There is just something weird about walking into a tree and just having all sound disappear. I mean, I've seen it before. It's a simple thing that involves restricting vibrations. The problem though is the discombobulating feeling of it happening out of the blue.

Like, I can see the outside and Volpe standing guard, but I feel no wind or sound coming from it. But If I exit, it would all pour in like a torrent.

Shaking my head, I gaze into the wood and find it rather comfy looking. Stairs moving up, others moving down. Side chambers. It is a big tree. Still, my senses tell me that I need to go down. Thus, I take the stairs down which turn in a spiral. I probably descend thirty meters before I stop at a door with no handle.

“Please, come in.”

The words come from the other side of the door. A moment passes and the wood shifts to the side.

A very old kitsune with white fur sits at the back, her six fluffy tails covering most of her body. Her skin is covered in wrinkles. When my eyes meet hers, I sense age. An enormous amount of age… but weirdly enough I sense that the person before me is younger than me.

“Please, sit,” she extends her hand towards some furs before her.

Curious and confused, I move to the furs and sit down in front of her. The place is rather homely. Tapestries of skins and colors on the walls. Designs of foxes on the ceilings. Everything screaming elder to me.

She sniffs the air after I sit. She smiles, “They have already marked you. I smell the scent of my sisters upon you.”

“Huh?” I ask dumbfounded.

She bobs her head, “Tell me Patriarch, how much do you know of our kind?”

Ok, it's one of those super old people.

“Little to nothing,” I say.

“I see…”

The words die down as my senses begin to feel it. Mana emanating from her.

“Then let me begin from the start.”

Mana coalesces between me and her, a miniature illusionary forest forms in front of me.

“The Kitsune have lived upon this planet far before your gods have come with your species. We were foxes gifted with magic and intelligence. Our tails revealed our power and might. We were one of the most powerful species, but also the lowest in number. Our birth rate was so utterly low that even the death of one of our kind was a powerful blow to our population.”

The image shows foxes with various numbers of glowing tails.

“In our prime, those of us who obtained nine tails were strong enough to fight elder dragons. We were feared and respected. Regardless, our numbers stayed low and we lived in constant fear of going extinct. Pregnancies were rare, averaging one child every five hundred years. But what was most rare were males. One in every ten births were male. They were known as Patriarchs and were protected at all costs.”

The image changes towards a male of the species. Slightly larger and darker furred than the females, but its position was in the center. And then the image swerves to the sky, revealing dragons of various sizes.

“But the dragons had grown overpopulated and hungry. They attacked us. The ensuing fight had cost us most of our number as well as many of our males. We won, but the blow was devastating.”

Images of ghostly foxes mourning the dead are shown to me.

“Thankfully, it was a couple hundred years later that your gods began to join Orbis. And one such goddess came to us in our time of need.”

“Himiko,” I say as the image changes to reveal a women who looks both human and fox with nine long tails.

The elder nods.

“Yes, she came to us. Angry, hungry for power, and sad…”

“She found us to her liking and made a deal. We are to serve and believe in her and in exchange she would help our species.”

The image changes to all of the foxes bowing their heads to the woman. The woman lifts her arms and then it begins.

“She gifted her form to us. We changed from mere animals. We lost a decent bit of our natural magical power, but in exchange, we obtained access to the system as well as a significantly increased rate of pregnancies. Our numbers increased and our kind became one of the strongest species. Even stronger than the Elves. Over time, humans from your world came to Orbis. They expanded quickly, many of them swearing loyalty to their respective gods.”

Images show humans in medieval armor fighting against elves, kitsune, dragons, and various other intelligent monsters.

“It was a hectic time, all the more hectic when the God Mimir gave up his divinity and descended upon orbis. He began experimenting with the humans. Mixing monster and man. He created the demihumans. Humans with the characteristics of animals. They were smart and strong but lacked the ability to properly use mana. He had eventually combined us with humans and created a species superior to their kind. But they also obtained our birth rate.”

She chuckles.

“Mimir was disappointed, so he attempted to work on the elves, a species that is actually native to your world. But the elves expected this. Their world tree that they had named eden had grown in monstrous strength due to the mana so prevalent upon the planet. The tree fought back and almost killed the demigod. He barely survived. In the wake of the aftermath, the entire continent was in flames.”

The image reveals fissures of magma, planetwide storms, destruction that could have destroyed a whole planet.

“The gods eventually became angered with Mimir and screamed for his death. Thus Mimir disappeared for many centuries while the world recovered. Stronger gods recovered faster, weaker ones took too long. Some had even died off.”

“But Mimir was not dead.”

She nods, “Indeed, he had hidden far south and resumed his experimentation.”

My eyes widen, “The dungeon!”

Holy crap. This changes shit… wait, why isn't Mimir stopping me? Is he watching? I guess his meddling explains why this dungeon is different from the ones Jessica talked about.

“He created a place where he can safely experiment. A dungeon so large and strong that not even the gods could get in his way. But, he still needed resources. Very unique resources to be exact.”

“Your kind.”

She nods sadly.

“Yes, he took our entire population and shoved us into this dungeon. He wanted to study and experiment on us.”

“I’m guessing Himiko was not happy with what he had done.”

She nods.

“She was furious, but also powerless. The powerful gods that might be able to do something about it did not care to. They did not like her, thus we are trapped and still are for an innumerable amount of years. Generations of us have lived in this dungeon. And like the other species, we would have forgotten our origins.”

“And you remember?” I asked skeptically. Considering it was generations they had been here and the age of this dungeon, it only makes sense that information disappears over extensive time.

She smiles. “Analyse me Patriarch.”

Ohhhh, so she has the combined lives of litteral generations of kitsune. She is pretty much a living, breathing library. A walking hard drive. Damn, she’s older than me then… wait!

“You’re the last! I haven't seen any males and none of the women so far have a mind class. Your species will go extinct then.”

“Yes. Which is why your timing here is perfect. It seems Himiko has not forgotten and given up on us.”

I raise an eyebrow, “So what, you guys can mate with humans then?”

She chuckles, “No, we can mate with only you.”

I roll my eyes, “I’m human, so that isn't going to work.”

Her gaze sharpens and I sense mana directed to her eyes. Her voice changes slightly as does her posture.

“Ohhh, then I wonder why you have two hearts, an extra liver, denser muscles, more bone structure, and several other internal organ backups.”

What? I stop and listen, feeling the internals of my body. Two hearts beat at both sides of my chest. The rate is half what one heart would normally do. I touch my chest and feel the bones differing from what a normal human body would feel like. They seem thicker. I move my hand down and feel even more ribs than what a normal human would have.

“How,” I say.

“[Hero] summonings have existed for a very long time. When a [Hero] is summoned, a god creates the body for the hero’s soul to encompass. Most times it is a normal ideal human, but some gods can modify the body further.”

“Ughhhhhh,” I groan with my hands to my face.

I fucking messed up.

“That means that there is a chance I can actually get any species pregnant. Fuck.”

Chinami begins to laugh, a real laugh, “Ohhhh, has our patriarch already been sampling the other species? It seems you plan to father many.”

She continues to laugh as though it's the funniest thing ever.

I, on the other hand, am panicking.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.”

I’ve banged what? 3 Gejan and a Centaur? No, wait, there's also Tessa’s mother. Oh god. If I got both of them pregnant… shit that's weird.

My expression apparently seems to make her begin laughing even harder.

“Not even a year after being summoned and I may already be a father to five women..” I shake my head in annoyance.

“Do not worry Patriarch, there are forty two more kitsune that will require a child as well.”

“Ughhhhhhhhh.”

________________________________________________________

Volpe watches interestingly as the Patriarch exits the tree. She is confused at how soon he had left. The Elder has a tendency to speak for hours before she allows anyone to leave her presence.

“I hope your conversation was fruitful,” she says to him but only gets an annoyed look in return.

“If by fruitful you mean laughing for several minutes straight and then falling asleep because she exhausted herself? Oh yea, very fruitful indeed.”

Volpe looks on confused at the Patriarch who looks around at all of our sisters that stare at him.

“Whatever. I will have to speak with her later. Tell me Volpe, what benefits does the Patriarch get?”

She takes a moment to process his question. Her tails flick slightly to the wind.

“Well, as the kitsune, our sole job is to protect the patriarch and to follow any direction he may have. In exchange, the patriarch is responsible with sleeping with at least one kitsune every night.”

The Patriarch releases an annoyed groan.

“Ughhh, fine. Whatever. Not like I can do much of anything alone.”

The patriarch looks around until his eyes fall upon the Gejan and the undead.

“Alright, well, I have a small army of Gejan that I will want transported here. Please have someone guide Zorren to them and then direct them here. They are going to need to increase their levels. Next, I need bodies. My main class is [Necromancer] and I am going to need to test out several new kills. Third, take Jessica over there to a nice comfy room. I don't want her waking up sore.”

He stops and frowns as the Kitsune begin to disperse. All of them have heard his request and are running around to do them.

“Ok, that was fast.”

The patriarch moves out of the way as one of the Kitsune carries Jessica’s sleeping form into the tree.

As the Matriarch, her job is to direct her sisters towards the proper way to live. But that mostly applies to the very young. All of those here are over five hundred years of age with only herself and the Elder having ever seen a living male.

“Right, since Chinami is sleeping, I’m going to need some help. I hope you don't mind.”

“What do you require Patriarch?” she asks ready to serve. It is her duty afterall.

“Right, first, you trained Dragkenoss and Anathema to use aura, right?”

“Yes. Do you require training too?”

The patriarch nods, “Yup, but before that, I want to know about the system itself. I’m talking about Affinity, Resistance, Charisma, and what exactly a named person is.”

Volpe looks at the Patriarch, “Have you not unlocked Resistance and Charisma yet?”

He shakes his head.

“Then you will need to speak with the Elder, she can do that for you very easily. As for Affinity, you will need to go to Fuyeko’s room. She has the enchantments to check Affinity.”

“I see, where is she now?”

*BOOM BOOM BOOM*

Sounds erupt from the distance. All of it from a distance and in the fog.

*BOOM BOOM BOOM*

Volpe smiles, “She is hunting for corpses.”

_____________________________________________________________

“This is her room,” Volpe exclaims as she leads me into Fuyeko’s room.

And as expected, the room is large and filled with enchanted items as well as parts for them. Bones, hides, wood of various qualities are haphazardly thrown throughout the room. Crystals are in a massive wooden box. They shine brightly with various colors that signify different rarities. Several instruments for enchanting are in the room. But what really surprises me and gets my hopes up are the number of very differing enchantments on many of the objects. Just from learning the enchants I would more than likely be able to obtain ten levels.

But such things can be practiced later. For now, I came for a specific reason.

“So, where is it?” I ask Volpe.

She looks around through the rather spacious and messy room. Her eyes stop on a large plank of wood leaning on the wall. She extends her hand. A spell forms instantly before traveling and hitting the wood. The wood levitates into the air and moves to the side. A crystal sphere is on the floor.

“That would be it,” Volpe moves and picks up the ball.

“So, do all of you have [Motionless Casting] and [Silent Casting]? I was under the impression that those two skills are extremely rare and difficult to obtain.”

She nods and hands me the orb.

“It takes at least a hundred years of practice to learn the skills instead of obtaining them from a class. Difficult for any species with a short lifespan.”

I mentally nod to her words and consider them. Any species surpassing level one hundred would gain a hefty increase in vitality. This would allow most to live longer than a century and obtain at least one of these skills. Though I wonder how much devotion to learning it is required.

With [Advanced Mana Sense] active, I gaze into the crystal ball and am surprised at the sheer complexity of the enchantment. Several interlocking enchants around the ball, all of which are connected with one another. I can't even come close to understanding even part of what they are supposed to do.

“So, this ball is supposed to tell me what my affinity is? What do I do, pour mana into it?”

Before even allowing her to answer, I do just that and send mana directly into the crystal ball which causes it to light.

“Bingo.”

“So, it looks like I ha- whats wrong?”

Volpe stares at the changing colors of the crystal ball. The colors are various though shades of black are the most abundant. Her eyes are bulging and mouth agape. Her face is practically glued in a state of shock.

“This is amazing,” she says after many silent seconds.

I smile, “Thirteen affinities is indeed very impressive,” I say.

She swallows, “Your dark affinity is higher than any I have ever seen. Do you know what this means?”

I shrug, “It means that I am utterly badass and amazing.”

She ignores my words as her hands wrap around my own.

“It means that my kind will now have a chance to be born with a Dark affinity,” she says in the most honest and gay face I have ever seen in a person.

My brain stops and ego deflates as I hear her words.

....

….

…*sigh*… expectations… ughhh… why even have them...