“Stop whining and stab the bunny.”

“But I don’t want to stab the bunny, the bunny didn’t do anything wrong.” I whined, staring sadly at the poor, fluffy white rabbit as it writhed in the net Darius used to stop it from flying away.

“You said you wanted to make the light-foot potion the guild purchased the recipe for. If you want the wing-eared rabbit feathers, you need to stab the bunny.” The guild leader said, standing behind me with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Can’t we just pluck the feathers and let it go?”

“Then it’ll die, regardless. Without its feathers, it won’t be able to fly away from predators. Stab the bunny.”

Cringing and turning my head away from the bunny, which was squealing out high-pitched pleas for its life, I blindly thrust the sharp tip of my wagasa towards the bundle of vines. The shrieks of the bunny reached a new crescendo as the weapon slammed into flesh, and I peered through squinted eyes at the bunny who I’d stabbed in the leg.

“You could have killed it in one strike if you were looking where you aimed. Now you’ve just made it suffer more. Stab it again.” Darius scolded, and I pulled back my wagasa, this time keeping my eyes on the bunny as I aimed for its side with my next strike.

Blood gushed from the wound on the rabbit side where I’d struck, its white furred body convulsing with tiny spasms before it finally lay still in the net. Digging the tip of the wagasa into the dirt, I used it to steady myself as I took in several shaky breaths. I’d never fought much in the previous virtual world I’d spent time in, and when I did, it was never against the cute and fluffy creatures.

I’m sorry, little bunny, but I really needed your feathers. I mentally told the dead rabbit as I knelt next to it and began plucking the feathers from its long ears.

Once the ears were stripped of any feathers, I went to stand, but stopped when Darius cleared his throat. With a sigh, I pulled out my dagger, which, according to Noctus, was enchanted with something even he couldn’t determine.

Getting the dagger back from the vampire had required Darius’s interference, and promises from me, to allow him to study it. What he could tell me about the enchantments was that it was inscribed to always stay sharp and that it had a form-changing enchantment.

When holding the dagger, I merely needed to think of the style of knife I wanted and it would change into that shape, though it could not grow any larger than a ten-inch long dagger. Focusing on the dagger, I imagined a curved skinning knife and watched as the dagger shimmered before being replaced by the more slender blade I’d pictured.

Staring down at the rabbit, I didn’t even know where to start with skinning it. I’d dissected animals before in biology classes, but there was a lot of difference between dissecting something and skinning it.

“I will do this one, you do the next.” Darius said, kneeling beside me with his own knife in hand.

Once the rabbit had been skinned, and Darius had removed the unwanted organs, he placed it into a leather sack which he packed away into his bag.

“Cook will take most animals for the kitchen and the tanners will take the fur. Even if you did mess up the pelt with poorly aimed hits, the apprentices can always use scrap to practice with.” Darius teased, as we crept through the meadow looking for more wing-eared rabbits.

After the twenty-fifth wing-eared rabbit, I was ready to return to the guild hall and my lab, but unfortunately Darius seemed to disagree with me, insisting that we move into the nearby forest.

“You need to practice your fire manipulation. Killing bunnies that I’m holding down for you isn’t going to help with that.” Darius announced as he led the way through the trees.

“I can only conjure up a tiny flicker of fire. That isn’t going to do me much good against anything here. It barely even singed the fur of the wing-eared rabbits.”

“Which is why you need to practice. You also need to hunt in order to grow stronger.”

“I can do that by making stuff in my lab,” I argued, knowing it was a lie.

While creating the tinctures, and salves did provide a very small increase to my mana core, killing a single bunny was more mana than what I’d gained from working in the lab over the past several days.

“That’s a lie, and you know it.” Darius stated, a knowing smirk curling over his lips.

“Why are you helping me so much? I mean, you’re the guild leader, don’t you have more important things to do than take me hunting? You’ve done so much for me already,” I asked, looking at the guild leader questioningly.

“I’m not sure how to answer that,” Darius responded, letting out a sigh.“In part, it is because you are Markion’s sister, and I also consider you a friend.”

We’re friends? I tilted my head, pondering that for a moment before nodding to myself. I guess we are.

“There,” Darius said, coming to a stop and pointing at something through the trees.

Hanging from a branch just above head height was a beehive that looked as big as the barrels my vodka was delivered in.

Bees half the size of my fist were streaming in and out of the hive in a constant flow, their fast-moving wings filling the air with a continuous low humming.

In a motion too fast for me to fully register, Darius tore the wagasa from my hands and shoved me towards the beehive, where I collided with a line of bees, knocking several out of the air and sending them spiraling to the ground. The humming grew louder and, as one, the swarm of bees streamed towards me. Letting out a cry of fear mixed with anger, I swiped at the mass of bees with fiery claws.

Sharp pain in the back of my hand tore a yelp from my throat as I desperately flailed my hands around in the air, swiping left and right at the endless swarm of bees. The leather armor I wore protected me from most of the stingers, but my neck, face and hands were left vulnerable to attack. As the wave of bees continued, my flames flickered and died, leaving my swipes to achieve little more than knocking the bees away, where before they were able to slice through them like butter.

Adrenaline surged through me and suddenly where before I stood on two feet, I now stood on four. Jaws filled with small razor-sharp teeth snapped closed around a bee, and a sharp, almost spicy, tang coated my tongue. Yips and yelps echoed around the clearing as I snapped at anything that dared draw near, my tail flicking and swishing in fast motions, knocking away any bees that found themselves in its path.

Heat and anger surged through me as the bees continued to swarm with no end in sight. Fire coated my fur as a yowling scream sounded from my throat and a torrent of flames exploded outwards in a scorching hot wave. Dizzy and exhausted, I slumped to the ground unable to even lift my head as my ears picked up the crunching sound of footsteps approaching from the cluster of trees to my left.

“Drink this,” Darius coaxed, pouring a violet-colored liquid into a wooden bowl.

Nose twitching, I sniffed the contents of the bowl, and the familiar smell of cat's tongue and morning dew filled my senses. Lapping clumsily at the rejuvenation tincture, I scrunched up my nose at the tart taste. It was easy to tell that whoever had made it did so following the recipe in the potioneer’s guide. It’s much better if you add a little bit of honey to counteract the tartness.

“Stay here while I collect the hive.”

As I slowly started to feel more energized, I sat up on my haunches and looked around the clearing. Everything appeared slightly dulled, the colors not as vibrant.

The forest floor was littered with the yellow and black corpses of the bees, their bodies making crunching noises as Darius walked around the hive which he had cut free of the tree. As I looked at the bees, the forest floor began shining with a soft golden light, which pulsed twice before it faded. Shaking my head I looked at the ground again, but it stayed the same. Slowly I stood, taking a tentative step forward, unsure of the mechanics of walking with four legs, but it seemed my mind had already adapted to this new body and I was able to move across the clearing without falling.

As I walked towards Darius, the beehive he was rolling onto a large piece of leather became encompassed in the same soft golden light as the forest floor. This time, the light pulsed three times before it faded. Is this some kind of sensory ability of foxes? I wondered as I watched Darius wrap the leather around the beehive, securing it in place with ropes. The hive was left looking like a giant backpack, with two sections of the rope creating loops which the Ōkami slid his arms through as he hefted the leather covered hive onto his back.

“Come on, it’ll be quicker if you jump up and sit on top of the hive. You’re not going to be able to regain your human form until you’ve gotten back some more strength. Any time you reach a state where you have completely drained your core of power, you will revert to this form. This is the same for all the Yōkai races with animalistic true forms, and while no one has tested it yet, it is speculated that if a beast Yōkai dies enough times, and reaches the point of damaging their core, then we will be trapped in our true bodies until our cores have been restored.”

Trapped? I could be stuck like this? I don’t want to be a fox forever! Do you have any idea what kind of gross things I can smell? Something has definitely defecated somewhere around here. I huffed, staring up at the hive and wondering how Darius expected me to be able to jump onto something so far up.

“Sorry, Kadia, I can’t properly understand you. If you were a Ōkami, we could communicate while you are in this form, but I’m only getting about every third word. It’s like you are speaking a jumbled mix of English and a foreign language.” Darius said, looking down at me.

“Are you jumping up or do you want to walk?”

No, I don’t want to walk. My legs feel like they are about to fall off. I yipped, cringing at the high-pitched noise that sounded from my own throat.

“I got legs and fall from that, so I’m guessing you are worried you will fall. You won’t, foxes are very agile.”

Right, that’s right, foxes are almost as agile as cats and cats jump up on stuff taller than this all the time. Backing up a few steps, I stared at the top of the hive, which sat a little higher than the Ōkami’s head.

In a burst of speed, I rushed towards the leather wrapped hive. I didn’t make it to the top, but the ropes and leather provided just enough traction that I could scramble the last of the way up onto the top of the hive. Panting with exhaustion, I gazed around the clearing from my new vantage point, spotting the wooden bowl Darius had placed on the ground a few feet away from us. As I focused on it, a soft golden light filled the bowl, its glow only encompassing the tiny amount of tincture that I’d left behind. Once, twice, three times, the light pulsed before fading from view.

Is this Arcane insight? Noctus says he can see enchantments, and that they will briefly glow then stop unless he focuses on them with his insight skill.

Narrowing my eyes, I focused on the bowl as Darius began walking towards it. This time, the golden glow did not fade, nor did it restrict itself to the bowl. The hive and the bees all glowed with soft golden light, the light around the bees pulsing twice and the hive pulsing three times, as did the contents of the bowl.

This can’t be arcane sight, that is an enchanter’s ability and I’m not seeing scripture either. Is this some kind of alchemic sight? Showing me alchemic components?

As Darius crouched to pick up the bowl, tipping its contents onto the ground, I leapt off the hive and trotted over to one of the bees. Focusing on it, I watched as it lit up with the golden light, then I turned to Darius and saw the hive light up, but his bag and armor, which I knew was enchanted, stayed the same.

The tincture has three ingredients, and it pulses three times. If I am correct, that means the bees contain two components that can be used in alchemy, and the hive has three. Hmm, I’ve used both honey and beeswax in my experiments, but what could the third thing be? Pollen? Eggs, Larva? Royal jelly from the queen?

“Kadia, what are you doing?” Darius asked, looking down at me in confusion as I sat staring at the bees littering the forest floor.

We need to collect all the bees. I yipped, as I reached down to gently close my mouth around the nearest bee that was still intact and carried it over to the confused guild leader.

“Collect bees? You want the bees?”

Yes. Nodding my head, I dropped the bee near his feet and nudged it with my paw.

“Alright, give me a minute.” Darius grumbled, looking a little annoyed as he unburdened himself of the beehive and knelt to pull a woven basket out of his bag.

“If you want the bees, then you’re helping pick them up.” He said, pointing at the basket.

Nodding, I picked up the bee I’d dropped and moved it to the basket before grabbing another bee. In the end, collecting the bees was easier than I thought it would be, as Darius used his foot to sweep them into a pile before scooping handfuls of them into the four baskets he’d pulled from his bag. Once we’d collected all the bees we could find, Darius used some twine to tie the lids onto the baskets before depositing them into his bag.

“Anything else?” He asked, looking down at me and I gave the clearing a cursory glance before shaking my head when no more glowing lights appeared.

Once more perched on the bee hive carried by Darius, I used my new ability to scan the forest for golden glows as we slowly made our way back towards the city.