[AFFIRMATIVE]
I finally let go of my fear. Shifting back my consciousness to the backpack space, I glanced at the silver-coated capsule and then at my stats.
{HOST: SOFIA ALIZO
BACKPACK: MEDICINE KIT, 2 KG FOOD PACKAGE, 500 SOUL STONES, X1 SILVER POTION
POINTS: 11
SKILLS: HUNTING SKILL LEVEL 1 99%}
With the 99% in mind, I decisively chose to fill the gap between level 1 and level 2 by entering the Virtual Game.
My surroundings immediately shifted. From the space inventory to the familiar greenery. When the sound of snapping twigs broke the ethereal silence of dusk, I knew who it was just by listening to the footsteps—identifying footsteps has become a skill I loved ever since I started hunting classes under Master Shiro.
When I turned around, I saw the gray-robed master a few steps from me. The gentle breeze swayed the loose strands of his long straight hair yet it did not cover the sharp eyes of the master hunter.
His arms folded behind him, he asked. "Shall we begin?"
Grinning, I replied. "Be prepared, Master Shiro."
UNBEKNOWNST TO SOFIA, WHILST she was busy breaking through the barrier between Level 1 and Level 2, a guest she least expected to visit her came.
Since Sofia gave the order to Big Data that she must not be disturbed unless it was a matter of life and death, Sofia failed to input the data that a certain male lead was the number one red flag of her 'life and death' situations.
The Big Data generally judged situations from all the data gathered from the previous life and the current life, but the name 'Luther Drakkon' was not synonymous with death. Hence, a loophole appeared that the male lead coincidentally exploited.
Luther Drakkon sauntered the ward under the watchful eyes of the secret guards. Being the young patriarch of the Black Lightning Dragon Race, he was allowed to visit the Young Miss of the Nine-tailed Fox Race.
In the ward with six empty beds and one occupied double bed, only the latter's overhead light provided luminance for the entire 70 square meters room. The light footsteps headed straight to the white bed nearest to the glass windows.
The footsteps stopped three feet away from the occupied bed of no other than Sofia Alizo.
A pair of onyx eyes solemnly stared at the even rising and falling of the beautiful lady's chest who was lying unconscious and oblivious on the bed. The white pillow was a direct contrast to Sofia's dark brown hair sprayed on it. Her thick and curved lashes touched her pale cheeks—Luther knew how these lashes hid a pair of gorgeous green eyes.
With a crooked grin, Luther closed the distance between them and hovered over the sleeping Sofia. He sat on the bed's edge and placed both of his arms around Sofia's head, caging her beautiful sleeping face in between his arms.
A couple of inches away from each other's faces, Luther licked his lips.
"Who are you really, Princess?"
Luther remembered the little girl who was always hiding behind Rowen whenever he would go east. She would always shy away from anyone besides her brother. But that time… she definitely did not shy away. Luther was pretty damn sure that he saw a glimpse of a hunter's gleam within her supposed 'shy' eyes.
A hunter's gleam was what the beastmen called it. Hundreds of years ago,long before humans went to the brink of extinction, a group of people hunted the beastmen and they were so good at it. Before every beastmen lost their lives under the hunter's hands, witnesses would recount about a gaze that would send shivers down the spine of even the fiercest beasts out there—it was the hunter's gleam.
The moment Sofia Alizo opened the door of her room, for a split second, Luther saw it.
Luther even wondered if he saw it wrong, hence, he came here. After all, it had been years since he last saw a hunter's gleam and it was from a prisoner. After that, no more news of hunters was heard. Maybe, he had seen it wrong.
But Luther always followed his instincts. His gut feeling had saved him countless times from death-defying situations.
With this train of thoughts, Luther's right hand snaked around Sofia's neck. He was merely tracing the sleeping beauty's beating veins under her pale skin. One wrong snap and Sofia's neck would break.
'Should I nip the bud before it could bloom?' Luther thought. His eyes gleamed with dark intent as his crooked grin widened more.
He chuckled as he heard the scuffle outside. It was his shadow guards and the sleeping beauty's secret guards.
Luther withdrew his hand and was about to turn away when a popping sound stopped him midway. His gaze immediately drifted to the source.
Luther: ???
Gone was the sleeping beauty on the bed. Gone was Sofia Alizo.
Instead, a palm-sized chubby white-furred nine-tailed fox curled under the white sheet. Its small body rose and fell, a telltale sign of its deep slumber.
"I thought the princess of foxes is unable to shift?" Luther sat back on the bed. His slender fingers traced the outline of the silk blanket before he lifted the small body.
Luther failed to notice how he gently held the small creature on his lap.
"So small. So weak…" Luther held the small fox near his face. "Even after transforming, the princess of the Alizo Clan still looks vulnerable. Did Rowen hide this fact because of this reason? I can see that transforming to her beast form is not an advantage in terms of strength…"
Luther refused to continue his words. He refused to say out loud that maybe Rowen refused to publicize this information because the princess transformed adorably rather than fiercely… so adorable that she would be in danger of potential kidnapping.
Luther thought so, but his actions spoke otherwise. His sharp fangs grazed the back of the sleeping beast's neck. A mark was made that even Rowen himself would be able to discover but those who sought the wrong 'prey'.
"Until next time, Princess," Luther whispered. He placed the sleeping Sofia on the pillow before he turned away. Heading straight to the dark corner of the room, he slowly merged with the darkness.
Before Luther disappeared from the Alizo Clan's territory, his instinct made him look back at the sleeping creature on the pillow where the light from the overhead lamp cascaded.
His emotionless eyes, for the first time after many years, showed a flicker of emotion—an emotion that would bind two parallel fates forever, only this time, both parties involved were yet to realize the future they managed to change.