Nil attempted to activate Insight, but a sharp pain assaulted their head as soon as they tried. They brought a hand to their forehead and closed their eyes, gritting their teeth. At the same time, the kitsune glared at them and growled.

“You dare try to manipulate me with your petty magic?” it said, stepping closer to them. “Simply ridiculous. You come a dozen lifespans too soon if your hope was to defeat me.”

Asha put herself in front of Nil, throwing her hands up and lowering her gaze.

“We intended nothing of the sort!” she said with a shaky voice. “We are looking for someone, and thought they might be in this cave. If that isn’t the case, we’ll keep searching elsewhere.”

The kitsune remained silent for a few seconds, perhaps pondering whether to let them go or not. Finally, it scoffed—or at least that’s how Nil interpreted the sound it made.

“There are no humans here. This is sacred ground, meant for our kind and only our kind.”

Asha nodded nervously. “We understand,” she said. “Please, let us leave, and we won’t bother you or yours ever again.”

“Fine,” it said. “Turn back, and do not ever return. My patience runs thin.”

Asha bowed deeply, and gestured for the others to follow suit. “Thank you, mighty kitsune,” she said. Then, she tried to rush everyone out of the cave, but one person refused to go.

“The fox is lying,” Ray said, frowning.

Asha stared at him in disbelief. “Have you gone mad? Let’s go, now.”

“No,” he said. “Lynet is in this cave; I’m sure of it.”

“What?” Asha said, her eyes wide as saucers. “How can you—”

Ray interrupted her. “A skill.”

That’s right; Nil had nearly forgotten about it until then.

[‘Judgment’: You can intuit the target’s intentions.]

But why did that skill work, while Insight did not? Perhaps it was because Insight was more intrusive, while Judgment seemed more superficial.

“Are you truly so desperate to perish that you would refuse my magnanimity?” the kitsune asked, getting even closer to the group.

Ray stepped forward; Nil didn’t know whether he was being brave or stupid. He looked the beast in the eye. “Where is Lynet?”

The kitsune growled in his face, baring its teeth. “So be it.”

With a single howl, every member of the party fell to their knees, suffocated by the pressure being emitted by the beast; the mana in the air was being used to pin them down. Nil didn’t know what kind of control one would need to accomplish such a feat, but they felt like not even Durai had so much power.

It was as if the force of gravity had been multiplied tenfold. Nil’s legs didn’t even budge at first, hopelessly locked in place. However, without an apparent cause, they were suddenly able to stand up, almost no longer feeling the push of mana.

[‘Tenacious’ is active.]

The pressure was still there, if Nil focused on it, but it had nearly vanished. That trait was truly something else; it protected them against pain, cold, and even this.

“How…” the kitsune started, but then it jumped back as it took a closer look at Nil. “What are you?”

Nil silently grabbed their sword from its sheath, and got into a fighting stance. They had no chance, but they would try. It would’ve been good if Peacemonger decided to activate its special effect right then, but it showed no signs of doing so.

The beast stared at Nil’s wing, frightened. It didn’t seem to know for sure what they were, but its instincts were yelling at it to retreat. Even so, its pride was telling it to do the opposite, making the creature conflicted.

And just like that, both it and Nil remained motionless, looking at each other, dreading the moment when one would decide to attack and all hell would break loose. That moment, fortunately, did not come, as the little fox the party had encountered outside walked between the two and started barking angrily at the kitsune.

“...They saved you?” the kitsune said, its features softening.

The fox replied with a yelp.

“...I understand,” the kitsune said, relaxing its posture. It sat down, its tails wrapping around its body in a majestic manner. The pressure stopped at once.

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The little fox turned around and yelped at Nil with a content expression. The animal approached them and Nil crouched down to give it a pet. It happily obliged, pushing its head against their hands and wagging its tail like a dog. Once it was satisfied, it leapt onto Nil’s head, startling them.

The kitsune was unamused. “It seems my offspring has taken a liking to you,” it said.

The fox leapt from Nil’s head to Kai, who was getting up. He caught it and laughed as it started licking his face.

“I know who you are searching for,” the kitsune said, causing everyone to shift their attention back to it. “She will not be going back.”

Ray stepped forward, giving it a dirty look. “What happened to her?” he asked gravely.

The magical beast sighed. “I can promise you she is doing fine. However, and I will not repeat myself again, she will not be going back.”

“And why is that?” Max said, narrowing his eyes at the creature.

The kitsune glared at him. “I do not take kindly to humans trespassing into my home and making demands of me.”

“Stop,” a new voice said, coming from the depths of the cavern. Soon after, a woman’s figure appeared from the darkness behind the kitsune. She would’ve looked just like a regular human if it weren’t for the fact she had fox ears, a tail, and white fur covering a good chunk of her arms and legs.

Kai cocked his head at her. “Are you Lynet?”

“Lynet is human, Kai,” Nova said, rolling her eyes. “This girl is clearly a demi-human. Beastkin. Did you even pay attention during lessons?”

The girl grabbed her own arm and looked down. “Actually… He’s right. I’m Lynet.”

“What?” Nova said, raising an eyebrow.

Kai laughed and punched her lightly on the shoulder. “I knew it!”

Ray scratched his head. “Is your mother…”

“No,” she said, shaking her head, “that’s not it. Dad found me, abandoned in the middle of the tundra, when I was just a child. He doesn’t know I’m not human.”

“How can he not know?” Kai asked, furrowing his brow as he attempted to come up with a reasonable explanation.

Nova looked at him with incredulous eyes. “You really didn’t pay any attention at all, huh? Beastkin can hide their animal features to look fully human.”

“Still, that doesn’t answer the big question,” Ray said, addressing Lynet. “Why are you here? And why won’t you come back?”

She took a few seconds to respond. “This… This is where I belong,” she said. “With my kind.”

“Shouldn’t you tell your dad, at least?” Kai asked. “He’s worried sick.”

Lynet looked away, her eyes full of concern. “...It’s better if he doesn’t know,” she said.

Kai got one step closer, frowning. “You’d let him believe you’re dead for the sake of not telling him the truth?”

He tried to keep advancing, but Asha put a hand on his shoulders, stopping him. “Don’t be insensitive, Kai; it really isn’t so easy. Demi-humans aren’t allowed to live in human cities. They could kill her if they found out.”

“Fuck,” Ray said quietly, a pained expression showing on his face. “Do humans just suck in every universe?”

Nil stepped forward, facing Lynet. “Do you really want to stay here?” they asked.

Lynet avoided looking at them directly, and she didn’t respond, at first. However, as Nil got ready to continue, she finally spoke up.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I can’t keep endangering him by staying. If I was found out, he would also be…”

Nil cut her off. “What do you think he would prefer? Staying with you and taking that risk, or thinking you’re dead?”

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks!” she exploded. “It’s not right for me to be so selfish!”

Nil shook their head. “Is it really selfish, if it’s what he would want as well? You’re making both yourself and him miserable by being so stubborn. What do you think would’ve happened if we hadn’t been willing to search for you? Would he have given up, or would he have risked his life to come look for you himself?”

She lowered her gaze and bit her lower lip. “But—”

“And what if we come back now, and tell him you’re dead?” Max said, continuing from where Nil had left off. “Will he shrug it off, and continue living his life as if nothing had happened? Do you even know how painful it is to lose a child?” He raised his voice as he said that last part, clearly distraught by something.

An uncomfortable silence filled the cave as Max stopped talking. Finally, Lynet started crying. The little fox went up to her and yelped softly before nuzzling its snout against her leg. With tears still running down her cheeks, she chuckled, bent down, and picked it up as she wiped her face.

“I know, buddy,” she told the fox. “They’re right.”

She turned to the group. “I will go back with you,” she said.

“Are you certain?” the kitsune asked. It had been silently watching up until that point.

Lynet nodded, her eyes still wet. “Yeah,” she said. “I need to tell him.”

The kitsune closed its eyes and breathed out a slow sigh. “I won’t stop you,” it said.

“Thank you,” she responded. Then, she let the little fox down gently. “I’ll come visit, okay?”

However, the little fox barked and jumped back to the top of her head.

The kitsune’s mouth bent into what Nil interpreted as a slight smile. “I think the small one wants to accompany you,” it said.

Lynet chuckled, and pulled the fox into her arms. “Is that right?” she said. “I guess I’ll have to take care of you, then.”

The group waited for the blizzard to end, which luckily only took a few hours, and said their farewells to the kitsune before setting off toward Owl’s Crown.

Their new animal companion, who they learned from Lynet was called Aria, kept hopping between the members of the party. While Nova and Max were annoyed by it at first, everyone quickly warmed up to her.

“By the way,” Kai said. “Is that cave invisible to humans or something? We only found it once Aria led us to it.”

Lynet chuckled. “I don’t think so… You probably just missed it because of the blizzard…”

“Oh!” Kai said, surprised. Then, he burst out laughing. “I totally thought it was like in one of those stories where being kind and selfless is the key to completing the quest!” He kept laughing about it, although the others found it less amusing.

The walk back ended up being a lot more light-hearted than the initial trek to the cave; Max and even Nil had joined the conversation and were chuckling along with the rest. However, the hopeful atmosphere died down quickly once the town of Owl’s Crown came into view.

The city was being attacked.