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Short filmTranscript
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.
00:18Because I'd bonded with the brown bear, I shared its innate ability.
00:21Cold 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.
00:32They killed my bear.
00:33Then they roasted steaks right in front of me, while they ate.
00:36I 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.
00:43As the dead last student of the werewolf academy, I was always picked last.
00:47And 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.
00:54Wait!
00:55She sprinted over, clutching a small white fox kit,
00:57and shoved it into my arms without a word.
01:00Then she picked up the brown bear from its crate.
01:02You take the white fox.
01:04I want the brown bear.
01:06The entire classroom went silent.
01:08Even 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%.
01:17The brown bear's was barely 20, and it was considered a low-tier species.
01:21Mr. Harris leaned forward.
01:23Victoria, 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.
01:34My 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.
01:43If she's also stuck with a low-blood-blood brown bear, her future is basically over.
01:49The class erupted in applause.
01:52Mr. Harris nodded approvingly.
01:54You are kind. A 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. I held the white fox kit out toward her.
02:10It's fine. You don't have to swap. I actually kind of like the bear.
02:14Victoria pulled the brown bear closer to her chest.
02:17She looked at me the way someone looks when they've been wronged.
02:20If you don't have to test me, I genuinely want to trade.
02:25I'm serious. Keep it.
02:29Before I could finish, something sharp bit down on the web of my right hand.
02:34I looked down. The white fox kit had bitten me.
02:38Then the fox pressed its tiny tongue against my skin and licked it clean.
02:43The fox had initiated a blood pact with me.
02:46So 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
02:52chance.
02:52She was just scared Victoria would take it back.
02:54Never seen someone play both sides that hard before.
02:57After the blood pact locked in, the white fox went drowsy and fell asleep in my arms.
03:02I sat there, listening to the whispers and feeling my face go red.
03:06They didn't know the truth. I genuinely did not want this fox.
03:10Because I knew something none of them did.
03:12In two weeks, this beautiful, high bloodline white fox was going to be completely useless.
03:19Well, almost none of them knew. Victoria 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. We'd trusted each other completely.
03:36Now, Victoria had taken it. I could deal with losing the cold resistance.
03:40What I couldn't stand was thinking about whether the bear would be fed properly.
03:44Whether it would be treated well.
03:46I was staring at it when the bear slowly turned its head and met my eyes.
03:50Then it blinked. Once. Twice.
03:52Twice. Not once. Not three times. Twice.
03:56My chest lit up. Two blinks was a signal. A code we'd created together in our past life.
04:03The bear was using it now to tell me. It remembered. It had been reborn too.
04:08I was still exchanging glances with the bear when something warm and soft wrapped around my fingertip.
04:13I looked down. My white fox had woken up.
04:16I'm not useless.
04:18The voice was haughty. Also undeniably baby soft.
04:21And stop staring at that chunky little lowlife.
04:24I poked the fox gently. Are 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. White fox felt too generic. Little fox felt too soft.
04:37I was going to call it Your Highness.
04:40My name is Leo.
04:41It announced.
04:42You can call me Your Highnesses if you want.
04:45I flicked its forehead. Who taught you to be this dramatic?
04:49Up 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.
04:59Young kits were gentler than adults, but it was still extremely rare for a familiar to seek out a
05:05bond on its own. Everyone began attempting their bonds. Everyone except me, since I'd already been forcibly claimed by a
05:13fox.
05:14Leo, I said quietly. Why did you bond with me?
05:18I didn't like that other girl. She smells.
05:21Smells? I kept my voice low. Victoria is literally the most popular girl in school. Half the guys here would
05:30say she smells amazing.
05:32Those guys are blind.
05:34Leo said flatly.
05:35Achoo! They can't see the rod underneath.
05:39And me?
05:40Leo buried its nose in my sleeve. Its voice came out slightly strangled.
05:45You're fine. You're kind of sweet.
05:49I started scratching under Leo's chin while the class droned on.
05:53White fox fur had a reputation, and it delivered. Impossibly soft, dense like a cloud.
06:00I scratched its ears, squeezed its belly, and eventually couldn't help reaching for its tail.
06:06They say you should never touch a fox's tail. But Leo was basically a kid, so the usual rules didn't
06:13apply.
06:14The moment my hand settled on the tail, Leo went completely rigid.
06:19Through the white fur, I could see its skin flush faintly pink.
06:23Stop it! What is wrong with you?
06:25It sounded exactly like someone who'd just been caught off guard, and was deeply, mortifyingly flustered.
06:31I pulled my hand back, keeping my expression neutral.
06:35Calm down. You've got a very active imagination.
06:39Leo's eyes welled up immediately. It snapped its head away and refused to look at me.
06:44Across the room, Victoria successfully completed her binding circle.
06:47A flash of pleasure crossed her face. She directed it toward the bear.
06:52The circle activated, spinning fast around the bear.
06:56Inside 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.
07:07The 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.
07:16The 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.
07:30Leo muttered into my ribs. I was pinching its soft, borderline boneless little cheek.
07:36Me? How?
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. I kept a single mana crystal for myself.
08:04I fed everything else to Leo. 19 crystals.
08:09Leo crunched through them like chips. We hadn't even left the classroom.
08:13The class watched in disbelief.
08:16Is she serious? That's a week's worth of cultivation resources?
08:19And she just fed all of it to the fox? Did she even listen in class?
08:23Magic animals have slow growth cycles. You're not supposed to rush them.
08:26The mana crystals are supposed to be for her own cultivation.
08:29The 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.
08:40He was clearly talking about me. I smiled pleasantly.
08:43Understood, sir.
08:44Honestly, in my past life, I'd always been generous with the bear.
08:48Most students kept a 4 to 1 ratio for themselves.
08:51I split everything 50-50. Equals deserved equal shares.
08:55But this? 19 for Leo.
08:571 for me. This was something else entirely.
09:00It wasn't generosity. It was self-preservation.
09:04Because Leo and I had a blood pact.
09:06A standard equal bond meant one partner's death didn't affect the other.
09:09A blood pact was different.
09:10If Leo froze to death on day one of the apocalypse,
09:13the same way the white fox died in my past life, I died too.
09:16Leo's survival wasn't kindness. It was my only chance to live.
09:20The mana crystals were an investment in not dying.
09:24After class, students scattered to train on their own.
09:27I carried Leo toward the exit, and Victoria stepped half in front of me.
09:31I 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. You threw it away.
09:46Leo peeled open one eye from inside my arms, completely unimpressed.
09:54Victoria's composure shattered instantly. She stumbled backward.
10:00What is wrong with you? Get that disgusting thing away from me!
10:04I turned and walked away, barely holding in a laugh.
10:06The mana crystal problem was serious, though. I 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.
10:33She'd brought 20 plus workers, and they were already my main vein.
10:36I stood at the outer edge and watched them haul out crystal after crystal.
10:42Leo pressed its nose to the window. I covered Leo's eyes.
10:46Low quality crystals here. Let's go find something better.
10:49Then, from somewhere inside my head, a voice crackled to life. I stopped walking.
10:55Sis, is that you?
10:57You can do telepathy now.
11:00Well, Victoria spent serious resources on me. I can project thoughts directly.
11:05Sis, take Leo and find somewhere to rest. Once 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.
11:16A 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? You were mentally cheating on me.
11:31I grabbed it by the scruff and I squeezed one soft cheek by way of reprimand.
11:35Leo, watch your voculary.
11:38I'm not wrong. I can smell the bear on your thorns. Was that the chunky low knife?
11:43I raised an eyebrow, sharp nose. For your information, Leo continued voice climbing.
11:49When a white fox makes a blood pact with someone, that person is their bonded maid. For life.
11:54You can't have secret meetings with a brown bear.
11:58Yeah, you're a child. Do 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, a small, damp nose pressed against my cheek.
12:15Before I could react, the culprit had already retreated, voice very small.
12:20I kissed you. That means you're mine now. Nobody else is allowed to kiss you there.
12:24Leo had just made a move on me. A very small, very smug, very baby toothed move.
12:30I pulled myself together and went to find somewhere to wait.
12:32I reclined in the car with the air conditioning running, watching a nature documentary on the
12:37center screen. The documentary put me to sleep almost immediately. When I woke up, it was dark.
12:45Right on cue, the bear's voice appeared in my head.
12:49Sis, come now. They're gone.
12:52Leo was staring up at me, suspicious and accusatory. My conscience flickered.
12:57This was exactly the energy of someone who'd just been caught.
13:00We were just talking.
13:02I'm not listening. I'm not talking to you for the rest of the day.
13:05Just as the bear had said, the area was empty. All that remained was a concealment
13:10formation to hide the vein's location. The bear deactivated it from inside and poked its head out.
13:16Sis, over here.
13:18It had grown enough to speak clearly. The white fox in my arms took one look at the
13:23bear and immediately bared its teeth.
13:25Leo's going through a phase.
13:27The bear took the lead.
13:29That thing is a fake, nice snake in the grass. Get your hand off me. I'm going to bite it.
13:34I am biting it today. Riley, don't hold me back.
13:38It went on like that for a while. I didn't address it. I looked at the bear. Its aura
13:44drifted quietly around it, steady and calm. I released Leo and let it jump to the ground.
13:50Leo hit the dirt, spun around and stared at me. Its expression said it had not expected me to
13:55actually let go. It shuffled forward at approximately the speed of a very indignant caterpillar.
14:01Every few steps, it looked back at me. On its fourth look back, it hesitated.
14:06You're not stopping me? What if your little buddy gets actually hurt?
14:12I glanced at the bear's aura. After absorbing a solid hall of mana crystals,
14:17it was running at easily 50 times the observing output. Whether Leo would be
14:22the one doing the herding was very much an overwashed. It's fine. Show 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. You showed good remorse this time. I'll let the secret meeting go. But don't let it happen again.
14:51Inside the vein, the bear had divided the crystal stockpile into three piles. One very small pile for
14:58itself, a medium small pile, and a pile roughly the size of a small hill. Leo's eyes went green,
15:05literally luminous. This is all I need, sis. A voice in my head. Okay, that chunky thing is
15:12definitely not in two. Sis, this one's for your cultivation. And that one's for my little sibling.
15:19The bear pointed to the medium pile and the mountain. Riley, it does not have feelings for you.
15:24I have been worried for nothing. Run everything through the romance filter, don't you? I do not.
15:29I flicked Leo on the forehead. I said simply, Mana crystals. Leo went quiet and well-behaved
15:36immediately. If we take all of this, won't Victoria figure out it was you? She does everything I say
15:43right now. Full compliance. Victoria stared at the hollowed out vein with all the color drained from
15:50her face. You used all of it? You used every single crystal? The bear sat on its haunches,
15:56eyes wide and guileless. Under the rules of its master-servant bond, it only had to give basic
16:02responses. The truth was not required. I don't know. I was asleep all night. Maybe the vein just
16:07ran dry on its own? Victoria shook with rage. She brought her entire crew back and tore the cave
16:13apart. Not a single crystal shard remained. She stared at the bear for a long time. Something felt
16:19wrong. She could tell. But the bond formation read completely normal. The bear's cultivation aura
16:25showed no irregularity. She had no choice but to swallow it. Useless, she snapped. I just left you
16:31for a moment and you couldn't even hold off a bunch of stones. The bear let its ears droop. Internally,
16:36it was ecstatic. It sent a message to me. Sis, she tried to hit me just now. The bonds punished
16:43her for
16:43it. Hidden 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. I tugged one of its ears. Don't call
16:54the bear that. It's our teammate. It looked away, but its tail quietly curled around my wrist,
17:00warm and soft and completely involuntary. Once Victoria and her crew were gone, we slipped into
17:06the cave. The bear had already bundled the crystal stockpile with vines. Multiple bundles. Organized and
17:12ready. Sis, you should keep the little one fed for a while. Leo's eyes locked on the pile and did
17:19not
17:19move and started crunching. The sound echoed through the cave like someone eating gravel.
17:24We loaded the crystals into the car. They filled most of the trunk. The bear couldn't come with us.
17:28It had to stay and keep up the performance. Before we left, it said,
17:32Sis, the apocalypse is 10 days out. Stock up on supplies. Be careful. Don't let her spot the cracks in
17:38your act. The bear grinned in its easy, unbothered way. She does whatever I tell her. We're fine.
17:45We drove back. Leo sat in the passenger seat with a crystal in both paws, crunching contentedly,
17:51like a squirrel that had found an entire winter's worth of food in one afternoon.
17:58Watching it, I thought about the bear in my past life, always saving the best of everything for me.
18:04The shape of that care was different now, but the feeling was the same. Back in the city,
18:08I skipped my apartment and went straight to the largest supermarket. I loaded two carts with
18:14everything useful. Compressed ration bars, canned goods, bottled water, instant food.
18:21Leo rode in the cart, pointing. More 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 10 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 spent
18:50an hour hauling everything upstairs. The living room, the bedroom, the balcony. All of it stacked floor
18:56to ceiling. Leo sprawled across a pile of chocolate bars. Its tail swayed slowly. I collapsed onto the
19:02couch, completely winded. Not bad. You actually know how to shop. These are routine if only. Our survival
19:13supplies. The 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. The outdoor supply store.
19:26A tent, climbing rope, anti-slip boots. A hardware store for gas canisters and basic tools. My apartment
19:33ran out of space. I rented the unit next door and the one upstairs. Both became storage. Victoria texted
19:40a few times, cheerful and fake, asking how I was doing, casually mentioning that her brown bear had broken
19:46through to tier two. I sent her three word replies. I already knew. Everything the bear showed her
19:53was deliberate. Every breakthrough was calculated theater, designed to keep her compliant.
19:59Leo's growth was outpacing everything I'd projected. It ate crystals, slept, and woke up noticeably larger
20:06each time. It had started out the size of a kitten. Now it was halfway to the size of a
20:11medium dog.
20:12Its fur had deepened to a white so pure it was almost blinding. And its eyes had shifted from pale
20:19to a vivid, saturated crimson. The kind of beauty that made it hard to look away. Its cultivation aura
20:26was also deepening fast. Something close to tier three was stirring at the edges. I was combing through
20:32Leo's fur when it went still. Something's happening. In my bloodline, there's pressure building.
20:41My pulse jumped. The white fox in my past life had never awakened any ability at all.
20:47It died before it had the chance. Was this what happened when you gave a white fox proper resources
20:53and a blood pact? An early awakening? Don't force it, I said quietly. Let it come on its own.
21:01Leo closed its eyes. A soft white light kindled across its fur. The mana crystals around it began
21:07losing their glow, all that energy pouring steadily into Leo's body. A small spiral of concentrated mana
21:14formed around it, rotating slowly. Its fur stood up along its spine. Its tail filled out further. The
21:22individual hairs catching the light like fiber optic threads. An hour passed. The light faded.
21:29Leo opened its eyes, and there was something new in them. I awakened. What did you get?
21:35Leo tilted its chin up, tail flicking with casual superiority. A small, perfectly formed spike of
21:42ice materialized from empty air and dropped to the floor with a clean, crystalline tap. Ice manipulation
21:49and void storage. I stared. Ice manipulation. In an ice apocalypse, an ice affinity ability wasn't just
21:58useful. It was like being native to the environment everyone else was trying to survive. And void storage.
22:05One of the rarest abilities in existence. In my past life, people with spatial abilities could name
22:11their price at any base. Every faction wanted them. Leo, I said, and pulled it into a hug. I kissed
22:19the
22:19top of its head without thinking. Leo's ears went crimson. Its entire body locked up for half a second.
22:26Then it twisted away, deeply offended. Stop doing that. Its tail, however, had already wrapped around my
22:34wrist again. The same involuntary habit. I smiled and squeezed its cheek. My little highness is
22:42absolutely terrifying. We're going to be fine out there. Leo made a dismissive sound and climbed back
22:48into my lap to resume eating crystals. Three days out from the apocalypse, the temperature had already
22:54started dropping. Daytime lows were hitting negative 15. People on the street moved fast, buried in their
23:01puffer coats. News coverage was starting to pick up on the anomalous cold snaps. Experts offered competing
23:08theories. Extreme weather pattern. Greenhouse rebound effect. Nobody said what was actually happening.
23:16Nobody saw what was coming. Victoria called. She sounded casual and then deliberately didn't.
23:22Riley, my bear just hit tier 3 peak. Almost to tier 4. I'll be able to take care of myself
23:28once things
23:29get rough. A pause, pointed. How about you? Has your little fox even hit tier 1 yet?
23:37It's fine, tier 3, roughly. Silence on the other end, then a short dismissive laugh. Riley, you don't have
23:46to make things up. White fox maturation timelines are long. There's no world where it's already tier 3.
23:53Another pause. Look, if things get too hard, you can come to me. You can work for me.
23:58I'll keep you alive. I hung up. Leo was lying next to me, expression flat. She thinks tier 3 peak
24:06is
24:06impressive. It said. When I hit tier 4, I could end her or watch it. I scratched behind its ear.
24:14Don't get
24:14careless. Victoria is reckless but her family has real reach. When the apocalypse hits, she'll have
24:20numbers. We play it smart. Leo pressed its nose down onto its paws, still eating crystals. Those last
24:28three days, I didn't go out. I stayed home with Leo, and we trained together. Leo had already gotten a
24:33solid handle on his void storage. The space inside wasn't enormous, roughly the size of a basketball board,
24:39but more than sufficient for supplies. We loaded the majority of what I'd stockpiled into the board.
24:45My own cultivation was moving faster than I'd expected. The blood packed shared mana flow between
24:50us, and with the crystals on top of that, I'd pushed to tier 2 mid-level. Not close to Leo
24:56or the bear,
24:57but solidly mid-range for a human practitioner. The night before the apocalypse, the temperature had
25:03already dropped to negative 30. Outside, the snow came in heavy diagonal sheets, and the wind sounded
25:09like something screaming. I stood at the window and looked at the city disappearing under white.
25:14In my past life, I had been so afraid, so completely alone. This time, I had the bear, and I
25:21had Leo.
25:22That was enough. Leo came and pressed against my leg. Its head reached my hip now.
25:27Stop stressing. Its head. I'm here. Nobody touches you. I crouched down and pulled it close. I know.
25:35We're going to make it. The bear checked in through telepathy. Sis, Victoria and her people have
25:41retreated to her family's underground facility. Good supplies, good infrastructure. I've already made
25:47some adjustments down there. We'll figure out what that means once the apocalypse hits. Good work.
25:53Stay safe. I didn't sleep. When morning came, the world outside had ended. Negative 50 degrees. The
26:00window panes had cracked from the cold. Ice flowers blooming across the glass. Outside, cars had frozen
26:05into sculptures. People who had been caught in the streets were down and still. The power grid was
26:10gone. Communication networks were gone. The city was silent. The ice apocalypse had arrived. I layered on
26:16everything I had, pulled on my hat and gloves, held Leo against my chest, and walked out of the
26:21apartment. The wind hit my face like something solid. A burning cold that cut through even the
26:26layers. But Leo and I both had cultivation auras as a buffer. Leo's ice manipulation shaved off
26:32another layer of the cold on top of that. We could bear it. The streets were a wreck. Abandoned vehicles
26:37everywhere. Frozen bodies half buried in the drifts. Mutant beasts prowled the snow between the cars.
26:43Eyes sharp and predatory, tracking us as we passed. The apocalypse had done something to the
26:48wildlife. The extreme cold triggered genetic shifts, and what came out the other side was faster,
26:54meaner, and far more adapted to the temperature than anything that had existed before. Leo dropped
26:59out of my arms. Its body expanded in one smooth motion, doubling in size. The white fur settled,
27:05dense and wind-resistant. Its eyes locked onto the nearest creature with the calm of something that had
27:10already decided the outcome. You're looking at my person. Bad call. Its tail swept sideways. Six ice
27:17spikes launched simultaneously. They punched through the throats of the closest mutants before any of
27:22them could react. The bodies dropped and were still completely ridiculous, completely dramatic,
27:27completely reliable. We moved toward the city center. That was where the survivor base was. In my past life,
27:33the government had organized several large-scale shelters in the weeks after the apocalypse hit. The
27:38central base was the biggest and the safest. Two hours on foot. Then the base appeared through the
27:43blizzard. A ring of steel walls rising over ten meters. Soldiers posted on the upper walkways with
27:50rifles, scanning the perimeter. A crowd of survivors was already queued at the gate. We joined the line.
27:56The couple ahead of us had a baby pressed to the woman's chest. The baby was crying. The woman's face
28:01was hollow. The 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. Entry requires a resource
28:12payment. Ten pounds of food, five bottles of water, or one warm garment. No exceptions. The man's voice
28:20cracked. Everything we had was taken by a mutant pack. We have nothing left. Please. Policy is policy.
28:29The woman started crying. The baby cried loud. I'd been there before. I knew what it felt like when
28:35every door was shut and there was nothing left to bargain with. I reached into my pack and pulled
28:41out two cans and a water bottle. I held them out to the couple. Use these for your entry fee.
28:46They turned around. The woman looked at me. You're a good person. You're a good...
28:51I smiled and didn't say anything. Leo made an irritated noise beside me. You're going to keep
28:56doing this, aren't you? Helping complete strangers. We might need a stranger's help someday too.
29:03Leo said nothing more, but it didn't argue. When we reached the checkpoint, the soldier looked at
29:09Leo and went wary. Handed over five pounds of rations. Is that enough? The soldier checked it, nodded.
29:17You can go in. We were almost through the gate when a familiar voice called from behind us.
29:23Riley! I turned. Victoria was pushing through the crowd, surrounded by a cluster of people,
29:28with the brown bear walking calmly at her side. She was wearing an expensive puffer coat,
29:33her face perfectly composed and confident. Her group had weapons. I didn't expect you to make it
29:38this far. She looked me over with a slow, deliberate appraisal. I guess that fox of yours isn't
29:43completely decorative. Leo's fur went electric. Its body expanded, hackles lifting, lips pulling back.
29:50Say that again. Victoria took a step back without meaning to, then collected herself and shifted
29:55behind the bear. The bear stepped forward and positioned itself between them. It glanced at me.
30:00Its expression said, I know. I tried to stop her. She wouldn't listen. I looked back at it and gave
30:06a
30:06small signal. Not now. Too many people. What happens to us in there has nothing to do with you,
30:11I said, and pulled Leo toward the gate. Hold on. Victoria's voice sharpened. Riley,
30:16you think a tier 3 fox is enough to hold any ground in there? This base runs on strength. My
30:22bear is
30:22tier 4. That makes me the top of the food chain here. You have two options. Fall in line and
30:27work
30:27under me, or I make sure you can't move in this base without running into a wall. The crowd around
30:31the gate had started paying attention. Tier 4 was rare in the early apocalypse. People recognized what that
30:37meant. I let the moment sit for exactly one breath. Then, I looked at Leo. Leo understood
30:42without being told. Its cultivation aura detonated outward. Tier 4 pressure rolled across the gate
30:48plaza like a physical force. The snowflakes still drifting in the air simply stopped moving. The
30:54cold deepened noticeably. Several people stumbled back. Victoria's face lost its color. That's not
31:01possible. How is your fox already tier 4? Leo tilted its chin up to a frankly insufferable angle.
31:08You assumed your bear was the ceiling, embarrassing the stake. The bear chose that moment to release
31:14its own tier 4 aura alongside Leo's. Two tier 4 signatures layered together. The crowd scattered
31:20back from the gate, half of them barely staying upright. Victoria stood there, mouth open, staring
31:26between Leo and the bear. The bear, which was supposed to be hers, aligned with the girl
31:31she'd been trying to humiliate. She tried to form words, couldn't find them. I walked through the
31:36gate with Leo and the bear on either side of me, and left Victoria and her group at the entrance
31:41with
31:41whatever was left of the impression she'd tried to make. Inside, we were brought to a registration desk.
31:47Name, cultivation tier, magical animal. The soldier processing our forms looked at Leo's tier 4 listing,
31:52then at the bears, and spent a long moment saying nothing. Then the professionalism kicked back in,
31:58somewhat overcorrected. Ms. Riley, with two tier 4 familities you qualify for our highest tier
32:03accommodations. We'd like to offer you a room in the VIP wing. Independent room, heating system,
32:08full resource allocation. That works. Can I get an additional room for my companion? Of course,
32:13absolutely, right away. The soldier escorted us to the VIP wing. It was its own building near the center
32:18of the base. Inside, functioning radiators, hot water, a private bathroom, a small kitchen,
32:24a sitting area. The soldier handed me a keycard and stepped back with the careful deference usually
32:29reserved for people who could level buildings. I opened my room and started pulling supplies out of
32:34Leo's void storage, organized the space, stacked what we needed. Leo jumped onto the couch and stretched
32:39its full length, tail hanging off the edge. Finally, that walk was miserable. The bear appeared in the
32:46doorway, eyes warm. Victoria and her group got assigned to general housing. Leave her alone.
32:52Let's rest and get our bearings. Over the following days, we mapped the base. Around 5,000 survivors.
32:58The majority were civilians with no cultivation ability and no magical animal. A small fraction
33:03had some level of training and bonded mates. The base ran a strict allocation system. Resources
33:08distributed by contribution level and cultivation tier. Victoria established herself quickly. The tier 4
33:14bear was enough to pull in followers and she assembled a decent sized crew within the first
33:18week. She used them to push people around. The kind of entitlement that survives context changes
33:23because it was never really about context. One afternoon in the base cafeteria, she walked in
33:29with her group and found us eating. You have some nerve. These rations are for people who actually
33:33contribute, not passengers who coast on the strength of their magic animal. Leo set down its jerky strip.
33:38Its eyes went flat. Repeat that. Victoria was visibly unnerved but committed. I called you a passenger.
33:45Your fox got lucky hitting tier 4. That doesn't make you anything special. I set my chopsticks down,
33:49stood up and said, Then 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. Victoria's expression lit up.
34:00She'd wanted this for days. Deal. Don't cry when you lose. People crowded in from three directions.
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