SFS - Chapter 12 (Patreon)

“Caw.” The crow lazily called from within the safety of the Spirit Flame. The black bird panicked the first few times, but just sat around everytime since while I slaved away and tried to collect the record.

I jolted backward and gracefully lunged for the safety of the brazier. After so many repetitions, I was getting rather adept at reading the subtle flares with my Eye of the Recorder and preemptively dodging the attacks of the hunter. 

“Screee!” A scaled form slammed right where I just vacated. The moment it entered the field of light, it flinched back away. Black smoke emitted up through the cracks in the thing’s scales. It wasn’t anything new, so I didn’t bother giving it a second glance. I did turn my nose away, though. The only thing worse than the serpent-scent was a burnt serpent-scent.

The silver tome flowed out of my paw once more in a stream of silver. It condensed into a ball, and then curled into a circlet covered in thorns. Finally, it completed the last transition into the thorn tome.

[Collecting Record… 98%… 100%!]

[Record: | Wraithwalk |]

Finally! I didn’t think I’d ever get it done. The last several hours had been a trust test of patience and grit to… especially when I almost passed out in my snowdrift. That could hardly be my fault though. It was my injury that made me tired, really.

Aside from that, tricking the hunter wasn’t all that hard. They, or at least this one, was kinda stupid. I could see how it’d be a massive threat outside of the Spirit Flame’s area, naturally. It didn’t have much intelligence though, and kept just trying the same thing over and over again without changing anything. It was even dumber than the little crow all cozied up on my snowdrift.

My stomach grumbled heavily. It’d been a while since I had those Yeshuan fruits, and I’d been very active ever since. Hydration hadn’t been an issue with snow everywhere, but food… I glanced toward the crow with saliva dripping from my maw. 

“C-c-caw?” The birdbrain shot to his legs unsteadily.

“Yip!” Nevermind. I didn’t really want to have to deal with the mess eating him would make. Blood would go everywhere and might even attract other blighted, yip. Not to mention getting feathers stuck in my teeth would be super annoying.

Instead of eating my walking rations, I rooted around through my bag for the source of an incredibly appetizing scent. I pulled out one of the bread-biscuit things Graft gave me a couple days ago. It was hard on my teeth, but that didn’t matter. I gulped it down before I could even register the taste. Crumbs scattered around me.

”Caw?” The crow let out a startled cry and rushed at me, but he was too late. By the time he arrived, I even licked up the crumbs from the snow. He collapsed tragically to the blankets of white like I just killed his entire family lineage.

“Haah…” My subordinate’s pitiful gaze elicited a sigh out of me. I stretched out a paw and graced the stupid crow’s head with my paw. I allowed him the great privilege of being patted by me. There. Good boy, Little Cacaw.

“C-caw~?” He stared up at me with big, watery eyes. At any moment, it looked like tears might even flow. You got something in your eye there, buddy. 

I turned away from the bird before it could evoke my pity and sniffed around my satchel—ah, there it is. I pulled out another piece of bread with my teeth and dropped it down in front of me.

”Caw…” The crow’s head drooped tragically, and he turned away from me. For a moment, it looked like he was about to fly beyond the zone of light. Instead, his wings just drug against the snow below us.

I casually looked away and took a deep huff of the bread. The appetizing scent was suddenly a lot less appetizing. It still smelled the same as when Graft gave it to me, though. The slightly herby, medicinal scent made my chest feel all cozy and warm…

I hesitated just before biting into the hard piece of bread. Before I could second guess myself, I carefully tore it apart into two chunks using my paws. They tear was jagged and uneven, but the piece of bread was mostly split into two equal parts.

Right, I wasn’t doing this because I was nice or anything. Perish the thought. I just… I didn’t want to get fat! Yip, that’s totally it. Being fat would ruin my noble, majestic, princely, emperessly—that didn’t sound right… emperessly image! Kekekek, whatever. Why am I justifying this?

I tossed half the hard bread to the stupid bird and gobbled down the other before the little beggar could get greedy. My teeth clacked against the stone-like bread uncomfortably, but my saliva eventually softened it enough to gulp down.

“Yip!” Now begone! I needed to focus. Now that I had something in my stomach, I was in a much better mood. Oh, Record! Your master calls for you, my first loyal subordinate! 

The tome summoned a little higher this time, and dropped down from above as if to thump me over the head. It passed right through me, though. Kekek, that’s right. Now, show me my new Record!

The tome flapped open and its silver pages pulsed lightly. It skipped right past my Record and flipped to a brand new one. The page was covered in intricate markings and arrays that I couldn’t make hide or tail of. Thankfully, I didn’t have to.

[| Wraithwalk | - Unmake your presence, and slip into the ethereal.]

“Yiii!” A happy, dignified scream left me. I pranced around the snowbank in a circle and reread the Record description again and again. Ah—is that good?

My prancing abruptly stopped, and I shuffled back over to the Record. Now what? How do I use it? Unless… Don't tell me the Record just lets me record stuff without actually doing anything with it?! Useless thorny! Why are you even here?!

[Bind Record?]

“Yip!” Was this one going to be instantaneous like Allscript? Or have that stupid—

“Yow!” A sharp cry left my throat, and I bent over my front left paw where the Record usually flowed from. Sharp, burning pain seared through my fur and into the skin below. I trembled and shoved it into the snow to hopefully relieve the burning, but it just grew worse by the moment.

I pulled away and rolled over with my tail flapping around wildly. Around my paw, a bramble of silver thorns wrapped the fur. Where they touched me, shooting pain akin to death by a thousand paper cuts surged through me.

The bramble twisted and churned. Slowly, so slowly that I felt like my mind was splitting in two, the thorns along the bramble receded into a silver thread. Several strands spliced out of it and shot up through my tortured limb, spreading the stabbing sensation through the rest of me. It raced alongside my veins and spread throughout my body like a lattice of agony.

“Caw?!” The crow bounced over to me in a fluster and fluttered its wings in every direction.

“Yi-yip…” I cried out weakly and wrapped my tail tighter around myself. Make it stop! I take it back! I don’t want this anymore! I’m dying—the Record’s possessing my body…

Despite my very vocal complaints, the Record never pulled away. The silver thread wormed and split deeper and deeper with each passing moment. Soon, it grew to the point time lost its meaning in the eternal pain.

I breathed raggedly. I wasn’t sure when the pain ended, but my mind slowly came back with the deep huffs for air. My tongue flicked forward and lapped at my teeth lightly. Even that small, tiny movement made everything else in my body radiate with soreness.

I groaned and lifted my head up. My ears flopped around lazily. I felt like there was still a massive weight on my chest—oh… The stupid crow passed out happily snoozing on my noble side like I was some kind of body pillow.

“Yip!” My tail wrapped around him and tossed him to the side as I sat up abruptly. Bastard. 

The crow flapped his wings and looked around with bleary eyes. His expression lit up when he saw me alive and well. The black bird flung himself at me with his feathers splayed wide. “Caw!”

“Yow!” I dodged his attempt to smother me with his wings and growled lightly. Only then did he remember his place and sit up properly. 

A yawn stretched my snout, and I looked around. The sun returned at some point, and the Dragon Vein Village was once more lit up. The light of the Spirit Flame still burned strong, but it wasn’t the only source of light anymore.

Oh, right, Wraithwalk. How did this work? I turned my senses inward. I felt mostly the same. There was a slight… warmth, though? It surged through me like I never felt before. It was a subtle thing, like the blood pumping through my body—is this Qi? The old scholar said it was something I felt, yip?

I lifted my paw and waved it toward a drift of snow… nothing happened. I coughed lightly and looked away. Thankfully, the little crow was too stupid to realize what I just tried to do, or he’d probably start mocking me again.

I did notice something silver gleaming just above my paw, though. A glint of silver caught my eye. An ornate circlet wrapped around just above my paw. It was marked with an insanely intricate pattern that I instantly recognized from the pages of the Record. 

With my focus on the band, the warm flow throughout my body intensified and twisted throughout my body. I couldn’t sense it precisely, but I could feel it churning in my chest. In mere moments, the pattern completed, and my paw vanished from view. The rest of me also vanished, for that matter. Woah, so that’s how that works.

I sunk into the snow slightly. With a step up, I was back on top of it. Can I go through surfaces with this—?

”Caw! Caw! Caw!“ The birdbrain flapped into the air and flew around the area around me. He kicked up a giant fuss—big enough that the surrounding blight undoubtedly heard it. 

“Yip yip!” Wraithwalk dropped, and I appeared once more. I felt… less warm, almost. It was such a weird thing to get a grasp on. I was definitely drained a bit after sustaining it, though. I’d have to watch for that. 

The crow instantly calmed down and landed next to me. His eyes seemed to catch on the silver ring around my paw though. Was it not invisible like the tome?

Wraithwalk… total invisibility. The pain might’ve been severe, but the results spoke for themselves… not that I’d want to subjugate myself to the Record ever again. That agony of feeling a silver thread worm alongside my veins would forever haunt me. 

As if hearing me bad mouth it, the silver tome flowed out once more. This time, instead of flowing out of my paw, it directly came from the circlet.

[Snow - Spirit Fox

Record Level: 3

Record Abilities: | Allscript |, | Eye of the Recorder |

Bound Records(1/1): | Wraithwalk |]

Bond Records, huh… at least I wouldn’t have to worry about going through that kind of pain anytime soon. It looked like the limit could go up, but I had no idea how to go about that. Maybe I could increase the Record level, and increase the limit?

Regardless, I’d had enough of this village. It was about time I headed off to the Ancient Shrine once more. I focused on the Wraithwalk band and felt Qi flow throughout me once more. 

I vanished from view and stepped out into the snow. Interestingly, my paws didn’t even leave marks on the stuff. It was like I was entirely untraceable… then again, Old Zhou knew where I was without relying on sight. Putting all my faith in it was bound to end in disaster.

Getting through the lesser Ophidian will be easier now, at least. Assuming they don’t have some insane sixth sense that tracks through this. I left the Spirit Flame behind and jumped up onto a building. 

Or, I tried to. I sunk through the wall and flopped out into a courtyard on the other side. I slammed into the ground and felt my paws pull weirdly. I flopped to the ground and rolled through a pile of snow. Yip, I can pass through walls. When the Record said ethereal, it really means ethereal.

I headed back to the wall and tentatively pushed my paw into it. It felt solid enough. I jumped forward at the thing and slammed into it. A low, pitiful whine that I’d never admit came from me echoed in the courtyard.

It took a minute to get used to the phasing. Once I got it down, I got up onto the wall proper. The phasing… maybe I could use it to dodge attacks? Something told me I shouldn’t try that out, though. Instincts had been reliable so far.

”Caw! Caw!” The little crow called out desperately behind me and searched around through the snow like I fell into it. It dug around through the white blankets with its claws and pecked around with its beak. 

I turned back just before leaving the corner and hesitated for a moment. “Yip!”

The crow’s wings flared, and it ascended above the village in a few powerful flaps. He dropped down and circled the area I let out a bark at with his eyes peeled. By the time he reached there, though, I was much further down the street. Is he going to follow me the entire way? What an idiot…

“Yip!” I sprinted down the wall while invisible. For once, there wasn’t any pressure to get somewhere or do something. Well, except for the pressure in my stomach. More Yeshuan fruit sounded oddly appetizing at the moment.

— — —

AN: A little late today. Snow foxes have a bunch of interesting relationships with other arctic animals. Similar to how ravens and wolves work together, crows and foxes do something kinda similar. They’ve even been seen playing around with each other. That being said, a hungry fox can and will eat crow eggs. Likewise, crows can swarm foxes and gang up on them.