The sound of bare feet returned.
Mira and Lila poked their heads into the room, peering around their mother's skirt.
"She's really a person now, huh?" Mira whispered.
"I told you," Lila said, stepping forward. "She changed when that light came out of Ray's arm."
Their mom turned to them, blinking. "Wait—what did you just say?"
Lila pointed at Ray, matter-of-fact. "A glow. It came out of his arm. Right before she turned into a girl."
Ray blinked. 'I forgot they saw that' Tay thought
"Yeah!" Mira said. "It was all golden and warm. It kind of looked like your warmth spell from last winter. But… brighter."
Their mom slowly turned her head back toward Ray, brows furrowing. "A glow… from your arm?"
He hesitated. "I mean… yeah. I guess. It just sort of happened. Her leg was all twisted, and I—I don't know. I touched it and thought about helping her. Then something warm flowed out of my hand and into her leg. And then she changed."
His mother's voice sharpened just slightly. "Ray. What did you mean earlier when you said you healed her?"
He scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know. It was just… instinct? I didn't think it would do anything, but something flowed out of me. From here—" he gestured to his forearm, "—and I think it helped."
"You think?" she echoed, stepping forward.
"Ray, that's not how healing magic works. Aura doesn't just 'flow' out of someone like water. And you—" she paused, her tone shifting toward disbelief, "—you can't even use aura properly yet. You barely passed the candle test last month."
"I know," Ray muttered. "But it happened."
Lila nodded enthusiastically. "I saw it! It came out of his hand like a little sun and then wrapped around her."
"It made a little sound, too," Mira added. "Like a hum. Like when Dad uses his aura to fix tools."
His mother frowned, arms folding across her chest. "That's… not possible. Not unless…"
She didn't finish the sentence.
Ray gave her a look. "Unless what?"
She didn't answer.
A silence settled over them, the kind that had weight behind it. The kind that made Ray feel like something unspoken was hanging in the air.
"I think we should talk to Dad," she said finally. "If something like that did happen—if your aura really did flow out and help her—then you need to start training seriously. No more excuses. No more brushing it off."
"I wasn't brushing it off," Ray said defensively.
"You've been avoiding your morning drills for a week."
"I was tired."
"Being tired doesn't excuse skipping aura control," she snapped, then stopped herself. She sighed and rubbed her forehead with one flour-dusted hand. "Sorry. I'm just… surprised. And a little worried."
"Worried?" he asked.
She glanced toward the bed. "It's just weird for beastkin to be in this part of the kingdom and weird for her to be in our garden."
'Beastkin do exist in this world' Tay thought
Ray didn't answer. He looked back at the girl. Her ears twitched again slightly, and her tail shifted under the blanket. She was still sound asleep.
"What's a beastkin?" Ray's younger sister asked
"Ill explain later." Their mom replied
"What should we do?" he asked after a long moment.
His mother's gaze was steady. "We wait until she wakes up. And in the meantime, you go downstairs, eat your breakfast, and start aura practice with your father. No more stalling."
Ray sighed. "Fine."
"I'll let him know. He's outside chopping firewood. He'll be happy to hear you're finally ready."
"I didn't say ready—I said fine."
She raised an eyebrow. "Same thing."
Lila giggled. Mira reached for Ray's hand.
"Can we help too?" Mira asked.
"You can help him stretch," their mom said.
"Then run drills around the yard. But no copying the sparring. Not until you're older."
Lila rolled her eyes. "We know."
Ray lingered at the door for one more moment, eyes drifting back to the bed.
Something still itched at the back of his mind—something that felt like it hadn't quite surfaced yet. The glow, the transformation, the way the system had triggered a quest out of nowhere. None of it made sense.
But the weirdest part?
It hadn't felt like aura.
It had felt like something else entirely.
In the yard the sun had risen fully by the time Ray stepped out onto the grass behind the house. The dew had mostly dried, and the scent of pine carried faintly on the breeze. His father stood near the tree line, sleeves rolled up, sweat already beading on his brow as he swung an axe into a thick log. Wood cracked and split cleanly.
Ray walked over slowly, the weight of the morning still hanging on him.
"Mom said you're finally gonna take aura practice seriously," his dad said without turning around.
Ray kicked a stone across the grass. "She told you already?"
"I was able to hear from here."
"Oh."
The axe hit the stump one last time before his father turned around and set it aside. He looked at Ray carefully, then nodded toward the field behind their house.
"Come on. We'll do a quick diagnostic first. See where your aura's at."
Ray followed without complaint, though he did feel a small prickle of nerves. The last time they'd done this, he barely lit the training candle. He didn't want to embarrass himself again.
The training candle was a special candle made specially for aura testing. You had to pour aura into while holding the candle the more aura you poured the better.
But this time… something had changed. He could feel it. A warmth under the skin of his arm. A faint pulse. Like something still lingered.
They stopped beside a stack of weighted stones.
"Palm up," his dad said.
Ray held out his hand and his dad placed the candle on his hand which he griped upwards.
"Now breathe in deep. Feel the air. Let it sit in your chest."
He obeyed. Slowly.
"Now imagine the center of yourself glowing. Like a small sun. Let that glow flow from your chest to your arm. Into your palm."
Ray closed his eyes.
And to his surprise—something answered.
The warmth moved. It shifted inside him, tracing the exact path his father described. Chest. Shoulder. Arm. Palm.
A soft golden flicker formed just above his skin.
His father inhaled sharply.
"Open your eyes," he said.
Ray looked down.
A faint orb of light shimmered over the candle—small, warm, and pulsing like a heartbeat. It wasn't bright. But it was there.
"You've never done that before," his dad said quietly.
Ray nodded. "I wasn't expecting that either."
His father crouched beside him. "This isn't standard aura flow. It's stronger. Cleaner. Most people can't form such clear aura without months of practice."
"Is that bad?"
"No," his dad said. "It's very good. But also strange. This feels closer to innate flow. Almost like how blessed individuals channel magic."
Ray's chest tightened. "I'm not blessed."
"Not that we know of," his father agreed. "But maybe something awakened during that moment. Helping that girl—maybe it triggered something."
Ray nodded slowly. "It didn't feel like my body was working. It felt like… like something inside me reached out."
His father stood and dusted off his hands.
"Then today, we test it."
"Test what?"
"
Your limits."
Ray raised an eyebrow. "You mean… sparring?"
"Eventually," his dad said. "But first, endurance drills. Aura flow under stress. Channeling into limbs. Movement training. Focus patterns."
Ray sighed. "That sounds like a lot."
"You did say you're ready."
"I said fine."
His father smiled. "Same thing."
From across the yard, Lila and Mira cheered.
"You can do it, Ray!"
"Show us your glow!"
Ray groaned. "They're never gonna stop mentioning it are they?"
His father chuckled. "Not a chance."
Back Upstairs…Meanwhile, their mother remained beside the guest bed.
She watched the fox girl sleep.
"Maybe I should ask my father if he's heard any news about nearby foxkin" Ray's mother thought