It felt strange.

Sett stared with a mix of amazement and disbelief at the arm that he had plunged directly into the monstrous white fox’s chest. He had penetrated deeply into the fox monster, reaching the place that he would imagine that the monster’s heart would be situated.

Yet, it did not die. It was never his intention nor even a possibility.

The arm, that Sett had inserted into the fox, had its surface become almost completely filled with a rippling black, with a hint of purple, energy. It was the energy of darkness intertwined with the dream attribute. In short, it was nightmares incarnate. It was the very same energy that had coursed the nightmares to appear in Selt’s realm, only much weaker.

The energy had transformed Sett’s arm, turning it into something that was not of this world. Thus, when he plunged the arm into the fox’s body, it was not the physical body that he tore through, but the spiritual body of its mind.

Having had it explained quickly in passing, Sett naturally barely understood anything the old god had explained. He had only understood that this was the only way forward that indicated a hint of victory.

Sett pressed his arm forward, tearing further into the fox’s mind. He had asked Selt whether he should attack its head instead, thinking that the brain would be the key to the power of the mind, but Selt had explained otherwise. The head of the spiritual body, unlike the physical body, was the strongest part of the body. It also held the strongest defense and would likely be completely impenetrable even if they were to pump all their power into the attack.

No, their target was the heart instead. The place where the spiritual body of the beast had been gravely wounded.

Feeling the resistance that the enemy’s mind put up, Sett understood just why he could not attack the head. If he had trouble assaulting someplace where the enemy’s defense was the lowest, how would he possibly succeed in assaulting the most heavily fortified place?

Time passed slowly. The fox and Sett stared at each other, but none of them made any moves to attack each other. They had no opportunity to do so. At least, not on the surface. One was busying himself with breaking the defences of the enemy, while the other was desperately trying to push the first out. None of them had any excess energy to spare. A single moment of indecision would lead to a loss.

Beads of sweat began to appear on Sett’s head soon after he began his assault. He had truly used all his power in this attack. If he failed, there would be nothing left for him to do.

Time ticked and many seconds passed as the deadlock between the two’s minds became more and more intense.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Sett felt the other party’s focus waver for a mere moment. It was his chance to strike. Putting all the remaining energy of his strike into this one action, Sett bore into the enemy’s weakened defences.

*Crack*

It was a success. With a crisp sound, the fox’s mental defences were broken as if it was glass before the hammer. Sett’s attack flooded into its heart, claiming the place for himself.

“You…”

The fox spoke weakly and attempted to growl at Sett, only to fail. It fell feebly at his feet, seemingly having accepted its fate.

Sett would have wanted to shake his head if he had the energy for it. The fox likely thought that Sett would proceed to kill it in cold blood now that he had claimed victory in their mental battle, but that was far from the reality. Hell, Sett barely had the energy to remain standing upright. Killing it would be impossible even if he were at full power.

‘Well done, mine kindred.’ Selt complimented Sett upon seeing his victory. ‘You have greatly exceeded my expectations. Any lesser person would surely have perished at this juncture, yet you succeeded.’

Sett smiled weakly hearing Selt’s words. It was not as if they were done just yet, but the old deity had decided to shower him with kind words before they had escaped their enemy’s home ground.

‘What do we do now?’

Sett questioned Selt weakly. He did not have enough energy to bother replying to the compliments.

‘Simple. Sever the connection between the fox and the island.’

‘And how do I do that?’

‘That would be the troublesome part. You will have to traverse the mind of the fox to find the connection.’

‘How is that troublesome?’

Traverse the mind? Sett did not truly believe that to be difficult. After all, he had seen the memories of Jess and that had not been troublesome at all.

‘You underestimate the task, mine kindred. My realm was created specifically to bring out the important and problematic memories of those that entered it. This time, you will not have the support of the realm and will have to go in blind.’ Selt’s voice brought Sett’s optimism to a low. ‘I have one piece of advice before you enter. Do not forget yourself in that place, lest you become lost in the other’s memories.’

Sett gulped. The words that Selt spoke were ambiguous, but he understood the meaning, nonetheless. If he lost himself in the realm, he would lose his personality. Something that was definitely not allowed to happen.

Resolving himself, Sett allowed his mind to traverse the connection between himself and the fox.

It was an odd feeling suddenly losing control over his body. One moment he stood on the fog-filled island, the next he was in a dark space filled with countless brightly glowing orbs. There were thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of these orbs. Some were big and others were small.

‘This is the inner mind of the fox, mine kindred.’ Selt advised him. ‘The orbs are its memories. The bigger they are, the more importance is placed upon them by the owner.’

While he listened to Selt’s words, Sett willed his spiritual body to float towards one of the nearby orbs. It was a smaller one and the light on its surface was considerably dim.

As he laid his eyes upon it, Sett noticed that an image slowly appeared on its surface.

It was a scene that depicted the very same island that Sett had only just departed, only that at this time it was not covered by the thick layer of fog.

On the island, Sett found a small house with a connected veranda. On the veranda sat two elderly men and a slightly younger woman. Each of them wore different versions of the crusader order’s uniform. Their smiles were content and peaceful as they slowly drank tea and enjoyed each other’s company.

The white fox sat nearby one of the elderly men and had its head scratched with a fawning expression.

All in all, it was a harmonious scene. How Sett would have wished he could be like them. If only he could reach out and join them, then all would be good. He would no longer have to fear the enemies of the real world.

‘Sett!’

Selt’s loud voice brought him back from the scene.

Sett blinked and the realisation soon dawned on him. He had almost been dragged into the memory, almost allowing it to keep him there forever.

‘Thanks, Selt.’

Sett gingerly thanked his saviour, feeling embarrassed for failing so early.

‘It is nothing, mine kindred. The world of the mind is a realm that lower beings are not used to traversing. It is only natural that you would fail in your first attempt.’ Selt reassured Sett. ‘Remember your objective. Find the connection. It will likely resemble one of the bigger memory orbs.’

‘How do I find it?’

‘Unfortunately, it will have to be trial and error. There are many techniques that could assist you, but they require much training to understand. For now, it is best that you simply explore the place at your own pace.’

Sett could only sigh at his own ineptitude. If only he had a little time to exercise his powers, things would be much simpler.

Even so, Sett began to float among the many orbs of light. Countless orbs were floating in his area and he could only approach every single one of them in the hopes of finding the right one.

Over many minutes, Sett crossed countless different coloured pieces of light. Some were red, which Sett learned meant anger, while others were golden, expressing pure happiness. Finally, there were the pink ones. Naturally, these expressed love. Among all the other orbs that Sett had found in this place, the pink ones were certainly the biggest.

While journeying, Sett realised another thing. The place was distorted. Some memories had simply been cut off. Some were missing their top, while others had been shaven cleanly in half. Could this be the injury that Selt had mentioned?

Having journeyed for a little while, Sett finally came upon a cluster of many large orbs. Most of them were pink, but one of them was a strange, intertwined mess of black and pink. Black, Sett thought, could only mean fear. In addition, this was also the memory that had sustained the most damage out of all the others. Despite this, the damaged memory was still the biggest he had seen by far.

Sett could not help but become curious at the sight. What scene would play out when he gazed into the orb. What could promote such fear, but also so much love at the same time?

Against his better judgement, Sett approached the orb. His vision was soon filled with a new scene.

The land was filled with snow, something that Sett had never seen in his life before. The settled parts of Gliese Prime were situated near the planet’s equator, meaning that they mostly had summer.

The foreign sight was something that Sett could not help but marvel at. It was not just the snow that was foreign, but everything else. The plants that grew here in this snow-covered place were largely different from the fauna from Gliese Prime and the soil that was faintly visible beneath the snow was differently coloured.

Could it be? Sett pondered for a moment before turning his head to look upwards.

The sight would have sent him stumbling back if he had legs to stand on. The sky was blue.

It could only mean one thing.

This place was not Gliese Prime, but Earth!

Earth, the birthplace of humanity and the seat of power of the Intergalactic Human Federation. It was a place that all humans of the colonized worlds dreamt of but was never able to see for themselves.

Sett almost lost himself to the memory again but was distracted by movement below a nearby cliff face.

A skulk(group) of foxes stood beneath the cliff, seeking refuge from the snowy weather. There were three of them in total. One smaller fox laid on the harsh rocky ground and the other two adult foxes stood above it and stared at it. The three foxes were all completely white and almost looked like mirror images of the other, with the sole exception being a small detail on the young fox. Instead of one tail, it had three.

Evidently, the smaller fox was only a couple of days old and was barely able to run around on its own four legs. Yet, despite the small fox’s helplessness, its parents left it behind. The newborn fox tried to follow its parent’s path but was immediately met with the growling teeth of the two. It was clearly not welcome in the group.

Watching its parents depart into the cold distance, the young fox howled in despair. It had only just been born, but it had been discarded so easily.

Sett felt the raw emotions of the fox course through him. The emotions that it had felt at that time were still as clear in its mind as if it were yesterday. Still, despite its fears, there was also hope. Hope that its parents would return to it, their mouths filled with meat.

Yet, they never came back. The fox’s hope slowly disappeared into nothingness. It was replaced with all kinds of dark emotions. Sadness, fear, anger, and desolation. It had nothing left in the world. It could only lay down in defeat and await death.

Hours passed like this and the snow continued to pile up around the defeated fox. Its body shivered wildly in what would have been its final hours.

Suddenly, a noise entered the clearing nearby. It was the crisp sound of footsteps. The fox perked its head up. Was it its parents? Had they returned as it had dearly hoped for?

On shaking legs and with its last energy, the fox stood up and approached the noise to welcome its returning parents.

Yet, it would not meet with the fine fur of its parents, but rather the unknown and strange body of a human. Seeing this sight, the hope that had resurface, disappeared just as fast.

In its anger, the little fox growled weakly at the human. It was angry at its parents but could only show the anger to the newly approaching enemy. If it was going to die, it would at least do it with confidence.

It readied itself for death.

Yet, death never came. The giant before it not only did not strike it but picked it up and embraced it under his warm coat. Soon, the taste of meat entered its mouth.

Despite its fears, it slowly nibbled on the meat, restoring its strength while the stranger lightly caressed its fur.

Time slowly passed and an inseparable bond began to grow between the two.

The fox that had been shunned by its own parents simply because it had two additional tails, had been taken in by a stranger. The place in its heart, which was meant for its parents, had soon been stolen away by the man that saved it in its most dire moment.