Chapter 48: A Happy Harvest

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: A Happy Harvest

Eventually, silence returned.

Damon opened his eyes.

"They’re gone?"

Just then, Freya came back proudly.

Her tails swayed happily.

The moment she saw him, she jumped straight into his arms.

"Kyu!"

Damon laughed.

"Good girl."

He gently stroked her silver fur.

"You exceeded expectations."

"Way beyond them."

Freya happily rubbed her head against his chest.

Meanwhile, beside them, the Gale Seed pulsed excitedly.

Thump.

Thump.

The little fellow seemed strangely happy seeing Freya receive praise.

Damon smiled.

"You two are getting along better than I expected."

He wondered how things would be after the little Wind Spirit finally evolved.

Soon, Damon began gathering their harvest.

And after a while...

"...Holy."

Even he was shocked.

The pile was absurd.

Healing potions.

Protective relics.

Beast cores.

Storage bags.

Medicinal herbs.

Various treasures.

And plenty of snacks.

"So much?"

Even Damon hadn’t expected this.

The Elemental Users had practically emptied their entire wealth.

He even found several Wind Fruits.

Naturally, he stored those separately.

Those would belong to the future Wind Spirit.

As for Freya...

Most treasures weren’t useful for her.

But one necklace caught his attention.

It was a defensive relic.

Small and beautiful.

After placing it around Freya’s neck, Damon froze.

Then smiled.

"It suits you."

Freya blinked.

"Kyu?"

She looked even cuter now.

Her eight tails swayed proudly.

Meanwhile, she had already found her favorite harvest.

Snacks.

She happily munched away while Damon organized everything.

It seemed she had found a new hobby.

Extortion.

And snacks.

Eventually, everything was sorted.

Damon wiped the sweat on his forehead.

"Haa."

"I’m rich."

But life returned to normal soon.

Cultivation.

Monitoring the Gale Seed.

Training.

And occasionally...

Another unlucky group would arrive.

Then...

"Aaaaaah!"

"What fox is this is.."

Boom!

Crackle!

Soon, more people ran away with injuries.

Freya had become even more skilled at torture.

At this point, she could strike people just enough to make them scream without seriously harming them.

Which somehow made her even scarier.

Their wealth increased steadily.

And far outside Tempest Hollow...

Chaos erupted.

Inside the Calloway camp.

Inside the Dawncrest camp.

Inside the Graymoon camp.

The same scene repeated itself.

Injured Elemental Users returned one after another.

Burn marks.

Smoking clothes.

Blackened hair.

And embarrassed expressions.

Family elders immediately rushed over.

"What happened?"

"Where are the treasures?"

"Where are your relics?"

Silence.

Then one of the Elemental Users lowered his head.

"...A fox."

"A what?"

"A fox."

The elder almost exploded.

"A FOX?!"

The man wanted to cry.

"It wasn’t ordinary!"

"It was a lightning spirit!"

"It had eight tails!"

"It electrocuted everyone!"

"And then..."

He lowered his head even further.

"It robbed us."

Silence.

The elder blinked.

"Robbed?"

The Elemental User’s face turned red.

"It took everything."

Inside the Graymoon camp.

The old elder’s beard trembled.

"Everything?"

"Yes..."

"Everything?"

"Even to our spare clothes."

The old man almost fainted.

Meanwhile, over at the Dawncrest camp, another survivor spoke with shame.

"We suspect..."

"The spirit belongs to someone."

Immediately, the atmosphere changed.

"What?"

"There were signs of battle."

"The guardians are gone."

"Their corpses should be inside."

"Someone got there before us."

"And that person is controlling the fox."

Silence filled the tents.

Then...

Bang!

The Calloway elder slammed the table.

"Damn it!"

The Graymoon elder’s expression darkened.

"Someone is harvesting everything while making fools out of us."

The Dawncrest elder narrowed his eyes.

"And stealing our treasures."

That was the final straw.

Soon, representatives from the major families gathered together.

For once...

Nobody argued or competed.

Because they had found a common enemy.

An unknown bastard.

And his shameless fox.

The Calloway elder spoke first.

"We settle this later."

"For now, we cooperate."

The Dawncrest elder nodded.

"The treasures will be divided equally."

The Graymoon elder snorted.

"We’ll discuss profits afterward."

"But first..."

His eyes turned cold.

"We drag that thief out."

Everyone nodded.

And just like that a temporary alliance was formed.

Preparations began once again.

More experts.

Better relics.

More healing potions.

Stronger Elemental Users.

This time...

They would personally investigate the floating ruin.

Meanwhile...

Deep inside the treasure chamber.

Completely unaware that several families had united against him.

Damon sat peacefully.

Freya lay on his lap while happily munching on her stolen snacks.

And beside them, the Gale Seed pulsed softly.

Thump.

Thump.

Life was peaceful.

Simple.

And strangely comfortable.

Neither Damon nor Freya knew that somewhere outside...

Half the families surrounding Tempest Hollow were already grinding their teeth.

And preparing to settle accounts with one particular fox.

And her shameless owner.

But Days passed by quickly.

Damon cultivated.

Freya absorbed lightning ore and enjoyed her snacks.

And the little Wind Core Spirit stayed close to the two of them, pulsing happily whenever they talked or played.

Outside, however, things were completely different.

The major families had become serious.

Very serious.

The Calloway Family.

The Frostfall Family.

The Graymoon Family.

Even several smaller families.

All of them had increased their manpower and gathered stronger Elemental Users.

More protective relics.

Better armor.

Special treasures.

Healing potions.

And most importantly, Plans.

No one wanted to return with burnt hair again.

And no one wanted to be robbed by a fox.

Naturally, Damon knew nothing about all of this.

And even if he knew...

He probably wouldn’t care.

Strength was what mattered most to him.

As long as he and his spirit companions grew stronger, everything else could wait.

*****

Inside the chamber, Damon had grown closer to both Freya and the Wind Core Spirit.

The little Gale Seed had changed greatly.

It responded more often now.

It seemed to understand conversations.

When Damon laughed, it pulsed happily.

When Freya acted proudly, it pulsed excitedly.

And whenever the two played around, it would join them by swaying gently within its shell.

Damon could tell.

It was close. Very close.

Just like Freya back then.

Something was missing.

An emotional push.

Freya had evolved because she wanted to protect him.

As for this little one...

Damon had noticed something interesting.

It adored Freya.

No.

Perhaps adored wasn’t the right word.

It admired her.