Shades of the New World

Evin was too terrified to realize how amazing this news was, but the others definitely knew how significant her words were.

Ssatsko hurriedly asked the details of the Beast Lord's decisions.

"What does the boy lack?"

"Don't call him a boy. He's an old man, clearly. Though not as old as me," The World Sprite that the Vulpine Mother was using spoke. It let go of Evin and made a pondering pose.

'Well, we got the problem of my origin out of the way real fast. I'm starting to think that I shouldn't need to hide my origins at all. No one seems to care that much… really,' Evin thought.

"He is unworthy, but it can change in the future. People change and they get better, do they not? But another, more immediate problem with him now is the fact that he's too weak. If I force myself into his mana-core, it would only serve as a gigantic burden. It would literally be the same as a 4-year-old boy trying to wield a two handed great sword," she explained.

"Doesn't that mean he simply has to get stronger? And eventually he will become worthy?" Rith asked.

The Vulpine glanced at the numerous World Sprites surrounding Evin. The Vulpine's aura seemed to change and her mysteriousness seemed to lessen slightly, replaced with warmth. Evin never thought he would ever feel such warm feelings towards a literal embodiment of darkness. Even though his mind knew that he was looking at a fox, his eyes kept telling him that he was staring at dark nothingness.

The World Sprite that she was using to speak smiled brightly and said to Evin.

"Time will tell. But for now, just continue on your little journey. Perhaps you can pray to the Empress for her approval of this matter. I know many that believe in her powers, and I'm starting to become one of them. Besides, some of my children seem to have decided to accompany you, so if you ever receive the chance of assimilating with me, you would have at least some practice"

Evin was just reading about the wonders of Sprite-Casting. To think that such a chance came upon him so suddenly made him feel extremely grateful. Times to dwell in dark places to create a suitable environment for the Sprites that come with him was nearing.

But another word from the Beast Lord's sentence caught Evin's attention. He wondered how mighty the Empress must be, for this Vulpine in front of him to actually pray for her blessings.

Evin could feel the unfathomable power that she contained in herself, when the World Sprite that she inhabited touched him. It felt similar to how he first felt when he almost went crazy due to the Heavy World's pressure and met Two Tales. He felt only one feeling with these two entities. Unsurmountable and absolute. To think that if he received her powers, he too, could someday become someone similar to these two.

Evin sighed wistfully.

The World Sprite seemed to hear his thoughts and said to him in a small voice.

"Become worthy of me, and all your wishes would fall into your grasp," the mouth said.

"How do I become worthy of you?" Evin asked pensively.

"That's your problem to figure out, isn't it? I can stay here for another millennium, waiting for one that truly fits me. But I'll give you a hint on how to become worthy of me. Keep it simple. Simple, as in fundamental," the Sprite said mysteriously.

Evin thought about her words and etched them into his mind. The vulpine continued.

"As for your powers, it will grow in time. You don't have to worry about that. Become a decent enough half-core and you should be able to take on my powers. Also, walk up the stairs. You'll either start working on your body now, or later. Since you're going to do it anyway, why not start now?" the Vulpine said commandingly.

Evin almost groaned, but managed to keep it in.

The Beast Lord smiled and continued in her commanding tone.

"I'll at least help with your assimilation of my children. Strip off your shirt"

Evin could only comply with the Beast Lord. He didn't know what to expect, but he was both excited and terrified.

The fox resting on the deep side of the cavern stood up and walked towards him. Surprisingly, it was the same size as a normal fox, not counting the plethora of tails that waved around on top of it. Aside from the glowing white irises, every part of the creature looked like a lightless room in the middle of a starless night. Evin wondered what would happen if he shone some light on the fox. Will it reflect and show Evin some more details, or will she absorb the light like a black hole that devours everything?

"Turn around," The Sprite commanded.

After Evin turned around as ordered, the Beast Lord gently cut his back with her claws. Then, a drop of black liquid materialized on her claw tips. It seemed quite viscous, so the onlookers assumed it was her blood. She directed it towards the cut that she inflicted on Evin.

Upon contact, the liquid hastily crawled into the cut and turned into an oppressive force inside Evin's body. He feared that the liquid was trying to take over his body, so he planned to do everything in his power to resist it. But unfortunately, he didn't know how he was supposed to resist in the first place. It was an unknown liquid trying to take over his body in a way that he never expected to happen in his life.

'There are so many books where I read about how some characters getting infected with someone trying to take over their minds and they have an epic fight inside their heads, but how exactly does that happen?'

Not allowing Evin to continue such random thoughts, the blood willed his body to bend over and start walking with his four limbs. Evin immediately commanded his body to do the opposite. His body was stuck in a half hunching state, his hands trying to either drop to the floor, or grab at his head.

'So that's how it happens! It's just a mental tug of war!' Evin managed to think before falling into battle with the liquid again.

Rith and Ssatsko looked at the Vulpine Mother questioningly, but they knew they couldn't really do anything to change the situation. They could only stare worriedly, like their hands were tied behind their backs. Even if the Beast Lord decides to kill the child, they could only beg for mercy and leave the cave.

Evin, on the other hand, was gradually succeeding at resisting the black liquid's influence. He could kind of keep a normal posture, but it took all his willpower to actually stay that way. He expressed his desire to enter the World of Thoughts inside his head and finally managed to achieve it. Luckily, the liquid did not affect his mana-core so he could have a moment to think about things here.

'There are so many invasive things in this World. First the Oath and then this liquid, or blood, most likely,' he sighed. He then went on to analyze the situation during these few seconds of respite. Even though the World of Thoughts slowed down time greatly, given the blood's speed, it would not take it much longer to start affecting Evin's complete body.

He noticed that the liquid was seemingly following its instincts. It found itself in a body that did not stand on its four legs like it was used to, so it decided to make some changes in its new house. Evin guessed that if he let the liquid do as it wanted, he would start acting like a fox, more or less. The black liquid could only be her blood.

So Evin's job was to tame the liquid and force it to adapt to its new house, without it trying to change its environment. He guessed that it might take some time to tame it, but that was the only way forward for him now. Luckily, the liquid had a completely independent consciousness from the Vulpine Mother. If the Beast Lord herself wanted for her blood to win this fight, Evin would probably last two seconds before completely devolving into a fox-man. And that was probably an overstatement of his abilities.

'I can't believe facing a Beast Lord's drop of blood is giving me so much trouble,' Evin managed to think, before prepping himself up to leave the World of Thoughts and face the drop of blood inside his body.

As soon as he exited the World, he was met with the instinctual oppression of the blood. It was trying to command his body to do as it willed, and Evin was trying his best to counter its wishes.

A few hours passed as Evin was trying to deal with the animalistic urges that were being created inside him. The Vulpine Mother told the rest of the group that the process might take some time, so Ssatsko and Arza was setting up camp inside the Beast Lord's den.

After about a four hours, Evin managed to somewhat tame the blood inside him. He still couldn't say that he had complete control over his thoughts and his body, but it was a good start as far as he was concerned. He could at least act like a normal human for the time being.

"Seems you've found some success," the World Sprite came to him.