Chapter 9: The Captured Fox Cub

The Captured Young Fox

If luck favored him, it wasn’t impossible to ascend to divinity by this means—the prerequisite being survival and growth under the world’s repulsive force.

How difficult that was! Vinigo sighed, his feline face now pinched red and gleaming by Yarael’s hands, shining like a little lantern.

“Two scrolls… miraculous Leap Magic. I wonder who prepared such spells—what were they planning?” Yarael laughed softly.

Vinigo’s heart stirred. He realized that certain environments absolutely demanded the use of Leap Magic.

“With these two rings, our efforts are not in vain,” said Merak. “There’s also a meeting room inside. That’s where the enemy’s main force should be. A fierce battle awaits… Vinigo, you needn’t come along; it’s too dangerous, and we can’t protect you.”

Vinigo thought for a moment, then nodded. He watched as Merak and the others headed toward the meeting room, and he himself dispelled his transformation and crept off in another direction.

There, a hidden chamber awaited. Vinigo sensed that there might be a passable treasure chest inside, perhaps something useful…

He pushed open the trapdoor to the secret room, only to see a heap of disordered burlap sacks and a large tapestry hanging on the wall.

No treasure chest.

Not even a wooden box…

“Damn it, nothing at all… Could it be this tapestry? I recall in the Great World, there was a valuable tapestry inside the Archangel Fortress.” Vinigo reached out to touch the tapestry, and suddenly, a streak of deep blue light flared upon it.

The light swiftly danced across the tapestry, sketching out countless intricate, delicate patterns—was that… a magic circle?

Such a complex magic array, such radiant magical brilliance. Vinigo suddenly felt his doom was sealed.

The light intensified, blue rays engulfing the entire secret chamber, swallowing all its rubbish in an instant. When the blue glow faded, where once there was a chamber, only a vast, hemispherical pit remained.

As if some invisible maw had devoured rock, wood, everything in a single bite.

Vinigo awoke from confusion, and upon opening his eyes, he beheld endless void.

“Where… is this?” Vinigo murmured.

“This is the seam of the world,” came a sweet voice in reply.

“Thank you—ah!” Vinigo jolted, springing back in alarm. “Who’s there?”

“Hehehe… It’s me. I’ve already forgotten my name,” the sweet voice echoed from the void. “I think… I was called Sophie.”

“Sophie? The name of my childhood companion… I’ve been here so long, I almost forgot why I struggle. For that smile I can no longer see, to return to her side, all my efforts…”

Vinigo reminisced.

“Perhaps we met before,” the sweet voice answered. “Would you like… do you have a wish?”

“My greatest wish is to return to my original world. But it seems you lack the ability to traverse realms—otherwise, you wouldn’t be stuck here yourself, right…” Vinigo mused.

“Then, complete self-understanding… Can you accomplish that, unknown higher being?” Vinigo replied without hesitation. “I hope to comprehend everything about myself—my body, my mind, my soul—as thoroughly as possible. Even if not at the genetic level, at least with the precision of every cell.”

“Hehehe, what an amusing wish. It sounds easy, but is truly troublesome. Still, for the sake of our meeting a thousand years ago on the Sea of Stars, let me think… I’ll grant you that.”

“That?” Vinigo was momentarily stunned, then watched as a stream of light flew toward him and sank into his left eye.

A sharp pain seized his left eye. Vinigo collapsed, clutching his face and pounding the ground in agony.

It felt as if a small knife were slowly slicing flesh, while something else was injected within, forcing it to heal—again and again.

Who knows how much time passed; from the pain, Vinigo fainted.

Had he opened his eyes now, one would see that his left eye had become a dim gold, with a vertical pupil resembling a bottomless chasm, from which molten gold light flowed.

A dragon’s eye…

“Use it to see yourself, interesting outsider, heheh…” The sweet voice echoed in the void, brimming with uncontrollable agitation. “You reject me, refuse to play with me—hmph, I’ll make you all so busy you could die! The whole world rejects him, but I’ll protect him!”

“Little sister, you’re so tsundere…” Vinigo muttered inwardly, awakening.

Upon waking, Vinigo felt something different about himself…

Yes, different. Just as his wish had described, every cell in his body seemed to be within his sight, as if his heart possessed a thousand eyes, observing every detail at once—a sensation beyond words.

Not only his body, but every minute facet of his mind was clear to him; even his soul, that mysterious, intangible part, was laid bare under his gaze.

A name surfaced in Vinigo’s mind: Mirror of Self.

His dragonlike left eye possessed the wondrous power to see through himself. Under its scrutiny, Vinigo at last distinctly perceived that marvelous ability.

Though its essence remained elusive, he could now discern its intricate details. Vinigo believed that by understanding these details, he was one step closer to its true nature.

Yet this ability seemed almost impossible to describe fully and accurately in words. The first thing Vinigo noticed was the issue of “experience points” that had troubled him.

It turned out, killing enemies was not the true source of experience; the fear the enemy felt toward him before death was the real root of experience.

Soloing a ratman robber versus picking off weakened foes behind a four-person squad with electric shocks—what one gained from each was incomparable.

“So, the idea of pretending to be a powerful person’s pet, then killing him while he dreams to farm experience and level up, is out of the question,” Vinigo sighed.

Truly a poacher, always seeking the world’s loopholes…

Vinigo already possessed a foundation strong enough to defy fate. With his abilities, if fortune smiled, his domain-rule power would slowly grow, maturing into a complete law—a law not belonging to this world, yet able to affect its entire fabric!

Now… Vinigo had a key, opening a shortcut for him. This may not guarantee greater achievement, but it certainly saves him time.

Mirror of Self—the ability to see almost every detail of oneself. Why “almost”? Because this precision has its limits.

Ah, perhaps I should say, the Mirror of Self is like placing oneself under a 400x microscope: you can see your cells, but not your DNA strands.

That’s all—yes, that’s all.

Even with only this, Vinigo saw a broad avenue before him. As long as luck held, he could walk it straight to divinity, and with it, the chance to return to his original world, to her side.

When he came to his senses, he found himself back at the origin—back at the smooth sphere, as if bitten by an invisible giant beast.

Vinigo stared blankly for half a day before regaining awareness. He looked around and listened, yet nothing seemed amiss.

The four-person squad was gone.

Vinigo carefully searched the surroundings—nothing unusual. He scoured the entire underground cavern, but found nothing.

No enemies, no treasure—there weren’t even obvious footprints.

“Heavens, how long was I unconscious?” Vinigo wondered, bewildered.

He shook his head and walked out of the cave.

Under the sunlight, Vinigo deliberately avoided the main road, moving toward areas where monsters were once common. It seemed Merak’s squad had cleared things thoroughly; signs of battle lingered, and occasionally he found spoils like silver coins or scraps of cloth.

“These heartless ones—didn’t they even look for me when I disappeared?” Vinigo complained, activating his unique ability.

Right, this ability… Should it be called Roleplay or Transformation? Never mind, let’s call it Fantasy Construct.

Scavenger Trait: Meow-Meow, Level 1, character construction complete.

Transformed into Meow-Meow, Vinigo circled the areas Merak’s squad had cleared.

“Hey, Honey found something really interesting!” Suddenly, a bright voice called from the left, and a small figure leapt from the thicket, swinging a round shield and smashing it toward Vinigo.

If struck, he’d surely be knocked out. Vinigo shivered and dodged nimbly.

“Don’t run! Hold still!” From that voice, an invisible force assaulted him, making his head swim and leaving him dazed.

Luckily, most skills had a greatly reduced effect on Vinigo, so he merely felt dizzy, rather than being knocked out as the attacker intended.

What? An ambush—was he to be captured here? Vinigo was alarmed: his journey had just begun; how could it end so soon!

As he marveled, the sound of weapons cutting the air was already behind him!