Dora's POV
My name is Dora Sylvantail, and I am from the fox tribe. My parents were the leaders of the tribe, and I was the fox princess of the tribe back then. My parents named me Dora because they believed I was a gift from the gods.
Twenty years ago, my life changed when the demons attacked my tribe. My mother was the strongest among the fox tribe due to her having nine tails.
The fox tribe's strength is dependent on the number of tails they have. The fifth to eighth-tails fox is said to be slightly stronger than a human of C to A-rank. A nine-tailed fox is said to be on the level of those legendary S-rank beings and they have enough power to wipe out a country with a wave of their hand and a continent with half of their power.
That day, I witnessed the power of a nine-tailed fox with my own eyes. My mother fought with a demon general whose power rivaled her own in the sky. It was breathtaking, seeing that level of fight that was beyond the realm of mortals.
A single attack from either of them could wipe out a continent and several mountains were destroyed during the clash.
The fight was epic, but sadly, my mother lost. It turns out that another demon general was lying in wait to ambush her. When two generals ganged up on my tired mother, the winner was decided. Though my mother fought to the bitter end and took down a demon general with her in a suicide attack.
After that fight, the demons' army, which outnumbered us ten to one, attacked with their full force. My father took me to a secret tunnel and asked me to escape from there. I tried to protest, but he insisted and said I was the hope for the revival of our clan.
The reason he said this is that I was the only member of the fox tribe to be born with nine tails. He said that when I grow up, I may awaken a tenth-tail of the legends. Legend has it that a tenth-tailed fox has an equal power with the Demon Lord. A demon lord is said to have enough power to destroy the entire world if he so wished.
I looked at my crying father as he sent me off inside the tunnel before he returned to join the tribe to fight back against the demon.
I turned and ran with all my heart until I escaped from the fox tribe. I began my lonely travel around the human continent. I went to many places and did many things to survive that I am not proud of. Before I knew it, 20 years have already passed.
I tried many times to awaken my fox powers during my time traveling, but try as I might, I couldn't awaken it at all. It was like a block in my heart was preventing me from awakening it.
Currently, I was by the roadside that leads to the Mufti city when a group of human bandits surrounded me.
"Look at what we have here, boys. A female fox tribe."
"I thought they were all wiped out by the demon race 20 years ago?"
"I guess this one managed to escape. We are so lucky."
"Imagine how much gold we will make by selling her."
"Alright, fox girl. You can either do this the easy way and come quietly or the hard way and resist, which will lead to a beating."
The bandits looked at me like I was a walking sack of gold. I, of course, tried to fight them, but I was overpowered and thrown to the ground.
Turns out that the leader of the bandit group used to be a renowned B-rank back in the day and his realm was higher than mine.
Normally, as a B-rank, I should have been stronger than a human who was on the same rank as me but I still lost. The reason is because his realm was higher than me and he has more experience than me. Not to mention that I'm out numbered. Even though the other bandits ranged from D to C-rank, I still was overwhelmed due to their leader being a B-rank like me.
I didn't stand a chance against his sword skill. Because of this, I was eventually beaten to the ground due to his strength and experience. I tried to fight back even when I was weakened and on the ground, but one of the bandits climbed on top of me and began to hit me as hard as he can with a wooden stick reinforced with magic.
Normally, a person or a monster can never hurt another person whose rank is above them but I was still hurt from the blows of this C-Rank human. The reason is because I was currently weakened and the aura of that B-rank bandit is suppressing me, not allowing me to exact my power.
The blows were very painful, but I endured and kept struggling. This annoyed the bandit, and he increased the force of the wooden stick he was hitting me with.
As I was about to lose consciousness due to blood loss from all the wounds I received, I, along with the bandit leader, sensed a presence approaching us at a leisurely pace.
All the bandits looked ahead, including the one that was still on top of me. I weakly looked ahead and saw a young girl of about 13 years old casually walking to where we were.
She was about 144cm in height, and she was slim, but not too slim. Her girly figure was filled out, and her chest is about B cup. She was wearing a black Gothic Lolita outfit, and she had her hair in twin tails. Her skin was smooth and spotless. If she stopped moving, she would look like a real-life doll.
This little girl was confidently walking to where all the bandits were without a single bit of fear in her movement. Of course, the bandits began to lick their lips when they saw the young girl.
"Man, today must be our lucky day."
"To think we get a female fox girl and a little beauty."
"Don't stand there, morons. Hurry up and capture her before she escapes."
Two of the bandits began to run to the young girl to capture her.
"Run away, girl. These guys are bandits who will capture you to..."
I shouted at the girl to run, but my voice died inside my mouth due to what I saw.
The girl I and all the bandits thought was helpless sent the two bandits that approached her through several trees around us with a wave of her hand. I could hear the sound of bones breaking when the two bandits impacted with the trees. Their fate unknown.
The other bandits got angry and drew their swords before charging at the girl with the intent to kill. I tried to stand up to help the girl, but I was too weak and injured to move. I heard some noise and looked up only to see a scene that baffled me.
The girl stepped on the ground, and ice came out and froze the bandits' legs. She pointed her fingers at the immobilized group of bandits before sending a large dose of lightning at them which vaporized all of them.
The remaining bandits got scared and tried to run, but the girl raised her hand.
"Area cutter."
I heard her mumble that word. Next thing I knew is that razor-sharp wind flew out from her hand and traveled at a speed I could not follow before it sliced the bandits to pieces.
All that remained of the bandits was the boss who was a powerful B-rank.
I could not believe what I saw. This girl can use spells without incantation. Only a true genius in the field of magic could do that, and yet she casted two spells without a chant, and her last spell was really dangerous. Just who is this girl?
The bandit leader smirked and brought out his sword.
"It's been a while since I've faced someone in a serious fight. The name is Ban, by the way."
"Lilia, and I hope you will be more entertaining than your friends were."
I was going to witness a fight between a veteran B-rank and this unknown powerful girl. How did I get myself into this mess?