It was as though I was smacked in the forebrain with memories. Memories of how this wolf had treated others of his kind. There was no way I was going to give him a chance. Sure, the old woman likely knew more about life and everything than I did, but I just couldn’t. I would let him live and that was it. As soon as I managed to get everyone out of the city, I was gone. He could do what he wanted, go where he wanted, just as long as it was somewhere far from me.

  In one fluid movement, I shoved his head and hand away as I pushed my body off the ground. A cry of shocked pain, coupled with the sharp tang of blood, caused me to scan the room for the injured party.

  Of course it was the goddamned wolf. It was as though the man was doing anything and everything to keep my attention on him. But judging by the injury it was my fault, at least this time.

  The arm I had shoved to the side was bent at the wrong angle and seemed to have an extra joint. One that shouldn’t have been there. The very broken nose that streamed blood down his face clued me into the fact that I might have used a bit too much force.

  Then there was his lap. Holy fuck were his legs gruesome. His left calf had a crushed handprint embedded into it while the other looked twisted. It didn’t help that the ground centered under him was slightly compressed. Not by much, but enough that the various sources of dark and bright red blood mixed and settled into it. Almost forming a little pool by the time the priest managed to make it across the room. The man's hands glowed a brilliant white-gold color as he focused on the source of Lance’s dark red blood.

  I stood there, watching all of this as I tried to figure out what to think. While I shouldn’t care about what happens to the man, I also didn’t mean to do it. No one should die from an accident. Hell, how in the fuck had I even managed to do so much damage? Sure, I was stronger than the last time I was here, but he had just as long to level and fairly decent conditions to do so. He could have fought the guards as a distraction for those escaping, or he could have simply hunted in the nearby forest.

  “Honey,” the old woman’s voice came from just to my right, startling me. She either didn’t notice or pretended she didn’t as she continued. “What level are you now?”

  “And what level were you when you left?” The old man asked from my other side.

  It took me a moment to answer as I first debated lying or outright refusing to answer, but honestly, what would be the point? Then, of course, I had to think back as I tried to recall what level I had been when I had fought the demon. Just as I was about to throw in the towel and say that I didn’t know, I remembered that it would be fairly easy to look up in my log. I just needed to scroll up until the transformation error showed up. Then go back until I found my last level up.

  “I was level twenty-four before I left. Now though, I am level forty-three.” I probably sounded a bit proud but I felt it was justified. After all, I managed to nearly double my level in a week. Okay, so most of it was from killing the swarm of bugs and the tiny portion I got from the demon's death. Still, it was pretty impressive if I say so myself.

  “So, if I had to guess, judging by everything we just watched, every one of your stats are at or over one hundred. Am I right?” The woman asked though given the side eye she shot me, she already knew the answer.

  “Yes. Why?” After all, it wasn’t like they had increased all that much.

  “There are a few jumps in how much stats affect you and everything you do.” The old man answered. “One of those jumps is the one hundred mark.”

  I took a second to think about that before shooting back a second, more demanding, question. "But if the first jump is at one hundred, then why didn’t I notice a difference when my intelligence, wisdom, and vitality all crossed the threshold?”

  “Whether or not you noticed is beside the point.” The old man was a bit brusk in his answer.

  “Cliff, you cannot blame the girl for not noticing something she didn’t know was going to happen.” If not for the old woman snapping at him, I would have. Her voice softened a bit as she continued. “Now, think back to when you crossed that threshold. What was going on that might have been a bit distracting. Something that might have made it hard to tell something had changed. Maybe you did notice but shrugged the change off as nothing out of the normal given some situation or skill.”

  Instead of relying on my memory, I pulled up my logs and did a bit of math. Of course, it helped that the log retained the information on my debuffs. The last time I had an imbalance was right after the fight against the swarm of creatures. Quite a bit had happened in quick succession that day. Still, looking back, I found that they were right. It was about then that magic seemed a bit easier to use. Not by much but it was still noticeable.

  That had been the first time that my magic had reacted and done what I wanted without there being a spell or clear image in my mind. Even now I had no clue how to cast those little bombs. Sure, I had a few ideas and half copies, but nothing as powerful or effective.

  I almost lost myself down the rabbit hole of memories and theories. Seeing the wolf’s pained expression as the healer moved to his arm pulled me back to what had happened here. After all, if a stat going over one hundred was a decent jump in power, then why had he not simply squashed this town? “But then why didn’t Kaelis destroy the town and everyone that opposed him?” I asked as I quickly double-checked the log for his level. “He was level fifty-seven.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “He still is that level. If I had to guess, the only reason he will not go full out is that he is likely on a mission to take over, not to destroy. He needs the humans to give him control. To help him build a base from which the demons can attack the rest of the country.”

  A muffled and pain-filled voice makes itself known as the priest tries to heal his nose. “Islanda is correct.” The priest let out a slight curse telling the wolf to hold still. Lance pushed the hand away as he continued. “The worst part of it all is that everyone in the city understands what he is doing. Some of them even seem more than happy to help him while others just see the demons as yet another noble. Hoping that they are better than the current noble. Or at least no worse than that fat pig.”

  “Wait,” I looked at the wolf in complete shock. Enlarged eyes and all. “The fucking demon is here? Alive?”

  “He showed back up half a week ago.” The priest spoke up after finally getting Lance to cooperate. “That was also when all the gates became impossible to get through. Patrols increased and random searches have been conducted as he looks for any and all the non-humans left in the city.”

  My eyes scanned over everyone in the room. While there were a few asleep, most of the group was eating some sort of sandwich. While it had a patty that the old man had cooked, everything else about the thing was weird. Sure, the top and bottom layers were some sort of bread, but it was a purple color. Add to that the odd assortment of what looked to be vegetables. I mean, it could have been a simple burger, but something told me it wasn’t.

  “While we should do some scouting tonight, I still think tomorrow is our best bet to get out of this place,” Lance’s voice pulled my attention back to the small group. As soon as my eyes turned to look at him our eyes met. “That is if you are up to it.”

  I shot him a quizzical look as I had no clue why he would want me to scout with him. Okay, so maybe it was him trying to force me to spend time with him. Not that it would change my mind. Then again, it wasn’t like I had to be with him to scout. If anything, it would be easier if I wasn’t with him. No one here had seen my human form so I could simply blend in. Unfortunately, seeing as how I had never scouted for anything nor did I know their plan, I had to ask what was potentially a stupid question. “Sure, just tell me what you want me to keep an eye out for.”

  “Locations and numbers for the guards and any potential threats.” Lance’s answer was vague. “But don’t worry about it, I will be with you so I can show you the ropes.”

  I laughed at that. “Not likely. Not unless you can become human-looking. Blend into the crowd.” His hard stare told me that I was being stupid, or something. Honestly, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking at that moment. Given that there was no other way to get it through his thick head that I would be on my own, I called forth my transformation.

  My tails twined together before vanishing, taking my fox ears with them as a human set formed. Well, mostly human. While my hearing wasn’t as good as in my fox or kitsune form, it was still better than ever before. In fact, I was fairly sure that it was better than when I only had a single tail.

  A ripple of silence traveled out from me as people noticed and stared at my changed form. Ignoring all of them, I smirked at the wolf. “Still think I should go with you?”

  A peal of laughter escaped from the old man as the old woman cackled out, “She’s got you there.”

  “Fine.” Lance huffed, clearly upset that I had managed to pull suck a trick off and ruined whatever plans he had.

  “If there is nothing else,” I looked at each of them to make sure. The four of them each shook their heads while the noise level in the room returned to where it had been before my transformation. “I think I am going to head out.”

  “Let me at least walk you out,” Lance whined. Honestly, if this was how he was going to be from now on then it was a good thing I was going to be getting as far from him as I could as soon as this was over. Clingy people were bad enough. Clingy people who couldn’t take a hint were just stupid and annoying.

  Still, there was no reason I could give that would satisfy him enough to let me walk to the door on my own. At least there he would be forced to leave me alone, for now at least.

  Just as I thought that my AI spoke up. “Message from Xander. Mission cleared, I should be there in a day, maybe two.” Why was it going to take him so long? Last time he had managed to get here much faster. Thankfully, he continued. “The council sent me with a transport truck to facilitate the rescue and retrieval of a few people as requested by some higher-up elf…or something. I don’t know the specifics. Just try and keep your eye out for some people in need of rescue and see what you can do to help them out.”

  Found them. Sometimes coincidences like this made me wonder just what god was messing with me. I mean, what were the chances that I would find the group he was going to be sent to help even before he knew about them? While I could possibly ask Inari, I doubted she would answer. Hell, my asking a question like that might even piss her off. It was probably best to save the ability to do so for when I really needed an answer from her.

  I didn’t wait for the wolf as I made my way out of the room and up the stairs. The only reason I was forced to let him catch up was the damned altar. It simply refused to take my mana and open. Given that it took his mana without issue, maybe there was a trick to it. A spot or something that allowed for a sort of lock on the door. Which, now that I thought about it, made complete sense.

  With a shake of my head, I walked into the sanctuary. Turning for the door just as Lance grabbed my arm. Sure, I could have kept walking, but something about the way he was holding onto my hand told me that he wasn’t going to let me go until he said something. Given that I didn’t want to drag a wolf behind me in a very racist city, I stopped moving. My voice was low enough that it almost sounded like a growl. “What?”

  “Please don’t take any risks.” His voice was soft and seemed to drop to a whisper as he continued. “I don’t know if I could live if you died.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time.” I shot back at him. “Or did you forget that we travelers are able to come back to life?” Not that I wanted to. God that place of nothingness was weird. The worst part was that I was fairly sure I had only seen a few of the more tame creatures that lived in it. So yeah, I would avoid death, just not because he told me to.

  “Still…” I rolled my eyes and tugged my arm from his grip. Ignoring him as I made my way out of the church and into the city that I wished to never see again.