Soulforge Legacy Series

There, standing just inside the doorway, was Lance of all people. His pointed ears were flat against his head while tail practically wrapped itself around his leg. Combined with his soft eyes, he was either afraid or worried. But of what? Me? My reaction to seeing him?

Though, honestly, he had a right to be afraid. I was just as likely to kill him as ignore him. But still, this smell was so comforting. To the point that I wanted to wrap myself in it. To revel in it.

Yet I couldn’t. I couldn’t let him near me. Not if my suspicions were true. Then again, maybe I could just reject him and move on. I would be well within my rights after what he tried to do. After what his team tried to do to me.

And that didn’t even take the damned blood into consideration. The changes they forced upon me without my knowledge. The consequences I was now living with.

Plus, it wasn’t like I planned to stay like this. At least, not in the long term. Even if it took me years, I would find my way to the gods. Find a way to get them to change me back. Sure, I could ask Inari, but something tells me she would refuse and it wasn’t like I had the power to force her. So I needed to find another god. One that would be more amenable to my feelings.

But that was in the future. Still, it meant I had time. Time in which I would be forced to deal with this body. And not just the good, I was sure that there would be issues in the future. Fuck, just thinking of the issues brought forth the memory of some of what girls had to deal with. Things that couldn’t be avoided, only managed.

Actually, if I was going to have to deal with those things, I might as well just enjoy what this new body offered. After all, it wasn’t like I was going to keep it so was there really any reason to hold back?

Not that I would do so with someone like Lance. Xander, on the other hand, might be willing to help me. He had to know that I wouldn’t keep this form and that anything we did wouldn’t be permanent. I would have said that he wouldn’t be able to develop feelings for anyone, but then I saw how he watched his sister. Sure, it wasn’t the same, but it was more than I had ever seen him show.

“Give him a chance.” The old woman’s soft whisper nearly caused me to jump. At some point in my rambling thoughts, made her way around the counter and into the spot just behind me.

“Why should I?” I sneered back, albeit not nearly as quietly. It wasn’t like most of the place couldn’t hear the two of us anyway. “Do you know what he did? What his party did? Not just to me, but to practically every non-human in the city? He was lucky that I was feeling merciful the last time I saw him. Now? Now I don’t have any such feelings. If anything, I almost want to clean up my mistake.

“But…” he sounded sad. Not that I cared.

“NO!” My yell caused the wolf’s mouth to snap. “You don’t get a say in any of this! The only reason I have not killed you is the fact that I have no fucking clue what is going on.” Well, there was that small voice in the back of my head that seemed to agree with the old woman. But I ignored it. Drowned it out.

“But you don’t understand…” the old woman sounded desperate to convince me for some fucking reason.

Before she could go any further. Before she could spin the story to make him sound like a victim. I spun around to face her. Sure, I was giving him my back, but I doubted he even had the will to try anything. “I DON’T CARE!” The words bounced off the walls of the deadly silent room. “Now, I am going to go over to that corner and wait for a call from my friend. Do Not Bother Me!”

I turned around just enough to look the wolf in the eye as I said that last bit. Making sure he got the message. Given the pitiful look that he was giving me, he did.

I wanted to stomp off, to take out some of my anger on the stones beneath my feet. And I did for all of one step. The loud cracking of stone stole a bit of my thunder as it reminded me of just how much stronger than before. Of why people were forced to leave the city – no, the region before they destroyed everything around them.

A soft, rumbling growl vibrated my chest. Mostly at the situation. I already missed Gravepoint. Maybe not the people or even the city itself, but the fact that I didn’t have to worry about holding back. While I could have cracked the stone there, it took quite a bit of effort.

The benefit of so much mana concentrated into a single region for long enough to soak into everything. Or at least, that was the reason someone gave me. How true it was I had no idea.

With exaggerated care, I made my way to the corner. Head against the wall, I tried to think of ways to distract myself while I waited for Xander to call me back. Sure, I could call him myself. Especially as the hour had come and gone, I was sure that he had a fair reason. For all I knew he could be fighting with some stupid politician or something. Best to leave him to it.

The thought of him fighting with some politician reminded me of what had happened right before my death. All the suspicion and looks that had been thrown my way. And for what reason? Because some one had been killing other people? I did everything they said, answered every one of their questions, and what did I get in return. More suspicion and threats.

Something was going on in that city and whatever it was had me in its crosshairs. But why? It wasn’t like I did anything to deserve such attention. I wasn’t powerful or all that well connected. I mean, sure, I know some powerful people, but it wasn’t like they would break the rules for me.

Okay, that wasn’t true. Xander had already proven that he would break the rules if it meant saving me. And he had been punished for doing so. So maybe that was the reason.

Of course, there was always the chance that someone wanted Xander for themselves. Even I had to admit he was fairly nice looking. But that didn’t feel right. This felt more cold. Like someone was testing me or something. But who?

I let the possibilities and other thoughts swirl around my head for a while but nothing came of it. No sudden revelation or hint. In fact, I doubted that I would find the answer here. I would have to return to the city to find out what was going on.

So with a bit of mental shoving and will power, I forced my thoughts to focus on something more productive. The system window shimmered into existence so that I could take a bit to look over the new tabs.

To my surprise, the entirety of my screen had changed. The boarder was lined with foxes racing around and through various pieces of foliage. While the movement was nice, it would be distracting. Especially if I was in the middle of a fight or something. Of course, the moment I thought that, the foxes vanished into the foliage and didn’t return.

Attention off the edges, I focused on the screen itself. The tabs had changed shape to resemble tails of varying shades of blue, silver and gold. The latter of which caught my attention first as they were the new tabs I had had been expecting. Well, I say tabs, but really it was one tab with multiple sub tabs.

Of course, the first of the tabs was open and the information was of my race. A few pieces of which caught my eye. This included something called Tier. It took me a few minutes to figure out what it was. Mostly because I had no idea how to pull information from the screen.

Eventually, though, I returned to that odd mental state of feeling out what was presented to me. As soon as I did that, I found out that it was the systems way of saying my current number of tails. A number that had an asterisk next to it.

Like other places the little star was used, I was able to tap it to bring up information the system wanted me to know. Unlike other times, this data wasn’t on another screen. It was simply in the next tab.

Upon which I found a list of tasks, most of which I had completed. Of course, most of them were simple and completed on their own. From being an adult to selecting my element. Though, there were a few that were odd.

Well, two really and the more I thought about them, the more sense they made. “Tricked a creature with a higher level” and “Tricked a creature into killing another creature.” As I said, they were odd until the fact that it was a requirement for Kitsune.

And both were completed. Though, when that had happened, I had no clue. Or, well, it could have been during my escape out of this city. The demon had killed that guard after he drank that sabotaged potion. Not that I had anything to do with sabotaging it.

But who knows how far the system requires you do something before counting it as being done. But it wasn’t like I was going to complain about it. After all, of all thirteen requirements, I only had three left.

Raising my strength, agility, and dexterity all over one hundred points. That was it. A feat I could do right now with the amount of points I had sitting around, waiting to be used to either buy something or otherwise use.

Points that Barti and the rest of them insisted would be a waste to spend on upping one’s stats. But it wasn’t like I had much of a choice here. It wasn’t like I was going to be leveling for the next while and with the fact that I would have to fight to leave the city, I had to do anything I could to gain power.

A few flicks and a trio of confirmations later and my last three stats broke the hundred mark. Unlike every other time my stats had increased, the world around me seemed to stutter as something forced its way into me. Almost as though I was leveling yet not.

As the odd feelings faded, I felt stronger, faster, and more flexible than ever. Even as I flexed my fingers, I felt the change. And with the feeling of power came some knowledge. Nothing definite or concrete. Not even about how to use the strength. But there was something there.

Before I could so much as stand up and test my new flexibility, the trials tab reasserted itself. Only this time the screen was completely grayed out, save for the prompt that overlaid itself upon the window.

You have completed the trials to gain a new tail. Would you like to initiate the transition from a Single Tailed Kitsune to a Twin Tailed Kitsune?

I didn’t even hesitate to agree to the change.

My finger had only just touched the button when fire raced out from my mana pool. Each tendril of flame treated my blood vessels like a racetrack. Licking at the edges as they sped for the finish line. Over and over. Around and around. They seared the very memory of their passage into the cells that lined each vein. Forced each artery to remember their presence.

Then they stopped. They didn’t slow down. They didn’t peter out. They simply stopped.

Everything grew still as the residual heat transferred out of the veins and into the muscles. I couldn’t tell what the heat was nor what it changed, but I knew it changed something. After all, why else would something burn away something, only to instantly replace it with something indistinguishable from the original?

Then, as if it had simply been stalking me, waiting for me to relax, my mana flared out a second time. Unlike the racing flames, every bit of this new wave slammed into my spine.

And once again, I had no idea what the hell it was doing. Fuck, I didn’t even know what was going on around me. All I knew in that moment was pain. Utter agony as my very nerves burned.

Some parts melted, twisted and drooped, while other parts turned to little more than ash. None of it was allowed to leave. Each bit was grabbed by some force. Twisted and reformed by it. Molded into a new shape before being allowed to solidify.

This force took its time to work its way down my spine. Finally, it reached my tail. One would think that the pain would knock you out but whatever it was doing this was forcing me to stay awake. To feel every ember and pulse.

A series of loud crunching sounds vibrated up my body. Loud enough that even I was able to hear it despite the fact that my ears were silent. Each crunch worked its way through my tail centered on each bone as it was crushed and split.

Parts of my body started to shrivel as material raced toward the new bones. Repairing and rebuilding each with whatever they could steal from the rest of the body.

By the end of the process, the single tail had become two. Though, where the single tail had been fluffy, neither of these were even half as nice. Almost as though they were malnourished. Lifeless.

Not that they were the only ones that were limp and lifeless. Even as the last of the mana and fire left me, my body felt like it had been rung out. As though every cell had been drained to the point that I wasn’t sure if they would survive for much longer. A fact that had me wondering if the second tail was worth it.

Worth the pain that lingered even now. Let alone the fact that I was completely vulnerable. A potential outcome I should have at least considered as a possibility before accepting the new tail. Still, what was done was done.

As feeling came back to me, I felt someone’s hand running through my hair. Each stroke started just over my forehead before traveling back all the while leaving a trail of sparks wherever they touched. And while the fingers came close, they never touched my ears.

Still, I wanted to flinch away from the person but my muscles refused to so much as twitch. Every muscle felt strained to the breaking point. Yet, I still needed to see who it was. Not because the tingles hurt but because they felt good. Relaxing in their own way.

With what little energy I had left, I concentrated on opening even just one eye. While it took a bit of time, I succeeded only to find the wolf of all people. And given the positioning, my head was in his lap.

His eyes were filled with a melting pot of emotions as he stared down at me. Fear. Trepidation. Anxiety. Helplessness. Longing. Sorrow. There even a bit of what looked like peace and love.

And while I could understand most of those emotions, the last two confused the ever living fuck out of me. Mostly because there was no way he felt that way about me. Not after what he did. Not after everything that happened between us.

But what would be the point in faking such an emotional reaction? Was he trying to set me up? Get me to trust him long enough for him to trade me for free passage for everyone here?

If that was the case, then he would be in for one hell of a surprise. I wasn’t the weak human that had to sneak up on his team to take them down. Not only that, I wasn’t willing to simply sit there and let someone walk all over me. If someone attacked me, I was going to hit back.

Then again, with how weak I was at the moment and everything that had just happened to me, he had the chance to take me to the demons and there was nothing I could have done. I wouldn’t have even noticed anything until the change finished. Which was more than enough time to get me up and out of here.

Now, that wasn’t to say that was enough to forgive and forget, was it enough to give him a chance to stay close. To show me that he had changed.

Not that I would make it easy. In fact, there were a few conditions that I would be shoving down his throat. Conditions that he would have to agree to if he wanted to be anywhere near me.

Still, something told me that he would accept any condition I gave him.