Swordsmaster Fox-girl

-”Nee-chan, wake up.”

“Five more minutes…”

Suddenly, I felt two soft things pressing on my cheeks. Opening my eyes in annoyance, I saw Nowa.

Her face was just inches away from me. With her small hands pressing my cheeks, she stared at me with those red eyes of hers.

“I…didn’t die?”

“Thanks to me.”

The voice was strangely mature. When I realized that Nowa’s mouth wasn’t opening, I knew that she wasn’t the one who said that. Gently placing Nowa to my side, I sat up and looked around the room.

“Hannah…”

The Alchemist was peeling an apple while sitting on a stool next to my bed. With her lips pursed, she sighed.

“I’m sure you have many questions. Ask away, before the others swarm into this room and overwhelm you.”

I nodded. “I-Is…. Is everyone okay?”

“They’re fine.”

“Even Ihwa?”

“She’s good. Not Edward, though. His face is so swollen that he actually looks a bit less handsome now.”

Never knew Hannah felt that way about Edward… I guessed that it was meant to be.

“Where are we?”

“Home.”

But I wasn’t buying it. Not only did the room I was in looked…not extravagant, I refused to believe that I actually passed out for three whole weeks.

“Okay, my home, specifically.”

That made sense.

“What about the slaves?”

“Don’t know. The Imperial Palace probably employed them or something.”

“And Asshol?”

“Dissolved.”

I widened my eyes in surprise. “The entire Asshol House?”

“Yes. The Empress didn’t take owning slaves lightly. Oh, she asked me to send you her thanks, by the way.”

Wow, an indirect thanks, definitely very sincere.

“And how exactly did you reach me in time?”

“You have to thank Hayan for that.” Hannah chuckled. “As soon as the barrier dispersed and the Court Mages flooded in, she grabbed them by the collar and forced them to pour their Mana into the Gate station.”

I patted Nowa’s head, heard her purr like a little cat, and slowly nodded. What Mom did was…dangerous. Everyone knows to not mess with the arrogant Court Mages, but it seemed that she worked up the courage to do so…

“Okay, and w—”

But before I could finish the sentence, the door of the room was swung open. Emerging from the doorway was Ihwa, who was holding a tray of apples.

“Hi.” I waved at her.

Ihwa stared at me with widened eyes. Dropping the tray onto the floor, she shouted, “SHE’S AWAKE!”

Then, she dashed at me and hugged me.

Over her shoulder, I could see many shadows rushing into the room. Mom, Ria, Violette, basically, my family.

‘This is going to be tiring…’

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.

.

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Regretfully, Ihwa had to go home since apparently, her father was here to pick her up. I’d have loved to smash that bastard in the face, but I was injured, and Ihwa seemed to be not keen on letting any of us meet him.

So, night came, and I was all alone in the room.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve done this.’

==STATUS==

Name: Nova Leinfall

Species: Fox-kin

Class: -UNCHOSEN-

Rank: ★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ (1/12)

Titles: Master of Swords (+10% to STR, DEX, and AUR) // Star-breaking swordsman (Access to Cosmic swordsmanship) // Slayer of Mages (+4 to ARC) // Devil of Arylist (+5% to AUR) // Reincarnator (hides the user’s Titles to any and all appraisal skills and items)

Gift: Kirion, the blood-drinking sword (current rank: ★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ [2/12])

 Avaron, the mana-eating sword (current rank: ★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ [2/12])

Trait: False pragmatist (+4 to INT and DEX // -10 to Hidden stat: Emotional stability)

=================STATUS=================

STR: 6 (+0.6) → 14 (+1.4)

DEX: 11 (+1.1) (+4) → 18 (+1.8) (+4)

INT: 9 (+4) → 12 (+4)

END: 5 → 8

LUK: 4 → 5

ARC: 8 (+4) → 12 (+4)

AUR: 20.45 (+2.045) (+1.0225) → 25 (+2.5) (+1.25)

Current state: [Seven Dawn] constitution // Curse of Expressionlessness (weak) // Post-AuraDepletion

====SKILLS====

{E} [Minor heal]

Completely heals minor wounds like light cuts and bruises on the target’s body at the cost of the user’s Mana.

{D} [Iron tail] (Race-exclusive skill)

As the user infuses Aura or Mana into her tail, it hardens like metal. Can be used for both offense and defense.

{NS} [Garden of Illusion] (Race-exclusive skill)

The Fox-kin race thrives on cunning, dexterity, trickery, and Magic; despite that, there existed Fox-kin warriors who could only wield Aura. This skill, crafted by Master warriors of the Fox-kin race, allows the user to wield Illusionary magic with only the use of Aura.

{E} [Star steps] (Part of Cosmic swordsmanship)

Like the Celestial whom this sword style took inspiration from, the user draws the power of stars to make footholds, enhancing her speed and allowing her to briefly step on thin air.

{D} [Meteor sword] (Part of Cosmic swordsmanship)

Utilizing the power of gravity, the user’s sword lights up like a meteor in the night sky and crashes down onto the opponent, inflicting heavy damage.

{C} [Moon arch] (Part of Cosmic swordsmanship)

The Great General of the Old Gods’ army struck the Celestial, knocking him back thousands of miles. Clutching his wounded parts, the Celestial called upon the raw power of the Starlight that he was born in and split the General’s heart into pieces, half a world away. Only being able to use an inferior version of this, the user delivers a flurry of blows containing pure Aura that extends and traces the trajectory of her blade, dealing heavy cutting damage.

=====

‘Huh? One of my stats is maxed out?’

That meant I just needed to max out two more stats to rank up. This was definitely a good thing. I estimated that in two years I’d—

“Nova Leinfall.”

I snapped my head to the side and saw Herald. ‘Since when—!’ I reflexively tried to cover up my Status, but soon remembered that only I could see it. Heaving a sigh of relief, I chuckled.

“We should really stop meeting like this.”

Herald wasn’t amused with my attempt at a joke.

“You ruined my plan yet again.”

“What plan?” I laid back on my bed with a snort. “To marry off my sister to that asshole?”

Herald shook his head and sat down on the edge of my bed.

“Hey, I didn’t give you permission to sit there!”

He ignored me and continued with his speech.

“This engagement was supposed to solidify our House’s power. This is the only thing that sister of yours is good for. And yet—” He glared at me. “—You ruined everything.”

I smiled.

“What are you going to do about it?”

I could practically hear his anger bubbling inside him.

“Your intelligence is severely lacking. Do you know what the other nobles are calling us? ‘Whistleblowers.’ That’s a disgrace to our family name. The only reason why I’m not killing you right now—” He smashed the floor with a stomp. “—Is because you actually managed to curry some favor with the Empress.”

“Wow, so, am I like, your favorite daughter right now?”

“You’re lucky that I still have some expectations of you.” He leaned closer to me and grunted angrily. “The Ceremony is in a month. Awaken to Fire, or you and your dear sister will face the consequences of wasting my time.”

Then, as abruptly as he appeared, Herald disappeared.

I stared at the ceiling blankly, whistling each of my worries away.

“Like hell I’ll let you control my life, bastard.”

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.

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A month had passed since then.

Today was the day of the Ceremony, and I was at a serious impasse. Between the two extremes, what should I choose?

The plainest of white shirts, or the flashiest of frilly dresses?

With a shrug, I chose the plain white shirt. It was the only reasonable thing to wear at a very serious ceremony that Herald held.

Then, I strapped the Sabre to my waist. Yes, the very same Sabre that I used a month ago. I’d have liked to use Nira or even Aerin, but they just simply wouldn’t respond to my call.

Well, Aerin did, but after an annoyed grunt from Nira, she ceased all contact with me.

I frowned. I definitely didn’t want to go out without my trusty swords. So, I did the only sensible thing and—

“Oh Sabre, my beloved!”

—Provoke them into coming out.

Taking the Sabre from its strap, I rubbed the flat side of its blade on my cheek.

“Whatever will I do without you…”

{Grr…}

Heh, it was working.

“I don’t need anyone but you. Let’s go kill some Monsters, my beloved Sabr—”

{ALRIGHT, THAT’S IT!}

Nira suddenly screamed and manifested herself in her humanoid form. Then, she snatched the Sabre from my hand and snapped it in half. Throwing the pieces down to the ground, she stomped on it repeatedly.

“FUCK YOU! TRYING TO STEAL NOVA FROM ME!? BIG MISTAKE!”

Aerin then manifested. She placed her hands on my shoulder and shook her head empathically.

“You shouldn’t have done that. Big sis still needs a few days to cool down…”

“Uh huh…”

Still, she was making too much noise. I had to intervene.

“Nira, stop—”

But she interrupted me with crazed laughter. Picking up a piece of the broken Sabre, she dangled it right in front of me and crushed it into a ball of metal.

“Oh, what happened to your beloved Sabre?” She picked up some more and crushed them. “That’ll teach you, cheating bitch!”