Cultivating Chaos 4 -CC9- (Patreon)

Ash cocked his arm back and lobbed another attack.

Lord Hand casually swatted it away, another chain forming instantly as he did so.

Casually as could be, Ash attached it to himself, smiled and prepared the next.

“This is insipid!” shouted Hand. “We’ve been at this for too long! An entire incense stick would’ve burned away by this point!”

“I mean, you said to keep going. I saw no reason not to do just that,” Ash remarked and then hucked yet another fastball Qi strike at the man.

Once again, Hand flicked a hand and knocked it aside.

Yet another chain was formed that was attached to Ash’s forearm smoothly.

“You’re wasting my time,” growled Hand. He began moving down the Dais toward Ash. Grabbing his spear as he went and wrenching it out of the wooden platform.

Grimacing, Ash felt uneasy.

Hand hadn’t lost any of his Qi as far as Ash could tell. He was still had a fully filled Qi-Sea despite Ash draining at least one-eigth of it every second.

The Qi Ash was pulling out of the man was all flooding into the Hall. Likely turning into Sheng Stones or repairing the Hall directly.

He must’ve noticed that he was actually being drained.

To be fair, it’s at a point where it’s hard to not notice it. He had to be draining Qi from somewhere else to have not lost any.

Did I pull enough out of him that he’s actually worried about running out?

He can’t wait any longer so he’s moving to an actual fight? That’s fine, I guess.

I’ll just play for time and this’ll be—

The Hand’s spear shot out with a speed Ash didn’t see coming. The head of it came forward as the man lunged and used one hand to push forward.

Twisting, Ash managed to move out of the way though only barely. The blade edge grazed him on the back of his wrist and a trail of blood rose up quickly.

Summoning his butterfly blades Ash readied himself as quickly as he could. Bringing forth his Dao once again and putting pressure on the momentum.

Thankfully it was moving at a pace he could work with. Given his dominance of the situation in tossing his attacks at Hand, most of the situation was well in his control.

Or at least Ash thought as he pulled his blades up and got them in front of himself. In the next moment he was shown he was wrong.

Hand was not inside his momentum at all. He was a complete counter to Ash’s current. Hand had more than enough Qi, strength in his Dao, and cultivation, to hold the momentum at an even pace for himself.

The spear came out at Ash with a rapid set of stabs. Three of them all focused in a tight area around his chest.

Dodging the first, Ash then bumped the second to the side, and hacked down at the haft of the weapon on the third. The blade of his weapon clunking down hard into the wood.

With a noise that reminded Ash of a two-by-four being dropped the spear was knocked downward and slapped into the floor.

Only to swish sideways at Ash, the blade coming up at his leg.

Frickin’ hell. This reach difference is ridiculous. I need to get a longer martial weapon added to my skills or something. This is stupid.

Lifting his leg up and kicking it skyward, Ash bent backward and went over the spear. Planting his hands he did a clumsy back handspring, his blades clattering against the floor as he did so, and came up in a standing position.

Hand was already moving toward him, his spear held in close and tight. He wasn’t going to let up on Ash.

He was immoral and self-centered, but not stupid. The worst kind of enemy.

Standing there, Ash felt he was finally warmed up for this fight. He could feel his Qi circulating freely through his body.

His lower Dantian was swirling and grinding away in it’s turbulent whirlpool form. His middle Dantian was a reflection of his Dao now with him at the center. A series of colors that drummed, thrummed, and beat along with his Dao. A color representing each and every shift and change in the momentum.2x

For the Dao itself, it was beginning to throb. Pushing out more power as Ash reaffirmed his desires, pace, and wish. Slowly inching into seeing what would be coming next.

It wasn’t future sight, but an awareness of what would happen next based on what was happening currently. An innate sense of the next movement.

The next wave that was building and would later break on the shore.

Things clicked in that moment and the fear Ash had fell away.

He couldn’t dominate this fight, but neither would he be dominated. He just had to play for time until Hand ran out of Qi.

A victory was a victory regardless of how it was achieved.

Hand dropped back a step, lifted his spear above his head, and shouted something. The fact that he gained a bit of distance before using it gave Ash pause.

Is that what this prison is doing in a way? Training people to become far more lethal and aware of combat?

If this had been the lower realm, they’d have just used that ability right in front of me. Not even thinking about the fact that they would be in range.

A strange cloud of inky smoke rushed out and surrounded Ash.

It obstructed his view and left him without being able to see anything further than how far he could stretch out his arm. A dense Qi cloud that clung to him.

Except that Ash could still feel where Hand was. With both his Battle Qi senses, as well as his Dao, he knew exactly where his opponent was.

As well as what he was doing.

Rather than worrying over the cloud bothering him, Ash began to draw it into himself. Cultivating it into Qi and dropping it into the Hall.

It’d take at least twenty minutes to completely drain it, but he didn’t see a reason to not benefit from it.

After all, Ash firmly believed in waste not, want not.

Hand had circled around behind Ash and partially to one side.

“Ashley, to your right side, behind you!” called Hui even as Hand lashed out with his spear.

Ah, bless her heart.

We’ll need to reward Hui.

Ash had already shifted around so that he was actually facing Hand. The fact that Hui had called out left him with the realization that they couldn’t see him either.

“I like your cloud,” Ash called out as he squirmed around the spear thrust. Letting it whistle past him. “Any chance you could teach me how to use it? I can see a lot of uses for it. Especially if you’re sharing an inn room with other people, ya know?”

The Hand growled at that and began stabbing wildly into the cloud. Thrusting for all he was worth every time.

Ash had eased to the back of the cloud but hadn’t left it. Standing where he was it didn’t seem to try to follow him, but it also gave him just a little more room to dodge.

Perfectly happy to let this continue, Ash began to sidestep the the attacks and lash out with his sword at the spear.

Though blindly.

He only managed to land a strike on the half a third of the time.

Surprisingly, the cloud began to thin out rapidly. The Qi that held it together was dissipating into the surroundings even as Ash drained it directly.

Only for him to take the Qi that fled the cloud as well.

Ash was a gigantic magnet for Qi anymore.

In less than a minute he could now see out of the cloud. He found himself staring at lord Hand. There was a shocked and puzzled look on the man’s face.

“What Qi-Lord do you work for?” asked Hand. “Who sent you here? Baron Ghast won’t tolerate this! He’ll kill you and everyone you know!”

“Yeah, wasn’t sent by anyone. I’m here just for funsies and because I don’t want a repeat of my past. That means being proactive here and now.”

“You’re… you what…?” demanded Hand. His voice sounded shocked.

Disbelieving.

“Yeah, I’m surprising, aren’t I?” Ash asked. “By the way, where do you get those uniforms? You look like a reject out of a really bad kid’s novel. I mean… really. ‘I’m the Hand! Me and my men all wear black!’

“You fucking two bit edge-lord. You trying to spook kids? Or just the citizens? Can’t even do it with your abilities alone? Geeze, my dude. Can just bet on you being some cringe basement dwelling in—”

Hand’s eyes flew wide and he dashed forward. Straight toward Ash.

Glancing to the front of the spear, Ash saw something he hadn’t expected.

The blade of the weapon itself was heavily enchanted. To the point that he was certain it’d just blow right through him if it struck him.

However the haft really was just ordinary wood.

Given how often Ash had managed to strike it, it looked pretty haggard. Only a good shot away from crackling apart completely.

As the spear-head shot forward, Ash pushed hard on his Dao. Ramping the situation and momentum to a sudden and horrifying spike. The tension of the situation hitting it’s absolute upper limit as his Qi-Sea rapidly began to empty. Losing half of it’s contents in a flash.

Ash stepped forward, used his right blade to deflect the spear ever so slightly, and then chopped down with his left blade. Aiming for the spot that it looked the weakest.

Unfortunately it left Ash crossed up as well. His right arm was against his chest and his blade out of position to defend himself. The left was whistling downward and would have it’s momentum checked one way or the other by the spear.

If Ash failed to break the weapon here, he’d be at the mercy of lord Hand. Ash would nearly be sideways to the man.

All it’d take is a single ability or a thrust with a knife to bring him up short.

There was an ugly crack as the wood splintered apart and the spear broke at the front. Hand’s face wasn’t visible given what he was wearing, but his eyes showed Ash all he needed to know. The man was terrified.

And off balance. His strike had carried him forward, but the breaking of his weapon had left him out of position.

His feet weren’t where they should’ve been.

“If you do any—”

Ash recovered his balance before Hand did. The right butterfly blade coming around in a deadly and shimmering arc.

The flat of the blade passed by the Hand as if it hadn’t even struck him. Moving past him and then coming to rest near Ash’s right side.

Having put all his strength into the slash, it’d spun him around partly so he was facing the other man.

There was an odd noise that Ash felt sounded similar to wind whispering through a crack in a window frame, before Hand’s head toppled down to the side. Bouncing off his shoulder and hitting the ground with a thump.

His body followed it down and he ended up landing atop it. His stomach and chest squashing it down into the floor.

“Well,” Ash said and dismissed his weapons. He could feel the Qi drawing away from the corpse rapidly and filling Ash. Everything he’d had in his body was drained and he could feel the gains from killing a Cultivator entering his Qi-Sea. “With that said, what do you think, city lord? I’d like to work on improving the city.”

The man had never left his throne. Sitting there wide eyed and watching the entire exchange wordlessly.

“We… should speak elsewhere,” deadpanned the man. He turned and looked to someone to one side of the audience hall. They had a semi-important look to them. “We’ll end court today and resume tomorrow. Please take care of it.”

Not waiting for a response, the man in the throne stood up and began walking away toward a cluster of what Ash was now thinking of as city guards.

Those in black uniforms had been killed to the last while Ash fought Hand.

Hui had mercilessly gone around and snuffed out their lives. A pile of their Qi enhanced weapons were next to the Dais now. Along with a small pile of what could only be the valuables they had on them when they died.

“Ashley, your weapon is eager to present to you these trophies. They are… not very valuable,” Hui admitted, standing next to the pile she’d made. “However… however they are sentimental to your weapon. These are all the trophies from those she killed in her first true battle.

“Hui wants none of them for herself but wants to give them all to you. All to show you her absolute… absolute thankfulness for what you did. Hui underestimated how empowered you made your weapon.

“Hui feels honed and ready for battle. Hui… I… your weapon is happy, Ashley. Very happy.”

Smiling, Ash dipped his head toward Hui, then casually tossed the pile of weapons she’d motioned to into the Hall. That left the smaller pile next to it.

“Hui would ask you to please store these for her. They have even less value, but Hui will hang onto them or use them for her own ends,” requested Hui, now indicating the leftover pile of personal effects. “Perhaps trading for currency so Hui isn’t entirely dependent on Ashley. It makes Hui feel worth less than normal having to rely so much on Ashley.”

Ash once more made the items vanish away. He did his best to sort these off into an unused piece of furniture so he kept it separate from everything else.

“You’re worth everything I’ve ever spent on you, or for you, Hui,” Ash countered and then began moving to follow the city lord. “Come on. Let’s get moving. He wanted to have a chat with us on the side.”

Hui nodded her head, then held her hand out toward the dead lord Hand. A ball of black Qi rose up from him. The size of it was significantly greater than what she’d pulled out of the others so far.

Shooting toward her it slapped into her clawed palm and vanished into her flesh.

Disappearing.

“Ah… he had a great deal of Qi leftover, I think,” Hui remarked. Walking over to the corpse she began to rifle through his clothes. “Hui will catch up with you Ashley. Go ahead. I won’t be long. It isn’t as if they can harm me or stop me, either.”

Mixing her self identifying statements again.

Either she’s getting worse or better. I have no idea which.

Ash was surprised that there was no response from Locke. He’d half expected one, really.

He was used to her always being there, though now with her not being directly in the Hall at all times, it made it harder for her.

In turn it made it harder on him.

Ash shook his head and reached the point where the city lord had exited. A number of guards were waiting for him. They held the door open as he passed through it and into the area beyond that.

Which was a small room that looked more like a break-room of sorts. A place where the city-lord could relax and enjoy a few snacks. Perhaps even between hearing petitioners.

“You say you don’t work for a Qi-Lord?” asked the city lord as he dropped into a chair. He motioned to one directly across from himself. There were two plates set down.

One for Ash, and one for the city lord.

Their contents looked rather meager compared to what Ash had expected for someone of his stature. Those in positions of power tended to favor themselves when it came to food.

“I only eat what the middle class can eat,” the city lord answered Ash’s unspoken question. “There’s no reason for me to be above them when we’re all here together. Though now that you’ve freed me from Hand, maybe I can start clearing the Gutter. Putting it back to how it should be.”

Ooookay.

So yeah, city lord isn’t a shit-head.

That’s kinda nice. This was exactly what I thought it was in the end. Lord Hand was the problem, not the city lord.

Ash took the seat and then summoned a skin of wine from the Hall. It was more than enough for himself and the city lord both. He figured if the man was sharing with him, he should do the same in turn.

“I work for no one, that’s correct. I only recently arrived,” Ash elaborated. “I barely understand what’s going on here. I just knew that I didn’t like what I saw happening and was going to act on it. Brought me here.”

“Well, for that I’m thankful. Though… also very concerned,” the city lord said as Ash began pouring the wine into two cups he summoned from the Hall as well. He eyed it curiously and only realized what it was when Ash pushed the cup closer to him. “Wine? From an actual working storage device? You sure you’re a prisoner here? Storage devices don’t work in the Hell of Mirrors.”

Ash had no idea what the “Hell of Mirrors” was, but he’d have to ask Hui, Rou, or Locke about it. Chances are they’d know what it was and how it related to the prison.

“Definitely a prisoner. Sent here by the Emperor himself,” Ash confirmed. “Now, about the city. I have some propositions. I’ll start with the simple things first.

“As far as I can tell, the city needs clean water and food. The first rather desperately and the second not too far behind that. Would you agree?”

“Yes. The wells we had have gone dry and we can’t go any further down with the equipment we have,” the city lord agreed. “When the water started to dry up, it made running what limited farming we have, impossible.

“Lord Hand… he was supposed to help us with the water. Instead he just did whatever he wanted and turned on us. Ghast really didn’t care as long as lord Hand kept delivering the monster carcasses. We couldn’t even use them for meat as Hand always gave Ghast any extra we had for more benefits.”

Taking a sip of his own wine, Ash could easily see how this situation had come about.

It was corruption, plain and simple.

“Well, sounds like we have our work cut out for us. I’ll work on the water first, you start preparing the fields. I’m sure I’ll be able to get you as much water as you need so… build towards that,” Ash remarked. “And before you ask, I want nothing in return other than the ability to do what I wish, within the limits of the law. By the way, what’s the name of this city? I never asked. Or your name for that matter.”

“I… ah… Wahst. Wahst city,” said the city-lord. “And my name is Kyle. Kyle Stitt.”

He gave Ash an odd smile and slowly tilted his head to the side.

“Yes, I’m from an Outlander bloodline. Just as you are. Lots of Outlanders here. This… prison… wasn’t always one. It had a natural population that inhabited it,” Kyle admitted. “This isn’t just a separate realm but… a separate veil, to a degree.

“Okay! Water… water and food. Then I should probably put together my… cultivator-do list, for you I suppose.”

Now that’s… surprising.

Another veil entirely.

Maybe that’s why the storage devices don’t work.

But… then why does the Hall?

Is it from another veil entirely?

A question for another time.