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00:00On the first day of school, the teachers handed out magical animals based on grades.
00:04Valedictorian and class president Victoria didn't even hesitate.
00:07She walked straight up and grabbed the SSS tier white fox.
00:11I was dead last in the class rankings.
00:13I got assigned a single F tier brown bear.
00:16Then the ice apocalypse hit.
00:17Because I'd bonded with the brown bear, I shared its innate ability.
00:20Cold resistance.
00:22Victoria's white fox never had the chance to grow.
00:24On day one of the apocalypse, it froze to death.
00:27That wasn't the worst part.
00:28Fueled by jealousy, Victoria rallied the others and jumped me.
00:31They killed my bear.
00:32Then they roasted steaks right in front of me, while they ate.
00:35I was so overwhelmed with grief and died.
00:38When I opened my eyes again, I was back.
00:40Back to the day they handed out magical animals.
00:42As the dead last student of the werewolf academy, I was always picked last.
00:46And sure enough, the only magical animal left was the brown bear.
00:50I was reaching for it when Victoria suddenly shouted from across the room.
00:53Wait!
00:54She sprinted over, clutching a small white fox kit.
00:57And shoved it into my arms without a word.
00:59Then she picked up the brown bear from its crate.
01:02You take the white fox.
01:04I want the brown bear.
01:05The entire classroom went silent.
01:07Even Mr. Harris, our homeroom teacher, frowned.
01:10Everyone knew the white fox had the purest bloodline of any familiar in this batch.
01:14Its ancient lineage concentration was 80%.
01:16The brown bear's was barely 20, and it was considered a low-tier species.
01:20Mr. Harris leaned forward.
01:22Victoria, choosing your bonded animal isn't something to joke about.
01:26This determines your ceiling for the rest of your life.
01:30Sir, Riley needs this white fox more than I do.
01:33My grades are strong.
01:35I can train fast no matter what magical animal I bond with.
01:39But Riley's talent for cultivation is average.
01:42If she's also stuck with a low-blood-blood brown bear, her future is basically over.
01:49The class erupted in applause.
01:51Mr. Harris nodded approvingly.
01:53You are kind.
01:55A pure and selfless heart will carry you further than any familiar ever could.
02:00Then he turned to me and frowned.
02:03Why are you just standing there, thank Victoria?
02:06I blinked.
02:07I held the white fox kit out toward her.
02:10It's fine.
02:11You don't have to swap.
02:12I actually kind of like the bear.
02:13Victoria pulled the brown bear closer to her chest.
02:16She looked at me the way someone looks when they've been wronged.
02:20You don't have to test me.
02:22I genuinely want to trade.
02:25I'm serious.
02:27Keep it.
02:28Before I could finish, something sharp bit down on the web of my right hand.
02:34I looked down.
02:35The white fox kit had bitten me.
02:38Then the fox pressed its tiny tongue against my skin and licked it clean.
02:42The fox had initiated a blood pact with me.
02:45So Riley wasn't being noble after all.
02:48She said she didn't want the white fox, but she went and blood-pasted it the second she got the
02:51chance.
02:52She was just scared Victoria would take it back.
02:54Never seen someone play both sides that hard before.
02:56After the blood pact locked in, the white fox went drowsy and fell asleep in my arms.
03:01I sat there, listening to the whispers and feeling my face go red.
03:05They didn't know the truth.
03:06I genuinely did not want this fox.
03:09Because I knew something none of them did.
03:12In two weeks, this beautiful, high-bloodline white fox was going to be completely useless.
03:18Well, almost none of them knew.
03:21Victoria knew too.
03:22The moment she gave up the white fox and fought me for the brown bear, I understood.
03:26She'd been reborn, just like me.
03:28I stared at the bear tucked against Victoria's chest.
03:31I'd been so close to it in my past life.
03:33We'd trusted each other completely.
03:35Now, Victoria had taken it.
03:37I could deal with losing the cold resistance.
03:40What I couldn't stand was thinking about whether the bear would be fed properly.
03:43Whether it would be treated well.
03:45I was staring at it, when the bear slowly turned its head and met my eyes.
03:49Then it blinked.
03:51Once.
03:52Twice.
03:53Not once.
03:54Not three times.
03:55Twice.
03:56My chest lit up.
03:58Two blinks was a signal.
04:00A code we'd created together in our past life.
04:02The bear was using it now to tell me.
04:04It remembered.
04:06It had been reborn too.
04:07I was still exchanging glances with the bear when something warm and soft wrapped around my
04:12fingertip.
04:13I looked down.
04:13My white fox had woken up.
04:16I'm not useless.
04:17The voice was haughty.
04:19Also undeniably baby soft.
04:21And stop staring at that chunky little lowlife.
04:24I poked the fox gently.
04:26Are you talking?
04:27The white fox gave an imperious little sniff and rolled over in my arms.
04:31I thought about what to call it.
04:33White fox felt too generic.
04:35Little fox felt too soft.
04:36I was going to call it Your Highness.
04:39My name is Leo.
04:41It announced.
04:41You can call me Your Highnesses if you want.
04:44I flicked its forehead.
04:46Who taught you to be this dramatic?
04:48Up front, Mr. Harris was explaining how to draw binding circles on the board.
04:53Most bonds were initiated by humans since magical animals were naturally proud creatures.
04:58Young kids were gentler than adults, but it was still extremely rare for a familiar to seek
05:04out a bond on its own.
05:05Everyone began attempting their bonds.
05:08Everyone except me, since I'd already been forcibly claimed by a fox.
05:14Leo, I said quietly, why did you bond with me?
05:17I didn't like that other girl.
05:20She smells.
05:21Smells?
05:22I kept my voice low.
05:25Victoria is literally the most popular girl in school.
05:28Half the guys here would say she smells amazing.
05:31Those guys are blind.
05:33Leo said flatly.
05:35Achoo!
05:36They can't see the rod underneath.
05:38And me?
05:40Leo buried its nose in my sleeve.
05:42Its voice came out slightly strangled.
05:45You're fine.
05:46You're kind of sweet.
05:48I started scratching under Leo's chin while the class droned on.
05:53White fox fur had a reputation, and it delivered.
05:57Impossibly soft, dense like a cloud.
05:59I scratched its ears, squeezed its belly, and eventually couldn't help reaching for its tail.
06:05They say you should never touch a fox's tail.
06:09But Leo was basically a kid, so the usual rules didn't apply.
06:13The moment my hand settled on the tail, Leo went completely rigid.
06:18Through the white fur, I could see its skin flush faintly pink.
06:22Stop it!
06:23What is wrong with you?
06:24It sounded exactly like someone who'd just been caught off guard, and was deeply, mortifyingly
06:30flustered.
06:31I pulled my hand back, keeping my expression neutral.
06:35Calm down.
06:36You've got a very active imagination.
06:38Leo's eyes welled up immediately.
06:40It snapped its head away and refused to look at me.
06:43Across the room, Victoria successfully completed her binding circle.
06:47A flash of pleasure crossed her face.
06:50She directed it toward the bear.
06:52The circle activated, spinning fast around the bear.
06:55Inside the light, the bear quietly reached out and made two small adjustments to the formation.
07:01The standard equal bond shifted, without a sound, into a master-servant bond.
07:06The bear was the master, Victoria was the servant.
07:10It was a technique we'd discovered together in a ruin, years ago in another life.
07:15The bear was now using it to put a leash on Victoria.
07:19The bear caught my eye across the room, satisfied, proud of itself.
07:24Under the table, I gave it a thumbs up.
07:27You are so manipulative.
07:29Leo muttered into my ribs.
07:31I was pinching its soft, borderline boneless little cheek.
07:35Me?
07:36How?
07:37You touched my tail, and then stared at that chunky lowlife for five whole minutes.
07:43You were making eyes at it.
07:45Leo's voice was escalating toward genuine grievance.
07:48I added another item to my mental description of it, prone to completely unhinged jealousy.
07:55After class ended, Mr. Harris handed out cultivation supplies.
07:59One week's worth per student.
08:01I kept a single mana crystal for myself.
08:04I fed everything else to Leo.
08:07Nineteen crystals.
08:08Leo crunched through them like chips.
08:11We hadn't even left the classroom.
08:13The class watched in disbelief.
08:15Is she serious?
08:17That's a week's worth of cultivation resources, and she just fed all of it to the fox?
08:21Did she even listen in class?
08:22Magic animals have slow growth cycles.
08:24You're not supposed to rush them.
08:26The mana crystals are supposed to be for her own cultivation.
08:28The white fox bonded with her for nothing.
08:31Some students should note, mana crystal applications are limited.
08:37The school won't give you more if you waste them.
08:39He was clearly talking about me.
08:41I smiled pleasantly.
08:42Understood, sir.
08:43Honestly, in my past life, I'd always been generous with the bear.
08:47Most students kept a 4 to 1 ratio for themselves.
08:50I split everything 50-50.
08:52Equals deserved equal shares.
08:54But this?
08:55Nineteen for Leo.
08:56One for me.
08:57This was something else entirely.
09:00It wasn't generosity.
09:02It was self-preservation.
09:03Because Leo and I had a blood pact.
09:05A standard equal bond meant one partner's death didn't affect the other.
09:08A blood pact was different.
09:10If Leo froze to death on day one of the apocalypse, the same way the white fox died in my
09:14past life, I died too.
09:16Leo's survival wasn't kindness.
09:18It was my only chance to live.
09:20The mana crystals were an investment in not dying.
09:23After class, students scattered to train on their own.
09:26I carried Leo toward the exit, and Victoria stepped half in front of me.
09:30I know you've been reborn too, she said.
09:33This time, the cold resistance belongs to me.
09:37Then I hope you enjoy it.
09:39You and your useless little fox can look forward to freezing on day one.
09:43I gave you a chance to be useful to me.
09:45You threw it away.
09:46Leo peeled open one eye from inside my arms, completely unimpressed.
09:53Victoria's composure shattered instantly.
09:56She stumbled backward.
10:00What is wrong with you?
10:01Get that disgusting thing away from me!
10:03I turned and walked away, barely holding in a laugh.
10:06The mana crystal problem was serious, though.
10:08I needed a massive supply, and I needed it fast.
10:11I was thinking about it, absently pulling at Leo's fur, when I remembered.
10:16Before the ice apocalypse hit in my past life, a news outlet had exposed a small mana vein.
10:21Based on timing, nobody should have found it yet.
10:25When I reached the rough coordinates I'd memorized, Victoria was already there.
10:32She'd brought 20-plus workers, and they were already mining the vein.
10:36I stood at the outer edge and watched them haul out crystal after crystal.
10:41Leo pressed its nose to the window.
10:44I covered Leo's eyes.
10:45Low quality crystals here.
10:47Let's go find something better.
10:49Then, from somewhere inside my head, a voice crackled to life.
10:53I stopped walking.
10:55Sis, is that you?
10:57You can do telepathy now.
10:59Well, Victoria spent serious resources on me.
11:02I can project thoughts directly.
11:05Sis, take Leo and find somewhere to rest.
11:08Once they're done mining and clear out, I'll call you back.
11:12I finished the mental exchange and came back to the present moment.
11:15A very large, very imperious fox face was approximately two inches from my nose.
11:22Leo had both front paws planted on my shoulders.
11:26What were you doing just now?
11:28You were mentally cheating on me.
11:30I grabbed it by the scruff and I squeezed one soft cheek by way of reprimand.
11:35Leo, watch your voculary.
11:37I'm not wrong.
11:39I can smell the bear on your thorns.
11:41Was that the chunky low knife?
11:43I raised an eyebrow, sharp nose.
11:45For your information, Leo continued voice climbing.
11:48When a white fox makes a blood pact with someone, that person is their bonded maid.
11:53For life.
11:54You can't have secret meetings with a brown bear.
11:57Yeah, you're a child.
11:59Do you even know what partner means?
12:01Leo's eyes immediately filled with tears that refused to actually fall.
12:04It waved its tiny paws in what appeared to be an angry, thrashing, swimming motion.
12:09I leaned forward and stuck my tongue out at it.
12:11A small, damp nose pressed against my cheek.
12:14Before I could react, the culprit had already retreated.
12:17Voice very small.
12:19I kissed you.
12:20That means you're mine now.
12:22Nobody else is allowed to kiss you there.
12:24Leo had just made a move on me.
12:26A very small, very smug, very baby-toothed move.
12:29I pulled myself together and went to find somewhere to wait.
12:32I reclined in the car with the air conditioning running,
12:35watching a nature documentary on the center screen.
12:37The documentary put me to sleep almost immediately.
12:41When I woke up, it was dark.
12:45Right on cue, the bear's voice appeared in my head.
12:48Sis, come now.
12:50They're gone.
12:51Leo was staring up at me, suspicious and accusatory.
12:55My conscience flickered.
12:56This was exactly the energy of someone who'd just been caught.
13:00We were just talking.
13:01I'm not listening.
13:02I'm not talking to you for the rest of the day.
13:05Just as the bear had said, the area was empty.
13:08All that remained was a concealment formation to hide the vein's location.
13:12The bear deactivated it from inside and poked its head out.
13:16Sis, over here.
13:17It had grown enough to speak through.
13:20The white fox in my arms took one look at the bear and immediately bared its teeth.
13:24Leo's going through a phase.
13:27The bear took the lead.
13:28That thing is a fake, nice snake in the grass.
13:32Get your hand off me.
13:33I'm going to bite it.
13:34I am biting it today.
13:36Riley, don't hold me back.
13:38It went on like that for a while.
13:40I didn't address it.
13:42I looked at the bear.
13:43Its aura drifted quietly around it, steady and calm.
13:47I released Leo and let it jump to the ground.
13:50Leo hit the dirt, spun around, and stared at me.
13:53Its expression said it had not expected me to actually let go.
13:56It shuffled forward at approximately the speed of a very indignant caterpillar.
14:01Every few steps, it looked back at me.
14:03On its fourth look back, it hesitated.
14:06You're not stopping me?
14:08What if your little buddy gets actually hurt?
14:12I glanced at the bear's aura.
14:14After absorbing a solid hall of mana crystals,
14:16it was running at easily 50 times Leo's current output.
14:20Whether Leo would be the one doing the hurting was very much an overwatch.
14:25It's fine.
14:26Show me what you've got.
14:28If you win, you'll have my full and undivided attention forever.
14:33Leo glanced at the bear, felt the weight of that aura, thought about it very carefully.
14:39Slowly, reluctantly, it walked back and sat down next to my feet.
14:43Fine.
14:44You showed good remorse this time.
14:47I'll let the secret meeting go, but don't let it happen again.
14:50Inside the vein, the bear had divided the crystal stockpile into three piles.
14:55One very small pile for itself, a medium small pile, and a pile roughly the size of a small hill.
15:03Leo's eyes went green, literally luminous.
15:06This is all I need, sis.
15:08A voice in my head.
15:10Okay, that chunky thing is definitely not in two.
15:13Sis, this one's for your cultivation, and that one's for my little sibling.
15:18The bear pointed to the medium pile and the mountain.
15:21Riley, it does not have feelings for you. I have been worried for nothing.
15:25Run everything through the romance filter, don't you?
15:28I do not.
15:29I flicked Leo on the forehead. I said simply,
15:32Mana crystals.
15:33Leo went quiet and well-behaved immediately.
15:36If we take all of this, won't Victoria figure out it was you?
15:41She does everything I say right now.
15:44Full compliance.
15:46Victoria stared at the hollowed out vein with all the color drained from her face.
15:50You used all of it? You used every single crystal?
15:54The bear sat on its haunches, eyes wide and guileless.
15:57Under the rules of its master-servant bond, it only had to give basic responses.
16:02The truth was not required.
16:03I don't know. I was asleep all night. Maybe the vein just ran dry on its own?
16:08Victoria shook with rage. She brought her entire crew back and tore the cave apart.
16:13Not a single crystal shard remained. She stared at the bear for a long time.
16:18Something felt wrong. She could tell. But the bond formation read completely normal.
16:23The bear's cultivation aura showed no irregularity. She had no choice but to swallow it.
16:28Useless, she snapped.
16:30I just left you for a moment and you couldn't even hold off a bunch of stones.
16:34The bear let its ears droop. Internally, it was ecstatic. It sent a message to me.
16:39Sis, she tried to hit me just now. The bonds punished her for it.
16:43Hidden in the brush nearby, I pressed my face into Leo's fur to muffle my laughter.
16:49Good. She tried to steal from us. The traitor earned it.
16:51I tugged one of its ears. Don't call the bear that. It's our teammate.
16:56It looked away. But its tail quietly curled around my wrist.
17:00Warm and soft and completely involuntary.
17:03Once Victoria and her crew were gone, we slipped into the cave.
17:06The bear had already bundled the crystal stockpile with vines.
17:10Multiple bundles. Organized and ready.
17:12Sis, these should keep the little one fed for a while.
17:16Leo's eyes locked on the pile and did not move, and started crunching.
17:20The sound echoed through the cave like someone eating gravel.
17:24We loaded the crystals into the car. They filled most of the trunk.
17:27The bear couldn't come with us. It had to stay and keep up the performance.
17:30Before we left, it said,
17:31Sis! The apocalypse is ten days out! Stock up on supplies!
17:35Be careful. Don't let her spot the cracks in your act.
17:40The bear grinned in its easy, unbothered way.
17:43She does whatever I tell her. We're fine.
17:45We drove back.
17:46Leo sat in the passenger seat with a crystal in both paws,
17:49crunching contentedly, like a squirrel that had found an entire winter's worth of food in one afternoon.
17:57Watching it, I thought about the bear in my past life, always saving the best of everything for me.
18:03The shape of that care was different now, but the feeling was the same.
18:07Back in the city, I skipped my apartment and went straight to the largest supermarket ever.
18:11I loaded two carts with everything useful. Compressed ration bars, canned goods, bottled water,
18:20instant food. Leo rode in the cart, pointing,
18:23More of those chocolate ones and the meat jerky, the spiced kind.
18:27I loaded both. The store staff watched me with visible unease. I didn't slow down. In ten days,
18:33none of this would matter to them anyway. Beyond food and water, I grabbed thermal underlayers,
18:38sleeping bags, flashlights, batteries, lighters, a few sharp kitchen knives, a hand axe, anything with
18:44practical value in sustained sub-zero conditions. Two full carts. I drove home to my apartment and
18:50spent an hour hauling everything upstairs. The living room, the bedroom, the balcony. All of it
18:54stacked floor to ceiling. Leo sprawled across a pile of chocolate bars. Its tail swayed slowly.
19:00I collapsed onto the couch, completely winded.
19:05Not bad. You actually know how to shop.
19:10These are retinop only. Our survival supplies.
19:13The next several days, I took Leo to different locations every day and kept stocking up.
19:18The pharmacy. Cold medicine, fever reducers, antibiotics, bandages, antiseptic.
19:24The outdoor supply store. A tent, climbing rope, anti-slip boots. A hardware store for gas
19:30canisters and basic tools. My apartment ran out of space. I rented the unit next door and the one
19:36upstairs. Both became storage. Victoria texted a few times, cheerful and fake, asking how I was doing,
19:43casually mentioning that her brown bear had broken through to tier two. I sent her three word replies.
19:49I already knew. Everything the bear showed her was deliberate. Every breakthrough was calculated
19:56theater, designed to keep her compliant. Leo's growth was outpacing everything I'd projected.
20:02It ate crystals, slept, and woke up noticeably larger each time. It had started out the size of a kitten.
20:08Now it was halfway to the size of a medium dog. Its fur had deepened to a white so pure
20:15it was almost
20:15blinding. And its eyes had shifted from pale to a vivid, saturated crimson. The kind of beauty that
20:22made it hard to look away. Its cultivation aura was also deepening fast. Something close to tier three
20:29was stirring at the edges. I was combing through Leo's fur when it went still. Something's happening.
20:37In my bloodline, there's pressure building. My pulse jumped. The white fox in my past life had never
20:45awakened any ability at all. It died before it had the chance. Was this what happened when you gave a
20:51white fox proper resources and a blood pact? An early awakening? Don't force it, I said quietly.
20:58Let it come on its own. Leo closed its eyes. A soft, white light kindled across its fur. The mana
21:05crystals around it began losing their glow, all that energy pouring steadily into Leo's body. A small
21:12spiral of concentrated mana formed around it, rotating slowly. Its fur stood up along its spine. Its tail
21:20filled out further, the individual hairs catching the light like fiber-optic threads. An hour passed.
21:27The light faded. Leo opened its eyes, and there was something new in them. I awakened.
21:33What did you get? Leo tilted its chin up, tail flicking with casual superiority. A small,
21:40perfectly formed spike of ice materialized from empty air and dropped to the floor with a clean,
21:46crystalline tap. Ice manipulation and void storage. I stared. Ice manipulation. In an ice apocalypse,
21:55an ice affinity ability wasn't just useful. It was like being native to the environment everyone else
22:01was trying to survive. And void storage. One of the rarest abilities in existence. In my past life,
22:08people with spatial abilities could name their price at any base. Every faction wanted them.
22:15Leo, I said, and pulled it into a hug. I kissed the top of its head without thinking. Leo's ears
22:21went
22:22crimson. Its entire body locked up for half a second. Then it twisted away, deeply offended.
22:28Stop doing that. Its tail, however, had already wrapped around my wrist again. The same involuntary
22:36habit. I smiled and squeezed its cheek. My little highness is absolutely terrifying. We're going to be
22:44fine out there. Leo made a dismissive sound and climbed back into my lap to resume eating crystals.
22:50Three days out from the apocalypse, the temperature had already started dropping. Daytime lows were hitting
22:57negative 15. People on the street moved fast, buried in their puffer coats. News coverage was starting
23:04to pick up on the anomalous cold snaps. Experts offered competing theories. Extreme weather pattern.
23:10Greenhouse rebound effect. Nobody said what was actually happening. Nobody saw what was coming.
23:18Victoria called. She sounded casual and then deliberately didn't.
23:21Riley, my bear just hit tier 3 peak. Almost to tier 4. I'll be able to take care of myself
23:28once things get
23:29rough. A pause pointed. How about you? Has your little fox even hit tier 1 yet? It's fine. Tier 3,
23:38roughly.
23:40Silence on the other end. Then a short, dismissive laugh. Riley, you don't have to make things up.
23:46White fox maturation timelines are long. There's no world where it's already tier 3.
23:52Another pause. Look, if things get too hard, you can come to me. You can work for me. I'll keep
23:59you alive. I hung up.
24:01Leo was lying next to me, expression flat. She thinks tier 3 peak is impressive, it said.
24:07When I hit tier 4, I could end her or launch it. I scratched behind its ear. Don't get careless.
24:15Victoria is reckless, but her family has real reach. When the apocalypse hits, she'll have numbers. We play it smart.
24:22Leo pressed its nose down onto its paws, still eating crystals. Those last three days, I didn't go out.
24:29I stayed home with Leo and we trained together. Leo had already gotten a solid handle on void storage.
24:35The space inside wasn't enormous, roughly the size of a basketball board, but more than sufficient for supplies.
24:42We loaded the majority of what I'd stockpiled into the board. My own cultivation was moving faster than I'd expected.
24:48The blood pack shared mana flow between us, and with the crystals on top of that, I'd pushed to tier
24:532 mid-level.
24:55Not close to Leo or the bear, but solidly mid-range for a human practitioner.
24:59The night before the apocalypse, the temperature had already dropped to negative 30. Outside, the snow came in heavy, diagonal
25:07sheets, and the wind sounded like something screaming.
25:10I stood at the window and looked at the city disappearing under white. In my past life, I had been
25:15so afraid, so completely alone.
25:18This time, I had the bear, and I had Leo. That was enough. Leo came and pressed against my leg.
25:25Its head reached my hip now.
25:27Stop stressing.
25:29It said.
25:30I'm here. Nobody touches you.
25:32I crouched down and pulled it close.
25:34I know. We're going to make it.
25:36The bear checked in through telepathy.
25:38Sis, Victoria and her people have retreated to her family's underground facility. Good supplies. Good infrastructure. I've already made some
25:47adjustments down there.
25:48We'll figure out what that means once the apocalypse hits.
25:51Good work. Stay safe.
25:54I didn't sleep.
25:55When morning came, the world outside had ended. Negative 50 degrees.
25:59The window panes had cracked from the cold. Ice flowers blooming across the glass. Outside, cars had frozen into sculptures.
26:06People who had been caught in the streets were down and still. The power grid was gone. Communication networks were
26:12gone.
26:12The city was silent. The ice apocalypse had arrived.
26:15I layered on everything I had, pulled on my hat and gloves, held Leo against my chest, and walked out
26:21of the apartment.
26:22The wind hit my face like something solid. A burning cold that cut through even the layers.
26:26But Leo and I both had cultivation auras as a buffer.
26:29Leo's ice manipulation shaved off another layer of the cold on top of that. We could bear it.
26:34The streets were a wreck. Abandoned vehicles everywhere. Frozen bodies half buried in the drifts.
26:40Mutant beasts prowled the snow between the cars. Eyes sharp and predatory, tracking us as we passed.
26:46The apocalypse had done something to the wildlife. The extreme cold triggered genetic shifts, and what came out the other
26:52side was faster, meaner,
26:54and far more adapted to the temperature than anything that had existed before.
26:58Leo dropped out of my arms. Its body expanded in one smooth motion, doubling in size.
27:03The white fur settled, dense and wind-resistant. Its eyes locked onto the nearest creature with the calm of something
27:09that had already decided the outcome.
27:11You're looking at my person. Bad call.
27:14Its tail swept sideways. Six ice spikes launched simultaneously. They punched through the throats of the closest mutants before any
27:22of them could react.
27:23The bodies dropped and were still. Completely ridiculous. Completely dramatic. Completely reliable. We moved toward the city center. That was
27:30where the survivor base was.
27:31In my past life, the government had organized several large-scale shelters in the weeks after the apocalypse hit.
27:37The central base was the biggest and the safest.
27:40Two hours on foot. Then the base appeared through the blizzard. A ring of steel walls rising over ten meters.
27:47Soldiers posted on the upper walkways with rifles, scanning the perimeter.
27:51A crowd of survivors was already queued at the gate. We joined the line.
27:55The couple ahead of us had a baby pressed to the woman's chest. The baby was crying. The woman's face
28:01was hollow.
28:02The man looked like he hadn't slept in days. The woman said to the soldier at the checkpoint.
28:07She hasn't eaten in three days. The soldier's expression didn't move.
28:11Entry requires a resource payment. Ten pounds of food, five bottles of water, or one warm garment. No exceptions.
28:18The man's voice cracked. Everything we had was taken by a mutant pack. We have nothing left. Please.
28:27Policy is policy. The woman started crying. The baby cried laughing. I'd been there before.
28:33I knew what it felt like when every door was shut and there was nothing left to bargain with.
28:38I reached into my pack and pulled out two cans and a water bottle. I held them out to the
28:43couple.
28:43Use these for your entry fee. They turned around. The woman looked at me.
28:49You're a good person. You're a good-
28:51I smiled and didn't say anything. Leo made an irritated noise beside me.
28:55You're going to keep doing this, aren't you? Helping complete strangers.
29:00We might need a stranger's help someday too.
29:03Leo said nothing more. But it didn't argue.
29:06When we reached the checkpoint, the soldier looked at Leo and went wary. Handed over five pounds of rations.
29:13Is that enough?
29:14The soldier checked it. Nodded.
29:16You can go in.
29:17We were almost through the gate when a familiar voice called from behind us.
29:22Riley!
29:23I turned. Victoria was pushing through the crowd, surrounded by a cluster of people, with the brown bear walking calmly
29:30at her side.
29:30She was wearing an expensive puffer coat, her face perfectly composed and confident. Her group had weapons.
29:37I didn't expect you to make it this far.
29:38She looked me over with a slow, deliberate appraisal.
29:41I guess that fox of yours isn't completely decorative.
29:44Leo's fur went electric. Its body expanded, hackles lifting, lips pulling back.
29:49Say that again.
29:51Victoria took a step back without meaning to, then collected herself and shifted behind the bear.
29:56The bear stepped forward and positioned itself between them. It glanced at me. Its expression said,
30:01I know. I tried to stop her. She wouldn't listen.
30:04I looked back at it and gave a small signal. Not now. Too many people.
30:08What happens to us in there has nothing to do with you, I said, and pulled Leo toward the gate.
30:13Hold on. Victoria's voice sharpened.
30:15Riley, you think a tier 3 fox is enough to hold any ground in there? This base runs on strength.
30:21My bear is tier 4. That makes me the top of the food chain here.
30:24You have two options. Fall in line and work under me, or I make sure you can't move in this
30:29base without running into a wall.
30:30The crowd around the gate had started paying attention.
30:32Tier 4 was rare in the early apocalypse. People recognized what that meant.
30:37I let the moment sit for exactly one breath. Then, I looked at Leo.
30:41Leo understood without being told. Its cultivation aura detonated outward.
30:46Tier 4 pressure rolled across the gate plaza like a physical force.
30:50The snowflakes still drifting in the air simply stopped moving.
30:53The cold deepened noticeably. Several people stumbled back.
30:57Victoria's face lost its color.
30:59That's not possible. How is your fox already tier 4?
31:04Leo tilted its chin up to a frankly insufferable angle.
31:08You assumed your bear was the ceiling, embarrassing the stake.
31:11The bear chose that moment to release its own tier 4 aura alongside Leo's.
31:16Two tier 4 signatures layered together.
31:19The crowd scattered back from the gate, half of them barely staying upright.
31:23Victoria stood there, mouth open, staring between Leo and the bear.
31:27The bear, which was supposed to be hers, aligned with the girl she'd been trying to humiliate.
31:33She tried to form words, couldn't find them.
31:35I walked through the gate with Leo and the bear on either side of me, and left Victoria and her
31:40group at the entrance with whatever was left of the impression she'd tried to make.
31:44Inside, we were brought to a registration desk. Name, cultivation tier, magical animal.
31:49The soldier processing our forms looked at Leo's tier 4 listing, then at the bears, and spent a long moment
31:54saying nothing.
31:55Then, the professionalism kicked back in, somewhat overcorrected.
31:59Ahem. Ms. Riley, with two tier 4 familities you qualify for our highest tier accommodations.
32:04We'd like to offer you a room in the VIP wing. Independent room, heating system, full resource allocation.
32:09That works. Can I get an additional room for my companion?
32:12Of course. Absolutely. Right away.
32:14A soldier escorted us to the VIP wing.
32:16It was its own building, near the center of the base.
32:19Inside, functioning radiators, hot water, a private bathroom, a small kitchen, a sitting area.
32:25The soldier handed me a keycard and stepped back with the careful deference usually reserved for people who could level
32:30buildings.
32:31I opened my room and started pulling supplies out of Leo's void storage.
32:35Organized the space, stacked what we needed.
32:37Leo jumped onto the couch and stretched its full length, tail hanging off the edge.
32:42Finally, that walk was miserable.
32:44The bear appeared in the doorway, eyes warm.
32:47Victoria and her group got assigned to general housing.
32:50Leave her alone. Let's rest and get our bearings.
32:53Over the following days, we mapped the base.
32:55Around 5,000 survivors.
32:57The majority were civilians with no cultivation ability and no magical animal.
33:02A small fraction had some level of training and bonded mates.
33:05The base ran a strict allocation system.
33:07Resources distributed by contribution level and cultivation tier.
33:11Victoria established herself quickly.
33:13The tier 4 bear was enough to pull in followers and she assembled a decent sized crew within the first
33:18week.
33:18She used them to push people around.
33:20The kind of entitlement that survives context changes because it was never really about context.
33:26One afternoon in the base cafeteria, she walked in with her group and found us eating.
33:30You have some nerve.
33:31These rations are for people who actually contribute, not passengers who coast on the strength of their magic animal.
33:36Leo set down its jerky strip. Its eyes went flat.
33:39Repeat that.
33:40Victoria was visibly unnerved, but committed.
33:43I called you a passenger. Your fox got lucky hitting tier 4. That doesn't make you anything special.
33:47I set my chopsticks down, stood up and said,
33:50Then let's settle it. If you win, I don't set foot in this cafeteria again.
33:54If I win, you leave the base and stop terrorizing everyone in it.
33:58Victoria's expression lit up.
34:00She'd wanted this for days.
34:02Deal!
34:03Don't cry when you lose.
34:05People crowded in from three directions.
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