My Kitsune System-Chapter 35: Nate

After some days, the boy finally moved. He opens his eyes to find himself in a cave. In the cave with him, he found a man who was shrouded in robes and had a fox mask on.

The man’s eyes opened and turned towards him.

And the man began walking towards him.

****"Who are you?" Dan said as he looked into the young boy’s pale blue eyes. The boy looked kind of weak with his muscles quite frail. His lips looked dry, as though he had been traversing the second heaven for eons. Dan stood before the boy as he waited for a reply.

Silence descended on the cave, with the two just looking at each other.

"What are you doing here?" Dan said again, with his voice being the last thing to echo within the walls of the cave.

Dan looked at the boy. Though broken, underneath those pale eyes, Dan noticed an undying resolve.

He believes I am an enemy.

Having meditated for a while, Dan rose up to go out and scout the area. He needed to be sure that they were both safe and not being tracked by anyone.

Dan walked towards the entrance of the cave. As he looked outside he noticed that a sandstorm was brewing.

Just the perfect cover for a recon

He then turned towards the boy in the cave. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"I will be going out for a while. I need to make sure we are hidden and not being followed. You may opt to leave if you want. I won’t stop you, but I would advise against that. Because with the state you’re in, you won’t get far if you’re being hunted. The choice is yours."

And with those words, Dan stepped out into the scorching heat of the second heaven.

Dan had been gone for a while before the sandstorm finally descended. Using it as cover and using his spirit sight. Dan was able to detect and find demons within the storm. Most of these demons were little minions, and they held not much power. They are usually quick on their feet and so they are used as scouts for the bigger party.

Dan made sure he had eliminated all of them before heading back to the cave. He trusted the sandstorm to cover his tracks and the dead bodies of the minions.

Dan approached the cave. As he entered the cave, sand could be seen falling off with every step he took. He began searching around the cave for something.

Let’s hope he isn’t stupid enough to run off

The cave seemed awfully quiet, not that Dan had expected it to be noisy. The whole cave was mostly dark until a subtle glow caught Dan’s eyes. It was kind of golden in color but also weak.

At the center of this weak glow was none other than the boy.

It seems something is wrong with his powers. Like something is hindering him from unleashing his powers to their full extent.

Saying nothing Dan went to the other side of the cave to just sit down and observe.

When the boy was done, he kind of flinched when he noticed Dan had been observing him.

The little boy then walked over to Dan. Taking a seat opposite him, the boy sat down and said nothing.

Both of them just stared at each other. The silence began to become unbearable when the boy finally spoke.

"Nate. My name is Nate," the boy said with his head slightly bent down.

Dan’s kind of widened; no words rolled off his tongue.

I thought we were gonna go with the silent treatment for a while.

"I wanted to thank you for saving my life. Thank you," Nate said as his head went lower than before.

But Dan didn’t say anything or reply to him.

"I don’t know if there’s a way I could repay you."

"I didn’t do all that to curry favor from you, though," Dan said nonchalantly as he turned and started drawing tallies on the floor.

Nate now was quite confused.

"Why? Why did you save me then?"

"Let’s say I still believe in something called humanity," Dan said as he stood up and moved to another corner of the cave.

There, he lay down on the floor.

I hope he doesn’t come here, too... I just need to thin- And his thoughts were stopped midway when he heard Nate approach.

"Okay? What do you want?"

I need your help the boy spoke.

Now that’s sudden

"With what, exactly?" Dan asked.

"I need your help getting back to my party."

Just as I had suspected, he didn’t come here alone

"And where is this party?"

"There are at the center of the second heaven"

"At the center?"

"Yes"

Dan now rolled and turned to look at Nate.

"Then what are you doing here at the outskirts?"

Nate then grew quiet when he heard that. He averted his gaze from that of Dan and turned to look elsewhere.

"If you really do want my help. I think a bit of honesty would go a long way."

Seeing he had no intention to talk Dan began to roll back and lay down when Nate spoke.

"I have a weak constitution. My powers are too strong for my body. Every time I use my powers, I end up burning my life essence, thereby drawing me closer to death."

That makes sense, the pale eyes, the subtle glow. Ryan, I thought you said there weren’t more like me. A smile grew on Dan’s lips behind the mask.

"Okay, a weak constitution. So, how do you intend to solve the problem"

Nate grew silent again.

Can you just say something?

A few minutes passed, and nothing was said between the two. Dan then stood and started walking away.

Nate then reached out to hold Dan’s hand.

"I’m sorry, it’s just that it’s meant to be a secret." Nate’s eyes began tearing up.

"It’s my only chance at being normal and being able to be strong again."

Dan then turned to look at him. His heart began melting when he remembered all he had to go through because he was slowly dying, too. The blades that had cut into his chest, the fights. Left Earth and came here just to find a way to survive.

Dan could feel his own eyes welling up. Fate was very cruel, he felt.

"So, tell me, where is your party?"