Chapter 29: The Kin's Gift

The Kin's Gift

"Strength is very important, Fu Guang; this little rain cannot be hidden from the White Tower and the Military Department."

The phenomena of Guide upgrades vary; raindrops patter and entwine around the planet, and the purifying factors within cannot be hidden from anyone.

After just a few hours, the Military Department and the White Tower will learn of Fu Guang's upgrade; as a B-rank Guide, the Military Department and the White Tower will issue missions.

In the endless rain curtain, she turned sideways and exchanged contact numbers with Fu Guang.

"Is it here, or should we go back to absorb?" she asked Fu Guang for his opinion.

"Right here."

Fu Guang quickly decided that although this place isn't very safe, her strength hasn't yet reached the point where she can do as she pleases; increasing her strength will give her some reassurance.

"Okay, I'll stand guard for you." The Sentinels retreated to a range of a hundred meters, taking position on rooftops or in dark places to keep watch.

The seniors said, you will see some scenes; any insight you gain is up to yourself.

With Wen Ya's words, blue silk threads emerged from the translucent blue bracelet, encircling Fu Guang.

Fu Guang's consciousness sank, kept sinking, until everything before her went dark, until with a "plop" she sank into the water.

She lifted her head, her hair floating upward with the waves; the bone-chilling cold seawater brushed over her skin, and she gradually adapted to the water's temperature, the icy seawater gradually becoming warm and comfortable.

Tiny bubbles rose from the corner of her mouth, and by her ear was the faint sound of the sea water undulating.

Her descent continued unabated; ahead grew dim, as if the seawater had absorbed all light, leaving hardly any to reach her vision.

Fu Guang reached out to touch the sun, its light shimmering on the sea surface.

A small fish wagged its tail, strings of bubbles rising from its tail; it came from afar and swiftly approached her outstretched hand.

The fish swam around her hand for a while, as if observing; its tiny fins fluttered, approaching her, and it gently kissed her fingertip with its mouth.

In an instant, Fu Guang felt the sea surface become a mirror, seeing herself facing another self.

She realized she was rising, drawing ever closer to the sun; many tiny silver, red, yellow, and variously colored fish supported her body, and thanks to the water's buoyancy and the fish's effort, she drew nearer to the surface.

The fish that first appeared, a chubby, round and rather cute little fish, swam around her several times, then lingered behind her head; its two tiny fins pushed, as if exerting great effort to support her head.

She had sunk quite far, not far from the sea surface; in what was once an open view, many sea creatures gradually appeared, such as transparent jellyfish swimming before her, light refracting off their bodies, giving them shape, dreamlike and illusory.

From afar came whale calls; two or three black-and-white orcas shot forward like torpedoes, traveling far before wanting to stop but carried on by inertia, then swiftly returned, circling her while calling out.

Seeing the little fish's effort, the orca curiously approached and touched her hand; when Fu Guang realized she could move, the little fish did not linger at all, swimming away at great speed.

Fu Guang had never learned how to move underwater with a normal human body; the orcas, seemingly observing something they liked, lifted her onto the back of an orca.

"What are you going to do?" Fu Guang had just asked when the orcas cheerfully called out, wanting to take her to find the most fun place under the sea.

All the way, they proceeded; Fu Guang leaned back slightly, gripping the tips of the orcas' dorsal fins with both hands to prevent being thrown off.

The water, initially resistant, became smooth, flowing gently past her, no longer resisting her, accommodating her presence.

The orcas arrived at a cluster of blue small jellyfish, reluctantly calling as they departed; the Peach Blossom Jellyfish happily welcomed this unexpected guest.

Their bells gently brushed over Fu Guang's skin, and Fu Guang once again moved forward with them.

Thus, Fu Guang underwent a twenty-thousand-li underwater journey led by various sea creatures.

As if sensing the time of parting, the final guide was an enormous blue whale; Fu Guang's stature was only the size of her eyes, her deep eyes as vast as the sea.

It lifted Fu Guang, who sat upon its back, with a flick of its tail, its body soaring above the waterline; sparkling droplets refracted in the sunlight, displaying seven colors, forming tiny rainbow arches encircling Fu Guang.

"Thank you." Under the sunlight, the golden-haired girl seated on the whale's back gradually faded; she saw many "guides" surface or leap from the water, seeing her off.

Her blue eyes opened, as if layers of ripples were spreading within them.

"Congratulations, it seems you've gained quite a lot." Wen Ya looked at the somewhat changed Fu Guang and said happily.

After the journey, Fu Guang's aura became completely tranquil; the mental energy that had scattered due to her severe injury gathered in greatly.

"Also, thank you, Elder Sister Wen Ya, for standing guard."

Fu Guang rose to her feet, sensing a gauze like water falling over her body; she straightened her arms and realized she was not wearing a combat uniform.

A water mirror suddenly rose from the ground, appearing before her.

Within the mirror was a set of pale blue long-sleeved long dress, with gold hidden patterns that appeared in the sunlight as she moved her arms.

She reached out and tugged at the cuff and fabric; the feel was like water, warm and moist, yet without any point of resistance.

This garment can deflect forty to fifty percent of an impact, and that's likely an underestimate.

"What is this?" she asked Wen Ya, puzzled.

Wen Ya handed her a document of essential knowledge for A-rank Guides, blinked one eye, and softly said, "This is a gift from your kin."

"My kin?" Fu Guang became even more puzzled; she had never heard that Guides could have kin, and whether kin are something humans can possess.

"Just joking." Wen Ya looked at Fu Guang, who was still seriously pondering, and replied with a laugh.

Her delicate face turned serious: "This is one of the marks of S-rank; you also know that S-ranks are mythic spiritual entities."

"Mythic spiritual entities are each unique; according to myth, they each have their own kin." Wen Ya looked at Fu Guang with a strange gaze.

She spoke, word by word: "So it is said to be a gift from the kin." while observing Fu Guang's expression.

Fu Guang felt utterly lost; even the essential pocket knowledge for Guides did not contain this information.

Wen Ya was surprised and felt a tinge of sourness; she had already raised her evaluation of Fu Guang considerably, never expecting that Fu Guang actually possessed the potential of an S-rank Guide.

That's S-rank; although she is currently A-rank, advancing to S-rank for her is like a fantasy, with not even a hint in sight.

When will she be able to advance?

Wen Ya pressed her lips, suppressing the fleeting sourness that had risen, and indeed felt genuinely glad.

As Fu Guang grows, the White Tower becomes strong; the White Tower strong, the Guides within it will also improve.

Because they are natural allies.

Regarding this matter, there are many conflicts with the minor advancement potential determined by Fu Guang's physique; Wen Ya didn't mind, for in the interstellar realm, miracles are never lacking.

She continued to expand knowledge for the knowledge-deficient Fu Guang, saying, "It can change according to your will; it can be clothing, or it can become hair; as for what functions it has, they are said to differ, so you must test it yourself."

Fu Guang nodded, indicating understanding.

After a moment of mental power probing, the clothing resembled the solidified form of the extra mental power gained from ranking up, wonderfully akin to a weapon—one for defense, one for offense.

However, weapons are generally a symbol of A-rank.

Moreover, with interstellar territory vast and personnel numbering in the hundreds of millions, it's impossible for everyone to follow the conventional promotion path; there will always be those who forge their own way, remarkable individuals who break the norm.

For example, she felt that in the mental landscape, beside the blue giant egg two small bubbles formed, along with a familiar weapon.

When her mental threads touched the small bubbles, an instant of mental power condensation and dispersion came to her mind, and then it asked her to give a name.

The mental threads trembled, then poked, but the scene and the words remained the same.

To Wen Ya, Fu Guang's poking of the small bubble was exactly because of this burst of information, leaving her dazed.

If she had been told at B-rank that she had S‑rank potential, she would have been overjoyed; Fu Guang's dazed calm instead shows utter composure.

Should one say she lives up to being a genius?

Wen Ya met Fu Guang's eyes for a moment, as if just thinking of something, and a wry smile appeared on her face: "It seems we'll have a match before long."

"A match?" Fu Guang came to, again hearing information she didn't know.

"Guides must go from B‑rank to S‑rank, and every five years they must journey to the Fallen Land to seize the Heart of Radiance."

"Aside from the Light system, the purification of the Water and Wood systems each has certain limits, but the Heart of Radiance can readily solve this problem."

"I am Light‑system; the Heart of Radiance is just icing on the cake for me. Fu Guang, shall we team up?"

"I just need the first‑rank Light Essence, how about that?" Wen Ya's eyes lit up; originally she had been wondering who to ask as a teammate, but Fu Guang's performance and talent brightened her prospects.

"Is Essence that precious?" Fu Guang caught the word "essence"; what she had just absorbed was indeed essence.

"It is very precious, a top‑tier treasure for Guides to enhance their own abilities at S‑rank. If it weren't for Li Shao being a family member, he couldn't get this."

"It's somewhat sincere, but there's no need to be too nice to him." Wen Ya pursed her lips, speaking of Sentinels with a bellyful of resentment: "What just happened you also saw—in fact, imprisoning Guides, these Sentinels could easily do."

"Given the chance, they couldn't care less about federal law."

She seemed to refuse to discuss the Sentinel topic, immediately changing the subject: "Let's not talk about those; go back and enjoy your vacation properly—you'll be busy soon."

Fresh combat power—whether the White Tower or the military department, they won't let it sit idle.

After a bout of mental tides, she gained much; the wound on her back from the previous battle sent a faint tingling, indicating it would soon heal.

Wen Ya gazed at the sunset sky, which meant her vacation was also about to end.