"And you aren't going to tell me?" Stacy asked, her tone amused, though her eyes narrowed knowingly.
"Even if I do, you won't understand what I'm saying."
"Hmm." She folded her arms and looked back at the ice, silent but thoughtful.
[30 minutes later]
[Kitsu POV]
"Hey, we aren't even talking, and you're making dumb mistakes," I said, sliding my queen across the board and taking Dea's unsuspecting piece.
"Dammit, I didn't see your knight." Dea groaned, her hand clenching into a fist as she scowled down at the board.
They've been trying to break the ice for thirty-four minutes already. Why are they struggling so much? Kayda should've blasted it apart in seconds, I thought, eyes flicking to the doorway. The once-solid surface now sported a lattice of small cracks, but the wall still held firm.
"Hey, what are you looking at?" Dea asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"Well, at the door, of course," I said with thick sarcasm.
"That's not a door anymore. That's just an ice wall." She scoffed and flicked her eyes back to the board.
"Why did you move your king?"
"Uh, because he hasn't moved yet?"
"But you could have done castling."
"I could do what now?"
"Didn't I explain it to you?" I said, baffled. I showed her the move, rearranging the pieces briefly.
"What you could do is that."
"Yeah, only if those two pieces haven't moved, though."
"Oh, I get it."
"Yeah. But anyway-checkmate," I said, sliding my queen to its final spot.
"What!! This isn't fair!" Dea slammed her forehead onto the table, sulking like a child.
"Let's try the game again, shall we?" I said, already packing the board for another round.
"Fine," she grumbled, sitting back up.
Just as she reached for a pawn, the ice wall exploded.
Boom!
"Kyaa!!" she screamed, clutching her pillow as shards rained down.
"Well then," I said, standing slowly, an ice whip snapping into existence around her neck. My grin widened as I turned to face the man who'd shattered the wall. He floated mid-air, one fist extended-only to be caught inches away from me by Mom's hand. Blood ran down his knuckles in a steady drip.
"What is this?" Pendragon demanded, baffled, seeing his arm trembling, caught effortlessly by Stacy.
"I'd like to know as well. Why'd you try to attack me, huh?" I asked, my other hand conjuring a massive greatsword of ice. The blade hummed with cold as I rose to my feet, whip tightening on Dea's throat.
'As I suspected, it won't deter someone in a leadership position,' I mused, but my grin only widened. I looked at Mom, her calm smile meeting my excitement.
"Huh, brother? You're here already?" Dea asked with a flicker of joy despite being bound.
"No, no, we're still busy here," I said lightly, tightening invisible wires around her arms.
"Huh?"
"You let go of my sister," Pendragon snarled, ripping apart several of my wires with a surge of wind magic.
"Nah. Why would I do that?"
"I already made a deal with your mother, Kitsuna Draig," Pendragon snapped.
I tilted my head at Mom, then back at him. "Yeah, I know. But that deal didn't include you almost attacking me," I said with a grin.
"...Haha. And what are you going to do about it?" He smirked, sending small wind blades that shredded the rest of my wires.
"Oh, I don't know. "Maybe you should consider taking your sister's life," I said, tightening my grip on the whip.
"You aren't fast enough," Pendragon sneered.
"Don't you guys already have a list of my skills?" I asked, genuinely confused.
"We do, of course."
"Then you know I love my bombs, right?"
"You dare threaten me?" His hand drifted to his blade, while Mom's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Hey, it's insurance, man, insurance," I said, raising my hands with a mocking laugh.
"Tsk. I should have known. What do you want then?"
"One of your arms, please. I would prefer your right arm," I said, smiling.
"...What?" Everyone gaped.
"Come on, give it to me." I held out my hand expectantly.
"Fine," Pendragon said at last, and without hesitation, he cut off his right arm. The blade was clean, his face stoic, and no grunt escaped him.
"Brother!" Dea screamed.
"Thank you," I said cheerfully, catching the arm and engulfing it in black fire.
"Augh!!!" Pendragon roared in pain before collapsing, his remaining arm falling limp as his unconscious body hit the ground.
"Oh, that's how it works," I mused aloud, snuffing the devil's fire.
"Commander!!" His soldiers surged forward, weapons drawn.
"Oh, now you're threatening me?" I asked, conjuring a halo of ice needles in the air.
"What have you done to the commander?!" one soldier shouted, his sword trembling.
"Sheesh. The Federation dogs get dumber every time I meet them. Where do you think you are?!" I shouted, my killing intent slamming into them. One by one, they buckled, knees hitting the ground. Mom's aura joined mine, doubling the pressure.
"Okay, that's enough of the show," Mom said, clapping her hands lightly as if ending a performance. She stepped between me and the soldiers.
"Are you happy now? It's really annoying when you make me do this," I muttered, dispelling my mana.
"I know. But seeing you put people in their place is always fun," Mom said with a laugh, slinging her arm around my shoulders.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm done," I sighed, teleporting away to my training grounds.
"Brother!!" Dea cried the moment I disappeared, her voice cracking in despair.
It's been a while since I made a 1700-word Kitsuna chapter.
Do remember to join the discord if you want.
Also, I have a second novel named Sazanami. Please go check it out.
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Chapter 168: I am back
[Kitsu POV]
"Well, how have you been?" Mom asked, her voice carrying easily across the open stone training ground as she stepped inside. Her presence was always obvious-the air itself seemed to straighten when she walked in, like even the wind bowed to her.
"I have been great, Mom," I said quickly, brightening when I saw her. A genuine smile tugged at my face as I set down the practice blade I had been working with. "How is the Kuni territory turning out?"
"Absolutely horrible," she said flatly, her expression souring. She crossed the open floor, her boots clicking lightly against the polished stone, and folded her arms. "The demons have noticed something has happened, so they're stationing more soldiers at the border to pressure us into something. I don't know what just yet, though."
I tilted my head, frowning at her words. "What do you mean by pressuring you into something? Don't they just want to start a war again?"
"No," she said sharply, dismissing my question with a flick of her hand. "They won't start one if the Federation doesn't move first. And besides, they lost all the previous wars against us-even when we were distracted by the Federation." Her tone had that crisp finality she always used when she wanted me to stop poking holes in her reasoning.
I raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "With those Kunis running the house?"
"They were forceful, you know," Mom replied, her voice calm, but it only made me more doubtful.
"When?" I scoffed. "Those dwarfs believe he fucked them over. They're a marquis house-they need to hold the line when the time comes. That's literally their job. If they're screwing it up now, then they're just dumb." My frustration leaked into my tone, my tail flicking behind me.
"I can understand that high dwarfs are really rare and strong assets for battles," Mom admitted with a sigh, shrugging her shoulders, "but then again, they pampered those two far too much. Made them useless."
I snorted softly. "I wouldn't know. I haven't been that attentive to what races exist in the world." I shrugged as well, mirroring her without much thought.
"That reminds me," she said, tilting her head slightly, her eyes narrowing with curiosity. "How are they doing?"
"Right, right, they did come with us, didn't they?" I said, blinking, a little embarrassed at my absentmindedness. I nodded awkwardly, scratching the back of my head.
"You forgot about them," Mom said, smiling knowingly, her lips curving into that smile that told me she'd seen right through me.
"Yeah... I did," I muttered, ears twitching as I looked away.
"Did Kayda forget about them as well?" she asked thoughtfully.
"I think so? I haven't seen them since we got here." I tilted my head back, thinking. My memory was nothing but hours of training, the constant repetition of movement, mana flow, and experimenting with new ideas. Faces outside that loop blurred too easily.
"You've been training most of the time, so I doubt you would," Mom said, shaking her head lightly. "I'll have to ask Kayda, then."
"Is there anything else you would like to know?" I asked quickly, wanting to steer the conversation away from my forgetfulness.
"Yeah," Mom said, her tone shifting as she narrowed her eyes at me. "What was that mana you used on the sis-con?"
"Oh yeah, my invisible mana." I grinned and snapped my fingers, forming a dagger of translucent nothingness in my hand. The air shimmered faintly, warping light around it. "It's cool, right?" I asked before casually flicking the dagger at Mom.
Her hand shot up like a snake, catching it effortlessly despite the fact that it couldn't be seen. She frowned. "This is really fascinating. And don't throw stuff like this at me."
"Well, I knew you would be able to catch it," I said, shrugging, trying to hide my smirk. "To you, this is just a small trick anyway."
"I won't say it's a small trick, Kitsuna." She examined the invisible dagger for a second longer before letting it dissipate into the air. "This can potentially kill anyone without them knowing how they died or who killed them. The perfect assassin's weapon."
I nodded in agreement. "That is the plan."
"So, how did you learn this?" she pressed, watching me carefully.
"Well, that is my true self, Mana," I explained, puffing out my chest proudly.
"...What?" Mom tilted her head at me, eyebrows rising. "You mean... this trickery and stealth is your true self?"
"Well, in a way, yeah."
"It makes sense," she said finally, nodding to herself. "Did Kayda help you?"
"'Look into yourself to know yourself,'" I said, quoting Kayda's cryptic words. "She told me something like that and left." I shrugged.
"Fuck you, you're a monster," Mom muttered, though there was a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she let the last wisps of the dagger dissipate.
"Hey, that isn't nice," I protested halfheartedly.
"As if you care." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, why did you need to learn this?"
"Well, it's to cut through Adamite," I explained simply.
"What?" Mom blinked, baffled.
"I need to learn how to cut through unrefined Adamite. That's what Steve said." I shrugged, not really understanding everything Steve had told me but repeating it anyway.
"Wait, so that's how he makes demigod weapons?" Mom asked, her voice sharp, disbelief lacing her words.
"Yeah. He puts his true self's mana into the atmosphere before forging a weapon around it. Or... well, that's what I understood when he explained it to me."
"I wonder..."
"Hmm?" I tilted my head, humming curiously at her.
"Don't worry. I'll have to have a talk with Steve next time I see him," she said, which only confused me further. But her tone made it clear it wasn't something I needed to press.
"Okay," I said, dropping it.
"Well, when are you going back to him to start learning about forging?" Mom asked, her expression softening again.
"Tomorrow," I said. I flexed my fingers, creating a few hundred needles of invisible mana above my hand before letting them disperse in a glittering shimmer. "I can hold it for quite a while now, so I'm satisfied."
"That's good," she said warmly.
"Thanks for speaking with him about teaching me. This will be a wonderful skill to have before the tournament."
"Anything for my daughters," Mom said suddenly, stepping forward to wrap me in a quick hug. Her arms squeezed me just tightly enough to make my ears burn red.
"Right," I muttered, rubbing the back of my head shyly when she pulled away.
"Oh, another thing," she said, her eyes narrowing again. "How did you learn to damage people's souls? I hope you haven't done any experiments with people." Her voice carried a warning tone.
"Ah, no. It was my first time trying it after Kayda did it to me. I really didn't think it would work," I admitted, shaking my head quickly.
"Well, devil magic is terrible for a person's soul, so that might have been why it worked so easily for you," Mom explained, making me nod slowly in understanding.
"Ah, I see. Interesting."
"Don't do that, though. The world and the system don't like it if you destroy or damage souls too much," she warned more seriously, her tone sharper now.
"What? Why?" I asked, frowning.
"Don't worry about it. Just remember you can't destroy people's souls without backlash."
"But you can eat them," I muttered without thinking, raising an eyebrow.
"..." Mom's silence hit like a hammer. She just looked at me, and suddenly my back was slick with sweat.
"Sorry," I blurted, looking down, ears drooping. "I shouldn't have said it like that."
"He is the sin of gluttony. It is a skill created by society, so it is acceptable for him to engage in it," Mom explained stiffly, though her voice carried a simmering anger.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it," I said quickly, apologetically.
"Don't worry about it," Mom muttered finally, turning and leaving the training grounds.
I let out a long sigh, rubbing my face. "I should really learn how to filter my words."
[Next day morning]
"So Mom already went back to the Kunis' territory," I said aloud, sighing heavily.
"Yes, she left just after talking to you," one of the servants confirmed from the doorway.
"Aaah, for fuck's sake," I groaned, thunking my forehead against the wall.
"What's wrong?" Kayda's voice asked from behind me.
"I brought up the sin of gluttony," I muttered.
"Good idea," Kayda said dryly, slapping me on the back of the head.
"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, rubbing the spot. "We were talking about souls and stuff, but I got annoyed that I'm not allowed to damage souls."
"Kitsu, I didn't show you how to damage souls so you could torture people like that," Kayda scolded, crossing her arms. Her sharp eyes pinned me in place. "I showed you that there is a weakness you still need to work on. And you need to be on guard for that critical weakness."
