Chapter 34 – What Does the Fox (Have to) Say

“I told you there’s no need to sit like this,” Asterios said calmly.

After they decided to go with the flow and listen to what Selene might have to say, everyone moved outside of the summoning circle’s structure. Ast and Miria sat comfortably by each other's side while the foxgirl positioned herself in front of them, sitting on her knees and bowing her head and whole body forward at almost perfect forty-five degrees. The charming ears laid down on top of her hair submissively.

“Due to my previous offence, I should remain prostrated to atone for my rudeness,” she replied in a soft and controlled voice.

“Master wishes to speak with you properly. It will be hard with your face directed to the ground. Isn’t ignoring his request being even ruder?” Miria spoke up.

Selene slowly straightened herself in response and they could finally see her pretty and noble face, now completely calm and neutral under the seriousness of the situation.

“I apologize. I will listen to everything you two say. I just wish to remain in this position if it’s okay.”

“It’s fine,” Asterios responded. “Well then, let’s start anew, shall we?”

She nodded. “As you wish, my Lord. I’m Selene of the Spiritual Foxes Tribe. I’ve been born with high spiritual sensitivity and aptitude, allowing me to pursue the ways of Spiritualists. As I explained earlier, they shape pure spiritual energy to their wishes. I will gladly demonstrate my abilities if my Lord wishes to see them. I’m one-hundred-thirty-eight years old and throughout my life, I’ve reached the rank of High Priestess in our community. People with this title are second only to the current Matriarch of our tribe. I would be honoured to enter a contract with you.”

“138 years old? If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the average lifespan of your kin?” Ast asked curiously.

“Let me answer that, Master,” Miria butted in. “It depends on the subrace. For us, Pantherkin, it’s something around 150 years. Spiritual Foxes, as their name suggests, are much more integrated with mana, which reinforces their bodies even more than ours, and they can usually live over 300 years. Various other Beastfolk subspecies reach different ages. Ah, I don’t think I’ve shared my age with Master! I’m 27, so I’m fairly young compared to Selene.”

Asterios patted her head as thanks. “I see.” Besides the lifespan, there was one more thing he wanted to know about Beastfolk. “Selene, can you shapeshift like Miria too?”

She shook her head. “Unfortunately, the Werefox blood coursing through my veins is very scarce and thus I can’t be considered one. I’m almost a pure Foxkin. I think my Lord has noticed that I do not possess fur over my hands, arms, feet nor legs, like my Lord’s current companion. It’s usually the sign of a Beastfolk having enough Werebeast blood in them to be able to shapeshift and inherit other benefits,” she explained.

Miria nodded along. “That’s right, Master. If you remember, my mother also doesn’t have fur there while my father does. I was lucky to get it after him. As I told you before, Werebeasts are rare and that’s because the chance to inherit enough blood is quite low.”

“Ekhm.” Selene softly cleared her throat to return their attention to her. “While I am not a Werefox and can’t change shapes, it doesn’t mean that I don’t possess a second form. I’m not just any Foxkin. I’m a Spiritual Fox. I can enter an ‘awakened’ state in which my power rises significantly the higher the stage I reach, in turn, placing a lot of strain on my body. That’s why I always trained it relentlessly along with my control over spiritual energy, earning myself the title of Battlemaster Spiritualist.” 

A tinge of pride and a faint smile could be seen on Selene’s face when she mentioned that. The duo understood that she tried to not show it and keep completely calm, but it was impossible when speaking about such achievements. Especially Miria knew that feeling as she was very proud of her bloodline.

“Ah! I remember! Princess Kaguya also was able to do that! In the stories I’ve read, it was said that she reached the last, seventh stage! The Mount Fang which Selene mentioned earlier, it was just your usual, huge mountain, but one day Princess Kaguya threw her empowered punch in rage and pretty much blasted half of it, shaping it into a canine looking hill! At least that's what the legend says. Hey, Selene! Which stage are you at?” Miria started brimming with excitement as she recounted the stories she went through in the past.

Asterios showed a wry smile while imagining a single person levelling a mountain with just sheer power of their fist, even if imbued with spiritual energy. Such a feat was possible but reserved only for the strongest magicians in his world and they could be counted on one or two hands. If alive, then definitely on one.

Selene was also having a hard time to not show how contended she was from the praise and amazement directed at her by Miria. Her ears had finally stood up from laying down on top of her head the whole time and she closed her eyes. All of her fur and hair began shimmering a little.

“First stage?! That’s amaz—”

Miria’s words stopped midway as her eyes widened even more than before when she and Asterios started noticing not one but three bushy tails dancing behind the back of the foxgirl.

“You can get into the third stage?! Woooooooooooooahhhhhhhh…”

Selene’s lips curled into a proud and gentle smile as she opened her eyes, which turned white and also began slightly glimmering.

“Is it that amazing?” Asterios asked, not aware of how these things worked. They definitely looked beautiful though.

Since Miria was too lost in admiring the sight in front of her, the shining foxgirl nodded her head and began explaining. 

“While Princess Kaguya is said to have reached the seventh one, even amongst the strongest Spiritual Foxes in our history, fifth can be considered the limit. Most actually stay at stage one, which can be identified by the little shimmer over our fur. Then there are some stage two and even less stage three. The more tails appear during the transformation, the higher the stage of an individual. Currently, I know only of one stage five, which is our Matriarch, one stage four, and around like ten stage twos. I’m also the only stage three as far as I know.”

“So you truly are a strong one,” he commented.

She nodded. “Yes. And that’s why I believe that I will be of use to my Lord. All my power will be at my Lord's disposal if my Lord finds it in himself to forgive my previous attitude.” Returning back to her usual form, she bowed deeply.

“And that brings us back to the main point. Why are you so intent on contracting me after I’ve revealed my hidden energy. Miria told me that your kind doesn’t usually cower this much.”

Selene sat straight again and assumed a saddened expression, realizing how bad of a first impression she gave them. 

“I know that whatever I say may sound like poor excuses, but… while I was and still am a proud Spiritual Fox, I haven’t always looked down on others this much… I wouldn’t have gotten appointed as a High Priestess if I weren’t helping others, much weaker than myself. It’s just… I have been researching something for decades, trying to find a solution for a problem that has been troubling me since I can remember… with one being closely related to spiritual essence stronger than mine. That’s where I started desperately looking for stronger people, but when it came to the quality of the essence, mine was even higher than the Matriarch’s,” she slowly presented some parts of her past, glancing at Asterios from time to time to judge his reaction and check if he wasn’t suspecting her of lying.

Sighing in relief after not seeing a hint of negativity from him, she continued. “And then, today, as I was returning to my mansion, I felt like someone touched my shoulder and whispered ‘I can help you’, along with a faint trail of warm and sweet essence, completely different from mine. I got my expectations high and let my Lord’s consciousness guide me. After seeing another Beastfolk, learning about them being my Lord’s summon and that my Lord is a Human, I got extremely excited, just to get my hopes crushed after using my Spiritual Sight. There was no trace of that essence. I… got annoyed, in simple words. I let my emotions take over and said a lot of rude things, wanting to return to my research immediately…”

A wry smile appeared on her elegant face. Ast and Miria fully understood the part about emotions as they both experienced heavy outbursts in the past, doing something that they regretted soon after. The story seemed truthful to them. They could sense the struggle in Selene’s voice.

“Hmmmm…” Asterios pondered. “It looks like I can’t completely hide that hot mana and use only my old one in the summoning ritual. In the end, it was what brought your attention to me. I’m starting to feel like there’s something wrong with either one or another, as no entity answered my call with the weaker one, which isn’t now as weak as it was in the past.”

“I think so too, Master,” Miria added.

“Anyway, that’s for us to think about. I trust your explanation, Selene. It felt sincere. Besides, if you were to lie to me, I would learn that at some point after I accepted you, as the Summoner and the summon can dive into each other’s minds. Would you mind telling me what is your issue and what are you researching so much?”

For the first time since they moved out of the circle, Selene’s face took an anxious and uncertain expression. She averted her gaze for a moment, seemingly trying to find the correct words, now knowing that lying would do her more bad than good.

Asterios saw that uneasiness. “If it’s too much to ask about, then—”

“No,” she stopped him and took a deep breath. “I can’t expect to earn my Lord's trust while keeping secrets to myself. I… I’m cursed…”

Her ears flopped down again, along with her gaze. Selene was extremely worried that revealing that aspect would deter Asterios from forming a contract with her. Who would want to create a connection with a cursed being, no matter how strong they were?

Miria smiled faintly. Not because she ridiculed the woman’s situation but because she didn’t even have to peek into Ast’s mind to know what he was thinking. His next words only confirmed her guess.

“Could you please elaborate?” he asked, bringing both of his hands to support his chin as his elbows rested on his knees in a cross-legged position.

Selene nodded and for the first time switched her position. She sat on her butt properly, with her legs forward. Next, she reached to her tights and started uncovering her slender thighs and calves.

When she passed the knees, Asterios and Miria began to see lined patterns flowing down her legs. They were of a very dark blue colour and coiled around her limbs in fluid paths, stopping at the areas just before Selene’s shins. Then, she started sliding off the sleeves which covered her arms and almost identical patterns were present there, starting under her elbows and ending just before her wrists.

She spread her legs and arms to show them the markings better. “When I turned 25, which is the end of the second maturing period for us Foxkin, these patterns appeared on my forearms and calves. I didn’t think much of them at that point. It overlapped with my awakening as a Spiritualist for the first time so I assumed they were linked to it somehow. They kept growing steadily until I was 39. Then, they suddenly started hurting. A lot. After my 39th birthday, every single full moon results in an excruciating pain coursing through my whole body for at least twenty-four hours, usually longer. I’m just writhing around while screaming my lungs out until it passes.” A shiver ran through Selene’s body as she recounted the sensation.

She sighed and continued. “That’s when I started desperately looking for help and knowledge. I did everything I could, from studying anything related to spiritual energy, through training my own body to the extreme, ending even at conducting shady rituals written in old grimoires. My pursuit of the possible solution led me to become a High Priestess with all I’ve achieved for the community while looking for a cure. Of course, the Matriarch offered her help quite early after she learned about my condition. That was how we noticed that spiritual essence and energy stronger than mine could lessen the effects of this curse. The Matriarch shared hers with me for some time, until the difference between us became smaller and at some point, it just stopped working. And now, we are here.”

Finishing her story, Selene awkwardly pulled her knees in and hugged them with her arms with a disheartened expression. Asterios glanced at Miria, who was pretty much on the verge of tears, with her lips tightly shut to hold back. It was no surprise with how emotional she was. He nudged her mentally, encouraging Miria to do what she was thinking about. She then scooted closer to Selene and took her hand into hers. The latter showed a wry smile.

“May I see those markings from up close?” Ast inquired and she nodded at him.

Also moving closer, he sat on her other side, still facing the woman, and gently got a hold of her right forearm. He examined the lines carefully with his eyes and then brushed over them very delicately with the tips of his fingers. The texture was different from the skin. It was slightly more hoarse and tough. He could feel the change when crossing the border, yet it still felt like a whole with the rest of her skin.

“Miria, are there mystical beasts in your realm?” he asked.

“Mystical beasts?”

“Let’s say a lion the size of an elephant, with gorgeous fur, for example fiery red, which is very strong and perhaps a master of some element, like fire. Whenever it exerts its power, the area ends up incinerated to ashes. At the same time, some places on its body would glow,” Ast drew the best image he could.

The panthergirl pondered for a moment. “Ummm… I’ve never seen one, be it in books or around the world, but there are some strong beasts like that mentioned in the legends. What about you, Selene?”

“I haven’t stumbled on anything this powerful too. I think I’ve read a few things about beasts that could wield elements on this scale during my research though,” the foxgirl responded.

Asterios nodded to himself. “I see. This explains a lot. Selene, when did you reach each stage of your awakened form?”

“I’ve reached first at 39, second at 75 and third at 94,” she answered, slightly confused by the unexpected question.

“Okay. Were there times when the pain got much worse? Like significantly?” he continued.

“Ummm… yeah, a few times. And it was worse with each next one.”

“Can you remember when?”

“Definitely. First was somewhere when I was around 39, then second—…” She stopped mid-sentence and froze.

“Around 75 and 94, right?” Asterios asked and she nodded with wide eyes. “As I thought. Tell me, did you ever use Spiritual Sight on your own body?”

“Of course, I’m not that stupid to not think of it. There was no special reaction.”

“Did you do it while in the awakened state?” he asked.

Selene’s mouth opened to answer, but she stopped and after a moment slowly shook her head sideways. “I didn’t. I actually rarely used it since I haven’t fought a lot besides when I trained.”

“Right. There’s just one more thing I need to check to verify if what I’m thinking of is correct. This might feel a little bit weird.”

Asterios rotated Selene’s arm so that he had access to the inner side of her forearm and pressed his index and middle finger onto one of the dark blue paths. The two girls observed him intently. Ast started leaking his spiritual energy through the fingers as he slowly followed the line. The surface he moved over illuminated a bit for a moment, leaving lighter trails behind.

“Ahnnnnn~.”

A sensual moan escaped the foxgirl’s lips involuntarily. She quickly covered her mouth with her free hand. A very faint hint of rosiness surfaced on her cheeks. Asterios stopped his experiment and released her forearm.

“What did you discover, Master?” Miria gazed at him while brimming with curiosity.

Instead of answering her, Ast turned his face straight to the other woman and showed a kind smile. “Selene. This is not a curse. It’s a blessing.”

“Ble… ssing?” she repeated, slightly disoriented.

“I don’t know much about Spiritual Foxes and your Spiritualists, but I’m slowly building up a theory on what is happening to your body. But, I know one thing for sure. These lines aren’t some cursed marks. Those are spiritual circuits.”

“What?!” Both of the girls raised their voice in surprise.

“Now, I know what you are thinking. Aren’t spiritual circuits incorporeal and inside the body? Well, both yes and no. You aren’t aware of that fact, because you just haven’t ever seen external spiritual circuits. That’s where my question about mythical beasts came from. Some of them have such powerful energy that they need the help of an additional layer to properly control it. It’s exactly the same case with you and why they appeared when you became a full-fledged Spiritualist,” he explained with a smile.

Selene stared at her arms in shock and awe. “Then… then… why do they hurt?”

“That’s simple. First, they are ‘rusted’ from being unused. Second, do you know how a dam works?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“Then, what happens to a dam when you drastically increase the volume of water?”

Her eyes widened again. “The pressure on it… increases…” She covered her mouth with one hand again, this time entering deep thought. “I can understand the pain after I advanced a stage, but then why during the… ah. My bloodline is called Moonborn. My strength pretty much doubles during a full moon. How did no one ever notice that?”

Asterios rubbed her arm reassuringly. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You were in regular and constant pain every two weeks or how long it takes to cycle the moon phases in your realm. That definitely didn’t help your concentration. Along with your lack of knowledge about external spiritual circuits.”

She looked at him with even more respect and amazement in the eyes. “But then, if it’s a pain from accumulated spiritual energy and unused circuits, that’s what I’m getting from your explanation at least, why did absorbing more, even stronger one, help ease the suffering? Shouldn’t it make it worse?”

“It’s just another assumption but, mixing some of the stronger essence and energy with yours, depending on many variables, could end up in you growing stronger, thus increasing the maximum output of your internal circuits,” he shared his thoughts.

“Ah. And then if I kept getting stronger by myself, the increase would at some point catch up to the extended point and the amount of pain would return to the previous level… How can just one, tiny detail explain so much?” She didn’t know if she was happy, angry, relaxed or stressed from this revelation.

Asterios chuckled. “That’s life. Even I am sure that I’m missing just a tiny little thing to completely understand the things that are happening to me. Now, you should be able to lessen the pain a lot, if not get rid of it at some point. Just start using those lines and exerting yourself as much as you can in your awakened state. You don’t need my essence anymore.”

Selene quickly calmed herself down after hearing his last words, hastily got onto her knees again and bowed down.

“My Lord, I’m fully aware that it is now not necessary, but I can’t just leave my benefactor like this after receiving so much. My Lord pretty much saved my life. I know that I am not a trustworthy and well-mannered person in my Lord’s eyes, I was nothing but rude and presumptuous, but please, if my Lord could find it in his kind heart to forgive me and give me a chance to serve under a familiar contract, I promise I would do everything to not only atone for my sins but also repay this favour till the end of my time.”

He sighed. “And here I thought we’ve finally moved past the my Lord thing… Miria, what do you think?”

The panthergirl moved closer and shyly hugged Ast’s arm while growing increasingly red. “I will follow any decision you make, Master. But… I think she would be a good addition to our team. And besides… it’s not guaranteed that you are completely right, isn’t it? If she stayed with us, you would be able to observe if your theory is correct. And… with Master’s help and his powerful essence she would receive through the bond, Selene would be able to grow much, much stronger.”

He affectionately scratched around her ears with a smile. “You are right. I’m very interested to see through this myself too. If you are fine with her, then I have no objections. Well, okay, I do have one. You will stop calling me my Lord, deal?”

Selene opened her mouth to quickly accept those terms, but before that happened, she actually felt like it wasn’t right. Even if any further discussion could bring down her chances of staying by his side, she couldn’t just stay silent, in respect of all she received.

“Ummm… could we… negotiate that requirement a bit?” She showed an anxious smile.

“What do you have in mind?” Ast asked.

“I want to still be allowed to address you as my Lord, but I will of course tone it down. It would be my way of calling you Master since I will be serving you from now on. Would that be possible?”

Asterios sighed again. It certainly wouldn’t be much different from Miria calling him Master most of the time. Using Lord somehow fit the image and aura Selene emanated. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was her extravagant clothes or her sharp, noble-like face and body.

“I guess I shouldn’t argue over this,” he answered, making a beautiful smile appear on Selene’s dazzling face for the first time since they met.

“Thank you, my Lord! I promise I won’t overuse this right so as to not make it annoying for you,” she said and lightly bowed her head.

"Yeah. Let's have a snack and drink something before we move onto the contract part."