Kuzu started to writhe on the ground, a torrent of cries spewed forth at an impressive rate. More swear words then I expected her to know were uttered in that. Reynard Niran watched this with a great deal of interest, while Osai could only stare on in silence.

“Do you have any food, I haven’t eaten anything in a while,” I calmly inquired.

The question drew looks of surprise from both of the kitsune, though Niran managed to retain some degree of emotional control. He motioned toward Osai, an act that led to Osai immediately standing up and leaving.

“You are quite easily one of the strangest people I have ever met,” Niran admitted to me while we waited for Osai to return.

“Strange to a kitsune, but for all you know I’m normal for an Elf.”

Niran’s ears twitched at that, as though he’d forgotten that he was talking with an Elf. He opened his mouth, then closed it, before he let out a long sigh. “Even if she lives through this, and your gift is acceptable, your kind will not be welcome amongst mine for a long time.”

“I didn’t do this for the Elves,” I honestly admitted, though I didn’t elaborate beyond that.

Before Niran could pry any further the door slid open and Osai stepped back in. He had a wide circular tray with legs, and he placed it in the middle of the room. It was far enough away from Kuzu that she couldn’t accidentally knock into it while she continued to squirm about.

The kitsune liked to eat anything they could get their hands on, a bonus of the fact that they were a hybrid of humans and foxes. Even grass could be enough to sate them, at least for a short while. My experience with them had me quite ready for the variety on the tray, though the more eccentric foods were thankfully not present.

I didn’t take anything, and instead I sat there and waited patiently. Niran smiled at my distinct lack of greed, and with his right hand he motioned toward the tray. “Please accept this minor feast from my skulk.”

For the next few minutes the two of us ate freely from the tray, while Osai stood near the door. Though I doubted that his reynard would have been upset with him joining us, he seemed more interested in keeping an eye on Kuzu.

A hint of a chill filled the air as my companion grew quiet on the floor. The chill started to grow, enough that Niran and I could see our breaths. The reynard stared at me, perhaps accusingly, before he started to realize that I wasn’t the source of this event.

“On three,” Kuzu growled, her face against the floor.

Her tail puffed up and with minimal difficulty she stood up. There was a slight wobble in her stance, but she recovered and glared in my direction. The already cool room dropped another ten degrees, even as a hint of frost formed on the floor near Kuzu.

"You said on three!" she hollered.

"Best to go when you don't expect it." I motioned toward Niran with one hand while I popped some berries in my mouth. "Told you she wouldn't die."

"You bet on my life!" she shrieked loud enough that everyone else present winced.

"Five, four," I started to count out.

"Why are you counting!" she yelled even louder than before, the cold wind surged while fresh snowflakes formed and swirled around her.

A moment later it was like a puppet whose strings had been cut, and she tumbled to the ground. Before she could hit the ground I leapt up and caught her, cradling her gently in my hands. “Right on cue,” I murmured, “nice work Kuzu.”

“The mythical mana exhaustion?” Niran spoke up from the side, his eyes focused on the unconscious Kuzu.

“Normally it happens when you use the energy within until you run out,” I explained, “but Kuzu’s untrained and not ready, so her emotions made her subconsciously drain herself.”

“How does one use magic? They need to get angry all the time?”

“No, with training and practice you can form a mental image of what you want and give it life. You wish for what you want the magic to do, and it subsequently pulls on the energy within your body to manifest it.”

Niran grew quiet at that, his eyes still locked on Kuzu. He finally looked up toward Osai before he spoke again, “I’m sorry, but I can not think of any way to accept this gift. My skulk will owe you a debt beyond any I’ve ever heard of before.”

“Then your debt will last through my own families lineage, until such time as your skulk feels they have returned enough.”

“If it means I am allowed to use this knowledge for my skulk, I am certain all will agree,” Niran said, as he motioned toward the unconscious Kuzu, “but what of your companion?”

“I promised her something, and I try to keep my promises,” I said, “but to that end I will need to rely on your debt to me already. Do you know what a return crystal is?”

“The gems of the humans? The kitsune have looted some from the humans who decided to try and play with us over the last few hundred years,” Niran commented as his eyebrow raised, “why?”

“Her home is on the first floor, and I’ve heard that those return you there,” I answered honestly.

“They do, though her point of origin interest me due to that fact,” Niran commented, “when we first seized the crystals from their original owners we decided to retaliate against the humans by sending some of our elites. They never returned, so we assumed they were killed.”

“Ah, so you think she’s one of their descendants?”

“If she is I’m surprised the kitsune blood still flows so strongly in her,” Niran motioned toward Osai before he spoke again, “I require you to go and speak with Ciraz, and offer him whatever he wants for a human crystal.”

Osai gave a quick nod of his head before he turned and left the room. The crystal door slid closed once more without a sound, and Niran and I were left alone with the sleeping Kuzu.

“Kitsune genetics overwrite any other species they mate with,” I informed Niran, “it’s their special gift that the Goddess gave them. That’s why she’s still pure kitsune.”

“Geenaticks?” Niran fumbled with the new word, mispronouncing it slightly, “I have never heard of that before.”

“You wouldn’t have,” I responded, before I realized I needed to add a little bit of deceit to that, “I was taught about it by my mentor.”

“My skulk would love to take in your mentor. By the way, what are the other races gifts?”

I could only blink at that question, before I laughed. Of course he’d be curious about something I’d drop a hint on, and in the end I doubted there’d be any harm in letting him know more. “The humans were gifted with the twentieth floor, though only if they could make it there. The orcs were granted a strength that puts them a step above all others. The other proper races you wouldn’t know of, so it’s a waste to let you know about them.”

“What of the Elves?”

“That,” I mysteriously replied, “the Goddess has an odd sense of humor.”

Niran’s eyes narrowed at that, his head tilting to the side. I could almost hear the sound of his brain as it worked hard at what I’d said, but in the end I doubted he could understand since it wasn’t easily noticed audibly.

The two of us sat there and continued to talk, though our conversation started to move toward the more mundane. He told me of how the kitsune had grown over the last few hundred years, and also explained how the battle with the orcs and goblins went. After a while Osai returned with a crystal, which I happily accepted. A few minutes later and he escorted me to the portal, and while I gripped Kuzu I initiated a transfer back to the first floor.

☗ ☗ ☗ ☗ ☗

Floor 1

Grantis - Town of Beginnings

The arrival point for Grantis was set, and it was as it always had been. A large stone hallway with a very high ceiling spread out around me as I appeared. Nearby I could make out what had to be a medical center, as a woman draped in a white long dress stood nearby a door with a big red and white symbol.

The main trading hub of Grantis could be made out through a side hallway to the right, the noise of it so loud that I regretted my Elven hearing. I had no interest in the trading center, instead I focused on the exit from the hallway that led out into the town itself.

What I had forgotten was the fact that I was considered a slave, and the immediate reaction from those who saw my arrival proved hostile. Weapons came out from sheaths, men shouted and a few arrows were pulled out and aimed in my direction. Nobody stepped forward first, but it was obvious that any wrong move on my part would result in a fight.

“He’s got a kitsune!” one of the more backward placed men whispered urgently to his friend.

With a slight shift of the unconscious Kuzu I slowly lifted my right hand upward, fingers straight and palm facing forward. It was a sign that most would take as surrender, or at least pleading for mercy, but it was not what I intended.

Instead once my hand reached the highest point I clenched it into a fist. A blast of lightning that originated from the hand unfurled all around me, singing a couple of the closer thugs. Most of the men pulled back instantly, their faces clearly showing how confused and scared they were. A couple of the less brave even whimpered as they retreated further back, no longer interested in dealing with the Elf.

“You have two choices,” I informed the gathered morons, “I can either kill you all, or you can tell me where I can find Lucas, Ivan and Alexia.”

For some odd reason they almost fell over themselves telling me what they knew of the trio. A few of the smarter men also figured out who I held in my hand from those three names, which they proudly proclaimed to the others.

About twenty minutes later I had arrived at a shack near the outskirts of Grantis. It was on the opposite side of the slave pens, according to the helpful men from before, and Lucas and his group had moved into it years ago. All in all it was a pretty miserable place, barely two stories tall and made of a rotten wood. A strong enough wind could probably knock over the whole thing.

I knocked on the door, loudly, and then stood there with a sleeping Kuzu in my arms. While I waited I studied the kitsune in my arms, and wondered at how she’d managed to survive Grantis as a child. If the Elves were treated so poorly how had she managed to dodge the pens?

The blistering sun that hammered down on my head began to aggravate me, so when nobody opened the door I became a bit irate. With a quick kick I smashed the door open, and then I boldly walked into the shack.

A pink-haired head popped out from the doorway of one room, and Alexia’s eyes widened as she saw me. At first all she saw was the Elf that she didn’t like, but then she noticed Kuzu in my arms and any angry comment she was about to make faltered and died.

“Kuzu!” she cried out as she rushed out of the doorway and over to me, her hands reaching out for her friend.

“While I’m happy that you’re happy to see her again, can I put her down somewhere?” I almost growled out. Between Alexia’s ignoring of my knock on the door, the stupid people in town who kept bothering me due to being an Elf, and the awful weather I was in the mood to punch something.

“Yes! Yes!” Alexia repeated herself as she turned and guided me toward the doorway she’d emerged from.

From a small front chamber I walked through the shack into a larger room, one that had multiple pieces of furniture. Most of it was wood based, though one had some pillows that I could only surmise had been made from Fuzzies. A throw rug was centered on the floor, and that too was made from the hide of a Fuzzy.

“Over here,” Alexia stepped over to what some might call a couch, though it barely qualified. The wooden frame was bent in some places, and the cushions had long lost their plump and soft state.

I placed her gently down on the couch, before I turned my full attention toward Alexia. Once again I stared those red eyes and felt something well up within, though whether it was fear or hatred I couldn’t quite figure out.

“Where’d you find her?” Alexia ignored me as she knelt down next to Kuzu.

“She was on the seventh floor, battered a bit but alright,” I crossed my arms in front of my chest, “I managed to help get her to the tenth floor and then we came back here.”

“But you didn’t have a return crystal?”

“The kitsune were kind enough to lend us one.”

She went stiff at that response, her eyes turned up toward me with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. “Why would they help an Elf?”

“The kitsune society puts a lot of emphasis on debt and respect,” I informed her, as I turned and started to walk toward the doorway, “I merely used that to my advantage.”

“I don’t understand why a slave would help Kuzu, though,” Alexia murmured to herself.

There was no response I could think of to that, since she had such a deep seated hatred of Elves. I doubted she would even believe me if I was honest, so instead I chose to walk out of the room and head for the exit.

On my way out I paused one time to look back at the hovel, and gave a small nod of my head toward it. “Goodbye Kuzu.”

☗ ☗ ☗ ☗ ☗

Floor 10

Kitsune Capital

Checkpoint 1

Hours had passed by and I had taken up residence on top of a tree. My eyes were focused on the Black Fortress, as well as the area near it, and I had watched it since my return to the tenth floor.

Though I wanted to go into it I needed to wait until people filtered away, and though the kitsune could operate well in the night they favored a day time schedule. So all I needed to do was wait them out, and once everyone had for the most part cleared out I’d open my home back up.

Some people might have been shocked by how the kitsune arrived at their current sleep schedule, but they had little choice in it. Between the goblins who had poor night time vision and the orcs that refused to fight at night, the kitsune had to consistently defend during the day times on both sides of their territory.

When they went on the offensive, however, they made sure to abuse their night vision as well as the reluctance of their enemies. The orcs especially hated how the kitsune struck at night, and had been forced to create a special unit of warriors who were granted allowance to fight before the sun came up.

While I thought about the intricate workings of kitsune, orc, and goblin interactions time continued to pass by around me. The crowds that had once filled the park dwindled down rapidly, and as the night had already gone halfway past most of the city went silent.

When I felt it was best I dropped out of the tree, a silent descent that no kitsune could have hoped to pick up on. My Elf ears twitched as I listened for any noise nearby, the noise of insects all I could pick up on. Confident that I was alone I began my approach toward my home.

The front entrance was a paved walkway that cut through to the middle of the park where the building stood, and so when I stepped out onto it my first move was to look both ways for anyone else. Nobody was visible to me, although my eyesight was inferior to a kitsune at night.

I arrived uninterrupted at the front of the building. Unlike what you would expect to find there were no doorways nor windows visible, instead a flat permanent blackness was the only greeting anyone could hope to find here. Not even a single button or other type of device for interacting existed.

A twig snapped and I pivoted, my attention immediately shifted to the person who had sloppily approached. The silhouette I could barely make out in the night had a familiar ring to it, one that brought a frown to my face. “What are you doing here?”

Kuzu sniffed at that question, her tail curled around her waist. "I don't remember saying I wanted you to leave me with my friends like that, Fenix. Or would you prefer Theodore, the hero of the kitsune?"

For a moment I mused on the potential danger of Kuzu knowing who I actually was. I had already decided against the idea of silencing her, even if I wanted to the mere thought of staining Lute’s gift of reincarnation by murdering an innocent was horrifying.

“You should go back to your friends, Kuzu,” I told her in a flat tone.

“You know, I was so happy to see Lexy when I woke up,” Kuzu half-smiled, as she toyed at her own tail with one finger, “but then I noticed you were gone.”

“What’s your point?” I maintained a cold demeanor and tone, with my arms crossed in front of my chest.

“Lexy and Luke and Ivan, they don’t really need me,” Kuzu admitted, “they love me like a sister but all I’ve ever done is cause them problems. They even moved to the slum area because of me.”

“And you’re implying that I need you?”

“You need someone,” Kuzu brazenly told me, “I’ve already seen how you handle things. You choose the craziest tactics, I’ve never seen someone so stupidly pigheaded in my life.”

“I don’t need you,” I bluntly told Kuzu, “you’re not even as good as a kitling. You’re barely even able to beat a small group of goblins. You’re dead weight.”

A hint of a chill spread across the park, a cool wind that had Kuzu as the point of origin. She lifted one finger up and pointed it at me as ice formed on the tip. “then teach me, show me how to be better. At the very least make it so that when I go back to my family I can keep them safe.”

My gaze focused on that hint of ice on her fingertip, a small bit of frost which showcased something interesting. It was the potential, she had already started to grasp at the power inside her even without help from another. In my past life I’d seen many people who hadn’t even been able to use magic consciously after decades of trying.

“If we do this, if I take you, you might die. You might never see Alexia or the others ever again, or even worse you might be tortured and torn to shreds by monsters beyond your understanding.”

“And if I bury my head in the sands and ignore you, and you die, what are the chances those dangers might someday leak all the way down to the first floor?” Kuzu asked with a hint of steel in her eyes.

“The labyrinth is designed to try and discourage that,” I let out a long sigh, “but even I can’t promise it’ll all stay proper. The kitsune never went to the twelfth floor in my time, but now they have a small base set up there. Everything has changed, and it’ll all keep changing.”

“If you train me will I be able to fight those monsters?”

“With my training you could probably handle everything up until floor forty or so. In a one on one fight, of course.”

“Then I’m going with you.”

It was a stupid idea on her part, she was potentially throwing her life away simply because of some arbitrary wish to get stronger. Even if she lived on her own and trained by herself she’d eventually get strong enough that she could easily handle the first ten floors. My eyes narrowed as I suspected that there might be something more to it, but I pushed that idea away. Even if I wanted to I could never hope to understand the female mind.

“Fine, but you need to promise a few things,” I finally caved in to her request.

“Oh...what?”

“Obviously you can’t let anyone else know who I am, I’m Fenix. There are people later on in the labyrinth who would dissect me for decades to try and figure out how to do what I did. Also if I tell you to do something, you do it. Don’t question me, don’t doubt me, you’ll die otherwise.”

Kuzu nodded her head at that, while her tail unfurled from around her waist. “Is that all?”

“The last promise is don’t die,” I said in a tired voice, “I’m tired of seeing that. Now stand back, I need to do something.”

I turned away from the kitsune and stepped over to the so-called Black Fortress, the sensation of Kuzu’s stare on my back. I lifted up and placed one hand against the dark wall, the cool sensation of the strange metal somehow a welcome feeling. Nothing happened, though, and I gave a sigh since it meant I’d need to try a different tack.

"System activation requested, username master zero one. Password five six five eight nine one two two four."

A slight rumble came from the dark building, while the nearby animals that had slept so peacefully stirred and ran. Birds flew from the trees in the park, while off in the distance some of the nearer houses began to stir. Lights flickered on, as the kitsune could hear and feel that something was happening.

System online. Activating security check. Check confirmed. Requesting secondary password.

A voice came from the place I had called a home a thousand years past. The voice itself resembled a little girl, one who was still around the age of seven. I smiled at that, quite happy to hear that voice, before I responded, “Love nest.”

Password confirmed. System online. Welcome home, I've missed you.

The black wall that had been in front of us slipped downward into the ground like a shutter. Ahead of us lay a darkness that no light could hope to pierce, and though Kuzu tried hard to peer into it I knew she would fail. I reached one hand out toward Kuzu. “This is your final chance to go back home.”

Without a hint of hesitation she took my hand.