"I really didn't mean it that way…"
Ahri looked toward the flickering flames of the campfire, where images from her past seemed to emerge one after another.
"I was born in the snowy plains of northern Shon-Xan. I lived among a group of white foxes and grew up alongside them. Even then, I had already awakened what humans call… magic."
As she spoke, she gently raised a hand. A clear stream of spirit energy flowed out and slowly curled around her fingers.
"At first, I didn't think it could hurt anyone."
Ahri withdrew the energy and calmly continued her story.
It had been far too long since she had spoken with another person. After keeping everything bottled up for so long, she desperately wanted someone to talk to.
Among the countless memories she had absorbed, she had learned that this was called opening up to someone.
Perhaps because there was something unusual about Luke, Ahri chose him as the person she would confide in.
"A year ago, a group of hunters entered the snowy plains and began hunting. That same day, I happened to encounter a hunter who had been gravely wounded and was on the verge of death. Driven by instinct, I tasted the essence slowly flowing from his body.
"That was the first time I used this ability."
At this point, Ahri glanced at Luke. He remained seated like a proper listener, showing no trace of fear or disgust.
That gave her the courage to continue.
"Through his essence, I saw scattered fragments of his memories. I also learned how to understand human language. After that, I left my pack.
"At the time, I didn't understand how dangerous I was. I began cautiously approaching human society, but my craving for essence grew wildly until it took over my mind.
"The joy, anger, sorrow, heartbreak, and every other emotion contained within those memories became irresistible to me. The more I tasted, the deeper I sank.
"I also discovered that any human, man or woman, would become hopelessly infatuated with me after seeing my face. That made it incredibly easy to consume their essence. I didn't even need to deliberately use my power."
Ahri lowered her gaze. Her voice trembled slightly, carrying sorrow, guilt, and regret.
"I consumed essence without restraint, but I gradually began to feel the grief and suffering I inflicted on my victims. The more memories I absorbed, the more human I became. I learned the difference between right and wrong, and I realized that humans saw me as a monster.
"So I tried my hardest to resist my instincts and began avoiding people. But the craving felt like something carving into my heart. Enduring it day after day stretched my mind to its breaking point."
Ahri's long eyelashes trembled. A single tear rolled down her cheek and fell to the ground.
"That was when I realized I couldn't overcome my instincts, much less control my power. When an elderly man approached me, I lost control and frantically drained all of his essence.
"It wasn't until countless memories poured into my mind that I realized what I had done.
"That man had spent his entire life helping others. He had never done anything cruel or dishonest, yet he died because of me…"
Ahri's grief nearly overflowed from her. She had inherited the old man's memories, so no one understood the pain she had caused him more clearly than she did.
"Afterward, I tried everything I could to compensate his family. I secretly sent them more gold, silver, valuables, and food than they could ever use. But when I saw his wife crying at his funeral, I still broke down.
"The things I sent them eventually drew the attention of a group of criminals. They came during the night to steal all the treasure, and I knew I had to intervene.
"I killed every one of them, and naturally, I consumed their essence as well. But when I felt something completely different from what I experienced after consuming the old man's essence, I suddenly understood."
Ahri forced a faint smile, though guilt and sadness remained in her eyes.
"Perhaps I'm trying to atone for what I did. I realized I couldn't suppress my instincts or control my ability. So I decided that from then on, I would only use it against evil people."
Luke finally spoke.
"How do you tell who's good and who's evil?"
"Sometimes I can smell it. The filthier a person's soul is, the stronger the scent around them becomes."
Ahri raised her eyes and leaned closer to Luke before sniffing him.
"You smell like a good person. Come to think of it… you smell really good."
After sniffing him twice, Ahri could not resist doing it another two times. She looked as though she was about to start drooling.
Naturally, she was not referring to Luke's ordinary scent, but to the fragrance of his essence, or rather, his soul.
Essence was the combination of one's spirit and soul.
Ahri discovered that Luke's essence smelled better than anything she had ever encountered.
Merely inhaling its fragrance caused her eyes to grow unfocused. Like a kitten high on catnip, she unconsciously moved closer and closer to him.
"Get a grip."
Luke mercilessly flicked her forehead.
A sharp crack rang out. The blow instantly restored clarity to Ahri's eyes.
She came back to her senses and hurriedly backed away, breathing heavily in alarm.
"I almost lost control again…"
Luke nodded.
"I can tell. Your self-control really is terrible."
Ahri lowered her head in embarrassment.
"And you can really put away food."
Luke glanced toward the empty pot of mushroom soup.
Ahri might have spent quite a while telling her story, but she had never stopped eating while she spoke. Her words and spoonfuls of soup had flowed together seamlessly.
In the blink of an eye, she had emptied the entire pot.
"Sorry…"
Ahri lowered her head even further.
"I think I understand the situation now. You accidentally killed a good person, so you're trying to atone by killing bad people instead, while also satisfying your need for essence."
Luke did not care much about the mushroom soup and returned to their previous topic.
"Yes."
Ahri nodded gently.
"I've killed twelve evil people during my journey. That's why she noticed me and chased me all the way here."
"You know magic, don't you? Why didn't you fight back?" Luke asked.
"Because I can sense that she isn't evil," Ahri answered quietly.
Luke nodded thoughtfully.
"I more or less understand your problem. Fundamentally, all of this is happening because you don't know how to control your own magic. You only need to learn how."
"I know everything would be fine if I learned to control it."
Ahri smiled bitterly.
"The problem is that I don't know how. Most of the time, my instincts are the ones controlling it."
It was not that she had never considered controlling her power. She simply had no idea where to begin.
"Your situation is very similar to that of one of my friends."
Luke could not help thinking of Lux.
Lux and Ahri truly were somewhat alike. Both of them had been born with magical talent. As they grew older, the magic within them steadily increased until it became difficult to control, creating the risk that they might lose control entirely.
Compared with Lux, however, Ahri's situation was worse.
Her ability was constantly active, continuously affecting the people around her and even influencing Ahri herself.
Luke's words caught Ahri's attention, and she immediately looked at him.
"How did your friend solve it?"
"Situations like this usually happen because someone understands too little about magic. She eventually learned how to use magic properly. Through practice and training, she finally gained control over her power."
"Training…"
Ahri fell into thought.
How was she supposed to train?
She suddenly remembered something and reached beneath her cloak, pulling out a pair of deep-blue gemstones. They were clear and exceptionally beautiful, tightly joined together as inseparable twins.
"I've had this with me since I was born. My family might have left it for me. Perhaps if I discover where it came from, I'll find a way to control my ability."
She spoke quietly.
"Until then, you can try looking for other solutions."
Luke examined the gemstones before continuing thoughtfully.
"Maybe I can offer you some advice or teach you a few methods."
"Really?"
Ahri's eyes immediately lit up as she looked at Luke expectantly.
"I don't know whether they'll work. For now, we should leave this place."
Luke stood and began packing their belongings.
"I imagine she's probably realized by now that I tricked her."
Ahri quickly stood and helped him.
There was not much to pack, so it did not take them long.
After loading the basket onto the white horse, the two of them prepared to leave.
However, just as they were about to depart, they heard footsteps rapidly approaching from the distance.
The person moved incredibly quickly and arrived almost in the blink of an eye.
"Stop!"
An angry, feminine shout rang out, and Akali soon appeared behind them.
Breathing heavily, she supported herself against a tree while glaring furiously at Luke through gritted teeth.
"I can't believe someone with such an honest face would dare lie to me!"
She was genuinely furious.
She had trusted Luke because of his harmless appearance and chased in the direction he indicated for a considerable distance, only to find no trace of the fox demon.
She had immediately realized that her target had never gone far.
After doubling back, she discovered that she had been right.
Before Luke could speak, Akali looked toward the cloaked Ahri and coldly said, "You wretched fox demon. You've harmed so many people along the way, yet you still refuse to repent!"
"The people I hurt were…"
Ahri tried to defend herself.
"Enough excuses!"
Akali immediately interrupted her and drew her weapon, a curved kama.
"Don't think I can't tell that you used your sorcery to bewitch that man and make him deceive me."
"I…"
Luke opened his mouth.
"You stay quiet."
Akali glanced at Luke before returning her attention to Ahri.
"Twelve lives. You can spend the rest of your existence repenting for them!"
She pushed off the ground and shot forward with remarkable agility.
A cold flash crossed the air as her kama descended toward Ahri with lethal force.
The attack came so quickly that Ahri barely had time to react.
Clang!
The next instant, a sword left its sheath with a sound resembling a dragon's roar and intercepted the weapon in front of Ahri.
Akali narrowed her eyes at Luke, who now stood in her way. She gave Ahri a contemptuous sneer.
"You're even controlling an innocent person and forcing him to take the blow for you. Fox demon, you're beyond redemption."
"Could you calm down for a moment? She isn't controlling me."
Luke could not help speaking as he faced Akali's razor-sharp accusations.
"From the moment you lied to me, I decided I would never believe another word you said."
Akali dragged her kama across Luke's blade, producing a harsh metallic hum.
In the next instant, she appeared at his side, still aiming for Ahri.
From her perspective, Luke was merely an innocent person whose mind had been clouded. Once she dealt with the true culprit, the entire problem would resolve itself.
Clang!
Another crisp impact rang out as Luke's sword once again blocked her path.
After having two attacks intercepted in succession, Akali finally sensed that something was wrong and reassessed Luke.
His presence was completely ordinary, making him seem like a normal person.
There could only be one explanation.
The fox demon behind him was controlling him.
Akali could not be bothered to argue any further. She attacked at full speed.
However…
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Every one of her attacks was blocked perfectly by Luke.
As Akali retreated and opened some distance between them, Luke asked, "Are you ready to calm down now?"
"Fine! Then I'll make sure you can't resist first!"
Akali gritted her teeth, not expecting Luke to be so troublesome.
She could not get past him to attack the fox demon no matter what she tried. Her only remaining choice was to incapacitate him first.
Without hesitation, she charged directly toward Luke, clearly beginning to fight seriously.
Even so, she still avoided using lethal force.
She stubbornly continued to believe that Luke was merely an ordinary person being controlled by the fox demon.
"Looks like I'll have to use force to calm you down."
Luke sighed softly. He knew Akali would not listen to anything he said in her current state.
She was probably still furious about being deceived.
He would have to calm her down and let her vent some of that anger before they could talk.
Luke stopped merely defending himself and began fighting back.
A fierce sword aura instantly surged from his body.
Akali's pupils contracted as her extraordinary instincts warned her of danger.
Several sword shadows swept toward her, moving so quickly that they blurred together. Even Akali immediately felt immense pressure.
Damn it, his sword is fast.
The flow of the battle instantly reversed. Akali retreated step after step, unable to find even a moment to breathe beneath Luke's relentless attacks.
His strength had completely surpassed her expectations.
Or was the fox demon controlling him even more powerful than she had imagined?
The situation was turning against her. Akali had no time to think further. The moment she found an opening, she hurled a smoke bomb at the ground.
Twilight Shroud!
Black smoke rapidly expanded in every direction, covering the entire surrounding area in an instant.
It was as though darkness had suddenly swallowed the world. Nothing could be seen with the naked eye.
Ahri began to panic and helplessly pressed herself against a tree.
She had repeatedly tried to explain herself during the pursuit, but Akali had never given her a chance.
Now she could tell that Akali was fighting completely seriously.
"Don't be afraid."
Luke's voice came from beside her.
For some inexplicable reason, Ahri immediately felt reassured. She nodded gently.
"All right."
Akali was concealed within the black smoke.
To her, the darkness posed no obstacle at all. She had trained in this kind of environment since childhood. Although she possessed no talent for magic, this technique was deadlier than most spells.
Whenever she released her smoke bomb, no one had ever emerged from the shroud unharmed.
She knew that Ahri and Luke were standing close together. Without wasting any time, she attacked.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several kunai tore through the black smoke and flew toward Ahri.
Ahri would always remain Akali's primary target. The murderer responsible for twelve deaths was the true culprit.
A series of clear metallic impacts sounded the next moment.
Akali immediately realized that the kunai had been blocked.
It was that man again.
She raised her hand and hurled several more projectiles, this time aiming at Luke.
When those were blocked as well, she knew she would have to change her primary target to him.
However, the current situation was different from before.
Inside the smoke, Akali held the advantage.
She could move freely through the shroud. In the next instant, she silently approached Luke and launched a surprise attack.
But when her kama descended, she froze.
Luke seemed to have sensed her presence long ago. He casually intercepted the strike and immediately counterattacked with his sword.
Akali decisively retreated, only to see Luke pursue her directly, moving as though the smoke did not exist at all.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
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