4 4. The Second Lie

I was laying on my back as my paws and legs were tucked close to my stomach. My eyes were glued on a pair of fluffy cotton candies that were moving left and right between my thigh. So yeah, now I had two tails on me.

My iris widened, watching the movement of the two cotton candies. The time started slowing down. I used all of my brain capacities to the limit. I must not let go of this once-in-a-lifetime chance.

'Now!'

My fanged mouth moved left and right trying to take a bite on both of my tails. The trio was watching me doing it for almost 15 minutes already, not intending to stop me. For them, I just looked like a cat or a dog playing with their tails, not knowing that for me it was pride and honor at stake.

All three of them have the same thought, 'cute.'

I succeeded in biting one of them, but the other would still freely wiggling in front of me. Inside my mind, I resolved myself, 'TEMPTATION! Must. Not. Follow.' However, I couldn't.

"Kyuuuung! Kyuung! Kyuuuung!" I howled, all the while switching my target between my left and right tails.

After what seemed like a century for me, I finally felt tired and gave up, laying down on my stomach.

Tails 1 - Me 0.

It was then I felt their stares, especially Dondonchakka's laser sight.

"I... I want... a snuggle!" mumbled Dondonchakka. I could see he was drunk on my cuteness, saliva spilled down his mouth. He couldn't stand it anymore and leaped toward me.

"Gyaaah! Don't come!" I yelled, terrified by the scary face of the incoming titan.

I summoned a clone behind the trio before switching place with it. Dondonchakka, unaware that I already switched, snuggled on my other self. As I expected, he didn't hold back his power at all. I could hear my clone's brittle bones cracking. Cold sweat drenched my back at the thought of me being crushed by his hug.

'I'm sorry, the other me.'

Pesche, who was also unaware of me switching place, immediately yelled, "Ahh! I told you to hold your power, you idiot!"

Bam!

Nel's heavy fist slammed Dondonchakka's head, caving into the ground. I couldn't see her face inside that mask, but I knew from her reiatsu that she was angry.

I could hear him weakly mumbling, "But... he's this cute...", before fainting.

Seeing that my clone disappeared, Nel turned around and lightly hopped toward me. She grabbed and hold me tight, like a doll. But the position caused blood to drip under my nose. Two bulging water balloons were covering my vision.

'So dark, yet so soft.' I thought inside my mind.

We always spent our days like this, training, playing around, training, sleep, training.

Sometimes Dondonchakka would bring me on his shoulder. Climbing the tall tree bark before giving up halfway. The tree was a bit special, if we made contact with it for too long, it would start absorbing our Spiritual Power/Reiryoku, whether it was still inside us or released.

Talking about Spiritual Power or Reiryoku, it has several levels of strength. Basic, Average, High, Great, Immense, and Immeasurable.

Basic Spiritual Power: This level of spiritual power corresponds to those possessing a level of spiritual power that is minimal. This level of power is common among those who may or may not be spiritually aware to a small degree but otherwise have no real spiritual power. This is also a common level of power for a regular human. (Below Average-class)

Average Spiritual Power: This level of spiritual power corresponds to those possessing an average level of spiritual power. This level of power is common among those of significant spiritual awareness and may even possess powers of their own but the power levels can vary among individuals. This is also a common level of power for a low ranking seated and non-seated members of the Gotei 13 or lesser power individuals. (Average-Class)

High Spiritual Power: This level of spiritual power corresponds to those possessing an above-average amount of spiritual power, which is finely controlled. This level of spiritual power is common among those of an average lieutenant rank and high-ranked seated officers. (Lieutenant-class)

Great Spiritual Power: This level of spiritual power corresponds to those possessing a large amount of spiritual power which is finely controlled. This level of spiritual power is common amongst those of an average Captain rank. (Captain-class)

Immense Spiritual Power: This level of spiritual power corresponds to those possessing an enormous amount of spiritual power which is finely controlled. This level of spiritual power is reflected in its ability to enhance a user during combat as well as its ability to affect the surrounding environment on a controlled level, allowing the wielder to use it in combat to startling degrees. (Advanced Captain-Class)

Immeasurable Spiritual Power: This level of spiritual power corresponds to those possessing a colossal amount of spiritual power, which can be controlled to varying degrees depending on the individual. This level of spiritual power is very rare and reserved for the strongest beings. (Beyond Captain-Class)

(A/N: I took it directly from the fandom page as it's the easiest way to learn to power level. Other authors might have done it as well, so why not?)

Me? I was currently on Average Class at most. It couldn't be helped as I was just a newborn. But with the appearance of the new tail, I could feel that I was on the top level in the average class. As long as I kept fighting and absorbing the Hollows I defeated, advancing to Lieutenant class (High Reiryoku) was just a matter of time. But I wonder, what will happen after that? Would I also turn into a Gillian? But I hadn't felt any sign of the hunger yet.

I threw those thoughts at the back of my head, now is not the time to be drowned inside my imagination.

Days passed after my first transformation. I finally grasped my second ability.

Before talking about my new ability, there was a change— or rather an improvement of my first ability, Primera's description.

The previous one was...

[Primera Mentira]

[Once activated, allows the caster to produce clones of himself. The clone's ability, quantity, and duration would depend on the caster's strength. The caster could switch place with the clone without restriction.]

[Currently, can only allow 1 clone/use that couldn't attack or move for 10 seconds.]

Now, it became like this...

[Primera Mentira]

[Currently, can only allow 2 clones/use that couldn't attack, but can move, for 20 seconds.]

My clones still couldn't attack, but at least now they could move. The duration doubled and now I could spawn one or two clones at once. Neat!

===°°°°===

Currently, my two clones were silently lurking behind a pack of wolf-shaped Hollows. They were waiting for my second ability to be fully activated.

"Segunda Mentira," I muttered toward the pack of wolves before me.

(A/N: Second Lie)

Talking about your second lie, what is it that you always hated about your parents?

Is it talking with the piece of trash you must call parents? Is it the pain he inflicted both physically and mentally on you? Is it the fact that you must call him father when he didn't even show the slightest care for you? Or is it the fact that your father has a similar childhood just like yours?

No, it wasn't that, right? It was the fact that you have to lie that his fist was light. It was the fact that you have to lie that you don't need to eat tonight. It was the fact that you have to lie that you don't need to go to school and just start working. It was the fact that no matter what you do, no matter how you deny it, he was still your father.

And just like what people say... Like son...like father...

[Segunda Mentira]

[Once activated, allows the caster to copy the appearance, spirit power, skill, and ability of the target. The caster could save copied information to be used at a later date by spending one of the currently allowed slots. The caster could select which from the four attributes to be more focused, allowing a much more precise replica with a small chance to even surpass the original.]

[Used Slots: 0 – Unused save slots:1]

[Duration: 1 minute]

Although I could only save one copy right now, I didn't need to worry about spending it. I could spam this ability without spending the slot, copying the enemy I currently face.

Just like that, I copied the leader of the wolf pack in front of me. A wolf, bigger than a truck-kun. Wolf skull adorned its head. Claws that could rip the air. Fur, so dark, it could paint the night.

Not only that, but the clones I spawned earlier were also stepping out of the shadow with the same appearance of the Boss Wolf. They couldn't attack, but they could instill fear on the other Hollow wolves.

However, it was not enough to overpower the leader of the wolves. It howled into the ceiling, proclaiming its dominance, returning the lost morale of his wolf pack.

Faraway, the trio was watching me with intense feelings. The wolf pack before me was not the ordinary training course they planned ahead. It was an accident, a miscalculation on their sides. The wolf pack was not a separate being, they were one single being, a special one. Not only that, it was drowned in hunger.

They were about to finish it, but I declined their help as I wanted to test my newfound power. I knew it was reckless, but fighting enemies around my strength was a bad decision. To gain the most of it, I needed to fight Hollows much stronger than my current power. It was the fact that I found out after my power was stalling for three weeks straight before I received my second tails.

The Boss wolf charged toward me and I tried to evade as much as I could. However, his claw's reach was much faster and further than I thought. It ruptured a portion of my neck. Or should I say my clone's neck?

This could've been easier if I could copy one of the trio, especially Nel. However, it failed. No matter what I did, the effect didn't take place. I concluded that the huge gap in our power level was the main cause.

Seeing that the 'me' in front of it fell on the ground with a giant maw and gushing blood, the Boss wolf turned to face the other two 'me'. This time, it howled and ordered its underlings to attack instead.

Too bad, I switched again on the spot behind the Boss wolf and leaped to its defenseless back. The oldest trick in the book still worked just fine.

My fangs snapped at the back of its neck while my claws dig into its flesh. The Boss wolf howled in pain while trying to shake me off, trashing here and there. I clenched my jaw even tighter whenever it slammed me onto the bark of trees. However, I couldn't overpower it for too long. His reiryoku was still much stronger than mine, something that couldn't be helped... as it was not the attribute I focused myself to copy.

"Manada de Lobos," I muttered, chanting the Boss wolf's ability as it charged at me along with his own little pack.

It was the Boss wolf's main ability. I wickedly smiled behind the wolf skull mask as I spawned my own version of a little army.

My copy ability had a small chance to surpass the original attribute of the target if I focused on it. And the attribute I focused on this time was not its reiryoku or skill or appearance. It was the ability.

(A/N: If you're confused about the difference between skill and ability, I'll explain it to you. Skill is the target's technique, like swordsmanship, hand-to-hand combat, footwork, etc. And the ability is just like Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou, or the Shinigami's Kido.)

Luckily, the goddess of luck stood by my side, triggering that small chance. If the Boss wolf could spawn tens of wolves, my copies triggered around fifty of them. Normally, the quantity might not beat the quality. But in a fight like this, even with just a difference of one, would decide the winner immediately.

Imitating the Boss wolf's howl, I howled to the sky to raise my army's morale. And they returned it with their own howling. There were only 30 seconds left until my Segunda Mentira's skill to end. But it was more than. enough.

It was plain straight bullying. I only need 5 of my wolf to busy Boss' wolf's underlings. The other 45, well, it was like sugar to ants. From every side, neverending waves of attack kept piling more and more wounds on the Boss wolf's body. Such a puny pack was rendered obsolete.

With 3 seconds left on the timer, the Boss wolf scattered into particles of light and absorbed into my body, replenishing my energy and strengthening it. I could feel it. Unlike before, now I could feel how long till I got my next tails. It wouldn't be long.

As I returned to my original form, the two-tailed fox, the trio suddenly appeared next to me. They nodded to each other as if agreeing on something. Together, they brought me up in the air and tossed me. It was a celebration.

"Ahh! Let me down, kyuuuuuung! My head's spinning!"

Even so, my brain hadn't recovered from the constant stress of the battle. It was a bit too much for a celebration so soon.

"At least, let me rest for a minute!"