"Huuuh..."I breathed deeply, feeling the air fill my lungs.
I had finally reached the top of these d.a.m.n stairs. The likelihood of this being a sneaky h.e.l.l is going strong after that annoying-a.s.s climb.
"Now, let"s see what this city is like."
I finally climbed the last bit, the city coming into view over the top stair just ahead of me, sand I was pretty surprised. "Wow. That"s a whole-a.s.s mountain range on top of the clouds."
Mountains covered in greenery, and cheery blossom trees, with Foxkin buildings rising up tall with ornate roofing. Pathways of cobblestone stretched in bridges and paths between mountains, and in between them was a vast canyon leading to the clouds below.
"A city built on a mountain range above the clouds huh... that"s a cool set up."
My gaze fell upon the inhabitants and I... was confused.
It was filled with an a.s.sortment of beings. Foxes were everywhere, often with many tails, running storefronts and the like, while Foxkin with golden fur and snow-white skin walked about, and-
"That an Angel? What the heck?"
Yeah, that"s a full-on Halo-wearing Angel, and I mean the hoops of light not my cute little spirit.
A fox ran towards me as I reached the top stair, and morphed mid-way into a Foxkin!
"Werefox? Is that a thing?!"
"h.e.l.lo! We haven"t had anyone new here I quite some time! Welcome to the last city!"
"...that name... sounds bad... and fills me with dread..."
"H-hi..." I awkwardly got out as I felt his expectant stare on me.
"What"s your name?"
Alarm bells rang in my head. I"m still like over halfway sure this is secretly h.e.l.l, and names given to demons are all kinds of bad.
"Ren. My name is Ren."
He nodded excitedly, and grabbed my arm, yanking me into the city. "Waaah!"
"Everyone heard your song coming up, it was really neat! Hey how about you put on a performance?! Hi Jera! Just taking him to the amphitheater, he"s gonna hold a presentation!"
He rapid-fired questions at me, greeted people, and somehow at one point I ended up being yanked to a semicircle pit in the ground with many seats cut out, and a stage at the bottom.
"Go play! Show off you talent kid!"
Then he just pushed me in, and I nearly fell down the stairs! "Ah! Watch it!"
He laughed. "It"s fine, not like that"d be enough to kill you!"
Okay what the f.u.c.k? Everyone is WAY too energetic and carefree here!
"I don"t have an instrument meant for a big stage like this."
"Oh!" He nodded rapidly, grabbing me again.
"Let"s go make you something special then!"
Over bridges and through many paths I was pulled along, feeling more than a bit overwhelmed by every new sight that came into view.
On one street I saw a man with a miniature dragon sitting on his head, and the next had a jellyfish talking to an angel like it was normal!
"Was that a jellyfish just now?"
"Yeah! High-level monsters can evolve to gain souls and speech, and they need an afterlife too, you know?"
My guide(?) was helpful in that he answered anything I asked, but d.a.m.n was he a fast talker!
"How the h.e.l.l can he run so fast?"
Seriously, this guy was near sprinting continuously for like 3 minutes! What a monster!
I felt myself heaving for breath, the issue of not enough oxygen once again making itself known.
"Thanks lungs, seems like you"ve come up a lot in the afterlife despite not being needed when I"m DEAD."
Suddenly he stopped, and I fell right over as he tugged my arm near out of it"s socket!
"We"re here!" He said in a cheery falsetto.
"Yeah... great..." I muttered, still trying to catch my breath.
I looked up at the small shop, with a gla.s.s front. Looking in I could see many things, chairs, a table, and a violin on a wall even.
"Looking at the symbol on the sign, this is probably a carpenters store."
We walked in(well, he dragged me in more like), and went up to the counter.
The guy began ringing the bell hanging near the counter like crazy, and a voice boomed out, "LU TING I SWEAR IF YOU KEEP RINGING THAT BELL I"LL NEVER REPAIR YOUR BED-FRAME AGAIN!"
"...There"s a lot to think about in that sentence."
Out of the back came an ap.r.o.n. No, not a big dude wearing an ap.r.o.n, but a literal floating set of working clothes.
"Oh. He"s invisible. That"s... new."
He(?) lifted a small hammer and a few tails were about where I a.s.sume his mouth to be.
"Can I help you? Don"t tell me you need the bed fixed again."
"Okay seriously, what on earth would break a bed often enough to have this conversation? Ma.s.s orgies? Harem? What is it?!"
"Nah, I got the speed more under control now. A few centuries in the afterlife help reduce those habits."
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The invisible man grunted.
"Nah, we got a new kid here! He"s a musician, and needs an instrument!"
He looked at me. "How can you be new? Your kind should all already be here."
The fast-speaking guy(Lu Ting?) looked at me curiously after it was brought up.
"Uh... I am the last Kitsune, and I"m currently undergoing the test of death."
Lu Ting"s mouth dropped. "What? No no no. That"s impossible. Even if your soul deserves heaven, the rest of death sends you to h.e.l.l."
"Uh... I only have the light half of my elemental energies, so I think that there"s two of me and my soul is in half..."
I pulled aside my robe to show the hole in my chest.
"Whew!" The invisible man whistled sharply. "d.a.m.n kid, what kind of life have you lead to have your soul become two?"
I laughed awkwardly. I dunno how to answer that! Also still paranoid about this secretly being h.e.l.l.
"Well your instrument will have to wait! You other side is probably undergoing an interesting experience, but you have a unique opportunity to ask questions of the dead right now. So if there"s any part of your species you have questions about-!" Lu Ting excitedly trailed off, until I cut him off.
"How does evolution work?"
"...what?"
I cleared my through. "Ahem, I mean, how does one evolve? What"s it for? And if I evolved to grow wings and scales, am I even still a Foxkin or Kitsune? Wouldn"t my species change?"
"Well... first off, let me answer this one, okay Lu Ting?" We both turned our attention to this invisible and obviously big man.
"Alright... above all else, evolution is a choice you make."