# Chepter 005

“‘Some tricks’? How are tricks supposed to replenish depleted life energy?” asked Kanis.

Gyungho grinned and opened an interdimensional space, reaching in and pulling out the seed of a World Tree that he had been given as a parting gift.

“Is… is that?” Kanis became shocked, mouth hanging open in disbelief, but the pure energy radiating from it was surely that of a World Tree.

“Is that a seed from a World Tree?”

“Yes, it is. And it is one of the best ones,” said Gyungho proudly. The seed came from the World Tree that Mir had planted when he began watching over the Spirit Realm as a Guardian.

“Are you really a human?” Asked Kanis.

“Yeah, but just a bit special. This should help, right?”

Kanis however, shook his head regretfully. “It will not.”

“You can’t save my mom even with the seed of a World Tree? Don’t lie.”

“If we had a World Tree, then yes, we could save her. But this is just a seed. The Earth of today will not grow a World Tree. There used to be one, once. Same with spirits and spiritual beasts.”

The Earth on the current date was like a desert that could not grow anything. A Guardian’s job was to make such desolate land fertile and tend it diligently, but now even that Guardian was dying. 

“That is why it is important for you to succeed at the Guardian. That is the best option,” said Kanis.

“Best option? Says who? Like I said, I am going to live peacefully with my mom from now on. To hell with being a Guardian,” said Gyungho.

“But shouldn’t you heal her first before you can live happily with her? If you promise to succeed, then I will use my remaining life energy to heal her from her illness. Please, I beg you.”

Kanis was willing to give his life away if Gyungho, the hero who appeared in the god’s prophecy, agreed to be the next Guardian. But Gyungho had a different idea in mind.

“No. I will grow a World Tree, no matter what, and then we can recover your life energy. So, stop thinking about dying.” said Gyungho, with finality.

“What? To be frank, your mother’s life will be in danger. She has six months, at most.”

“I know, I know. First, I’ll whip up something for you to eat,” said Gyungho.

“A food? A divine beast does not need consume food—”

Just then, a huge rumbling sound could be heard from Kanis’ stomach.

“Yeah, I know, divine beasts don’t need food to live. But you can replenish divine or life energy with food. Didn’t you know that?”

Kanis became surprised by Gyungho’s extensive knowledge about divine beasts.

“You sure are special. It’s as if you have met divine beasts before.”

Gyungho just grinned at Kanis’ words.

‘Yeah, I’ve not only met them, but lived with hundreds of them for the past ten years.’ thought Gyungho.

“But I can only consume that which contains mana. There isn’t anything left on Earth that has mana anymore.”

In the Spirit Realm, even grass on the ground had mana, and so there was a lot to help Mir recover quickly. It had such a mana-filled environment that even breathing was enough to recover. But there were much better ways to recover than just resting. Gyungho had been able to witness such ways from up close. 

But Earth was very different from the Spirit Realm.

“Yeah, I know. I’ll cook up something full of mana soon. Just wait,” said Gyungho.

Kanis’ eyes became wide with questions, but Gyungho just laughed and opened the interdimensional space to put the seed of a World Tree back and brought out a new object. It was the heart of a Blade Ostrich.

“The heart of a demonic beast. That sure contains mana, but it also contains severe poisonous Demonic Energy. I cannot consume…” Kanis trailed off. Of course, if Kanis were to consume this in his current state, it would only shorten his already short remaining life. But Gyungho had learnt ways to remove demonic energy and its poisons from the meat of most demonic beasts.. Among those, heart of a Blade Ostrich was the easiest to cleanse, as well as being particularly tasty.

“You just wait here. You can complain after you try it.” Gyungho said dismissively.

“I never said I will eat—”

Gyungho however, did not listen to objections and walked out of the room. Kanis was left in the room with the sleeping Jisook. Kanis heaved a sigh.

“The hero who returned to his home will save the Earth.” Kanis was beginning to have slight doubts if Gyungho was really the hero that the god’s prophecy mentioned. He was stronger than anyone, and also a Hero class, but a Guardian wasn’t something that just required pure strength.

“Is the god’s will truly to make Gyungho a Guardian? Is this the right way?”

Kanis was curious, but he had no other option. He had come too far now, and could only move forward..

***

Gyungho, not knowing that he is the hero who would save the earth, mumbled as he looked over the Blade Ostrich heart in his hand.

“It’s been a while since I cooked Blade Ostrich heart.”

The interdimensional space had powerful preservation magic active within, so the heart was still fresh to the point where it still held its original warmth. Gyungho’s intention had been to cook it for Jisook, so that she could get a little better, but there was no need for that now there was a Guardian present. 

Gyungho’s new plan was to use his mana to protect Jisook’s health for as long as possible, while meanwhile feeding Kanis so he can recover and ultimately completely heal Jisook from her illness.

“Where’s the pot? It’s been too long since I last cooked here,” said Gyungho. He thought back over his old memories while he looked at the large, head-sized heart.

When Gyungho had been pulled into the Spirit Realm ten years ago, he was the only human there. Neither spirits or divine beasts needed food to survive, given that there was a surplus of natural power surrounding them, so there had been no concept of ‘food’. 

Unfortunately, the Spirit Realm did not have animals, so Gyungho’s only choice of survival was to eat fruits and grass. He had always loved meat, so he soon began to tire of such a diet. It had even reached the point that not being able to eat meat was a bigger tragedy than being pulled into an entirely different world.

That’s when Gyungho began to take interest in demonic beasts. He had not originally considered them as an option due to their grotesque look and their demonic energy, but he had no other choice.

‘Demonic beasts are a source of protein.’

‘People on Earth eat all kinds of weird stuff too. Like bats, or armadillo and such.’

‘I heard those freaky-looking things are actually tastier.’

‘Things that are bitter to the mouth are better for the body.’

Telling himself these things, soon Gyungho’s longing for meat won over. Was this how the early humans had felt? After that, Gyungho tried to catch every demonic beast he saw. Their meat tasted… interesting. It was entirely different from that of a cow or a pig; there was this special taste to it. To begin with, the meat of all demonic beasts was filled with demonic energy, which was poisonous more often than not. 

As for the taste? The meat was immediately paralyzing, and Gyungho had had to withstand both the paralysis and sever stomach pain due to the poisons. If it weren’t for Mir and the other Divine Beasts, he would have died from meats that held especially powerful poisons.

As such, Gyungho had learned to cope by removing the poisonous demonic energy with his own hands. Interestingly, he’d learned that once the meat was purified of its impurities, it worked as an excellent form of health recovery and mana restoration. And the taste wasn’t too bad either.

The heart of a Blade Ostrich was one of the best in terms of taste. Gyungho placed a pot underneath the heart, then sliced it into half to let it bleed. The pot was soon full of blood. Gyungho then poured water into the pot, mixed it together, and began boiling it. Once the blood-water mix began to boil, he added the sliced heart and covered the lid. Now, all he had to do was wait until it was fully cooked. If he opened the lid before it was finished, then the meat would turn hard and begin to taste bad. 

After about ten minutes, the kitchen was full of the smell of freshly cooked meat and so Gyungho opened the lid. Steam rose from the pot, carrying with it the smell of meat, and the heart had turned visibly soft.  

“The demonic energy of the Blade Ostrich can be extracted by its own blood. It also becomes unbelievably tender,” said Gyungho.

That was the reason why the heart of the Blade Ostrich was easiest to prepare. Gyungho felt his mouth water as he took the heart out and placed it atop a chopping board. He then began preparing other ingredients. There were scallions, mushrooms, onions and garlic all organized inside the refrigerator. He took some out and chopped them up, then began frying them in a pan. As soon as the vegetables began to change color, he placed the sliced heart into the pan before seasoning it with salt, pepper and  sesame oil.

“Mmmm.”

Gyungho felt good as he breathed in the scent of sesame oil being fried with the other ingredients. It was the first smell of sesame oil he’d had in ten years. The meat was already fully cooked, so he just needed to stir fry everything together for a while, before he moved it onto a plate.

The plate of stir-fried Blade Ostrich was a simple and savory food, but it was good for the health. The smell of the combined meat and tender vegetables was delightful. It was a simple but perfect dish.

Gyungho took the plate into the room, where Kanis looked at it with a curious look in his eyes. The sound of Kanis swallowing was so loud it almost filled the room.

“Is that dish made from a demonic beast’s heart?” asked Kanis.

“Yeah. It’s a stir fry made with the heart of a Blade Ostrich.”

Blade Ostrich? The vicious demonic beast that looks like an ostrich? Kanis shivered at Gyungho’s words.

“I am really in a bad condition. Eating this might pose a great danger.”

Kanis spoke in well-mannered tone, but he was glaring Gyungho with eyes that held the message ‘you insane bastard’. Gyungho laughed as he watched Kanis pushing the plate away with his small front paw. He, too, had considered himself crazy ten years ago when he was cooking this up for the first time.

Gyungho then picked a steaming piece of meat directly with his hand and ate it. There was no need to chew, as the heart was so tender that it melted away as soon as it touched his mouth, like butter left on a hot pan. The meat disappeared, leaving only a thick aroma and a savory taste.

“...”

“I removed the demonic energy and poisons. It will help you recover if you eat it,” said Gyungho.

Kanis still looked at the plate in doubt.

“You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to.” Gyungho said matter-of-factly “But if you die because you won’t eat my food, I still won’t become a Guardian in your place. You can eat this and keep doing it, or live for whatever time you have left and die. I will save mom on my own.”

Kanis then looked determined and scurried over to Gyungho.

“I will eat. I will recover and keep being a Guardian. But you have to protect me until then. I will do my best to heal your mother’s illness.”

It was not a bad deal. He just had to hunt demonic beasts for their meat while running the restaurant, and also plant the World Trees in one of the empty lots nearby. Gyungho nodded and placed the dish back down on the floor, and Kanis brought his nose up to it to sniff it. 

The aroma of good meat tickled Kanis’ sensitive nose. The fact that it was the meat of a demonic beast made him hesitate, but the smell of the food implied it would be a fantastic dish. With a doubtful look, Kanis then closed his eyes and put the meat into his mouth. His small mouth chewed, and Kanis became surprised.

“This-this is so good!”

Gyungho nodded proudly. 

‘I was like that too when I first ate it.’ thought Gyungho. The heart of the Blade Ostrich was something that could never be forgotten after trying it. Kanis then grabbed the dish with his front paw and turned to Gyungho.

“I will eat the demonic beasts’ meat and recover.”

Soon, Kanis was digging into his plate. Gyungho looked at Kanis, the puppy’s tail wagging as he ate.

“Yeah. I’m looking forward to it. By the way, what should I call you?”

“Kanis de Rufus. That is my name.” 

“Kanis de… I can’t call you that. You look like a little puppy right now, and if I call you ‘Kanis de Rufus,’ then everyone will look at me like I’m crazy,” said Gyungho.

“But a Guardian’s name is given by a god and cannot be changed—”

Gyungho ignored Kanis and thought for a second. “How about… Snowball? Yeah, that sounds nice. I like it,” said Gyungho.

“That is absurd!” Kanis shouted in anger and growled at his newly chosen name.

“I cannot accept such a name, Gyungho. Just call me ‘Kanis.’” insisted the dog.

Actually, Gyungho was known to have a bad sense for naming things. He had been allowed new Divine Beasts born in the Spirit Realm after he’d arrived, and he named them careless things like Chippy, Bobo, Dodo, and so on. 

“The name is not the point here. Besides, what’s wrong with Snowball? It fits you and it's a good name,” said Gyungho.

“The name is precisely the point! Besides, my fur is silver, not white! It’s a gorgeous silver color!” 

Although, with his life energy depleted, Kanis’ fur was more of a gray than a silver.

“Isn’t Snowball better than Grayball? Or do you want to be called Grayball?”

“UGH!”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Snowball it is!”

Kanis then had to accept his new name. The Guardian of Earth, chosen by a god, was now Snowball.