Weak as Can Be, Guga

Before dawn had fully broken, Lin Yuan woke.

Guga was still curled into a little ball on his chest, her black-bean eyes closed and her tiny hands clutching his collar. Crumbs clung to the corner of her mouth. Lin Yuan brushed them away with his thumb, picked her up, and tucked her inside his clothes.

Three people were already waiting outside the Spirit Hall Branch.

Elder Ma was in his fifties, with graying hair, a deeply lined face, and an iron staff as tall as his eyebrows planted beside his foot. Sisi stood next to him in a fitted white outfit, her long hair tied back with a plain ribbon. Su Yuntao leaned against the doorpost and tipped his chin at Lin Yuan.

"You're here."

"Mm."

Elder Ma looked him over and nodded.

"Let's go."

The Star Dou Great Forest lay three hundred li due south of Nuoding City. The four of them hired a carriage and headed south.

The wheat fields beside the road gave way to shrubs, then woods. A damp, sickly-sweet smell rose in the air, as though countless living things had been packed together and left to ferment.

"We're here."

The carriage stopped before a forest that stretched beyond sight. Its canopies blotted out the sun, and its trunks were too thick for several people to encircle. Faint beastly roars came from deep within, low and drawn-out, like the earth snoring.

Sisi jumped down from the carriage, gazed at the forest, and took a deep breath.

"The outer reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest."

Elder Ma picked up his iron staff and led the way into the trees.

"Stay close. Most Soul Beasts out here are under a thousand years old, but we still can't let our guard down."

The four of them walked over thick fallen leaves, their steps rustling. Lin Yuan kept to the middle. Guga poked her head out of his clothes, her black-bean eyes wide.

"Such big trees, Guga!"

"Keep your voice down."

"Oh, Guga."

Guga ducked back down, leaving only her eyes visible.

After about half an hour, Elder Ma stopped suddenly and planted his staff on the ground.

"Something's moving ahead."

In the bushes, a pitch-black boar was rooting around a tree. It was twice the size of an ordinary boar, with bristles standing straight up along its back like a row of iron spikes. Two tusks curved from its mouth, each half a foot long. Its breath carried a faint, rank stench.

"An Iron Bristle Boar," Sisi whispered. "Around a thousand years old. Just right."

Elder Ma nodded and tightened his grip on the staff.

"Sisi, pin it down. Su Yuntao, take the flank. Lin Yuan, stand back."

Sisi stepped forward and raised her right hand. A snow-white ribbon flew from her sleeve. It split into two in midair, then four, and wound toward the Iron Bristle Boar like living things.

The Iron Bristle Boar sensed them and jerked its head up. A sweep of its tusks knocked one ribbon aside, but the other three had already wrapped around its hind legs and belly, pulling tight.

"Oink—"

The Iron Bristle Boar roared and dug its hooves into the earth, trying to snap the ribbons. Sisi brought her hands together. White light flashed along the ribbons, and the boar's movements slowed noticeably.

"The paralysis is working. Go!"

Su Yuntao growled, activating Lone Wolf Martial Soul Possession. Gray-white fur pushed through his skin, his body swelled, and sharp claws sprang from his ten fingers. He kicked off the ground and became a gray blur, lunging at the boar from the side.

"First Soul Skill: Wolf Transformation."

His claws tore three bloody gashes across the Iron Bristle Boar's flank. The boar whipped its head around in pain, sweeping its tusks toward Su Yuntao. He twisted aside, and a tusk scraped past the hem of his clothes with a harsh rasp.

Elder Ma moved.

The iron staff turned in his hands. Suddenly it doubled in length and grew as thick as the mouth of a bowl.

"First Soul Skill: Iron Staff Sweep."

The staff whistled through the air and slammed into the Iron Bristle Boar's shoulder. Its massive body skidded two steps sideways, snapping one of the ribbons around its legs. It squealed, stopped struggling, and turned to flee.

A charging boar was as fast as a runaway carriage.

It did not charge Elder Ma, Su Yuntao, or Sisi. It charged Lin Yuan.

"Dodge!"

Elder Ma's face changed. He thrust his staff against the ground and tried to give chase. Su Yuntao's pupils contracted as he sprang forward, but he was too far away.

Sisi's face went pale.

"Get out of the way!"

Lin Yuan did not move.

The Iron Bristle Boar was only three steps away.

Guga shot out of Lin Yuan's clothes, brought her tiny hands together before her chest, and slammed into the Iron Bristle Boar.

Bang.

Guga's little hands pressed against the boar's head. Its tusks stopped an inch from her face, unable to advance. Her short legs gouged two furrows in the ground.

"Guga!"

Guga jerked her head and twisted the Iron Bristle Boar's head to one side. It lost its balance, all four hooves leaving the ground as it flew sideways. It snapped a tree as thick as a bowl, crashed to the ground, and sent fallen leaves billowing up.

It did not move.

Two small fist-shaped dents sank into its head.

Silence.

Sisi covered her mouth, her eyes nearly as wide as Guga's. Elder Ma almost dropped his staff. Su Yuntao stood frozen, his Lone Wolf Martial Soul still active, looking as though he had seen a ghost.

Lin Yuan walked over and picked Guga up. The little creature patted her tiny hands, tipped up her chin, and looked smug.

"So weak, Guga."

Su Yuntao released his Martial Soul and walked up to Lin Yuan. He looked down at Guga and stayed silent for a long time.

"Back at the awakening ceremony..."

He took a deep breath.

"I called you a Trash Martial Soul. I was wrong about you."

Guga tilted her head and looked at him with her black-bean eyes.

"You called Guga names, Guga."

"...I did."

"Guga holds grudges, Guga."

The corner of Su Yuntao's mouth twitched.

"Then... I'm sorry."

Guga raised her chin and huffed.

"Guga forgives you, Guga."

Su Yuntao paused, then smiled. It was no bitter smile; he was genuinely amused. He shook his head and muttered to himself.

"Well, thank you for that."

Sisi could no longer hold back. She rushed over, snatched Guga from Lin Yuan's arms, and hugged her close, rubbing her cheek against her.

"You're too adorable! How can you be this cute and fight like that?"

Guga struggled in her arms, flailing her tiny hands.

"Let Guga go! Guga can't breathe, Guga!"

"No!"

"Bad person, Guga!"

"I'm not a bad person! I'm your big sister!"

"Big sister, let Guga go too!"

Elder Ma watched them and shook his head, then walked over to the Iron Bristle Boar. It was unconscious but still breathing steadily. He raised his staff, aimed its tip at the boar's head, and drove it down. The boar twitched once and went still. A purple Soul Ring slowly rose from its body.

"You can keep fooling around. I'm absorbing the Soul Ring."

He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes, drawing the purple Soul Ring into his body. Its light flowed over him as his iron staff Martial Soul appeared on its own, the patterns along the staff growing darker.

Sisi finally let Guga go. The little creature scrambled back into Lin Yuan's arms, buried her head against his chest, and refused to come out.

"She's so scary, Guga."

Lin Yuan looked down at her.

"She just likes you."

"She likes Guga too much. Guga can't take it, Guga."

Su Yuntao crouched beside them and spoke without warning.

"Lin Yuan, your Martial Soul—it isn't a Trash Martial Soul. I can't see the limits of its potential."

Lin Yuan looked down at Guga in his arms. She was looking back at him, her face full of pride.

The corner of his mouth moved.

"Is that so?"

Wind stirred the leaves, and the Soul Ring hummed.