Case 22: Little fox, big lich.
Unexpectedly, Kierra was a menace when choosing clothes for other people in the sense that she was too meticulous. In the end, it took them the whole morning to finish picking a few outfits for each other. Exhausted, Yu Chen proposed they eat lunch at a famous restaurant in town.
Kierra didn't need to eat as she could absorb enough energy from mana to sustain her body forever, but she was curious about the cuisine of this world. There was just one problem. Looking at the blood-red tofu dish in front of her, the archwizard was unsure of whether this was a dish made for human or vampire consumption.
''It is quite good; try it.'' Yu Chen encouraged Kierra.
''...''
(ꐦ𝅒_𝅒)
Never before had Kierra been this intimidated by mere tofu. What a disgrace!
So she bravely grabbed the fork and resolutely stabbed a piece of tofu before tossing it into her mouth. It quickly melted inside, and then came the flavors. The first five seconds were filled with sweet and spicy; the next five? Burning pain.
''Ugh...!''
Kierra's face contorted as she tried to fight the intense heat of the dish. She held her throat lightly, little tears escaping her moist eyes. Regret hit Kierra like a truck. She shouldn't have overestimated herself!
Meanwhile, Yu Chen was strangely mesmerized by this sight. Seeing Kierra in her vulnerable moment was seriously something else. Her instinct was telling her to protect this woman at all costs, even if she was miles weaker than Kierra. In the end, it took a full ten seconds before she snapped out.
''Here, have some water...''
''N-No need...''
Kierra had already been using heal on herself once she judged this would be too painful. It was close to normal now.
''I'm sorry, Kierra.'' Yu Chen said softly before turning to the server nearby. ''Excuse me, could I order something more mild?''
The server quickly took the new order and went back to the kitchen.
''Phew...''
Kierra sighed. So there was indeed something she couldn't handle...
After finishing the meal, they came back to the Crimson Tower, where Kierra's disciples could be seen training rigorously. The mood of this little sect had been through the roof ever since they received the news about Bai Qing's victory. Coupled with the fact that this little champion was trained by Kierra, everyone got even more excited over wizardry.
Kierra nodded in approval. These people, as she had expected, were well disciplined. If only her old disciples were this good...
'...Oh, well. What else... I should probably check on Cosmos soon. But for now,'
Kierra called Tian Yun and Yu Chen over to a corner for a little chat.
''I will hatch the egg and wake the fox demon now.'' She said. ''Do you two want to join?''
She wanted to bring them in case those two inside her pocket dimension were hostile due to her not being a native, and now that the hot spring had come off, she was not too eager to gain two more pets anymore.
Needless to say, Yu Chen and Tian Yun immediately agreed to her request, especially after hearing about this 'pocket dimension' of Kierra. They were curious.
So Kierra opened a simple rift for them to enter. Upon stepping through it, the two couldn't help but widen their eyes.
Even though they felt the architecture was rather foreign to them, the two-story interior with a black-and-white minimalist design looked amazing. The materials of the build itself and the finishes were all polished, the furniture had simple yet delicate designs, and it just seemed so... clean.
The highlight of this house, though, was definitely the large window taking up almost all of the right side wall. Through it, one could peer through to see a galaxy with billions of bright stars swirling around.
It had a bedroom, a kitchen, a living room, a shower, and even a mini garden!
Yu Chen and Tian Yun suddenly felt extremely poor, even though their residences weren't bad. It was as though a huge dose of vitamin B was injected into their bodies and souls, overflowing.
Vitamin Broke!
When the two were busy thinking about how to make more money, Kierra had already sat down on the sofa. She called the two poor women over, and the three of them all focused on the football-sized phoenix egg and the little fox demon on the table.
Naturally, Kierra reached out to the fox demon first. Its size was similar to a cat's, and it had pure white fur, looking very small and cute. If this were Kierra before becoming a wizard, she would have done anything to keep it, but now she preferred giant beasts.
Nevertheless, Kierra used healing magic to treat the fox's internal wounds—the only thing left after Ovi sucked the corruption out of it. After only a moment, the little fur ball promptly opened its eyes.
Sitting on Kierra's palm, the creature looked around in confusion. It turned to Yu Chen on the left, turned to Tian Yun on the right, and then turned to Kierra. Exactly three blinks afterward, it sprung itself back onto the table and bared its little fangs.
''Who are you all?!''
A little girl's voice, befitting the small statue of it, sounded.
Staring at this 'thing' with a pair of dead eyes, Kierra felt like it was definitely a headache. So she naturally tossed the explanation to the other two and went for a quick drink. It took a full five minutes for the story to get through because this little fox would just interject at virtually every moment.
When Kierra came back, the fox had gotten considerably softer, expressing its relief over the survival of its owner, who was in the egg. Though, it was still quite arrogant.
''Hmph!'' The little fox crossed its arms. ''Be honored, mortals! For you have successfully saved this precious body!''
It then went on to babble about it being the mythical fox spirit, how it was the best of its kind, how powerful it was... until Kierra got irritated.
''Shut.''
The archwizard used telekinesis to pinch the fox's little mouth together, preventing it from spewing garbage again. At times like this, intimidation tactics were always the best!
So Kierra pulled out the deer skull from her space bag again, startling Yu Chen, who hadn't seen it before. As Ovi began to manifest in front of the little fox's eyes, fear filled its whole body. It went from a proud little fox to a scaredy one in mere seconds.
Kierra nodded and got right to the questioning.
''Name.''
''Shen.''
''Race.''
''Nine-tailed fox.''
''Specialty.''
''...Transformation.''
''Good. From now on, you are my pet.''
''Ah?''
Kierra changed her mind when she heard about its specialty. In practice, the archwizard could alter the light around her and technically transform in others' eyes, but at the end of the day, it was just a mere illusion. This fox claimed to be a nine-tailed one, yet she could only see one, which meant it was currently not in its true form. Kierra hadn't noticed it at all. It was even more subtle than dragons' polymorphism...
It was a valuable opportunity to learn another skillset for Kierra, but Shen was naturally reluctant.
''But... I want to follow my master...''
The little fox said as it stroked the phoenix egg. The previous sassiness was gone, leaving behind just an emotional fox.
''Your master shall also be my pet,'' Kierra replied calmly.
''H-Huh?''
''That phoenix egg was mine in the first place.'' Kierra continues. ''Your master should be grateful I gave her that body.''
Shen thought it was... reasonable. This way, she could still follow her master, while her master could pay back the grace with her body!
That sounded quite wrong for some reason, but Shen didn't care much.
''If my master wants to, then...'' She looked up at Kierra.
Just like that, Kierra suddenly gained two pets.