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ENG Reborn - Bound to the Peerless White Fox
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Short filmTranscript
00:02I took my sister's white fox during the bonding rite.
00:06Your power is exceptional.
00:08This fox barely registers on the scale.
00:11Give it to your sister.
00:13In my past life, I chose the powerful white tiger.
00:17When the demon lord came, he left me to die.
00:20I was badly wounded.
00:22I begged him for the last healing elixir.
00:25He gave it to my sister instead.
00:27So this time around, I choose to let them be together.
00:31I was reborn right before the bonding ceremony.
00:34I am the most powerful one in our clan and have the right to choose first.
00:38The creatures gathered from across the land were all exceptional.
00:42But the white tiger stood above the rest.
00:45He wore a collar, never bowing to me, even in chains.
00:49Then my sister Luna came bouncing in, cradling a limp white fox.
00:54Luna had barely started her training.
00:57She could have skipped this ceremony entirely.
01:00Luna hugged the white fox and cried.
01:03Because he was dissatisfied with the fox he'd been assigned.
01:07The white tiger's heart ached for her deeply.
01:09Saying he only wanted to form a pact with Luna, the elder cleared his throat.
01:14Luna, you've barely trained.
01:17Even if the tiger chose you, you wouldn't be able to handle him.
01:21That was when I stood up and said,
01:24Elder, I appreciate your consideration.
01:27I find I'm fonder of this white fox.
01:30The white tiger clearly favors Luna too.
01:33How about we swap instead?
01:34They pulled me aside.
01:36Clara, this tiger is far more powerful than the fox.
01:40My name is Clara Ashvale, one of the four great families of the Eastern Reaches.
01:45I was ten years old when the demon horde first came.
01:48My parents died holding the line.
02:00For I possess stronger spiritual power, and then more beloved within the clan.
02:06But the tiger ignored me.
02:07I'd never been rejected before.
02:09Not once in my life.
02:11I threw everything I had at him.
02:13So I took mission.
02:14Hunted rogue demons.
02:16Came back injured almost every time.
02:19The tiger noticed nothing.
02:21He only appeared when I brought out elixirs.
02:23Took what he wanted, and walked away.
02:26I spent 20 years on him.
02:28And eventually, he took human form.
02:31Tall and striking.
02:32Yet he still refuses to speak much to me.
02:35Only coming when he needs something.
02:37I told myself it was normal.
02:39Strong creatures had pride.
02:40He'd come around eventually.
02:42Then one evening, I came home exhausted.
02:45And saw him watching my sister's profile with something like reverence.
02:50I was still reeling when an elder walked past and caught sight of them in the distance.
02:54Clara, when you go out on contracts, stop sending your sister to look after the tiger.
02:59He's clearly more attached to her now.
03:02You need to be careful.
03:05I never ask Luna to look after the tiger.
03:08She comes every time you leave.
03:10Says you asked her to.
03:11Doesn't she have her own bonded creature?
03:13That fox?
03:14It passed away in its second year.
03:16You didn't know?
03:17I hadn't known.
03:18I'd spent 20 years building someone else's happiness.
03:21I began targeting Luna.
03:23I hated her.
03:24That enraged the white tiger.
03:26He colluded with the demon.
03:28Opened our clan's protective wards from the inside.
03:31Left me to face the invasion alone.
03:34When I was badly wounded and begged him for the only healing elixir we had left.
03:39He gave it to Luna.
03:40Who had a scratch.
03:42This time, I want to see how long it will take him to take human form without me.
03:47The elder was unwilling to grant the mighty white tiger to an inexperienced young woman.
03:52Yet the tiger would only bow before Luna.
03:55He sighed and ordered the ceremony begin.
03:59The ceremony startled the white fox.
04:01The white fox in my arms fainted the moment the ceremony ended.
04:05Luna completed her bond with the tiger.
04:07You and that little fox really do suit each other, Clara.
04:11Luna, if your sister hadn't yielded to you, how could you have gotten this white tiger?
04:16You should be on your knees thanking her.
04:18Oh, she's crying again.
04:20Always with the tears.
04:21Like she's the one who suffered.
04:22The white tiger wanted to stand up for Luna.
04:25Yet he possessed no power right after bonding with her.
04:28The elders had built my residence himself, ringed with good cultivation energy.
04:34Luna had once tried to move in.
04:36He'd turned her away, citing my training as the reason.
04:39As soon as we entered the room, I began to observe the white fox.
04:43He looked different from any I had seen before, with a wisp of red fur on his head and an
04:49unusually
04:50large tail.
04:51My courtyard had a natural spring, warm with cultivation energy.
04:56I set him in it and watched him wake up instantly, floating on his back, drinking in the warmth.
05:02I laughed.
05:04Aren't you afraid I'll hurt you?
05:06The fox stared at me, then gave his small head a solemn shake.
05:10All right, rest here and recover.
05:14You're not going anywhere.
05:16I can handle you.
05:17The next morning, something woke me wrong.
05:20I opened my eyes and saw a handsome face.
05:24Pale skin, dark lashes.
05:26He was also asleep, arms around me.
05:29He had gotten in without waking me, which meant his power was well above mine.
05:34Who are you?
05:35How did you get in here?
05:36I scrambled to the edge of the bed.
05:38He sat up slowly, noticed the clothes he was wearing, and looked faintly amused.
05:43Before I could react, he pulled me into his arms.
05:47He said,
05:48I have a name.
05:49His eyes drifting down to meet mine.
05:52It's Ash.
05:53Like he was about to kiss me any second.
05:56It turned out Ash met the Elder when he was severely injured and was taken back by him.
06:01I stared at him.
06:03Please tell me whoever hurt you isn't coming here looking for revenge.
06:06We're bonded now, Master.
06:08I suggest you train hard and do your best to keep up.
06:11Ash laughed.
06:12He was genuinely useful, as it turned out.
06:16I had a fire affinity.
06:17He complimented it perfectly.
06:20He produced a cultivation manual from somewhere.
06:23Fire techniques.
06:24And good ones.
06:25Two days of work and I could already feel the difference.
06:29Every time Ash practiced cultivation with me, he took off his top.
06:33His fair skin always made me lose focus.
06:36One afternoon, Luna called my name from outside the gate.
06:40I dragged my attention away from Ash and went out.
06:44Luna stepped into the courtyard without waiting and stopped dead when she saw him.
06:49She stared him.
06:50Ash stood, dressed properly in seconds, and settled a robe around my shoulders without being asked.
06:57Who is this?
06:57Luna's gaze didn't move.
06:59You don't recognize him?
07:00The fox.
07:02From the bonding ceremony.
07:03You said yourself we were suited for each other.
07:06I think you were right.
07:07I smiled pleasantly.
07:09What do you want?
07:10We're in the middle of training.
07:14I was hoping we could raise the tiger together.
07:17I can't afford to keep up with his needs on my own.
07:19If we shared the work, what exactly makes this my problem?
07:23You're the one who gave him to me.
07:24You could have kept him.
07:25You chose not to.
07:26That means you owe me.
07:28I owe you nothing.
07:30Yeah.
07:30Half a year and every LXMR I had is gone.
07:33There's nothing left for my own training.
07:35I'm at the bottom ranks.
07:41No, you can't.
07:43Little sister, don't mistake me for a fool.
07:46I'm not funding your creature for you.
07:48If you can't afford him, bring it to the elder.
07:51Let someone else take the tiger.
07:53I'm sure he'd prefer a partner who could actually keep pace.
07:56She'd never do that.
07:57Where were we?
07:59Weeks passed.
08:00I broke through to a new cultivation stage.
08:03The Great Elder dispatched me on an assignment alongside Elder Margaret to handle a demon
08:09outbreak in the Lowlands.
08:11I handled them all before Margaret to intervene.
08:14On the way back, she suddenly laughed.
08:17Clara, you should hurry home.
08:19Your little fox is waiting for you.
08:22She vanished.
08:24I hadn't finished processing what she'd said before Ash appeared in front of me.
08:29I reached out and touched his cheek.
08:31What's wrong?
08:35Clara Ashvale, why are you trying to get rid of me?
08:39Is it something I did?
08:40Or have you found someone new?
08:43What are you talking about?
08:45Your sister came by yesterday.
08:47Said you sent her to look after me.
08:49He started to show teeth.
08:52I flicked his forehead.
08:53He recoiled, then immediately looked betrayed.
08:57You betray me first and then hit me?
08:59I'm going to say this once.
09:01I am not reconsidering anything.
09:04And I have no idea why Luna told you that.
09:06What I do know is that I never asked her to come near you.
09:11Understood?
09:16We ran into a group of younger clan members on the way.
09:19I asked why they'd turn back.
09:21Luna cleared everyone out.
09:25Let's go.
09:28You're going to lecture me about picking fights and then drag me directly into one?
09:32We found them mid-argument.
09:34Or rather, Luna was arguing.
09:36The tiger couldn't speak.
09:38He'd never broken through to human form.
09:40So he was expressing himself through sheer body language.
09:44And none of it was agreeable.
09:46What is wrong with you?
09:48I didn't force you to come here.
09:50You said this place would help you advance.
09:52I've given you every elixir I have and you still can't even talk to me.
09:57You want me to go hunting rogue demons?
09:59I just started training.
10:01You'd be sending me to die.
10:02Clara's fox has been in human form for months and you can't even answer a question.
10:07What exactly are you doing with yourself?
10:10I heard the tiger's version of a response.
10:13A low rumble.
10:15In my past life, he'd never once spoken to me with anything resembling patience.
10:21Watching him endure Luna's outburst without walking away was a strange thing.
10:28Luna, there you are.
10:31Lyra, what brings you out here?
10:33I patted Ash's arm.
10:35He gave a small, resigned sigh and crouched.
10:37He held me in his arms.
10:39Luna's gaze locked onto him and didn't move.
10:42Nothing specific.
10:44I just wanted to know why you visited my companion without my permission.
10:48Luna hadn't expected me to know so quickly.
10:50She started backpedaling.
10:52No, you misunderstood.
10:52I was looking for you.
10:56She told me I was supposed to be hers.
10:59That you'd stolen me away.
11:01She was very convincing.
11:03And what did you do?
11:04I removed her from the property.
11:07She's not strong enough to argue back, so she left fairly quickly.
11:10I stood and faced Luna directly.
11:12If I remember correctly, you didn't want the fox.
11:14He was badly hurt.
11:16If you'd taken him, he wouldn't have survived.
11:18That's not true.
11:19I would have cared for him.
11:20The tiger's crest stood fully upright.
11:23You're doing this deliberately.
11:25You're trying to cause trouble between me and the tiger.
11:29If you try this again, there will be consequences.
11:33On the way back, my mood was good.
11:36Ash was quiet, though.
11:37He wouldn't shift and carry me, even when I asked.
11:40When we reached home, he caught my arm.
11:42You and the tiger.
11:44There's something there.
11:45I didn't hide it.
11:47We have a history.
11:48It ended badly.
11:51Do you want to know?
11:52He turned, shifted into fox form, and wrapped his enormous tail around me.
11:58No, I'm better than that by every measure.
12:02And you promised me you wouldn't seek out another bonded creature.
12:05I ran my fingers through the fur at the back of his ears.
12:08I won't.
12:10I promise.
12:12Some time later, Ash decided I wasn't advancing fast enough.
12:16Get up.
12:17I refuse to share energy with someone who progresses this slowly.
12:21The Great Elder said I'm the most talented concultator of my generation.
12:25Unlike my past life, all the elixirs I earned this time went into me.
12:30Five years.
12:31I moved from the early stages into the middle tier of my cultivation rank.
12:35When I returned to the clan, the Great Elder was close to a breakthrough of his own.
12:40The younger members had grown considerably.
12:42Only one thing hadn't changed.
12:45The tiger still hadn't taken human form.
12:49We expected the tiger to elevate the entire clan.
12:52Ten years in, and he's no closer to breaking through.
12:55We sent an elder to assess him quietly.
12:58The gap is too large.
13:00Even with assistance, he can't make the crossing.
13:03Luna had barely enough power to sustain herself, let alone a creature of the tiger's requirements.
13:09But honestly, his not breaking through was the best outcome.
13:14I wasn't strong enough to kill him.
13:16So control was the only option.
13:18I threw myself into building up the clan.
13:21I trained with the younger members daily.
13:24If something went wrong, I wanted them to be able to protect themselves.
13:28Ash gave me space for it.
13:30He knew what I was doing.
13:32One evening, I came home exhausted, and he was waiting for me.
13:36He picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and started walking.
13:41You look terrible.
13:42I'm taking you to see something entertaining.
13:44His idea of entertainment was crouching at the edge of the back valley,
13:49and listening to Luna and the tiger fight.
13:52The tiger couldn't speak, so the entire argument was one-sided.
13:56Don't look at me like that.
13:58I didn't force you to bond with me.
14:00You came to me.
14:01You told me to wait.
14:03You told me once you took human form, we'd leave together.
14:07You're the one who picked the fight with Clara at the ceremony.
14:13And now what?
14:15You're stuck.
14:16I'm stuck.
14:17And it's all your fault, you useless.
14:20So they'd known each other before.
14:22The tiger had come to Luna deliberately.
14:24He'd made her promises.
14:26But that still didn't explain why they'd opened the wards.
14:29Why involved the demon horde at all?
14:32Unless they'd already been working with the demons.
14:35The one that killed my parents.
14:38My parents, who were also Luna's parents.
14:41How could she?
14:42I needed to find out.
14:44And when I did, there would be a reckoning.
14:47Back at the residence, I was working through what I needed to investigate
14:51when a visitor appeared at the gate.
14:53The tiger.
14:54He was staring at Ash, who was soaking in the spring and determinedly ignoring him.
15:00What do you want?
15:01Shouldn't you be with Luna?
15:02Ash emerged from the water and immediately positioned himself between us.
15:07Master.
15:08You promised.
15:09No, no other bonded creatures.
15:12Don't even talk to him.
15:13I just want to know why he's here.
15:15That's all.
15:16He's regretting his choices.
15:17Obviously.
15:19He chose a dead end.
15:21And he knows it.
15:22I started to look at the tiger.
15:25The gate was empty.
15:26This life, I'd kept my distance.
15:29I hadn't interfered with him.
15:31If the tiger genuinely wanted a different bond, the elders would have been glad to help.
15:36There was no reason to come to me specifically.
15:39Unless the tiger had also been reborn.
15:42I didn't say anything to Ash.
15:44I went straight to the clan's protective wards.
15:48Intact.
15:48I breathed.
15:49Then I looked at the ground near the barrier edge.
15:53White tiger fur.
15:54A handful of strands.
15:56He'd been here.
15:58He hadn't broken through.
15:59His power wasn't there yet.
16:01But he knew what was sealed here.
16:04He knew my parents had died here.
16:06I'd told him that myself.
16:08In my last life.
16:09I had to watch him.
16:11Carefully.
16:12All the time.
16:13The gossip started circulating through the clan not long after.
16:17Luna and the tiger were fighting constantly.
16:20He refused her commands.
16:22Ignored her in training sessions.
16:26Made her look incompetent in front of the whole yard.
16:30And every time I appeared, he drifted toward me.
16:34Elder Margaret found the entire situation delightful.
16:37Her owl sat on her shoulder.
16:39You know what this reminds me of?
16:40Every story where someone realizes too late what they had.
16:44Freezes the other person out.
16:45Spends the rest of it chasing after her.
16:47She said it directly in front of Ash.
16:49He moved.
16:50I caught him before he could do anything irreversible.
16:52Margaret clutched her owl and said.
16:54Oh my.
16:54I could have a conversation with Luna.
16:56Offer her a different creature.
16:57Something she can actually sustain.
16:58Transfer the tiger formally.
17:00Quietly.
17:01Please.
17:01No more.
17:02No.
17:02I'm not touching the clan council over this.
17:04Besides, I have Ash.
17:05That's enough.
17:06Margaret looked genuinely mournful.
17:08A bonded creature in open conflict with its partner is a problem for all of us.
17:11And Luna hasn't advanced in ten years.
17:13The elders have been discussing a field assignment.
17:16Practical training away from the clan for a year or two.
17:18I understood what she wasn't saying.
17:20They'd given up on the tiger as a resource.
17:23Ash's presence had changed the calculations.
17:25What we accomplished together had raised the bar considerably.
17:29If Luna left with the tiger, I had time.
17:33Time to reinforce the wars.
17:38In the clan hall, Luna cried.
17:41She accused me.
17:42You killed him.
17:42Then, in front of every elder, she made her counteroffer.
17:46If Clara wants the tiger so badly, she can have him.
17:47I won't fight her.
17:49But if she takes him, she gives me Ash.
17:51A mixed Lindage fox for a pure-blood tiger.
17:54Honestly, Clara comes out ahead.
17:55The great elder shut it down before anyone else could speak.
17:59Who?
17:59Luna.
18:00Focus on your own creature and stop coming up with ideas like that.
18:03I heard this from Ash, who had apparently been listening from outside the hall.
18:07While the elders dealt with Luna, I was in the creature registry with the keeper, looking into a disappearance.
18:12Three creatures had vanished overnight.
18:15Two small rabbits, a young deer.
18:17The keeper was beside himself.
18:18I checked the seals myself before I left.
18:21Any disturbance at all, and I'd have felt it.
18:24There was nothing.
18:24Not a demon.
18:25No trace of that kind of energy.
18:27I looked around.
18:28The registry was carved into the cliffside, warded stone on all sides.
18:32The only way in or out used the clan seal.
18:35To remove three creatures cleanly, whoever did it knew this place intimately, or had always been inside.
18:41Don't go to the big fox.
18:43You know the big brother fox is perfectly safe.
18:45Can creatures turn on each other?
18:46They have consciousness.
18:47They would never do something so barbaric.
18:48Don't listen to her.
18:49She was just being strange.
18:50People do terrible things when they want to advance.
18:54Creatures are different.
18:56There's a method.
18:57Old and dark.
18:59Not talked about.
19:00Where one creature absorbs the power of another.
19:03Want to know how it works?
19:05The fastest shortcut was this.
19:07Take the core of another creature.
19:09Consume it.
19:10The higher the cultivation of the creature you took from, the greater the gain.
19:13Ash had nearly been killed by exactly this method.
19:16Years ago, before we met.
19:18Once it works, it will come back for more.
19:23We staked out the registry that night.
19:25Nothing.
19:26Quiet all the way to dawn.
19:27I reassured the keeper.
19:29Don't worry.
19:31And headed out.
19:33And immediately ran into a young clan member sprinting toward me.
19:36Guardian!
19:37Something happened at the residences!
19:38What's wrong?
19:40Ash!
19:42Ash shifted form and moved.
19:45When we landed, I knew from the sound.
19:48One of the younger students, a girl who'd bonded at her first ceremony, was sitting on the ground in her
19:53courtyard, holding what remained of her rabbit.
19:57Elder Margaret was already there.
19:58She caught my eye and gave a small, grim nod.
20:03Your guess was right.
20:04The core was taken.
20:05Clean, precise, one strike.
20:07She didn't feel it happen.
20:09The bond broke and that's when she knew.
20:12Without thinking, I turned and looked for the tiger.
20:16He was standing near the edge of the crowd, perfectly still.
20:19Don't stare.
20:21It's him.
20:22You're sure?
20:23I've seen this method used before.
20:24His signature reads the same.
20:26I went to the great elder and told him everything.
20:28Don't move yet.
20:29You need proof.
20:30Catch him in the act.
20:31Behind him, his courtyard had descended into complete chaos.
20:35All of them trying to interrogate Ash about his parents' bloodlines.
20:40I keep them close.
20:41Your firehound just destroyed the garden path.
20:44You could clean it up for your elder.
20:47No.
20:48Still, with subtle pressure, I got the senior elders watching the tiger more carefully.
20:54Weeks passed.
20:55No more disappearances.
20:57But two weeks later, the girl who had lost her rabbit still hadn't recovered.
21:02She stopped coming to training.
21:05Ate less.
21:06Barely spoke.
21:06The other students let it drift into rumor and then into story.
21:11Ash's sat with me every day.
21:13Then, one night, something moved past my window.
21:17Floating on the water's surface was a single white tiger feather.
21:21I reached through the bond and found him.
21:23I arrived at the ward boundary and walked straight into a shockwave.
21:28Ash and the tiger were already fighting.
21:31No preamble.
21:32Fully committed.
21:33He moved through the trees in pale clothing, fast and fluid, redirecting Ash's attacks with the ease of someone who'd
21:40been preparing for exactly this fight.
21:43Near the ward boundary, Luna sat perfectly still.
21:46When I got close enough to see her clearly, my stomach dropped.
21:50Luna was dead.
21:51I hadn't even processed it before the sky began to darken.
21:55The ward closed.
21:56Harm your bonded partner.
21:58And the consequence falls from the sky.
22:01You ran this exact plan in another life.
22:04You used everyone here as scaffolding and then kicked it out.
22:07And now this life you had the chance to choose differently and instead you took her core.
22:11The sky is watching.
22:13It ends today.
22:15Almost.
22:16One more step.
22:18He was breaking the ward seal behind his back.
22:21The creatures sealed in the valley felt the loosening.
22:24Thunder gathered directly above him.
22:26The great elder arrived in a flash of light from the peak.
22:30Clara!
22:30Hold the creatures back.
22:31I'll reseal from outside.
22:33Clara!
22:34You can't stop this.
22:36Come die with me!
22:38I'll do better by you this time!
22:40In my past life, I had died in this exact valley.
22:44Alone.
22:44Then a hand closed on my shoulder.
22:47It is Ash.
22:48You want to take her down with you?
22:51You'd have to go through me first.
22:53You're nobody.
22:55This time, I wasn't alone.
22:57In my past life, I'd never had a real partner.
22:59Just me and whatever I could manage alone.
23:01Now I understood the difference.
23:03Ash pushed forward and I covered it.
23:05He never checked over his shoulder.
23:06I never asked him to slow down.
23:08A hundred exchanges and the tiger's composure was cracking.
23:12He couldn't find a way past Ash.
23:14He couldn't land a hit on me.
23:15He broke.
23:16This isn't right.
23:17You're supposed to die!
23:19We're supposed to go back together!
23:22Goodbye.
23:23I raised one hand and pointed at the sky.
23:25The lightning came down like a column dropped from the sky itself.
23:31He would not be coming back.
23:33The tiger was gone.
23:35He would not be coming back.
23:38The tiger was dealt with.
23:40The harder problem remained.
23:42The creatures sealed in the valley were old and powerful.
23:46They couldn't be killed cleanly.
23:48Only re-contained.
23:50And the oldest among them, the one they called the Abyss Serpent, had been dormant for a century.
23:56Sealed originally by the previous great elder, who had given his life to do it.
24:02Ash had been leaning against a tree, expression of someone waiting for his reward.
24:07When he went still, he stared into the dark between the trees.
24:11What's in there?
24:15The Abyss Serpent.
24:17The Abyss Serpent.
25:02The Abyss Serpent.
25:09I'm not leaving you behind.
25:10I'm not leaving you behind.
25:22The Abyss Serpent.
25:26The Abyss Serpent.
25:41consumed his core.
25:43She hadn't recovered.
25:44I reached up and put my hand against the side of Ash's head.
25:48I had nothing to say.
25:49The Abyss Serpent.
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