Alex glared at the distant sight of a pair of haughty looking men with sneering lips and hooked noses dressed in silk robes radiating a Silver’s power. Unlike the dozen guards of basic tier cultivation at best who were backing fearfully around Te Chang and the others, their newest opponents on the board were surrounded by several dozen hard-eyed cultivators covered in helms and hauberks of steel that had clearly achieved at least the first Rank of Bronze. All of them were armed with narrow-bladed spears perfect for bursting mail links, or vicious looking guandao, with sheathed gladii at their hips. All of them had the look of professional soldiers, well experienced in the killing arts. The equivalent of true elites, in this time and place. Far more powerful than the typical guard.
Yet as chilling a sight as it was, Alex’s eyes couldn’t help but be pulled by the captivating sight behind them, the perspective of distance revealing the caldera’s splendor in all its wonder. Somehow it was only from this angle that he could tease the meanings of the magnificent series of interlocking silver designs across the entire caldera ridge line. Realizing that what he was glimpsing was a spiritual echo of the heavens themselves. All the seasons, the phases of the moon, and countless twinkling stars were now revealed in those grand silver sigils. Yet the showpiece of it all was the yin yang symbol that was actually the rising sun from which golden rays originated in all directions. It was the lowest symbol as well, close to the desert floor in a shallow alcove, within reach of any tall man, with a single divot in the center of the taijitu symbol.
Alex felt a thrill of wonder, understanding instantly what it was for.
The sneering pair of nobles who looked like older versions Tan Yi and Soh Lan, imperiously held out their hands. Alex felt a desperate twist in his gut, somehow dead certain that both those bastards had also obtained Gold tier wards in a desert where there should be none. The only upside was that they lacked the stamp of Lord Justice’s features upon their spiteful countenances.
“Give us the Water Core and I’ll permit you fools to flee into the desert, with your cultivator’s oaths never to return!” The closest of the pair sneered and spat upon catching sight of a scowling Linnea and her kindsmen. “But you’ll be leaving that trash behind to stand trial for their numerous crimes against our fair city!”
Te Chang glared at the pair of nobles and their elite bodyguard staring coldly back at them for an endless moment. Fortunately, Alex’s party was shielded at least for the moment by the ward of swirling ice Sulia had summoned, enhanced all the more by Hanz and Lieberman, before flashing a single brilliant white core.
“You dare to accuse us of your wrongdoing? We found the Waste Qi stone formations your pawns left in the rifts… and in the burnt husk of the buildings right over them!” Te Chang flashed a fierce grin when the pair of corrupt Duo Li nobles blanched and snarled. “You bastards are the ones responsible for tainting the rifts and attempting to destroy our access to clean water. All so you could seize the reins of power in both the council and the school! Well rest assured, your failed coup ends this night, and it is you who had best flee into the desert sands, you and your entire cursed clan, or face the headman’s axe when the prince learns the full extent of all your schemes!”
A part of Alex wanted to castigate the man for a fool, revealing all their cards at once. Another part of himself thought it absolutely brilliant, as the unguarded hate in their foes’ eyes made it so damned clear that they had hit the bullseye on all counts. So whatever doubts Te Chang might have had about Alex’s wild assertions had just been put to rest, and if their opponent was the one to initiate bloodshed… any oaths or edicts broken would be his burden to bear.
Duo Li’s cheeks mottled with fury. “You will pay for those insults, fool! For that offense alone, one of your children just lost her head, and the rest will be spending their remaining miserable years pleasing my clan in our personal compound until we grow bored of your slatternly daughters and slice open all their throats!” He and his brother sneered gleefully when Sulia’s eyes widened with a mother’s fury, so distracted by the dismay he saw in his targets that he paid little attention to the hair on his own head as it slowly lifted off his brow, the very air now crackling with unseen potential.
“How dare you threaten our children!” Sulia screamed, fists clenched with sudden seething hate, though wise enough not to get goaded to the point of lowering her ward.
The pair of corrupt lords flashed positively wicked smiles Alex could now see so clearly as he closed the distance, darting through the air right above the desert sands, no longer feeling the need to hide his gifts in this, the final hour... savoring the sweet crackling potential in the air like never before.
The larger of the pair, the man that Alex was increasingly certain was the head of the entire Li clan, laughed like the monster he was. “You think it matters what you know? What you only think you know? You think that mockery of a prince will save you? Fool! This is just the first step. By the time this night is over, the prince’s clan will be just as extinct as your own!”
Distract Them! - A silent plea all his party members heard. The farthest thing from a command.
But Alex needed time. At least a few precious moments to unravel the complex weave of spiritual energy surrounding his foes as the pressure of the storm near consumed him.
For a heartbeat he felt pristine dismay, for all that he had burst similar barriers in a fit of glorious madness before, it hadn’t been while holding so fiercely tight to the sense of the storm as a whole.
Then his eyes widened in sudden comprehension, sensing how similar the wards were to the silvery weaves once used by an Alchemist he had taken such fierce pleasure in striking dead before leaving Dragon Academy with so many enemies wanting him dead.
Artificer & Lightning-enhanced Spell Cleave skill check: Critical success!
Gold tier artifacts as fragile as they were resilient, cursed with flaws that suddenly explained how such prizes would end up here, in the middle of nowhere. Undeniably, the weaves of Air might have earned a king’s Gold and been more than capable of countering any number of Silver-tier attacks. Yet even those prized treasures were forced to yield before the power of Imperial might, the heavenly storm in all its righteous fury.
Linnea abruptly laughed, eyes twinkling with a fiery glint all her own. As if she understood that which even the cultivators had been too occupied to sense. “Of course my family would choose the very month Liushi falls to a coup to make our fortunes here. But if you think we’ll be the only ones to fall this night, then you’re just as stupid as those robes make your scrawny bodies look!”
Imperious gazes widened with absolute fury. The pair of Duo Li wujen turned to glare at the foreigner who would make such audacious insults. “That you would dare raise your voice before your betters, you unforgivable mongrel creature! Mark my words, your people’s days tainting the desert sands will soon be at an end!” Roared the smaller of the pair, so distracted that he didn’t even respond to the rustling of enchanted cultivator’s robes that had lain flat against his stick-thin frame, just seconds before.
Linnea chuckled coldly, for all that she was now at the center of a swirling maelstrom of flame. “So says the fool who knows the desert so poorly that he doesn’t even understand what it means when your hair stands on end.”
The pair of noble cutthroats frowned, eyes widening when they caught sight of each other’s hair, turning as one to glare at Te Chang. “You will cease what you’re doing at once, or our men will cut you down this second!”
Te Chang smiled coldly, gathering his own whirlwind of spiritual energy even as he slowly shook his head. “I’m afraid you’ll have to blame another for that bit of madness, Zoun Li.”
The hooked-nose wujen snarled and spat. “What other one?”
“The hero about to kill you. Who else?”
Zoun Li furrowed his brow, taking a quick look around, as did his men.
But at that moment a furiously howling Alex racing through the air as fast as a hawk could fly was already among them, savoring a revelation like no other as he embraced the crackling weight of ozone in the air and became one with the storm.
Yet Zoun Li didn’t flinch, merely laughed with twisted mirth as his hand squeezed the crimson talisman in his hand, the ward around his frame now visible to all. “Fool! No Ruidian abomination has any hope of piercing the glory of Gold!” He turned to his sibling and the soldiers attending them. “This farce ends here! Kill them all this instant, while I dispatch this Ruidian menace. Let no traitor to our cause live to see first light!”
Artificer skillcheck made! You understand the spiritual weave used construct this treasure!
Modified Spell Cleave skill check made!
Storm Strike has successfully shattered Tainted Pendant!
Storm Strike has evolved into Lightning Blast!
You have critically struck your foe!
Seven additional targets are seizing in the rain!
Alex’s fangtian ji windmilled through the air, facing no resistance at all as the Golden ward vanished, just as the prize Zoun Li held exploded in his hand, leaving a spurting stump in its place. Yet the sneering lord didn’t even have time to scream before half-moon axe-heads cleaved through his skull and the night exploded in a brilliant flash sending over half a dozen of the elite troops that had been guarding their leader rag-dolling through the air.
“Brother!”
Alex froze, shivering under the weight of profound revelation, even surrounded as he was by momentarily stunned foes.
For the very first time in his life, he thought he was beginning to understand what it meant to channel the elements beyond himself. To understand, at least in part, what he had been doing wrong.
“Kill that abomination! Strike him dead!”
He didn’t need to project the lightning directly, like he had once tried to project shards of ice, a feat which he had proven to be utterly hopeless at. He just needed to see the entire cluster of his remaining foes, so many still upright and roaring their hate his way under the direction of their second master, as a single unified body that he would allow the storm’s energy to channel through as it liked.
Of course there was a price for his revelation, as he strove to dodge and counter half a dozen frantically plunging spears and guandao while embracing the sense of being both himself and just an extension of the entire area. He was nearly jolted out of his wondrous epiphany by sudden hot fiery pain as a furiously jabbing soldier’s spear bit into his thigh.
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You have taken two Light Wounds.
You have taken one Medium Wound from Steel-enhanced strike!
Willpower check made!
Yet despite the sudden flashes of pain and screams of fury from his enemies could distract him from the furious revelation he savored. For if his hips and legs paid a prize in suffering desperately thrust spears, his windmilling fangtian ji suffered no opposition at all, slicing through his targets with surprising ease as they exploded in storms of lightning that ruptured their lamellar hauberks and the organs beneath before blasting right through whatever men were right behind them.
And suddenly no one was sniping a madly laughing Alex’s legs at all as he effortlessly whipped his polearm around in fiercely controlled arcs, the night now alive with brilliant flashes of lightning in addition to flurries of icy bolts and explosions of flame.
You have successfully learned the Wujen Art: Lightning Blast which you may now chain to Storm Strike! Note. This art can chain off any other art using Lightning as a key element and strike (three times skill rank + 1-5) additional targets per blast. All targets suffer one Serious Wound, the effects of Stunning Blow, and must save versus Cardiac Arrest or perish! Lightning has additional bonuses to pierce through all protective wards. Summoned creatures must save versus abjuration or be instantly banished!
Using this Imperial Wujen technique before achieving Silver Tier risks Meridian Rupture.
You have achieved Rank 7 in a Cultivation Tier that is currently UNDEFINED.
Your Divine Tier Meridians are immune to rupture!
“No! Impossible!” the increasingly panicked-looking Duo Li clan noble roared as he caught sight of a wild-eyed Alex windmilling his weapon through the skulls of another pair of collapsing Bronze henchmen while the four soldiers behind them also collapsed in trembling spasms as explosions lightning tore through them.
Seizures that were stopped immediately when a snarling Alex tore open each of their chests with a single chopping blow of his deadly sharp fangtian ji.
“You’re no Ruidian! You’re an abomination!” the final Wujen snarled, before lashing out with a roar, a sudden geyser of wicked sharp metal flying free of his open palms to shred right through the hapless soldier still trying to stand before Alex, before being deflected by a whirling disk of Wind, Water, and Steel.
Qi Perception check: Success! DUCK!
Alex didn’t analyze his instincts, he trusted them, jolting out of his fury to duck his head as fast as he could, his neck hairs lifting as a massive pillar of metal tore through the air just above his lowered head.
Quickness modified skillcheck made! You have successfully summoned Storm Shield!
Fangtian ji is now in storage ring.
Enhanced Wind Qi Defection counters Stealth Strike!
You have suffered no damage.
Their final opponent stumbled back, quickly surrounding himself in a miniature whirlwind of spinning metal shards, eyes widening as the fog of wrath cleared from the wujen’s vision and he realized he had completely failed to injure the Ruidian smiling at him with a shield of Wind and Water in one hand, and a dao covered in lightning in the other.
“Men, to me! To me now!” The wujen screamed, as if unable to fathom the twenty corpses before him. Some had been burned to a crisp, others perforated by spears of ice, and far too many covered in electric burns with massive rents in their chests that had been torn open like a pig on feasting days… those that still had heads attached at all.
Alex chuckled coldly as his foe stumbled back, arrogant countenance only now cracking to reveal the wide-eyed fear of a man who only now understood that his karmic tab had finally come due.
“Poor would-be mastermind of a city’s final fate. With nothing but contempt for the tens of thousands… hundreds of thousands that your plots would consign to death by starvation and awful thirst. Yet now that you’re utterly alone, you suddenly fear so acutely the darkness to come.”
Alex’s mocking voice turned chill with contempt.
“Don’t worry, you frightened little sadist whose thoughts are so bright and sharp and so very sweet with terror, eternal blackness will not be your doom.” Alex’s crackling dao danced through the air in lazy moulinets as he glared down at the malevolent coward only now trembling with the terror and despair he would so happily inflict upon others. “Eternal cold from which there is no escape as you experience the exquisite agony of drowning endlessly in the River of Souls as your sins are pounded free of your spiritual flesh... That will be your fate, I fear. Though for however many months, years, or centuries you will be forced to endure those torments?” Alex shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
His opponent, hair now slick with rain, stumbled back upon the slick muddy sands with a panicked cry, his shimmering gold ward faded like the first rays of dawn chasing night’s gloom away as he collapsed to his knees. “No. Please, this cannot be.” His eyes widened, only now getting a good look at Alex with his golden hair and bright blue eyes, helm knocked free in the madness of battle. “You!” He desperately shook his head. “No. Impossible! The stories are meaningless. The old gods are dead. You cannot be!”
Lightning roared and flashed across the heavens in perfect time to his words.
Alex laughed, uncaring of his companion’s solemn gazes as he gloried in the storm all about him, the revelations of lightning still shivering through his soul.
“And yet here I am. And now I sense who you really are. Goodbye, Duo Li. The duplicitous schemes of your corrupt clan of asshole water merchants will die along with you this night, this I promise you.”
The man’s eyes widened with desperate fury. “You don’t dare strike me, worm!” The man sneered through his terror, spitting at Alex’s feet as he raised his hands. “Let the counsel judge my actions, Ruidian cur! I demand that as my right as a Lord of the Sands!”
Captain Goizing blanched, eyes widening with dismay. “He’s right. By our cultivator’s oaths, we are duty-bound to honor his parole as we make our case before the counsel.”
Ya Ling’s eyes widened with outrage. “Wait, are you serious? This monster just tried to have us killed! Are you saying we can now do nothing? That we have to let him walk free so he can buddy up and bribe his cronies and make sure that the city counsel lets him off with a slap on the wrist? Assuming we even have a city counsel. Assuming everyone honest wasn’t already taken out in the coup orchestrated by this asshole’s co-conspirators!”
“That’s exactly what you will do, desert whore!” Duo Li laughed like the cold-blooded monster that he was. “You will do nothing, for you can do nothing! For your masters are bound by oaths they dare not break, and rest assured, when the counsel, my counsel, hears about this, it is your heads that will be hung on pikes before the city walls… not mine, fools!”
Te Chang’s features took on a sickly cast. For all that his fists were tightly clenched... he sighed in defeat. “Alex, I’m sorry. But we’re oathbound to follow the laws swore to. We need—“
Alex raised his hand. “Let me make sure I understand this. You’re oathbound to do all you can to accept his parole and make sure he’s brought in safely, right?”
Te Chang gave a bitter nod of his head. “I’m afraid so, Alex. But don’t worry. Our situation isn’t quite as dire as this treacherous worm is making them out to be.”
“And that’s where you’re wrong, fools!” Duo Li sneered, laughing at them all as he sprang back to his feet, hands still raised. “When the counsel’s done with you, you’ll have nothing left! Your families penniless, your children consigned to the slave markets, your heads on pikes for the entire city to witness your downfall!” He laughed as Alex’s entire coterie paled with dismay, before tilting his head thoughtfully. “That is, unless of course, you surrender the ice core you fools should have delivered to my clan door in the first place. Just as we have claimed every other Water core to come out of those rifts… one way or another. Should you be willing to do that, I will give you all my oath as a Lord of the Sands to permit you a full three days and nights to flee the city before the counsel, MY counsel, enforces its warrants for all of your arrests!”
Ya Ling, trembling with fury, could no longer hold back. “You think you’ll get away with your crimes, bastard? You tried to overthrow our entire city, sowed chaos at the academy, and kidnapped my grandparents you ruthless, slimy bastard! You will pay a price, yes you will!”
Her furious accusations earned nothing but a contemptuous smirk from Duo Li. “Is that so? Well, little harlot, it pleases me to no end to assure you that by the time the morning sun paints the sky red, you’ll never have to worry about those ancient fools ever again!”
Ya Ling paled, hand squeezing tight the hilt of her blade. “NO, No, you goddamned bastard, you won’t touch a hair on their heads!”
Duo Li mocked her with his laughter. “Oh, I promise you, little desert whore, they will not perish to my actions, but to your own!” He snarled, eyes glittering with hate. “If you truly think any kin of yours will be allowed to live after your unforgivable offenses to my clan, you’re just as much of a fool as the fox’s dead disciple!”
Ya Ling turned pale with fury, drawing her blade before the smirking monster with a desperate cry.
Quickness check: Made!
Only to be stopped by none other than Alex, Rank 5 Bronze Quickness and Finesse allowing him to grip her hand before she could bare steel.
Her eyes lit with furious alarm. He wasn’t that much quicker than her, after all. But with Silver Tier strength… her furious struggles availed her nothing.
Her look was one of hurt betrayal.
“Ya Ling, think! He taunted you without admitting his own involvement in anything! He wants you to attack him! Why? What will that trigger? Are you bound to any oaths?”
Ya Ling’s froze, tear-filled eyes wide with horror. “No. They swore to us that it could never be used against us like this!” She crumpled to the sands with muffled sobs.
“By all the fallen gods, this man’s a monster!” Instructor Rah cursed in wide-eyed disbelief.
Alex sighed, ignoring Duo Li’s imperious demands that they all surrender their weapons and kneel before the man immediately. He leaned down to gently disarm his friend while kissing her brow, before standing up once more. It was painfully clear that his worst suspicions were on the mark, even if the particulars weren’t clear. Not yet.
Alex turned to the others. “So, what exactly happens if we kill him now?”
Sulia flashed a bitter smile. “Whoever’s responsible will crash to the sands a broken man. Or woman. Their foundation destroyed forever. Because we all swore oaths as citizens of Liushi to never assault those blessed by Water, save in self-defense. Which was somehow twisted to be exclusive to the Duo Li clan, and not the cultivators and Ruidians who risk themselves for cores of Water and Ice. And that particular monster just surrendered. And no, Alex. None of us can knowingly allow our fellows to execute him.”
Duo Li’s imperious features twisted in outrage. “That you would even dare to entertain such murderous thoughts! Rest assured, Ruidian, it’s the gallows for you, no matter what indulgences I might grant your foolish companions!”
Alex’s eyes widened in feigned dismay, utterly ignoring the blathering lord’s words.
“But what about the walkers? What if they had gotten to him? Or what if he slipped on a stone and broke his neck? Would you still be at fault?"
Sulia’s tired gaze narrowed. “Of course not, Alex. None of us can change the vagaries of fate. But the walkers are dead, and there are no rocks on the—“
Alex’s companions cried out in surprise when the night exploded with lightning once more.
You have successfully decapitated your foe!
Lord Duo Li has perished. Experience earned!
Note! Your actions this night has resulted in the accrual of significant negative karma with all surviving members of the Duo Li clan. All will view you with suspicion, even if they’re not quite sure why!
Alex’s companions froze in speechless horror as Duo Li’s wildly blinking head, mouth still silently voicing its scathing diatribe against Alex, tumbled to the desert sands.