Chapter 82

Kuro and Rishia, as well as Tetsu and the two tiger siblings had gone ahead. The rest of us 'adults' opted to walk, mostly so we could decompress a little, and the others could go fetch us some of those filolial the queen bought, and get started on finding food.

"Huh..." Raphtalia started, her hands running through my tails gently, all four of them swishing at her for more attention since I wasn't thinking about them. "You still only have four..." Pause, "Yes, you are all good ta-eep! Okay not you, you're a bad tail."

Clive and Usa chuckled quietly as Raphtalia protected her tail from one of mine. "If it happened every time, I'd have already planted eight trees. No, something was missing this time."

"Could you turn? I would like to see... well I suppose it would be my tombstone, wouldn't it?" Ost said quietly, "I rather liked your tree near former lord Rabier's castle."

"Let's get out from under it first." I said.

"What was missing?" Usa asked, carefully giving his whip a check, link by link, cleaning it as well as looking for damage.

Clive made a 'click' with his beak, then signed 'life'.

"That's right. The first banished a mountain's worth of curses and fragments of a dragon's madness. The second simply contains the Tyrant Dragon Rex's soul. Third was the hopes of Raphtalia's village, but this one... All I really did was take the tortoise's life energy, and turn it into a tree. Now, if I put Ost there? Maybe?"

I turned and started to walk backwards, holding up the chain with Ost's prison dangling from it. "It is a magnificent tree, but I became as I am because I couldn't do anything but sleep as I was."

"I won't lie, Ost. Whomever created you for this purpose was a jerk, and if they are still alive, I would kill them. If you are going to make some kind of super weapon, don't give it a mind of its own." I sighed.

"Weren't you the strongest, back where you were from?" Usa asked.

"I made myself into a super weapon. It was my choice to gain power and ability. I had reason to do so, sure. But I still had a choice." I looked to the three of them, my original party, "You all had a choice as well. And now, you are some of the strongest people in the world."

"At least, with my mind awake, and not simply a sword to be swung or an arrow to be loosed, I could attempt... changing my methods." Ost said, "Though, had I remained dormant, the usurper would not have been able to control me."

"And now, like any creature with a will of it's own? You must live with the consequences." I said, "Ah, seems they sent someone to get us." I turned away from the intestine purple and blood red tree made of the souls of the dead and the body of a titan, and faced the oncoming 'thumps' of bird feet.

In the Queen's tent, with my party (original four) eating and explaining what went on between mouthfuls (it wasn't good food, but 'army stew' wasn't meant to be good, just filling), the Queen and the other generals sat in near silence.

Tetsu and Kuro were sleeping at opposite ends of the temporary encampment, Fohl and Atla were practising their 'best supporter' skills and helping soldiers recover, and Rishia... Well, she was being quiet at the end of the table, or sleeping. It was hard to tell with her hood up and face transformed.

Once done with out stew and explanation, the Queen started with, "Ost."

"Lady Mirellia." Ost replied.

The Queen smiled ever so slightly at my confused look just long enough for me to notice, before hiding her lower face behind the Fan. "She left mere hours before you arrived to retrieve me. Of all those at the negotiation table, she was most vocal about starting a conflict between Melromarc and Siltvelt."

"I saw I was outmatched, and decided it was too early to meet Kodori." Ost paused, "Another of my errors. Had I been more forward with her, this might never have happened..."

"She is quite adept at solving problems." The Queen nodded.

"Problems? Oh, yes, she stopped the Spirit Tortoise, but now-" One of the generals spoke angrily.

I was on my feet and holding him off the floor before my empty bowl had hit the ground. "Now it is dead." I said. "Listen to me, you spineless piece of excrement."

There were a collection of half drawn blades, but then my party stood up too.

"Ever since I arrived after being stolen from my home and family, ever since the first words spoken to me were 'heroes save our world', I have gotten so much grief. I was framed for arson, thrown in a cell, thrown in a slaver's cage, taunted, undermined, bitten, cursed, slashed, stabbed, spent time in a dragon's mouth, and just crawled through the insides of a turtle with a mountain on its back." I shook him a little, the rattle of his armour almost as satisfying as the fear in his eyes and the useless attempt to pry my hand off his gorget.

"Aside from this thing on my arm you all call a 'legendary weapon', I am under the same system you are. You can all level up, many people can learn magic, and I've met an old lady who's almost ninety years old who could, and has, beaten the crap out of me."

"But your weapon-" He started to gasp out.

I brought his face to mine, "You are not listening. You see your status screen? You see your levels, your numbers? You can do what I am doing. But instead, you are complaining when I do what you can not. With the help of a few knights, I have children who are learning how to do what I'm doing. You all knew the waves would happen some day, but instead of using what you have, to made ready in peace time. You summon people from other worlds to fix your problems!"

It was around here, where he started to foam at the mouth and pass out in fear.

So, I lifted him up a little, set him on his feet properly, and summoned a bucket's worth of icy water over his head. While he coughed and sputtered, I made sure he didn't fall over and looked at everyone else in the tent.

"Any other complaints about how I stopped most of the life of your world from getting eaten by a giant tortoise?"

Everyone but the Queen shook their heads quickly, but the Queen asked a question, still hiding the smile behind the Fan. "Is it safe to dismantle the beast?"

"Do not cut the tree if you can help it. Otherwise, you are welcome under its shade." I said.

"Excellent." She nodded, "If you need anything else, let me know. If not we will secure this place, then return so we may be ready for the wave."

Ost spoke up, "Ah, with my awakening, and this... problem that has arisen, this Wave has been postponed. Part of the effect, where my body takes in and uses the souls of the world to halt the rest of the waves, has delayed this one for a time."

"Ah, then we will use the time to organize relief efforts in your absence." The Queen said to me.

I nodded, gave the soaked and shivering general a glare, and turned to my party, "Let's talk about this someplace else, do a weapon's check, and try this world jumping thing."

About the only thing I was happy about, in that moment, was that my nice shiny new armour only needed a few buckets of water to clean off the accumulated battle debris it had collected, and become shiny again.

While I was doing that, and being thankful Ost was a little like Glass and content to watch in silence, the rest of my party (everyone this time) were doing their weapon checks. Mirellia herself came around to use healing magic and give a kind word or two. With my tails lashing about angrily and getting water everywhere while I used senjitsu to create water over myself, she came to me last.

"Before I ask," She started, staying exactly out of range of angry tail swishing, "I will say thank you. Since none of the others of this world seem to remember their manners when a good deed is done for them, I will say it."

I turned to look at her, but in my attempt to not glare at her, my face twisted itself into a grimace, my eyes closing.

"But, I will only say it on behalf of myself and my people." She continued, my eyes opening just in time to see the edges of a smile before her lower face vanished behind the Fan. "However, I will say some of what they say is true."

I scrubbed the last of the water from my eyes, took a deep breath, reminded myself it was the Queen saying it, and looked at her. "About what?"

"Before he started foaming at the mouth in abject terror, he attempted to make a point about the Legendary weapons, the Vassal weapons as well, now that I have been chosen. Further than that, the party members of those."

I sighed, "I assume it's some kind of accelerated growth rate? Bonus experience?" She nodded, and I shook my head, "And even without that help, there's an old lady with the same level as me and my party. She's probably training Melty, thinking about it."

"Just so. But the point stands. We both know that unless the threat is clear and present, no, unless the problem is clear and present, most people will not expend effort preparing for it." She said.

"I know. And all the same, it disappoints me. To have all this civilization, art, music, artifice, culture, yet, no effort is spent to protect it. The only thing I can forgive, is that your disasters happen every other generation or so, while back home, it's 'when we aren't looking'." I waved away the topic, "Lady Mirellia, I truly appreciate your words of thanks."

I bowed to her, fist in palm, and she put a hand over her heart and bowed to me. "I understand you are making ready for this trip to another world?"

"I am." I said, "Ost? Anything we need to do? Or is it 'wave your hand and magic happens'?"

"More 'hand wave' than anything else. Though, a nice doorway will help in this case." Ost replied with a little giggle. "I do hope you will be careful."

"Concern for someone? Surprising." The Queen said with the barest hint of sarcasm.

"She spared effort to save me from total dissolution, if she were to perish, I would as well I think. Or be left to occupy this little trinket for the rest of eternity, likely forgotten in a monster's nest."

"Your concern is touching." I sighed, "I will gather my party, and make a short trip to Melromarc. Any injured you wish to move there, have ready. I will use the Portal to the hourglass. The rest will have to walk I'm afraid. Though, if you wished, you could take my wagon to Melromarc. It's most of a day that way." I waved towards the border fort.

She nodded, started to turn, then turned back, "Ah, a rare occasion I forget something. Are you wounded?"

I did a little full body wiggle. Nothing drastic, just a little flex of everything in sequence from my feet to my ears, "Only my spirit. But it is on me to recover that."

With the Queen being so organized, it took maybe ten minutes for her to get all the wounded together and ready for a trip through my portal to Melromarc. While she did that, my party, and our temporary members of Rishia and Kuro, got into a little huddle. It wasn't anything serious, and we all knew the plan already, it was more... looking into everyone's eyes to make sure they were still okay.

"I know we're rushing things a little, but sooner started, sooner done." I assured, "What little we know, is that this Kyo person is forcing a Vassal weapon to obey him, and for some reason, he has stolen a heap of this world's energy, and probably the other three heroes." I looked to Kuro, who was leaning on Rishia. Not quite hugging, but certainly for comfort.

"Stupid master is still alive." Kuro said, touching the spot just under her throat.

"Miss Ost? Do you know where, or how close, or... anything at all... about where your stolen energy is?" Usa asked.

"Sadly, no. But, perhaps I can guide you? This prison you have placed me in allows so little of the world in, but I can still sense some things past sight and sound."

"Glass was the same. But she was less open with answers." I replied, "To be fair, she wasn't a willing occupant."

"Ma'am Hero!" One of the Queen's soldiers rattled to a halt a few paces away. "The Queen says she is ready."

"Very well." I nodded. "Tenno? Your wounds?"

He took two steps over to me, and leaned over to speak, "I am well. I hunger, but feel no hurts."

"You know the way home from Melromarc?"

"Know the way home from anywhere."

"Very well."

I realized, as the Queen, the wounded that not even magic could get back on their feet right away, a few dozen filolials (maybe running from Tetsu as she waited for the go-ahead to get through the portal), that we were not ready for this just yet.

So, when we got to Melromarc, stopped Tenno from flying off to Lurolona, had everyone wait an hour, and transported us all to Lurolona.

I then said, "Get some sleep in an actual bed."

"Are you sure you can delay?" Ost asked, not accusingly, but it was certainly a valid question.

"We've had a long day. It's almost evening, and if I don't get a little sleep someplace I feel safe, I'm going to pull someone's head off." I replied.

The looks I got from the party were a mix of grateful and relief. But also worry.

"I won't make it an order." I said, trying to smile and make it reach my eyes, "But we need a bit of actual rest, food, and maybe a reminder of why we are fighting so hard."

And with that, I turned away from them, Tenno leaping into the air to return ahead of me.

I didn't remember removing my armour. Or piling it up neatly. Or even making a bed of vines and leaves. Honestly, I don't think I recalled a single thing except Rifana giving me a headpat, and falling asleep to the sound of the little video file from home, my wife, children, 'extra' lover and her child, all wishing me well.

This entire tortoise thing went wrong. Oh, sure, we killed it. Killed it super dead. So dead in fact, if it ever tried to regenerate somehow, the crystal inside its heart would stop it, and just use that energy to grow the tree some more.

But the pause on the Wave meant I wouldn't be able to call home or try out the 'return' spell. I didn't want to be here anymore. Everything I did seemed to make people angry. And this stupid system the world had on top of it was fighting me every step of the way. Even under my own tree, in my own territory, the 'system' still held me down. At this rate, I may have to become an actual goddess, just to get out from under the thumb of this weird place. But that...

No... let me enjoy what little mortality I have... a little longer...

"Boss?" pause, "Boss?" pause, "Boss?" pause, "BOSS BOSS BOSS BOSS BOSS-oh okay you're awake."

"Hida?" I didn't recall sitting up, but my inner ear was feeling the pull of gravity under my feet. "Next time just... I dunno... wait or get someone to shake my shoulder?"

"Sorry... I don't have any music on file, so..." I hadn't opened my eyes yet, but I could just tell she was doing the 'index finger' thing.

"This little spirit is..." I heard Ost say, "How did you come to be I wonder..."

"Ost, you better not be teasing my tree guardian." I said, my eyes still shut, "Rifana?"

"No no. She has some really good stories! Let me..." With my awakening body, the senses came next, and I felt the tiny feet of Rifana get closer to me and hop/float onto the raised platform of vines I'd been sleeping on. "This reminds me of when Raphtalia rushed out of her house to play..." Equally small hands attempted to pat my hair down.

"A shame I did not have such an dedicated serv-"

"Family." I said, a little anger spiking through the middle of my skull. "We might not have a relation by blood, but her soul and mine are as close to mother and daughter as you can get."

Rifana paused her attempt to tame my angry badger hair, and hugged my head, while Ost replied with a sincere, "I apologize. Her existence is nothing I have encountered before."

"She is similar to Glass. The spirit who's place you took. But I suspect her race is born, or at least 'generational'." It was here that I opened my eyes finally, and very carefully returned the hug. This is what I needed...

Of course, I couldn't see through the colourful kimono sleeve, aside from it being colourful. That was fine too. "Your hair is hopeless." Rifana giggled, unresistant as my hug moved her from my side to have her stand on my lap. "oh, careful."

I relaxed a little, my horns tingling with her touch on them. "Sorry. Here." I sat her on my lap and just hugged her like a pillow, "Hida? Why did you wake me up?"

"It's been just over twelve hours since you started your sleep cycle. If you do not have breakfast, or... well it would be lunchtime now, you might put others at risk." Hida explained, "As well, Ost told us about what had happened, and I have shared that information with Kunshu."

I suddenly became aware of all the bees above me, but they were so far up that I couldn't hear them. "Okay. Thank you. Suppose I'll get ready... Hope the others slept okay... Ost? Did you tell them about the Wave being on hold?"

"I did. And the one who stole the soul energy. What little I know of him at least."

"Boss, I wanna see one of these Vassal Weapons. And the other Heroic ones! I need data!" Hida bubbles, "I know I know, they're rare and stuff, but..."

"I'll do my best." I said, "Because you do need data. When I get back, I'll see if I can make a special box for you, so you can travel to the other trees."

"I'd like that! Though, if you had time, I've already figured that out... I think..." Her little avatar waved at me, "Later later! Go save the world."

"Yeah."

Armoured again in my nice new suit, I walked down to the village 'mead hall'. Rebuilding efforts were still a little early for individual homes, and it was more conventional to just have a big feast hall for the major meals of the day.

When I got to the open ended 'longhouse', my party spotted me, stood up as one, and all but picked me up so they could put me down in front of a bunch of food.

It was only after I'd started eating, that they collectively said, "Good morning (Ma'am, boss, Kodori, click)."

As if they knew me (they were pretty sharp, so this was no surprise) they timed their questions so I could answer without my mouth full. "When do we depart?" Usa asked.

"As soon as this settles." I replied, eyeing something close to a pancake on one of the plates.

"Will we all be going?" Raphtalia asked, "Kuro and Rishia are... Someplace..." She looked around, relaxing her vigil on making sure I ate so she could look over the heads of the others who were here for a late breakfast/early lunch.

I'd have to remember 'flax' cake. Not bad, needed jam or something... "I'll ask. But just in case some of you should stay." Clive nudged a plate of something that looked like bacon towards me.

Rishia, her hood down, and Kuro, the little angel wings on her back twitching, came over and joined in on the well timed questions, "I should... maybe... stay." Rishia said, "Lady Melty is still in Lerno, right? And someone should check on Lord Van... Maybe bring the princess home..."

It was clear she wanted to go, but was finding ways to not actually ask directly. "Good idea." I said, "We will do our best. I promise." It wasn't bacon, but it was done exactly how I liked my bacon.

She looked relieved, but sad. Usa gave her a pat on the shoulder. "I would like to go." Kuro said, "It's..." She rubbed at her chest, "My stupid master needs looking after."

Clive gave Kuro a headpat, careful of the feather, and went to stand beside Rishia.

"I agree!" Tetsu suddenly clung to me, the plates of my armour shifting as she tried to squeeze, "Aw... you're not as fun to hug wearing this..."

"Usa?" I asked, setting down a mug of watered down (ripe and thus not sour) foxberry juice.

"I..." He paused, "I will stay. Please send me along with Miss Rishia."

"Very well Sir Usa." I nodded.

We returned to my tree, making sure to wave and smile at Raphtalia's villagers. I still felt that weird connection between myself and the people here. Similar to the feeling I had when looking over the refugee camp from Falmart, or their new city.

"Lerno is closer to here than the castle town." I said, "Which is good, because I don't have a portal there anymore." I leaned forward and hugged Usa and Clive to me as best I could with my armour, "Make me proud, protect yourselves, and the people. Sound stones?"

"We have them." Usa said after I let them go.

"Good. Keep in contact with the Queen."

They nodded, and Rishia took a moment to hug (little) Kuro SUPER DUPER TIGHT. Kuro didn't hug back, but contented to lean her cheek against Rishia's.

"Your tree's cave will make a perfect door for this." Ost said.

We nodded one last time to each other, and I turned, "Oh here. Rifana?" I called out.

"Boss? Oh! What's this?" I handed her the rolled up 'rubbing' of the squiggle stone we found in the tortoise's 'village'.

"Get HIDA to translate it if she can." I said, "Step back please."

Rifana nodded, getting back into the tree where the shade was darkest and her body brightest. "Good luck boss."

There was a weird twisting sensation under my chin, then a dim cone of light lit up the archway leading into the tree's ground floor room... And suddenly there was a glowing rainbow coloured tunnel instead of the inside of the tree.

Raphtalia gave one of my tails a squeeze, Tetsu hugged another tail tightly, and Kuro took a deep breath. And together, we four stepped into the light.

Falling. Like the last time, when I was first pulled here, it felt like I was falling. A weird, falling, sliding, stretching sensation.

Unlike last time, I had a status screen. And it was spitting out dozens of overlapping grey (that exact red I couldn't see) ERROR messages. Much like an old Windows OS crash as a program tried to open a thousand times before your computer gave up, my vision was filled with little ERROR window of various opacity.

That wasn't all. My 'numbers' were going haywire too. HP, MP and SP were changing randomly, like someone spinning the tumblers on a combination lock with both thumbs in random directions.

Then, as the 'system' seemed to panic, and my status screen started to take on a hallucinogenic colour pallet, I felt the other familiar pain.

And like before, the pain was so intense that I blacked out, but not before my status screen showed my level reverting to '1'.

I didn't know how long it was this time. But when I woke up next, my first words were-

"Yip-gr-arg!"

This was followed by an awkward flailing at my mouth with a hand that wasn't the right distance away, and a shoulder that just didn't bend like that.

Various bits of me regained sensation, and I felt my stomach go ice cold. I was a fox. Well, I mean, more than I usually was. Not only that, I was small. Maybe as big as a normal adult fox. Some things hadn't changed though, and my four tails were swishing around as best they could, trying to swat the back of my head for an absolute dictionary of unspoken swear words.

Best they could?

A moment of cold panic hit me as I realized I was in a box. A small one!

Wait.. wait... no... it wasn't a cage. It was an actual box. One side was open, and the inside was just big enough for a single fox den. Dark, quiet, and thick walled enough to hold in body heat. But open on one side.

I rolled to my feet, and carefully poked my face out of the box, nose down so my eyes would see what was out there as soon as possible.

A prison cell. Open, or rather, the barred door had been removed. My 'den' was inside a stone walled prison, with nice bright sniff tree sap torches set into wall brackets. Hearing nothing but the flutter of the torches and a slow 'drip drip' of water echoing from someplace.

I tried to take a step forward, but realized I had been standing on the Shield. As per its 'rule', I had to remain in contact with it, and thus, it was actually the 'floor' of the little box I was in. Figuring I was safe for the moment, I had to drag, lift, tilt, wedge and finally managed to get myself and the silly sheet of metal out of the rectangle opening of the box, rolling down a small ramp as I got free. Now attached to one of my tails somehow, when I rolled to a stop the Shield flopped over my head with a fluffy 'bonk'.

It had changed. No longer was it any of the Shield forms I knew, but a simple curved rectangle of dark wood textured metal. Bronze edged, and with the familiar green gem in the middle rimmed in the same bronze metal. And since it knew I was looking at it, as it hung from a tail in front of my eyes, the Status Screen perked up with a message.

Beginner Small Shield: abilities locked: equip bonus: defence 3

My fox form didn't have a very satisfying sigh, more of a 'quiet whistle/whine through the nose'. But since the Shield was (for me) functionally weightless, I let my four tails 'play' with it. Then, I turned to look at the box I'd been in.

Wait... what?

It was a shrine. Freshly pained red (one I could see no less) it could have been nothing else. Maybe a little crude, but the front of the wooden 'den' had a Torii gate carved into the front, a nice ramp for me to walk in and out, my mask was hanging over the Torii, and there was even a little platform next to it for an offering.

The ice in my gut turned to a quiet bubble, since that offering was fish. Freshly cleaned, it was mild smelling and cooked just enough to give the scales on one side a little crunch.

Well... it would be a shame to let it go to waste...

A quickly devoured (very tasty!) fish fillet later, I pushed my body's clamour aside and tried to transform. Nothing. Nothing happened. I 'felt' for the power within myself, and it was so tiny... it was there! But there just wasn't enough of it to do much of anything with.

With a long whistling sigh that left the tip of my nose resting against the floor and two thin scratches against the nice wood of the 'den' I had been in from my horns, I tried to do an 'equipment check'.

Horns, tails, fur, status screen? Yes still there, no necklace? No, Ost was no longer around my neck. My nice armour too, gone. Shield? My tails had already figured out their new 'idle swishing' with it stuck to them. My inventory was still there and accessible, though without hands there wasn't much I could use...

Level one, Kitsune, Kodori Haruhime, age 8, Legendary Shield.

All my stats were exactly what they were when I had arrived. Except, the rules of this world were once again a little different. Godless as well, though, a shrine like that didn't just come from a person's imagination... And aside from my armour, Ost, and my pouches, I'd been treated like a literal Kitsune!

Who had found me, and were they from Earth as well?

I did other checks as I got used to my new body. Party tab? Empty. Slave marks? It was there still, every name save... two? Ah, must have been that nice elderly couple in Lurolona... Yes, all but two of the marks I had 'control' over were still there. But now there was a 'out of range' indicator, so I couldn't influence them.

Not like I could do more than 'yip' at them anyhow...

Shield Almanac? My level had locked access to it all, save for a couple of the copied shields from Erhard's shop. However, all of the 'unlocks' I'd gotten, all the flat stat boosts and the 'non equipped' abilities I'd unlocked, were still available. So while I couldn't use the Rope from the Rope Shield, I could still use the Air Strike Shield... once, since my SP was back to level 1.

But most importantly? My worn equipment. Thankfully, oddly, weirdly... Most of my armour, my clothing (my invincible house robe went back into my inventory), and my 'under armour' was in a neat folded pile in the back corner of the cell across from the one my(?) shrine was in. No effort to hide it, and the armour bits that were missing... forearms and shins? Okay...

But there was no sign of my ring, or Ost's prison. My pouches weren't on the pile either, though, without hands there wasn't much I could do with that.

Still, the missing bits, the neat pile my stuff was in, being enshrined (offering and all), meant whomever found me was at least friendly, if a bit sticky fingered... What I did find was all put into the Shield for later.

The cell next to my shrine had been properly furnished. Bed (wood posted, storage under the frame, nice blanket and mattress, smelled nice), sofa (simple, comfortable, had a small table with a couple books on it, also smelled nice), another table with a bit of crunchy bread and a few other preserved foods (a little less after I'd finished with it). Someone really was living down here, but the scents on the surfaces were dim. Not unpleasant, but not used recently.

But, there were still scents, and the nice pillow (that I may or may not have curled up on while thinking and sorting the Shield's inventory) had a scent on it that stood out from the stone and magic torch smell of the prison...

So I hopped off the bed and followed the scent.

Following the trail of whomever had handled my equipment and lived in that little room, I avoided a lot of side passages. This place, where ever it was, seemed to have been built by a madman. It it weren't for my nose, I'd have spent hours trying to map it all in my head. As it was, with my less than knee high stature, it was hard to tell things apart sometimes.

But, aside from me, and the scent of the girl (yes, I was positive it was a woman I was following) there were no other signs of life down here.

The lady I was following seemed to know this place well, and not once did I double back or get turned around, and after a short walk (made longer by short legs, sigh) I came to a door.

Not really a door, more of an 'archway filled with glowing light'. Rainbow patterned not unlike the door Ost had made to get me here, it swirled and twisted hypnotically. However, the scent went right to the edge of the door, and I could see bits of (sniff sniff) beach sand just inside the threshold as well.

So, I stepped through.

And with a little twist in my gut, I was now facing a nice beach, the afternoon sun overhead, and (peek peek) free standing archway with the glowing portal behind me. Not far behind the portal was the start of a thick forest, but directly under my feet? Nice grass.

Squinting a little in the afternoon sunlight, I did a little circle in the grass, nose to the ground, and found the scent I'd been following so far. Once I had a direction, I made sure to move cautiously. Even with all those little stat bonuses from mastered Shields, I was still a little fox. If this world was anything like Raphtalia's I'd need to gain a few levels, again, to grow.

That in of itself would be a massive, and literal, pain. But I wasn't home yet, so I would do everything I could to gain power until I was.

It wasn't long, after travelling over a couple of little streams (that flowed into the ocean to my right), through a couple of well travelled thickets (who ever I was following had been this way, A LOT. Her scent, like her boots, had walked along this path enough times to leave a clear path), I came across my very first monster.

As I crouched under a bush, watching it, I pawed at my nose since I couldn't facepalm. My scrutiny cause the Status Screen to wake up, and a helpful grey arrow pointed at the monster.

White Box

Exactly as named, it was a white box. Of course, if you looked just a little closer, the top of the nearly cube creature, where the 'lid' would be, had a couple of canine teeth hanging over the edge, almost like sharp latches.

It was so unnatural, I'd picked it out right away, and apparently caught it napping. And to my fox nose? It even smelled like cardboard!

But there were no other scents like it nearby. So, I quietly padded towards it, careful of the grass brushing my fur, any leaf littler under my paws, and my tails holding the Shield so it wouldn't brush against anything...

And I pounced it!

What little weight I had, my pointy claws and sharp little teeth crashed into its top corner, and like I'd seen all of my children, Loaner, and that one time I convinced Haruhime to try and 'hunt' Chime (Chime loved playing hide, seek and pounce), I wrapped my body around it, trying to dig in with my hind legs, while my weight and teeth gripped at the surfaces of my prey.

It was not impressed by my sudden attack, but, it was also helpless in my grip. Its 'mouth' flapping a couple of times to try and bite something (I wedged the Shield into its mouth to distract it), it struggled and jumped a couple of times in a way that Balloons liked to.

But after my mouth had gripped it firmly, I got all four feet on the ground, and did 'the second attack'. And shook it like a toy. Yes, with my mouth partially open, I also made a little chainsaw growl.

I flailed it around in my mouth a few times, bracing the Shield against a tree trunk, then smashing it against the Shield with each back and forth flailing of my head.

And with a sad little crumpling noise, it lost structure much like a normal cardboard box, and died.

Received 25 XP

Huh... more XP than a Balloon, not quiet enough to level... And after a bit of nudging with my nose and paws, I got the Shield to take its 'corpse' into itself.

Beginner's Small White Shield conditions met!

Beginner's Small White Shield: Abilities locked: equip bonus: defence 2

Huh...

Oh... Oh my... was this how L'arc, Glass and Therese were so strong? If the monsters from this world, and Raphtalia's world, both gave me flat bonuses like this, then they would also be able to double up on stat bonuses? Did levels do it too? No... I was clearly level 1 with a darkened 94 next to that...

Mental hands rubbing together in glee, I returned to the path the woman had made, this time a little more alert for solo monsters my fox sized self could pounce.

NOTES!

Time to break another system...

Oh, and it's Discord's fault for Fox Mode. :P

Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!

aKAQg4bnYu for the discord!

And my actual book, Were Too? is on Inkitt.

And! I'm looking into getting some story themed merchandise made. Join the Discord to find out more!