“Shiro!” Fox perked up on her throne as soon as I stepped into the place. Her six tails smoothly sashayed around behind her.
”Hey.” The throne room was as impressive as always—er, almost always. It didn’t look that impressive when the eidolon was sick and Bear barged in.
Cain shuffled up ahead of me, and flopped down onto a cushion off by the throne. His eyes crinkled into a smile, and his tail flicked toward Fox sitting on her throne. “What’d I tell you?”
”I don’t just do nothing, jerk!” A bolt of fire erupted from the tip of Fox’s tail and shot out at Cain. The Greater’s Sprite was much bigger than Fox, though, and so the bolt of flame that looked massive next to her ended up just catching the tip of his ear on fire.
”Eavesdropping now, my lady?” His ear flicked, and the fire instantly went out. His tail gave a weak wag, and he barred his teeth smugly. “That isn’t very ladylike.”
”You wouldn’t know ladylike if it hit you over your stupid smug face.” The eidolon glared at her sprite. “Talking bad about your boss behind her back isn’t a good look, Cain.”
“Ah, but you were watching, so it wasn’t behind your back.” He twisted around, and looked back toward me. “Isn’t that right, Shiro?”
”Don’t throw me in the middle of this.” I instantly disengaged from his attempts to drag me into it. ‘Course Fox would be listening, though. This was her domain. She was probably acutely aware of everything that went on around here.
”Yeah! Don’t drag Shiro into this!” Fox righteously hopped up onto her paws. “I think you should go for a long walk.”
Cain bolted upright. His smug expression instantly evaporated into a pleading one. “Wait. Wait! It was just a joke—“
Magic pulsed through the space, and the black fox abruptly vanished. The magic felt almost exactly like the time Vulpes and I were sent down to the bottom of the mountain. Sucker.
”So? How have you been?” Fox flicked her head back, and regally settled back onto her throne. Her eyes darted around Vox before settling back onto me.
“Busy. I s’pose you know that, though.” I moved closer to the throne, and adjusted Vox slightly so she wasn’t digging into my shoulder as much. Although she didn’t weigh much, at the end of the day the bot was made of metal.
“I don’t just sit around all day. I’m super busy, you know?” Fox’s expression abruptly soured, and she hopped off her throne. “Come with me.”
“Chek.” We moved out of the central hall and toward a side hallway. I had to move incredibly slowly. Fox was, well, tiny. My one step was equal to a ton of hers.
”Us eidolons don’t just sit around. Aether matters alone take a ton of focus, let alone on the material side of the veil.” Her voice twinged almost with a bratty complaint. “And then there’s the Scion interface! Holy cow is that a lot of work to maintain and upgrade.”
“I bet.” I glanced down at the fox. This could be a chance to get an idea of the interface’s inner workings. Fox was… loose lipped would be a kind way of putting it. “That Title thing—was that new too?”
”Totally! It was mostly Echidna and Moose’s work.” Fox stopped in front of a door with two armored guard foxes. The two pushed open the heavy doors to reveal a library. “They used my ideas though! Might as well rob me.”
Fox moved around to a couch, and jumped up onto it. One of her tails flicked across from her in a clear indication to sit down. I shuffled across the library, and took a seat across from her. An open book on the table caught my attention—E-Level Restriction: Investigations Into Birth of the Fallen.
”The Aether Immunity of your Scion title? She ripped it right out of watching how my cloak interacted with you! Where’s the credit?!” She pouted, and her eyes dropped down to the book. Just before I could read too much more of it, the book snapped shut, and moved toward one of the shelves. “You, uh, you didn't see that, did you?”
“See what?” I tilted my head innocently to the side. Really, I hadn’t seen anything except for a long, long list of epitaphs. On my shoulder, Vox likewise tilted her head to the side.
Fox’s tails flopped down, and she relaxed back onto the couch. “Good. Owl takes his restrictions super seriously.”
“I get it.” Knowledge was power. I looked around Fox’s private library filled with probably invaluable books. Even just one one of these could probably be sold for a ton to interested parties.
Investigations Into Birth of the Fallen… that was like Mother—um, I mean She Who Grows. Ever since she infested me back then, I had a hard time thinking about her with her actual epitaph. Could more of them be born? Did the eidolons even know where they came from?
“I really am glad you’re the Scion this time around.” Fox’s ears shot upright, and her eyes crinkled into charming half-moons. “The last guy freaked out anytime we tried to upgrade the interface. The half-completing quest thingy would’ve sent him up the walls.”
”That was new too?” I thought it was just an updated version of the interface like I was supposed to get after I got a Skill level 12. How much different was my version of the interface compared to the first person to ever get it?
”Yeah! Soooo much more convenient too.” Her fluffy ears twitched toward the door, and she went silent.
The doors opened up, and a fox with a silver tray on her back bobbed into the room. Drinks and small cakes were placed on the tray like a servant bringing snacks, and even the fox herself had on a goofy looking maid dress.
As the fox approached closer and closer, her tail started to wag all the more erratically to the point her entire body looked like it was vibrating. Just as she stopped in front of me, the tray slipped off her back—
“Got it.” The tray abruptly stopped midair, and not a single drop of the drinks spilled. Fox glared at the fox, and used her magic to set it down on the table. The sprite practically wilted under her gaze. “Hmm… go back for training.”
“Yip!” The sprite’s tail curled between her legs, and she slowly walked back toward the door.
”Sorry about that!” Fox casually laughed, and curled up on the couch. “That’s a new program I’ve been working on. Still has a few things I need to work out.”
“It’s fine. Maid foxes?” Were the eidolons so care-free that they could invest in stuff like that with their sprites? Then again, I was only basing that off of Fox. Crow just had a creepy graveyard, and barely a few Greater Sprites.
”Yip! Echidna’s working on her bots, so I figured why not start a maid service! It’ll totally be epic.” She telepathically lifted a drink, and lapped at it. It was some kind of glowing liquid that looked a little too alien for my tastes.
”But… only Magi can summon sprites.” She’d get, like, no value out of such a thing. Did her illness fry her brain? Maybe sticking with Fox wasn’t the best idea…
“I’ve thought of that!” Fox hopped off the couch, and moved over to the desk. She came back with several tokens, each pulsing with magic under Aetherial Perception. “Summon tokens! They’re still not quite perfect… but soon my fox maids will spread across the entire globe! Muahahahah!”
Okay… I sat back in my seat. Aside from the absolute lunacy of a maid service, the summon tokens were actually pretty interesting. If anyone could use them, anyone could become a Magus. “Your idea?”
”Course! Echidna and Owl aren’t the only geniuses.” She lifted her head proudly. Her eyes flashed with something, and the pride melted a bit. “Bear helped me a bit with protections for the magic so the connection couldn’t get hijacked by something else. It used to have a one in three chance of summoning an abomination!”
“Oh.” That was absolutely horrifying. Just the image of trying to summon a sprite and instead getting some kind of Aether monster sent a chill down my spine. Good thing I’d never—
“Oh! Would you do me a favor and use them?! I need more testing.” Fox tossed a bunch of the coin-like tokens toward me.
| Request - Global Conquest - Received
-Use Fox’s Summon Tokens (0/4)
-Convert Fox’s Summon Tokens to Panther (0/4)
-Convert Fox’s Summon Tokens to Owl (0/4)
-Convert Fox’s Summon Tokens to Wolf (0/4)
-Convert Fox’s Summon Tokens to Lion (0/4)
-Convert Fox’s Summon Tokens to Viper (0/4)
-Convert Fox’s Summon Tokens to Shark (0/4)
-Convert Fox’s Summon Tokens to summon Eel (0/4)
-Convert Fox’s Summon Tokens to Crow (0/4)
“You—! You leeches!” Fox practically screeched at the top of her lungs. “Bastards. Go make your own things and stop stealing mine! I expected as much from Crow, but the rest of you?!”
I pulled Vox off my shoulder, and watched the eidolon rage for several minutes. She seemed to be able to talk to the other eidolons even from a distance, because she replied with even more venom as the moments passed.
Eventually, she seemed to remember I was there, and all the wind left her sails. She sagged back, and her tails curled shyly around her body. “S-sorry you had to see that. Umumum… is that Vox?”
Nice subject change. Totally seamless, Fox. I shook my head and pulled the metal fox off my shoulders. “Chek. You wanted to see her, no?”
“Cool!” She bounced across the coffee table, and slid up next to me to check out the metal fox. “Oh, right! Here you go.”
| Request - New Friends - Completed
-Bring Mira to 9 Peaks.(0/1)
-Bring Vox to 9 Peaks.(1/1)
-Reward: 10 EF |
Easiest ten EF I earned since getting the interface. I set Vox down next to Fox. That wasn’t going to get confusing. “You fine with Mira not being here?”
”Yeah… I’d like to meet the best friend of my Scion one day. Until then, I shall continue to just live vicariously.” She shrugged, and patted Vox with her paw. “Your instructor is here, by the way. You want to go now?”
”No point keeping him waiting.” I stood up, and moved to grab Vox. Just before I could, one of Fox’s tails wrapped loosely around my wrist.
”Leave the bot with me for a bit?” Fox eyed Vox. “I’ll give her back before you go.”
”Um… sure.” I backed away, and eyed Vox. It’d probably be fine? Even if Fox broke my bot, I could always just rebuild her pretty easily. Her code was all saved by Luna, too.
I summoned out Fox’s Fluffy Cloak, and the soft warm hoodie completely swallowed my frame. It’s magic activated and my vision abruptly dropped lower to the ground. I wiggled around, and pushed myself upright. “Yip!”
”Oh, right.” Fox’s tail flicked to me, and the familiar vibe of the translation magic washed over me. She hopped down from the couch, and moved up alongside me. Her tail brushed my own lightly. She mumbled quietly enough that I could barely hear with my enhanced vulpine hearing, “the imitation isn’t as good.”
“What are you talking about?” I shifted away from her slightly, and pulled my tail away. It was sluggish, like I was trying to move through tar. Although she was tiny compared to when I was in my normal form, like this? She was freaking massive to the point it was a bit unnerving to be so close to her.
“Nothing, nothing.” She gave me some space and backed toward the couch. “You ready to go?”
“I guess.” I shot one last glance to Vox, who was intensely watching me in return. Leaving her behind felt a bit bad.
”Alright… have fun!” Magic activated, and vertigo passed through me. The next moment, I found myself elsewhere in Nine Peaks.
I struggled back up to my feet and looked up and down the halls. They were almost entirely empty. Um… Fox? Which way do I go from here?
— — —
AN: Sorry I’m so late today. I kept getting distracted while writing.