Three hours later, Kaine made it back to Jaxi District. It was still before ten at night.
The district felt completely different after dark. During the day, merchants sold food and basic supplies.
At night, those same spots were taken over by vendors selling weapons, spellbooks, and poison potions.
Two different worlds.
And there were always customers.
Kaine walked through the street as he removed his mask. The fox was not in his hands.
He kept it hidden inside his backpack. Safer that way. If people saw a captured kitsune, it would draw attention he did not need.
"Move aside! Black Eagle Squad is coming!"
A shout rang out from the wooden gate at the edge of the district.
Kaine turned and stepped aside, lowering his head. Everyone else did the same. They gave way and bowed.
Not out of respect.
Out of fear.
Kaine glanced up briefly.
A man with long black hair sat tall on horseback. His armor was far superior to that of most hunters.
An eagle skull was mounted on his right shoulder, marking his authority.
The squad rode past and stopped at the tavern to meet the district leader. Once they were gone, people slowly resumed their business.
"I heard the leader of Black Eagle Squad is Level 7 Altered stage."
"That's insane. He could kill everyone here."
Kaine overheard them.
Altered was the second stage, just above Survivor.
There were seven stages for hunters: Survivor, Altered, Awakened, Ascendant, Overlord, Apex, and Eternal.
Each stage granted different levels of power. Survivor was the weakest. Eternal stood at the top.
Kaine was still Altered level 2. He had not yet broken through to another level.
"Kaine."
He turned.
Jax stood there, dark skinned, athletic, bald, with a stern and serious face. He was not alone. His Altered squad stood behind him.
The Iron Hammer Squad. Known within the district, but nothing compared to Black Eagle.
"Just got back from hunting?" Jax asked.
"Yeah."
"Then let's relax tonight. My treat."
"Better not," Kaine said. "Black Eagle is here."
Jax froze and looked toward the tavern. Several horses were tied outside. District level squads did not get horses.
"Black Eagle, huh? Bastards. Damn rapists."
Jax told his team they would submit their hunting results tomorrow. He had no intention of sharing a room with criminals disguised as monster hunters.
His squad obeyed and headed back toward their wooden homes.
Kaine and Jax walked together through the market, passing merchants who displayed their goods on cloth laid over the dirt.
They arrived at a two story wooden house shared by four people. Kaine and Jax were two of them.
Jax opened the door.
The house was dark.
"Damn it! Where's Ilard?"
Kaine took a flint from his bag and lit the oil lamps one by one. The room was filled with warm light.
Ilard was there, sprawled on the sofa, drunk. Empty bottles littered the floor.
Jax stormed over and kicked the sofa, knocking Ilard to the ground with a loud thud. His heavy body was not built for hunting. He survived by trading and cheating.
"JAX! Can't you see I'm busy?!" Ilard shouted.
He stood up and brushed off the dust. "I sold a lot today. This is my celebration!"
"I don't care," Jax said, hanging up his bag. "The rule is clear. The last one home cleans up."
"I wasn't alone. Nora's upstairs."
Kaine headed to the second floor. His room was at the end of the hall.
Nora sat near the corridor window, smoking and staring at the night sky. She turned, smiled, and waved at him.
He nodded once and entered his room. He tossed his backpack onto the bed and walked to the wall, where a large map was pinned.
He took a pen and circled Hanging Tree Red Land. The place where he fought the kitsune.
That area was far from the Gate of Nox Region.
What was she doing there?
He had marked many locations over the years. Every hunt. Every monster encounter.
Eight years.
Eight years as a hunter. Eight years searching for any trace of kitsune in Nox Region. Nothing but level 1 and level 2 monsters.
There must be more foxes inside the gate.
Only those who reached the Awakened stage could enter. After obtaining a class and forming a proper team.
Kaine stepped back and sat on the edge of his bed, eyes fixed on the map.
Movement came from his backpack.
He unzipped it and took out the three tailed fox, placing her gently on the bed. The magic rope still bound her.
She was awake, but she had not transformed back into her human form.
Her fur was tangled. Blood stained parts of it. Several bones were bruised and swollen.
She's the first fox I've caught in eight years. If she dies, I don't know if I'll ever catch another.
Kaine exhaled slowly.
He opened his drawer and took out ointment and a comb.
First, he cleaned her wounds with antiseptic drops.
Second, he applied swelling ointment along the injured bones, carefully checking her joints.
Third, he combed her fur.
He sneezed several times. Nora's footsteps paused outside. Kaine quickly locked the door.
If anyone found out, they would force him to kill or sell her.
And if that happened, his only lead to finding his kidnapped sister would vanish.
When he finished, the fox looked more comfortable and soon drifted back to sleep. That night, Kaine slept in a chair, his head resting against the wooden desk.
***
The next morning.
"Hey."
"Are you dead, Human?"
"Can you untie this rope?"
Kaine woke up with a grimace. His body ached from yesterday's battle.
He turned.
The white fox was gone.
In her place stood a beautiful black haired woman in traditional clothing. Three tails stretched behind her.
Kaine instantly grabbed his dagger and pointed it at her.
"You healed me yesterday. And now you want to kill me?" she asked.
"Yesterday, you didn't turn human."
"I was exhausted and injured. You treated my wounds. I could rest and recover."
"I thought I would die there," she added quietly.
KNOCK.
"Kaine? Who's in there? I heard a woman's voice," Nora called from outside.
Kaine's heart skipped.
He grabbed a cloth and shoved it into the fox woman's mouth, muffling her. Then he stepped out and closed the door behind him.
"What?" he asked.
"A woman. I heard a woman in your room."
He laughed awkwardly. "You're imagining things. That's someone outside. Miguel's wife. She nags every morning."
Nora narrowed her eyes, then nodded. Kaine was not the type to bring women home.
"I made breakfast. Come down before you go hunting."
"Okay."
Kaine returned to his room and locked the door. The fox woman glared at him. He pulled the cloth from her mouth.
"Disgusting! What was that?!" she snapped.
"My sweat."
She gagged violently, "You… worst human."
Kaine sat on the edge of the bed and stared straight into her eyes.
"What's inside the gate?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're not from Earth. You came from inside the gate," he said evenly. "What's in there?"
He leaned closer, his voice lowering, "Where did you take my sister?"