"Ah!" Lucas fell back onto his butt as felt the sudden pinch in his fingers.
Looking down at this hand, which he had just finished defrosting, he now saw a few small teeth-marks. Fortunately, he didn't seem to be bleeding, meaning that whatever bit him didn't manage to pierce his skin.
Scrambling to his feet, Lucas looked back into the crate and was confronted with a wary pair of golden eyes.
In the far corner of the box, a dirty, disheveled little creature was glaring back at Lucas, its tiny teeth bared fiercely as it curled up, seemingly trying to protect itself.
Lucas stared at what appeared to be a fox cub, one so young he could easily hold it with one arm if it would let him. The kit was covered in dirt and grime, and upon closer inspection, Lucas noticed that it had a wound on one of its forelimbs.
He could tell that the wound was recent as there was a dirty scab covering it that seemed to slowly be oozing blood, possibly a result of it opening after moving so suddenly just now.
Seeing the frightened little creature, Lucas' anger at being bitten faded away and was replaced with a look of pity. This fox was clearly too young to be away from its parents, but there was no sign of them anywhere nearby.
Perhaps it was abandoned, or perhaps it had gotten separated from its family during all the recent chaos. Whatever the case, it was obvious that without help, this wounded little fellow would probably not live for very long.
Unfortunately, even though Lucas wanted to help, the cub was clearly wary of him and was even growling, as if warning him to stay back.
Of course, given how young this beast was, rather than looking tough, this attempt at intimidation only made it look cuter; however, Lucas knew better than to try to act forcefully.
The standoff between boy and beast lasted for half-a-minute before eventually, the fox cub seemed to grow weak and collapsed back into the pile of furs.
Even laying there though, helpless to resist, it still glared fiercely at Lucas.
Furrowing his brow, Lucas wasn't sure how to go about winning over the kit's trust; however, after a moment of thought, an idea came to him.
Turning around and leaping out of the wagon, the young boy dashed back to his cart and scraped through the various pots to fill a small bowl with some thin soup. He had no idea if the fox pup could even eat such food, but he figured it was better than nothing, so he raced back to the wagon and climbed back inside.
Peering into the crate, Lucas found the kit still lying there, looking rather weak. Seeing Lucas return, however, the fox cub tried growling again, but its voice only came out as a whimper.
Pursing his lips, Lucas slowly and carefully set down the bowl of soup in front of the cub before backing off.
At first, the kit just laid still, not making a move, but it wasn't long before its eyes began drifting towards the bowl. They might have been cold leftovers scraped together by Lucas, but it was still food.
The fox, the boy, and the bowl of soup all sat in place, seemingly waiting for some kind of sign to start moving again. That signal eventually came in the form of a different type of growl, this one coming from the pup's stomach.
Lucas could have sworn he saw a look of embarrassment on the fox cub's face, but he quickly dismissed that as a figment of his imagination.
Moment's later, the kit limped over to the bowl and tentatively stuck out its tongue. After having a quick taste, the fox's eyes shone like stars and it began ravenously devouring the meal before it.
Seeing this, Lucas breathed a sigh of relief.
Taking advantage of the kit's distraction, Lucas got up slowly and walked closer to the crate to examine the tiny creature.
Upon closer inspection, the boy discovered that this fox wasn't brown furred as he had originally thought, but actually had a paler coat, only looking brown because it was so dirty.
It was also as he was staring at the kit that Lucas realized something, I swept this entire wagon with my Soul Sense, but I didn't detect this little guy's Life Aura at all.
Frowning slightly, Lucas tried using his Soul Sense again, but was shocked to discover that he still couldn't detect any kind of presence coming from this little fox, despite being able to see it with his naked eyes.
Maybe it's because it's too young? Lucas thought to himself, though he didn't quite believe his own speculation. Even a newborn human baby gave off a vibrant Life Aura, so it struck him as incredibly odd that this fox was practically invisible to his Soul Sense.
Still, seeing how small it was, Lucas didn't consider the kit to be a threat, even if it was some kind of special Wild Beast; after all, it had just tried to bite him and failed to even pierce his skin.
Setting this strange matter aside for the moment, another thing Lucas discovered which amazed him was that this fox, unlike a regular one, actually had three tails.
When he first spotted the pup, it was curled up into a single fluff-ball, so it was hard to even tell it was a living creature. As for subsequent events, they were all with the fox guarding itself, shrinking its body and pressing itself up against the walls of the crate to limit where it could be attacked from.
It was only now that it was eating that it relaxed enough to begin waving its tails about.
I've never heard of a 3-tailed fox before, Lucas pondered, I wonder just what kind of species it is.
As he watched the kit swiftly polish off the soup, an impressive feat in Lucas' opinion seeing how the bowl was almost as big as the fox itself, he felt an almost instinctive urge to reach out at pet it.
Lucas knew that Wild Beasts weren't to be trifled with, even if they were babies, but this little fellow was so cute he couldn't help wanting to spoil it, despite only just encountering it.
Without even thinking, Lucas reached out his hand and tried to pet the fox, but this subtle movement didn't escape the latter's attention and it quickly recoiled, spilling what soup was left in the bowl.
Halting in place, Lucas engaged in another stare-off with the fox pup, trying to put on a friendly smile in an attempt to lower its wariness.
Perhaps because he had fed it, or perhaps because the kit was simply too exhausted, it didn't continue growling for long, and once it fell silent, it slowly but surely relaxed its body before limping forward a step.
Taking this as a sign of acceptance, Lucas continued stretching out his hand, moving slowly so as not to frighten the kit again. It took nearly a minute to cover the short distance, but eventually, Lucas managed to reach the cub's head with his hand.
Upon finally touching the kit, Lucas was stunned to discover that, contrary to his expectations, the little beast was actually quite cold.
Lucas had encountered a fair number of beasts in his life, both domesticated livestock and various types of Wild Beasts from the Great Western Forest, but while some snakes and lizards might have been a bit 'cool' to the touch, he had never encountered any beast that actually felt 'cold'.
As far as Lucas knew, the only way for any beast to feel this chilly would be for it to have just come out the freezing-cold river in the dead of winter. That was obviously not the case for this pup though as most of the dirt and grime on it was completely dry.
Furthermore, even if this pup had been in some kind of frozen environment earlier, having presumably sat in this crate for hours, it should have long warmed up.
Once again, Lucas found himself wondering just what this little fox was. He even began wondering if the icicles which had formed on the wagon were related to this kit.
However, after giving it a thought, he felt that couldn't be the case. True, this pup felt quite cold despite having a thick coat of fur, but it was nowhere near the absolutely freezing temperature he experienced when touching that icicle.
What was even more frustrating was that because it seemed to be impervious to his Soul Sense, Lucas couldn't tell how strong this kit was, or how much Spirit Qi was flowing through its veins. It was simply impossible to draw any conclusions with the limited information he had.
Even so, the fact that ice had formed on a wagon that had an unnaturally cold fox pup hiding inside of it couldn't be a coincidence.
From his inherited memories, Lucas knew that some living creatures could have extremely low natural body temperatures, but such animals generally only lived in the coldest, most frigid of environments, something far removed from Redwood Town and its temperate surroundings.
The unusual temperature of the fox kit might have had something to do with its constitution or a unique adaptation related to the presence of Qi in this world, but Lucas's knowledge regarding such things was practically non-existent, making him hesitant to draw any kind of conclusion.
I really need to speak with Master about this, Lucas reaffirmed before he very carefully began stroking the kit's head.
Although the fox cub was cold to the touch, it didn't feel unpleasant or icy; in fact, as he was gently brushing the pup, Lucas found that its fur was incredibly soft, despite the fact that it was still quite dirty.
After brushing the fox's head, and scratching its ears lightly, the little beast seemed to slowly adapt and grow comfortable with Lucas, it's gaze no longer filled with wariness and hostility and instead replaced with only mild cautiousness.
As soon as the little beast relaxed though, its stomach began growling again.
Hearing this, Lucas laughed and said with a smile, "It seems like you're quite the little glutton, eh?"
In response, the fox pup actually bit his finger again, drawing a yelp from the boy who quickly backed off and apologized, "Alright alright, I won't tease you anymore. Wait here, I'll go get you another bowl of soup."
The fox yipped, as if to ask, "What are you waiting for," before it flopped back down.
This little guy is as audacious as he is smart, Lucas thought to himself before shaking his head and climbing out of the wagon again.