The robe parted, and Yu Yu stood rooted, jaw slack.
Good news: The tail was everything she'd dreamed—lush, jet-black, a panther's tail! Lithe, springy, and full of life.
Bad news: Bone spurs protruded from Senior's waist.
Yu Yu cradled the sleek black tail, caught between ecstasy and confusion.
She blurted, "Senior, why do you have a tail and spikes?"
Chong shot a sly, provocative wink at the stream.
Bet you didn't see that coming!
The tail? Her handiwork.
As a Transmutation High Steward, conjuring a tail for fun was only natural, wasn't it?
Still, before the kid, Chong played the part of a stern, dependable senior.
She intoned gravely, "High corruption. The spikes on my back hurt like hell."
"The tail?" she continued. "To dull the pain, obviously."
Yup, that's the story—not just flicking it for kicks.
Her fib duped not just Yu Yu but a gaggle of colleagues too.
Feng Ye let out a soft sigh. [I'm used to it, but brushing the scales on my waist still stings with phantom pain.]
Xue: [Too many bone spurs on my legs—walking's agony. So I teleport or glide. The kid thinks we're just lazy.]
Guang Chen: [A few of my bones melted. Did I whine?]
Chang: [Ugh, my shoulders keep sprouting tiny tentacles. I torch them off every time—hurts and annoys me.]
The stream morphed into a grievance airing, even Meng joining in.
Meng: [I'm like the Grand Archon, but it's my left arm. Scales grow, painful and hideous. If they were smooth, I'd manage, but they're so rough, no one can bear to look.]
In the past, they bore their mutations in stoic silence, a torment kept hushed, shared only with closest kin. But after the Magic Circle's revamp, Feng Ye broke the dam, revealing their shared affliction. These dazzling Grand Archons and High Stewards—none escaped mutation's grip. Pain was bad enough; the ugliness and life's disruption were worse.
Once corruption rooted, mutations clung until death. How cruel. No matter their might, only death cleansed them. Legends ascended to the Stary Sea, but even they merely gazed briefly under its radiance before dissolving.
By that measure, they envied Senior Jin Che.
Living like her—with memories, emotions, learning, streaming, free of mutations, and long-lived—seemed almost ideal. No flaws, save being housebound.
Flame Sovereign ignored their laments.
A legend's suffering was always greater, never less.
He was lost in thought.
Jin Che felt a stir but held her tongue.
Until she saw a legend disrobe…
Jin Che: "?"
Jin Che: "!!!"
Erisbo mused, "Odd, there are fewer…"
"Could lowering corruption heal mutations too? How?"
He asked bluntly, [Have you eaten the kid's food?]
Feng Ye's group, mid-complaint, caught the message and replied instinctively. [Yes, Excellency. What is the problem?"]
Flame Sovereignty: [Check your mutated areas. Any changes?]
Others: [???]
Chong: [Haven't tried it yet.]
[Is it tasty?]
She tried flicking her tail—unsuccessfully.
Yu Yu had wrapped it around her waist, attempting to tie a knot.
Chong: "?!"
I'll throttle you!
Senior smacks.jpg
Chang: [No change.]
[It's gross, don't bother.]
Chong: [You expect me to buy that?]
Qiong: [Quite good, but no change.]
Several reported nothing.
Feng Ye lost interest, then caught Meng's words.
Meng: […Now that you mention it, maybe a bit.]
She wavered. [My left arm's been itchy lately. I scratch sometimes.]
[Once, I peeled off a scale. Normally, they'd regrow, but…]
[This time, they didn't…]
Soon, she added, [Confirmed! I checked—where I scratched, no scales. Normal skin!]
Feng Ye: [!!!]
Guang Chen: [!!!]
Xue: [?]
Chong: [Real or fake?]
The stream erupted in exclamation marks. Meng hedged, [I'm not sure. If Excellency hadn't asked, I wouldn't have noticed.]
Feng Ye pressed, [Who's eaten the kid's stuff?]
A flurry of queries later, Feng Ye summed it up.
Feng Ye: [I ate little. She called me stingy, wouldn't raise my favor, and only sent food when I nagged.]
[Felix and Fufu gorged, but they're young, barely corrupted, no mutations.] And wolves.
[Besides, only Meng and Chang ate a lot. Qiong, Xue, and Dai Dai tried some, but only packaged stuff—outsiders' instant noodles.]
Recalling Excellency's task for Yu Yu, Feng Ye had a hunch. [If I'm right, Excellency's eaten proper meals, not noodles, yes?]
Flame Sovereign: [Yup.]
Chang grumbled, [Got it. The kid's slacking on me, huh?]
Qiong: [Me too.]
Xue: [Same.]
Dai Dai: [Me.]
Chong: [I haven't even tasted it!!!]
Meng stayed mum.
Seems… maybe… she and Felix ate the most. Meals, snacks, drinks—more than everyone else combined.
Suddenly, Meng felt energized.
A little extra work? Worth it!
The stream hummed, but Yu Yu, scolded by Chong for tail-grabbing, clung to it, aggrieved.
It's a panther tail!
Practically a big cat's!
Pure black! Silky as satin!
So supple, you just want to twist it.
And Chong's tail moved!
The bone spurs were creepy, but this was a tail!
Tail, hehe, want tail!
Yu Yu gripped it, hunting the tip.
Good news: She found it.
Bad news: Chong's tail slapped her face.
It felt real!
Chong, mid-stream debate, snapped, "I let you touch for the golem. Pinch my tail tip again, and I'll lash you."
Stream: […]
Speechless.
Feng Ye couldn't resist. [She's that into this? I know Transmutation. Should I whip up one?]
Chong, smug, [Are you Transmutation? Spells go full-body or nothing. Can you keep just one part?]
[You can't!] She answered for them.
Guang Chen, icy, [What's tough? I'll crack it.]
Chong huffed, turning. "Heard your food's great. Bring me some next time, and I'll let you touch my tail."
Yu Yu, overjoyed, "Yes, yes!!! Senior, you're the best! Deal!!!"
Stream: […]
[Silver Moon's potty-mouthed Chong has no shame.]
[How'd we miss this High Steward's brazenness?]
Chang, thoughtful, [Got it. Besides cat tails and wolves, what else does she like? Chong, ask.]
Chong spun. "You like wolves?"
Yu Yu: "Love 'em! Super love!!!"
Who doesn't adore wolves?!!
Chong: "What else?"
Yu Yu, guileless, counted on her fingers. "Tons. Cats, all sizes, dogs, pandas… anything fluffy's cute, just not rats…"
Stream: […]
Quite the animal lover?
Felix: […]
Meng nudged Felix. "Lucky you, no need to transform."
Felix: "?!"
She snapped, "Lucky me, I'm barely corrupted."
Heart pierced.jpg
Meng wilted.
Xue: [Why does Yu Yu's food cut corruption?]
[Can all outsiders do it?]
Feng Ye, pensive, [Excellency's likely studying it.]
And keeping mum. If Flame Sovereign hadn't asked, they'd be in the dark.
Night Sovereign: [Yu Yu's unique. Don't spook her.]
Stream: [?]
[!!!]
Flame Sovereign [?]
Night Sovereign: [Teacher, calm down. You don't want to embarrass yourself in front of them, right?]
Flame Sovereign's teeth ground, but he held back.
A legend's dignity, untarnished!
He endured.
When they spoke, everyone—every last one—went meek.jpg.
Teacher's temper had softened, but not fully. Still obsessed with prestige.
Night Sovereign mused, sharing her insights.
Chong listened to the legend, while Yu Yu gleefully stroked the tail.
Wolves? Phantoms!
Only what's in hand is real!
Ugh, why can't I keep Senior as a pet?
Yu Yu whimpered, deeply frustrated.
One golem's worth!
She'd touch till she broke even.
Her range became a circle, Senior Chong at the center, tail length the radius.
Cat tails weren't this thick, big cat tails weren't this hue. Yu Yu pegged Senior Chong's as a black panther's.
So vibrant yet soft, sensationally perfect.
How was there such a flawless mutation?!!
Yu Yu suddenly craved one.
A bedtime scarf?
Heh, hehehe, hehehehe.
Yu Yu fished out a comb and fur cream.
Don't ask why—for Banban, obviously.
Hours later, their talks wound down. Chong turned and gaped.
Yu Yu, combing her tail, applying fragrant fur cream, was all focus, all professionalism.
Chong: "?"
Baffled, yet awestruck.
Believe her, next time it'd be a different tail!
Yu Yu, catching senior Chong's look, suggested earnestly, "Senior, let's protest 0007. I want a robe with a pocket—you get a hole for the tail."
She petted the tail, heartfelt. "I know it's your mutation, but don't feel bad. I love it, not ugly at all, super cute, really!"
Chong's voice rasped, tinged with exasperation. "What if I know it's not ugly?"
Yu Yu, thrilled, "You think so too? Awesome!"
Chong: "What if it's not a mutation?"
Yu Yu: "?"
Yu Yu: "!"
She leapt up, ecstatic. "Senior, are you a cat?!?!"
Feng Ye: […Why's she so excited?]
Felix, coolly, [I'd like to know.]
Chong: "…Sadly, no."
Yu Yu, puzzled, "A cat-person then?"
"Makes sense. Allen's got wolves, elves, half-elves—cat-people fit."
Chong's vein pulsed. "There's a feral cat race, but I'm not one."
Yu Yu, lost, "Then what are you?"
Chong bonked her head. "Ignorant! Spellcaster!"
Yu Yu, clutching her head, still gripping the tail, "Spellcasters grow tails?"
How'd she miss that?
Senior Meng didn't have one! Nor the Grand Archon!
Chong gritted her teeth. "Where're your basics? Forgot the spellcaster schools?"
Yu Yu, blank, "Which school grows tails?"
Under Chong's exasperated glare, Yu Yu's eyes sparkled.
"Oh, right! Yun Lun said spellcasters can turn into bears. I thought, why bother? Bears are clunky and ugly…"
Guifan: [Wrong! Where's clunky or ugly? Super useful.]
"But you can turn into cats?!" Yu Yu, elated, "Senior!!!"
Chong: "Hm?"
"I wanna learn Transmutation!!!"
Meng: […Knew it.]
Feng Ye: [Nice dream, but keep dreaming.]
Gui Fan: [I say doable. I can teach! Or Chong—she's idle enough to play with tails.]
Guang Chen: [No way. Xue's freer—she knows it all.]
Xue: [I do.]
Felix, after mulling, realized she cared little for Transmutation. Barely studied the basics.
Transformed animals might not match her wolf form's strength. Pointless.
Chong, dark-faced, "Go ask Meng."
Meng, timidly, [I only do cats. Haven't learned bears.]
Respect her Summoning school, please.
Soon, Yu Yu slumped like a dejected pup.
"I'm so dumb. Should've asked how long I could touch."
Chong, guilt-free, seized the moment to lecture. "See my bone spurs?"
Yu Yu, glum, "Yeah, not as cute as the tail."
Chong nearly swore. "Of course not! They're corruption, not my toy."
Yu Yu: "Can I touch?"
Chong: "?"
Her lines jammed, unable to track Yu Yu's logic.
Finally, she sighed, "Touch, but gently. It hurts."
Yu Yu gingerly felt them. "Hurt a lot?"
Chong reflected. "Not really. Growing stung, but once they're out, it's fine."
Robes were mutation-friendly, not scraping like normal clothes.
She could even flick her tail for fun.
But she kept that from Yu Yu, saying sternly, "Still hurts more than nothing. Avoid corruption—don't shrug it off…"
She rambled, and Yu Yu felt a pang. "Got it."
Poor Senior, so sad.
Chong whacked her with her tail. "You listening? Why're you spacing out?"
Yu Yu: "I heard! The exclamation mark's changing color…"
From blue to reddish, like it was angry.
Yu Yu cut in, "Senior, I'm taking a quest."
Chong: "???"
Tail time done, Yu Yu's range expanded.
She tapped, quest accepted.
[(Critical) Unwavering Resolve] (Reward: Exchange Function Unlocked)
A deep blue figure materialized.
She sighed heavily, "I often feel out of place for not being perverse enough."
Yu Yu: "?!"
Chong: "???"
Who's perverse?
What're you blabbing?
Her next words: "You carry the scent of a Silver Moon Sky Wolf."
Certain.jpg
Yu Yu glanced at the quest. Not tough, no Elite marker, but a Critical tag.
That tag appeared once before, when the Grand Archon made her choose between shielding players or the Circle—a fleeting choice.
Felix's ears twitched.
Chong: "Start your stream."
She switched hers off, rubbing her tail.
That brat Yu Yu knotted it—didn't she know Transmutation hurts?
Lowering her robe, Chong resumed her dignified, lively-robed senior persona.
Yu Yu opened her stream, used to questing under scrutiny.
"Yup, how'd you know?"
Yu Yu said, "I just hugged a wolf."
Felix: […]
The blue figure sighed, "I have a wolf too."
Yu Yu: "!!!!"
What a life winner?!
Huh?
Blue figure: "I need a favor."
Yu Yu blinked. "What's the reward?"
Blue figure: "?"
She was stunned. "I, a former Archon, legendary Excellency, ask a junior spellcaster for help, and you demand a reward?"
Yu Yu, aghast, "You're trying to mooch off me?"
Spotting the stream, she pinged the Grand Archon. "Grand Archon, she's mooching!"
Feng Ye: […She's a legend.]
Flame Sovereign coolly, [So am I.]
Feng Ye: […]
Night Sovereign: […Yup.]
The blue figure, startled, "Grand Archon? There's a Grand Archon? You know one?"
She seemed nervous.
Yu Yu: "?"
A legend, scared of a Grand Archon?
Were legends that common back then?
Yu Yu kept her poker face, flashing Feng Ye's badge. "See!"
Blue figure: "!!!"
"You have an Archon's seal? A Grand Archon's kin?" She caved. "Fine, fine. Name your reward—nothing outrageous, I can give a bit."
Yu Yu pondered.
Then hehed.
Yu Yu: "Got the Deep Blue Potion recipe?"
Blue figure: "?"
"That's headquarters' stuff. Even if I had it, you've got no materials. What's the point?"
She sneered, "Those materials are locked down. Who'd dare brew privately?"
Yu Yu: "I dare! Just say if you have it."
Blue figure: "…Ugh, I'll report you! Think a Grand Archon relative makes you untouchable?"
Yu Yu's face twitched, tempted to say the Grand Archon couldn't outfight her.
She didn't even know she was dead.
"Pardon me, you are?"
Blue figure, coolly, "Lynx Academy, High Steward, Qu."
Yu Yu blinked. "High Steward?"
That's a thing?
Meng coughed. [Yes, back then. The Circle was huge, with fine ranks between High Steward and Steward, High Steward and Grand Archon. Obsolete now.]
Yu Yu didn't pry, fearing Qu would summon a Grand Archon for a thrashing.
"I want the Deep Blue Potion recipe, plus other recipes. Got enchantment blueprints?"
Blue figure: "Deep Blue Potion recipe."
Yu Yu: "???"
Such a stingy legend!
Yu Yu: "Got Deep Blue Potion itself?"
She asked, curious.
Blue figure smirked enigmatically. "Actually, yes. Legends don't need it. Didn't pass it on before dying. Want it? Trade something."
Yu Yu: "…You're the stingiest legend I've met."
The legend didn't blink, as if legends were a dime a dozen in her era.
Stream: […]
Feng Ye couldn't help it. [How many legends has she met?]
Night Sovereign: [One, maybe two?]
Yu Yu never clocked her identity—pretty amusing.
Flame Sovereign mused.
Was he stingy? He'd passed Yu Yu heaps of spells.
A twinge of regret.
Xue, ecstatic, [Recipe!!!]
Feng Ye spotted a snag. [Why Deep Blue Potion? Her Constitution—high-tier's risky enough. More potions?]
Chang: [Maybe no one warned her?]
Feng Ye: [Chong.]
Sadly, before a legend—even a dead one—Chong's mental pressure left her breathless.
Her tail stilled.
Chang: [Talk later.]
The legend's quest clearly tied to Silver Moon Sky Wolves. She liked Yu Yu, maybe bonding over wolf love.
Feng Ye: [I've got more wolf scent.]
She'd hugged her pup before leaving.
Though it knocked over her cup and ink, then scampered off.
Felix: […]
After the legend's explanation, Yu Yu nodded, half-grasping. "You're worried your wolf's too dumb, still waiting at home?"
The legend sighed. "Yeah, who knew I'd die? Stuck here, I've tried escaping countless times. No clue what's outside."
"You're the first to see me," she said. "I noticed you glancing at me when you entered."
Yu Yu nodded. "Saw the exclamation mark but wasn't rushed. So you're a walking exclamation mark?"
"What mark?" the legend said. "I was just napping in a room. The academy library's my home."
"Didn't expect such perverts…" Her tone turned wistful. "Hiding in the library to fondle tails."
"Too perverse," she said. "Kids these days…"
Her gobsmacked expression held back words.
To her, Chong and Yu Yu were equally hopeless juniors.
Chong: "…"
It's not like that!
Excellency, let me explain!
It was for the golem, for the Circle!
Chong teared up.
With an Excellency present, even Gui Fan held back, but she couldn't help chuckling.
Her poor subordinate, too pitiful, haha.
Hearing the legend had a wolf, Yu Yu nearly wept with envy. "Senior, what's your wolf like?"
Felix: [?]
"Mine's dumb and stubborn," the legend fretted. "Seems clever, but I, a legend, died mysteriously. Him? Any better?"
"Didn't warn him before leaving. That pup loves pointless fights," she agonized. "Best case, he found his kin. Next best, he fled. Just don't stay…"
"Oh, what's his name?"
"Mo Ariad Silver Moon. Call him Momo."
Yu Yu ohed, "And you, Excellency?"
The legend chuckled. "Now you call me Excellency?"
"Listen well. My title: Dream of Indulgence, Hvar," she declared proudly. "Call me Excellency Dream of Indulgence!"
Yu Yu's smile froze.
Hvar… Hvar?
You're Hvar?
Stream: […]