Fox Form

Adam ran back towards the house.

He couldn't stop looking at the bracelet he just received.

[A Certain Evil offers you 15 000 Gold Coins.]

He stopped running and raised his head.

"Is that my share?" Adam asked while chuckling.

No response.

'Whatever.' He continued running.

'I wonder how far Salma and Layla could go. Layla wouldn't have much problems... Maybe against the Fire Lion. Salma is used to fighting from a safe distance, so it'll be harder for her. Although she can summon a Fire Fox now which could make the battle more balanced...'

...

Once Adam was about a kilometer away from the house, Salma turned her gaze towards his direction.

[Your Sponsor says that you shouldn't have left Incarnation Adam alone.]

"Is that so?" She asked while looking up.

[Your Sponsor says that Incarnation Adam found something interesting.]

"Really? Really? How come? Where? Guide me to it!" Salma said as she jumped up.

[You Sponsor loves your eagerness.]

[You Sponsor says that it might be a bit too early for you.]

"Is that so? I'll ask him myself then!" She said as she ran towards Adam.

After a bit, Adam could feel her presence too.

They waved at each other and stopped running once the distance between them was about 10 meters.

"Did you find something? OH! That's a new bracelet!" Salma said as she raised Adam's left arm.

"Yes...Ummmm... I entered a Dungeon without meaning to." Adam answered.

[Your Sponsor says it can smell lies from a mile away.]

"Is that so?" Salma asked while chuckling.

They walked back together.

"Yes...It was very scary at first. But at the end, it was a great discovery."

"Oh, stop lying, will you? It's okay. Also, the more you lie to us, the more likely we are to go there!"

"We?" He asked.

"Yes! My Sponsor says the place you found is really interesting!"

"Oh..." He proceeded to explain everything.

Salma jumped up with all her strength after his explanation. Her eyes were shining.

"Its...A COMPETITION! I want to play!!" Salma shouted.

"Well... Let's tell Layla about it first, alright?"

"Kay!"

They found Layla in her room, reading an old book.

The two stood just outside her room.

The door was open, but she had no idea they were there.

"Crime...and punishment...?" Adam read.

"You're here. Oh! YES! Do you know it?? I adore it. Found it in Grandpa's stack of books." Layla said excitedly.

"Um...No. Never heard of it..." Adam said.

The three went out of the house and each told the others what he or she did since last time they talked.

Salma had developed the Skill "Burning Armor" extremely quickly. But she still continued to train her Mana and Magic Affinity Stats until Layla developed her Skill too. She spent the rest of the time running around to train and talking to her Sponsor. It talked to her a lot about everything.

After Layla developed her "Frost Armor" Skill, she trained some more by meditating before trying her "Ice Spike" Skill. Controlling Ice Spikes in the air was very difficult, especially when there were lots of them. She mostly rotated between meditating and using her Skill. Layla noticed that her Mana Points regenerated faster while meditating.

Adam came clean and told them everything.

"A Testing Room? Sounds like you got pretty lucky multiple times too." Layla said after his explanation.

"Well... I wouldn't say I got lucky..."

"The bear could've been the end and the lion was a tough one. And I think that if there were more enemies during any of the Test, it could have gone badly."

"That's true. Somehow, it was fun though." Adam said.

The two sisters looked at each other before turning towards Adam.

"I want to go there." Salma said.

Layla looked back at Salma.

"I thought we understood each other." She told her little sister.

"Understood what?" Salma asked.

"This isn't a game." Layla answered.

"It feels like one though." Salma said as she turned to look away.

[Your Sponsor says that Incarnation Layla doesn't know how to relax.]

"True!" She shouted.

"What?" Adam and Layla asked.

"Nevermind."

"Oh. What level are you guys?" Adam asked.

"Right. We got different amounts of Experience Points after defeating the Boss Monsters and at the end of the Dungeon. I'm level 18, close to 19." Layla answered.

"19." Salma said coldly.

"We could enter a different [F] rank, you know?" Adam said.

"I want to compete." The youngest one of them answered.

"I'm sure you would do great. But the stronger you get, the higher your score will be." Layla said.

"I guess..."

"The higher your score, the harder it'll be for us to surpass it." Layla added.

Salma's ears twitched.

"But I get to choose the objects I get!" Salma exclaimed.

"There called Artefacts..." Adam said.

"Sure." Layla told Salma.

[You Sponsor says that you currently are the strongest.]

"See! Even my Sponsor says that I'm the strongest!"

"Is that so? It's possible since you already have a Sponsor..." Adam said while rubbing his chin.

[Your Sponsor says that you should try the exclusive Skill.]

"Exclusive? Oh. That one."

Salma closed her eyes.

'Fox Transformation.'

Suddenly, fierce flames engulfed her body.

The two others jumped back and covered their faces because of the light and heat emitted.

[ You are using your Sponsor's exclusive Skill.]

[ You are using part of your Sponsor's authority.]

[ You currently possess a portion of the First Tail.]

[ 100% of your Mana Points has been used.]

[ Some of your stats will be temporarily boosted.]

The flames faded.

When Adam and Layla looked at Salma once again, they had to rub their eyes.

It was a magical scene they couldn't believe.

The same Salma was standing in front of them, except that a yellow tail made of flames was waving behind her and orange cat or fox ears made of flames could be seen on her head.

The two couldn't mutter a word.

'She looks... godly...' Layla thought.

Messages kept appearing in front of Salma.

[ You currently cannot use Mana.]

[ You currently cannot use Magic Skills.]

[ Your Sense Stat is temporarily multiplied by 1.5.]

[ Your Strength Stat is temporarily multiplied by 2.]

[ Your Agility Stat is temporarily multiplied by 3.]

[ You Fox Form can be maintained until your Endurance Points are too low.]

Salma looked at the stunned faces of the other two and chuckled.

[Your Sponsor says you should try to move around.]

She raised her arms and felt something weird.

She looked behind her.

"A Tail?" Salma wasn't that surprised.

A smile appeared on her face as she waved her tail around. It was like a childhood fantasy come true.

She turned around and looked at a distant tree. It was about one kilometer away.

"Layla. Adam." She said.

"Y-yes?" Layla and Adam finally woke up from the daze they had fallen into.

Salma turned around and smiled at them.

"It's a race! First one to touch that tree wins!" She said with her usual excited tone.

The two others chuckled.

"Alright."

"Let's do it."

They answered.

The three started running at the same time.

Salma's Agility Stat used to be at 24. But after the numerous level-ups that got her to level 19, it was now at 31.

The insane 3 times multiplier made her Agility stand at an incredible 93, while the Adam's was at 50 and Layla's was at 66!

Salma absolutely smoked them at the beginning of the race.

Adam laughed loudly when he saw her take off.

Salma was way in front from the beginning.

But Layla didn't let her win that easily.

'Acceleration.'

Suddenly, Salma's speed didn't seem that high to Layla.

She easily caught up to her and the sisters ran side by side for a bit.

Adam who was left behind stopped running.

Salma looked at Layla while greeting her teeth, trying to run faster.

Layla laughed and passed her to touch the tree.

"Nooooooo...." Salma said as her knees fell to the ground.

"Hahaha! Good try, good try!" Layla said energetically before catching her breath.

"At least I passed Adam..." Salma said while catching her breath.

Her ears and tail made of flames slowly faded away.

'Already?' Salma thought.

[Your Sponsor says that a Talented Fire Mage should not neglect Endurance Training.]

[Your Sponsor says that you will get her next time!]

Salma chuckled.

The two sisters turned back to look at Adam.

Suddenly, a huge black wolf jumped over them and landed behind the two.

"What the hell?" Layla shouted as she jumped in front of Salma.

Salma also immediately stood up as soon as she saw the beast.

'Was I too tired to sense it?' She thought.

But they quickly noticed Adam sitting on top of the huge wolf.

"Next time am using this guy!" Adam shouted.

The three laughed loudly.

Adam got down from his mount.

Layla petted the wolf's head while Salma tried to ride it.

The wolf had lost its scary demeanor since it became Adam's Familiar.

Its eyes were light blue. Its black pelt made the blue pop.

"Does he have a name?" Layla asked.

"No. I thought you guys would help me name it."

"Name him. Not it." Salma corrected Adam as she sat on the wolf's back.

"Sure. Any ideas?"

"Ummm..." Salma thought deeply with her hand on her chin.

"His pelt is very dark. I can only think of cliche names like Shadow..." Layla said.

"Oh. How does Light sound?" Adam asked.

The wolf waved its tail and licked Adam's face.

"Alright. Alright, hahaha. That's your name then. You're Light."

"You're not waiting for our approval?" Layla asked jokingly.

"Light... I like it!" Salma said as she hugged the wolf's head.

"Alright. Show me Light's Status." Adam said.

[ Owner: Adam

Name: Light

Species & level : Black Wolf Alpha Lv1 (0/500 Experience Points)

HP: 400/400

Endurance: 200/200

Stats: Strength: 23

Agility: 34

Sense: 42

Stealth: 40

Vigor & Endurance: 40

Skill(s): Intimidating Stare

Night Vision

]

"Nice Stats. Very balanced...He even has two Skills. Show me the information about the first one."

[ Passive Skill: Intimidating Stare [E+]

This Skill belongs to the Alpha of every pack. Whenever the user recognizes a threat, the Skill will activate. The user's eyes will glow a bloody red. Actions by the user will be recognized as much more intimidating by the opponents.

]

'Oh. That's why I got so scared when it growled at me. I wonder what other Passive Skills the other monsters had...'

"Where did it come from though? I didn't sense it anywhere near us before. I don't sense python either." Salma asked.

Adam showed them his bracelet and explained everything about it.

"Cool. Maybe you should get rid of Python and get a more useful one instead?" Layla suggested.

"Are you crazy? We love Python. We can't just throw him away!" Salma protested.

"I checked the information about my "Intermediate Monster Tamer" Title. I can currently have three Familiars, so I can get a third one. For Python, well...am not sure. I have high hopes for him since he was blessed by that god or whatever. Maybe once it becomes stronger it'll evolve into something stronger?" Adam explained.

The sisters nodded.

"Anyways, Salma! That was insane! How come you were so fast?" Adam asked with wide eyes.

"I know right! A bunch of Stats got boosted by a lot. The only problem is that it uses up all my Mana Points. Also, I can't use Mana so drinking Mana Potions doesn't do the trick. I'll get stronger too. I just can't tell you too much about it." Salma answered.

[Your Sponsor says that it is only a Portion of the First Tail.]

[Your Sponsor says that the power of your Fox Form increases exponentially the stronger you are.]

"It's basically a specialized form for close combat. That's super useful!" Layla said as she patted her sister's head.

'Having a Sponsor is that good, huh?' Adam thought.

"So? Can I go pass those tests now?" Salma asked.

"Not really. I mean you only ran for a bit before running out of Endurance Points. You get a 1minute break between Tests, but that's not enough to replenish your Endurance. We don't have Endurance Potions, you know. Since the monsters are pretty fast, it's too early for you. Sorry..." Layla explained to her sister.

[Your Sponsor agrees with Incarnation Layla.]

Adam nodded at Layla's explanation.

'So you all agree, huh?' Salma thought.

"Whatever. I'll get stronger and show you I can do it."

"Does your Sponsor want you to go in there?" Adam asked.

"He's also telling me to wait..."

"Alright. Don't go before your Sponsor says you're ready. Okay?"

"Sure..."

"Should we really leave it to her Sponsor? We know nothing about it."Layla said.

"We know it doesn't want her to go in there, so..."

"Anyway, what do we do now?" Salma asked.

"Let's look at your Stats. If training can be productive, you'll do that. If not, then we'll see." Adam answered.

It was about 1 pm.

"Alright. Kayla show us my stats."

[ Stats: Strength: 25(+7)

Agility: 31(+7)

Sense: 70(+7)

Vigor & Endurance: 27(+7)

MagicAffinity: 68(+7)

Mana: 77(+7)

Unused stat points: 21(+21)

]

"Oh. You haven't used the points from leveling up." Adam noted.

"Well, no. We always do that together after all." Salma exclaimed.

"Doesn't your Sponsor have something to say about how to use them?" Layla asked.

"My Sponsor said I could whatever I wanted. I'm thinking about either putting everything in Vigor & Endurance or half and half with Mana." Salma said while shrugging her shoulders.

"I would probably go half and half. Endurance is important when using that Fox Form. But you mainly use Mana. Whether it is to shoot Fire Arrows, summon a Fire Fox or to Heal injuries." Adam explained.

Layla nodded.

"Alright. I'll do that. Kayla, 10 on Endurance and 11 on Mana."

[ 10 unused stat points have been allocated to the Vigor & Endurance stat.]

[ Vigor & Endurance 27---->37.]

[ Your Vigor & Endurance Stat has gone above 35.]

[ You have been awarded a Skill due to your high Vigor & Endurance Stat.]

[ A Skill is being chosen by the System.]

[ Individuality of the user has been taken into consideration.]

[ You have been awarded the Passive Skill "HP Recovery".]

"Coooool. So my Health Points will recover faster. That's nice. Layla your turn." Salma said.

Layla showed them her stats.

[ Stats: Strength: 39 (+6)

Agility: 66 (+6)

Dexterity: 47 (+6)

Sense: 28 (+6)

Magic Affinity: 27 (+6)

Mana: 22 (+6)

Vigor & Endurance: 46 (+6)

Unused stat points: 18 (+18)

]

"You didn't use them either..." Adam muttered.

"Wow. No wonder I lost the race. But I'll win next time!" Salma said.

"I guess 1 point in Strength and then half and half between Agility and Dexterity." Layla told them.

The two nodded.

Layla did as she said. She put 9 points in Agility and 8 points in Dexterity.

[ 9 unused stat points have been allocated to the Agility stat.]

[ Agility 66---->75.]

[ Your Agility Stat has reached 75.]

[ You have been awarded a Skill due to your high Agility Stat.]

[ A Skill is being chosen by the System.]

[ Individuality of the user has been taken into consideration.]

[ You have been awarded the Passive Skill "Dancer's Stability".]

[ 8 unused stat points have been allocated to the Dexterity stat.]

[ Dexterity 47---->55.]

[ Your Dexterity Stat has reached 55.]

[ You have been awarded a Skill due to your high Dexterity Stat.]

[ A Skill is being chosen by the System.]

[ Individuality of the user has been taken into consideration.]

[ You have been awarded the Skill "Weapon Switch".]

"Stability? I guess that's useful." Layla said.

"I have the second one too. It's pretty cool." Adam told her.

She took an Iron Mace out of her Inventory and used her new Skill to take out her Paralyzing Skill.

"I like it. Oh. Salma, try holding this." Layla took out an Iron Mace and handed it to Salma.

Salma grabbed it with one hand and moved it around. Her eyes widened.

"Would you look at that! I've gotten so strong. HAHAHA!" She shouted triumphantly.

After that, Layla tried standing on her two hands. She could easily balance herself. She then proceeded to lift one arm off the floor. She could still do it.

The other two tried, but failed miserably.

'I have the strength. My body feels very light, but balancing myself is too damn hard. Doesn't it have to do with Agility? Maybe Dexterity too...' Adam thought.

"Adam. Show us your Stats." Layla told him.

"Sure."

His information appeared in front of everyone.

[ Stats: Strength: 60(+0)

Agility: 50(+0)

Dexterity: 20(+0)

Sense: 60(+0)

Vigor & Endurance: 42(+0)

Magic Affinity: 44(+0)

Mana: 38(+0)

Stealth: 63(+0)

Unused Stat Points: 0(+0)

]

"You really used those points without us..." Salma said with a shocked expression.

"Well... you know..."

"It's very balanced. I guess it's always been the case. You have every Stat both of us has too." Layla told him.

"Oh. That's true. Mana, Magic Affinity, Dexterity, he also has Stealth that we don't have." Salma counted.

"Yeah. It's pretty diverse, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Can I have your greatsword?" Layla asked Adam.

He handed it to her.

She lifted it with both arms and swung it a couple of times.

"Heavy...Way too heavy. With 40 in Strength I can use it, but it's not my style at all." Layla said.

"I wanna try!" Salma shouted.

She lifted it with both arms and held it in place.

She managed to swing it three times while the other two encouraged her.

"Ouf. Too...heavy..." Salma muttered as she let go of the greatsword.

"Training sounds like a drag. Let's focus on gaining Experience Points and Artefacts. You got some pretty good ones, even though they came from an [F] rank Dungeon." Layla suggested.

The other two nodded.

They were certain they had nothing to fear.