****(POV)

How did I feel upon learning that I'd have to venture into the Gu Rearing Land? Excitement, fear, or even anguish? Surprisingly I barely felt anything.

More accurately, I was expecting it. It was the obvious next step to my training. Gu Rearing Land sounds amazing but is just a complex set of sewers running below our sect. It is extremely hard to access to make sure the deadly creatures do not escape.

In there, countless Gus are left to their own device. Sometimes magical feed is dumped in there. Gus tend to fight for survival by their very nature, and it soon devolves into a battle royale until only the strongest are left alive.

How does one call a human intruding upon the Gu Rearing Land? People call such a being suicidal. Yes, funnily enough, as much as it serves to rear Gus, it also serves to rear the next generation of the sect.

This challenge will determine whether one's efforts will pay or if one will simply die and be forgotten. It is cruel, but also very realistic. It can't be helped in this sort of profession.

The sect leader in front of me raises an eyebrow seeing my lack of reaction.

"Aren't you afraid at all?"

"Why should I be?" I simply shrug. "It was meant to happen."

That is when he starts laughing while muttering "good, very good!" for the first time the way he looks at me changes. Before, he was sternly giving me an ultimatum, but now he seems somehow curious.

I simply excuse myself and leave. Am I confident at all? Not in the slightest! To be honest, there is a big difference between the other Gu users and me. They all tend to have either a trump card supporting them or large quantities of Gus. I don't.

No, instead, all that I have going for me is how well trained they are. Mines are able to properly cooperate with one another. I figured that a balance between quality and quantity would work well.

This makes it so my power is decent, albeit limited, but I have lots of versatility. Is such a technique smart? I couldn't say. It is the one I chose and the one I decided to stick to.

What I do is I take a walk to the nearest town, bringing all my Gus with me. They are all hiding in my clothes snuggly. It's a wonder how they even fit in there. Most people would consider this madness.

Any could betray me at any moment and cause my demise. Or that's what they think. I'm not actually worried. Most Gus are surprisingly simple. Once you understand them, they are easy to control.

Most like dark spaces and the cold. Some utterly abhor other species. They all like different kinds of food. There are lots of things they dislike. For instance, some truly hate the smell of leek, onion, it can be anything really.

I slowly learned a lot about them. I have also noticed that there are individual differences between the various Gus. Most won't admit it. In their eyes, Gus are Gus period. They are as diverse as humans themselves can be. It is truly magical in a way.

I head to the local food market, and I can feel the Gus rustle in excitement under my cloak. They are extremely happy. From time to time, one will move to be closer or away from a given smell.

The smell of meat, bread, and corn is very popular with them all for some reason. The pronounced smell of spices is really a case-by-case kind of thing. I believe that one needs to know such a market by heart to be a great Gu user.

Of course, I'm the only one of the sect here. Oh, we are human and eat too but there are servants for things as lowly as fetching food. This is often the case, really. The more powerful one becomes and the more they disdain the world.

To be frank, it's quite understandable. Still, the way I see it, I'd be dumb to trust someone else with what I give my Gus. It is the very basis of them accepting me as their master. I can't afford to screw it up!

I stroll relaxedly. Anyone seeing me would wonder what I am doing here instead of preparing in seclusion. Well, this is me preparing myself. I buy a little of everything and a lot of the things most Gus love and hate.

Very soon, I am left with a backpack so bulging it risks crushing me. The merchants smile happily as I bring them great business. It wasn't my intention but if they are happy, good for them.

I go back to the sect with everyone looking at me like I am some kind of freak. They wouldn't accept being seen as I am currently. I can hear the jeers.

"Look at that dumbass! Did he finally give up and decide to become a porter?"

"Most likely, look at his dumb face!"

"You failure, such a shame that you are wasting your talent!"

"You won't ever amount to anything as a Gu User!"

"Ah, look at him! He's shaking! Can't handle the truth, is it?"

The fools. Am I shaking? Yes. What they fail to realize is the reason I am. Under my cloak, the hundreds of closely packed together Gus are the ones shaking in anger.

If I wasn't controlling them, they would have already flown out to kill these fools. But I restrain them because it is not worth it. Oh, I wouldn't even be punished for it. The only downside is that some of these idiots have some decently powerful Gus.

This would tire my own and perhaps even kill a few. I'm not going to make such a pointless sacrifice. I simply decide upon what will give me the best chances of success.

Back in my personal tiny training room comes the last step. I start playing fetch with all of them. The goal is to have the Gus grab any item, whenever I tell them to, and either bring it to me or throw it at a target.

The hard part is getting them to handle the items they hate, but there is a trick. I simply convince them to focus not on their own discomfort but on how much discomfort they can bring to other Gus.

Due to their nature, all Gus have the desire to utterly destroy the others. It took me a while to ingrain into mines that they are all part of the same pack. Now they don't mind working together to exterminate enemies.

Before long, I finally feel that they are ready. I go to sleep, lulled into it by their small shrieks and the sound their many legs moving about produces. Tomorrow will be hectic and probably crazy…