CHAPTER 61: CHAPTER 61: HER NICKNAME

The person held her in a vice-like grip. She had been focusing on sensing the nearest animal to her location–which she hadn’t sensed yet–and neglected the surroundings.

Unexpectedly, some people would still go out in this kind of weather.

Huh?

She looked at the bloodshot eyes of the person in front of her in shock. It was Scott! The person whom they thought was sleeping in his bed.

What was wrong with him? She struggled to get out of his grip to no avail.

"Shh, be quiet. You will startle them..." Scott muttered, his words slurred, like his soul wasn’t entirely there.

Then, she heard some beast-like sounds coming out of the barn. Not loud–the fog seemed to put limitations on a lot of things, including sounds–but it was enough for her to hear it.

She subconsciously tried to enter the barn with her senses again. A few meters from the door, there was nothing. She moved toward the center.

The fog made her consume more mental power than usual, and she was already slightly exhausted. But, unable to resist her curiosity, she held on... just as she sensed a presence; strange, quiet, yet tinged with a hint of aggressiveness, her concentration broke.

"Scott, why are you here?" Cassias had tracked her there.

She abruptly withdrew her senses, utterly tired. The presence inside, she hadn’t been able to make out what kind of animal it was yet.

Scott appeared as if he were a man waking up from his dream the moment Cassias finished speaking. He turned to him, his dazed eyes sobering up.

"Oh, I forgot something in the barn, so I came to pick it up. Then, I encountered this little one." He held her up like a rag doll.

Zerra suffered humiliation.

She gritted her teeth; all men are just the same!

"That’s my fox. Can you return her to me?" Cassias feigned surprise in his tone.

The fox Zerra helplessly flailed around, trying to get Scott to release her. However, she also found out one shocking fact. Scott’s power was actually around level three, like Nyra and a few others in their group.

He might even hadn’t been exposed to the use of crystal cores yet. Seeing that he seemed to have holed up in his house the entire time, it was such an anomaly.

"Your fox?" Scott truly woke up now. Something changed; he no longer appeared like the honest and kind person who welcomed them to their house. He was sharper, scrutinizing.

His eyes landed on Zerra, then Cassias.

"I haven’t seen this little fox around you...?" His tone was a little doubtful.

When his grip loosened, she jumped from his hands, startling him. Cassias readily caught her. She clutched his shirt tightly, like holding on for dear life. Her little heart was beating fast.

"Besides lightning, I have space power." Cassias spoke lightly as he took this chance to stroke Zerra’s soft fur. Weakened, she didn’t even have the energy to resist.

"So, you put her in your space?" Scott nodded. His pupils dilated in shock as he muttered under his breath, "So, there’s also dual ability users..."

He gazed around before telling Cassias, "Let’s talk inside. You are right. We shouldn’t let ourselves be exposed to the fog for too long. I started to feel uncomfortable."

He walked toward the house again. Cassias stood there, unmoving. Scott turned around with a questioning look in his eyes.

Cassias smiled at him, then jogged behind him. Scott turned around again, and Cassias continued to follow him.

Zerra snorted and let out a sigh. Fortunately, Scott didn’t do anything extreme that could threaten her safety. Hence, her plain response. Had he done something that could hurt her, she would be forced to bite him and use some weapons from her space.

However... she could feel it. Scott was truly kind toward animals. He and his family might have lived off their farm animals ever since he was a kid.

He locked the door after Cassias entered the room.

Laziel had been waiting. The moment he saw the fox, he sighed. "How come she is so mischievous? Running around... eh, Scott, weren’t you resting in your room?"

He threw a puzzled look at Scott.

"He went to pick up something," Cassias answered. He pulled his fingers out from under Zerra’s paw and added, "He found her outside, heading toward the barn."

Scott nodded in confirmation; his gaze trained on Zerra. "Could it be that she is hungry?"

Cassias and Laziel exchanged glances. Zerra rolled her eyes toward the two, her eyes narrowed, waiting for their answers. They wouldn’t reveal that she ate crystal cores; it was tantamount to admitting she was a mutated zombie animal.

Laziel scratched the back of his head. He caught the look in Cassias’ gaze and had a rare moment of intelligence. Though his words were still insulting; he even slandered her!

"She is a fox. If she tried to steal a chicken... then Foxy must have been hungry again."

Laziel was born to be her nemesis indeed. Who was trying to steal a chicken?!

Zerra tried to get out of Cassias’ arms, letting out a few small yips in protest. However, in fox language, it was full of curses.

"Look, she agrees with me!"

She didn’t! Zerra glared at him.

"Is she a mutated fox?" Scott was clever, noticing her uniqueness just by a quick observation.

"Yes, she is mutated. Smarter than normal animals." Cassias covered her eyes. She bit his fingers in response.

"You can take some meat from the kitchen." Scott’s eyes landed on her with a gentler gaze. "Don’t let her stay hungry."

She went quiet. It was impossible for her to eat it since she was essentially a zombie now.

"It’s fine." Cassias’ smiled gratefully at Scott. "She already had her own snacks inside the space."

The conversation ended when Scott excused himself again. The two of them went silent.

Laziel swallowed. He pursed his lips. "You revealed your space to him. He would know now that we never intended to tell him about the space from the beginning."

They had discussed their supplies openly in front of him–which only referred to the supplies in their backpacks. Now, Scott found out about the existence of their space, where supplies might have been abundant. Would he think that they were lying?

Cassias gave him a meaningful look. "Scott is a magnanimous person. He isn’t the kind of person you think he is."

Zerra looked up at him, wondering about the meaning behind his words.

"Then, I don’t need to worry about it?" Laziel muttered. "He would understand, right?"

They were now back in the living room, the furthest room from Scott’s bedroom.

"He is so kind to Foxy too." Laziel added, seemingly couldn’t let go of the thought and convinced himself.

Cassias set Zerra down in a chair. She tried to jump to Laziel again; her anger hadn’t been abated yet. When Cassias’ palm pressed down softly on her head again, she let out another round of protest as he pulled her close to his side.

"What is Foxy doing?" Laziel asked, unaware that he had just escaped another disaster.

"Her name isn’t Foxy," Cassias suddenly told him.

"Oh, what’s her name?" He was surprised that Cassias finally thought of this. Cassias didn’t refute him when he gave the fox a nickname. Surprisingly, he finally thought of one now.

Cassias’ eyes were obscure. "Based on the sounds she makes... let’s call her Zizi."