Chapter 172 - Reuniting with the Fox Girl (Part 2)

  Navigating the academy without getting lost was tough. The pce was divided into different areas, and we’d beericted in where we could go until we got familiar with it. Now that the restri period was over, there was someone we wao see.

  “It’s been two years. Do you think she’ll even want to see us?” Chloe asked, a bit nervous.

  “Of course she will; she’s our friend.”

  We arrived at the library area, and we didn’t have to search long. In the ter of the pce was a girl browsing through some books. She was blonde, with fox ears and a bushy tail.

  Chloe took off running.

  We’re in a library, and she does this…

  “Kinue!” my cousin called out, startling the girl, who turned around with wide eyes.

  When I saw her, I was surprised at how much she had ged.

  Over the years, we grew up together, enjoying a childhood that the old Icarus never had, and that Kinue wouldn’t have experienced if she had stayed alone in the vilge. Even Chloe wouldn’t have had a normal childhood if I hadn’t e along, and ter, Kioo. Our unlikely friendship allowed us to enjoy the best parts of life.

  Despite the assassin training, or Kinue’s struggles with trolling her emotions as her bestial form began to awaken, it was still a normal childhood.

  “Chloe?” Kinue excimed in surprise, her ears perking up, showing how delighted she was.

  It had been two years since we st saw our friend. She had to leave when she was fifteen because of the signs her bestial form was starting to awaken. We wouldn’t have known how to help her through the transformation or teach her how to stay lucid. Kinue also had to prepare for the entrance exam, unlike Chloe and me. Not being a high noble, she had to pete for a spot, even though the professor covered her tuition. News of her acceptao the academy brought a mix of happiness and sadness. Chloe had beeated by Kinue’s departure, but now, finally, we were together again.

  “Wait!” Kiried to protest as Chloe pulled her into a tight hug.

  We know how deadly Chloe’s hugs be…

  “You’ve grown, Kinue, and you look so different,” Chloe ented with a smile.

  I saw Kinue blush as she replied, “You’ve ged too, Chloe. You even look like you’ve grown a little.” She gave a pyful wink, stifling a ugh.

  ade a face, a bit annoyed. She hated aion of her height.

  I approached our fox friend. “It’s been a long time sihe three of us were together,” I said, smiling at seeing her up close again.

  Her eyes widened when she saw me. “Nate! You’ve ged a lot.”

  “ I give you a hug too?” I asked, a bit shyly.

  “S-sure!” she replied, with a slight stammer.

  I pulled her into a hug a her tense up, but then she rexed. Her ears twitched slightly, and, uedly, her tail started wagging rapidly.

  “Ahem!” Chloe cleared her throat behind me, with a jealous smile.

  I let go of Kinue, who now seemed more at ease, and I noticed how much she had grown. She had bee a very beautiful woman. Her blonde hair was looo.

  “You know, I was so happy when I heard you both were ing to the academy,” Kinue said, with a sparkle in her eyes.

  “It’s kind of iable for us. As soon as we reach the right age, we have to e,” Chloe replied, ughing.

  We sat down at a table filled with books. “Are these yours?” I asked, curious.

  “They are… I ended up pig up the professor’s reading habits after all the times I helped her buy ach books,” she replied.

  They’re all romanovels…

  I noticed my cousin had a delighted expression on her face.

  “I waited so long to see you both again. When you stopped replying to my letters, I got a bit worried,” Kinue said.

  “We wao surprise you, but whe here, we found out we couldn’t move around the academy without permission,” my cousin replied.

  I nodded.

  “I retty shocked too the first time. First-year students are fio a single part of the academy for a few days, and only after that period are they allowed to move around more freely,” the fox girl expined.

  We tialking, reminisg about the old days and what it was like growing up in the castle. Once, we even took Kio scare ellian, and as soon as she saw the giant panther in the garden, she went pale and didn’t want to walk around the castle anymore after finding out there was a murderous beast living within its walls.

  Moon panthers are indeed notorious for killing anyone who bears ill will toward them. They’re animals that sense human malice.

  When I told Sifu I’d been guided by moon panthers while I was lost in the forest right after I received the Celestial Eyes, he shared this with me.

  “So, where have you been staying, Kinue? Did they put you in a regur dorm?” I asked, notig her shy demeanor.

  “I was eligible for a shared room in the dormitory, but I chose to stay in the professor’s apartment. I’m not very good at making friends…” She looked away, her ears drooping in that old familiar sign of shyness.

  “You don’t have any friends?” Chloe asked, surprised.

  “I have a few cssmates I talk to, but I don’t really socialize much. And, after getting some… offers, I pulled away from everyone…”

  “Offers?” I asked, frowning.

  Chloe seemed to uand right away. “The vultures?” she asked, and Kinue nodded.

  I was fused. “What kind of offers?”

  “I’ve been asked to date, get engaged, even marry… all sorts of things. Once people found out I had the light element, a few arted showing up.” She gave a timid smile. “Some even said it would be disrespectful to turn them down since I’m just a oner.”

  So these guys see a beautiful, talented mage from a oner background and try to take advantage? What idiots…

  I’m going to get the names of every single one of them…

  “Who said that? I’d like to have a word with him…” I said.

  Kinue blushed, a soft pink c her cheeks. “No need. Professor Adrihna stepped in when she found out they were trying to use their authority. That’s prohibited here sihe city is ral.”

  Chloe ched her fists. “If I’d known about this sooner, I’d have plenty to say to those nobles!”

  It looked like Kinue had been dealing with a lot of pressure. Her shyness made everything harder, and the advances from those nobles only isoted her further. She seemed more fident now, but handling situations like that was still difficult for her.

  “e live with me, Kinue,” I decred without thinking twice.

  “WHAT?!” Kinue excimed, surprised, while Chloe stared at me with wide eyes. Both of them looked at me, shocked—they clearly hadn’t expected that offer.

  WAIT! I o fix what I just said!

  “What I meant is that we go back to living like before, at the castle, sharing a space. We share an apartment. h-noble dorm has more than one room, uhe regur dorms. We have an apartment with three bedrooms. If you ever feel lonely, you live with us.”

  Chloe, always direct, jumped in. “I’ll move into your apartment too!”

  I blinked, realizing that maybe I hadn’t thought this through pletely. After all, Kinue is a girl, and it might be a bit strange for her to live with me.

  “On sed thought, it’s probably better if she lives with you, Chloe.”

  Kiood up, surprising everyone. “I accept—I’ll live with you, Nate!”

  WHAT?

  Chloe, however, wasn’t going to give in so easily. “I’ll live with you too!”

  I looked from oo the other, trying to figure out if this was even possible. “I don’t think that’s… or it be?”

  “Of course it ,” Chloe assured me with a smile.

  It seemed like the best solution. Kinue could recim some of the old closeness we used to have and would be safer, with the pany and presence of high nobility by her side. Even if we were in different csses, we could help her.

  “Alright, then. Starting today, we’re living together,” I announced, finally deg.

  Hmm… Wait a minute. Why are both of them blushing?

  ***

  “Hey, Nate! Did you fet you already have a woman living with you? Why’d you iwo more?” Cyl asked, a hint of irritation in her voice as she led into the bed beside me.

  “But whie of them shares a bed with me?” I replied, a pyful grin on my lips.

  “D-don’t say it like that, you’ll make me embarrassed…” Cyl murmured, shrinking a little but quickly settling back down.

  “But it’s true. Every night, you’re right here by my side,” I answered, reag out to stroke her head, the softness of her fur bringing a familiar fort.

  She purred softly, seeming pleased. “Fine, I’ll allow the two of them to live here. After all, I’m the one who lies o you every night,” Cyl said with a possessive air, her cws kneading the bedspread as she made herself fortable.

  “Let the bird-girl know I’m the one who sleeps beside you every night, too,” teased Athena, the Goddess, appearing suddenly o the bed with a mischievous look.

  I ighena, used to her sudden appearances by now. Cyl, however, narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Why did you just g empty space?” she asked, already wise to Athena’s visits after all these years.

  I colpsed onto the bed, exhausted. “Just ig. I’m going to rest for a bit; I’ve got css ter,” I replied, trying to shift the focus and rex.

  Cyl drew closer, her golden eyes fixed on mine. “I’ve noticed you’ve started using the Celestial Eyes again. Don’t push yourself too hard, Nate. You know how much they drain you. You’ve got a long way to go before you use them naturally. Even I, with the Aspect of the Body, get exhausted if I overdo it. Be careful.”

  Her words, full of , echoed in my mind as I thought about the st time I could really train intensely. Siering the academy, those moments of deep practice had bee rare. Ba those days of freedom, I could isote myself in Cyl’s cave, where the silend darkness allowed me to focus and develop each aspey powers. Now, training was done destinely, in the shadows of the early m, and I couldn’t afford to overdo it.

  Each aspect—Body, Soul, Time, Space, Life, ah—carried its own unique challenges and a crushi. I hadn’t even unlocked all of them, only a few.

  The Aspect of the Soul was the easiest to master, but Time, that particur aspect seemed to toy with the very fibers of my being, leaving me exhausted each time I tried to manipute it. Yet knowing it could suspend seds, manipute the flow—was too tempting to ignore.

  The true enigma for me has been the Aspect of the Body. Uhe Aspect of Time, which drains me physically aally, the Aspect of the Body works in a much more plex and peculiar way, making its mastery a genuine challenge. I take a deep breath and y eyes, fog on the persistent ache throbbing in my mind.

  Every time I get close to uanding an Aspect, it’s as if something inside my head fractures—an invisible crack that deepens with each step forward. I feel that crack widening as my mastery of the Aspects grows, eaew achievement bringing a sharper sting, a deeper ache. It’s as if something is breaking open, f its way through. The pain burns, stant but bearable, although it seems to grow more acute as I progress.

  I suspect it’s ected to the creature that rests somewhere within my mind, like a dormant presence, lying in wait. This guardian, or whatever it is, seems to be a crucial piece of the puzzle I’m trying to solve. With every mastery, I feel like I’m awakening something—a distant, uling echo that stirs with each step, as though the Aspects and this creature are iwined in ways I don’t yet uand.