The silver fog thickened until it swallowed the edges of the village like a curtain drawn too tightly. The distortion's warped silhouette wavered inside it, stretching and folding in unnatural angles that made the air itself pulse in protest, while her mind raced with what choice she should make.
Aria held the fox closer, chest rising and falling in frantic gasps. "Please—someone, help us!" Her voice carried through the chaos, but no one dared step between them and the creature. Even Elder Rean retreated backward, her roots shriveling under the silver's touch.
Rean's lips pressed into a thin line and she exhaled deeply. "We cannot, I am sorry. I thought we could, but it clearly wants nothing to do with any of us; she is not simply unusual." Her eyes drifted to the fox. "She is an outlier. A being that should not exist here. Now I am understanding that. You need to see, it is not that I do not want to help; it's that we cannot. She has to earn her own place."
The villagers fell silent and most of them looked away, because they knew it was true and deep down so did Aria.
The distortion's arm extended further, now only a few steps away. Silver droplets fell from its fingers, hissing when they touched the dirt. The creature leaned forward, its warped, mask-like face twitching as it focused solely on the trembling fox in Aria's arms.
"Come back, do not cause unnecessary problems. I will not hesitate to destroy everything here to do my job," it whispered again, its voice scraping like metal dragged across stone.
The fox's limbs spasmed at its words, dragging her out of her thought and her vision flickered white, then black, then into glitching fragments of a place she didn't even know, distant voices, the cold feeling of something grabbing her before everything went dark.
She forced herself to breathe, but each breath was thin and sharp, like she was inhaling broken glass. Her small heart pounded as her system warnings roared louder.
[Inhuman Core Activation: 18%]
[Instability Rising.]
[Current Form Unable to Sustain Core Load.]
Her paws curled, claws digging into Aria's shirt. Every instinct told her to run, hide, vanish into the trees and survive alone. That was what a fox should do.
But she wasn't just a fox.
Not anymore.
Not since the system partially activated and since this world chose her.
The distortion dragged its body through the village square, each step twisting the earth beneath it, destroying all that was in its path. Villagers backed away in terrified silence and a child sobbed somewhere behind the cluster of adults.
Aria stepped backward again, trembling so hard the fox could feel it through her bones. "Don't come closer!" She shouted, but her voice cracked. "You won't touch her!"
The fox glanced at the desperate girl. Touch her? It didn't want to touch her. It wanted to reclaim her, unmake her. To drag her back to whatever nightmare she slipped out of.
The fox's breathing hitched as the silver fog brushed her fur, and sparks of agony shot up her spine, electricity mixed with burning ice.
Her core pulsed painfully, as if something were striking it from the inside.
[Override 83% Approaching.]
[Predation Imminent.]
[Survival Probability → 5%]
Her vision dimmed as she heard Aria calling out to her. Her voice was breaking, begging her to stay awake. The villagers were shouting, some crying, some praying, and some frozen in paralyzed terror. The entire village hung on the edge of collapse, and she, a trembling tiny fox, was the reason this creature breached the barrier.
She couldn't let this be the end, not for the innocent villagers, Aria or even herself.
The distortion lifted its arm, silver liquid dripping from its fingers like trailing chains.
The fox's pulse thrashed. She slipped out of Aria's arm and the girl gasped, but she did not pay attention to that, she needed to fix the mess she created and take her first step towards evolution.
Her core throbbed again, this time with violent heat instead of cold.
[Evolution Path Unlocked: Partial Humanoid Form.]
[Warning: Forced Evolution Will Cause Unstable Shift.]
[Proceed?]
Her breath caught.
She didn't know what evolution meant for her identity; would she lose herself? Would she lose her memories completely? Would she become something she didn't recognize?
Fear coiled inside her chest, but this time, she could not think about herself, not when for the first time, she had many things on the line, even if they were strangers.
She heard their prayers, those simple words pierced deeper than the distortion's silver ever could.
She had never been needed before, never been wanted before.
But here, right now—this girl, this village, this world…
They needed her, they saw her and a part of her truly wanted to give this place a chance to make it her home.
She wanted to give it a chance, to be selfish, she wanted to stay too.
Her trembling eased, not because fear vanished, but because something else now burned brighter—resolve.
The distortion lurched forward.
Aria screamed and the fox's eyes snapped open, sharp, glowing, no longer dimmed by fear or instability.
She would not let this thing take her back, nor will she let it destroy everything she had found, even if maybe it was not meant to be, maybe it was a mistake, but she would not remain small.
Her core surged with unbearable heat.
Her body arched as her muscles tightened and bones strained, as if something larger pressed from within, demanding space.
[Final Warning: Evolution Necessary for Survival.]
[I Repeat Choose.]
[Choose or Perish.]
Her breath left her in one final, steady exhale.
"I choose to evolve. I choose to survive."
Light detonated beneath her fur, hot, blinding, golden-white and the air trembled as the system roared through her entire being.
The distortion shrieked, recoiling.
Aria dropped to her knees, shielding her eyes from the intense light as the fox's body began to change, stretching and reshaping as her small silhouette grew brighter and brighter.
While the village witnessed the beginning of something the world hadn't seen in centuries.
A newborn humanoid evolution.