The fox leapt, small and fragile against the Rootmaw's massive bulk, yet propelled by a force that didn't feel like her own. The world around her blurred out as she moved, every falling leaf, every grain of dust trembling in the wind, and heartbeat within her tiny chest. Her body felt lighter but also foreign, as if something else guided her movements with invisible threads.
She had no clue why this was happening to her, but one thing she did know was, if it would help her survive this unknown world, she would welcome him with open arms.
The Rootmaw swung a claw the size of her entire body. For a heartbeat, fear swallowed her again, cold, paralyzing, and sharp enough to choke the thoughts that were coming to her head. But the silver glow around her paws brightened, and instinct surged through her body like electricity.
Deep down, she knew it was not the instinct of an animal, nor was it that of a human, it was something else that met in between the two.
Her body twisted mid-air, narrowly avoiding the claw as it cleaved through the space she had just occupied. She felt the wind from the strike whip past her fur. She landed, slid, and then pushed off again before she even processed the movement. It was terrifying, it felt almost unnatural, yet it was quite efficient.
Aria stared from behind her, breathless. "How—how are you moving like that…?"
She couldn't answer, even if she wanted to, she was no longer sure if she could actually talk in this form. All she could do was fight and get them both out of there alive.
The Rootmaw bellowed, shaking the trees below. It lunged again, jaws opening wide enough to swallow her whole. She darted beneath it, her small form weaving between its roots and bark-like limbs. Every movement was too smooth, too precise, like she was playing a role her body already knew but her mind didn't.
A flicker of static buzzed behind her eyes, and the system's cold tone sliced through her thoughts, just as it did many times before.
[You stupid little fox. Threat Level: Critical.]
[Recommended Action: Vital Point Targeting,]
[Calculating Route… Calculation Completed.]
A glowing path flashed across her vision, causing her to flinch, lines, angles, weak points mapping themselves along the monster's underside. She didn't understand it, but her body moved anyway, propelled by fear and that new, mechanical certainty, one that felt as though it had more control over her body than she did.
The Rootmaw reared back, exposing a knot of glowing sap pulsing like a heart.
'There it is, I found it, maybe I will be able to defeat it after all.'
Her paws dug into the dirt and her muscles tensed before she sprinted forward, her mind focused on one thing alone.
Her tiny body shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow. She leapt, claws extended. She should not have reached that high. She knew she was not born strong, so she should not have had the strength. And yet she did, driven by a power that flickered cold inside her chest.
Her claws struck the sap-knot.
A crack split through the creature's body, bright and golden, like light breaking through wood. The Rootmaw roared, staggering back. Sap burst out in thick streams, splattering across the cliffside.
The fox landed awkwardly, rolling across the ground from the recoil. Pain rippled through her small limbs, stinging sharply. She hissed, a soft, pained sound, but she forced herself back up.
The Rootmaw swayed.
'One more, one more hit should be enough to get rid of it.' She thought, ignoring the pain that was surging through her body, which was still changing.
She didn't think anymore; she simply moved.
Her body blurred forward, following another projected path. She lunged again, jaws open, driven by a desperation so sharp it eclipsed fear. Her teeth sank into the glowing sap-core. The taste was nothing like blood or flesh, it was warm, bright, and ancient, a burning essence that flooded her tongue like fire wrapped in lightning.
The Rootmaw screamed in a cracking, echoing roar; seeing that, she bit down harder.
A burst of energy exploded through her mouth, her throat, and her veins. Her vision burned white. The Rootmaw convulsed and toppled backward with a thunderous crash that shook the entire ridge.
Silence followed its fall as she panted, hoping it would not get back up, because if it did, she would not be able to continue fighting.
Aria stared at her, wide-eyed, choking on relief and disbelief. "You… y-you killed it? I still cannot believe it. You actually—"
The fox didn't hear the rest, her mind began getting foggy, her thoughts mixed up, because the moment the Rootmaw hit the ground, something inside her snapped loose as well.
The sap-core she had swallowed ignited like wildfire within her body.
Her heartbeat stuttered, then slammed into a new rhythm. Her body trembled violently, silver light crawling beneath her fur in thin, twitching lines. She gasped, stumbling as heat flooded her lungs, her legs, and her spine. Every nerve lit up with a burning force she couldn't contain.
[Danger detected.]
[Foreign Energy Detected.]
[Assimilation Initiated.]
[Warning: Vessel Capacity Low.]
She collapsed onto her side as the system's voice overlapped with a static-laced hum, drilling deep into her skull. Her vision blurred, then doubled, before it fractured into what looked like shards of light.
Aria rushed to her. "Little one! What's happening to you?!"
She wanted to answer. Wanted to tell her she didn't know. That it hurt and that she was scared. But all she could do was cling to the ground as her body convulsed.
The sap-core's power raced through her, burning, reshaping, and digging into her very bones as if trying to carve something new out of her small, trembling form.
The system chimed again.
[Evolution Seed: Germinating.]
[Stability… 34%]
In her fading consciousness, the fox felt the world around her twist. She wasn't dying, that much she could tell, but she wasn't safe either.
This was only the beginning.
Her small body shivered violently as the silver light began to bloom brighter beneath her fur before fading, and everything around her went dark.