Chapter 103 A Crow’s Tricks

Lee Seng followed the Crow into the house. She easily picked the lock and the both of them entered the home. She moved to sit on one of the chairs as Lee Seng closed the door behind him and locked it.

"Come and sit, Fox." Crow motioned. Lee Seng moved over and pulled a chair and in front of Crow. Crow folded her legs and hands together. "I've heard stories from other Realmwalkers about the Fox Spirits, but I never thought I would get to see one in my lifetime."

"So there are other Realmwalkers and they know my kind?" Lee Seng asked.

"Fox Spirits are mischievous beings. If you exist then the story the Hat Man tells everyone must be true. The Fox Spirits usually show up when they gain their second tail. They're powerful beings if they're given enough time to gain their tails."

"That's why he said I wasn't supposed to be here, yet."

"Mmm, you only have a single tail. There must be a special reason why you came in here."

"Well," Lee Seng started. "I guess there is. I saw a Shadow man attempt to kill two students. I stepped in and almost died to him. Shortly after that, I felt like he triggered whatever brings me here."

"A Shadow man in the Main Realm..." Crow muttered. She cleared her throat and looked back up at Lee Seng. "What did he look like? Was he shadows?"

"He had shadow powers. He plunged his shadowy arm into me and then..." Lee Seng waved in the air. "The second time I'm here after that event and it had to be while I was in the middle of something.... Though, I could've died, so... I guess that's... okay?"

"What were you doing specifically?"

"Fighting a muscular zombie thing that sent a sea of flesh and muscle at me. It got a hold of me and was dragging me back to its body. I disappeared right before I went into the body."

"You fought something crazy like that? Hmmm, the Main Realm has surely become stranger with each year."

Lee Seng wondered what Crow meant by that. Crow seemed to be an individual who knew Realmwalkers and seemed to understand Limbo very well. She knew about the Hat Man and mentioned about other potential higher beings. He wondered if the Hat Man was in the category and if he was, was he inherently good or bad?

"You sound like you stay in Limbo all the time and don't go to the... Main Realm or whatever you call it." Lee Seng pointed out. Crow looked up and nodded.

"I choose to stay here. Just like how Realmwalkers decide to walk in Limbo to get to another place. You will probably be no different once you pass your test. People come and go as they please, but few stay to understand the realm they're in." Crow answered.

"So are you still trying to understand this place? Is that why you haven't left, yet?"

Crow shook her head.

"I just... choose to stay here. For reasons I cannot tell you and reasons we both should keep to ourselves as much as possible." Crow waved his question off. "While you're in another realm, be careful of who you trust and who you meet. Each realm has its own rules and how it functions. The Main Realm, where you come from, is just the tip of the iceberg for you, Fox. You are a Fox Spirit who will slowly become a Nine-tailed fox. You will slowly learn more as you grow."

"O-okay," Lee Seng nodded. "Well, if that's it then could you help me get out of here? I'm on a time crunch. I need to get out of this place in the Main Realm before sun's highest."

"Hmmm, why do we sit and talk then? You should've told me before, Fox." Crow stood up. "I will teach you how to see the realm as it is. Once you do, you can truly see what horrors await you in this place."

Crow moved to the door and unlocked it. Lee Seng followed after and stopped when Crow opened the door and turned around.

"I will give you some of my own Dark Matter to resonate with. I assume you must be strong enough to come here with a single tail, so I will assume you know how to resonate." Crow lifted her hand.

"Ahh, I haven't tried that before." Lee Seng answered.

"Well, you'll try now. You must focus on matching my energy. If you match it, I can give you enough sight to see the trail you need to follow." Crow moved her hand to touch the eye area of the mask. Lee Seng blinked and felt Crow's Dark Matter energy flow into his eyes. His Dark Matter began to react by pushing against it.

"Don't push, Fox. You must allow it to enter your eyes and only your eyes." Crow instructed. Lee Seng focused on letting his Dark Matter allow her Dark Matter to mix with his around his eyes. He felt the two energies mixing together and Crow began to nod like she was satisified. She pulled her hand away and Lee Seng felt the two energies merging.

"What now?" Lee Seng asked. Crow exited the building and Lee Seng followed after. Crow looked around and then at Lee Seng.

"Follow the trail. It should materialize as something you should easily recognize." Crow instructed. Lee Seng looked around. The desolate neighborhoods looked exactly the same to him. He didn't see much around here. It was empty. Just as he was about to give up, he caught something in the corner of his eye, to the right.

He turned to look right and noticed a white energy trail circling around the corner.

"An energy trail?" Lee Seng whispered. He started to follow it and Crow began to trail behind him. He turned at the end of the street and watched as the circling energy started to extend into a straight line ahead of him. "It continues that way." He turned back to look at Crow. She had her hands folded behind her and was simply just watching Lee Seng.

"I will follow you until I cannot. You reek of rot so you won't be easily caught as one who's alive in Limbo. Your tail might attract the more... observant ones, still." Crow told him. Lee Seng nodded and followed the line. The line went straight for quite awhile. Lee Seng simply followed the path and it led them further into the city.

Lee Seng would occasionally turn to look behind him and see Crow watching him like always with her hands behind her back. He didn't know if he could trust her, but she didn't have any ill-intent other than quieting him with a metallic feather. The white line in front of him slowly turned left and he began to turn when Crow pulled him back behind the building.

"Wait a moment, Fox. An observant one is nearby." Crow whispered. Lee Seng nodded and hid behind the building. He didn't know what these 'observant' creatures looked like and wanted to know out of curiosity. He slowly moved to peek. He peeked and didn't see anything out of the ordinary near him. He raised his eyes to look higher and noticed something flying. He pulled back and looked at Crow who was looking up at the sky.

"Is it that flyer?" Lee Seng asked.

"Yes, it's one of those." Crow nodded. She watched the gray sky for awhile before turning her attention back onto Lee Seng. "You may continue, Fox. Be careful of the flyers. They're cunning creatures." Lee Seng nodded and continued to follow the white trail of energy.

He followed the trail for ten minutes before it turned and circled in front of a towering building. They had seemingly passed the crowded residential city and moved into the company city side. Lee Seng moved towards the front door and stood in front of it. The door didn't budge and the white energy seemed to slip right past the door and continue inwards.

"It goes in there," Lee Seng pointed. Crow stood next to Lee Seng and nodded.

"I guess this is where we'll have to split." Crow spoke. "You follow it. I have a feeling I will know when you have left." Crow turned to look around. Lee Seng turned out of curiosity and watched as shadowy beings began to slowly fill the streets.

"What are... those things?" Lee Seng asked.

"Some are lost souls. Others are monsters acting like they're lost souls. They know you're here so they want to get a piece of you before you achieve your goal." Two metallic feathers materialized in Crow's hands and she stepped forward. She launched a feather behind her and the glass doors smashed into pieces. "Follow it to the end, Fox. Do not worry about me. Only worry about yourself!"

Lee Seng nodded and scurried forwards. He passed the threshold and watched as the white line continued inwards. He turned to watch Crow jumping into battle. The shadowy beings began to materialize and turn into creatures with multiple odd-numbered limbs and parts.

'Am I really gonna trust her word?' Lee Seng wondered. He turned and started to follow the white line. 'She hasn't necessarily lied about the Limbo sight. If I can get to the end, I can finally get out of Limbo and get back to the real world.'