Free Web NovelChapter 227: Manifestation
Most of the humans aboard the Sunchaser instantly passed out from the pressure and were unable to witness what followed, but even the few who somehow remained conscious saw very little of what transpired.
It was almost like trying to trace the path of a bolt of lightning, a feat impossible for weak Mortal Realm humans.
Among the few who managed to stay on their feet, the one who saw the most was actually Lucas thanks to where he was standing and the uniqueness of his Soul; but, just because he observed the events which transpired didn’t mean he was any less shocked by them.
As the rest of the Core Formation and Sea Establishment humans gradually recovered and turned to see what had happened, they were greeted by the astonishing scene of the giant turtle being fully encased in a thick layer of ice.
Everything about it had frozen solid in an instant, and its menacing aura, which had rumbled across the sky since it first appeared, had now completely vanished.
Silence reigned as no one was able to vocalize just how outrageous this whole scenario was. A Seventh Order Beast that had forced them all to flee in panic had been killed, just like that, without any power to resist or fight back.
One moment they were all facing certain death, and then the next, the danger had passed.
Creakily turning their heads back, the conscious humans now gazed upon the ice-white five-tailed fox with looks of reverence. There was no fear in their eyes as it would be ridiculous to fear such a superior existence.
When one faces a stronger opponent, as long as they believe they have a chance to struggle against it, to claw their way out and forge a path to survival, they would still feel fear, but when no such hope existed from the start, fear becomes redundant and often transforms into respect or even worship.
However, to the various humans’ astonishment, the big fox actually began to fade away, as if it was a mere illusion.
"An avatar..." Lucas muttered, now understanding why she had said she could not take Yuki away. The five-tailed fox before him was indeed Yuki’s mother, but it was not her true body.
Nodding her head, the big fox stepped forward and lovingly touching her nose to Yuki’s head, completely ignoring the giant turtle she had just dispatched as she explained, "This is a Soul Manifestation I planted on my daughter to protect her should her life truly be threatened, but now that it has fulfilled its purpose, it will soon disappear."
A Soul Manifestation! Despite having guessed it already, Lucas was still shocked to learn that the beast before him was nothing more than one of Yuki’s mother’s techniques. He had no idea how this method worked, or what kind of limitations this ’Soul Manifestation’ had, but he was certain that it could only produce a fraction of the true body’s strength.
If her Soul Manifestation was capable of instantly killing a Mid-Rank Seventh Order Beast, just how powerful was Yuki’s real mother?
It was a thought that caused Lucas to gaze upon the now fading fox with immense awe.
In his estimation, Yuki’s mother was probably among the strongest beings in all of Servist!
Wait, Lucas suddenly thought of something and hastily asked, "Can your true body not sense Yuki and come for her?"
Shaking her head lightly, the five-tailed fox explained, "The stars in the sky here indicate that this is somewhere in the northern hemisphere, while my true body lives in the mountains of the far southern pole. The distance between here and there is much too great for even my true body’s senses to reach."
This was a stunning statement, and it revealed a lot interesting information to Lucas, but it also made it perfectly clear that he would not be meeting Yuki’s real mother anytime soon. freēwebnovel.com
Lucas had never left Redwood Town before, much less the Rockwell Kingdom; but now, in order to reunite with his parents, he had to travel tens of thousands of kilometres across the ocean.
He had thought that would be challenging enough, but now it seemed if he wanted to return Yuki to her family, he would need to travel much, much further than that!
Putting it bluntly, it wasn’t a task he was remotely capable of; at least, not yet.
Still, thinking about his parents, imagining never being able to see them again, and how Yuki must be feeling right now, Lucas steeled himself and declared solemnly, "I promise I will bring Yuki back to you one day, Senior. It may be many years from now, but I swear I’ll make it happen."
The five-tailed fox tilted her head slightly when she heard this before letting out a soft laugh, "Fufufu, you are indeed an interesting one, little human child."
Turning her eyes back to her pup, the big-fox smiled warmly as she asked, "Yuki... was it?"
"F-Forgive my disrespect, Senior. I didn’t know what your daughter’s name was, so I presumptuously gave her one. Her pure white fur reminded me of freshly fallen snow, so I named her Yuki," blushing slightly, Lucas lowered his head as he tried to explain himself before inquiring, "If I may ask, what is her real name?"
The five-tailed fox paused, as if checking something for a moment, before replying wryly, "My kind don’t name our children until they have lived a full year of life, which from what I can sense, my daughter hasn’t."
Lucas was taken aback by this statement, as not only did it mean the little kit he found didn’t have a name until he gave her one, it also meant that Yuki was less than 1 year old today.
To be separated from one’s family and thrown into a completely foreign land at such a young age would be incredibly traumatic, regardless of whether one was human or beast.
Seeing the look on Lucas’ face, and reading his emotions through the fluctuations of his Soul, the five-tailed fox nodded approvingly and said, "Yuki, it’s a beautiful name. If it was my true body here, I believe I would approve of the name you have given my daughter, young human. You will have to take responsibility for doing so when the times comes; but for now, I have seen you try to protect her and these two human pups, despite facing certain death. It’s clear you have a strong will and good heart, so I will believe your promise."
Saying so, Yuki’s mother gently lifted her paw and tapped the back of Lucas’ hand.
As she did, Lucas felt a slight chill enter his body as a small white fox-print appeared on his right hand for a moment before it faded away.
"This is my Soul Mark, child," the five-tailed fox explained, "It has no offensive or defensive power, but it contains a trace of my Life Aura. It will let all other members of the fox species know that you have my favour. Hopefully, it will be of some use to you in the future."
Lucas was stunned at first, then overjoyed. He wasn’t sure just how helpful this mark would be, but any gift from such a powerful being couldn’t be useless. He was so caught up in this unexpected boon he received that he completely missed the whole ’taking responsibility’ remark Yuki’s mother had made.
As for whether Lucas would come to regret this little oversight in the future, only time would tell.
For now, looking at the spot where the mark had been left, Lucas had a million questions he wanted to ask; however, when he lifted his head to thank Yuki’s mother, he saw her Soul Manifestation had significantly faded away.
It was obvious it wouldn’t last much longer.
Understanding this, Lucas choked down the many questions he had and simply lifted the now sleeping Yuki up, allowing the five-tailed fox to nuzzle her once more.
Another few seconds passed as the Soul Manifestation silently said farewell to her daughter before completely dissipating, scattering into a million points of light. As the wisps were drifting away on the cold, night wind, Yuki’s mother’s voice sounded one last time in Lucas’ mind, "Take care of my precious baby, young human child."
Cradling Yuki into his chest, Lucas bowed his head once more and said aloud, "I’ll do my best, Senior." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
As Yuki’s mother’s avatar disappeared, the Sunchaser also lurched forward, continuing its flight, allowing Lucas and the others onboard to realize it was the fox beast which had been holding them in place.
Why she had done this was unclear. Perhaps she couldn’t move far from the place she was summoned, or perhaps she just found it easier to halt the Skyship than move around with it. Whatever the case, it seemed that this incident had now finally come to a close.
"Lucas, was that big fox one of Yuki’s parents?" Eris asked curiously. She had been awe-struck and enchanted when the five-tailed fox first appeared, then nervous when it walked up to her little brother, but she eventually calmed down when she saw Lucas talking to it.
It was fairly obvious that this phantom fox was somehow related to Yuki, but as she hadn’t been privy to the conversation as it was done mostly through Soul Sense, Eris could only guess that it was Yuki’s mother or father.
As for why Eris, unlike all the others in the Body Tempering or Vein Opening Realm, hadn’t passed out just now, she had Christina to thank for that, as her sworn sister had instinctually used her own Soul Sense to shield her.
