Chapter 24 - Wish

The fox moves quietly through the forest, its movements so soft and silent that the small breeze made itself more apparent than them.

With the noise of mysterious human steps as its guide, the fox made its way toward them. The sound grew clearer the closer it got.

Soon enough, the figure of a young man emerged before the fox's eyes.

His appearance seemed to give mixed signals. From behind, the fox could see he was quite imposing: tall and muscular, with messy light brown hair swaying slightly in the breeze.

This fearless appearance seemed at odds with his clothes, which made him look like a soldier straight out of a battlefield.

It was hard to even call what he was wearing clothes. Some rags felt more appropriate—torn in several places, discolored from overuse, and with several stains and patches of dust. Not even a bum would dress in such a poor manner.

"So, from the way he's dressed, we can rule out him being a Cultivator. No self-respecting cultivator would ever dress himself in such a way."

Obviously, a cultivator, regardless of their rank, would have far higher standards than almost any mortal. Due to the power they wield, it would be strange if that wasn't the case. Only nobles and some rich merchants could be said to have wealth comparable to cultivators, and that was only the case for the lower level ones.

As for an accomplished cultivator, you could probably collect all the money from every mortal in a kingdom, and they still wouldn't look twice at it.

So, a cultivator dressing so shabbily is not something that would happen. Especially considering how much emphasis they place on their face and appearance, they would never appear dressed that way.

"And as for a hunter, he doesn't look like one either. He's carrying no weapons, bait, or any utensil that would be required for that profession. I was already quite sure that he wasn't a hunter before; this just further confirms it."

A mortal. As expected, it was a mortal.

As that confirmation emerged in its head, something clicked. It didn't know why, but for some reason, it had wanted it to be a regular mortal. It was why it could not stop itself from coming.

A silent bloodlust started taking over its body. Its eyes reddened, and its nerves stood on high alert.

It had become a hunter, and the young man had been decided as the prey.

Why was this happening? That didn't matter right now. Inside the fox's mind, nothing else existed; its thoughts were completely focused on the best way to catch its prey.

A stench of death started permeating around it.

"While he's a mortal with no weapons on him, killing him won't be easy. As a fox, my physical assets aren't good enough to deal with him in frontal combat, especially considering how big the guy is.

Any normal hit would probably do little to no damage to him, and if I get caught, it would be game over for me. He would snap my neck, and there would be nothing I could do about it.

So the best choice would be to catch him off guard and aim for a weak spot. For humans, the most vulnerable place would probably be the neck, right?

Though I wouldn't be able to reach his neck normally—he's too tall for that. So how would I do that?"

The fox looks around, its vision filled with nothing but bushes and trees.

And an idea pops into its mind.

It dashes forward, a grin on its face.

(A while later)

"He's almost here," says the fox, standing on top of a tree.

The particular branch it was standing on was located right above the gravel road the young man was walking on.

With the tree located on a turn on the gravel road, it was basically impossible for him to spot the fox. Conversely, it was also impossible for the fox to observe the young man coming its way, having to rely on sound alone to know his distance. He would only be visible when he passed the fox by, at which point it would instantly pounce.

At that height, it could reach the man's neck without any problems. Not only that, but the branch was close enough that he would have no time to react to the attack. With one move of its claws, his neck would be slashed open. It would be over in an instant.

The fox closed its eyes, listening to the steps.

As the fox waited, the thought of stopping this plan did cross its mind. However, the bloodlust in its heart could not be quelled. It was looking forward to it. A primal instinct took over its body, and it was craving blood.

The grin on its face deepened.

1 second, 2 seconds, 3 seconds, ..., 140 seconds

'Step.'

The sound is close. Very close.

The fox opens its eyes, now bright red.

"It's time," it murmurs.

The young man reaches the fox's location.

And as he does, the fox springs into action.

As it jumps down from the tree, a whoosh sound rings out, as the air is blown by the force of the fox's movement.

Less than a second. That was how long the airborne sequence lasts.

The fox's claws, glimmering with killing intent, make their way to the human's throat in a fluid motion.

All the while, the human doesn't even seem to notice anything happening. He was going to wake up in the afterlife without even knowing why.

'Done,' the fox thinks as the claws are about to contact his skin.

However, before the claws connect, the young man tilts his head to the side. The fox flies right through, hitting nothing but air.

The fox falls to the ground in front of him, its face incredulous.

'How did he dodge that? My timing was perfect. It should have left him with no time to react.'

A frown appears on its face.

'Was it luck? Did he just happen to turn his neck right at the moment my claws were about to hit him? That's not possible, right? But if that wasn't the case, then how did he manage to dodge that?'

This was bad, but it had no time to be theorizing right now. It had lost its best chance. Its cover had been blown.

The human was alert now, for sure. Trying to assassinate him again was out of the question now. He would act far more guarded, avoiding any branches or trees that spill over into the gravel path.

So if it wanted to go through with this assassination, it had to act now. While he was still shocked and surprised, while his brain was still in disarray, the fox had to push forward now. It was the only path forward.

A hunter would never allow its prey to run.

The fox looks up at the human right in front of it, trying to discern any weak spots it could take advantage of and, based on them, decide its next move. To push forward or gain some distance. To continue on this hunt, or to give up.

However, all these plans and calculations end the moment it lays eyes on the young man's face.

A shock rocks the fox down to its very core.

"How is that possible?" Without even noticing, these words escape its mouth.

This causes a slight change in the young man's eyes. His previous cold gaze now had a sprinkle of curiosity in it. This, however, is entirely missed by the little fox, its mind still in complete disarray.

The plethora of emotions coursing through the little fox at the moment were hard to explain. It was trying its best to remain logical and figure out a reasonable explanation for what was happening.

However, it couldn't. The shock was too big. The revelation was too heavy and too sudden. It was impossible to properly process anything.

As if its brain had turned to water, it stayed there, staring with a dumbfounded expression at the man in front of it.

The young man didn't try to move either, staring back at the fox, with the smile that had been on his face since the beginning of the encounter having grown a tiny bit wider. The thoughts hidden behind that smile impossible to decipher.

A few seconds pass by. Under this tense atmosphere, though, these seconds feel like full hours.

As time slowly flows, the fox starts to calm down. Sanity slowly returning to its thoughts.

The first thing it remembers is how precarious its current position is. Failing the fatal attack it launched was bad enough, but how long had it been standing still with its guard completely down for?

The fact that it was still alive was actually baffling to it. It had given more than enough time for its prey to recompose itself and launch a counter-attack. Without any means to defend itself while in its stupor, death would be a certainty.

This was definitely strange. The fox couldn't imagine a single scenario where its life didn't end here. Maybe if its prey was so scared it was unable to move at all in response. However, they had more than enough time to compose themselves, and even if they hadn't attacked, they should have at least been able to run away.

And yet, they did neither.

Not only that, but a single look at the young man's face was enough to dispel that theory. There wasn't a single speck of fear in his eyes.

In that case, then why?

"Would I have acted in such a manner? No, wait, thinking that way is a mistake in and of itself. I'm no longer..."

Complicated thoughts ran through the fox's mind.

The one you'd think deserved the most consideration, that being, running away from that clearly disadvantageous position, never once crossed its mind, though.

That might indeed have been the wisest move. The fox would have all the time in the world to decipher the mystery it had been met with after it retreated back to safety. Maybe the answer would come to it when it thought things through with a calmer and more sound mind.

However, it didn't even consider it a possibility.

This situation seemed like a dream. It was one of those things that nobody would believe if told. In fact, the fox itself was still having trouble believing it to be true.

However, if it was true, it was something that you simply could not let go of.

What if it never got another chance like this? What if he disappeared forever? It would never be able to forgive itself for letting this slip right past its fingers, or rather, paws.

So even if it was currently in severe danger, it didn't move at all. If he were to die at his hands, that was what fate intended it to be. It found it a fitting conclusion to its life.

Remembering how a moment ago it had tried to kill the man in front of it made quite the ironic joke. It had been so blinded by getting over its past regrets that it never noticed the position it was in. Its awareness blinded by its internal turmoil.

After all, it had only been a week. That fox body still felt awkward to move in. It still woke up every morning in complete disappointment, realizing that its current reality was not just a nightmare. Every night it prayed to the moon to give it back what was stolen from it.

And yet, even after all the praying he did, to not be able to recognize when his wish was realized...

Sure, it was not in the way he was imagining, but its old body did indeed return to him.

In a twisted way, he had finally gotten back what it had lost.