Chapter 453: A curious look that inspired fear
"Would you believe me if I said I didn't do anything and she fainted on her own?" asked Arabel with an awkward smile.
Seeing Felicia unconscious, Idan waved his hand, took out the Sphere of Secret Concealment and activated visual and sound concealment.
Ignoring Hailey's surprised look, he turned his gaze back to Felicia, then looked at Arabel and grinned.
"What happened?" — Idan asked directly, wanting to know how Felicia ended up in such a state. "It hasn't been long, and I haven't heard any loud noises other than your voices."
"Well, I opened the door..." Arabel openly talked about what happened. She described Felicia's condition, which was in a deplorable state and looked like a frightened animal, constantly trembling. When she saw Arabel, she started accusing her and Idan of doing something to her.
Then, as if she had seen something terrible, Felicia fainted with fear on her face right in front of Arabel.
"After all this, I noticed Coco laughing strangely when looking at Felicia, and I suspect that this is her doing," Arabel finally decided to share her suspicion.
Idan and Arabel then stared at Coco, who was sitting next to Felicia, looking at her with a smile on her face.
"Coco?" — Hailey asked in disbelief, not understanding who Arabel was talking about. She tried to follow their gaze, but she couldn't see anyone.
"Coco!" — Arabel called the fox cub.
Coco, hearing her name, raised her head and looked at the hostess.
"Show yourself to Hailey, — Arabel said. "In the future, you will interact with each other, and she can be trusted."
Coco obeyed, took off her disguise and appeared in front of Hailey.
"Little fox!" — Hailey blurted out in surprise when she saw a small gray lump with a funny backpack on her back. Her eyes shone with joy, she found Coco very sweet and charming, and suddenly she wanted to hug this fluffy ball.
At the same time, Felicia's System, being in a state of deep frustration, blamed its Host for her bad luck. What this System considered almost unbelievable happened: its Host turned out to be so "lucky" that she came under the gaze of this particular creature.
"Coco, is this your doing?" Idan asked the fox cub, but she just shook her head in denial.
Arabel and Idan frowned.
"If it's not Coco, then who is it?" said Arabel, tearing her gaze away from Coco and looking at Idan.
"System," Idan called out in his mind, "Do you know what's going on here?"
[Host. This System has a probable version of what happened] — The System replied, her voice was audible to both Hosts.
"And what happened?" — Arabel's interest was piqued.
[If this System is right, then this Host is unlucky to meet your pet.]
[This System has a suspicion that this Host has a Fox System or another Fox-related System.]
"The Fox system?" wondered Idan and Arabel. Then, remembering that Felicia was the leader of the Red Fox Guild, and her hair and eyes strongly resembled red foxes, they began to agree with their System's suspicion.
"How does this relate to the fact that she has such a system? Are you saying that Coco has influence over such systems?" Arabel asked in a joking manner.
[You're not that far off the mark, Host.]
[Your pet belongs to a noble fox family, with a high status.]
[And this System Host has only reached level 30 at the moment and is just starting to integrate the fox bloodline into itself.]
[Her concentration and bloodline rank are too low compared to your pet. The difference between their bloodlines is so great that just looking at your pet is enough to trigger an instinctive fear at the bloodline level.]
Idan and Arabel looked at each other, first at Coco, who was playing with Felicia's red hair, then at Felicia herself, who was unconscious.
[And most importantly, foxes like your pet that are connected to the System are especially sensitive to Systems related to the lineage of foxes. Because of their playful and naughty nature, they like to tease, scare, and even sometimes create permanent problems for the Hosts of such Systems.]
The revelation of their System about Coco's connection to systems related to the fox family came as a real shock to Idan and Arabel. Now they couldn't figure out whether to feel sorry for Felicia or worry about her.
[This Host is currently out of luck. She came under your pet's gaze too soon, and your pet seems to have already paid attention to her. Now she will always know when the Host of this System will appear nearby, and will try to interact with her.]
"System, are you saying that Coco hasn't done anything to Felicia yet, but just instilled fear by glancing at her?" asked Arabel.
[Yes, the Host. Since your pet has so far denied that she did anything, at the moment she has not taken any action yet, but simply showed interest.]
"Then what happens if Coco starts acting?" Arabel shuddered as she asked the question. "I'm already scared to imagine it. After all, Coco's simple curious gaze has already brought Felicia to such a state."
[As the System said, this Host was unlucky to meet your pet too early. If she had met her a little later, when she had a higher bloodline rank, she would not have felt the difference in bloodline so much. Now the influence is so great that the fear that your pet instilled in her with one look haunts her, giving her no peace. If she does not get rid of this fear, she will not be able to develop normally further.]
"So, what do we do?" Arabel asked, watching Coco play with Felicia's hair with great enthusiasm.
"What's going on?" asked Hailey, seeing the serious faces of Idan and Arabel.
"The thing is..." Arabel began and explained what was going on.
Hailey was speechless and looked at Coco with some fear.
"If there is a creature like this little fox that can have such a strong influence on those with fox blood in their veins, is there a baby dragon that can have a similar effect on dragons?" she asked herself.
And when she realized that such a creature probably existed, she felt a shudder. She didn't want to experience what Felicia was going through right now.
"I urgently need to raise the rank of my bloodline to avoid a situation like this.", — Hailey thought decisively.
While Hailey was busy with her thoughts, Idan and Arabel received a sudden message from the System.
[Hosts, the System of another Host, namely this woman, wants to oath of loyalty in exchange for helping rid her Host of your pet's influence].
Idan had not even had time to think about this question, as Arabel beat him to it.
"No, we won't! Not that fox," she said decisively.