Chapter 139: The Magic Powder’s Effects And Cael’s Vision!
Neve did not know what to feel after hearing that revelation.
Magic power? The same thing Skarr had talked about before he briefly took control of Neve’s body? Magic was supposed to be lost. It was supposed to be extinct. Yet here was Popi claiming that the dragon talon powder had given her magic power.
"Do you think it gives you some kind of ability like to fly or something?" Neve asked, trying to understand what this meant.
Popi exchanged glances with Sable and stared down at her own body like it had suddenly become a stranger.
"I don’t feel anything like that but..." she said, trailing off uncertainly.
"Me too," Sable interrupted, also looking confused. "I don’t feel like I can do anything special. Just this overwhelming surge of power inside me."
Neve was disappointed by their vague responses.
"You two just go away," Neve said, not believing them completely. He needed to experience this himself.
He took some of the powder and mixed it into a cup of water. He stared at some of the remaining powder still in his hand and his tongue brushed against it experimentally.
He waited to see if he would feel anything. Waited to feel the pain. Waited to feel a surge of power like Sable had described. Waited to feel something unlocking inside him.
But he felt nothing.
Nothing at all.
His stomach still hurt. His body still felt heavy. There was no magical surge. There was no power awakening inside him.
He felt a bit disappointed by that. If the powder had magical properties and could give powers, he definitely wanted to do something with it. Maybe his cubs would also inherit magical abilities. Maybe they would be born with powers.
He drank the mixture completely and exhaled deeply, rubbing his hand on his swollen stomach.
"You should rest after taking like one thousand times what we took and not react," Sable raised a brow, his tone suggesting that Neve’s lack of reaction was unusual. "Are you a monster or something? How is that even possible?"
"It’s not my fault I didn’t react like you two," Neve shrugged and grabbed his Winnie the Pooh blanket from the corner of the room. He wrapped it around himself like a protective cocoon.
"And also, I’m not sleeping right now. I’d like to take a walk. I need to move around. I need to think about things."
Sable stepped forward.
"A walk?" he asked, like the suggestion was somehow strange.
"Yes, a walk," Neve confirmed.
Popi immediately volunteered.
"I’ll come with you," Popi said. "The kids are asleep and everything is calm right now. It’s a good time for a walk."
Sable also stepped forward.
"I’m coming with you too," Sable added.
Neve frowned at the fox.
"You can’t come," Neve said, shaking his head. "What if you get recognized? You’re a stranger. You’re from the fox tribe. If anyone sees you here, they’ll start asking questions."
Sable looked amused.
"You haven’t forgotten my stealth skill, have you?" he asked, his tone suggesting that Neve was being overly cautious.
Neve had not forgotten but he could not fully trust the skill. If someone managed to see through Sable’s stealth, if someone caught a glimpse of him, it could be a disaster. Not just that, they could start talking about it and spread rumors. And if Soren heard about them harboring a fox assassin, he could see them as traitors and find a way to eliminate them all.
Neve was about to decline again when an idea struck him.
"I wish you had something like invisibility skills," he said aloud, half joking, half serious.
The moment the words left his mouth, Sable vanished.
No. He did not vanish. He turned invisible.
His body could not be seen. Only the animal skin cloth that had been wrapped around his waist remained visible, floating in the air where Sable stood.
Popi almost screamed. She scrambled backward in shock, her hand flying to her mouth.
"What the hell is that?" Popi asked, her voice shaky.
"Sable? Can you hear me?" Neve asked, his own heart racing with the impossibility of what was happening.
"Ye... yes! I’m just too stunned to speak," came Sable’s voice from the empty space. "Did I just turn invisible? Am I actually invisible right now?"
"Can you touch me?" Neve asked.
He felt a hand on his cheek. The touch was warm and real. The hand slid down his neck and moved to his chest, but Neve still could not see anything. It was like being touched by a ghost.
Neve held his hand where he felt Sable’s invisible hand, but he still could not see the fox.
"Did that happen because I said I wish?" Neve asked, turning to Popi for some kind of explanation.
Popi shrugged helplessly.
"I have no idea what just happened," she said to Neve and then turned toward the floating cloth where Sable supposedly was. "Hey, brat Sable, did you have this skill before? Was this ability something you had back in the fox tribe?"
"Skill? This seems like magic. No one in my tribe had something like this," Sable said, still invisible. "I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I don’t even know how this is possible."
"Well, that’s insane," Popi said, shaking her head in disbelief. "With this invisibility, Sable can guard you during your walk without anyone knowing he’s there."
Neve wanted to ask if that was really the most important thing to consider right now, but he could not bring himself to do so. He was just too surprised and overwhelmed by what was happening.
It was his first time seeing something like this. Real, actual magic. Not just a concept from books or stories. Real, tangible magic that changed people and gave them abilities.
He liked it.
For a moment, he wished he could have a skill like this. He wished he could fly or float or teleport or... go back home. He said it to himself quietly, but nothing happened. No skill appeared. No magic awakened.
Not everything could come true just by wishing for it, apparently.
He just smiled at where Sable’s invisible form was standing.
"Whatever it is, you must learn how to hone it," Neve said. "You need to practice and understand this new ability. Shall we go on our walk?"
"Yes!" Sable said, his invisible hand taking Neve’s hand. "Let’s go."
They left the cave, heading out into the snowy landscape.
.
.
As they walked, Neve asked for directions.
"Where are we going?"
"Where Cael and the others are," Popi said. "They’re working on mapping out the territory for more traps and security measures. Where are they working on today?"
Neve tapped his jaw with one finger, thinking.
"The north," Sable said from beside him, his voice disembodied and strange coming from an invisible source. "They were heading north when we left earlier."
"Then, take me there," Neve said and they made their way in that direction.
The place was cold. Extremely cold. The wind bit at their exposed skin. But they pushed through the harsh weather, determined to reach the others.
The first person they saw was Cael.
He was bare chested despite the cold, his muscular body glistening with sweat as he continued mapping out the area. The leopard beastman did not seem bothered by the freezing temperature at all.
Neve rushed to him and wrapped his arms around Cael, breathing warm air to his chest. The warmth of Cael’s body was a welcome relief from the cold.
"Why are you here? It’s cold," Cael asked, immediately holding Neve close and wrapping his arms around the red panda to provide additional warmth.
"Don’t worry, I love the cold," Neve said, looking up at Cael’s face. The leopard prince was smiling down at him, his expression filled with affection and concern.
Then Neve lifted his head and noticed something.
"Hey you two," he said, gesturing to both Popi and Sable.
"Huh?" Neve’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You two? Are you able to see Sable? Isn’t he supposed to be invisible?"
"What? Isn’t he standing right there?" Cael pointed to the empty space where Sable stood invisibly.
But Cael could clearly see Sable. The leopard prince was looking directly at the invisible fox like he was completely visible.
Neve gasped as he stepped back from Cael, his mind racing.
Cael also had magic ability.
Since when? When did he get this? When he caught that snake?
"I should have known," Neve said to himself, frowning at his own stupidity. "How stupid was I?"