Swordsmaster Fox-girl

[Insufficient Authority. Did you mean “Summon Heir of the Great Devourers” instead?]

“Huh? I guess?”

[Granted]

The Cube opened up and spewed out a white snake the length of Esther’s arm. It writhed on the ground for a bit before looking around and blinking its black eyes in confusion.

From the moment the snake appeared, Esther had already taken out Requiem and readied herself for a battle. However, even after a minute, no one did anything.

This is supposed to be a Great Devourer? 

At least, an Heir of one.

But it looks so… cute!

Slowly, Esther crouched down and made her way toward it. When she was mere inches away from the snake, she booped its nose with her finger.

“Hah, you’re friendly, right?”

The snake blinked and slowly nodded. It bumped its head against Esther’s palm before coiling around her arm.

“Aww, do you want a name? Don’t answer. I know you do.”

Again, her mind drifted toward the unfairly powerful snake the Demon King had. However, the name “John” just didn’t fit this snake. Or any snake, really.

“Is Ryk okay?”

There was no particular reason she chose this name. It just strangely came to mind. 

The snake flicked its tongue and nodded.

“Okay, you’re my pet now.” She brought her arm closer to her tail. Watching as Ryk made itself comfortable in her fluffy tail, she continued. “Just… don’t stay alone with Nowa, okay? You’ll understand when we get out of h—”

“FOX SPIRIT!!”

A sudden force from behind knocked Esther off her feet. She didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was that ruined her mood.

“If you don’t get off me in fiv—”

But she stopped upon feeling her back getting wet. With the sniffling sounds, she knew that they were tears, not some other fluids. 

So, she gently pried Freya’s hands off her and turned around. There she was, the Dryad, sniffling and crying her eyes out. 

Esther didn’t like children (except for Nowa). Crying children, she hated more. But she could somewhat understand what Freya was feeling.

“Hey, it’s alright. I’m here.” She pulled her into a hug. “Tell me everything.”

“I-I killed-”

That doesn’t sound too bad—

“-a person!”

That still didn’t sound too bad. However, she supposed that for a kid like Freya, it was a big deal. 

“It’s okay,” Esther said gently. It really was. “You can let it all out.” You will feel numb before long.

She coddled Freya until the Dryad fell asleep. Laying her gently against a tree, Esther turned around and crossed her arms.

“Seen enough?”

N walked out from a building. He stood before Esther and also crossed his arms. “Is—”

“Don’t bother.” Esther frowned. “You know something, don’t you?”

It was that obvious. N definitely knew the inner workings of the Tutorial. The question was, who was he? A Constellation? One of the Goddesses in disguise?

“I won’t pretend, then.” He clenched his fists. “It’s useless to tell you this, but I’ve always wanted to cut you down the first time I saw you.”

Esther tensed and took out Requiem again. However, N easily knocked the sword off her hands with a strike faster than she could see.

“Killing you would pretend so many deaths, but-” he smiled- “I believe in you. I can fix you.” He then turned to leave. However, a larger smile crept on his face as he briefly glanced over Freya. “And it looks like you haven’t betrayed my hope. May we meet again, Demon Sword Maiden.”

[082 101 103 114 101 115 115 111 114 has left your party]

[Valiant Policeman has left your party]

As N disappeared into particles of blue light, Esther’s knees buckled and she fell to the ground. Wiping the sweat off her forehead, her brain overloaded.

She had so many questions. But the biggest of all was—

“D-Did he know the Demon Sword Maiden?”

Esther had always wanted to find the Maiden. To thank her for enlightening her in the way of the Sword.

However, that was not important. She had to survive the Tutorial first before she could do anything.

…

Three days had passed since then, and she’d spent most of the time training. It was time for the next level.

Luckily for her and Freya, N wasn’t the only source of reliable information. As luck would have it, a giant anteater sold information on the next level for only 10 coins.

[0:01:34:52]

There was only an hour and a half left. Esther and Freya sat down on the nearest bench and unfolded the paper.

“Eternal City of Night. There will be Rodent-type enemies. Bringing a Lantern is recommended.”

That was it. That was everything the paper contained. Esther shot a glare at the frozen giant anteater before burning the paper to crisp. 

Esther herself didn’t need a lantern, but Freya did. So, they made their way to a utility shop where a bear wearing glasses was the shopkeeper.

“Oho, welcome. Wh—”

“One lantern.”

Like an automaton, the bear halted its earlier sentence and dug through the mess that was its store. After exactly one minute, it came back with what looked like an oil lantern in its paws.

But Esther could sense that it ran on Mana or Aura, not oil.

“That’ll be 600 Coins.”

“What!?” Esther slammed her hands on the counter. “That’s too expensive! Even my helmet doesn’t cost that much!”

In response, the kind-looking bear pointed toward the sign on the counter, where big bold “NO HAGGLING” was written.

Shit…. I got fucked over. By a bear at that.

She wanted to use her Coins to buy back her armor. However, she had to bite her lips and pay the absurd price for the lantern.

“Thank you for your p—”

“Fuck off.” 

Esther pushed the lantern into Freya’s chest and walked away. However, her hand was grabbed by Freya, who was looking at her nervously.

“F-Fox Spirit, you don’t really need to—”

“Hey,” Esther snapped and looked straight into Freya’s eyes. “I’ve already bought that. Put it to good use. If you die next level… I’m gonna kill you dead.”

Instead of getting scared, Freya burst into laughter. “But I’ll already be dead!”

Realizing her mistake, Esther stomped away with the tips of her ears turning red. “Whatever! Just be safe!”

[Teleporting in 3…]

[2…]

[...1]

…

Esther was teleported into a dark space. As expected. Before she could conjure up a wispy flame, the lanterns of the other participants were already lit. 

She looked around. A Chinese man with long hair like a girl’s. A Japanese woman in sailor clothes, and—

“Oh.” She slammed her forehead in frustration. “Fucking wasted all that money for nothing.”

“Fox Spirit!”