Free Web NovelChapter 13: Chapter 13: Racial Memory
Three days had passed since returning from Aurelis Divine City.
Silverleaf Village had settled back into its familiar rhythm.
Builders worked on new structures. Hunters ventured into the forest each morning. Farmers tended the growing fields along the riverbank. Gatherers collected herbs and wild plants from the surrounding wilderness.
Everything moved forward steadily.
Yet Kai’s mind remained occupied.
Not with construction.
Not with resources.
Not with trade.
With the Racial Memory Reading function.
Since unlocking it, the ability had sat unused within the authority interface.
Waiting.
The function promised access to ancient knowledge buried within a race’s bloodline.
Lost techniques.
Forgotten evolution paths.
Powers that no longer existed in the current world.
For three days Kai had resisted using it.
Partly because he wanted to think carefully before acting.
Partly because he only possessed forty-seven authority energy.
Every point needed to be spent wisely.
But mostly because the implications felt enormous.
If the fox maidens possessed ancient knowledge buried within their bloodlines, recovering it could change everything.
Their combat abilities.
Their magical development.
Their evolution potential.
Everything could be affected.
This morning, however, patience finally ran out.
Kai walked toward the Sacred World Tree.
The massive tree stood quietly beneath the morning sun. Silver leaves drifted gently in the breeze. The faint warmth that always surrounded its roots felt welcoming as always.
He sat down against one of the enormous roots.
The wood felt warm beneath him.
Alive.
He opened the authority interface.
**Authority: Divine Evolution**
**Rank: Beginner**
**Authority Energy: 47**
**Available Functions:**
**• Evolution Analysis**
**• Evolution Guidance**
**• Evolution Enhancement**
**• Evolution Acceleration**
**• Racial Memory Reading**
He selected Racial Memory Reading.
A new prompt appeared immediately.
**Racial Memory Reading**
**Cost: 2 Authority Energy per use**
**Select Target Race or Individual**
Kai considered his options.
He could target an individual fox maiden.
Or he could target the race as a whole.
Targeting the entire race would cost more energy.
Yet the information retrieved would be far broader.
After a moment’s consideration, he made his choice.
Nine-Tailed Fox Maidens.
The entire race.
**Confirmed.**
**Cost: 6 Authority Energy**
**Authority Energy: 47 → 41**
**Processing...**
For a brief moment nothing happened.
Then the world shifted.
Not physically.
Not visually.
Something deeper changed.
As though an ancient door somewhere far away had slowly opened.
Then it arrived.
Images.
Memories.
Impressions.
Not clear or organized.
More like fragments of a dream experienced by someone else.
Vast silver forests beneath twin moons.
Fox maidens with multiple tails weaving magic between their fingers like thread.
Ancient ceremonies performed beneath enormous world trees.
Cities built entirely from living wood and crystal.
A civilization far older than Kai had imagined.
The impressions continued flowing.
A fox maiden with nine tails standing at the center of a storm.
Lightning crackling across silver fur.
A voice speaking words in a language Kai somehow understood.
Then gradually, the flood of impressions slowed.
Organized themselves.
Became readable.
Notifications began appearing one after another.
**Racial Memory Reading Complete**
**Race: Nine-Tailed Fox Maidens**
**Ancient Civilization Recovered: Silver Moon Clan**
**Civilization Age: Unknown (Extremely Ancient)**
**Recovered Knowledge:**
**1. Spirit Weaving Technique**
**Ancient magical art allowing fox maidens to weave raw spirit energy into physical constructs.**
**Status: Lost. Recoverable through training.**
**2. Moon Attunement**
**Passive ability that strengthens all magical powers during moonlit nights.**
**Status: Dormant. Requires activation.**
**3. Tail Resonance**
**Advanced technique allowing multiple fox maidens to combine tail energies.**
**Status: Lost. Recoverable through training.**
**4. World Tree Communion**
**Ancient ability to communicate directly with world trees.**
**Status: Partially Active in current population.**
**5. Silver Flame**
**Rare combat technique using condensed spirit energy as destructive force.**
**Status: Lost. Requires bloodline strengthening before recovery.**
**Hidden Discovery:**
**The Nine-Tailed Fox Maidens are descendants of an ancient divine race.**
**True Racial Name: Silver Origin Foxes**
**Current population carries dormant bloodline of original race.**
**Bloodline Awakening Possible under certain conditions.**
Kai sat completely still.
The notifications remained floating before him.
He read them slowly.
Then read them again.
Five recovered techniques.
A hidden racial origin.
A dormant bloodline.
The fox maidens weren’t simply a Legendary race that had appeared randomly.
They were descendants of something far older.
Something called the Silver Origin Foxes.
An ancient divine race.
The implications were staggering.
If their dormant bloodline could be awakened...
If lost techniques could be recovered...
The Nine-Tailed Fox Maidens might evolve into something completely beyond a standard Legendary race.
Kai remained seated beneath the Sacred World Tree for a long time.
Processing everything.
Planning.
By the time he finally stood, the morning had shifted toward midday.
Luna was approaching from the direction of the village.
The fox maiden carried a small wooden tray with food.
She had clearly noticed his long absence and brought lunch.
"You’ve been sitting here since sunrise."
Kai accepted the tray.
"Thinking."
Luna settled beside him.
"About?"
He considered how much to share.
The racial memory results were extraordinary.
Yet revealing everything immediately felt unwise.
Too much information shared too quickly could create complications.
Instead he chose something specific.
"Moon Attunement."
Luna blinked.
"What is that?"
Kai looked toward her carefully.
"A dormant ability your race possesses."
The fox maiden’s golden eyes narrowed slightly.
"How do you know this?"
A fair question.
Kai had prepared his answer.
"The Sacred World Tree communicated something to me this morning."
That wasn’t entirely a lie.
The tree was connected to everything in the realm.
Including the racial memories he had accessed.
Luna studied him for a moment.
Then accepted the explanation.
"What does Moon Attunement do?"
"During moonlit nights, all magical abilities strengthen significantly."
The fox maiden went still.
Several seconds passed.
"All of us?"
Kai nodded.
Luna looked toward the distant horizon.
Her expression shifted slowly from surprise to something more intense.
Calculation.
Strategy.
The village chief was already thinking about implications.
"If that’s true..."
She paused.
"Night operations would become considerably more effective."
Kai smiled.
"That’s one application."
Luna turned back toward him.
"How do we activate it?"
"It’s already dormant within your bloodline."
Kai set down the tray.
"The ability simply needs to be awakened."
He selected Luna as a target within the authority interface.
**Target: Luna**
**Available Action: Dormant Ability Activation**
**Moon Attunement**
**Cost: 3 Authority Energy**
**Authority Energy: 41 → 38**
**Proceed?**
Kai confirmed.
Golden warmth flowed from his hand.
Luna inhaled sharply.
A faint silver glow appeared around her for exactly three seconds.
Then faded.
The fox maiden looked down at her hands.
Then up at Kai.
"Something changed."
Her voice was quiet.
Almost wondering.
"Wait until tonight."
Kai smiled.
"Then you’ll understand."
Luna studied him with an expression caught between curiosity and something else.
Something Kai couldn’t quite identify.
Eventually she simply nodded.
"I trust you."
Those three words landed with unexpected weight.
Kai looked away toward the Sacred World Tree.
Above them, silver leaves continued drifting quietly in the afternoon breeze.
The rest of the day passed normally.
Construction continued.
Farms were tended.
The hunters returned with fresh game.
Mira had already begun preparing another bundle of preserved herbs for the next Aurelis City visit.
Life in Silverleaf Village moved forward steadily.
Yet Kai spent much of the afternoon thinking about the morning’s discoveries.
Five recoverable techniques.
A dormant ancient bloodline.
Each represented a different direction for development.
Spirit Weaving would dramatically improve construction and crafting.
Tail Resonance could transform group combat entirely.
Silver Flame would make individual warriors extraordinarily dangerous.
World Tree Communion might deepen the realm’s connection to the Sacred World Tree in ways he couldn’t yet predict.
And the bloodline.
The Silver Origin Foxes.
Whatever they had truly been, recovering that heritage might change everything about the race’s future evolution path.
One step at a time.
That was the only sensible approach.
That evening, as the moon rose above the Divine Realm, Kai stood near the central fire with the other fox maidens.
Several were already looking toward Luna curiously.
Because something was different about her.
Even before the moon reached its peak, a faint silver luminescence had begun gathering around the village chief.
Her tail glowed softly.
Her eyes reflected the moonlight with unusual brightness.
When the moon finally rose fully into the sky, the change became unmistakable.
Luna raised one hand.
Spirit energy gathered around her fingers.
Normally the process took several seconds.
Tonight it took less than one.
The energy density was visibly higher.
Stronger.
Purer.
Every fox maiden stared.
Iris grabbed Kai’s sleeve.
"What happened to Luna?"
He looked down at the child.
"She awakened something that was always inside her."
The little girl stared with wide eyes.
"Can I get that too?"
Kai laughed quietly.
"Someday."
Luna looked toward him from across the fire.
Her expression carried understanding now.
Not just of the ability itself.
But of something larger.
Something about what Kai represented.
What he was truly capable of.
The village chief said nothing.
But the look in her golden eyes said everything.
Above them, the moon continued rising.
Silver light bathed Silverleaf Village.
And beneath the branches of the Sacred World Tree, the ancient blood of the Silver Origin Foxes stirred quietly for the first time in countless ages. ƒrēewebnovel.com
The Nine-Tailed Divine Empire had taken another step forward.
This time, from within.
