Wuxia -CH15-

“Jia, as the champion, you are allowed to choose the sect you wish to join. You will be accepted regardless of who you choose.

“Which sect do you pick?” asked the old man who had given them their Qi examinations.

Jia’s eyes flicked to the recruiters, than to the examiner.

“This one must kindly ask his seniors to allow a moment to think. Please move to the second place finisher for now,” Jia said, bowing her head deeply to the recruiter table.

The Mountain Bear and Dragon Warrior sects shared a look and then smirked at one another.

I bet they’re wondering which one amongst them she’s picking. I wonder if they bet on those kind of things.

The examiner looked to the recruiters who nodded their heads. Once he received permission, the examiner looked to Ash.

“Ashley Sheng, which sect do you request to join?” 

The medics had quickly scooped up Ash after his loss and put him to rights. Apparently upon losing, one received the full benefits of the tournament. Winners were expected to care for themselves.

Standing there in front of everyone, he was feeling much more “right” than he had in a while.

It only took something like twenty different types of pills and an actual Qi Healer.

Ash pressed his fists together and bowed to the recruiters from each sect.

“I would choose to join the Jade Fist,” Ash said immediately without thinking about it. His goal all along had been to go there to assist his brother and sister.

That was the extent of his desires.

Everyone stared at Ash after he spoke.

Suddenly the Jade Fist recruiter started laughing loudly.

“The Jade Fist willingly and gladly accepts Ashley Sheng,” said the middle aged man, standing up. He bowed his head and pressed his fists together towards Ash.

“Jia, you have been given time to make your choice as you requested,” said the examiner, turning his face toward Jia. “Are you ready to make your choice now?”

“Yes. I would request to join the Jade Fist,” Jia said, bowing her head and pressing her fists together.

Again the crowd was shocked into silence.

Clapping his hands together, the Jade Fist recruiter bounced of his seat, laughing almost hysterically.

“The Jade Fist willingly and gladly accepts Jia,” crowed the recruiter.

The other recruiters started shouting at the Jade Fist recruiter and the stage fell into disarray.

“What are you doing?” Ash whispered as he poked Jia in the side. Leaning in close to her he was in her personal space. “I thought you wanted to go for the best!”

“I do. And that is still my goal. I am merely just changing the way in which I am doing it. Now back up,” Jia said. She reached up and tried to push Ash back with a hand on his shoulder.

“No! What are you doing? You could have easily gotten into the top tier sects. Tell them it was a mistake. Quick. You worked so hard for this,” Ash hissed at her. He was confident he could push a bit harder with the focus of the crowd still on the recruiters as they bickered with one another.

Jia turned her face partially toward Ash.

“Stop. I am doing what I want. This choice is entirely my own, and happily so. I did work hard for this, though my gains were entirely due to you.

“I do not feel it would be best for me to go away from you. I think you are a fated one, and I wish to be a part of it.

“Now back up or they will think you have an interest in men, and me,” Jia said, quirking a brow at him.

Ash snorted and moved an inch closer toward her. He was feeling a touch rebellious, and her telling him what to do was making it worse.

“And what if they do? Do you think I care? You’re the one who seems to be hiding herself. No?” Ash asked.

Jia didn’t back up from him. Her eyes were locked onto his.

Instead she pressed her forehead to his suddenly.

“You do not frighten me, Ash. I know very well your personality. You speak out of anger because you worry for me. I understand.

“Now, back up, or I shall make this much worse for you. No one has noticed yet,” Jia murmured.

Grumbling, Ash pulled away from her and got back into his own position.

Looking to the stage he found the Jade Fist recruiter laughing all by himself, as the other sects continued to yell at one another.

“They plan on moving us to the veil after this,” Jia said. “We will be coming back here for a short period afterward. I told your merchant friend to remain here and wait.”

I’ll collect my auction earnings on the way back through then, and pick up Ying Yue.

“The veil huh,” Ash mused.

“Veil raids don’t happen often. This is an opportunity for them to test their strength and gain resources. We will be there simply to watch, and learn.”

Ash didn’t know what to say. Veil raids were where the Outlander slaves came from. He didn’t really agree with any of it, but he couldn’t stop it either.

And raising his voice against it, would only cause him to be silenced.

Which meant he was along for the ride whether he liked it or not.

***

Moria and Jia stood next to Ash. The former having joined them as soon as they left town. They were with the rest of the Jade Fist recruits and the recruiter himself.

Each sect was more or less insular to themselves as they stood waiting at the boundary to the veil.

The largest group was made up of loose cultivators of Xing city.

Looking to the one who led their group Ash watched the Jade Fist recruiter.

He was standing with a group of younger recruits around himself.

The Jade Fist recruiter seemed as if he were the happiest man alive, honestly. Telling all who would listen about what to expect of the new sect and giving them some pointers about what their first steps should be.

“It is because he gained a lot of face when we joined,” Jia said.

“Hm?” Ash mumbled, looking to Jia.

“You are staring at the recruiter. Likely you wonder about his mood. It is quite joyful due to you and I joining him.

“He will receive praise when he returns to the sect,” Jia elaborated.

“Seems arbitrary,” Moria said.

Ash nodded his head.

“Everyone!” called the Dragon Warrior recruiter. “We will now move across the veil. Fill your Dantian up as we’ll have no ability to do so once we cross over.

“To you recruits, stay behind. To the rest of you, good luck!”

The Jade Fist recruiter clapped his hands together several times and looked to his recruits.

“Stay together. The Kin have their own abilities and are unique. On average they only rank about the strength of a sixth or seventh body refiner. So work in teams to subdue or kill them.

“The location we’ve drawn will be shared with the Mountain Bear sect, its a mine. I imagine we’ll find many Outlanders that we can take our pick of. They often send the young ones or inexperienced to places like this.

“Targets that are of little interest internally to themselves, but great for us,” said the recruiter.

“Why are we here?” Moria said, her voice edged with distaste and dislike. The wings on her back lifted up and then settled back down in what was clear agitation.

Can’t say I blame her. This is probably how she herself was captured. Just in a different city, and a different veil.

“Because I have no right to refuse it. Don’t worry, we’ll just hang in the back and let them do as they will. I have no desire to actually participate,” Ash said.

Moria nodded her head at his words. “Good. I’m glad to hear that.”

Looking at the veil Ash couldn’t but wonder. It was a sheer, translucent, film like substance that surrounded the entire nine kingdoms.

At random intervals, the veils would open up allowing for veil raids as they were called.

Each veil seemingly went to a different world. A different land. There were even noted instances where a veil changed. Where once it led to a land filled with nothing but humans, a year later, it went to a volcanic world of fire and hell.

That on top of the fact that people literally went on veil raids to fight other species made the whole prospect fairly dangerous.

Yan and Jing had spoken of an older cousin who had been lost on a veil raid. She’d never come back after heading over.

It was this veil in fact. Her name had been Lan, and she’d simply vanished.

There was a shuddering shimmer that spread throughout the veil, and a gap opened up all on its own.

Several cultivators stepped into the gap and then sat down.

They were the gate keepers. They would hold the veil open as the raid proceeded.

Everyone began to rush through the open veil.

The raid had begun.

Moving as a group, everyone started across the boundary.

An hour later and the attack had started. From the look of it, it would be over quickly here as well.

Out in front of himself he watched as numerous cultivators stormed through the mining camp. It made Ash a little sick watching it.

Anyone in a gray vest was targeted first and foremost. It was the difference between a uniform and civilian clothes.

They were the soldiers of this area. Guards and overseers. Those who had power.

And what better way to express your own power, than by defeating others with power.

Ultimately this was really just a test of strength with the possibility of stealing resources.

People, equipment, coins, anything that could be carried, stored, or bound.

“It’s sickening,” Moria said.

“It is… normal,” Jia countered. “This is simply the way of the cultivator. It is not as if other veils did not do the same. Do you not see some of my own countrymen down there? It is not unique to us.”

Ash couldn’t disagree with either of them, because they were right on their respective points.

It didn’t make him like it any more or less though. He was no fool though. He wasn’t going to argue with his superiors, but neither was he going to be a pacifist.

Having long since toggled on his abilities and charged them to full, Ash was ready if anything should happen or come his way.

Except that it was unlikely he’d be troubled. They were clearly in the minority by remaining back, but they weren’t alone either.

Even some of the youngest recruits were down there testing themselves. Killing or being killed simply to see if they had what it took to do so. But not all of them.

Looking to the entrance of the mine Ash watched a large frog-looking monstrosity directing people with a meaty fist.

“They are probably a distant relative of your own people, Moria. Though they seem to have far more genetic diversity,” Jia said

“Mm. My countrymen all have wings or one sort or another. Being of the Owl tribe I held great prestige.”

Ash winced as an old woman was backhanded by the frog-like man and was sent flying. She crashed into a wall and fell limp to the ground. Turning to one side the monster trundled off in another direction.

Then Ash saw a man. A man in rags standing in the mouth of the entrance. A man he instantly recognized. One he’d been hoping to see since he’d showed up here.

Even though he couldn’t see the man’s face, he knew who it was.

He knew it to the very core of his being.

It was his cousin Trav, who had been pulled from the boat with him.

Then Trav was knocked into the mine under the weight of what looked like a guard. Vanishing into the darkness, Ash could no longer see him.

“I’ll be back,” Ash said hurriedly.

Kicking off from the ground, Ash began to rapidly cross the distance toward the mine entrance.

Each time his feet his the ground he used Spring Step. The ground whipped by him as he went. As did numerous cultivators, enemy guards, and slaves.

Before he could get to the mine entrance, it began to cave in on itself. Rocks and debris fell and covered the entryway.

Ash came to a sudden stop. There wasn’t anything he was going to be able to do to get through the rubble.

Looking around himself he realized he was in a small cleared area to the side of the mines. A part of the camp that was uninhabited and at the edge of the layout.

Rather than going backward through those who might be ready for him, or forward, deeper into enemy lines, Ash moved toward the perimeter of the camp.

Slipping through the nearby trees he moved out of sight and started to loop back around to where he started.

A heavy thump beside him made Ash startle to one side, immediately drawing his butterfly swords and holding them in front of himself.

“Why did you leave?” Moria asked, her wings settling down on her back. She tilted her head to one side, her lips pulled down in a frown.

“I thought I recognize someone,” Ash said, letting his hands drop to his sides. “I wanted to see if it was-”

The clash of metal on metal nearby caught his attention. It was much closer than the battle going on in the camp.

Moria looked toward the sound of the noise, her head tilting around in a strange way.

“We should go back,” she said. “I’ll carry you.”

Ash was staring toward the sound of fighting. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt a need to go that way. His mind told him he’d be better off heading back, but he also wanted to see if he could blow off some steam and clear his head with a fight.

Maybe I’m more of a cultivator than I thought.

“Let’s just look,” Ash said, moving towards the fighting.

Growling under her breath Moria followed along beside him. Drawing her blade from its sheath she did a double take.

“I still have mana,” she said.

“Oh? That’s good. That’ll make this easier.”

“I shouldn’t have mana.”

“Well, we did kinda channel it through your Dantian rather than whatever it was you did previously. Your Dantian is holding it.”

Ash saw movement between the trees up ahead of himself. It looked like a handful of people all circling another.

“That doesn’t seem normal,” Moria complained. “I asked around a bit in the stables. What you’ve done isn’t supposed to be possible.”

The trees thinned out in front of him and Ash could finally see the fight.

A tall leggy woman stood amongst a group of humans in rags. She held a massive two handed sword that looked impossible to wield.

She was dressed in finery. Expensive clothes that were clearly dyed, rather than a natural color and cut to fit her figure.

Her clothes, let alone herself, didn’t fit the camp. She clearly didn’t belong here.

That and the fact she had three foot long rabbit ears coming out of the top of her head, marking her as a Kin. One of the natural inhabitants of this veil.

Her hair and fur was a dark black, though he couldn’t see her face from here.

“-ie! Just as you’ve killed so many of us,” shouted one of the humans.

Charging forward, he swung a club at her in an overhead smash.

Flicking the blade to one side, she deflected the attack and then slashed at the man. She moved much faster than her frame would seemingly allow. Bringing that big blade around as if it were lightweight.

It slammed into the man’s chest and flung him backward.

Peeling her sword away and back into her original pose, the woman turned her head around to look at the crowd around her. It gave Ash a chance to see her face.

She had delicate features and was quite pretty.

Her bright green eyes caught on Ash for a brief moment, before moving on. They were bright green.

Before she could do anything else, several men charged out at her at the same time. All from different angles.

The reality of combat was that if you were surrounded, it was only a question of time. Especially with a big sword such as that of the Kin’s.

Realizing she was about to be over-run Ash darted forward. The moment she went down in a crush of bodies like that, she’d probably get her head smashed in.

Leading with his swords he carved his way through the outer ring of bodies as the woman was dogpiled on.

Slashing and chopping at everything in front of him, it was that long before the group realized they were being attacked.

Moria was beside him, moving her blade with only a bit of hesitancy. She was no swords-woman, but she wasn’t an amateur either.

Figuring out that the odds had clearly turned, the survivors ran off, leaving behind their dead and dying.

Ash didn’t see the woman when the people cleared away. Looking into the mess of bodies around where she’d been standing, he could see a flash of red clothing in there and her massive blade.

“Watch them,” Ash muttered. Cleaning his swords off on a dying woman with a gut wound’s pants he stepped into the center.

Reaching down he grabbed the Rabbit-woman under her armpits and started hauling her free. Her head lolled backward, her green eyes staring up at him.

A large knot was forming on her temple, and her eyes seemed to be focusing and unfocusing.

“Not sure you understand Kingdom,” Ash said softly. “But I mean you no harm. Just getting you clear and away from here.”

The Kin hadn’t let go of her sword, the tip was dragging along through the dirt alongside her boots.

“Ash, we should leave her and go,” Moria said, her big yellow eyes studying their surroundings.

“We leave her here and she dies. I don’t really want to do that.”

Grunting Moria kept looking to the trees around them.

“Can’t really take her with us either. They’ll slave brand her the moment you get her to the camp. We can’t stay here either, the veil will close eventually and strand us here,” Moria pressed. “They’re regrouping. There’s more of them, too.”

Ash lifted his head and looked ahead. He could just barely see people out there, moving around. 

Probably collecting their wounded and dead before they rush us.

Leave her to die, take her with us and have the first cultivator with a slave seal claim her, or stay here and be stranded.

Could I at least have one option that wasn’t garbage?

“Projecting a slave symbol onto her forehead. Use her blood to draw the symbol, and seal it with your own,” Locke commanded.

Immediately a circular design appeared on her brow. Glowing in the same way the traces for Moria’s back had.

Choosing, Ash dropped the Kin to the ground and dabbed a finger into her bleeding temple. Quickly, he sketched out the design Locke had supplied.

Thankfully it only took a few seconds.

No sooner than he finished, he reached down and sliced his pinky on her blade, then pressed the bloody digit to the center of the symbol.

Flashing red, the symbol sparked to life, then sank into her flesh. The Kin made no move and said nothing. She only stared at him with her green eyes.

“Ok, let’s get out of here,” Ash said. Taking her sword from her hand he stored it in his ring. Picking her up, he tossed her over his shoulders in a fireman carry, and started jogging back to their camp.

“You’re going to enslave her?” Moria asked.

“Already did. I plan on treating her just like you. So let me ask you, do I treat you like a slave?” Ash asked as he moved.

“No. You do not.”