Benton was madder at himself than at Yang Ru.
As someone who had raised three children through the turbulent teenage years, Benton was quite familiar with an immutable law of nature—kids screw up. It was unfortunate that Yang Ru chose the middle of a life and death fight to do so, but it was what it was. Besides, it was in the boy’s character to do what he did. Withdrawing from a fight was not easy for one with the lava qi aspect focused on momentum.
Benton should have considered the boy’s nature when making the plan to face that last wave. Actually, he should never have put the boy into a situation where he could get hurt in the first place.
As much as the father and grandfather from Earth laid the blame on himself, the memories of the cultivator, Su, presented a much different take. Yang Ru was the one who violated an order. Whether it be in battle or even simply in talking to the member of a rival sect or in any number of situations that could go from fine to deadly in an instant for a cultivator, making a single step out of place, even using the wrong phrase in greeting, could get people killed.
In the Flowing Tiger Sect, Yang Ru would be punished. Severely. Being kicked out of the sect with his cultivation first being destroyed was an option. Disobeying a direct order in combat was only second to betraying the sect in severity. Disciples had been summarily executed for less.
The more Benton thought about it, the more he came around to the advice followed in Su’s memories. Benton wasn’t on Earth anymore. Mistakes carried life and death consequences. The boy needed the lesson brought home. Hard.
Not an execution or having his cultivation destroyed, obviously, but Benton had an idea.
“Yang Ru, come here.”
The boy approached, trepidation written all over his face.
“Give me your spear,” Benton said.
Yang Ru looked stricken as he handed it over.
“If I can’t trust you, I can’t let you fight. Here, take this.” Benton handed him the last remaining mortal spear from his spatial ring. “Stand behind your sister, and only act if it is absolutely necessary to save her life, understand?”
“Yes, Senior Brother Chao.” His reply was soft and listless.
Benton hadn’t had to do much disciplining since his kids had graduated high school and left the house. For his grandchildren, he left that chore to their parents. He liked the freedom to spoil the little guys and gals rotten before sending them back home.
At the expression on Yang Ru’s face, the saying, “This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you” rang true.
The punishment had three big advantages, though. One, it fit the crime. He didn’t do what he was supposed to do in combat, so he wouldn’t get to do combat. Two, it had a visceral impact, hitting Yang Ru right where it hurt. Nothing would be worse for him than sitting on the sidelines watching his sister fight. And three, it put the System-wrought spear in much better hands for the upcoming fight. Honestly, Benton probably would have ended up borrowing it back against the rank three anyway. Being limited to a mortal weapon was fine against rank twos, but the restriction would be too much of a distraction against a beast with a higher cultivation.
Benton sensed the boss beast and his lieutenants on the move. The sound of rustling accompanied them. Whatever the thing was, it was big.
“Yang Xiu,” Benton said, “I’ll tank the rank three. You handle the add-ons.”
A couple of his grandkids liked gaming, and sometimes, grandparents had to go to great lengths to get in face time when the kids grew older. Playing along with them was a small price to pay, and the situation he was in made those old terms roll right off his tongue.
“Tank, Senior Brother? Add-ons?”
“That means I’ll occupy the rank three beast. You’re responsible for any other beasts that join in. If you finish before me, I’ll instruct you on what I want you to do.”
The rustling got closer.
“Yes, Senior Brother.”
“If I say retreat, you retreat. Run. Do not stop until you either reach the village or I pass you. Both of you. Understand?”
“Yes, Senior Brother,” the two chorused.
If worst came to worst, he’d hold off the beasts while the siblings got away.
The rustling was just out of sight.
“Good,” Benton said. “Get ready, because they’re here.”
Blue spotted salamanders were the first to appear. Three of them. About the size of alligators. They showed more of a draconic heritage than a similar animal back on Earth, both in size and the scales armoring their bodies.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
A moment later, a gigantic Komodo dragon, about the height of a horse, emerged. It was at the peak of rank three, just a tiny step away from rank four, by far the most dangerous thing Benton had ever faced.
Yang Xiu played her role to perfection, immediately loosing an arrow at the salamander nearest her. She aimed for the eye as usual, but the beast had armored eyelids. The arrow bounced off.
She’d need to increase her accuracy to hit these opponents, and he doubted one hit would kill these big, peak rank two draconic lizards. In a way, both those handicaps would be good for her advancement.
If she survived.
It was time for Benton to engage, though. He’d devote a small portion of his attention to monitoring the siblings, but for the most part, the dragon would take all his effort.
The huge beast was covered in scales, leaving almost no part of it vulnerable. Since it was a higher cultivation than Benton, its toughness and strength exceeded his, even with the addition of the body cultivation.
It was going to be a tough nut to crack.
Benton darted forward. His spear tip struck the joint in its right front leg, bouncing off with little damage.
Little damage was not none, though.
Its tongue darted out. Benton dodged. He struck the same spot again.
And again.
And again.
He dodged the tongue and claws over and over again. The beast was tough and strong. It could withstand a lot of damage, and if it landed a single strike on Benton, he’d be severely injured. Maybe even killed.
But it was slow, and it telegraphed its moves. It didn’t have the intelligence even to feint.
After the fifth hit, the dragon started favoring that leg, and after the tenth, a large hole had been torn out of the scale covering the joint.
Benton moved to the right back leg, hitting it ten times and achieving the same result. And then to the left back leg. And then to the left front leg.
When Benton had arrived on the cultivation planet, he’d been given a young, fit body to replace his old, out of shape one. The difference in stamina he’d felt was staggering. On top of that, he’d since added five minor realms of spiritual cultivation and two minor realms of body cultivation. All that to say that Benton often felt like he could sprint multiple marathons without growing fatigued.
For the first time since arriving on the cultivation planet, Benton was tired. He wasn’t panting, but he was close.
Yang Xiu had long since finished her task. It had taken nearly all of her fifty arrows and for Yang Ru to step in a couple of times to protect her, but she’d slain all three salamanders.
Benton withdrew another bundle of twenty-five arrows from his spatial ring and tossed it to her. “Aim for the broken scales!”
She took his instruction like a champ. An instant later, she loosed, striking the meat of the dragon’s right front leg. The second arrow landed right next to the first one.
That leg collapsed. The entire right front side of the beast collapsed into the dirt.
After that, Benton rested just out of its range as Yang Xiu repeated her Hawkeye impression on each of the legs, leaving the dragon helpless.
It still took quite some time to finally finish it off. All the arrows Yang Xiu had used against the salamanders had been repurposed to make the dragon into a pincushion, and Benton’s arms were sore and tired for hitting the tough, dense scale and hide.
When it was over, all Benton wanted to do was sink to the ground and go to sleep. Of course, he couldn’t do that. For one thing, it would ruin his image as the all powerful, all wise master he was trying to present to his disciples. More importantly, it would cause the other rank three spirit beast that was approaching to attack.
The new one wasn’t as strong as the one they’d killed, only midway through the rank, but it was fresh while they were worn out.
Benton spun and faced the direction the nearly silent beast was approaching from. “Yang Ru, stand beside me with your spear ready. Yang Xiu, nock an arrow. Do not let any pain or fatigue show.”
He looked them over. Yang Ru had a few scratches but otherwise looked fresh as a daisy. Yang Xiu was the very picture of youthful exuberance.
Perfect.
When the beast got close enough to see them, it immediately turned around and fled.
Benton let out a relieved sigh and, after a couple of tense minutes of observing its retreat, sank into a lotus position to regain his stamina.
“Yang Ru, run and go get the harvesters. Bring them here. Yang Xiu, gather your arrows and do whatever cleaning and maintenance is necessary.”
“Yes, Senior Brother.”
The site of the fight was a mess. The big corpse of the Komodo dragon was the centerpiece, blood trails emanating from dozens of wounds, but the rest of the surrounding area was littered with dead rank one and two beasts.
By the time Yang Ru returned with the harvesters, Benton had mostly recovered. He sat serenely in his meditative pose, looking every bit the wizened cultivator. “Greetings Guang Yin. The wood is safe.”
“Esteemed Master Cultivator, is that … is that a rank three beast?”
“It is, Guang Yin.”
The man cupped his hands. “This lowly one thanks the Esteemed Master Cultivator for protecting us.”
The other five men followed suit, bowing and offering thanks.
“Don’t worry about it,” Benton said. “It was my pleasure.”
The men stayed bowed, clearly waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Benton didn’t disappoint them. “Have you ever noticed that I try to treat everyone around me with respect. Granted, I don’t use honorifics and refer to myself in the third person like you all do, but I feel I generally go out of my way to be nice to people. Do you know why that is?”
“The lowly one does not, Esteemed Master Cultivator,” Guang Yin said.
“Partly, it’s because it just feels like the right thing to do. I like it when people treat me with respect, so I put out into the world what I want returned to me.” Benton smiled even though his audience couldn’t see him. “Partly, though, it’s because you never know who you’re really talking to. A peasant might be a hidden expert in disguise. When you’re dealing with cultivators so far above you in realm, it’s really quite impossible to know if they’re lowly mortals or godlike nascent souls. Know what I mean?”
“Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator,” the men chorused.
“You know what I really hate, though?”
“No, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
“I hate hidden experts who get all butt hurt when someone disrespects them and goes and levels a city or village or something. Those people didn’t know he was a hidden expert, so why should they have treated him as someone above them, right?”
Agreeing to that statement was too much of a trap, and the men were too smart to not stay quiet.
“Now, on the other hand, once that hidden expert displays his strength, he could rightly expect that respect from then on and, if that hidden expert reacted to rudeness by destroying a city or a village after that, then who am I to hate him, you know?”
“Yes, Esteemed Master Cultivator.”
“Good,” Benton said. “I’m glad we had this little talk. You all should probably get to work now.”