Cultivating Chaos Read online

  Cultivating Chaos

  By William D. Arand

  Copyright © 2018 William D. Arand

  Cover design © 2018 William D. Arand

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means - except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews - without written permission from its publisher.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Copyright © 2018 William D. Arand

  All rights reserved.

  Dedicated:

  To my wife, Kristin, who encouraged me in all things.

  To my son, Harrison, who likes to just play on the ground with his toys in my office now.

  To my family, who always told me I could write a book if I sat down and tried.

  Special Thanks to:

  Niusha Gutierrez

  Gavin Lawrenson

  Michael Haglund

  Steven Lobue

  Other Books in the VeilVerse-

  Asgard Awakening: By Blaise Corvin

  Books by William D. Arand-

  The Selfless Hero Trilogy:

  Otherlife Dreams

  Otherlife Nightmares

  Otherlife Awakenings

  Ominibus Edition(All Three)

  Super Sales on Super Heroes Trilogy:

  Super Sales on Super Heroes 1

  Super Sales on Super Heroes 2

  Super Sales on Super Heroes 3

  Omnibus Edition(All Three)

  Dungeon Deposed Trilogy:

  Dungeon Deposed

  Dungeon Deposed 2 (To be released 2019)

  Dungeon Deposed 3 (To be released 2019)

  Books by Randi Darren-

  Wild Wastes Trilogy:

  Wild Wastes

  Wild Wastes: Eastern Expansion

  Wild Wastes: Southern Storm

  Omnibus Edition(All Three)

  Fostering Faust Trilogy:

  Fostering Faust

  Fostering Faust 2 (To be Released 2019)

  Fostering Faust 3 ( To be Released 2019)

  Prologue

  Stars twinkled amidst the inky vastness, hand fulls of glittering sand thrown across the darkness of infinity. The uncaring vacuum of space was remorseless, offering no warmth or safety, but the Traveler remained untouched. Ages had passed. The Traveler had not spent much time actively thinking for quite some time. All that remained had been a single purpose, a single destination, all driving towards one thing.

  Hope.

  Despite traversing the void for an eon, the bodiless entity had never lost focus. Revenge and knowledge--the ancient drive still remained strong. The Traveler should have stopped existing long ago, merely dissipating into the cosmos, but the hope born from forbidden knowledge still burned, combining with an iron will, create energy from nothing.

  These days, the Traveler was not much more than a moving, glittering shadow with a general plan to exist again. A great deal of luck would be necessary. Uncertainty made the Traveler nervous.

  So much time had passed that sacrifices had to be made now, of course. All knowledge and power came with a price, and this mission had never been an exception. With steadily decreasing options, the price had grown.

  Something had changed, though, providing new direction. Blowing gently, the winds of fate had stirred long-forgotten memories. The Fates could be cruel even as they granted a break. To most, energy was better spent adapting than questioning unattainable knowledge. But to the Traveler, no knowledge was ever truly unobtainable.

  It had taken a great deal of time, but the Traveler had been able to read the new shifts in the mystical patterns of the cosmos, and had adjusted course. This would probably be the best, last chance to complete the mission. To live again.

  Suddenly, a newcomer joined the Traveler, a bright glow amidst the endless shadow. The Traveler sensed something familiar from this Spark, a resonance. Family. The Spark was not directly connected to the Traveler, but was connected to another...a son? The Spark had a name, a relationship. Grandchild.

  The Traveler had not expected to meet another on this journey, much less family. At first, the new addition was neither positive nor negative. The Spark was descended from a betrayer, but was still kin. Also, the Spark’s energy was fading fast despite being newer, younger than the Traveler. The Traveler had sailed among the stars for far, far longer than the Spark, but had also been far mightier to begin with.

  As the two moved through the endless black, the Traveler understood that the Spark was somehow heading toward the same destination. The two did not communicate, but over time, the Traveler took solace, a kind of grounding contentment in the Spark’s presence.

  Cracks, fissures had begun forming within the Spark’s power. The Spark’s glow was weaker now, but still burned.

  Whether the two would reach their destination together was in doubt, but after so much time, the Traveler decided that it would be good if the Spark succeeded too. Their end goals were probably similar, if not the same. Everything about their destination, the timing, and even a kind of poetic parallel all practically reeked of the Norns’ meddling.

  In some ways, it was fitting that a child of Loki would still be alive. Live on Little One--the thought was selfless, different--this new thing begged to be explored. Perhaps later. Like the Spark’s, the Traveler’s strength was waning, just slower. Wisdom and knowledge would help the Traveler with piercing the Veil, but the Spark did not have these tools, these advantages. Youth and willpower may not be enough.

  The Traveler knew the time had almost come, the end of the great journey was at hand. There was no more time to consider the Spark, or to wonder if any other family still survived. Preparations had to be made, now. Weapons must be forged from memories, tools from thought.

  Everything had a price, and what the Traveler planned would naturally have a high price indeed, but must be paid. Any other path led to oblivion, and that would be unacceptable.

  The Traveler crept towards the veil, waiting for the event, a window of time when it would be possible to save two lives for the price of self, to give up almost everything for a second chance.

  Revenge and knowledge, knowledge and revenge.

  One

  Ash brought his forearm across quickly, deflecting the incoming fist to pass by the side of his face.

  Stepping inward with the same move, he drove a strike towards his opponent’s kidney.

  Except his opponent was already gone.

  “Ha, you don’t actually expect to catch me, do you, Ashley?” taunted Lim.

  Only my family calls me that, you—

  The young man appeared at Ash’s side and launched a Qi-powered kick at him.

  In a struggle to be anywhere but where that kick was headed, Ash practically flung himself to the side.

  So when the kick landed on his hip, he was sent spinning away. Rather than being driven to the floor.

  Ash lost control of himself, twisting as he flew backward. After bouncing off the far wall, he came back into a defensive stance.

  Dust rained down on him from the ceiling.

  “Now, now,” said an elderly voice. “You know better, Lim. This is meant to be a test of martial arts, not your cultivation. Save that for the examination tournament.

  “We all know what the outcome will be the moment you use your cultivation on the citizen.”

  It wasn’t a new admonition. Nor was it the first time Ash had heard it today.

  In the Spark’s Jump Sect, this was an everyday occurrence.

  “Oh, of course, Elder. I forgot entirely,” Lim said, bowing politely to the middle-aged
elder of the outer disciples.

  “Yes, yes. Try not to let it happen again. Good work, otherwise,” said the elder.

  Gritting his teeth, Ash let himself fall into a neutral pose and clasped one fist with the other, bowing to Elder Shin.

  “While I don’t expect much from a citizen, you should at least strive to be able to win these simple matches,” the elder scolded.

  “Of course,” Ash said through his teeth.

  Turning away from the elder, Ash saw Lim sauntering off.

  Lim and Shin shared a relation, and both looked eerily similar to Ash. He’d bet on them being uncle and nephew at this point.

  Not that it’d matter.

  Nepotism was a way of life here, from what he could tell.

  The young man and the adult both shared dark-brown hair, cut quite short, with brown eyes the color of dog shit.

  Ash walked off to the edge of the mat and fell into a kneeling position.

  Thankfully, his humiliation was at an end for the day. He’d already been used as a practice dummy for every other student in this class.

  “Do not worry about it,” said Jia on his right.

  Showing a smile that was more a grimace to Jia, Ash could only nod his head.

  Jia was a slim young man with black eyes and hair as dark as midnight. His face was pretty, to the point that women fawned over him.

  When Ash had first met the man, he’d sworn he was a woman.

  Then again, his standards of beauty were from twenty-first-century America.

  Which didn’t quite fit here. Not here in Xing City.

  “Sooner or later, your Dantian will develop,” Jia continued.

  Uh huh. You keep on with that positivity, bud. After this year’s examination, I can leave this place and help out at home.

  There’s no reason to stay here, and the age limit will have been met.

  “Of course. Why would I worry about it? I’m sure it’ll be exactly as you say,” Ash said.

  He only had to wait long enough now for Elder Shin to award those who performed well today, and Ash could escape.

  Escape and get some peace and solace.

  Where no one would bother him, and he’d be free to pursue… nothing.

  Nothing other than simply enjoying the peace and quiet of silence.

  ***

  Ash sat down in the ruined building, crossing his legs underneath him.

  Looking around himself, he found it was the same as ever.

  Two walls, shattered columns, and a whole lot of nature quickly taking over the destroyed structure.

  He was only about thirty minutes out from the small city in which he lived.

  And yet it felt as if he were light-years away.

  As if there wasn’t a single hint of his life here. As if the only thing that had existed here was long gone.

  Breathing in through his nose, Ash slowly let air out through his mouth.

  “Only a bit more and I can call it quits. Get a job, and just… live. No more school, no more elders, no more Lim,” Ash said, his mouth screwing up into a bitter grimace.

  Shaking his head, Ash did his best to quickly dispel the negativity he’d just dumped on himself.

  It would do him no good to bring it here. Here, where he sought the quiet. An escape.

  Growling to himself, Ash hung his head, trying to curb his feelings.

  When he realized it wasn’t going to come easily, he got up and padded over to a wall.

  With his emotions already in a knot, he couldn’t simply sit there. He needed to just walk around for a moment. That’d help him calm down.

  Pressing his hands to the wall, he leaned up against it and let his head sink down. He closed his eyes, then focused on his breathing and his heartbeat.

  In searching for the inner peace he’d known in his previous life, Ash could just barely find the fringes of it. A smoky thread of what it had once been.

  Except that life is gone now.

  You’re not a high school kid with a shot at the world stage.

  Our ability in the martial arts is almost pointless here given a Dantian.

  Everything is just gone. Gone and replaced with this one, and… and all the people, and… and…

  Ash grunted and then slammed his fists into the wall, his anger spiking and getting the better of him.

  A sharp pop sounded from the wall, and then a grinding noise.

  At the same time, the wall started to crumble into itself, the bricks and mortar failing after having withstood the march of time for this long.

  Chunks and bits of the wall sprayed out as the whole thing gave, collapsing on itself.

  Turning away from the disturbance and holding up his arm across his face, Ash stumbled away from the area.

  “Holy shit,” he said, coughing as the dust and dirt flew around him.

  A few minutes seemed to lapse before the debris in the air started to settle.

  Peering at the wall, Ash fanned at the air in front of his face, his other hand still holding his sleeve to his mouth.

  Amongst the shattered ruins of the wall, Ash saw what looked like a small wooden chest.

  No bigger than the width of his hand and no taller than three fingers across.

  He would have overlooked it completely if it hadn’t been shoved out of its crevice by a broken stone.

  Hmm?

  Ash squinted at the box, not quite wanting to get close enough to inspect it, but wishing to do so all the same.

  What’s in it?

  Taking in a deep breath and holding it, Ash rushed over to the curiosity.

  After nearly tripping over himself in the rush, he got his hands on the wooden box and darted away again. He wasn’t about to trust the area to not collapse further.

  When he got back to where he’d been sitting originally, Ash let out a breath he’d been holding without realizing it.

  “Now why would someone bury a box in a wall?” Ash asked, flipping it end over end.

  There were no engravings, no markings—it really was just a simple box.

  Pressing his thumbnail into the latch, he flipped it open and then peered inside.

  Sitting there was a simple black training ring.

  He’d seen the like on a number of trainees. They were commonplace. Nearly every family had at least one.

  In his own adoptive family, it’d been given to the oldest male blood child. Jing, a boy a year younger than Ash.

  He gave the ring a cursory inspection, pulling it from the box. Training rings were common enough that one wouldn’t need to hide one in a box.

  Nor then put that box in a wall.

  Rolling it around in his palm, he studied it.

  “Is it broken?” Ash asked after noticing a hairline crack that went from one side of the ring to the other.

  When he held it up to the light, he could see sunshine through it.

  Straight through the material.

  Sighing, Ash could only smirk at his luck.

  He slipped the ring onto the ring finger on his right hand and looked at it to inspect the fit.

  “It’s not ugly, at least. Some of those rings always look so—” Ash’s words fell away as his consciousness was ripped from him.

  Only to come right back.

  Except he was in an entirely different location.

  Looking around, he immediately realized it was the same ruined building and grassy courtyard he’d just been standing in.

  Except it was no longer ruined.

  It wasn’t by any means new or whole either, though.

  The building had cracks and fissures all throughout the walls, but it was standing.

  And much larger than he’d thought it would be.

  There was a splintered door hanging from a single hinge, creaking back and forth.

  “The fuck?” Ash asked. “Am I in the ring…? Is this the training environment for the ring?

  “Most stories I heard said these rings had a library and a training area… not a broken and crumb
ling building and a valley.”

  Frowning, Ash made his way over to the door.

  He grasped the rope handle and gently pulled it open towards himself.

  Only for the door to literally pop free of the hinge and clatter down at his feet. Ash let go of the handle and stepped in through the doorway.

  “Shit, the whole place is falling apart.”

  The room was filled with rotten bookcases and broken furniture.

  All around and throughout were the signs of age, misuse, and rot.

  Ash kept his eyes moving as he walked between the shelves. Looking for anyone or anything that could give him an idea about this place.

  Or something to take.

  Stepping out from the last shelf, he found himself in an open area at the center of the room.

  Three large balls of what looked like blue electricity were circling one another there.

  They crackled and flared as they neared one another, only to spin away and continue revolving.

  “What in the—”

  Before he could finish the sentence, the orbiting lightning came to a stop.

  Ash tilted his head to one side, not sure if he should be here anymore. No sooner had he finished the thought, the blue crackling balls of death shot toward him and smashed into his stomach.

  Ash crumpled to the ground and curled up around himself in the fetal position.

  Groaning at the sudden pain, he squeezed his hands into fists. It felt like his body would break right now and splinter apart.

  His skin felt like it was literally on fire, and like his spine was being pulled out of his mouth.

  Then an overwhelming strength flooded through him, and the pain fell off in a rush.

  Panting on the ground, Ash tried not to move. His body twitched and spasmed all on its own. Without any wish or desire on his part.

  After what felt like forever, he could finally form a coherent thought.

  Shit.

  Blinking away at the tears that were welling up from the memory of the pain, Ash managed to lever himself up to a sitting position.

  Pressing a hand to his forehead, he leaned on his other arm and tried to get his brain moving faster.