flourished his hand to reveal four pristine faceted jewels that glittered with obsidian brilliance in the lamp light, and the lurching gasps and angry shouts his stunt earned him made it perfectly clear that everyone understood their significance.
“Remove those things from our presence at once!” Sulia hissed, glaring his way. “Are you truly so stupid that you don’t realize their peril?”
Alex smirked when Ya Ling huffed. “And are you truly so stupid that you don’t recognize the significance of his blade? You know, glowing like a black sun, that scared the shit out of that pretender?”
Alex groaned internally as Ya Ling added wind to the fire, but couldn’t deny how satisfying it was for so many powerful cultivators to look at him with something very close to awe… or perhaps it was horror. Nonetheless, he had the grace to put away both dao and the four faceted jewels in the blink of an eye.
He held up a hand before their outraged protests.
“The point is that someone thought pristine Silver tier beast cores that so many of you hold as worthless, so no doubt are eager to get rid of for a pittance, was worth the effort of carving into brilliant-cut jewels.” His smirk hardened into a scowl. “Jewels that had been deliberately placed in a cursed formation designed to flood the rift with what some might call choice beasts of extreme potency.” He shrugged. “Or at least, that’s what my gut’s telling me. That, and Rank 7 Artificer with a unique affinity. Anyway, I suspect it’s the bastardization of some exotic delve-hunters technique. But whatever its original purpose, the configuration is being used to overwhelm multiple rifts with Dark Qi and predatory abominations and spirit beasts as eager to hunt you as you are them. Far too much for any casual party of delvers to dare try to take on without using a highly coordinated and well trained group. Not without taking casualties. This, in turn, has drastically cut down on the number of parties daring the rifts, and our guess is that the build up of Dark Qi and Silver tier spirit beasts is causing such pressure on the fragile and I suspect already strained Water cores that are now bursting under pressure, or simply running dry.”
Alex paused for a moment, surprised that he wasn’t being flooded with questions or disparaging criticism. That, in fact, Te Chang and the group who had clearly been readying themselves for a desperate rift delve were, in fact, hanging on to his every word.
Alex took a deep breath and continued. “The good news is that me and my friends managed to claim the Dark Qi jeweled cores and disrupt the formation plaguing the southern rift.” He dared to smile. “And you don’t even want to know just how outrageously awful that delve happened to be. Profitable as hell, mind you, but deadly enough to wipe out any party under Gold tier.”
Alex paused, and couldn’t deny the tiny bump of satisfaction he felt when Sulia’s hard stare turned to wide-eyed dismay. “It’s true. Even Gold Titans would have been imperiled if they weren’t properly equipped. Or at least, that’s what he believes. His foundation doesn’t tremble in the least with his words.”
Instructor Rah furrowed his brow. “These children actually cleared a Gold tier Rift? I’m afraid I find that extremely hard to believe.”
Alex smirked, but gave a conciliatory shrug. “That’s fine. Believe what you like, so long as you accept as well that at least the southern rift is now free and clear of the darkest of formations, which hopefully means that the water jewel supporting the falls there are stable and other delvers should be able to make free use of it, with no more difficulty than whatever the norm was.” Alex frowned in thought. “Or at least, that’s my thought. When this nightmare is finally over, I’d advise an elite team of Silvers to run every rift at least once, and judge for themselves just how safe they are or aren’t for cultivators of various skill levels as well as various levels of Ruidian allies.”
Instructor Rah grunted. “What you advise is nothing less than basic common sense. Of course we would do no less, and will do far more. Now, before we move on to other matters, is there anything else you have to report?”
Alex shrugged. “At this point, I’m just curious to know whether or not Elder Wu was able to break whatever configuration was hidden in the burned buildings by the school over the eastern rift before the Duo Li clan intercepted and captured him. Because if so, we only have the western rift to worry about, seeing as the Duo Li’s will be camping the northmost rift. Their seers are predicting that the next Water core will show up in that rift, thanks to the spiritual pressure they’re generating, or were generating, in all the others.”
Te Chang’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.
Dui Zhong chuckled ruefully, giving Alex a respectful nod. “This lad definitely has his fingers in multiple pies, and knows far more than any supplicant or free-agent hunter should. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he has kitsune blood flowing in his veins, along with everything else!”
His gaze then turned mournful. “Unfortunately, we don’t know Elder Wu’s fate. All we know for sure with your grandparents, Ya Ling, is that the group they were a part of never returned to the school, and that bastard aping a headmaster’s airs declared with far too cocky a smile that agents attempting to sabotage our rifts have been caught and scheduled for execution.”
Ya Ling paled at those words. “No. They wouldn’t dare!”
“It will be alright, child,” Te Chang soothed. “I’ve already put in the school’s formal protest to any presumptuous execution and demanded a full trial with all accused parties given the opportunity to defend themselves from accusations levied against them. That should manage to stay any snap decisions for at least a short while. And as soon as our just and honorable prince manages to weather the storm of accusations being levied against him, I have not doubt that we will be able to clear these matters up in a matter of hours.” He bowed his head in genuine gratitude. “If you and your companions would sketch for me exactly what the tainted formations looked like, that will aid our cause tremendously and allow us to focus our efforts on purging the rifts of taints, as well as helping to stave off the persecution of the very delvers daring so much to save our revered institution.”
Yet Sulia was giving a bitter shake of his head. “All that depends on our prince keeping his throne. With two waterfalls down, the odds of that are increasingly uncertain. Especially with a Gold Titan appearing out of nowhere to make a bid for the seat! That bastard Xuon set us all up perfectly, revealing the veil covering our greatest failing just as a second waterfall failed. And now we find out that there are foul rituals behind it all. Of course there are! And only a fool would think that bastard uninvolved!”
Alex locked gazes with the distraught woman. “In your opinion, what are the odds of the prince keeping his seat if we manage to restore one of the waterfalls?”
This earned Alex the piercing stares of all the senior cultivators present.
Te Chang’s gaze grew desperate. “Alex, if you know anything that could lead us to a core…”
“That would make all the difference in the world, boy!” Dui Zhong assured.
Instructor Rah nodded. “It would dispel the most dire fears infecting the populace. If we could revive even one of the falls that ran dry, it would be effortless to assure that it was all thanks to the prince, and we just need a bit more time. And with rumors now swirling about the western quarter of the city painting the Duo Li clan in a less than favorable light from some benevolent power… it would be effortless to shift blame to them, or at least muddy the waters sufficient that their own attempts to seize the reins of authority are thwarted. Especially with evidence of faceted Waste Qi jewels that only a fool would think lacks significance… and by the design I see dear Ya Ling transcribing, yes, that looks very much like an infernal pentagram. Don’t ask how I know this. All that matters is that a case can be made that our would-be saviors are, in fact, the villains we all know them to be, and we just need a little bit of time to foil their plots and set the world right once more.”
“But none of that does us a lick of good if we lack any Water cores,” Sulia said bitterly, the tired stares and bitter shakes of her companions’ heads emphasizing that bitter truth above all others.
To which Alex flashed a Cheshire grin. “Sadly, my hand lacks any Water Core to wash away all our city’s problems.”
Te Chang gave him a pointed look. “Then why are you smiling?”
With a flourish, Alex revealed his prize, the cool white glow freezing near everyone silent as stoic shells of fatalistic acceptance cracked open with the bittersweet flames of hope unexpectedly rekindled.
“Because I have Ice instead.”