The sun rose in silence over the city in reconstruction. The sounds of hamrs and voices already echoed through the broken streets, but in Kyrian’s room, only two gazes t.
On one side, the young man sat leaning against the bed, his blue eyes fixed, unmoving. On the other, curled up on a cushion in the corner, the white fox, her cross-shaped eyes shining with her cutting hatred.
The beast had not closed her eyes the entire night.
Not even for an instant.
Kyrian stood up slowly, taking a few steps closer. The fox growled, the fur on her back bristling. Her claws began scratching the floor, leaving marks.
Kyrian stopped. He took a deep breath and observed.
"You really won’t accept so easily, will you?" Kyrian murmured.
The fox only bared her teeth, and her eyes shone with even greater force.
At that mont, light footsteps echoed from outside. The door opened, and Yanyu entered with a small smile, carrying a tray with fruits and bread.
"Good morning, Kyrian!" she said in a casual tone, but she was cheerful.
Then she noticed.
"Ahh... she woke up!" Yanyu said, her eyes widening.
Kyrian turned his head, watching Yanyu’s reaction.
She took two quick steps toward the fox, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"What a beautiful thing! So cute..." she said, crouching down with her hand outstretched.
Kyrian imdiately frowned.
"Yanyu, don’t—
It was too late.
The fox lunged like a white bolt of lightning. After a night of rest, her strength had recovered sowhat. Yanyu, who was far too close, couldn’t dodge in ti.
The fangs sank into her wrist. A scream echoed through the room.
She instinctively pulled her arm back, but the fox wouldn’t let go. The cross-shaped eyes were fixed, cold, without any emotion but rage.
Kyrian then moved.
With a swift gesture, he grabbed the fox by the scruff, forcing her to release. The small body of the beast thrashed violently. But Kyrian lifted her into the air until the teeth let go of Yanyu’s arm.
The fox fell to the floor right after, returning to her cushion. Her fur bristling, growling low.
Yanyu panted, looking at her wrist with bite marks and blood dripping. Her eyes were wide.
"She... she tried to kill !"
Kyrian looked at the fox, then at Yanyu.
"She also tried with . It seems her hatred is for everyone. But you were also stupid. Even if she’s cute, she’s still a beast. And her strength is close to yours."
"Be more careful next ti."
Yanyu took a deep breath, massaging her wounded arm.
"Sorry. She seed so fragile... so small..."
"Size doesn’t matter. She’s still a beast. And she doesn’t seem easy to ta..." Kyrian said coldly, staring at the fox.
*****************************************
The following days went on like that.
Kyrian spent his mornings training his sword in the courtyard, often sparring with Yanyu, who improved even more.
They trained repeated movents dozens, hundreds of tis. The sound of swords forming a cutting symphony every morning.
anwhile, the fox always stayed in her corner. But she never stopped watching Kyrian. The cross-shaped eyes never blinked when he was in the room.
Every attempt at approach was t with growls and bared teeth.
Yanyu tried a few more tis to get close again. But the result was the sa or even worse. With Kyrian, the fox realized it was pointless to try to hurt him.
But when it was Yanyu, the fox reacted with bites and claws, even growing weaker each day. In the end, Yanyu gave up on approaching.
"She’s dangerous... but still seems so sad..." Mu Yanyu said one day with a pained expression.
Kyrian didn’t respond, but he knew Yanyu was right. Yet knowing that changed nothing.
’Should I release her back into the wild?’ Kyrian had this thought several tis. But he still wasn’t sure, the book reacted only to that dark energy, and perhaps he’d discover sothing with the little fox.
During the night, Kyrian only waited and watched the fox. Until the limit of his eyes disappeared again. And then he began to sit in a cultivation position, with spiritual stones lined up around him.
One by one, they flowed into his eyes, Qi accumulating and pressing on his dantians.
Ti passed, and the internal pressure increased until one night. His eyes opened, glowing more intensely, and the sound of sothing breaking echoed in his mind.
The Qi swirled in his dantians, expanding.
The limit appeared again. And Kyrian advanced to the 6° stage of the Qi Accumulation Realm.
In the morning, Yanyu looked at him in disbelief.
"You... really caught up to in just a few days. I truly... don’t know what to think about this." she said.
He could sense a slight joy in her that he had advanced and a slight envy at how easily he seed to progress.
"It was expected."
Kyrian, for his part, only nodded. He kept his eyes calm. But inside he was truly happy each ti, each stage, it might seem just another step on a path that had no end.
But for him, every step mattered more than anything, every step would make him stronger than before.
That sa night, Yanyu appeared more serious. She entered Kyrian’s room without her usual tray of food. She walked over to him, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Kyrian, the ti has co." she began.
Kyrian stared at her in silence.
"The exams of the Verdant Sword Sect will begin in two weeks. We must leave for the capital." Yanyu explained.
Kyrian didn’t answer imdiately. His blue eyes shifted to the fox still lying down, watching them. The cross-shaped eyes didn’t leave him.
Yanyu then continued.
"Only the two of us will go. My family has already decided. They believe that with just and you, I’ll have better chances. Especially without needing to worry about other youths of the family during the tests..."
"We leave tomorrow before sunrise." she finished.
Kyrian remained silent for a few seconds. Then, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I understand."
The fox growled low, as if she too was answering.
The room fell silent again when Yanyu left.
Kyrian then stood up. He picked up one of the last spiritual stones he had extended his hand in front of the fox’s cushion. And then waited.
After a few seconds, the fox couldn’t resist anymore and lunged. Opening her mouth and swallowing the stone whole, then closing her eyes imdiately.
Kyrian saw that finally, beyond hatred and pain, a new emotion arose every ti she ate a spiritual stone. It took days until she ate the first one he threw.
But since then, even slowly, she still accepted his stones. And after eating the spiritual stone, she simply fell asleep. Kyrian used this ti to see if he noticed anything strange in her.
But the fox seed fine, Kyrian liked to stroke her ears while he could. But when he felt she was about to wake, he pulled away.
He thought he should have patience until the fox accepted him.
In the past week, their relationship had improved greatly. Kyrian could now sleep without worrying the fox would kill him during the night.
He also discovered sothing else. The fox seed to understand what he said. Not completely, but she seed to grasp the intention behind his words.
Kyrian, after Yanyu left and the fox slept, lay down on his bed.
’Tomorrow, I’ll have to convince the little fox to co with willingly... I hope offering many spiritual stones will be enough...’ Kyrian thought before closing his eyes.
"At last, I’ll finally leave this place... Verdant Sword Sect, is it?"
"I hope it will be fun." Kyrian murmured with a small side smile before falling asleep, eager for what was to co.
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