****(POV)

This little fruit fly Gu just took him out in one sting!

How?! I slowly approach the victim, and I notice it. The poison is extremely deadly. The kind that takes a very long time to kill but is not curable.

Meanwhile, the little fruit fly is looking a the berry mush pitifully. It's crazy how adorable and cute (for a Gu) it seems, and yet it is so goddamn strong! If it could speak, it would go "noooo" in a small voice.

I simply get another berry from my bag and hand it over to it. It radiates happiness as it starts eating it. It seems to regard me as some sort of amazing being just for my ability to give it berries. What kind of luck is required for this?!

Actually, I'm probably one of the last Gu Users to walk here. The difference is that I actually didn't ignore this place out of arrogance. That is all.

The sheer coincidences that had to lead to the birth of this creature are baffling. Logic states that a fruit fly shouldn't be able to fight in the first place. Yet here it is.

I feel like chances are it somehow had to struggle to protect its fruits, thus pushing its evolution. But what about the very first step? It probably stumbled upon extremely strong Gus killing themselves in mutual destruction.

Chances are this fruit fly has had luck on par with the heroes in the epics bards sing about. Then again, life is like that, unpredictable.

That is how I get the strongest Gu I could ever dream of. Simply by feeding it cheap berries that are not even worth the lowest tier of Gu. I still don't know how it manages to hide its aura. Ah, but I have a theory.

What if the reason all-powerful Gus are so obvious is their killing intent? They all have some to a diverse degree. It's what will cause us, humans, to naturally fear them. This one here just wants to eat fruits.

From now on, I shall call it "Invisible Killer"—the best at sneak attacking, for sure. The man on the ground is actually not dead yet, but I simply leave him there as I leave with the fruit fly. It is resting comfortably on my shoulder while munching.

As soon as we exit the room, it turns into a bloodbath. The previously calm, peaceful, and well-behaved Gus all turn savage. Needless to say, the man paralyzed on the ground promptly gets devoured, same for the Gus he had.

I had to leave it all there. They were bound to him in life and death. It's such a waste, really. I keep going, but it seems like the most interesting Gus have either been tamed already or have gone into hiding.

I walk back toward the entrance of the Rearing Land. Soon the doors will be opened. There is no point in hunting all the Gus systematically until none remain. We need to leave enough seeds to begin the next Gu batch.

In a sense, rearing Gus is very similar to a farmer growing his crops. You wait for it all to yield results. Then you harvest it before waiting for the next season. It's considered vile, but even this has a certain charm to it.

Just as I reach the door, so do three others. The guy from earlier has managed to tame that scorpionfly too. It is flying next to him, the only one. All his other Gus seem to be dead. The other two are low-key members of the sect.

Even now, I can't see any Gu surrounding them. I guess they were hiding their edge all along. We all share a look of understanding. Out of the 30 that entered, only us survived. A 85% mortality rate is to be expected from this place.

Then begins a waiting period. After a few hours, we hear a loud chime before the doors open. On the other side, the sect leader is awaiting us. He glances at all of us appreciatingly. Then he begins walking away.

We all follow. We all know the step to come. We finally reach a very small temple. In the middle is a statue of a squirming Gu mass. It represents the Eternal Gu Breeder. Funny how we know nothing about our own god but the fact that he breeds Gus.

He can either be represented by a shadowy figure overlooking Gus or simply tons of these creatures. This is something many don't understand. How can we worship a god that we don't even know the appearance of?

That's the thing with Gus. They come in so many forms and shapes. We really don't care about something silly like appearance. Hell, two Gus of the same species can look completely different! For us, all that matters is the power.

All four of us go forward and kneel in front of the statue. In fact, it has been ages since we have received an oracle or anything of the likes. But we still stay true to tradition. Not out of a desire to be faithful but out of a desire for power.

Most gods out there have a champion. Well, the Eternal Gu Breeder is different. All four of us will become champions at various blessing degrees. The one that will survive in the end will become the true one.

Will there be a deadly fight between us? Not even. We are prohibited from killing each other, at least for now… Later on, once we get powerful enough, then one might happen. Still, chances are most of us will be dead already anyway.

There are three ranks of blessing. The first level is the weakest, and the third level is the strongest. Historically most blessings are rank 1 or 2. We await our god's judgment patiently. That is when it finally comes.

A dark aura surrounds us all. With how heavy it is, we can already know the level of blessing. The other 2 are rank 1 and 2, respectively. The guy that wants me dead gets rank 3.

I can feel the satisfaction and pride oozing out of him. But then he glances at me. I have a rank 3 one too. His smiling face becomes incredibly stiff. Once more, he is compared to the me that he considers a loser.

They are all puzzled, so puzzled about it. I have tons of Gus but no higher rank one. I could easily explain it by showing them my small fruit fly, but I won't. If I do, they will send us both on countless assassination missions.

Somehow, I don't wish for that. I can't help but picture this little Gu of mine exhausted and despairing. Nope, it just wants to eat sweets, and I will let it do that. It can remain a secret trump card. Everyone needs one.

It's at that moment that I began my journey as a champion. It's at that moment that I swore that I'd protect this pure little creature. I don't even know why myself.

Perhaps it represented the innocence I had lost myself?...