Viers would pick the path that shall benefit him the most, he was gravely injured on his chest, even with the healing factor Viers didn't think he would survive. Going back to town would be useless and not possible for the current him, therefore he dragged his heavy body to the fallen Path-seekers. He gambled that one of them had the method to heal him, even if he'd to beg or pay serious concessions to get assistance. It wasn't what he wanted but he'd no other choice.

When he arrived only the bull and the woman survived, and apparently they were out of strength and dying. He saw the woman struggling to take out a bottle, whatever the woman tried to take out was surely something good, considering her injury Viers greatly suspected it was some kind of healing item. His condition was grave, he badly needed it so he ate one of the pills to save himself. The woman had no means to stop him.

After he was healed, Viers considered his next choice. He could help the woman, give her the pill, but what next? She was very strong, she could destroy Viers with a flick of her finger. Not to mention Viers ate one of her medicines, no matter in this world or any other, normally no human wanted to die, therefore medicine and everything health-related was always precious and an expensive thing to have. He stole one of her precious life-saving items, so to speak, if she got angry and turned Viers into a mush paste of bloody meat what could he do? Viers was not willing to leave his life in the hands of a complete stranger.

The second point to consider was the trio's background and motives. Viers only knew they wanted to kill the bull and nothing else, but they were very strong and their powers were very extraordinary compared with the common masses. Therefore Viers deduced they were not from around here and backed by a very powerful organization, order, or cult or something similar, whether they were from some kind of higher realm or sealed dimension or the likes did not matter. What mattered was that by simply witnessing the battle, Viers had become involved in unknown agendas and plans of people far above his power and status, it was a very dangerous situation for him.

The third point was even though it was simply by coincidence, they almost caused Viers’s death. With his insignificant power compared with them, his ‘mortal life’ simply had very little value to ‘gods’ like them. Like humans killed an ant accidentally by the act of simply walking on the road. Viers got the logic should they think so… but he did not like it.

With the bull maintaining inaction, by choice or not, Viers had the opportunity to make a decision without any outside interference. He chose to remove the woman from the equation, of course Viers realized there were risks by killing the woman, such as pursuers from her organization hell-bent on hunting him. Viers decided to brave the risk rather than the alternatives, allowing the woman to live and let his life and death be determined by her whim. After making the cold-blooded decision, Viers moved on to his next variable, the bull.

He took out a small flask and placed it near the woman’s neck, Viers moved her body a little to let her blood flow into the flask. After it was full, he took it and walked to the bull, he stopped a few meters in front of it. The bull remained in a sitting position, all this time its eyes were fixed on Viers.

“I know you can understand me, what do you want? Want me to share this with you?” Viers showed it the healing pills.

The bull stayed silent, Viers gazed into its eyes, both sides maintaining silence for tens of seconds. The rain started to weaken, dark clouds were still draped in this region but they also started to dissipate bit by bit.

“Alright bull, you are free to accept death in silence, I shall leave you in peace,” Viers moved backward, he kept his guard up the whole time, ready to react if the bull tried to do anything. Viers knew it was probably useless, if the bull had any strength left it could most definitely could kill him even if he was tens of meters away, but that was no reason to let go of caution.

Then the scenery changed, sea and sky all around him, the sky was bright and clear, the sea was calm and soothing. Viers was standing on the blue sea surface without falling down. In front of him stood an old man, he held his hands behind his back, he was wearing a loose blue robe that showed his muscular chest, his white hair was shoulder length long and unkempt. His face gave the impression of something archaic.

The sudden change of scenery startled Viers a bit but he quickly calmed down, he asked the old man a question.

“Is this inside your soul? Nice place,” Viers said.

The old man did not answer.

“Okay, you can be as mysterious as you want but I don’t have much time to waste, I have a life to live. You can say your piece, or hold it forever,” Viers continued.

“You bear the gift of higher beings.” The old man finally spoke.

“.....”

This time Viers did not answer.

Is it the flower or the fact I was reincarnated… It seems beings on the level of this bull can tell something is different about me? This is very dangerous, I have to find some way to conceal it.

“Why the higher beings granted the likes of you such boon… paltry in talent and virtue, insignificant in wisdom and purpose. At the core of your heart you lust for power, only channeling it to satisfy your self-conceit. That lust festers inside you like a sickness, you desecrate the noble one's gift with your ego.” The old man said his words slowly with great sadness in his voice.

“Oh? It seems you can sense what’s inside my heart, impressive.” Viers said nonchalantly.

“The gift has been granted, soon, the age of strife and great suffering shall descend upon this world once more... perhaps this is the guidance of fate. To meet such a lost soul at the end of my life, to guide it to the path of virtue and justice, to nurture it as the beacon of light for the dark days ahead.” The old man was talking to both Viers and himself.

“Young soul chasing vanity, we are guided to meet by the hands of fate, know the futility of your road ahead, abandon it before it is too late. I can help you find a better path, for the good of the world, the path of heroes and champions of justice. The path ahead will be ridden with hardships but do not fret, with my help you shall be able to conquer any obstacles.”

Hmn, he can sense my heart, or perhaps it was 'desire' that he sensed but he can’t read my mind or memory. By the context of his speech, the gift he talked about should be the flower.

“Interesting, what do you want me to do?” He curiously asked.

“We must journey to the east, to the eastern continent beyond the sea, we must go to the land where great spirits reside. It shall be a long journey, along the way I will teach you to harness the power of nature. We both possess the same elemental affinity, this too is the guidance of the great flow.”

The soul space started to crumble, slowly from the outer edges. Darkness approached, it was consuming the sea and sky in the distance, Viers suspected the bull was near death.

“Right, so what are we going to do now? Oh, when we return to the material world, will there be pursuers like those three you fought?” Viers asked worriedly.

“Worry not, like me they have come from the continent in the east, the continental barrier will not be easy to breach. Those three have perished and there are no other enemies, any pursuers will have difficulty coming here, the reason those three were able to come to this continent was very coincidental. They followed me as I went into a tear in space my liege created, the resulting conflict drifted us all awry from the supposed destination and we came out here.”

“The enemies are considerably far and it will take a few years before they can find this place. These people have the means to find out what happened here, even after years have passed. It's not much but we have time, precious time that we shall use to grow stronger. I shall train you, temper your body and soul for the trials ahead.”

“Cool, so what do they want so much from you?”

“They wanted the keys of the great seal that the Guardian Beasts possessed, one is in my possession. We must protect it, prevent it from falling into the wrong hands, for the seal protects the realm from great catastrophe.”

“Okay, so what now?”

“As you can see, my death is near, I must abandon my body and my soul shall take refuge inside you. Worry not, for this is not a possession of any kind, you shall remain in full control of your mind and body.”

“I am the Sea Rumbling Bull, one of the Guardian Beasts protecting the Ancient Seal, Guo Song is my name. What is your name, young one?”

The old man’s form turned into a ball of light the size of a basketball, Viers could still hear his voice even though he was in the form of a ball.

“I am Viers, thank you for the explanation.” He smiled.

The ball floated toward his chest, but Viers grabbed it with his hands.

“What are you doing?” The bull asked.

“You can sense what’s inside my heart but you can’t pry into my memories, you see old bull, I heard this kind of story before. Our meeting may be caused by fate or something but I am not here to follow fate… I am here to make my OWN! ”

“The instance I could grab your soul I was convinced you have no power left, with this space falling apart, it all indicates your time is running out.”

“At the start, you deemed me weak, talentless, ignorant, and my purpose was foolish wasn’t it? You were right! Oh, you were so right, wise old bull. And then you want to guide me, assume the role of a mentor and channel my actions for good, to become someone that brings light to the world, to be a sword against the darkness, to BLEED for the many, to SACRIFICE for the many, to SUFFER for the many!”

“That is what being a hero is, wise bull, all their deeds and actions spread far and wide, commended by everyone, venerated by the masses. Where was the hero, when people showered praises on their names? Most of them were already dead, weren't they? So why do the tales spread far and wide gilded in gold plating for some dead person?"

"Because the people want some fool to pick up the mantle and become the next hero! To have the poor fool bleed so they do not have to bleed, so the fool is hurt instead of everyone getting hurt. Guess what Guo Song… O wise Guardian Beast, protector of the Ancient Seal, you have your offer and I have my answer.”

“—But I REFUSE! One of the things I want to do at least once in my life… is to find people who think they’re some hot shit and say NO straight to their stinkin’ arrogant faces!”

Viers gripped at the ball and squished it strongly.

“Uuoooohhh… Why? Why do you refuse? If the world is faced with the threat of darkness, it is your duty as the one chosen to bear the gift, and as one living in this world to protect it!” Guo Song said with pain in his voice.

“HAH, there will be others, there will always be another that will pick up that burden, for their family, for their friend, for their home, for their love, for their revenge, for all kinds of things! No need to worry old bull, the world is full of people who will jump into the abyss of heroism, it’s just that I am not one of them!”

“If those heroes are so incompetent and the world is coming to an end, I don’t mind giving help once or twice. I am living in this world too you see, if it’s destroyed where would I live? But it shall be on my terms and only if I am strong enough.”

“I also noticed you did not say anything about the world’s destruction, you said strife, suffering, darkness, threat, and catastrophe. In case you haven't noticed old bull, the world is always full of those things! Maybe the coming Dark Age will inflict more of those upon the world, but the strong, oh it was always the strong… and the fittest who will survive. It’s just the survival of the fittest, the law of the jungle, its old news, boyo.”

Viers shrugged while squeezing the soul ball, snickering.

“AAaarghh… How can you be so wicked? Have you no pity and compassion for other life besides your own? How can one such as you passed the trials to bear the gift of higher beings? Impossible, this cannot be, for the gift to land into the hands of someone so depraved! Your craving for power has blinded you, at the end, your very strength will become your own doom!”

Oh? Trials hmnn? I didn’t think I had those from the flower.

“I’ve heard those words before, no need to worry guardian bull, for I already drank the water from the Spring of Wisdom! It will guide me well.”

“Spring of Wisdom!? Impossible! The Spring has dried up since the Age of Gods ended, it is not possible for any of the Waters of Wisdom to have remained!”

Well, well, would you look at that? So the Spring of Wisdom really existed? Well, it’s dried up now, no need for concern.

“Heh, it does not matter, let’s get back on track shall we? The next issue is that you want to get inside my soul, even if you were speaking the truth and will cause or mean no harm for me, you will be INSIDE me. You shall be whispering advice in my ears, judging my actions through your eyes, you will teach me as I see more of the world, you will be my spirit guide… I don’t like it.”

“If you were inside me. It will set my path on a course to merge with yours, I will be involved with your mess! The darkness, the seal, the catastrophe, yada-yada. Nope, no thank you, this is my PATH and mine alone! I will walk my path however I wish, if fate brings us to meet and fate wants me to do this and that, then fate can go eat shit!”

“Sacrilege! You know not of what you speak, vile human… You will regret your decisions this day, when the cries of innumerable suffering souls haunt you in the night. I will not lend my power to you, in this road you tread, death will find you before you succeed!”

The bull sounded angry, the soul space eradication was almost complete, the darkness was only a few meters left from Viers’s location.

“Ah yes the power you mean to lend, I do not like using any powers on loan. If it was given but with strings attached, I’d rather throw it away before it backfires on me. However, it is not your call to make, old bull. I shall TAKE what I want!”

Viers was smiling.

“You do not have the method to take away my power… what do you mean?”

“You will know soon enough… or perhaps you won’t, either way, this is where we part. Thank you for the cryptic monologues, Guo Song, die in peace… if you can.”

Viers crushed the ball of light and he was enveloped with light.

***

When Viers opened his eyes, he'd returned to the real world. He did not know how much time had passed but his guess is, it was not very long, in his mind all soul talks were like that, long in the inside, mere seconds on the outside. The rain had already turned into a drizzle by now, light from the sun penetrated the clouds and created the illusion of light tunnels, Viers looked at the opponent in front of him. The bull was dead.

Viers approached the body, with a knife in hand he stabbed at the bull. His knife broke, the bull's hide was too tough, it was an ordinary knife he took from a nobody, Viers threw it away and reached out for a replacement.

He pulled out the broken spear from its stomach, the spear of the woman Viers killed. He inspected his new loot, it was a beautiful spear, the patterned metal head reminded Viers of Damascus steel, it looked ordinary but he knew it was not. It was soaked with the bull’s blue blood, the shaft was broken but the spear tip, the metal on the sharp head is undamaged.

He used the broken spear as a substitute for a knife and cut open the bull’s stomach. It was a terrifying sight, blue blood and a nauseating smell, but Viers did not back down. He cut a fistful of flesh, whether it was innards or organs Viers did not know, he gazed at the flesh covered with blue blood in his hand.

For power.

He put the flesh in his mouth, raw, uncooked. This bull was a monster or spirit or something completely different, Viers only knew this bull was a higher life form compared with the animals he hunted earlier. He cannot waste any flesh and blood that he could eat.

He did not dare to cook it, afraid of losing whatever nutrients or magical effects that were contained inside. He also had another concern, the battle was already over, the dark clouds were dissipating, Viers was afraid of people coming here to investigate the commotion.

I can’t waste time, I must eat all that I can and get the hell away from here as fast as possible.

Viers ate the bull vigorously, the sound of moist flesh as his teeth bit down entered his ears, the taste of blood which filled his mouth, each bite he took disgusted him, but he refused to stop, as soon as he finished swallowing, he put another piece of meat into his mouth.

For power. For strength. For myself.

To reach places no one has ever been before.

To see vistas that will take my breath away.

To defeat any enemies standing on my path.

To survive…

Below the dark rainy sky, a fat boy feasted on the corpse of a bull, like a starving savage animal.