Chapter 163: Name for a Fox

[Rank Progress +9%]

Sweet and rich in flavor.

As Julian consumed the fruit, he could feel it firsthand. The sweetness was different from an ordinary apple, more like honey.

It was very juicy and soft.

Not only that, when Julian swallowed it, his body responded in a unique way right away.

Refreshing, lighter, and rich in Mana.

All those sensations blended together wonderfully, and even gave Julian additional Rank Progress.

After consuming the fruit, Julian opened his eyes, but he didn’t feel anything change.

So he stood up, took a few steps, and opened the window of the house.

His gaze fell on the street below, filled with dragon humanoids enjoying their lives.

A cool breeze brushed against his body. It carried the sounds of conversation from the street, which had previously sounded like a foreign language.

"Tazu, do you know that there was a huge explosion in that hot place?"

"Oh, I heard that place has turned into a snowy place now."

"Wow, really? How did you find out?"

"The Clan next door gave us the information. I heard the culprit was an intruder from another world."

"...Didn’t Elder Garph just bring a creature from another world? Maybe it’s them?"

Julian didn’t understand how they pronounced each sentence, every letter and their accents were hard to follow, but strangely, Julian understood what they were actually talking about.

It felt as if it were being translated into the human language Julian understood.

’Oh...’

Julian tilted his head slightly, trying to listen to another conversation drifting in from a distance.

The result was the same.

No matter how foreign the sounds they made were, the meaning was still clearly understandable.

Then, by instinct, Julian could also feel how he could say a sentence in the human language on his lips, only for it to be translated into the Dragon language.

Maybe that was what Monk had been doing all along. Since it worked as an automatic translator instead of making someone understand the language as a whole, that was why it sometimes sounded awkward or not fluent.

’My body isn’t having any problems either. If anything, I’m growing stronger.’

It was somewhat worrying to think the fruit might have been poisonous. But luckily, it hadn’t turned out the way Julian feared.

"I even used divination to make sure that wouldn’t happen."

An awkward, amused smile formed in his mind.

Turning around, Julian looked at Monk and Felicya on the bed.

There, Monk was watching over the Little Fox, who seemed to be sweating heavily.

From time to time, the rabbit girl brought her face closer to make sure the Little Fox was still breathing normally.

It seemed the Little Fox had come down with a fever from eating the Fruit.

As for Felicya, she sat quietly, her eyes following Julian wherever he moved.

Then, once she was sure that whatever Julian had to take care of was done, she raised her hands and asked to be carried again.

Both of her small hands reached out toward Julian, while her gaze stayed fixed on him without a single word.

’Of course it would be like this.’

Even though his hands had just tasted freedom, now Felicya had no thought of letting go of him at all, unless something important came up.

After picking up Felicya, who fell asleep almost instantly, Julian approached Monk.

Once in his arms, Felicya rested her head comfortably, as if the place had always been her private bed.

"How is it doing?"

Monk was fine. In fact, she seemed almost too fine.

"Ah, Boss! This fox, it seems fine. There’s nothing threatening its life."

Then, Monk tilted her head, her ears twitching slightly a few times.

She looked at the Little Fox again, then reached out to touch its fur.

"Hmm... But it’s hard to tell its real condition. It’s fine, but it looks like it’s not fine."

Hearing that, Julian only nodded.

’Does that mean this fox is in a coma?’

It seemed so.

In that case, Julian just had to wait. After all, it wasn’t as if that fruit was a dangerous one.

It was clearly the kind of fruit that any creature could consume.

Julian had also used quite a lot of Mana to make sure the little fox was okay, and the result had come back positive.

"Then, let’s rest for today. Monk, you must be tired, go get some sleep first."

"Oh! What about you, Boss? Aren’t you tired too?"

"I’m fine."

With a cheerful smile, Monk climbed onto the bed.

"Then, wake me up if there’s any trouble, Boss! Thank you, and good night!"

"It’s still evening, but well, good night."

Julian nodded, and he stopped bothering Monk, who wanted to rest.

Unlike Monk, who was probably emotionally exhausted, Julian was still perfectly fine, which was why he told Monk to rest.

Besides, Julian didn’t really need sleep anymore at his current Rank. Sure, he probably did need to sleep eventually, but that didn’t mean he would get sleepy if he went without sleep for a full twenty-four hours.

So Julian wandered around the house for a while, then sat down on a chair with a table in front of him.

The atmosphere of the house slowly grew calm. Only the occasional sound drifted in from outside the window, while Monk began to rest on the large bed.

Since there were still a few things he needed to think about, Julian spent his time like that.

Meanwhile...

***

The little fox, or rather the Voidborn, was not the kind of creature that ate meat. They leaned more toward consuming Mana and fresh kinds of fruit.

That was why the little fox could not hold herself back from tasting that fruit, which was rich in Mana and even sparkling brightly.

And the result was truly unexpected: it tasted amazing to the little fox!

However, the Mana that came from consuming that fruit was also immense. So immense that the Little Fox instantly felt full.

Because her growth was tied to Mana, the little fox, now full of Mana, fell straight into a coma.

Drenched in faint pain.

In her unconsciousness, her small body trembled from time to time. Her breathing sounded heavy, while her nine tails lay limp on the bed.

And then...

"Kyaaa!! W-what is this!?"

The little fox jolted awake, her whole body shaking at that piercing scream, making all her fur stand on end like sharp nails.

’Why are you screaming! Stupid creature! You startled me!’

She growled, glaring at the rabbit girl in front of her in annoyance.

The rabbit girl somehow stared back at her in shock, looking rather pale. It made the Little Fox realize something was wrong, and she grew confused.

She blinked a few times, bewildered as she noticed that the Rabbit Girl, why did she look a little smaller?

Not only that, the bed that had felt so spacious before now seemed different. In fact, when she shifted her body slightly, the space around her no longer felt as big as it had before.

Swish! Swish!

Her tails moved gently, and at first it felt normal. But in the next moment, the little fox turned her head when she sensed something was wrong.

She saw that her own tail was now as big as the rabbit girl’s leg!

The Little Fox tried to move her tail once more.

The movement felt so effortless, but the size of the tail following that movement shocked her even more.

It didn’t take long for the Little Fox to realize what was happening.

’I’m getting bigger! And stronger!’

That made her extremely happy.

In fact, she was thrilled as she thought about saving her own mother.

The fox still couldn’t tell how strong she was. But she noticed that her body was far too light, and she felt like she could smash a huge boulder with just her teeth!

She moved her legs slightly, feeling a strength unlike before. In fact, even that small movement felt far lighter than she remembered.

The feeling of being full of power made her want to burst out laughing!

’With this! I can get out of here!’

She could leave behind those stupid creatures who had captured her to make her a slave or tried to use her as emergency food.

In fact, the Fox was sure she might even be able to kill them and...

’Hehehehe! I’m going to eat all that delicious Mana!’