A Guide to Raising Snake Spirits - Chapter 3

As Guanyue Xi approached, his eyes gradually adjusted to the gloom of the cavern, allowing him to make out the Sentinel’s silhouette.

The man was dressed in a tattered Sentinel special-ops uniform. He had a large frame but was strikingly lean. Beneath a messy curtain of long grey hair was a pale face and a pair of wary, dark green eyes that gleamed like a wolf’s in the dark.

Guanyue Xi held up both hands, palms open.

“I’ve only got suppressants on me. No weapons, and I’ve put my Spirit Body away.”

He said this out of courtesy, but internally, Guanyue Xi had already extended a mental tentacle. He remained on high alert; if the Sentinel so much as threw a punch, he was ready to lash back with a mental whip. He was curious to see which was faster: a Sentinel’s fist or a Guide’s psychic lash.

However, the Sentinel didn’t move. He merely gave a low, gravelly response.

“Mm.”

“Hand over,” Guanyue Xi commanded.

The Sentinel reached out and placed his hand in Guanyue Xi’s.

The first thing Guanyue Xi felt was heat. It was a remarkably warm, dry hand. Under different circumstances, the long, well-defined fingers would have been quite elegant, but right now they were covered in thick calluses, tiny scars, and smears of dirt.

Without a word, Guanyue Xi rolled up the man’s sleeve and pressed the auto-injector against his forearm.

“Don’t move,” he warned. “This is my last vial. If you break it, I can’t exactly pull another one out of thin air.”

The Guide watched the fluid level in the glass tube drop. Once it hit the bottom, he pulled the device away.

“Right, all done. You should start feeling the symptoms ease up in a bit.”

The Sentinel nodded, withdrew his arm, and closed his eyes.

Guanyue Xi found the whole thing rather baffling. This Sentinel was a strange one—he barely spoke, yet he was surprisingly docile when following instructions.

As he waited for the medication to take effect, Guanyue Xi took the opportunity to observe him more closely. On second look, the man’s dry, cracked lips suggested he hadn’t had any supplies for a long time. Furthermore, the more Guanyue Xi looked at him, the more familiar he seemed—yet he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. It was that frustrating feeling where the harder you try to remember something, the further it slips away.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Guanyue Xi asked, “Are you a student from the Tower? You look a bit familiar.”

“What is the Tower?”

Guanyue Xi froze, nearly jumping high enough to crack his head on the cave ceiling.

“You don’t know the Tower? It’s the school for people like us Sentinels and Guides.”

The Sentinel shook his head slowly.

Realizing that the situation was far more complicated than he’d thought, Guanyue Xi’s expression turned serious.

“Do you at least know about the Special Star?”

The man appeared to go into deep thought. Just when Guanyue Xi assumed he was going to be met with more silence, the Sentinel spoke.

“I think.  I’ve heard of it.”

“Alright, let me explain it to you then.”

“The Special Star is the home world for most Sentinels and Guides. Of course, there are ordinary people there too in fact, they make up the majority.” Guanyue Xi pointed to himself. “I’m from the Special Star. Logically, you should be too, but for some reason, you seem completely clueless.”

“The Tower is a school on our home planet specifically for our kind. It also serves as the organization that manages underage Sentinels and Guides.”

Guanyue Xi rubbed his chin, looking perplexed.

“A long time ago, before there was proper regulation, there were plenty of ‘wild’ Sentinels and Guides roaming around. But nowadays, everyone is basically sent to the Tower the moment they awaken. So, a Sentinel like you—who doesn’t know the Tower and is somehow stuck on a desolate planet—is a first for me.”

The grey-haired Sentinel remained silent. It was hard to tell if he understood, but since he didn’t ask questions, Guanyue Xi assumed he followed.

“Anyway, since we’ve chatted this much, can you at least tell me your name?”

“Shiraishi Hare,” the Sentinel replied.

“Well, Shiraishi Hare, I’m going to contact the Tower for you.” Guanyue Xi looked down and began tapping away at the terminal on his wrist. “You’re clearly not in great shape and you need professional medical care, which you aren’t going to get here. I’ll send them your coordinates; someone should be here to pick you up soon.”

A moment later, Guanyue Xi received a confirmation.

“Alright, this is where we part ways. I have to get back to my exam.” He gave his backpack a little shake, indifferent to whatever Shiraishi’s reaction might be. “You can wait here for them. I’m heading out. Bye, and good luck.”

Guanyue Xi decided to treat this strange Sentinel as nothing more than a minor interruption and focused back on his assessment. Once out of the cave, he resumed his grand mission to find a water source.

After walking a fair distance, he suddenly slapped his thigh in regret. “Damn it! I forgot to ask Shiraishi if he knew where the water was. Even if we weren’t teaming up, he could have at least pointed me in the right direction.”

Whatever, I’ll find it myself, he thought, comforting himself while recording geographical data into his terminal.

“Hmm… based on the density of the trees and the moisture in the soil, there should be something very close in this direction.”

“The rainy season seems to have just ended. If I find a stream, it’ll definitely lead to a lake.”

Guanyue Xi looked up, squinting through the trees. His eyes lit up.

“Found it!”

Peering through the gaps in the branches, he saw the bright, shimmering surface of a lake. To his delight, he also spotted a human figure.

He hurried forward and saw the backpack the person was wearing—it was the exact same standard-issue supply pack as his.

The other person must have heard his footsteps because she turned around. When she saw Guanyue Xi, her face filled with the exact same look of profound relief.

“A classmate! Oh, thank God!”

“Brother! You’re a lifesaver!”

She ran toward him with her arms spread wide as if trying to embrace the sun, waving frantically.

When she reached him, Guanyue Xi saw a young woman with delicate features and a black ponytail. She looked a bit worse for wear, with leaves tangled in her hair. He couldn’t tell yet if she was a Guide or a Sentinel.

The two shook hands enthusiastically and exchanged info.

“I’m Guanyue Xi. Guide. Double A-rank in both Mental Power and Physical Stats. What about you?”

“Bian Mengmeng. Also a Guide, but my levels aren’t great—both are B-rank.” Her eyes were full of envy. “Double A is so rare! I think there are only a handful in this year’s graduating class, right?”

“It’s alright, really. Just a Double A, nothing special,” Guanyue Xi said modestly. “By the way, when did you drop?”

“About three hours ago.” Bian Mengmeng started to complain. “Ugh, what kind of hellhole did the Tower pick this time? As soon as I dropped, I got snagged on a cliff. Took me forever just to climb down.”

“Hahaha! I started earlier, maybe four or five hours ago.”

The two exchanged intel and decided to team up for the remainder of the exam.

“My specialty is map analysis.” Bian Mengmeng projected a map from her terminal, the holographic screen hovering in the air. She pointed to a specific path. “As I walked, I mapped out everything I saw. This is the route I took coming down.”

“Whoa, you’re a pro,” Guanyue Xi praised.

“But I found a problem,” Bian Mengmeng said, her voice turning solemn. Her finger moved up the map and stopped. “You know how I said I got stuck on a cliff? Geologically speaking, it’s almost impossible for that cliff to be a natural formation.”

“Hmm?” Guanyue Xi immediately thought of the man-made tunnel. After a moment of thought, he suggested, “I actually found an artificial tunnel on the mountain earlier. I only followed the path leading down. I haven’t checked the other direction yet. Want to go back and take a look together?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Bian Mengmeng agreed.

The two hit it off immediately. They quickly checked their supplies, refilled their water, and set off back toward the path Guanyue Xi had come from.

Bian Mengmeng released her Spirit Body to scout. Her Spirit was a large, black-and-white magpie an aerial scout that flew with an air of immense pride, its sharp eyes darting everywhere.

“What about your Spirit Body, Guanyue Xi?”

“Mine? Let me check.” Guanyue Xi peeked into his mental realm. The snake was currently acting as a decorative ornament on a mental tree, coiled up and sleeping soundly.

He went silent for a moment before answering truthfully. “It’s sleeping.”

“Oh. is it a cat or something?”

“No. It’s a snake.”

As they chatted idly, Bian Mengmeng suddenly reached out and grabbed Guanyue Xi’s arm. Her expression hardened, and she whispered, “Wait. My magpie just sent word. Something’s happening up ahead.”

Guanyue Xi immediately drew his sidearm. “What is it?”

Bian Mengmeng tilted her head as if listening to a private broadcast. Her face paled instantly. She yanked his arm and turned to run.

“Run! Now! It’s something huge!”

Guanyue Xi didn’t hesitate. He took off right behind her, asking as they sprinted, “What is it? Can you sense what it is?”

“I don’t know! It’s hard to describe!”

The two of them bolted through the dense trees.

“No. it’s catching up…!”

Bian Mengmeng was gasping for air, her lungs burning. Her physical stat was a B, which wasn’t bad for a Guide, but it wasn’t much better than an average person’s.

Guanyue Xi grabbed her, also breathing heavily. He leaned against his knees and said, “Stop running. We aren’t going to outrun it. We’re better off stopping and saving our strength. We might actually stand a chance if we fight.”

He stood up straight, fighting to regulate his breathing. He raised his gun and released the Black Mamba. Sweat rolled down into his eyes, causing an uncomfortable sting, but he didn’t dare blink. He stared into the endless green, his heart thumping like a drum against his ribs.

Bian Mengmeng drew her gun too, but she was so exhausted that her hands were shaking too much to be of much use. The magpie flew back and landed on her shoulder, flapping its wings and letting out a series of frantic “caws.”

Guanyue Xi took a deep breath. Through the interlacing trunks, a massive brown shadow was charging toward them with terrifying speed.

How could he even describe this creature?

It was nearly two people tall and moved on all fours. Its body resembled a grizzly bear, but its features were grotesque, with protruding tusks. It had two pairs of eyes—bulging so far out of their sockets that it looked like they might drop off at any moment. Those four eyes were locked onto Guanyue Xi and Bian Mengmeng.

Guanyue Xi didn’t hesitate. He opened fire.

To his shock, he missed.

The monster seemed to possess a level of self-awareness, dodging the bullets with an agility that defied its massive size. It roared and lunged.

The time between seeing the monster and its leap felt like a century, yet it happened in a heartbeat.

Guanyue Xi shoved Bian Mengmeng aside and threw himself into a roll, narrowly avoiding the creature’s razor-sharp claws. He was so close he could smell the rot on its breath.

His chest heaved. He wasn’t sure if he could get lucky enough to dodge a second strike.

He heard Bian Mengmeng scream.

This time, he only escaped because his snake sacrificed itself. The Black Mamba was swatted away by the creature’s claws, vanishing in mid-air as it was forced back into the mental realm. The severe injury to his Spirit Body hit Guanyue Xi like a physical blow to the back of the head. His throat tasted like copper, and his mind buzzed painfully. He found himself unable to react as the claws descended once more.

Guanyue Xi felt the rush of air from the downward swipe hitting his face.

So, people really do die during the graduation exam, he thought with a bitter smile.

In that split second, a massive python materialized in mid-air, intercepting the monster’s claws. The giant snake coiled itself tightly around the oversized “grizzly,” its muscles rippling and tightening with lethal force. The dark, circular patterns on its skin seemed to come alive as it twisted. The monster let out a pained howl—it was a one-sided slaughter between two titans.

Guanyue Xi’s vision blurred, and he felt himself being pulled into a warm, blood-scented embrace.