“Do not worry young spirit.” She said, “I will make sure you are grown healthy, strong, and with a mind like no other.” She said, almost happily.

“My pup has been dying to meet the young one that has been pulling my attention from their studies for long enough and I am tired of them begging!”

What? Crazy mini foxes? No freaking way lady! I need at least another couple hours for asking questions, you owe me that at least-

I was interrupted when she left the room quickly, disappearing with a literal gust of wind, and coming back with a soft-looking rag. She levitated me off the floor, her face coming much too close, as she took her paw with the rag, and started wiping the magical berry juice off my face.

My dulled senses came back to life slowly, as she receded from my mind, the instant lack of contact disorientating me for a moment before she promptly clamped her jaws around my neck, and carried me out of the room.

After all that heartwarming mention of children and magic, she just had to pick me up by the neck, in her oh-so-sharp jaws. And here I thought she wasn’t going to eat me.

I panicked for a second, before realizing she wasn’t hurting me and my head was still attached to the rest of my body.

Leaving the small circular cave, I saw the trophy shelf, carved of stone in an assortment of items. Disturbingly, there were animal heads too, strewn about and organized like a collection of rocks would be. Directly next to it was an old and rotten bookshelf, containing just as old and rotten books. I didn’t get much of a chance to see anything beyond that though.

Moving on, there was a small and straight hallway, leading outside into the morning sunshine. Well, the cloudy morning sunshine, but sunshine all the same. We were leaving for the direction away from the mana pockets, onto a little hill about 15 feet away from the cave entrance, going up in height from the cave level at about 30 inches.

Viralya didn’t speak anymore, most likely because of the berry juice that was not on my face anymore. I bristled, remembering her voice in my mind when it was unprotected by the mystical runes.

She sat me down, facing the edge of the clearing. I was sitting up, being supported by something behind my back that was pushing up against me constantly. Wind probably.

I looked over to where Viralya was crouching down, slowly stalking towards a certain bush a couple of meters away. It still had some leaves, but it was mostly bare. The size of it startled me a little before I realized it was just me being tiny.

The twigs obstructed a little of my view, but I caught sight of shifting red fur, and a bushy tail wagging up and down, in… Excitement? Anxiousness? Whatever it was, if I could see it, Viralya could certainly see it as well. If only they had fox body language classes back where I was from…

Viralya pounced, the red and fluffy blur diving into the bushy twigs in escape. Virakya bounded after them, snapping off a good majority of the branches like well... twigs.

She stopped, my view obstructed for a moment before she pulled herself out, revealing a reddish-orange fox with blackish-grey undertones on their body. They were small, a little bigger than me really, and their whiskers and ears were twitching, a growling whine coming from their throat.

They talked for a few minutes, ignoring little old me before Viralya walked over, putting their cub down for them to fend for themselves. Unlike me though, they needed no coddling as they suddenly bolted towards me, moving at the same speed an Olympic runner could achieve, running downhill.

My eyes widened, they weren’t slowing down, bellowing toward me with a foxy smirk on their face, and a whine that I doubted came from them. It sounded suspiciously like an electric drill.

They’re not stopping, are they? I’m going to get tackled. This is so gonna hur- My little body already had two small paws slamming into my chest at speeds that would probably kill me if not for a breeze that lessened the impact by moving me along with it, and throwing me up into the air before we hit a tree.

Agony exploded in my chest and I was pretty sure more than one rib bone had broken. My little flexible body bent into an hourglass shape and my spine shifted. My addled brain just about managed to spew curses as I was in the air. The fun size is just as bad as the queen size! I thought

Flying. I was currently flying. There was no ground beneath my body to steady me, nothing to prevent the splattering that would come soon. And then we stopped midair. I was slowly lowered to the ground, too distracted by pain to pay any real attention. Coughing and wheezing, I cracked open my eyes to a red ball of fluff, standing over my prone form, hissing and growling at me. Already, I was dreading the back pain I would wake up to tomorrow.

I paid no attention when they were picked up by a much bigger red fluff ball. Why were there four of each though? One was bad enough, but the little junior over here was even worse. I stayed still, not able to move much. I wasn’t paralyzed was I?

A rapid series of warm threads of energy wormed its way into my flesh, making me feel like I was taking a hot bath after a day of hard work. My mind flashed back to the first time I had gotten my apartment, indulging in luxurious things I hadn’t even dreamed existed.

My breathing slowed, my heart thumped less, and I was feeling relaxed and much sleepier. The blissfulness didn't last for long though. Feeling the disorientating levitation pick me up and spin me around in place while I couldn’t move still wasn’t getting any easier.

By the time I had stopped seeing double, fun-size was getting a scolding, growls, and hisses thankfully not directed at me. It appeared to be getting pretty animated as fun size was currently sulking and standing off to the side, glancing curiously at me.

Although considering the fact I was just tacked at high speeds, by a fox no less, I felt pretty good. I was pretty sure that warm red energy was healing magic or some form of it at the very least.

I glared at fun size, making my position clear with a high-pitched ‘harumph’. Viralya just seemed to find this funny, with her huffing laughter and growls.

She managed to stop laughing at my predicament after a couple of minutes, which gave me ample time to continue to glare at fun size. Not being able to really move my head might have played into that as well though.

Come to think of it. I thought inwardly. How am I still alive? I don’t really know much about the 'healing magic’ but I’m pretty sure stuff like that can't heal instant death. I pondered.

Although, what am I supposed to do now? As far as I can tell, this whole world could just be a figment of my imagination, something my mind made up, while my burnt body could be in a hospital right now, in a coma.

That was not a pretty thought. I had no real way to tell if any of this is real.

My depressing thoughts were interrupted when I was floated up in the air once again, and plopped right next to fun-size, despite my horror and outrage towards this messed up family.

Fun size looked at their mother, receiving a nod of encouragement. They reluctantly approached me, tapping their paws against my leg. I moved my leg out of reach before he could get to it though, happy at least some of my limbs could move.

Junior didn't let my resistance discourage him, and moved to the side of me, trapping my limb between their two paws in an instant. The moment they touched my leg, I felt a jolt travel up my spine and enter my skull, circling around my mental barriers.

A presence pushed against the back of my mind. It wasn’t an invasive push, more akin to ringing a doorbell. I looked back over to junior, seeing what looked like a deeply concentrated expression. I looked back over at Viralya and noticed her cheeky expression, locking eyes with me, before wandering off to do whatever a magical spirit fox usually does. I couldn’t help the thought that she had just left two children in the middle of the woods, to fend for themselves without telling me much.

I gave a mental sigh, and slowly opened a sort of backdoor to my mind, helping the presence along my mental barrier, until they reached just beyond the surface, and stopped.

“Hello? Hellooooo? Can you talk to me yet? Mr spirit? Hellooooo?” I was startled for a second at the voice. They weren’t that loud. Quiet, even if you compared them to their mother. They were also most definitely male. There was also a distinct lack of static from the other end as well.

“Uh… Hi?” Fun size went quiet for a second before I felt something similar to excitement and happiness at my response.

“Hi! Woah, this is so cool! I can’t believe I’m talking to a human! Or spirit human, but still a human! What's your name? What was it like? Dying I mean… I bet it sucked right? What are human settlements like? Is it true your magic sucks and you don't have magical talent? What are the human plains like?”

Dazed at the explosion of questions, I mentally reeled back in shock. My mental state did a one-eighty and I stopped paying attention to my body, focusing on the bubbling mental presence. My distress was going completely unnoticed by junior though.

“Is it true you cover yourselves in metal because your skin is super weak? Is it true you guys use giant flying ships to get from place to place? Is it true your big wooden dens need miles upon miles of space to fit all of you? Is it true humans only live a little over a century? Man, that must suck. I wouldn’t wanna live in that little amount of time!”

The questions kept coming. He isn’t going to stop. I realized.

“Uh, well, I uh, don’t really know,” I said with uncertainty. “This world is kinda new to me and I have only been here... A couple of days, so I haven’t seen any of the human cities you're talking about yet.”

That seemed to shut him up. The silence was blissfully not full of questions I didn’t have answers to. However, it didn’t last long enough and I was soon bombarded with even more.

“Oh. That's cool I suppose." Junior said. "So you... Don't remember anything?"

“Uhhhhhhh,” I said gracefully. Quick, evade! Change the topic!

“When is your um, mother coming back?” I said and instantly cringing. I wasn’t the most social of all people and I never considered interaction skills as very important. I just never needed to talk to anyone in the first place. So when I suddenly had to not only talk back to someone that's an all-powerful magical fox, but also a child, I panicked.

He mentally blinked. “Oh, she’ll be back soon, she is just going out to gather stuff. I heard her talk about ungrateful little brats, and also something about a bed.”

“A bed?! Yes! No more prickly haystack and cold stone floors! I'm going to get a bed!” I burst out mentally in celebration.

“Wow! I didn’t know spirits thought so highly of beds! Wait, why do you like beds so much? What's so good about them? Do you think mother will give me one too?” He asked with the same bubbly excitement.

I paused. On one hand, it would be funny to watch him ask for a bed when Viralya gets back, and having her explain what it is, might convince her to get Junior one… On the other hand, he tackled me really hard, and it hurt so… Hehehe.

“A bed? Pshaw! They are very hard to obtain and I doubt your mother will be able to bring two. Besides! Foxes can’t use beds!” I said with an air of regal superiority. That seemed to put a damper on his excitement a little as he mentally processed the news. I instantly felt bad, regretting my words.

“But, uh… Maybe you can share mine? It um, it's probably big enough for the both of us?” I said tentatively. His excitement jumped back up to its previous levels, a smirk on his face again that looked incredibly suspicious to me.

“Really? Wow! That’s super cool! What are beds like? Why does mother have to go to a human village to get one? How did you convince her to get you one? Were you like, super nice to her?”

To my horror, he didn’t stop asking questions. He kept rambling even when was completely silent. Part of me regretting speaking up at all. After a while though, he began to calm down and start asking me questions I could actually answer.

“So, what's your name? Mother keeps calling you ‘young spirit’ but that can’t be your name! That's so boring!”

“I don’t really know,” I responded. “I forgot. I’m supposed to get one at something called a naming ceremony? I don’t really know what that is though.” I said in mild irritation. Damn fox… I thought without responding mentally. Junior didn’t seem to mind my irritation though.

“Oh, I have no idea either! I don’t have a name yet and Mother has been telling me the naming ceremony will answer all my questions! I’m super excited.”

I felt a smidgeon of pity. Whoever had to answer this kid's questions would have to go through hell. That must be a painful experience, regardless if they're an all-powerful mystic fox, or little ol' me.

“Do you know anything about the naming ceremony? She said it would be in two months…” I said.

Junior shook his head. “No. Mother isn’t telling me anything. She says to keep waiting and learn some patience. I have plenty of patience though! Once, I waited in the same spot for 15 minutes when I accidentally set fire to mothers favorite carving.” He said with pride. I shook my head doubtfully.

“How did you set fire to the wood carving? That must have been really hard without thumbs to use a flint.” I questioned.

He looked at me in confusion. “I just sparked some of my heat mana. It was super hard NOT to if that's what you mean. If so, I can totally relate! I’m having a lot of trouble with mana control, but mother says I’m improving!” Oh right. Magic is a thing here.

“I didn’t have magic where I come from, what's it like? Using it, I mean” I said cautiously, hoping I wasn’t opening the can of worms again.

His eyes opened wide to stare at me in the real world, almost recoiling from my leg and severing the mental connection.

“No mana? But… How could you even survive? How would you eat? You can’t survive without mana! Wait… I guess you are human and don’t really NEED mana to survive… But you're a spirit… Mana is super important to you… Right?” He said.

“Wait, what do you mean it's impossible to live without it? And why would it be super important to a spirit?” I asked, too intrigued by his answers to worry about the consequences.

“You don’t know? Oh, I guess your manaless home wouldn't exactly have spirits. That's super cool! How does that work? What's the place like?” I ignored the endless barrage of questions that just kept coming and tried to get him to focus back on the topic at hand.

“What do you mean that mana is super important?” I asked, interrupting him while he was questioning everything.

“Oh, it's the energy of everything. All living beings produce mana to survive, and all living beings return to mana upon death. Spirits and spirit beasts consume mana to live, but I heard some of the other sapients survive on something else. I think it was called tacos?” He mused.

Before I could say anything else though, a notification rang into my mind.

*You have conversed with creatures beyond your understanding and held a conversation mentally with someone for 15 minutes! Your basic understanding of the psyche has enhanced itself to the skill Telepathy! Use Telepathy to speak to creatures using psychic mana! You do not need to know the same language as the targetted creature. You can only converse with one creature at a time.*

I blinked at the words being shoved down my brain and burning my eyeballs. Skill? Oh wait, it's like when I managed to get meditation! I thought to myself internally. I didn't feel very different but... I saw the purple cord connect both me and Junior, using it as a telegraph wire to send mental signals back and forth. I watched, fascinated, as it pulsed, bringing with it odd purple flickers that translated into language. Psychic mana? I thought. I was pulled from my questioning at the odd looks Junior gave me.

“Ah, sorry. You were saying?” I thought towards him in much greater clarity. He eyed me suspiciously at the change in quality.

“Wow, that was fast. Mother said it takes normal spirit beasts at least a couple of hours to learn the telepathy skill. Do you have Psychic corruption? That's supposed to be rare. I thought you were a spirit of fire?”

I flinched, ignoring any mention of fire. I continued to selfishly exploit the well of information in front of me.

“Skills? Psychic corruption? What's that supposed to mean?” I said.

“Oh right. No mana, no system. That makes sense. Well, most beings have something called a ‘System’ to help them with mana. Nobody really knows why, or how, but we use something called the System’ which displays information and spells visibly. Mother Isn't really a fan though, because it does bad stuff sometimes. Othe species say It's super convenient and easy though. Mother still hates it. I don’t really know why.”

He let out an uncomfortable growl that set me on edge a bit. “She says I just have to wait until the naming ceremony comes along to have access over the system. She keeps telling me I must be patient…” He glanced cautiously, left and right.

He whispered into my mind like he was afraid of someone overhearing. Which was totally possible based on the fact magic was a thing.

“I heard that all the best and greatest spirit beasts use the system. They are all supposed to be super powerful, and some might even immortal. But don’t tell anyone I said that! Mother would lecture me for hours if she hears this…” He whispered ominously.

A part of me was sympathetic with his troubles, making me feel sorry for his plight. Honestly, I could barely sit still in this infant's body for more than 5 minutes without getting 'super' bored.

“Don’t worry, I won't tell her.” He gave me the fox equivalent of a mentally relieved expression. “But, uh, what's the deal with this mental corruption stuff? And what about your mom hating the System?” I had a few theories about the System already, most of them running off of cliches I'd read in stories. It was very similar to a video game and even had skills and magic like a lot of games. At least something in this world is familiar.

He blinked. “Oh, Psychic corruption is kinda like affinities. Well, that’s what humans call them at least. It works like a filter, neutral mana goes in, and the corruption corrupts it, turning it into Psychic mana. Corruption is supposed to lie within the body, depending on who you are. Corruption is generated by forces of nature or inanimate objects. Psychic corruption is supposed to be unique in that it's generated by the presence of crowds, or particularly smart beings. Well, according to mother.” He said with some reservation.

I was a little frustrated at his sparse explanation but still, that was another bombshell. Apparently, corruption in this world worked like affinities in the gaming world. That's already different from almost all games I know about. I was already fascinated and intrigued by mana, but this brought things to a whole new level. The Architect in me was giggling and laughing hysterically.

“Oh yeah, I wanted to ask, but I kinda forgot.” He said sheepishly. “Why do you have so much fire corruption in you? There’s way more than even a fire spirit should have.”

And just like that, my excitement collapsed into a heap of terror.