"It is all your decision, this is your future. Please choose wisely… not for my own sake but for yours."
With those parting words I left Tama to her own decision making. I could tell by the way that her eyes went blank and the contemplative look on her face that she needed time.
It was why I left her to her own, even if I thought that illusions were the best suited for her I needed to give her the space to come to her own decision. Not one that I influenced.
For now though there were other things that needed to be done.
The most pressing matter right now being the ash trees that Melia and her ilk had started to make.
Any other things could wait as I wanted to know for sure the amount of people that would be birthed by those trees.
There was also the matter of how long they would take. Would it be days, months maybe even more than that.
Not only for manpower but for the research and development they would add to my territory, my growing kingdom.
It was why when I walked off I called for Ali, she should be able to find them and even if she wasn't it was still nice to have her by my side. My first summon.
Moments passed by as I idly walked in no particular direction. In those mere moments Ali had found me and was already by my side.
I had her dash around in all directions while I leaned against a tree.
In short order Ali had found Melia, an excited expression, one asking to be praised on her face.
I did just that, petting her head and scratching it to her obvious joy.
…
It took barely any time to reach Melia after Ali had found her. All I needed to do was to walk alongside Ali .
I could have rode her but I wanted to enjoy the walk. Besides without a saddle or something similar it would have been an extremely uncomfortable experience.
"Melia" I called out, my eyes gazing around the grove of trees that had started to grow out.
"Yeah~" was the singsong voice that responded to me.
My instincts yelled at me to dodge and so I did.
A step to the right and a body fell to the ground face first.
As if nothing happened, Melia picked herself from the ground and brushed the dirt from her clothes.
"The ash trees," I began, gaining Melia's attention. Or as much as she could give.
A pout on her lip and a teary eyed expression that contrasted heavily with the mother-like aura that she put out.
"How are they going, how many are up and how long until we have some workers around here?"
I spit off a rapt fire amount of questions, each of them putting Melia into an even more depressive mood.
"Ah… they're fine. As you can see," at those words she gestured to the trees around us, "There are about twelve or so adult trees and dozens of more saplings. It shouldn't be more than a day before the ashes birth our sla- ahem - workers"
I nod at those words, ignoring her slip of tongue and instead sit down next to one of the trees.
My eyes close as I feel the nature around me. The way the bark felt, the feeling of the soil below.
These all served to soothe me, to relax me while I thought of the implications.
It had only been a handful of hours since I had summoned her but now… now she was saying that we would have dozens of workers.
Would we even have enough food, enough room and everything else to accommodate them.
I was glad for the workers but after that came the worry. What if I wasn't a good enough lord, what if I couldn't provide for them. What if… what if…
I felt hands fall into my hair, slowly combing it back and through it.
Slowly my eyes closed, sleep taking me as I was hushed into her lap.
…
I opened my eyes to the evening sun. Long hair fell on my eyes, blocking the sight of the forest around me.
"Awake are you?" I heard from above me, the melodic voice bringing me into full consciousness.
Before I was drowsy but now, with the voice I had woken up.
I stood up before stretching my body, the kinks in my back from laying on something other than a mattress being popped from my back.
My eyes opened from my stretching and I found Melia looking at me.
"I was meaning to ask," I say.
"Ask what?"
"I wanted to ask how long the growth of the ash trees were?"
"Oh those, they take no time at all, well at least with our help it only takes a day or so but naturally… it would be about five or so years before they even sprout from the ground."
With that the conversation pulled a bit. It was only then that I sort of felt something.
Like a pair of eyes gazing at my back.
"My lord…" I heard from behind me and the gaze finally made sense.
It was Tama watching, waiting for a chance to place herself into the conversation.
I saw as the meat that she had in her hands, reaching to me.
I took it and placed it to the side for now.
"Yes, have you decided?" I respond after a moment of gazing at the food.
Instead of responding with words she just nodded her head as an illusion of multiple tails appeared behind her.
I smiled at that, my hands reaching for the evolution screen and choosing the path that she had chosen.
"It suits you" I said while smiling before my finger tapped on the button and she disappeared in golden notes of light.
…
It was just moments later that a screen appeared in front of me. It was of a desert. One that seemed to stretch in forever. Even from where I stood, in front of the screen the sun that appeared in the screen best at me.
I could feel the heat from even here. Enough that I had to start fanning myself while I focused on the contents of the screen.
I saw as Tama wandered for a moment before a giant worm, hundreds of times bigger than Tama herself appear from the ground.
When it screeched I could feel the power behind it. It hit me forcing me to dig my heel into the ground to keep my footing.
When I opened my eyes again to look at the screen again I was bombarded with the sight of hundreds of dead worms.
Some died of hundreds of slashes while others seemed to just disintegrate into nothing.
I could tell this was tiring Tama out as every so often another one of her would distract them while she took a breath.
It was after a moment that seemed to stretch infinitely that I found myself staring at the disintegrating corpses of the worms.
They all faded away in sync, I watched as another tail started to form over the back of Tama.
A blink of my eyes and the screen was gone.
Tails…
It was all I could see before they parted into one that sat fluffing behind Tama. The golden fur seemingly combed itself as she lunged for me.
I tried to dodge but wasn't able to dodge, not that I had expected to be able to.
It was either that force that I fell to the ground, the tail wrapping around my back as we fell.
I didn't feel the harsh ground, nor the earthy feeling of the grass on my skin.
All I felt was the soft skin and fur of Tama rubbing itself around me.
I felt as her cheek nuzzled into mine, it was a nice feeling but not one that I wanted to indulge in.
I wanted to know what had happened while she evolved and why she had done this.
As if sensing my discomfort at her rubbing of me she raised her head and looked into my eyes. Her golden hair covered the surroundings as it fell around my head.
Slight tears formed in the corner of her eyes. I picked my hand from where it lay and wiped the tears away. All the while I gave her a reassuring smile.
"Thank you…"
"Thank you…"
She repeated it twice, the slip of her own tongue not being noticed by herself.
Her face reached closer to mine however I tilted my head, dodging the kisses she was trying to plant on my face.
However I was not fast enough as by the time my head had tilted anywhere her face was upon me.
My first kiss was taken. Even if it was a chaste one I still felt indignant. It was mine to give not hers to take.
Reflecting my emotions, my eyes glare at her. However she doesn't take notice of this and ends the kiss, her lips coming down to kiss my cheek and forehead.
It lasted for a while, her lips peckering me with kisses.
"No fair~" a voice whines out.
Behind us I saw the green hair of Melia bobbing up and down to try and take a good look at me.
As if her trance was broken by those very words Tama throws herself off of me and blushed to the side.
However that did not stop her from grabbing me and placing me in her arms all the while fleeing towards… somewhere.
It was while I was being carried by Tama that I checked her status, a screen popping up in my vision.
[Species: Kitsune]
[Name: Tama]
[Tier/Level: 4/5(Can be evolved)]
[Skills: Solid Illusions*, Denial of Reality*]
{Solid Illusions: Tama has transcended normal Illusions allowing her to form tangible illusions that can do real damage.}
{Denial of Reality: Through tricking the world Tama can convince the world through illusions that her target never existed, erasing said target from existence.}
[The Kitsune are characterized by the number of tails one possesses with 9 being the utmost. A new tail is only gained after sufficient growth in either power or age. Usually 100 years for every tail is the general rule. After having gained their ninth tail the Kitsunes fur will turn white or golden color and ascend the heavens. Kitsune are known for their illusions powerful enough to be indistinguishable from reality and their ability to transform into humanoids. Other notable abilities are their ability to take on a ghost like form, possession of others, invisibility, and their control over lightning and fire. ]
…
I was placed down onto the bed. My head reached up to look at Tama only to catch a serious expression flicker on her face before she turns to me.
"My lord… your talent…" she begins, pausing in between her words as if searching for the right ones.
"It is amazing, breathtaking, -ah- whatever it is it is powerful. Powerful enough to allow for me to cross the gap between realms so easily."
"Is that good?" I ask my head tilting to the side.
"Yeah… some of the most powerful talents I know only add into their combat ability and some help with crossing the gap but it still takes years but yours. It's almost as if it was hundreds… no… thousands of times greater than theirs."
She takes a breath before continuing with a question.
"If I any ask, my Lord, what tier is your talent."
"Tier one." I simply respond to the shock of Tama, her eyes opened wide.
It was at this moment that the system decided to interrupt us. A series of notifications flooding my vision.
[Realm Announcement: The realm has been invaded by the Gaul civilization]
[Prepare to defend rewards will be given to the highest contributing Crowns]
[Along with defending there will be bonus rewards to Crowns that take out the outpost bases]