I watched Ervadelle for a while after she gave in, especially her nine tails.
That alone said enough but most people wouldn't understand what it actually meant. They'd think of those exaggerated stories from Earth, the ones about foxes living for a thousand years just to earn their tails one by one, like it was some kind of reward for patience. It sounded poetic, I guess, but Spheraphase didn't work like that.
Fox Therianthropes didn't grow tails through time. They evolved through thresholds.
A normal Fox Therianthrope would be born with one tail, then grow a second at six years old, which was just a biological milestone more than anything impressive. When they reached Ascender status, they'd get a third tail, and that was when things started becoming noticeable. Their energy capacity would spike, their instincts would sharpen and their illusions would become harder to break.
At First Enlightenment, they'd reach four tails, which marked their entry into the Divine spectrum. That was the point where most of them will get stuck for a long time, struggling upward through the Enlightenment stages until they eventually reached the Sixth, where they would finally unlock all nine tails. And if they ever reached Deity Rank, they'd gain a tenth.
That was the normal progression.
Ervadelle wasn't normal.
Royal bloodlines never followed standard rules and the Fox lineage was one of the clearest examples of that. The moment a Royal Fox crossed into Divine status, they didn't climb gradually. They skipped. The universe recognized their lineage and unlocked what others had to struggle for, which was why she had nine tails already despite only being at the First Enlightenment stage.
That made her dangerous. Not now, obviously.
Right now, she is barely holding herself together, her energy is unstable, her body damaged and her mind is running on whatever instinct had kept her alive this long. But the foundation was there. What made it worse—or better, depending on how you looked at it—was what that bloodline used to be.
Before the Ascension Curse, Fox Therianthrope Deities could give birth to Ten-Tailed Foxes. They were born at that level, already carrying what would now be considered the absolute peak of their kind. That alone explained why the lineage had been feared, and probably why it had been targeted.
The Ascension Curse didn't just slow them down. It cut off that advantage completely and forced them into the same progression system as everyone else, weakening them as generations passed. So when Ervadelle said she was the last pure descendant, I believed her. That kind of lineage didn't survive quietly unless something had actively been trying to erase it.
I shifted my attention slightly, glancing at Veneri as he observed her. He already made his decision the moment he saw her, which wasn't surprising. A Royal bloodline Divine with no backing was basically a rare resource just lying in the open. Veneri wasn't the kind of person to ignore something like that.
As for me, all I did was change her system owner, Axia.
All I had to do was revoke whatever minimal external structure she had been operating under and replace it with my own. My system handled the rest, aligning everything seamlessly to me.
She reacted immediately, of course. Anyone would. Having your entire system suddenly reorganized wasn't exactly something you ignored. Her energy spiked, then stabilized, then fluctuated again as her system tried to process what had just been done to her.
From her perspective, she was probably seeing everything now. That's when I revealed her System Profile to her.
Name: [Ervadelle Nei]
Alias: [Erva]
Age: [17]
Title: [The Orphaned Fox.]
Species: [Fox Therianthrope (Royal Bloodline)]
Affiliation: [Dynasty Richinaria]
Status: [Divine Rank, First Enlightenment. 15%]
Pinnacle Tether: [Water Manipulation]
Base Tethers: [Illusion], [Shapeshifting], [Possession], [Inventory]
Major Divinities: [Energy]
Minor Divinities: [None.]
Codex: [None]
Artifacts: [Fox Marble.]
Overwrite: [None.]
Divine Transformation: [Hydro Fox]
Boon: [Endurance]
Bane: [Fragile Lifeline]
[Water Manipulation: You can manipulate water. However, you cannot fully unleash this potential without a blessing from a Hydroborn Royal.]
[Illusion: You can form illusions around yourself and the surrounding. The stronger you are, the stronger the illusions become.]
[Shapeshifting: You can shapeshift into any form of being for thirteen hours. However, you cannot gain the Pinnacle, Base Tethers or Divinity of the being. The stronger the being is, the harder it is to maintain the shapeshift form.]
[Possession: You can possess mortals for any time period as long as your energy doesn't run out. You cannot possess Divine Rank beings or high bloodline races.]
[Energy Divinity: A Divinity gained from Dynasty Richinaria from the Unification. Your energy reserves are increased. You can gain energy faster than normal and use less of it in action.]
[Artifact, Fox Marble: When a Fox Therianthrope becomes an Ascender, they gain a Fox Bell or Fox Marble that acts as the life force of the Therianthrope. Whoever holds them makes the Fox Therianthrope their slave. If destroyed, it can kill the Fox Therianthrope.]
[Divine Transformation, Hydro Fox: You can transform into a giant Nine Tailed Fox capable of using the water element. However, for maximum effect, a blessing from a Hydroborn Royal is needed.]
[Boon, Endurance: You can endure most situations thrown at you, either mentally or physically.]
[Bane, Fragile Lifeline: Your life is tied to the Fox Marble.]
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I didn't even need to ask what she was seeing anymore because her face was doing all the explaining for me. The shift from confusion to disbelief to straight-up excitement was so obvious it was almost painful to watch.
"Wait what? My Divinity… my Divinity is back?"
I smirked slightly and leaned more comfortably against the broken wall, already enjoying this.
"I thought all Divinities were lost months ago. How do I have one again? And it's—wait, this is a good one! I have an Inventory?! I can store things? I don't have to carry anything anymore?"
I let out a quiet laugh.
"Yeah, welcome to not living like a street rat anymore."
She completely ignored me, which honestly made it funnier.
"This is insane. This is way better than Axia. Like way better. This is so detailed. Everything's organized. I can actually see everything clearly…"
Her excitement slowed a little, turning into focused curiosity as she kept reading.
"Why do I have an alias? Erva?"
"Sounds cute."
She shot me a look like she didn't know whether to be offended or accept it.
"Still better than being called 'Hey you,'" I added.
"Fair enough."
She looked back at her system again, clearly still amazed and for a moment, I just let her enjoy it. Honestly, she deserved that much after everything she went through. Veneri, of course, let her have exactly three seconds of peace before getting back to what actually mattered.
"Explain your Pinnacle Tether."
She blinked, snapping out of her excitement slightly.
"My… water element?"
"Yes."
I already knew where this was going, but I kept quiet. It was better coming from her. She hesitated for a second, then exhaled softly.
"Water is the most restricted element. Unlike fire, earth, air, lightning, all those elements are free..Anyone with the affinity can train it, develop it and push it to its limits." But water doesn't work like that."
Veneri didn't interrupt. He just listened.
"Water belongs to the Hydroborn.Only their race can use it freely. Everyone else… we're limited. If you're not Hydroborn, you can't bring out the full potential of water unless you receive a blessing from a Hydroborn Royal..And that's… basically impossible."
I huffed softly.
"Yeah, they're not exactly handing those out."
"That's why people with water affinity are considered weaker. It's not because the element is weak. It's because we can't use it properly. It's the same for the Bane too. We share the same Boon, Fragile Lifeline. Males have bells and females have marbles. Whoever holds them can make the Fox Therianthrope their slave. If it's destroyed, we die."
Her lips pressed together briefly.
"If I didn't have water….I'd be stronger. If I had Fox Fire like my parents, I would be way stronger."
I pushed myself off the wall and stretched a little before speaking.
"Well, you're actually really lucky."
She blinked and looked at me.
"What?"
I tilted my head toward Veneri.
"Because he's a Hydroborn Royal."
"What?"
Veneri didn't deny it.
"It is true."
Her brain visibly stopped working for a second.
"No No way."
"Oh, this is going to be good."
She looked between the two of us. Her expression went from disbelief to suspicion to something that looked dangerously close to denial.
"Who are you?"
He didn't answer it properly, of course.
"It's not information you need. For now, you may consider me... a capable master."
"That's a joke."
"Oh?"
She pointed at him. "You're just a handsome mercenary."
I turned my head slowly toward Veneri.
"If that is your conclusion, I guess we'll go with that."
I actually laughed, pushing a hand against my face.
"No way… she just downgraded you like that…"
Ervadelle frowned slightly, still suspicious.
"What?"
I waved it off, still laughing under my breath.
"Nothing. Nothing. Keep thinking that. It's funnier this way."
Veneri didn't react at all, which somehow made it even better. I can't wait for the day when she finds out who we actually are.