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Sect Wars: Infiltrate, page 1

 

Sect Wars: Infiltrate
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Sect Wars: Infiltrate


  Sect Wars

  Infiltrate

  A Knowles

  Sect Wars - Infiltrate

  Copyright © 2022 by Alex Knowles

  Published by Alex Knowles

  Set in the Ocean Slayers Universe © 2021

  Cover Design by Atlantis Book Design

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written consent from the author, except in the instance of quotes for reviews. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded, or distributed via the internet without the permission of the author and is a violation of the International copyright law, which subjects the violator to severe fines and imprisonment.

  This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, incidents, and place are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real except where noted, and authorised. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events are entirely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or names featured are assumed to be the property of their respective owners and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used.

  The author and editor have taken great effort in presenting a manuscript free of errors. However, editing errors are ultimately the responsibility of the author.

  This book is written in American English and includes relative diction.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Cultivation/Litrpg/Gamelit Links

  Litrpg

  Connecting Series!

  Chapter 1

  The crowd roared. I’d never seen so many here for this kind of fight. I squashed any nerves trying to worm their way up and entered the arena fighting ring.

  My opponent carefully sat with his team on the opposite side, waiting.

  Jin Mochizuki, twenty-five, lithe, muscular, and skilled.

  He glared right on back at me as I weighed him up. Three years older than me, and about to graduate.

  In my best friend’s eyes, this fight should never happen. A total mismatch.

  In my eyes, this would be a chance to prove my place as lead for my team and Jin . . . was going down.

  I turned into my corner to look into the soft green eyes of Taru Akamine, my closest friend, twenty-one and the only one in this academy whose reputation I’d placed higher than my own. Her soft, curly purple hair flowed over her right shoulder, cut on one side to show her augmentations, her tech, her link to the system. It was sexy as all hell, yet she never accepted everyone thought she was.

  “You’ve got this, right?” Taru’s concern flashed across those eyes.

  Of course I did. I’d trained for this all year. I dipped my head to her. “You bet ya, gorgeous!”

  Taru rolled her eyes. “You better have. I’ve got your final year’s suit picked out. We’re attending that ball together, no matter what, okay?” Taru frowned. Tiny lines creased her forehead. She also knew I could not resist that look at all. Gently, she reached out and touched my arm. Underneath her warmth, sparks of her qi flared, but she reined herself back in quickly. “Grand Master Asaka is in the spectators’ box,” she whispered. “I don’t know who he has with him, but my father . . . any ideas?”

  My eyes drifted up to the box to see he was indeed sitting with two others and her father.

  “I’ve never seen them before,” I said, then brushed it all off. I had to concentrate. This fight was more than important. “It’s not unheard of for your father to attend matches like this.” I gave her arm a little squeeze and for her, my finest smile. “He’s not here for Jin, though; he wants to see me win.”

  Taru’s lips curled into a laugh, her cute dimples showing.

  “That’s better,” I said to her worry. “Now stop distracting me so I can win this.”

  Facing the ring, I took a breath and stepped up and inside the ring’s fight lines. I faced our three adjudicators and bent low, showing them respect. Only one of them met my eyes with hers. She tapped on her 3D screen, and everyone turned their attention to the spectators’ box.

  I clicked the inside of my left wrist, accessing my HUD and pulling up a slightly closer view of those in the box, now able to see Grand Master Asaka properly as he stood. He coughed. Was he sick? The young woman to his right handed him some water, which he took a sip of and thanked her. He looked out to all of us.

  “Today you witness a critical moment in our academy’s future. Kei Tullius’s final stage training.” He paused for dramatic effect, and I caught Taru’s confused eyes with mine. “And to stay in our esteemed academy, it has been decided by the council he must win this fight.”

  Taru fired messages across my HUD to me, and I read them fast.

  Taru – What the hell does he mean… to stay in the academy?

  I let out a sigh, I didn’t want to do this with her now. I needed my mind on the fight.

  I thought out quickly.

  Me – I’m out of funds. Talk laters, kay.

  I fired my message back at her, then quickly blocked any others incoming from her, which I knew she would send, like a battering ram. I caught her glare at me, stomping her foot, her fists clenched in frustration.

  I didn’t have time to talk to her about all this, not now. Now I faced Jin, up close and personal. It seemed very different in the arena. Something tugged at my gut. Something around here felt . . . wrong?

  Grand Master Asaka glanced to and from the both of us. “Do you both accept standard Academy Rules?” he asked.

  “Yes,” we answered.

  The crowds roared once more around us, and one of the adjudicators clicked on the ring’s formation shielding. Always good to protect the crowds. Especially with the sheer amount of qi that would be flying around. A stray blast could kill.

  “Take your positions,” Asaka said.

  I bowed low to Jin, watching his reciprocation. He feigned his. No respect. Duly noted. If that was how he wanted to play it, it was his choice.

  Within a second, he’d drawn his sword, one whose blade and hilt glinted of his riches. He covered it in fire qi. All for show. Also duly noted. I hated show-offs.

  With my own sword drawn, he laughed. “You’re going to fight with that?”

  I didn’t look at my blade, even if everyone in the academy did.

  “Where did you pick that up, the slums?”

  I lifted it slightly, altering my stance as he walked around me. “My father crafted it,” I said simply. “Thousands of hours in the forge to get it perfect, for me.”

  This time his laugh rumbled up from his lower stomach; his whole body wobbled with it. “So it is just rubbish?”

  I ignored his question. His taunting didn’t put me off. My blade was perfectly balanced for me and no matter how I held it, or who I faced with it, it performed perfectly.

  I watched Jin’s every step. His stalking me, an obvious ploy, very well timed.

  I waited.

  Jin spun fast. He made his first strike at me. He wasn’t fast enough, even with his qi feeding his fancy blade. I countered perfectly, and he hadn’t expected it.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked as we danced. Our swords met again and again, faster and faster.

  “Who taught you to fight?” he asked, panting. “The milk maid?”

  I held his eyes with mine. Anger flashed in his; I kept my calm. Breathing steady, in and out. In and out. Then I answered. “My father also trained me to fight.”

  “Your father must have been an imbecile.” Jin enhanced his qi around his sword, and I noted his left fist. Inside, I sighed, knowing what else was coming.

  Access to my HUD flickered in the corner of my eyes. His constitution dropped fast. Lack of training and full use of qi from the start. Idiot.

  I didn’t need to access any of my abilities or use my qi for this; it would be just a matter of time. Showboating never did anyone any favors. My father’s first lesson.

  With his extra energy oozing around us, I eased off and countered his attacks without trying to hit him. I’d let him wear himself out.

  Heat from his sword had me sweating minutes later. I pulled forth the smallest air funnels to blow around me.

  “Getting hot?” he taunted.

  “Getting tired?” I retaliated.

  His lips curled into a grimace, and he lunged for me. Something seemed different about this one, though. I heard something pop.

  The surrounding air changed fast.

  Another pop.

  I whirred around, seeing Air Blades rushing for my head. Where the hell did they come from? I dropped fast, instinctively using Slow Time to see everything easier. Several other Air Blades headed my way, all from different directions. How?

  Yet there it was! An opening to get one good strike at him. One hard and fast enough strike to hit, to take him out.

  I prepared to take the shot, and was just about to let time return to normal, easily watching my v
ictory like I had many times before. A flicker of something else caught my eye, though. I turned to see several qi threads running under the shielding to Jin.

  What. The. Hell.

  He was cheating. Really cheating. Drawing energy from his team? They weren’t this strong though, and his energy levels were off the chart, even for his age. Their age, nothing here made sense.

  He had to be cheating more than that.

  But how? With what?

  I turned my attention to his slow-moving form. Instead of my victory, I saw an Air Blade connect with my knee. My feet slipped out from under me.

  No way!

  No. No way, it wasn’t possible.

  No matter how I looked at the scene unfolding before me. I couldn’t see a way out of it. Not one iota.

  Fuck! I couldn’t stop this. Even if I wanted to, and believe me, I fucking wanted to.

  This would be over too fast.

  I let time return to normal and tried one last flick of my body to avoid the incoming Air Blades. Just as I’d witnessed, one connected with my knee. Pain exploded up my leg and it buckled.

  Instead of the fantastic maneuver I had in my mind to take Jin out, I fumbled badly. At least the next incoming Air Blade didn’t strike the side of my head. It connected with my collarbone in an explosion of pain instead.

  I hit the dirt hard. Dust filled my lungs, and I coughed up blood. Looking at my opponent, he just shook his head at me. “You’re pathetic, Kei.”

  Jin hadn’t even broken a sweat, yet here I lay holding my obviously fractured arm, now dripping with it.

  Jin stood over me, still shaking his head. “Fucking loser,” he said. “You’re no cultivator I ever want to be associated with. I hope they do kick you out!”

  Heat rose up my neck, my other fist flexing with sheer anger. The crowd roared, and the protective shielding lowered so Jin could leave.

  I couldn’t watch. I couldn’t see anyone. Only humiliation and pain spread through me.

  “What the hell, you had him!” Taru said suddenly at my side. I cursed on the inside. “What happened?”

  I lowered my head to her, not understanding it myself. “He cheated,” I replied with the only thing I had. “He had several qi strands flowing under the arena.”

  “He’d be strung up for that,” she gasped. “He wouldn’t dare.”

  “Oh, he dared. I wasn’t losing,” I said. “That match was mine. He cheated. I just don’t know the how.”

  Taru’s eyes filled with fear as she glanced at my arm. “Is it broken?” she asked, reaching for it.

  With a shrug, I shied away from her. Even though I could move it, it hurt. The only two specialties I had in life: Slow Time, meaning I moved fast, and Pain Resistance, which I had maxed out, years ago.

  “They’ll kick me out if it is.” My fist curled. “I can’t afford any healing. That means potions or time off. I’m broke. That’s without the threat today . . . I’m done for.”

  “You should have told me.” Taru sighed. Holding out a shaking fist, her fingers uncurled to reveal a single white pill. Not one of the Sawa’s regular healing pills. “Here, take it.”

  “What? What is that?” I stared at it, even though I knew what it would do. I stared up at her for longer than I should.

  The surrounding crowd talked loudly, so loud. The medics reached the field, and the formation shielding lowered for their entry.

  “Take it,” Taru said.

  “The connotations,” I said. “I don’t have any funds. I can’t pay you for this!”

  “This is mine,” she replied. “I made it. This doesn’t belong to them. I freely give it to you.”

  Her fascination with alchemical mastery and history astounded me at the best of times. When I still couldn’t take the pill, she leaned forward, forced open my mouth, threw the pill in, and to my surprise, when she closed it, put her lips to mine.

  Covered in blood, dust, and sweat. Taru Akamine kissed me. The scent of talia flowers teased my nose, almost making me sneeze. Had she been eating cinnamon cookies? My stomach growled, devouring that pill in seconds.

  If my mind hadn’t been foggy and unsure from the fight. It unquestionably was now, with her fingers knotting in my hair. Taru was not gentle as she yanked me closer to her.

  Time slowed and not because of me.

  My thoughts betrayed me. Flashes of soft skin, her gentle curves. I’d seen Taru naked of course, but battered, bruised, and getting medical attention. Not like I imagined her now.

  I put a hand to her chest, her heart pounding beneath it. I was about to push her back, but her tongue slipped inside my mouth, and I caved. This was driving me wild. So hyped up from the fight, my energy levels all over the place. Instead of pushing her away, my fingers grasped at her robes, pulling her into me with a groan. Her firm, yet tightly bound breasts against my chest filled my mind with even more sexy thoughts.

  Gods. What the hell was she doing to me?

  Everything around me sparked to life. Taru was doing something to me, something weird on a fundamental level? I’d always wanted her like this, but her family, her mother, sister to Sect Lord Sawa . . . any relationship with me would have tarnished her perfect record, any chance she had to grow. What the hell was she doing?

  With her body against mine, all rational thoughts went out the window. Every single part of me wanted her. No, I needed her, needed to bury myself deep inside her. Fuck, I was on fire.

  “Leave him!” The bark of Grand Master Asaka permeated the air with only the authority he had. The whole arena went silent.

  Taru nipped my lip, easing away from me, panting hard. “Damn, Kei!”

  Her eyes shone with such a grin I couldn’t even speak a word to her. The pill, gone, swallowed along with her wondrous taste of cinnamon.

  Grand Master Asaka glared at her. Taru pushed up, bowed her head, and rushed away. Asaka spoke with the medics, turned, and stomped off after Taru.

  The two medics moved across the field to my side and, with no thought of what was broken or wrong with me, manhandled me onto a stretcher and out of the field.

  Settling, churning in my stomach, the pill Taru had given me worked its magic healing.

  I soon forgot what was going on in my pants. Healing meant excruciating pain, even with my skill. The spasms on the inside of my body had me bite my tongue. Sprained muscles un-knotted, my broken bones ached deep everywhere, but they began to mend.

  The two medics dropped bounced me around as they walked and soon had me off the stretcher into a hospital bed at the doctors. They stood guard while waiting for him to assess my situation. They never said a word, and I concentrated hard not to let the ripping pain on the inside bely any injury.

  Grand Master Asaka’s words reverberated through my mind. “To stay in our esteemed academy, it has been decided by the council he must win this fight.”

  Would they really kick me out, for being broke, despite my skills?

  My pain eased for a moment, and I let my arm rest; tensing it would make any healing next to impossible and the risks of it healing wrong were higher. I clicked the tiny button on my left wrist, accessing my HUD. The 3D image of my skeletal structure popped into view.

  Tiny lines were etched everywhere I’d broken myself. Left arm in more than ten dozen places, collarbone, ribs, right wrist. Left hip, three years ago, that one had been the worst. Inside, I’d screamed in agony the entire time the medics carried me off the field. Only Taru knew how much that one had hurt. My eyes tracked down. Left femur and left ankle shattered in so many places, I’d lost count.

  I gritted my teeth, watching as the latest shattered bone in my shoulder began the painful process of knitting back together at full speed. Criss-crossing lines from my humerus to the ball joint snaked up, thickened, drawing calcium from storage cells scattered around my body. I’d always eaten well. For that I was glad of, cheese and milk, a firm favorite. It showed as I didn’t struggle for anything I needed, well, bar actual qi energy to do the job.

 
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