He led me through the same corridors as st time, or at least I thought they were the same. Given that they all looked fairly simir, I couldn’t really tell. Not that it mattered. We still ended up in the same pce.

  Unlike st time, however, he didn’t rush me out the door. Instead, he led me to the altar. It was simple yet it felt as though there was more to it. As if there was a god on the other side, listening, watching, judging. Then again, maybe there was. But if so, what did said god make of everything that went on here?

  Actually, I think there is a more important question. Which god was this church dedicated to? I licked my lips as I worked up the courage to ask the question. “Which god do you worship?”

  The priest’s steps faltered as he moved to walk up the single step that raised the altar enough for all to see from where they sat. His missed step was the only reason I looked down enough to notice his hands flicker and twitch. A pale white mist fluttered off each finger as he did something. If I couldn’t see the mana and feel it moving around me, I would have thought that his fingers were somehow smoking.

  Within moments the air grew a touch hazy. While I could see and hear everything going on around us, it was muted ever so slightly. “While this church is not formally dedicated to any one god, there are three distinct gods that we priests pray to. Shiva, Hestia and…” He stopped and let out a light chuckle as his face turned just enough to shoot me a smirk. “Inari.”

  While I had heard of the first two, I couldn’t quite pce what they represented. The st one, however, was a bit too on the nose for me. I mean, how in the fucking hell did this priest know I was a Kitsune and not a fox beastman? Was it one of the gods that told him who I was or was this a trap? If it was, did the demon set this up?

  “It matters not what you are, not to us.” The priest sun around as he spoke. His voice was a bit rushed, likely because of whatever expression was on my face. “To those that we pray to and those we protect, it does matter. And if the gods did not wish it, you would not be allowed up on this altar.” He pointedly looked down at my feet. Both of my feet were up on the altar yet he was no closer. At some point we had both stepped toward it without me even noticing the movement.

  “Why should I trust you?” I managed to grit through my teeth as I tried to not just kill the priest and run before whatever trap was id here was sprung.

  The man stepped to the side and gestured toward the altar. “If you do not believe me that we mean no harm, feel free to ask the gods themselves. We are lucky to have three who are willing to answer at least one yes or no question. Just remember that they are gods and are needed elsewhere too.”

  Now was when I needed to make a choice. I could either take him up on his offer to ask a single god a single question, or I needed to turn around and leave. If I left, I would have to run to the gate and keep running. If I didn’t and this was a trap, the other party would be after me within moments.

  But then again, there was a chance that he wasn’t lying. That there was really a god or three willing to answer a question for me. How could I give something like that up? If I did take the chance, what question would I ask? It wasn’t like I needed, or even could, ask about the purpose of life or anything. Those kinds of questions were too broad and their answers tended to be a bit ephemeral. After all, if one’s purpose was to meet a god or to kill their oppressor, that purpose would end as soon as their task was done. And then what? Would their life gain another purpose or would it be meaningless?

  Plus, those questions were not yes or no questions. No, I needed something simple and straightforward. Something that I could benefit from asking. Something like…My hand reached past the priest. It barely grazed the fabric covering the wooden altar when a bright white light blinded me. It wasn’t just my eyes that were affected either. All I could hear was a loud ringing while my nose was filled with the scent of earth.

  I didn’t allow myself to think. I let my body drop as I drew upon my mana. It raced out into the environment with little to no control. I didn’t even push a skill upon it. In fact, the only order I pushed upon it was to ‘Protect Me’. Around me, I felt the mana clump up as it dispersed. While my mana formed into a thin cloud when it was used as part of my Mana Sense skill, it was now closer to a cloud of thin beads.

  Each bead was no rger than a small bb but boy did they pack a punch. I don’t know how my mana pulled it off without me pressing and forcing it, but each bead reminded me of the tiny balls of fire I had been desperately trying to create and use outside my body.

  And all at once, as if by the wave of someone's hand, all of them vanished. They didn’t explode. They didn’t disperse into the environment. They vanished as if they had never existed in the first pce.

  As the ringing diminished, the soft tapping of a sandal against the floor filled my ears. A few blinks ter, my eyes adjusted to the bright light. Standing there, smirking and looking a bit amused, was Inari. “So, not a trap?” I spoke without thinking.

  “Not a trap.” She confirmed before starting to fade out.

  “Wait,” I cried out as I reached for the goddess. “Fuck, wait. That wasn’t the question I meant to ask.”

  Her eyebrow lifted as I cursed. This caused me to inwardly curse as it was probably not smart to curse at a god. Thankfully, the fading effect reversed itself but she didn’t speak. Almost like she was waiting for me to ask the question I had meant to ask.

  Taking a chance, I chose a question that only she could answer. One that wasn’t quite a yes or no question. “Is there a way for me to gain tails and if so, is it part of the system like quests or is it something only you can grant me?” So I cheated and combined a few questions into one. Sue me. I needed to grow more powerful and this was how each Kitsune in the myths and legends did so.

  Surprisingly enough, she smiled at me. “Now that is a question. I was wondering if you would figure out how to reach out to me through the proper channels or if you were going to try and force your power to grow as the other six of my new children did. Which reminds me, if you see any of them, let them know that I would like to speak to them.”

  “Sure,” I nodded my head in agreement. Unfortunately for her, I was fairly sure I would not be seeing any of them any time soon. Not given what others had said about how hidden they were.

  “As for gaining your tails…” Inari flicked a tail in my direction just as a new window appeared.

  Permanent connection with the goddess Inari has been established.

  System unlocking species evolution tab.

  System unlocking species trials tab.

  System unlocking the ability to message the goddess Inari.

  System unlocking species shop tab.

  System unlocking species training tab.

  As I read over everything, I had the feeling that she was doing the same. Almost as though she could see my personal screens. Then again, maybe she could. She was both a god and Hephaestus seemed to love her.

  “There you go.” She nodded and started to fade out as she continued. “Too bad you didn’t have this unlocked earlier.”

  Before I could ask what she meant, the world fshed white yet again. When everything cleared up, I found myself back where I had started. The only sign that it had not been a hallucination was the fact that the window was still there, waiting for me to acknowledge it. Even my mana was completely restored.

  With a flick of my will, I closed the window. I could worry about all of the new tabs after reaching wherever it was the priest wanted me to go. Meeting the people he wanted me to meet. “Okay, where are they hiding?”

  The priest didn’t say a word. He simply gestured and the altar shifted to the side. It made barely a sound as it scraped along the stone ground to reveal a set of stairs. Unlike in all of the movies, books, and games, the stairs did not descend into darkness. If anything, the light given off by the odd stone inset into the walls was more than what filled the hall from the various windows and torches.

  He gestured me forward. Something inside of me was still worried that this was a trap. I had to force myself to ignore that part. His words helped. “You should go first as I need to move the altar back into pce.”

  My feet slid quietly across the stone as I stepped down the stairs. One step, then another. I was halfway down when a soft scraping sound caused me to turn and look at the priest. The altar slid into pce, revealing a complex spell diagram etched into its base. While I had no clue what I was looking at, it was probably part of what moved the thing. With nowhere to go but down, I resumed my descent.

  As I reached the bottom, I found myself with a choice. I could either open up the wooden door in front of me or the one to the right. Nothing about either gave me a hint as to which was the right path. Not knowing what else to do, I lifted a hand toward the one directly in front of me. “Not that one.” Came the priest’s voice. Shifting to open the other, he again spoke up. “Not that one either.”

  “These are the only options,” I half grumbled, half demanded as I spun around to face him. “Unless I am missing something here.”

  Instead of answering me, he finished his descent and reached past me. His fingers dipped into a crevasse in the empty wall. A moment ter, a soft click reached my ears as the stone shifted. “Why would you need a hidden door in a hidden section of the church?”

  “It isn’t hidden, just hard to get to.” He said as he took the lead. “The hall and those rooms are all in the blueprints given to the city. This section, however, is not.” Behind me, the stone door snicked shut as I followed him down the short hallway. He gestured to the various doors that lined the pce. “There are a few private rooms that we keep for the few people needing sanctuary. However, there is not enough for the number of people staying here right now.”

  With that, opened the door at the end to reveal a room just as rge as the sanctuary. Hell, if I didn’t know better, it was the sanctuary. The only difference was the fact that there was no door, nor were there any windows. All of the pews were shifted to the side to make room for the multitude of cots and bnkets that filled the space.

  There was only one spot that was clear of obstructions. In the far corner sat a small kitchen. To my surprise, I recognized the two people running it. Standing there, working over the stove and cutting board, were the two old timers that I had met on the day of the festival. It was nice to see that their kindness wasn’t just limited to humans.