Chương 7: Sweet Alice

Alice giving him her number had apparently not been a decision made on the spur of the moment, as the two quickly agreed they would meet on the following Saturday at a Starbucks. The day quickly came, and as he arrived first, Mason was left with some time to reflect on his eventful week. After his training in Tai Chi, which took place on Monday, Mason got to attend nearly all of his other martial arts lessons, with the exception of MMA, which was the only one he had on Sunday.

Still, it had been enough to give him a first taste of each of them, as well as how much energy he should invest in all of them. To start with, Mason's other lessons in the internal arts appeared quite lackluster in comparison to Tai Chi. Their dojos were better furnished, and they had more students, which wasn't very hard to achieve, but they paled in comparison.

Mason was pretty sure it had more to do with the teachers than the disciplines themselves, as although they were lackluster compared to Tai-Chi, their exercises did help stir his Chi a little. They were also different in nature, as while Tai Chi made his Chi course through his body gently, Wing Chun, for example, felt much harsher. More explosive. That's why Mason did not immediately strike them as useless, especially since the people he had studied with were amateurs.

He was sure that were he to find real masters for each of these, they would be just as beneficial to Mason. However, that was easier said than done, so Mason decided that if they did improve soon, he would change Dojos. In comparison, his external martial arts, those where he actually learned to fight, were much more interesting, excluding Tai-Chi, of course.

To start off with, learning to fight by itself was interesting, and while Tai Chi was great for cultivation, it didn't teach him anything about fighting in itself. Mason was sure the old man knew how to fight, but neither of them said anything about teaching him how to fight. Moreover, Mason proved himself to be quite talented in fighting as he learned quickly, mostly thanks to his soul.

After all, his strong soul not only granted him better senses to better grasp the moves of the instructors, but it also granted him better control over his body, allowing him to better replicate the moves and thus learn them. Adding his diligence, he made for a great student. What was more surprising was that even these external martial arts were useful for his cultivation of Chi. Well, it wasn't that surprising once Mason learned more about Chi.

Although the old man who taught him Tai Chi did not explain much, Mason, through his extraordinary senses, learned quite a bit from his cultivation. He only had a single session with the old man, but that was far from enough for him, so he attempted to replicate them at home. He managed to do so, although at a much lower efficiency without the old man's Chi to push his own. It was still enough for practice, though, and to better understand the nature of these exercises.

They actually did not allow his Chi to grow in quality or quantity. Instead, they helped his physical body become more attuned to his Chi. As a result, each revolution became easier than the last, and his body was strengthened by his Chi. And that was exactly the essence of Mason's cultivation now, strengthening his body. He guessed that this was the first realm of cultivation, laying the foundation. Or Foundation Establishment, as it would likely be called in a cultivation novel.

That is why, for his current realm, external martial arts helped with his cultivation, as they helped strengthen his body. Mason also envisioned that it wouldn't take long for him to reach the peak of this realm, as he not only had his Chi exercises, but also his soul naturally strengthening his body.

"Hello there." Mason was brought out of his thoughts by a familiar voice. Looking up, he noticed Alice had arrived and already sat in front of him, a cup in her hand. Picking up on the odd tone she had greeted him with, Mason smiled naturally and asked, "A fellow Star Wars fan?" Stolen story; please report. Alice smiled a little brighter, seeing he had picked up on it as she replied tragically, "You were like a brother to me!"

Mason scoffed, inwardly amused that the girl he was sure was about the age of Elena showed such a childish side, "Barely met, and you already put me in the friend zone, General Kenobi?" Alice laughed in response, drawing some gazes, but neither of them cared. Chuckling, Mason asked, "So, how is life treating you?" Alice's smile subsided a little as she replied, "Kind of always looking over my shoulder, and avoiding dark alleys, but you know… life. What about you?"

At that, she took a swing of her coffee, hiding her face for a second. Mason looked at her thoughtfully, never quite breaking eye contact as he slowly grumbled, "Life's been changing lately."

"You need someone to talk to you about the bees and birds?" Not expecting her quick response, Mason snorted in amusement, "Puberty was enough of a nightmare already without you reminding me of it, thank you." And it really was. Old Mason was feeling all kinds of things back then, and with several times the intensity, it made life hell for Mason.

Alice smiled beautifully, her earlier worries gone like the wind as she stared at Mason, who explained, "For a while now, I had started expecting the world to accommodate me, and was rather… passive. I recently realized that I wouldn't ever get anywhere if I waited for things to happen, so I decided to change." Alice looked at Mason up and down, and muttered, "I thought you looked different." Mason shrugged, although his gaze remained as intense as before.

"That'd probably be my haircut. But I also started exercising, I picked up a sport, and I'm living a better life overall." Alice leaned her shin on her hand, her bright blue eyes staring into Mason's dark beads as she smiled, "Good for you. I can't say I know what you used to be like, but you look fantastic today. And few would have been gentlemen enough to stop that night."

Old Mason would have most certainly blushed and looked away, being stared at by such a beautiful woman, but Mason only stared back, chuckling softly, and answering in a suave voice, "I don't know if I can really be called a gentleman. I'm just not an asshole."

"Maybe that's enough to be called a gentleman today." Mason snorted, lifting his cup, "Cheers to that." Alice grinned and tapped her cup against his. Drinking his lukewarm coffee, Mason asked, "So, Alice," he smiled, saying her name, "what do you do in life?" Alice leaned back into her seat, crossing her legs as she replied, "Well, if you must know, Mason," she said with exactly the same tone he used, "I'm a PHD student at ESU, working on a thesis on genetics."

This made Mason raise an eyebrow in surprise, not expecting a girl like her to be a PHD student. She looked like a party girl, and as far as he knew, they weren't the kind to go that far in school. That would be rude to say, however, so he instead teased, "That sounds interesting. Does that mean I'll soon have you call you Doctor then?" Alice scoffed at that.

"Easier said than done, getting a PHD I mean. I'm currently working on getting an internship, but it's not that easy to get there."

"Where is it?" Alice glanced to the side at a tall tower over Manhattan, "Baxter Building." This time Mason did not bother to hide his surprise as he questioned, "As in the Fantastic Four?" They were already a recognized group of heroes, although relatively new, but they were one of the reasons why Mason was sure this wasn't the MCU.

Alice nodded and explained, "I didn't want to move from New York, so I never really considered them before, but since they've recently moved over from Central City to New York, they became my number one choice." Mason hummed slightly and said, "I heard Reed Richards is quite the genius; you could get a lot from this if you manage to get in. If you don't, you could try going for Stark; I heard good things about them, especially since Tony Stark pulled out of weapon deals."

Alice shook her head and replied, "Of course Stark Industries would be a good choice, maybe better even than Baxter, but their Medical Branch is all the way over to California." Mason smiled, glancing over in Manhattan's direction as she had before, as he said, "Please don't spread it since it's supposed to be confidential, but they are going to move to New York. Very soon."

"And how does my mysterious knight know about that?" Mason winked at her and said, "Secret too, I'm afraid. But definitely true." Alice smiled and asked, "Already playing the mysterious card?"

"I'm afraid I must." Alice stared for a few seconds before rolling her eyes, sipping on her coffee.

"Fine, keep your secrets." He could not exactly say his mother was the head of Stark's Medical Branch, could he?