Chapter 8: 8 – Connection

I had become my game character. Haha, what a funny trope. No, wait! My avatar was a girl! And I wasn’t! I hadn’t expected to be able to choose my appearance like in the game, but I hadn’t expected this!

“Hmm… strange.” The woman brought me out of my inner monologue.

“W-what is going on? I’m not normally… a girl.”

“Hmm? Really? I was certain that the color of your soul… No, more importantly, something must have gone wrong.”

“W-wrong? What happened?”

“I’m not sure… But this isn’t your true form.” She let out a wry laugh. “Ahhh, I was foolish to think my techniques could bring out the true form of a divine being.”

I was not a divine being!

“But don’t worry, you should still be able to turn back without a problem.”

“Oh… right.”

There was no button like in the game, but somehow I knew how to turn back. I just had to close my eyes and…

…

On the other hand, since I went through so much trouble already, I decided to stay like this for a bit longer. The ears were kinda nice and fluffy and… it just felt kinda nice.

“Did… something go wrong? Can you not turn back?” the woman asked, panic visible in her eyes.

“Uh, no. It’s fine. I can turn back no problem. I was just thinking… Why not stay like this for the time being? Since you know… you were so kind to teach me the skill.”

“Alright then…” She gave me a warm smile again. “Still, you humble this old woman. Like I said, that isn’t quite your true form… I’m not exactly sure what form it is, to be honest.”

I knew all too well what it was. Still no idea why though.

“But in case you don’t know your true form yourself yet, I’m sure this one might be a stepping stone to eventually finding your actual true form.”

Huh… Was that something I wanted? Discovering my true… true form? 

“Ahh, by the way, I don’t usually do this, but my name is Elyssa. May I ask your name as well?”

“Oh, uh…” my feminine voice let out.

A name.

Truth be told, I was never a fan of my name. It always felt off, somehow. I’d always wanted a different name, but didn’t even know which.

“Ah… I see. You have not yet discovered your true name. I understand.”

“True name?”

“Every living being, every object, everything with any significance has a true name. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it’s never discovered.” She smiled at me. “But since you are smart enough to feel your given name feels off, I think it won’t be a problem for you to find your true name.”

True form, true name… This was getting a bit too cheesy. Names were just labels. There was no such magical thing as a true name…

“Still, it is fascinating to think that a divine being like you is… not that different from common people in this world.” She chuckled again.

“Well… I’m not a divine being…” I said while looking to the side and idly rubbing my fox ear, before realizing what I was doing and letting go.

“To me, you are,” she simply said.

“I… guess…?”

Just as it was starting to get awkward for me, my robes began ringing.

“Uh?!”

I rummaged in them and fished out my phone. The screen said ‘Alarm: go back home!’. It was the alarm I set before going to make sure I didn’t forget myself and returned back home on time.

“Oh! I–I’m sorry. I need to return now or Mom is gonna worry.”

She laughed. “Of course, of course. I won’t try to hold you up.” She walked over to her door and opened it up for me. “Have a safe trip. And don’t forget, I won’t complain if you come to visit again!” she added with a smile.

You are reading story Hopping Celestial fox at novel35.com

I nodded to her and tried to return the smile, before grabbing the staff I left on her table, rushing through the door, and setting off whilst waving at the woman… No, at Elyssa. I had never known that was her name.

I ran through the forest, still in this not-true form. I felt like the wind with how easy it became to move around. My stamina seemed to have increased as well. I was really like a fox in a way.

What else could have changed? I hadn’t gotten any choices when the transformation had happened, and something told me I wouldn’t be able to change it as I could in the game either.

Maybe I had the same changes as my avatar’s true form? If I remembered correctly, I picked more speed and stamina for her, as well as better sword handling, all in exchange for gutting my skill with bows and staves. Would that apply? I was still carrying my staff but didn’t have the time to test it, since I needed to get home quickly.

Yet another item added to my to-do list. It sure was getting larger and larger.

A few minutes into my forest jog, I began wondering how far the portal was… and then immediately knew just that. As if I had some kind of sixth sense that could detect the portal.

My eyes widened in surprise.

“That never happened back on Earth…” I whispered to myself as I weaved through the forest.

I tried to… widen this portal sense out of curiosity, and I couldn’t help but stop in my tracks, staring in a completely different direction.

There were other portals in this world. Just like on Earth.

Well, in hindsight, it was obvious. If all the portals back on Earth lead to this world, they had to lead somewhere, right?

Unless… they all lead to completely different worlds again…? I had to check that out at some point. Another item on my to-do list.

I sighed to myself and continued my journey.

A few minutes later, I arrived at the purple crack, crackling even more prominently in my portal sense. It hadn’t disappeared, good. Even though I could feel it with this sixth sense, I still worried.

I checked around to make sure nobody saw me, and once I confirmed the coast was clear, I steeled myself for the upcoming shock, placed my fingers on the closed portal… and ripped it open again.

“Wait…”

I glanced down at my fingers. They were fine. Nothing had happened to them. Not even a slight burn or zap. I hadn’t felt anything either.

I looked at the purple portal’s rims, carefully raised my hand again, and touched it.

It didn’t shock me.

I raised my other hand and firmly grabbed the portal with both.

It didn’t shock me.

“It…”

It. Wasn’t. Shocking. Me.

The one thing that had plagued me for years now… wasn’t happening anymore. I almost began crying from the sheer joy, the sense of freedom.

But then, I heard metallic sounds in the distance, indicating someone wearing armor was walking in my direction.

I quickly composed myself, jumped through the portal, placed my hands on the portal rim again – which didn’t shock me! – and snapped the portal shut.

I stood there for a few moments, staring at the closed portal, wiggling my uninjured fingers, and grinning from ear to ear. Or, well, I had fox ears now, so just grinning very widely.

I was brought out of my daze by the sound of a key opening the lock in the main door. Mom was here.

I was about to call out to her when I realized I was still in my foxgirl mode, and my new voice would probably shock her.

So, with a heavy heart, I transformed back.

…

The moment the transformation finished, I felt… worse. In all kinds of ways. Back to my pathetic self.

I took a deep breath and sighed, before calling out, “Mom! Welcome back.”

My own voice screeched in my ears. I already missed the soft and nice voice. I already wanted to turn back.