Novice Reincarnator

I didn’t truly understand how [Fox Fire] worked until I activated it for the first time. It was unlike any skill I had ever used before.

My ki converted into flames and rushed out of my body. Familiar, beautiful blue flames clashed against cold, muddy water. An unmistakable sizzling sound filled my hiding spot. Equally unmistakable was the sudden yelp of a wolf.

The monsters outside heard me.

The [Fox Fire] coating my body rapidly evaporated the water flooding my burrow. Strangely, none of the heat reached me. An uplifting feeling of strength filled my body. At the same time, my ki rapidly drained away from maintaining [Fox Fire].

I was at another crossroads. I could either charge out and confront an unknown number of monsters with my newfound strength or I could take the opportunity to burrow deeper into my tree’s root system.

Even if [Fox Fire] was strong, I was only level 1. Trying to fight multiple monsters at once right now would be pure suicide.

My flame-coated claws carved out the walls of dirt pressing against me and I finally regained the ability to move. I immediately turned around into my burrow and set about digging out a bigger space for me to hide in. If any monster dared to poke their hole into my burrow, then I would have all the space needed to ambush them with my [Fox Fire].

If I was lucky enough, then I might even manage to kill one and level up. My strength would drastically improve the moment I gained a level, perhaps allowing me to fight off multiple of these monsters at a time.

Unlike when I first dug out my little den, my flame-coated claws cut through the dirt and tree roots like a hot knife through butter. A mixture of angry snarls and yelps sounded from beyond my shelter, but I paid them no mind.

It was still pouring down rain. Water continued to flow into my little burrow even as I widened the space of my hidey-hole. My situation wasn’t looking good. The monsters outside were alerted of my presence and [Fox Fire] rapidly consumed my ki.

If my ki ran out before the rain let up, then I would be right back where I started, except with no way to defend myself. If there was one plus to this, it was that my [Fox Fire] was strangely hardening the dirt around me and creating a smooth space for me to move around in.

Within a few minutes, I had carved out a flat burrow that was the size of a small room. The hardened dirt ceiling above me was tall enough for me to comfortably sit upright.

My new room was big enough that it would take a good while for flooding to become an issue. That bought me enough time to reexamine my options. My ears twitched as they picked up whining noises from outside my burrow. For whatever reason, the nearby monsters were reluctant to enter my hidey-hole.

My eyes returned to the natural disaster in front of me. There was no way for me to stop water from gathering unless I closed off the opening to my shelter. I didn’t fancy suffocating to death.

I let my [Fox Fire] fade to conserve my ki and listened intently to the outside world. I couldn’t understand the behavior of my hated foes. They had waited outside for nearly a week and yet, they stayed put when I revealed myself.

“What are you waiting for..?”

I muttered to myself. It was a relief to hear the sound of a person’s voice, even if it was my own voice. The monsters were acting like they were afraid, but there was nothing scary about a level 1 Fox Beastman.

“Hold on a moment, perhaps it is not me they are afraid of?”

A thought came to me. My eyes fell on the scars across my torso. Every now and then, I felt a phantom burning sensation from them due to the Six-tailed Red Fox’s [Fox Fire]. I now had the very same skill as the suspected boss of this dungeon.

The strange hesitation of the surrounding monsters made sense if they were mistaking my presence for that of the Six-tailed Red Fox. Then, all I had to do was to confirm their suspicions. My [Ki Sense] had captured the feeling of the boss right before it killed me.

I activated [Disguise] and changed my presence into one of a baleful bonfire. I pushed all of my anger into my voice and roared.

“Scram!!!”

Fearful yelps sprinted away from my little burrow. I listened to the barks grow quieter and quieter as they ran away. I had spent a week hiding in fear and my foes ran away just like that?

A stunned silence returned to my little burrow. I absentmindedly listened to the rain as water built up in my shelter. There was no way this was happening. That thought looped endlessly in my head.

I only woke up when the rising cold water reached my tail. None of my senses picked up any monsters in the area. I was suddenly seized by the irresistible desire to exit my shelter and look up into the cloudy sky.

It was a stupid idea. It wasn’t certain that I had scared off my enemies. Danger lurked around every corner. Even so, I couldn’t help myself. I wanted… No, I needed this. I crawled through the small, narrow entrance I created almost a week ago and stepped out into the pouring rain.

My eyes fell on the dark, cloudy sky and something wet spilled from my eyes. A small part of me had seriously thought I would never see the sky again. For almost a week, I was always moments away from having a swarm of hungry monsters breaking into my shelter and tearing me into pieces.

Cold raindrops pounded against my bare skin. I ran my fingers through my short black hair and brushed out the clumps of dirt in it. If I closed my eyes, it was like I was back home taking a cold shower.

“Haha. Hahahaha.”

Uncontrollable laughter spilled from my mouth. I didn’t even know why I was laughing. All I knew was that I was happy to be alive. Me, a weak level 1, had scared off a bunch of terrifying monsters.

I couldn’t stay still with the levels of excitement flooding my veins. I moved my body to a beat that only I could hear and danced in the rain.