AKA 05

A Kitsune’s Ascent 05:

After a warm bath, and a lot of body spray to hide her new musk that she had apparently not noticed herself, Zack made her way outside to hopefully get in a good bike ride before classes needed to begin.

She wanted to get a good long ride around the campus to familiarize herself with everything, and get used to riding her bike in her new body. It was a good bike, and she didn’t want to stop riding it simply because she had a tail now, and a better ass.

Honestly, if she wasn’t a cyclist, she might have had some issues with her body at this point. But as it was, she was always fond of a woman with great legs, and a tight ass. She may have spent too long looking at herself in the mirror, and caused Bobby to get worried.

Still, maybe it would be a good idea to poke Bobby to bring his gym friends for the ride, in case they needed to retrain their balance too? It was always good to have a partner for that, and well, she had her bike right there for it.

“I know you’re plotting something,” Bobby said, right by her side that morning. Bobby rotated his shoulder. “Now spill. Need to see how much my own center of balance has been changed with all this new bulk I got.”

“I’m thinking we might need to invite The Bros to come with us, so they don’t hurt themselves in the gym because they don’t know their center of gravity,” Zack said, her brows slightly pinched in worry. “Besides, the more of us there are to ride around, the less we have to worry if one of us falls over at high speeds. We all know first aid after all, and um…” she paused. “A couple of them are training to become vets, though I don’t know how useful that will be.”

“Eh, might be even more useful, given some of the changes,” Bobby said, kicking his brake stand up. “Let’s go—” Bobby trailed off, staring ahead wide eyed.

Before them, they saw the a few members of the cross country team, easily seen by their morning hoodies and emblems. The thing that was so different was the fact that most of the team were now centaurs on a morning run. One, a familiar blonde-haired girl with blue eyes, forewent the hoodies her teammates wore for a gray sports bra, cheerfully waved. “Hey Bobby! Good to see you again!” She slowed, trotting in place as her teammates paused as well.

“G-good to see you Krystal. See you got changed, too,” Bobby said.

“Wuh,” Zack asked, looking at Krystal with a tilt of her head. “Krystal? Why aren’t you wearing a top? It’s the tail end of Summer I know, but it’s way too early for that. You’ll get sick.”

“Nah, I’m a northern girl. This is nothing to me. Besides, it’s crisp and clear and fun out! Also I think becoming a moosetaur did something as I barely feel the cold now. Anyway, we got places to be, and a 4 smile jog to finish! Come, let’s ride!” she shouted, running off. Her team followed a split second later.

“…You know what?” Zack sighed. “Let’s go pick everyone up before we ride around the campus. We could use a bit of extra time to get used to it.”

She zipped up the hoodie a bit more, her tail smoothing itself out like it was trying to become streamlined for her bike ride, even as it wagged from side to side. “Shall we?”

Bobby snorted. “Last one there buys lunch!” he said, taking off.

“Haha! You’re on!” Zack grinned, pushing off herself and zooming after him.

Times like this should be cherished. After all, who knew when things would go ass up?

~~~~

Bobby lost that bet, as he knew he would.

Oh, he put in his best effort, but there was a reason Zack had won the state championship while he’d been knocked out in the preliminaries. It wasn’t that he was bad, and after a bit he’d even managed to get his balance on the bike together. It was just Zack was that damn good. Maybe, for just a minute or two, she’d struggled at the start of their race, but she adjusted damn quick.

Still, it was well worth the effort to see the smile on Zack’s face. Boy or girl, no one could beat how wide that was.

They’d picked up the gym bros and gym bunnies at the gym half an hour later after texting them all. Ray was there bright-eyed and cheerful stretching out front, Bridget glared at anyone who approached while sipping a thermos, and Jaq was furiously texting someone.

The cycling afterward, though…

It was rough.

Zack and him had no trouble. Zack especially, but while he felt a bit more awkward, he’d managed. Bridget had no issues on the bikes either, if anything she pedaled a little faster. Jaq was a bit awkward with his altered body proportions, but he adjusted quickly and kept up.

However, Ray, his homeboy, was…

He tried his best, but it was clear that the bicycle he had shown up on had given up the ghost long before he got to them, and was only held together by a sheer miracle and Ray’s own faith that it would hold his new weight. That meant they generally kept it slow for his sake once he joined.

“Oof. Ray, buddy… I don’t think that bike’s gonna hold out much longer,” Bobby said, eyeing it as they  came to a stop at a park just outside campus.

Bridget eyed it. “Not sure how it’s held this long, honestly like, no offense Ray but that thing looks like it was made for a child compared to you now.”

Bobby nodded, stroking his chin. “Yeah, honestly think we’re gonna need something custom built for you as—”

The bike crumbled into tiny fragments of metal all at once as soon as Ray stopped believing in it. He stood, clasped his hands in prayer for it, and said “May the Broth of the Heavens guide you to a peaceful afterlife. Ramen.”

Bobby held his head silently as Ray said a prayer to the Flying Ramen Monster, hallowed be his name. “Welp, that’s unfortunate. Still early yet, but fuck it, I say we get brunch. On me, fellas,” Bobby said with a smile. It’d bite a bit to feed everyone, but they could get some good breakfast tacos near here.

“Nah, I got this one,” Zack said. “Don’t wanna bite into your budget too much.”

“You sure?” Bobby asked, but was a bit relieved. Zack’s family was loaded to fuck and back, and while Bobby wasn’t too bad off, he had way more limited funds, although breakfast tacos were affordable.

“Yeah bro, don’t worry about it,” Zack smiled. “Been a while since the gang went for a full ride with me, and we all need something to cheer us up after the loss Ray just experienced. It’s kinda my fault for dragging him out here anyways.”

“Gotcha,” Bobby said, letting the issue die down. It was a bit of a relief to have Zack handle it given how loaded he was, but Bobby never wanted to depend on that. He’d seen the shit that happened when people took advantage of other friend’s resources like it was just expected and wanted no part of it. Rolling his shoulders, he suddenly slapped his hands together. “How about Limerick’s Taco Haven? Nearby and make damn good breakfast egg and chorizo tacos,” he suggested.

A chorus of “Sure’s,” and “Yes’s” answered Bobby, and they were off. Yet, they didn’t get far before they, by unspoken consensus, came to a stop.

There was a very tall man in the park. Bobby was pretty sure he hadn’t been there before as they’d have noticed while they were cycling, but he was freaking tall, at least 21 hands, minimum. Secondly? He was waving around a branch like it was a sword.

This wouldn’t have been too weird in and of itself. Just an odd guy messing with a branch in the park. Cosplayers got up to weirder shit. But as they watched, several things became clear. One, his motions were very precise, practiced even. Two, and more pressingly, the air itself bent around his impromptu blade and arcs of lighting trailed in the air…

He went through several motions with that same practiced focused before, with one last hyper focused swing, he slashed the air. A lightning bolt in defiance of the clear skies echoed in the park and struck a tree, leaving a scorch mark.

This was the second time this day that Bobby saw what could only be genuine magic at play. That Yuki-Onna’s prank at the dorms earlier, and now this?  He’d been rolling with the changes thus far, but…

Sweet noodly brothers above, he needed to question shit more.

“Hot damn bro!” Jaq whistled. “You practice that shit a lot?”

The tall man turned to them with a tilt of his head, long black hair swaying dramatically over his shoulders. “Just figured it out this morning, needed to come clear my head.” He threw his branch in the air and caught it. “Was feeling nostalgic, and started messing around, and well.” He gestured vaguely, and sparks trailed from his fingers. “Still getting a grasp of it. Don’t think I’ve done more than tap the barest surface of things yet, but it’s intriguing so far.”

“Man,” Bridget said with something of a pout. “Sucks. Some of us just get bunny ears, and like…” she poked her own ears for emphasis. “Cute and all, but that was genuine lightning like a wizard. Wish I could do that too.”

Bobby silently agreed, as it was really seeming like some people just got free super powers and others got jack all bar a cosmetic change.

The man tilted his head again. “I’m fairly sure this is something everyone can do, even if technically,” he said.

“Huh?” Zack asked, looking around at them and at herself before asking a curious question. “How do you know? Like, do you have some super special eye powers that show you our abilities?”

“What? No,” he shook his head, looking almost insulted at the insinuation. “I, did you all check your Systems? I have spoken to a few others about this, and so far everyone has had it in their profiles.”

At their blank looks, he groaned. “Just check your Systems, look under affinities.”

“Uh,” Ray scratched his beard with a sigh. “How do we do that, teach? Like, I may be in the IT course, but if I don’t know where the power button is…”

“You just think it? I found it very intuitive to call up the System interface after it first appeared when the change occurred,” the man said.

Bobby had been wondering the same thing as Ray, but the moment the tall man said that it clicked and his entire system menu popped up for the first time since the day before.

———————————————

Bobby Anderson

HP: 100%

Stamina(SP): 100%

Strength: S

Agility: C

Dexterity: D

Intelligence: B

Wisdom: C

Constitution: A

Endurance: A

Fortune: D

Karma: B

Skills:

·       0

Passives:

·       1

Wrath of the Oni

Abilities:

·       0

Traits:

·       0

———————————————

The menu looked about the same as it had before, but with everything that was going on, Bobby hadn’t paid too much attention to it given he wanted to make sure everyone was okay. The Wrath of the Oni bit was interesting, but he wanted to see the affinities bit first.

As if responding to his thoughts, a new section came into being:

———————————————

Affinities:

·       2

·       Lightning (Minute): Heritage of extremely distant divine ancestor. Grants minor affinity with lightning.

·       Musculature (Strength): Devotion to the cultivation and refinement of one’s muscles in mind, body, and spirit has resulted in an ingrained affinity for strength and might. Mutated affinity, altered from original state.

———————————————

Bobby knew his mouth was hanging open.

“See it? Near everyone I’ve talked to mentioned seeing ‘lightning’ as an affinity courtesy of some divine ancestry. Interesting implications there, although not sure what divine ancestor it refers to,” the man said. He checked his phone and grimaced. “I need to get going, but try messing around with your System menus? They seem to respond to your thoughts and desires. Colleague of mine said she changed the UI color to gold.” He seemed to start. “Oh, apologies. My name is Professor Sokitaa Oujii. I teach the elective swordsmanship and history classes at the Academy, if you are interested. Anyways, I need to get going as I have a meeting to get to and played enough out here as it is. Take care,” Professor Oujii said with a wave and departed.

“Holy broth, that, wow. Okay the professor wasn’t kidding,” Bobby said, looking over his menu. “Everyone seeing the same thing about lightning or nah?”

“I do… But I also see an affinity for Gravity, Darkness, Fire, Water, Illusions, Madness and Curses,” Zack said, looking a little cross eyed. “What even is this elective mix. It’s like it’s trying to tell me something, but isn’t willing to point it out.”

Bridget scratched her head. “You got a lot, definitely. Some sounds related to fox, like fire and illusions, but the rest?” Her voice was a little quick there, and Bobby didn’t miss she skipped over her own, but Bobby wouldn’t push her. He was sure she had her reasons.

“Yeah, I got two. The lightning one and Musculature, which I guess make sense,” Bobby said, flexing a bit. “Yo, Ray, Jaq, how about you two? What’d the noodly brothers give you in this mess?”

Ray smirked. “Faith’s Reward,” he stated. “Apparently, if I simply hold strong to my faith, I can become a bulwark against the forces that be.”

“Hahaha,” Jaq grinned. “Apparently fate decided to be silly. Because I have an affinity to Technopathy, and Polarity. Not Magnetism, but specifically Polarity. I wonder what that will do?”

Bobby laughed. “We’ll have to see, but I imagine you can do something with it. I mean, how long has that professor had access to play with lightning affinity? Same as us, right? And he was channeling lightning through a stick like he was an anime character. We’ll have to poke at these, although they all sound really individualistic,” Bobby said, crossing his arms. “Hmm. Wonder what kind of training regimen affinities would take?”

“Who knows,” Zack sighed. “But maybe we can figure that out while we eat? I’d rather not leave everyone hungry.”

An enormous, angry growl echoed in the group. Bobby expected it to either be Ray, or himself. It was neither.

…

It was Bridget.

She looked really sheepish, and holy crap she was flushing! He never saw that out of her! “Look, I skipped breakfast and, uh… I’m really hungry lately, particularly for veggies. Can we go?”

Bobby snapped out of it at that. “Sure thing, let’s head out, got plenty of time to figure out this other stuff. Not like…” Bobby was about to say the sky was falling, but there was still a colossal red tear in the sky. “… I’m not going to finish that thought as I just bet you Rupert is listening.”

~~~~

AN:

HiddenMaster: Nothing can go horribly wrong as Bobby averted Rupert’s (Murphy’s unloved brother) attention at the last second.

Kitsu: Affinities be Affinitying. And foxxos be foxxmaxxing. Also bunny be hungry.

HiddenMaster: Indeed, she hangry. Next few chapters should be interesting as we start delving into the things this system can let people do.

Kitsu: Foxxo be barely awake. Dragon is not showing up, so the foxxo might nap a bit more.

HiddenMaster: Indeed, foxxo needs sleep. Check our links down below for our supports if you wanna throw some cash our way, or maybe check out commissioning us for a fic of your own.

HiddenMaster’s archive: https://hiddenmasterarchive.carrd.co/

Kitsu’s Fox Shrine: https://aikoakiyoshi.carrd.co/