'Woah...'
Sunny stared in awe at the small, flaming figure before him.
A tiny, four-legged creature with two, long, pointed ears sat on its folded legs. Five burning tails extended from its back, burning with greater intensity compared to the rest of its infernal form. The same could be said for its eyes, searing flames spilling out relentlessly.
The creature, naturally, was supposed to be a fox.
And said fox was, of course, Tingyun.
Using her Awakened Ability, she could take the form of a Heliofox... which, simply by the name, implied a mix between a Heliobus and a Foxian. Well, her Attribute of the same name quite literally stated that she had become a hybrid between those two species...
In this form, she was able to invade the nervous systems of other beings — the same as all Heliobi. Though, there were some differences.
All other Heliobi Sunny had encountered were merely balls of intangible flame, floating listlessly in the air. Tail was an exception, being a floating wolf (fox?) head. There were three possibilities. Either Heliobi can freely change their shape but choose not to, Tail had an Ability that made him look different, or Tail only looked like that due to the strange symbiosis he shared with Huohuo.
Moreover, unlike Heliobi, Tingyun's form was... kind of physical? Physical until she tried to invade something, that is. Her body was made of real flames, which meant they were producing real heat.
Which meant that if she wanted to, she could let the fire born from her transformation to spread. Fortunately, she had a measure of control over that, so Sunny's room wasn't going to burn down with the rest of the Astral Express.
But...
"What's the point of being physical if you're tiny?"
The little Heliofox raised her head up, foxy eyes squinting in indignation as her snout opened.
"B-Because... they'll never see me coming!"
Sunny did not look convinced. Especially with how squeaky her voice had became.
And who was 'they,' exactly? She must have lost her mind if she thought he would let her fight for him.
"Yeah, they won't see you when they step on your puny body."
A disadvantage of being tangible. He wondered if getting hit as she was would cause soul, mind, or mundane damage. Heliobi were energy lifeforms that existed in the mental realm, thus being untouchable without using a direct mind attack or a blow infused with The Hunt. The latter needed to be of a higher Rank, as well...
Tingyun grumbled something...
Then, she exploded into a whirlwind of flames. Sunny raised his hand to cover his eyes from the brightness, which dispersed the few shadows currently inhabiting his abode. Then, a much deeper voice echoed with satisfaction:
"I don't feel too puny from up here."
Sunny looked up... just to see that Tingyun was now towering above him. She had become about twice his height and five times his length, seeming a little smug about how the tables have turned. The heat radiating off of her body had intensified, and the flames making it danced a little more fervently, but she didn't allow anything to set on fire.
He blinked a few times, then made a noise of approval.
"You could probably step on me now... actually, never mind."
Sunny hastily added that last part when he saw Tingyun's paw rise to fulfill his masochistic fetishes. This really wasn't the time for that.
He had to be more careful about what he made her think, lest she do something against her Will. At the same time, she did want to make him happy...
So it was left to him to figure out what she did and did not want to do, since she couldn't completely control herself.
Having generally figured out how her Awakened Ability worked — he already understood that she could possess people now — It was time to move on to her Ascended Ability...
Oh, right.
"How did you Ascend, anyways?"
He had been curious about that for a while now. She didn't grow like the rest of his Shadows, since Tingyun was the Shadow of a human, not a Creature. At the same time, the formlessness of her soul let her grow multiple Shadow Cores... or the infantile versions his Shadows had instead.
Consuming Memories only increased her Class. As for her Rank...
...Actually, whatever she had done increased her Class by two, as well.
The flaming fox before him stepped back, before its form began to disperse. It shrunk for a few moments, then the flames died down, revealing a pitch-black Foxian woman in luxurious clothing.
She tilted her head.
"Well... Heliobi consume each other to grow more powerful, don't they? When I was in your soul, I went up to the shadow of a Heliobus you killed... and ate it?"
Then, she shrugged.
"I can feed on normal Heliobi too, to increase my Class. But when it comes to Rank, it has to be their shadow. I think. Probably."
That... made some sense actually. She was a Shadow, so using other shadows as sustenance made sense. It also reminded him of what happened to Charlie Kir— uh, Shadow Blade Kurt.
His shadow had been consumed by Saint, alongside his Echo.
...He wanted to see the Heart Demon power now.
"Alright."
Sunny locked eyes with Tingyun.
"Use your Ascended Ability on me."
She stared at him.
Then, she looked away.
"I don't think I will, actually."
Sunny blinked.
"What?"
"I said I won't use it."
Sunny was very confused. He just needed her to test it on him. It was meant to be an illusion, right? Unless...
"Oh... so it could hurt me, right?"
That was great, actually. Offense was the best offense... wait—
Tingyun shook her head.
"I think... normally, it would depend on the person, but it couldn't hurt a person's mind too much. For you..."
She grimaced.
"It might just kill you?"