Starry Guga

By the time darkness fell, Su Yuntao had found the Cliff Face.

Deep in the Soul Hunting Forest, a sheer cliff rose from the dense woods. Vines covered its face, glowing faintly green beneath the moonlight.

Su Yuntao put out his torch.

"Starry Sky Vine absorbs starlight. Moonlight makes it visible."

Lin Yuan looked up.

Halfway up the cliff, a patch of vines glowed softly in the moonlight. They were not reflecting it; they shone on their own. A pale green sheen flowed across their surface like liquid glass, threaded with fine patterns of starlight that brightened and dimmed like breaths. Eight main vines extended from cracks in the cliff, slowly writhing.

Starry Sky Vine.

Su Yuntao lowered his voice. "Over eight hundred years old. The denser the starlight patterns, the older it is."

"How do we fight it?"

"It won't be easy." Su Yuntao licked his lips. "The worst thing about Starry Sky Vine is its regeneration. Break a vine, and it grows back in the blink of an eye. We have to keep at it until its Soul Power runs out and it can't regenerate anymore."

Lin Yuan reached out and shook the two Gugas awake.

"Wake up. Time to fight."

Guga opened her bead-black eyes, and Dark Gold Guga opened her dark-gold ones. Both little creatures looked toward the Starry Sky Vine on the cliff.

"This Guga?"

"...Fight it, Guga?"

"Yes."

Dark Gold Guga fixed her dark-gold eyes on the Starry Sky Vine, her pupils narrowing to vertical slits. She raised her chin, her dark-gold fur bristling beneath the moonlight, and five sharp dark-gold claws sprang from her right paw.

"...I'll tear it apart, Guga."

She charged.

A fan of dark-gold claw shadows burst outward. Five streaks of dark-gold light slashed into the Starry Sky Vine, severing three main vines at their roots. Green sap gushed from the cuts.

But.

It was not just sap that poured from the cuts. Starlight spilled out too. As pale green light surged forth, the severed vines regenerated before their eyes. In three breaths, all three main vines were whole again.

Dark Gold Guga's eyes widened.

"...They grew back, Guga?"

The Starry Sky Vine moved.

All eight main vines shot out at once, as fast as eight bolts of green lightning. They wove a net in midair and swept down on Dark Gold Guga from every direction. She tore open a gap with her claws, but there were too many vines. Tear through one, and two took its place. Tear through two, and four closed in.

Dark Gold Guga was caught.

The vines wrapped around her three times, binding her from ankles to shoulders. She struggled hard, severing three vines with her dark-gold claws, but they regenerated too quickly. The instant she cut them, they grew back and tightened their grip.

"...So annoying, Guga!"

Guga rushed in from the side, lifted a large rock, and smashed it against the vines. Lin Yuan drew his short blade and hacked at them. Su Yuntao summoned his Martial Soul and joined in. The four of them fought the eight vines, tearing with dark-gold claws, pounding with a rock, slashing with blades. The vines were shredded, regenerated, shredded again, and regenerated again.

Each time they grew back, it took a little longer. Each new vine was a little thinner than the last.

Green sap spattered the ground.

The Starry Sky Vine's eight main vines thrashed wildly beneath the moonlight, their starlight patterns growing dimmer and dimmer.

"...I'm exhausted, Guga!"

Dark Gold Guga did not stop. Her right paw kept tearing, and so did her left.

Half an hour passed.

The Starry Sky Vine's regeneration had slowed noticeably. Starlight no longer surged from its wounds; it flickered faintly like a candle flame. The new vines were only a third as thick as before, and their color had darkened to green.

"Almost there." Lin Yuan stared at the cliff. "Its Soul Power is nearly gone."

Dark Gold Guga spent the last of her strength, severing the final three main vines with one swipe. They did not grow back. A few drops of green sap seeped from the cuts, and then the vines went completely still.

The Starry Sky Vine's main vines fell from the cliff and lay limp on the ground. Their starlight patterns went out completely, and their surface turned gray-green.

Dark Gold Guga stood amid the broken vines, covered in green sap, chin raised as she panted.

"...We won, Guga."

Then she dropped onto her backside. Guga tossed her rock aside and sat down too, gasping for breath.

"So tired, Guga."

Lin Yuan walked over and crouched beside Dark Gold Guga, reaching out to rub her head. Her eyes closed, and her breathing gradually steadied. Then he went to the Starry Sky Vine's corpse and laid a hand on it.

A Yellow Soul Ring rose from a split in the vines and slowly rotated. Its yellow glow stood out against the night sky. At over eight hundred years old, this Soul Ring shone far brighter than an ordinary Hundred-Year Soul Ring.

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.

Absorbing this Soul Ring took longer than the last one.

The Starry Sky Vine's Soul Power was not violent like the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's. It was lingering and tenacious, like a vine winding around his meridians little by little. It never hurried, yet it reached everywhere.

After three incense sticks had burned, the Yellow Soul Ring slowly merged with his Martial Soul.

Lin Yuan opened his eyes.

His Second Soul Ring was complete.

In his arms, a ball of pale green light appeared. It grew brighter and brighter, then burst open. A new Guga tumbled out.

She wore a pale green, glassy suit, with specks of starlight flowing across it as though she had draped herself in a piece of the night sky. Her eyes were pale green, with what looked like scattered stars hidden in her pupils. She stood in the moonlight, the starlight patterns on her suit glowing softly.

She blinked and looked at Lin Yuan.

"...Hello, Guga."

Guga sprang up from beside Dark Gold Guga, her bead-black eyes round with wonder. She ran over and circled the newcomer.

"What's your name, Guga?"

"Sky Star." The new Guga tilted her head. Her voice was gentle, and she spoke slowly. "Are you hurt, Guga?"

She held out a little hand, and pale green starlight lit her fingertips. It fell on Guga, healing her scrapes before their eyes.

Guga looked down at herself, then back at the new Guga. Her bead-black eyes shone like lightbulbs.

"That's amazing, Guga!"

Starry Guga lowered her head shyly, and the starlight on her suit flashed brighter.

Su Yuntao had watched the whole thing from the side. His mouth opened, closed, then opened again.

"...That's the third one."

Lin Yuan looked down at the three Gugas. Guga bounced about on the left, Dark Gold Guga panted in the middle, and the new Guga stood quietly on the right with starlight flowing across her.

"Yes. The third."

Dark Gold Guga got up from the ground and stared at Starry Guga for three seconds with her dark-gold eyes.

"...Good at fighting, Guga?"

Starry Guga tilted her head.

"Not very, Guga. But I can heal you, Guga."

Dark Gold Guga thought it over, then nodded.

"...Useful, Guga."

Guga had already sidled up to Starry Guga. She poked the starlight on her suit with a little hand.

"So sparkly and pretty, Guga!"

Starry Guga's starlight flickered, and her voice grew even softer.

"Thank you, Guga."

Su Yuntao watched the three little creatures huddled together and scratched his head.

"Let's go. It'll be light soon. Back to Nuoding City."

Lin Yuan stood. The three Gugas followed behind him. Guga bounced along on the left, Dark Gold Guga trudged silently on the right, and Starry Guga walked between them, her vines reaching out unconsciously to rest on the other two.