Fox Beastperson

"What... is this?"

"...It's yours, I told you."

Even though it had been an eternity to me, the voice that brushed it off so casually still carried a chilling solemnity.

Listening to his answer, I slowly accepted the great curved sword.

The brilliantly burning flames and, within them, something tempered to perfection.

Something.

The moment the great curved sword Sawol was placed in my hands, it flashed with a crimson light.

It felt as though the blade had become part of my own body.

The grip clung perfectly to my palm; I couldn’t even sense its weight.

“...May I swing it?”

Lava nodded.

I matched my movement to that nod and swung Sawol lightly from above my head down.

Whoosh!

Flames clung to every arc that sliced the air, wrapping the space in searing heat.

Yet none of it felt hot to me. It only registered as a gentle warmth.

Why? The moment that warmth touched me, tears began to fall.

“Thank you….”

The instant the bubbling voice pierced my ears, a translucent window appeared before my eyes.

A hundred years had already passed since I had swung the blade without conscious thought.

Yet neither my reflection on the smooth blade nor Lava’s form had changed in the slightest.

I fiddled with the metallic handle that felt like part of my own body and waited for the system’s next message.

The choices floating across my retina felt ice-cold.

I didn’t even consider the first option. I had no desire to, and it didn’t seem possible anyway.

As if avoiding the decision, I whipped my head around to look at the master of the forge.

Without a face, his expression was invisible, yet something could still be read within the flames.

Understanding.

“Lava-nim….”

That understanding pierced me with unbearable pain.

It hurt so much that I wanted to collapse on the spot and bury my face between my knees.

I had survived. I had received a gift that might as well have been a legendary weapon in the form of Sawol.

Yet I had nothing to give in return.

With a heart heavy enough to crush my chest, I closed my eyes and lowered my head.

In the darkness behind my eyelids, I felt only the warm grip in my hand.

Sawol—Dead Moon.

A weapon that had been given a name.

In this entire space, the only thing without a name was the master of the forge standing right there.

That truth ached sharply.

“Lava-nim.”

“Why.”

“Could I… give you a name?”

After receiving everything, the only thing I could offer in return was a name I had come up with on a whim.

Embarrassed, I fidgeted with my lips. Before I could finish, the lava before me nodded.

My hesitation didn’t last long.

Only one character had come to mind in this moment.

“...Dan. The ‘dan’ from forging iron.”

Though I couldn’t see his expression, Dan somehow seemed to be smiling.

“Ugh…!”

The system gave me no time to linger, dragging my body toward some distant place as if telling me to disappear now that business was concluded.

Consciousness gradually faded amid a dizzying sense of powerlessness.

In the final moment, as I reached out toward Dan—

A calm voice reached me alongside a brilliant radiance that enveloped Dan’s body.

*

Dan.

It was an awkward name for a body that constantly flowed yet somehow maintained its shape, but it didn’t matter.

The moment I received a name, the same kind of window Daon had described appeared before my eyes.

It clearly wasn’t referring to Sawol.

The meaning of “first equipment.” I understood it naturally.

〉Reward: ???

I reached a hand into the empty air.

The nameless steel of this place was infinite; there were no limits to materials. My first creation, Sawol, had certainly been a masterpiece.

But.

Even so.

This time, I would create something unprecedented—the absolute best.

The material, of course, could not be ordinary.

I slowly bent down, then lay flat against the floor.

It looked as if I were embracing the forge that had been with me for eons.

The moment I embraced it, everything within the forge began to melt.

The furnace that burned eternity.

The invincible anvil.

The hammer that forged all creation.

Everything melted into a single point and settled firmly near my heart.

It was shameful for a blacksmith, but by this stage the forging process had already left my hands.

I simply held the forge within my chest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and imagined something vague.

Perfection. Completion.

The thing I could never reach no matter how much I hammered or melted.

Chiiiiik—!

How much time had passed?

With a fierce roar as if the entire world were burning, the ceiling of the forge collapsed.

The darkness that had seemed eternal lifted. In its place stretched a space of nothingness.

Feeling an unprecedented warmth, I closed my eyes within the forging process.

It was a long time.

Yet to me it felt shorter than any other moment.

At last.

My heart was beating.

*

A strange new sensation washed over me.

The cool breeze blowing from beyond the horizon and the warm sunlight.

Something cold touched my nose and melted instantly against my body heat, turning into droplets.

I opened my eyes.

A world dyed pure white spread before me.

The obvious question rose: Where was this?

As long as it wasn’t the forge, anywhere was fine.

I pushed myself up and blinked.

I gazed at the scenery before me—trees blooming with white snow flowers and snowflakes dancing down from the sky.

The sensation of opening and closing my eyelids felt incredibly unfamiliar.

“Haa…”

Every breath I released was followed by a white puff of vapor that rose high into the sky.

I reached out and gently poked at it with a fingertip. The white breath scattered wildly in the wind of my gesture.

Blink.

Long fingers that disrupted the vapor entered my field of vision.

Not the bubbling skin like lava, but smooth, pale flesh like a newly tempered blade.

“Hmm…?”

The voice that slipped out in confusion tickled my own ears.

A thin, slightly nasal tone.

I lowered my head to look at the body I had just forged.

Light brown hair resembling raw steel ore, and white cloth draped over me. Between them, a slender frame was visible.

……It was the body of a young girl.

“No…”

In my faint memories, I had definitely been a man.

Even inside the forge, though I had lost my original shape, I had still thought of myself as male.

Yet the body I now stared at was distinctly different from both the hazy memory and anything I had imagined.

“Haa…”

If I had known it would turn out like this, I should have imagined more clearly.

Since the only person I had met across eons was Daon, it seemed I had unconsciously recalled a female form while forging my body.

When I let out a sigh, a tail behind me thumped against the snowfield, sending flakes flying.

...A tail?

I turned around.

A lush, abundant tail was swaying freely behind me.

Turning into a female body—I could understand that much.

‘But… a tail?’

I raised a hand above my head and fumbled around my crown. An unfamiliar furry texture brushed my palm.

“...This is a little outside my expectations.”

Small, slender fingers. Hearing sensitive enough to discern the ring of metal.

“Is this… good?”

I didn’t know. My brain had frozen amid the confusion.

Nevertheless, regardless of my will, the tail thrashed wildly in response to my emotions.

Excitement. And joy.

I grabbed the tail with my hand and brushed the snowflakes tangled in its fur.

“Well, it can’t be helped.”

The body felt impossibly awkward, yet every sensation that reached me was vivid.

They were unmistakably, completely my own.

I stood fully upright and stepped onto the snowfield with both feet.

With every step, the snow crystals crunched beneath my weight.

Crunch. Crunch.

The pleasant sound made the corners of my mouth lift on their own.

I looked back. Several small footprints dotted the snowfield.

Staggering prints from unfamiliar senses. Light, floating prints. Prints where my toes had dragged along the ground.

“Heh…”

For some reason, the sight reminded me of a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flower garden.

The irregular pits stamped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠across the pure white snow looked like flower petals in my eyes.

I wiggled my toes once more. The chill of snow slipping between them felt refreshingly new.

It was fun.

“Hehe.”

For a long while I laughed, then climbed the snow-covered slope adorned with snow flowers.

At the mountain’s summit.

Below me stretched gray skyscrapers and, rising even higher between them, the Tower.