After swallowing the lightning source essence, Wangcai slept for an entire day and night.
At first, Loa worried that something had gone wrong, but the feeling coming through their soul contract was perfectly peaceful, like hibernation. So he left Wangcai alone and ate and drank as usual.
He was still asleep the next morning when he suddenly felt something wet on his face. Opening his eyes, he found an enormous purple dog face right in front of him, its purple tongue licking away at his face.
"Holy shit."
Loa stared blankly for a moment before realizing this was Wangcai. But that size-
Before, Wangcai had only been as long as his forearm, like a purple ball of fur when held, easy to tuck into his clothes. Now, standing up, the creature nearly reached his upper thigh and measured at least a little over a meter long. Its purple fur was still soft, but the outlines of solid muscles were already faintly visible beneath it.
"Boss, boss, boss!" Wangcai kept throwing itself at him in excitement, its tail spinning like a flaming wheel. "I grew up!"
"I noticed." Loa rocked backward under its weight and raised a hand to hold its head down. "All right, all right, stop licking."
Wangcai ignored him and kept reaching for his face.
Loa planted a palm against its face and pushed it half a meter away. Wangcai wasn't annoyed. It came over again, this time nudging its head under his hand, meaning: pet me.
Loa chuckled and gave it a couple of rubs. This silly dog was still just as silly after growing bigger.
After getting up, doing his morning exercises, and washing, he went to sit in the courtyard and enjoy the sunshine. Wangcai followed him out and flopped down at his feet, resting