-Evening. 3RD POV-

The fifty Foxes continued their march to the northern border where the beasts maintain their vigilance but look more relaxed resting on each side of the river under the starry sky of a cold and long night. At the heart of black wolf territory, the furry beasts continued their busy activities in preparations for the worst-case scenario while hoping it doesn't happen as they had many interesting things to learn.

On the western part of the northern hill of the mana vein, a white-haired girl covered in a white pelt sits atop of a large black wolf while tens of equally large beasts surround them shoving their muzzles up close. The human magician maintained a thumb-sized chunk of crystallized light over her palm while the Darkness users took turns to probe with their magic trying to replicate the phenomenon.

Ehehehe... This feels sooo nostalgic that I want to snuggle with them~ Shaila laughed inwards and squirmed while hugging her body with an arm. It's much better being surrounded by wolves than humans. They are all strong enough to crush me with a paw, but there is no malice, and none care about my body. It wouldn't be bad staying longer or never return to civilization, but Nefi wants me to be human. He wants to fix my problems and help people. Though Brother needs help too... The little girl sitting cross-legged compared and turned sad. I... I want to search for my past families. I wish to find my wolf children. I wish to teach them too. But it's gonna be a harsh reality finding them and being accepted. We must be sufficiently prepared... She contemplated with a distant gaze.

"Shimmer! Shimmer... Is there an easier trick to stopping Potoms?" Dante called out from a distance and asked in frustration.

"No." The white-haired girl said shaking her head and turned around. "You need to be well aware of what you are stopping or you'll never formulate the right commands in your mind." She affirmed looking behind.

"But...objects that pass through each other...?!" Damya muttered confused on the Rank 9's right.

"Wrong! Things exist in probability waves and properties that converge on interactions and behave like objects. Potons just act a little different...kind of like Mana threads. But everything in the Realm seems to be infinitely small points doing something from a distance which looks like bigger things..." The white-haired girl asserted and shrugged.

"...Yeahhh... That's too deep... What were Potons in other growls again?" The Rank 8 she-wolf put on an empty expression and criticized.

"Ah... They are, um, energy portions of light corresponding to the wave frequency of a beam traveling at the maximum speed for the tiniest particles in the Realm. Typically, energy equals mass, but they seem to express that as, umm, momentum which pushes things instead... As anything else without rest mass, Potoms don't experience Time in reaching an object either. They are also what stimulate ballers depending on the wavelength as the smaller it is, the more energized the Potoms will be..." Shaila elaborated as best as she could once more.

"Wuu... Our Darkness is weaker than Light then..." A black she-wolf whimpered disappointedly.

"Nuu Nuu... Light magic does make higher frequency beams, but Darkness can produce more Potoms for the same mana consumption to compensate for intensity. Also, also, Darkness can absorb multiple wavelengths of high intensity whereas Light can only absorb the maximum intensity for a single wavelength. And Darkness is easier to do anything..." Shimmer compared the advantages recalling tests.

""WHOOHH!!!"" The canines enlivened feeling praised.

"Eii! Don't lose concentration. My Mana is almost used up again." The little girl admonished maintaining the light crystal.

""WUK...!!!"" The wolves realized and stopped their commotion.

"So, after you comprehend the workings of light, you can try to command clusters to behave like a real baller, bounce them around with a very short distance or create them in proximity to a material to entangle them..." The light user explained making neon-like graphics.

The wolves took mental notes and concentrated on the task.

...

20 minutes later, the first Darkness user succeeded in making a fist-sized cloudy figure.

"Wuoh? I think I got it...! I do! I do!" A High-ranking black wolf announced.

""Hum? What? Already? Lucky beast..."" The wolves turned to see and the Light user created a yellow light to observe.

"I did it too! Take that, you lot!" A high ranker she-wolf spoke showing off a dark wisp.

"Good work. Make it more solid now." The white-haired girl commended and instructed. "Every beast else, keep it up~" She encouraged looking around.

"...Hey, Damya, we are falling behind these mutts." Dark 9 called out and commented enviously.

"Hoh-oh? Be less jealous and more attentive then?" The she-wolf criticized.

"WUK!" The male yelped and concentrated.

...

10 minutes after the first wolf achieved a new magic ability, other 19 managed to do the same.

"Ah... Mana ran out..." Shaila announced apologetically.

"That's alright. Those who got it can show the rest." Dante assured.

Amazing... This many learned in a single session... Damya admired.

"But Shimmer, we can't seem to be able to make the light more solid than this." Deiyan pointed out.

*Shruu~* The darkness beast presented a finger-long tendril which the girl grabbed lightly and shone a dim yellow light on it.

"Huh?! It isn't crystal-like... How...odd..." Shaila inspected while stretching the black and slimy rope. "I don't think I can make it Elastic like this... Ah! It must be characteristic of the Darkness system." She tested the cohesion until the black rope dissolved in her hand.

""What?! Does that mean it's useless? What good is it if we can't use it as a shield like you?"" The wolves complained.

"Eii! What does Nefiru always say? Find applications for magic arts!" The girl admonished glaring back at the glowing eyes in the dark. "Let's see... You could use it as a whip to grab the enemy, envelop your body to be fire-resistant or launch objects at the enemy. There!" Shimmer described some ideas.

""WOOHH!!!"" The wolves cheered wagging their tails noisily.

Hmm... This condensed light gets tough when I pour more mana into it. I can use it choke creatures... Damya confirmed after coiling a Photon tentacle around a leg.

I could use it in sex play... Derimil though excitedly.

"Shimmer is the best!" Dekaron praised showing off his black tendrils wriggling in the air.

""Yeah!!!"" The black wolves agreed in unison.

"Ehehe..." The white-haired girl laughed gleefully.

Hoh-oh? They don't even worship me like that... We never had a conflict with the humans, but it's hard to believe any of us would like them so easily. Well, she doesn't feel or behaves like a human entirely. Yes...it's better to think of her as a wolf in the shape of a human... The rank 8 she-wolf contemplated.

"That does sound really good, Shimmer. It even consumes less mana than expected, but...what about Magic interruption? Although it gets harder to do it at higher ranks and affinity talent also plays a part, it's quite difficult to produce magic arts on the body of an enemy with similar rank." Dante appraised and pointed out the issue.

"Oh... Umm... You would only need to worry about that when holding them directly, right? Just do the same thing as Nefiru with his Wires and throw them at the opponent..." She asserted unable to recall seeing the objects and created a shiny whip doing various movements.

""WOOHH!!!" The darkness users cheered.

"From what I've seen, controlling crystal light from inside will impede interference since penetrating the Elements outside of your sphere of influence is slow and wasteful. Also, a better magic control will extend the time a target is bound." The girl explained and turned off the animation.

"Houu... Magic control, is it?" Dante contemplated.

"Yes... I noticed the Mana gaps in all the Spirits here and the disorderly movements of the threads..." Shaila revealed causing the wolves to lower their ears halfway. "If I were near your rank, it would be easy for me to interrupt you. Even so, you would probably be able to hold me briefly." She declared with a smug expression.

"Ah... Just a short entangle with, Hm, Dark Vines would help without a doubt." Dante approved and named the phenomenon before continuing. "As for magic control... We only focus on that after being stuck in a rank without progress for a long time since we have to readjust to the new density, become fully aware of new and longer Spirit threads, and re-molding mana to the new density is wasteful." He explained their reasons...

"At this rate, you'll be bad magicians forever! Why don't you admit that you overly rely on your large mana pools and suppression using quantity instead of quality?" The white-haired girl strongly scolded.

""Guk! Wuk! Wuuu..."" The black wolves uttered showing different expressions.

"B-but even the dragon isn't doing that..." Darzo remarked.

"No 'buts!' Nefi neglected his training for now because he's trying hard to reach rank 7 before we depart on our long journey. Though I can't punish him with my Spirit anymore... It has the opposite effect by now." Shaila said sticking her chest out proudly. "A-anyway, perfecting magic control is one of the good things that I learned from human teachers... It has been especially useful for Light magic since gaps between Mana threads makes the phenomena lose potency and you could even lose the elementals if they don't get fed for a certain amount of time." She described the upsides.

"I-I see..." Dante acknowledged and looked to the sides. "You all know what to do after... We are the only ones without work." He ordered glancing around and the wolves nodded.

"Do all humans practice magic control?" Damya asked curiously.

"Most, yes. We don't have the same perks as beasts. Nobles do it mostly for Pride though." She answered in Stilus.

"Not all Foxes practice it either..." Dante asserted.

"Ah...! Have you all learned to detect things with darkness?" Shaila asked about the radar.

"Uhn...? Yes, some of us already knew before the dragon appeared." Deiyan replied before the others.

"Then, there's nothing left for me to teach. We all have many things to master before Divine rank, and then, more to discover." Shimmer affirmed.

"For sure... Thank you so much Shimmer. We owe you a great deal." The rank 9 black wolf announced and lowered his head.

*Swish! Whishh!* The other canines offered their respect, doing the same.

"Let's go show off to the dragon now! Let's see who can multitask the most Dark Vines..." Dekaron incited.

""WOOF!!!"" The black wolves accepted enthusiastically before a scream got louder.

"...Heeeeelp! I'm being raped!" A desperate plea came from outside the beast group.

""!!!??"" The black wolves perked their ears but only 2 of them understood.

...!! Nefi?" Shaila turned around abruptly and identified worriedly.

*Swoosh!* The white-haired girl slipped out of the coat and sprinted on the wolf's back before jumping to another. *Pwaff! Pawff! Thump!* She jumped over the rank 9 beast's rear and landed on the dirt before looking at the golden wolf pinning an upside-down dragon with a paw while licking between his legs. *Pak!* The slender human realized it was a false alarm and face-palmed herself before slowly taking off the hand while the black wolves turned around.

"Ayy... Nefiru, don't make light of that word..." The light magician reproved walking closer to the scaly head laid back to the south.

"Ah... Shaila! Sorry..." The purple-blue beast recognized and apologized to the approaching girl. "But this horny wolf is forcing me!" He protested trying to push the large beast away to no avail.

"Like you are one to talk!" Shaila rebuked pointing with a finger and stopped two meters away from the dragon's head.

"Just what does it take to get that penis to come out? Are you impotent? Gimme. Dick. Now!" Erina protested and demanded.

*Shlap! Shlap! Shlap! Brrzzt~! Brrzt! Bzzzt!* The golden she-wolf licked the slit in the lower body while transmitting her sexual arousal with intent and getting her snout zapped by small static arcs.

"Nooo... My-my heart isn't ready... My body isn't having a natural reaction either... And I still have a headache..." Nefiru opposed strongly.

"Are you a maiden!!? I'm the little girl here, right? Right???" Shaila retorted pointing at herself with a hand making a contorted expression. "HAAaa... Erina stop. You are doing it all wrong." She commanded shaking her head and the loose hair was blown over her face by a wind gust.

"Shimmer... Are you opposing?" Erina questioned with a deep tone that sent chills on the wolves around.

"Yes. I oppose..." The girl declared with a grave expression before gathering her hair and dropped it over the left shoulder. "I oppose forcing a beast that has different biology and mating seasons with a complicated personality... What are you going to do about it?" She said making a serious stance with both hands on the waist as the white hair waves in the air freely.

"I'll..." The golden she-wolf said in a menacing tone with her hackles raised and an intimidating glare before noticing the group scowling at her. "...I'll listen to you as usual." She controlled herself and lifted the paw before stepping back.

"Begone, crazy wolf!" Nefiru said spitefully and pushed her snout away with his hind legs.

"Be nice to her." Shaila admonished and walked up to the dragon snout at the height of her neck before slapping him lightly.

"Humph!" Erina harrumphed and sat down on the purple-blue tail.

"Erina, you can't treat him like a magical wolf. You can't treat him like a person either. You can only make him comfortable and set the mood...as my dear sister says." The white-haired girl lectured.

"Hey, expert-on-Nefiru... You do realize that you are endorsing NTR--infidelity, right?" The dragon turned his head looking west before retorting with half-opened eyes.

"With plenty of thought... But it's alright. My time will come, and I'll be fully ready... This is just another test for me, and I intend to score well." The light user declared walking to the left of the dragon's head.

"...!?? What do you mean?" The dragon asked with confusion.

"Umm... I... I-I'm still not completely over what happened." She admitted lifting a hand towards his cheek.

"Huhhh? But that--...!? And test--...back at the forest too? I see... You put up with my pervertness, huh?" Nefiru faltered realizing.

"Hihi... I-I was...a little repulsed at first." Shaila giggled without denying while touching fingers together. "But that changed with time...and my past memories helped. Nevertheless, those images still flashes back in moments like this..." She said looking down at her bare body dimly illuminated by the electric sparks and gripped the fists channeling her frustration.

"Ah... That's quite understandable. But you are amazing...you know that?" The purple-blue beast praised.

"Ehehehe~ Praise me more!" Shaila laughed happily and demanded.

"Uh... You really are maturing into my ideal woman... I can't wait to get hands on that cute body of yours to appraise it fully." He said with a grin.

"Hehe... That's why...that's why I'm grateful to Erina... Because she can give you the happiness you deserve now rather than later... Especially after learning of your past..." She announced and reminded thinking they could miss the Dragons at the Capital.

"Ah, jesh, thanks for reminding me something I've been trying to put in the back of my mind..." Nefiru grumbled rocking his head.

"Nefi..." The little girl sounded sympathetic. "As you told me repeatedly in the past...accept the bad memories and make it a smaller part of who you are." She reminded with a kind tone.

"...Yeah. I will push myself and do whatever it takes. I will conquer every weakness and sacrifice anything to win!" The scaly beast said with determination.

"And I will be by your side. And the wolves will be behind us. Look..." Shaila assured and moved her left hand presenting the darkness beasts. "Show him what you got!" She called out growling at the wolves.

*Zuzuzuuu~!!!* The canines solidified low-frequency light from the fur on their backs producing dozens of tendrils wriggling eerily under the bright starlight in the background.

""WUUU~!"" More than half of the darkness beasts howled triumphantly attracting the attention of the rest.

"...!? Hooooly shiiiiiieet... You guys look creepy as hell! But that's quite impressive..." The purple-blue beast flinched at the bizarre display and appraised proudly.

"H-h-how...?!?! Even I haven't learned Crystalized Light!" Lightwater 6 realized and protested walking closer to the eastern group.

"It's Darkness, dude. Everything is easier for them. I haven't learned either." Nefiru asserted as he continued observing.

"Hoooum... I've never heard Darkness users could do that." Erina asserted trying to recall anything similar.

"Our Divine Father didn't know either... I think we just learned something really very amazing." Dante spoke in the front of the group.

"And in a blink of an eye too..." Damya added next to the rank 9 male. "I think we should practice this Dark Vine in secret and use it when absolutely necessary..." She proposed with a sense of foreboding.

*Zuzuzuuu~!!!* The wolves decreased the number of dark vines and focused on practice while helping the others attain the knowledge.

"Sister is right. We need a Divine in our Tribe soon. And with the valuable knowledge, we have, a strong Divine. There's only so much protection the aquatic Divines can provide to foreign Tribes." Dark 9 reaffirmed.

"Matriarch is weak..." The golden wolf pointed out.

"...Weaker than Father." Dante asserted recalling the past.

"Weaker than the dragon..." Damya compared and winked at the scaly beast.

"You guys are mean." The purple-blue beast retorted. "I risked my life trying to convince Dimshadow and capture her alive so that you'd have a Divine leader to make alliances with other Divines. I don't want to return and find this Tribe destroyed... I'm gonna try making contact with Divine Goldias at the Capital next. I heard he's pretty decent." He reminded in a solemn voice.

"Humm... It would be nice to learn the Divine Earth ability and become a respectable immortal..." Erina muttered lost in thought.

The white-haired person waiting for the dragon to relax noticed the scaly chest going up and down slowly, and reached out before pulling his elongated left ear down. The scaly beast offered resistance at first but yielded with care not to let electricity harm her, and lowered his head to the ground facing west as the nude girl crouched facing him while grabbing the left horn with both hands.

"Hm?" Shaila noticed the dragon's gaze on her body. "Feeling better?" She asked placing the left palm near the large eye and gently close the scaly eyelid.

"...I'm sorry, I'm such a pervert," Nefiru grumbled flickering his ears annoyed.

"And a cruel monster that swallows people alive." She added smirking before shining white light over the frontal of her torso.

"Ouch!" Nefiru cringed lowering his ears.

"Hihihi~ I know what I signed up for... I couldn't have asked for a better pet~" The white-haired girl announced and moved her right hand to caress the beast's ear. "And I'm no Angel either." She said with a smile and opened her legs before releasing the eyelid slowly.

"...Huh!?" The dragon blinked once and turned his pupil into a vertical slit adjusting to the bright light before focusing on her crotch. "Y-y-you don't have to do this..." He looked up at her face seeking confirmation.

"Shhh!" Shaila urged him placing a finger from the left hand on her thin lips forming a suggestive smile. "Feast your eyes upon my womanhood and give me a victory..." She whispered demanding in a haughty tone.

"Huh!? A wha--?!" He blurted unable to understand.

"It's okay. Don't think. Just let go of the shackles. Stop holding back your urges." The girl prompted as her darkened face hid the red shades of embarrassment.

"..." The dragon traced his left eye across the illuminated pale white skin with twinkling dots and stopped at the chest. "...Cute titties." He praised fixing his gaze on the small pink nipples for a few seconds before looking down.

"Hmm-hmm..." She nodded approving looking into his glowing eyes while becoming increasingly embarrassed with her whole face heating up.

"This...this is the first time you let me see everything..." The dragon mumbled looking up and down.

"Um? Yes... But no touchy~ We have a promise to keep." Shaila reminded winking cutely. "Though we have mapped each other's body inside and out already..." She muttered remembering past times.

"Yeah..." He acknowledged and magnified the image.

The dragon couldn't feel anything physically, but his human desires carried from the previous world allowed him to fully appreciate the smooth genitalia with thick-rounded outer folds, pink inner labiums barely visible, and a rosy beanie peeking out of a prominent prepuce.

"What marvelous kitty..." Nefiru appraised happy with his preferred shape but regretting now being able to do anything.

Around 30 meters South-East from the purple-blue Dragon, between the red-coated wolves practicing magic and the wind magical beasts, a disfigured firefox flicker her ears around hearing the distant conversations of the two frolicking

Auuwww~ What a good relationship those two have... Is it love? I was once in love too...and it all turned to despair when my problem was discovered. I wonder if I could experience affection again. But a relationship between a humanoid and a beast? Although Stormy--not his real name--Nefiru seems very humane and that girl seems quite wild to the point where beast...obey her...?! But it sounded like she had a rough past with people. We may have things in common. Would she accept me if I take Nefiru's invitation to cuddle? She's scary, but doesn't seem like the Nobles that I've heard... Elmyra reviewed enviously and started acting fidgety not knowing how to approach.

"Say, Elmyra, why are you aroused?" The orange fox to her right noticed the scents and asked.

"...!? S-Simon...!?" The firefox twitched saying and puffed her tail before looking to the right. "I... I... It-it must be the season!" She stuttered in Stilus.

"The season hardly affects you..." The orange fox retorted with eyelids partly closed. "Is it the dragon?" He asked as his canine lips formed a smirk.

"Augh..." She sounded holding both hands with lowered ears and tail making herself look small.

"Well, I like him too. He acknowledged my existence...hard to believe, right? For a deviant like me..." Simon assured with self-mockery. "My instincts tell me he's trustworthy, but I heard he doesn't take betrayal well, so it's best not to cross him in any way. You should do as he asks." The dual-magical beast announced with a warning looking at the distance.

"Y-yes. I already said that I would return after getting fixed. But I want to thank him for this opportunity...and who knows, maybe I'll give birth to draconians?" Elmyra announced looking down and tracing circles on the soft dirt with the big toe.

"Mhm... I don't think that will work, little fox." A rank 8 green wolf corrected from the left making the Firefox twitch. "But no beast here will judge or stop you as long as you don't have any thoughts to harm him." He declared with a hint of self-criticism.

Those who rejected the Dragon back at the Tribe meeting near his Lair will soon regret it. Change is unavoidable, and this is the biggest change that came to our Tribe since Patriarch perished, but conflict will follow. It'll be up to me to devise and enforce simple laws, so I'll need to observe the interactions between Tribe members closely... Wind 8 affirmed running his gaze over all the beasts in sight.

"You need to get close to them... These wolves won't ostracise us either, but we must bond with as many as possible before the group splits up and we face other wolves. I'm learning their language and names already." He adviced and turned to the right observing the red wolves lined up while maintaining different flames.

"Y-yes..." Elmyra affirmed nodding once and sprint on the soft dirt towards the corpse pile. "Auuugh... It's too embarrassing... I don't know them enough." She slowed down then started walking back and forth.

"GO! Watching you being so embarrassed is more embarrassing!" The orange fox barked criticizing.

"Auuuugh~" The short-haired fox woman flinched and continued walking until she stopped behind a corpse before looking over.

...

The white-haired girl continued posing for the dragon and squeezed her bare Spirit into his head and neck while the golden she-wolf transmitted her sexual arousal with intent as well.

"...Anything?" Shaila asked stroking the long purple-blue ear.

"Y...yes... M-my body started doing something..." Nefiru replied noticing his heart beating faster enough to rock his body and the blood pressure increasing until a sweltering heat permeated the flesh. "AaaAHH--! Hot! Hot! Hot!" He complained lifting his head and convulsed feeling feverish before reaching for his genital slit.

"Nefi!!? Are you okay?" Shaila asked worriedly and turned off her light.

"Huuff! Huuuff! Ack! M-my body is changing the reproductive system with an abnormal Cell division and producing hormones like crazy... Aaarrrgh! It hurts like hell! Feels like my insides ripping apart! Fuuuuck!" The purple-blue beast described while feeling a sharp throbbing pain and blocked the nerve signals with lightning.

"Wuuh... Is that normal?" Erina questioned with a worried expression.

"Of course not! None of this feels right... What the hell is happening to me?" Nefiru snapped feeling puzzled and concentrated on his insides. "These Cells must be specialized to do this occasionally--Ah! I know why it feels wrong... My body is activating the wrong genitals--I'm turning into a dragoness!" He inspected and found the cause before revealing.

""WHAAAAT!!??"" The two females blurted shocked catching the attention of other wolves and the she-wolf wobbled as her magic transmission wavered.

"Ah?! ERINA! You are transmitting your sexual arousal more than your sexual preference and it's overwhelming mine. You are willing me to be a female!" The dragoness assumed and revealed panicking while suppressing the transformation with Water and Lightning magic.

"GWRUAAH--!?" The she-wolf's expression twisted with terror and stopped immediately. "I-I-I didn't know dragons worked like that... I'm sorry..." She said apologetically and lowered the portion left of her ears like never before.

"HA-HUFF! Ha-huff! Huff! Huff!" Nefiru panted calming down and said as his heartbeats return to normal.

What have I done...? The she-wolf thought with remorse and reflected on her blunder.

"Th-that was close... I managed to stop it in time...I think. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I think the trigger was indeed your intent. Just how horny are you!!?? Goddaaamn..." The scaly complained and cursed with an icy glare.

"S...sorry... It's been at least 30 years without mating seasons, but also because the urge to mate with you is like an itch inside my head that can't be scratched and doesn't go away. I know I was rash, but please become a male... It won't happen again." The golden beast explained and requested submissively.

"I am a Maaaale!" The purple-blue creature roared furiously. "Predominantly... I just need to rip out those female parts now that I learned to heal and activate my dragonhood to be 100% male... I'm not laying eggs...ever!" He disgruntled while suppressing hormones with water magic.

"Don't! You don't know what will happen in the mating season. Don't be afraid about being forced. Didn't it happen to me? It's not a reason to kill yourself." Shaila reasoned in a hurry. "And I would enjoy a female Nefi very much... Um... Nefiruna? Ehehe~" She mused imagining what it would be like and named.

"Ugh... Damn it, Shaila, have some mercy on my male Soul..." The scaly beast said with a hopeless voice and considered. "But you might be right...some dragon could get pissed off or it could affect my body in unpredictable ways. I'll hold until higher ranks..." The lightning user accepted and slumped his neck back down relaxing. "HUUuuuu~!" He sighed deeply blowing up a cloud of dust and deflating his chest with legs spread out.

"Nefiruna... Pfffft!" Shaila called out snickering and walked up to the upside-down head. "I believe you need to complete the sexual activation into one of the two genders. I read you could get stuck half-way..." She instructed and crouched in front of his left eye before stroking his lower jaw facing up.

"Say whaaaaa--!?" Nefiru sounded frantic with worry and decided. "Alright, let's finish this." He declared resolutely before closing his eyes to meditate.

"What in the world just happened? Why didn't he just get an erection?" Dante wondered puzzled and exchanged glances with Erina while the other wolves observe equally curious.