Across a green plain, a blue-haired girl drifted toward the city, a lone petal on a sea of grass. Her face was soft and cute, baby-smooth; the blue-green in her eyes felt like cool springwater even from afar. She stood about five feet tall, like a kid just starting school; yet her curves drew a mature, sensual line—if you ignored the face. Paired with that round, baby-fat face, no one would guess she was older than fourteen.
Annoyance rose first, prickly as nettles. “Seriously, why are all the nearby ports sealed?” The thought creaked like a locked gate. “To make landfall, I almost circled the whole coast.” The memory ran like a shoreline. “If not for kindly strangers, I’d be lost to the tides by now.” She sighed, breath like fog. “If I follow this road, will it really lead to Starfate City?”
My original home is in Starfate City, close to the Sunlit Empire. Since I’m back, I figured I’d visit home first. So I followed this ribbon of road, a thread through green cloth.
A small town sat ahead, lamplight already pooling like honey. Better to find a place early and rest my feet.
Inside, I took my time looking. The town was larger than it looked, people flowing like a small river. Not the great, icebound cities of the far north, but not shabby either.
Passing a stall, a man in a black suit eyed the space bracelet on my wrist, his gaze a hook. “Hey, miss—since you’re wearing a space bracelet, maybe you’re interested in my product?” In his hand sat an exquisitely made bracelet, gleaming like lacquer. Unlike Dreamsound’s gift, it carried no spatial spell.
This guy’s here to scam, huh—the face polished like a mask. Does he really think I’m a little kid? I’m not falling for tricks like that.
“Not interested.” The words dropped like a pebble.
“Don’t be so hasty, dear miss.” He gave what he thought was a gentleman’s bow, stiff as a puppet. “This is the latest from the neighboring theocracy. It doesn’t store items like a space bracelet. Instead, without affecting the original’s function, it changes the bracelet’s appearance. You could call it a skin for your bracelet.”
“Huh?”
“If you don’t believe me, try it first…” He handed me the bracelet, the metal cold as moonlight. I turned it over, eyes skimming it like a brushstroke. It was indeed beautiful—if it had storage, it would outshine mine completely. If it really swaps appearances…
“How do I use it?”
“Simple—wear it directly over your original.”
I did as he said; in a blink, my bracelet’s appearance shifted like a chameleon’s skin.
…!
After a quick check, everything felt identical except the look.
“How much?”
“Heh… it’s brand-new, not widely available, so the price’s a bit high. About… one hundred gold coins…”
“Great!” I pulled out some coins, sunlight winking off their edges. “Mm, ten coins exactly.”
“Enough, enough…” His face went from shock to glee, joy blooming like a red flower. “Dear miss, I also have some other fun little trinkets—”
After that, I bought a few odd gadgets, spending a dozen or so gold coins. No big deal; Dreamsound gave me far more than that. Heh, heh—money really lets you do as you please, like wind unfurling a sail.
Right, most of what Dreamsound gave me is in the bracelet. I don’t even know the exact amount. May as well check now. I brushed the delicate bracelet on my wrist. Nothing stirred—no ripple, no glow.
“Bracelet, bracelet, come out—” The chant sounded like calling a shy cat.
…
“Huh?”
“Aaaaaah, you scammer!” The shout cracked like thunder.
The bracelet hit the ground hard, carving a small pit as if a meteor fell. By the time I ran back to the stall, the man was smoke on the wind.
Why don’t I have a tracking skill like everyone else? What now? The blue-haired girl plopped onto the dirt, her eyes losing focus like glass left in rain.
…
“Hahaha! I’m rich, I’m rich! This much money could last me lifetimes!” Clutching the bracelet, the man’s first move was to check for tracking marks, his fingers twitching like spiders. Nothing there, not a thread.
Inside lay at least hundreds of gem coins, stacked like piled stars. There were countless fine dresses and a heap of food. No way a normal little girl owned this. The man in the suit knew it well, a fox sniffing a henhouse.
And it wasn’t his first time taking from the sons and daughters of nobles. He had a complete escape routine, slick as oil. Once he left this town, no one could find him—no one.
“Next… I just need to reach Starfate City and sell the bracelet. Then she can’t touch me. I’ll even score another payday. Hahaha…”
“You’re laughing awfully happily.” The voice slid in like a cold blade. Beside him, a pair of blood-red eyes pinned him like nails.
“Uh—?!”
Later.
“Should I return this to her?” Qianya flicked a red-and-white bracelet, the arc glinting like a koi’s back, while walking toward Starfate City. “Forget it. For now, these things are useful to me. I’ll give them back the next time we meet.”
Hours earlier.
A giant tiger-shaped beast barreled after a pink-haired girl, its roar rolling like a drum. She dodged again and again, moving like a leaf in storm.
“Tch—what a pain. If I didn’t have to hide my trail, I’d kill you in a heartbeat.” The thought crackled like flint.
What Qianya had tried earlier almost went beyond her plans. She had far underestimated a Vampire’s bloodline suppression. She’d meant to break her seal and, in that instant, kill a member of the Vampire royal house. Then use their blood to purify her own. She failed.
The enraged royal fought her head-on, fury like a midnight fire. His strength was nowhere near hers. But the Vampire blood lingering in Qianya’s body muzzled her power. In front of him, she couldn’t show even a tenth of her strength.
After paying a price, Qianya slipped out of the Duskmoon Empire like a shadow at dusk. To break her predicament, she had to seek the destined one named in the Wishing Tome. Trouble was, he seemed to know that secret too, and chased after her like a hound.
On the road, luck soured. She ran into a tough opponent: a Dark Tiger with near fourth-tier warrior strength, muscles rippling like iron cables. She’d done nothing, but the beast chased her across half a forest like it was in heat. Infuriatingly, she couldn’t even fight back.
Tch, someone’s blocking the path again. If she doesn’t run… Forget it—use her to draw the tiger’s eyes.
Without looking back, Qianya bolted past the blue-haired girl, a gust of wind.
“…Hey, do you know how to get to Starfate City?” The blue-haired girl’s voice was clear as a bell. She caught Qianya’s shoulder with effortless grip, stopping her cold.
“…You—!” The word broke like ice.
Thud! The Dark Tiger slammed down behind them, a mountain of muscle. In a blink, Qianya hauled the blue-haired girl back with all her strength.
Ugh! They smashed into a tree. Weird—why doesn’t it hurt? Also… so soft. The realization flushed her cheeks like dawn.
“Hey… I was just asking for directions. What are you doing?” The girl’s pained expression came into view, sweetness like a sugared plum. For a heartbeat, Qianya’s heart moved. In nearly a thousand years, she’d seen every face under the moon. Never one this cute.
“Idiot!” Qianya grabbed her again and sprang away, the air slicing like ribbons. Behind them, a tree split clean at the waist.
“Oh… so you’ve got a big black cat chasing you.” The girl yawned, lazy as a cat herself. With the motion, the grand curve of her chest swayed like a slow tide.
Qianya’s face flushed for no reason; she shook her head hard, trying to clear it like snow off a branch.
“If I help you deal with this tiger, will you tell me how to get to Starfate City?” The blue-haired girl’s innocent look struck Qianya like an arrow.
“Don’t be foolish. You can’t beat that tiger.”
“So, do you know the way to Starfate City?”
“I do… but first, survive the tiger’s claws.”
“That’s easy.” Both landed, turning together to face the Dark Tiger charging like a train.
“Icebind.” The girl placed her left hand on the ground, voice soft as frost. Grass under the beast hardened into a sheet of ice, clear as glass. Mid-stride, the Dark Tiger skidded, legs splaying awkwardly.
It forced itself up with its claws, shrieks scratching the ice like knives.
A long sword of condensed ice formed in the blue-haired girl’s hand, a shard of winter. She used the ice as a runway and slid straight in.
With a single sliding tackle, the Dark Tiger died where it stood, breath snuffed like a candle. “See? Easy.” The girl turned and gave Qianya a confident smile, bright as a crescent moon.
…
