?Phantom and the four young fox yokai moved cautiously toward the settlement. The sight that awaited them, however, was not the angry mob Phantom had anticipated.

  ?Phantom’s jaw dropped. All the humans were outside, arrayed in a horrifying display of submission. They were on their knees, facing straight down with their eyes closed, forming a long, rigid row that stretched both sides, from the gate down the middle of the town. At the end of the line, three individuals stood—a middle-aged woman and two nervous, older men—facing the kneeling rows.

  ?Phantom instinctively held up a hand. "Don't attack yet," she mind-linked to the foxes.

  ?She walked silently up to the three leaders at the end of the lineup.

  ?"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice sharp and unexpected.

  ?The man closest to her flinched violently, startled by the sudden presence. He slowly raised his head, his eyes full of fear. "We... we know the few that went in there were going to try and kill you. So we figured after he lost, you would come here and finish the rest of us off."

  ?Phantom’s anger, which had been boiling since the light attack, subsided slightly, replaced by confusion. She turned and established a mind link with the oldest fox. "What do you want to do?"

  ?The fox looked at the others before replying. "They are all guilty of killing our kind, but should we punish them for doing what they were forced to by their King?"

  ?Phantom shook her head, turning back to the villager. "If we allow this town to live, how can I be sure these people won't start hunting us again?"

  ?The villager hastily replied, tears welling in his eyes. "We didn't even want them to go after you after the King's death! He forced the trade. We wanted to switch our commodity for something else—anything that doesn't involve the forest spirits."

  ?

  ?Phantom stepped back, allowing the kneeling villagers to rise. The three spokesmen—the villager, the woman, and the other man—all pleaded for an alternative. Phantom realized she had the power not just to destroy, but to rebuild a sustainable relationship.

  ?She acted as a silent, powerful translator between the foxes and the remaining town leaders. The foxes, driven by survival and practical knowledge of the land, spoke through Phantom’s mind-link, detailing resources.

  ?"The forest provides," Phantom relayed to the villager. "The fox spirits know of a large cave high in the eastern mountains, filled with ores for forging and trade. If you switch your business entirely to mining this resource, the fox spirits will agree to peace."

  ?The villagers looked at each other, murmuring with relief. The man, eyes wide with hope, knelt again. "We agree! We will switch our trade. We will mine the cave and live in peace with the foxes."

  ?Phantom watched the transaction finalize. The pelt embargo was now official, enforced not by death, but by a new economic reality.

  ?

  ?With the peace treaty established, Phantom and her pack of four young yokai left the settlement. The humans were already bustling with new, hopeful energy.

  ?When they arrived back at the entrance of the burrow, Phantom paused. She was immensely impressed with the courage and tactical sense the young foxes had shown during the fight with Garrick. They had not been victims; they had been allies.

  ?Phantom gathered the foxes around her. She focused the mind link, filling her words with all the power and intent of her Kitsune form. "The King is dead. The hunters are gone. You have faced the threat and overcome it. You are no longer mere spirits hiding in the dark. You will now be the Guardians of this forest."

  ?As she finished speaking, all four foxes became consumed in a swirling, dark cacoon of shadows, pulsating with the warmth of the Yokai Fire. The moment lasted only a few moments. Then, the cocoons faded away.

  ?Standing before Phantom were four smaller Kitsune, each with a single tail and sleek, newly evolved forms. They radiated a distinct, subtle golden aura mixed with their natural dark red fur.

  ?

  ?Suddenly, Cosmo's voice chimed in Phantom’s mind, clear and computational: "New Species Success. User has successfully utilized Inari's Blessing to trigger permanent evolutionary change in four yokai spirits."

  ?"Prompt: Name the new species and review details."

  ?Phantom focused, reading the floating data screen only she could see: The newly evolved creatures possessed Dark Manipulation and the Inari's Fire ability. They were stronger, faster, and permanently integrated into the spiritual flow of the forest.

  ?With a thought, Phantom typed in: Blessed Kitsune.

  ?"Blessed Kitsune Species Successful," Cosmo confirmed. "Plus five percent to User's Base Stats as long as the species lives. Stat benefit may grow as the population raises, with a max of fifty percent."

  ?Phantom was genuinely surprised by the stat boost—a permanent reward tied to the prosperity of her creation. She realized the weight of her new responsibility. She couldn't leave them vulnerable.

  ?Phantom immediately set about helping her new Blessed Kitsune thrive. She used the mind link to teach them basic communication with the humans, reinforcing the terms of the Pelt Embargo. She then led them to her comfortable, protected clearing in the ancient tree canopy, instructing them on how to maintain the base. She had ensured their survival; now, she had ensured their future. Her work was done.

  ?With the four new Blessed Kitsune able to protect themselves and the forest, Phantom's felt fulfilled. She focused her mind inward, addressing her system. "Cosmo, I am ready to leave. I am ready to leave." She repeated the command, giving herself one last look at her pack.

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  ?"User confirmed," Cosmo's voice responded. "Are you absolutely certain you wish to exit the current situation?"

  ?Phantom nodded, a strange mixture of relief and regret washing over her. "Yes. I am certain."

  ?Everything faded to a blinding, warm white. The solid ground beneath her feet vanished, and the newly formed Kitsune pack, their golden eyes wide with confusion, dissolved from her vision.

  ?Meanwhile, in the small, comfortable house on Earth, Xander was violently forced out of the spectator room, the sensory link abruptly severed by the successful recall. He found himself back in his bed.

  ?He stretched lazily, a wide, genuine smile spreading across his face. Dawn's ability is truly something else. He thought about what Dawn was capable of at such a low rank. She not only acquired a blessing on her own, a feat that typically took incarnates years of trying, but she also mutated a new species because of it, ensuring its perpetuity and stacking her stats.

  ?Dawn found herself back in her bed, her Earth body feeling strangely heavy and sluggish after the time spent operating the highly efficient Kitsune form. She stretched her arms out, hearing her joints pop. How long was I even in there? she wondered. It's so hard to keep track of time as a beast. She rolled over in her bed and quickly drifted off into a deep, recuperative sleep.

  ?

  ?The next morning, Dawn got up and went through her mourning routine. Once finished, she headed out to the living room, finding Xander already up, looking at the same data tablet he always had. Dawn tilted her head in thought, her curiosity finally winning out. What exactly was on that tablet that Xander was always looking at? She scanned the living room again and realized that Xander had nothing in his house for entertainment—no TV, no radios, just his phone and that specialized tablet.

  ?Dawn decided to ask instead of just wondering. "Xander? What exactly do you use that tablet for? Is it Incarnate-related?"

  ?Xander looked up from the tablet and nodded his head yes before replying. "This is similar to the app you have on your phone, but it has a few extra features, particularly for advanced mission tracking and monitoring."

  ?Hearing the tablet had more features than hers, she moved quickly toward Xander to take a look. As Dawn got closer, Xander clicked the tablet off and set it down on the coffee table. He wagged his finger at her. "Not so fast. Remember, if you wanna see my full profile, you need to rank up first."

  ?Dawn flopped down onto the couch with a loud sigh of defeat.

  ?Xander, deciding to move past the topic, asked, "Since you're relaxing, I assume you completed your task?"

  ?Dawn popped back up with excitement, the thought of her success replacing her frustration. "Yeah, I almost forgot to tell you! I had a couple failed attempts, but yes, I completed your task as a Kitsune. I even made a peace treaty with some humans!"

  ?Xander nodded slowly in approval. "Good. Let me ask you this then, because it's important. Your time as a Kitsune, how long do you think it felt like you were in there, truly?"

  ?Dawn shook her head and shrugged; she truly didn't know how long it had been.

  ?Xander smiled knowingly. "For a Kitsune, it takes close to one hundred years to reach full maturity and evolve from the fox spirit. It probably only felt like a few months to you, didn't it?"

  ?Dawn's jaw dropped. She was frozen in shock for a moment before she shook her head yes.

  ?Xander continued, leaning forward to make his point clear. "Depending on the lifespan of the selected species, time passes differently inside the simulation—this is called Time Dilation. A being that lives less than a year, like a certain insect, each day in the simulation will feel like a month or longer to the user. A species that lives thousands of years, like your Kitsune, a year could pass in the situation and it only feels like a couple days to you."

  ?Dawn regained control of her shock. "I guess that makes sense. The longer you live, the smaller each section of time seems compared to the total lifespan. Just like a short life makes every day more valuable."

  ?Xander chuckled. "Exactly. That's why I try to never waste a day, and I spend way more time in situations to get more out of my time."

  ?

  ?Dawn squinted her eyes, a focused thought bubbling up in her head. "So what is the next step in my training?"

  ?Xander's smile widened as he looked Dawn in the eyes. "Now that the basics are established, you can have some real fun. But before that, I want to refresh you on the basics you need to do when doing these situations when you're not a beast. First and most important thing is to secure your exit. Obviously, by this, I mean getting the Recall Crystal and putting it in your Stash. I'm sure I don't need to explain to you why that's important."

  ?Xander paused for a second. Dawn's face became sad as she looked at the floor and nodded her head, remembering the agonizing moments she had been trapped.

  ?Xander continued. "If you are in a group situation—by group, I mean any amount of summoned Incarnates besides yourself that you end up sharing a recall crystal with—if there is a disagreement or problem, Cosmo likes us to use Incarnate Duels to solve them. The typical duel is referred to as Siege."

  ?"Basically, Cosmo will teleport you and the other Incarnate into an arena created just for the duel. Each Incarnate would be given a castle and given one Monarch Skill. This Monarch Skill boosts your castle or the mindless troops that are made for your castle. The first Incarnate that takes control of both castles wins. The loser then has to listen to the winner. Some Incarnates will add extra rules where you won't fight directly. Instead, they rely on the troops to fight and expect you to do the same."

  ?"Last thing to know about duels would be that the means of the duel can vary depending on who issued the challenge. You might get some Incarnates that would rather just fight you straight on instead of messing with Siege strategy."

  ?Dawn looked a little confused but confident that she understood enough of the basic rules to get through it if she needed to. She then asks. "Okay, that's good to know. So is my next task going to be group situations? Or maybe you would like me to win a duel?"

  ?Xander chuckled softly. "Don't tempt me. I could have that be your next task. But something more practical is needed for you first. For now, I need you to seek out a teacher during your situations. Complete whatever the situation asks of you, then instead of recalling, spend one year learning something combat-related. Rotate through these skills so you are well-rounded."

  ?"Weapon training, find someone who can teach you how to use various weapons to at least a basic level. Don't forget hand-to-hand combat too; you won't always have a weapon. You can spend a year on each weapon, then pick the one you feel the most comfortable with. In between weapons, I recommend finding a mage to learn how to better use abilities. Finding a really good archer to teach you how to lead your shots and hunt at long range would be a big benefit too."

  ?Dawn's eyes opened wide, staring off to the side a bit. "So basically, you want me to learn everything in a rotation to teach me how to fight?"

  ?Xander thought for a moment before replying. "To put it simply, yes. But everything else you learn will be built off of this training. This training will make you versatile no matter your resources. It will also make you self-sufficient so you don't have to depend on anyone else to get something done. Lastly, it will help you pick the more advanced routes of combat based on what works well with you. Some people spend years struggling with a weapon or ability only to switch and almost immediately see better results in their fights."

  ?Dawn became lost in thought, thinking that archery or long-range casting works well for her, but seeing what the other options are wouldn't be a complete waste. Then her thoughts stopped as she focused on Xander. She asked him directly: "Why can't you just teach me this stuff?"

  ?Xander let out an exhausted-sounding sigh. "I have my own task I need to see to. I will be completing it while you get your basics established."

  ?Dawn, overwhelmed with curiosity, couldn't help but ask. "What task do you have?"

  ?Xander stood up out of his chair, the smile dropping away entirely, leaving only seriousness. "I had a fight recently. I wasn't satisfied with my current strength. I seek to fix that." Then, without another word, Xander exited to his bedroom, leaving Dawn to her thoughts.

  ?Dawn would think about what Xander said. He thinks he needs more power? What did he fight that made him feel this way? What was so strong that he feels he needs to grow even stronger? Dawn shakes her head at the idea of Xander becoming even stronger than he is now.