Supernatural Dog

From the day Xilian arrived in this strange world, he understood that life was absurd.

Everything since—learning that Demons existed, setting foot on the path of the Transcendent, and seeing White Cliff Town destroyed—had proved it again and again.

But now?

Absurd didn't quite cover it. This was... ridiculous.

The big white dog rolled around on the ground, throwing a fit like it had just been neutered.

"What's going on? Why am I a dog?"

At the sound of its repeated howls, Xilian's stern expression crumbled.

"Quiet."

Xilian gave the big white dog another kick, knocking the fight out of it.

The dog lay belly-up on the yellow earth, looking as though it had eaten rat poison and was moments from death.

Xilian wanted to laugh, but the grief echoing inside him left him unable to make any expression at all.

Once he was sure the dog posed no threat, Xilian walked away without a word. He picked up his motorcycle and checked what had gone wrong, hoping he might be able to repair it.

The big white dog cocked its head and asked again, "So, my friend, where is this?"

"The Outer Flame Frontier."

Without looking back, Xilian added, "As for exactly where in the Outer Flame Frontier, I'm not sure. It's close to the Dark World, anyway."

"Oh... No wonder this land's so barren."

The big white dog surveyed the lifeless land and nodded repeatedly.

Xilian opened the cover. Metal components had shattered into filings and mixed with the oil, while erratic scratches covered the inner walls.

Given Xilian's circumstances and the tools he had, there was no chance of repairing the motorcycle.

He sighed helplessly, patted the old friend that had accompanied him for so long, picked up his remaining luggage, and turned to leave.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Seeing Xilian leave, the big white dog hurried after him.

Xilian ignored it and strode on beneath the scorching sun.

"Wait!"

The big white dog rose onto its hind legs, swaying unsteadily.

Only then did Xilian stop and take a closer look at it.

The big white dog was about the size of a large breed, with long white fur covering its body. Someone had shaved its head bald, exposing rows of surgical scars on its skin, with dried blood caked between the stitches.

It looked as though it had undergone a brutal brain operation—and only recently.

From those clues, Xilian was certain the big white dog had slipped from the Spirit Realm into the real world during last night's anomaly.

"Where are you going?"

"That's none of your business."

"Then why are you in such a hurry?"

Xilian glanced at the blazing sun overhead, then around at the wilderness.

"As far as I know, the nearest city-state is still several days away. And as you can see, my only means of transport is broken. I'm almost out of supplies, too."

Xilian explained with remarkable patience, "I have to keep moving, or I'll end up as another set of bones in the wilderness."

The big white dog circled Xilian and sniffed him, then trotted over to the motorcycle and sniffed its strong smell of engine oil.

It turned its head. "It's broken? I can fix it."

"You?"

Xilian thought he must have misheard. It was doubtful those paws could even hold a wrench.

The big white dog answered with action. A faint light rose in its eyes, and Source Energy surged within it.

"You can use Source Energy?"

Stunned, Xilian raised the Boiling Sword.

"You're a Transcendent... a Transcendent dog?"

Xilian knew Transcendents weren't rare in the outside world, but he had never imagined a dog could wield Source Energy.

"I told you, I'm human. I'm just... Forget it. Let's fix this thing first."

The big white dog didn't argue. "You're not the only one who needs to get moving. I do too. Otherwise, in a few days, there might be a set of dog bones lying next to yours."

"All... all right."

For a moment, Xilian didn't know what to say.

Fortunately, the big white dog seemed like a good dog. It bore him no ill will and carried no trace of Chaos.

Even so, Xilian approached it cautiously, wary that it might suddenly turn on him and attack.

After a while, Xilian realized he'd been overthinking it. The big white dog really was repairing the motorcycle.

In a way he had never seen before.

Deep-blue Source Energy welled from the dog's body. Like glowing tendrils, it slowly sank into the earth beneath its paws.

The ground trembled faintly. Flecks of gray-black sand separated from the yellow earth and gathered together, gradually merging into a gray-black lump.

"First, extract metal from the surroundings. Then... smelt it."

The big white dog muttered to itself. Source Energy flowed according to its will, heating, melting, and forging the lump.

Only then did Xilian realize that the gray-black grains were tiny fragments of iron.

The big white dog was using Source Energy to smelt them back into a piece of metal.

The metal continued to change shape, gradually taking the form of the damaged component as it floated steadily in midair.

"Disassemble. Reassemble."

At the big white dog's command, the motorcycle's engine took itself apart. Its components floated up, shifted position, and fitted themselves back together.

Hammering rang out in empty air, and sparks flashed in the seams where metal joined metal.

"There. Try starting it."

The big white dog wagged its tail excitedly.

Xilian walked over, still skeptical. "Even if you fixed it, the fuel tank's leaking too. I checked. The fuel inside—"

"It's fine. I modified the engine. It can run on Source Energy now. It's the most basic kind of Source Energy engine, but it'll do."

The big white dog explained at once.

Puzzled, Xilian swung onto the motorcycle. Several metal wires had been added to the handlebar. He gripped it and summoned his Source Energy.

A strange pull suddenly came from the wires. Xilian found himself feeding Source Energy into them, and beneath the thick metal casing, the engine roared to life.

"You really fixed it... and modified it?"

Xilian stared at the big white dog in shock. His life was growing more ridiculous by the minute.

Not only could this big white dog talk, it could repair motorcycles. It could even turn an internal combustion engine into a Source Energy engine.

What the hell?

The big white dog sounded unconcerned. "What's so hard about that?"

"You—"

"Hold on. Let me think for a moment."

The big white dog raised a front paw, cutting off Xilian's question. Then it closed its eyes, tilted its head toward the sky, and sank into deep thought.

Several minutes later, the big white dog spoke in a serious tone.

"I don't mean you any harm. You can put your sword away."

Xilian obliged, sheathing the Boiling Sword. "I'm sure of that now, too."

"What's more, we need to work together."

The big white dog laid it out. "I need your fighting ability, and you need me to make sure your motorcycle doesn't break down on the journey ahead."

"I'm willing to work together. But first, I need to know who you are, where you came from, and why you suddenly appeared here."

At that last question, the dreadful hammering echoed in Xilian's ears. He saw the rust-red metal giant again, along with the mysterious craftsman who had hovered between reality and hallucination.

The big white dog answered sincerely, "About that... to be honest, I don't know either."

Then it added,

"Can we talk about all this later?"

The big white dog glanced at the blazing sun overhead, stuck out its tongue, and panted heavily.

"I think I'm getting heatstroke."