[You have defeated the Spirit Wolf of Polarity Aurelius Borealis level 30.]
As Aurelius's body slowly turned into nothing but pure mana, the bright blue flames that danced around Aurora's body disappeared as well. Her emotions soon flooded back, and her skill has returned to its original form.
Aurora watched all of this happen with a complicated gaze. Now that her emotions and most of her reasoning came back, she naturally began to understand and properly digest the effects that had just transpired.
She had done it. She had defeated a magical beast of the second rank on her own. However, for what price? Aurora wasn't a fool; far from it. She understood that acquiring such power naturally had to have some consequences. And she was right.
Like a dam that slowly began to collapse, Aurora could feel her soul literally cracking. Pain assaulted her body quicker than ever before. And it wasn't some light pain, no. It felt as if her whole existence was being torn apart into bits and pieces. The whole ordeal was so painful, in fact, that she was even surprised that she was still conscious.
The small fox began to weep in pain, not even able to writhe around. Aurora was slowly losing control over her body as parts of her soul began to crack beyond repair. The pain was so absurd in fact that she even wished she would die on the spot just so she wouldn't have to go through it.
The cracks began spreading so fast that it took no time for Aurora's whole soul to get fractured. Normally, she would have died by now, but it was as if something was counteracting the destruction of her soul.
'The system! It's giving parts of Aurelius's energy to my soul!' Even in the midst of all the pain that practically numbed her mind, Aurora was still able to think.
It took her no time to realize what was happening and how she was still alive even in her current state. The energy her soul was receiving from the dead Aurelius was just enough to keep her soul intact. However, just that little energy obviously wasn't enough to repair this kind of soul fracture.
The cracking slowly subsided and soon stopped completely, but by that time, it had already done the damage. The soul of the small fox was barely holding on by threads, doing everything it could to keep those millions of pieces in their place.
Right now, Aurora felt that her body would burst into a bloody mess if she took even a single step, something that was very much possible considering how badly broken her soul was at the moment.
Just as she was thinking of what to do next, a small, orange-colored flame appeared in front of her hazy eyes. Though feeling confused internally, Aurora really wasn't in the mood to think much, so she paid the small flame no mind.
"Let's make this quick; I don't have much time left." Surprisingly, however, the flame 'spoke'. Even in the same language Aurelius spoke in.
"Your soul is currently suffering from using a perfected flame form for a longer period of time. Considering your current strength, or rather lack of it, your soul got greatly damaged by the aftermath of the flame." The orange flame explained further, causing Aurora to await his next words.
"Right now, you need to listen and do what I tell you to do. Head to the tomb that opened up after you have defeated that wolf. There, you will not only get healed; you'll also get the answers you are looking for." As the flame continued to speak, its form began to flicker.
"Shit. I have even less time than I thought. Listen up, little fox, you need t-" Unfortunately, the flame's words got cut short as it disappeared, leaving Aurora not only confused but also torn between two places.
She didn't know whether to trust the flame's words and head to the tomb or not. She had no way of knowing if the flame was someone she could trust. For all she knew, it might even be an enemy of hers.
But after thinking about it carefully, she realized that she didn't have much of a choice. In her current state, she couldn't do anything. There was simply no way for her to heal from the damage she had suffered.
'I might as well head to the tomb. If he spoke the truth, I might get healed at least a bit. And if he lied, well, then I'll die. It's not like I have much of a choice anyway.' With a helpless sigh, Aurora slowly got up onto her feet.
Immediately, even with the smallest movement, the pain she was already feeling increased further. However, she ignored all that pain and slowly began to make her way towards the portal that had appeared in front of her some time ago.
Unlike all the previous portals, this one was golden in color instead of blue, but other than that, there were no other visible differences.
Not stopping for even a moment, Aurora stepped through the portal, arriving in a completely different place. Unlike the seemingly never-ending cosmos she was just in, this place looked quite similar to the hall where Aurelius had originally resided in.
The tomb appeared to be a spacious room. Its paper walls were covered with beautiful drawings resembling golden dragons. The frames of these paper walls were made out of the same red wood as the rest of the palace. The floor was the same as well, made out of the same black material.
The room was filled with various items, ranging from shelves filled with books and scrolls to jewels and gold bars. However, probably the most striking of all was the small shrine in the middle of the room, surrounded by a dozen small fox statues.
The atmosphere inside the room was still, but it wasn't uncomfortable. If anything, being in the room, Aurora felt strangely at ease. It was as if this place was her home, and she had now returned after a long time away.
The small white fox got momentarily lost in the feeling this place emitted from deep within her soul. The comfort and warmth she felt in here were so relaxing that she felt like sleeping. However, she knew she couldn't.
'Focus.' Aurora reminded herself with a soft shake of her head. The sudden movement made the pain she felt spike for a moment, but she forcefully ignored it.
With slowly but surprisingly steady steps, Aurora made her way to the small wooden shrine. Then, as if she knew what she had to do, she sat down in front of the shrine and looked towards it, copying the position of the small fox statues.
Like a final piece to the puzzle, the eyes of the stone statues lit up with faint blue light. Right after, a faint blue aura covered Aurora's body, and with it, a sudden wave of exhaustion hit her. However, the little fox refused to fall asleep.
Soon, the shrine began to glow with the same faint blue light, and a figure slowly materialized before Aurora's tired eyes.
The figure was made up completely of the blue light, seemingly without a physical body. But even then, the figure's features were very clear, even to the naked eye.
The figure belonged to a woman. The woman had long, flowing hair that fell down to her waist. She was about 175 centimeters tall. She wore a traditional Japanese kimono that, while simple, looked very exquisite and grand. Her face was unfortunately a mystery, as it was covered by a mask resembling a fox. Even without being able to see the woman's face, it was obvious that the woman was very beautiful.
However, the most striking features about the woman weren't her hair, the kimono, or even her masked face. No, what caught Aurora's eyes the most were the two fox ears on top of the woman's head, as well as the beautiful and majestic tails behind her back. In total, the woman had ten almost identical tails that swayed softly behind her.
'She's a fox? Maybe a kitsume like me? Does that mean I can also get a human form?' Aurora asked absentmindedly as she stared at the beautiful figure in front of her.
Slowly, the woman looked down, metting Aurora's gaze; however, the woman's eyes weren't visible due to the mask she wore. After a moment of merely standing still, the woman slowly descended and knelt down on both her legs.
Then, she softly outstretched her hands and reached out towards Aurora, gently lifting the small body of the white fox. The woman brought the fox closer to her body, locking her into a gentle embrace.
Feeling those hands gently wrap around her body, Aurora felt the most comfortable she ever has. She could faintly feel the warmth of the woman's spectral body. It was a feeling so familiar yet so unknown to her. However, as she slowly melted in the warm embrace, only one thought appeared in her mind.
'Mother.' A simple word that meant everything to the small fox. She didn't know why such a word came to her mind, but it was strangely fitting.
Slowly, Aurora's eyes closed up, and breathing became calm and soft. She felt so comfortable she fell asleep on the spot.
Feeling the calm breath of the small creature in her arms, the woman smiled under her mask and slowly placed the white fox down. Then, the woman stood up, taking a small step back.
"Child born of frost and flame, I bestow upon you a name..." The woman spoke in a soft voice. However, despite the gentleness of her tone, the world itself seemed to bend under the influence of those words.
"Write your legend until time meets its end, and get past those who stand in your way dared. And from now on, the world shall know the name of Yuki Snow." As those words fell, the aura surrounding Aurora's body glowed brighter.
After the aura's glow slowly dimmed, and with it, the woman began to slowly disappear. As the woman's mask crumbled into light, the smile on her beautiful face was momentarily visible before the woman disappeared completely.
"Farewell, my child." Those were the last words that hung in the air inside the tomb.
It would take some time for the small fox sleeping peacefully on the floor to wake up once again, but once she did, there would be a lot of changes waiting for her.