Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

"Yes, sign here." Grandpa Lin was just finishing the contracts with the Blood Fox. He was still left speechless by the fact that she acted like a normal Fox and not a Demonic Fox.

"With this, they are your right and left hand, companions, fighters, whatever you want them to be." Grandpa Lin said gently towards Aiko.

Aiko nodded, seemingly happy. She finally had some slav- *Cough* companions that she could use to rob- *Cough* alleviate wealth from others.

Aiko hummed happily.

The Blood Fox was likewise happy since she didn't need to spend her time in the Forbidden Zone.

The Umbra Fox... was not very thrilled. She was still scared of the Vicious Cub and what she might do to her. Elder Punisher explained to them who and what the Vicious Cub is.

At first, she admired the Vicious Cub, but later fear caught up to her mind.

'She did what with the Formation Flags?!' She shivered, but still agreed to be on her team.

'It's better to be on the same team than to accidentally go against her...' She tried to convince herself really, really hard.

Aiko stared at the duo when a message popped in front of her.

[Individual Passion Fox joined as your companion and is eligible for Servant Items.]
[Individual Umbra Fox joined as your companion and is eligible for Servant Items.]

She glanced at the message before dismissing it. She would look through it later, not now, as she needed to finish the training. Likewise, she didn't want to be stifled here for too long and she also wanted to explore the outside world, which she couldn't for now.

"It is finished, you can now train together or whatever. BUT, for now, you will come with me to clear the basic training!" Grandpa Lin picked up Aiko who was dozing off.

As she was picked up, by instinct, she stored that bed before Grandpa Lin could do anything.

Grandpa Lin stared dumbfoundedly at the Vicious Cub, but soon shook his head and took her away.

The duo that was left there staring at each other. The Umbra Fox was scared to keep following, but the same thing couldn't be said for the Blood Fox.

'I need to stick closer to her~' She hummed to herself as she followed Elder Punisher.

Aiko didn't move much after she was picked up, she clearly could feel the difference between their classes, so it was pointless to struggle.

...

"First is swimming. There are several ways you can swim that won't make sound, but they each have their own flaws." Grandpa Lin said.

"The first thing you need to do, is coat your tail in thick Qi so it doesn't get wet and weigh you down, this is especially important when you get more of them." Grandpa Lin explained. He didn't have a tail, but that didn't mean he didn't know how to train Foxes.

Aiko nodded, but she didn't know how to do that.

"Blood Fox." Grandpa Lin nodded towards her to get closer.

"I believe you have some kind of Armour Ability, right?" Grandpa Lin smiled.

"That is correct, Elder Punisher." Blood Fox was respectful, but kept her edge since she didn't like how Elder Punisher treated Aiko.

"Conjure it, so that she can see it. It's similar to the Qi coating." Grandpa Lin nodded, not minding her attitude, she was after all a Demonic Fox.

The Blood Fox conjured the Armour, but Aiko couldn't see how she did that.

Grandpa Lin noticed her blank expression and sighed. It didn't seem like the Vicious Cub was very perceptive when it came to natural Qi.

Grandpa Lin released his pressure, making the Blood Fox back off, but now the flow of Qi was visible to the naked eye and Aiko could observe it.

"Now watch closely." Grandpa Lin gathered the stream of Qi and a faint barrier appeared around his arm close to his skin.

"Ooooo." Aiko observed it curiously.

*Nudge Nudge*

"It feels like I'm touching some kind of metal..." Aiko spoke her thoughts aloud.

"The more Qi you gather into the Qi Barrier, the stronger the barrier is, but it is not advised as it wastes a lot of Qi for very little defence. This barrier is mostly used to repel natural elements or, coating something you don't want to get dirty." Grandpa Lin explained liking the Vicious Cub's curiosity.

"I see..." Aiko focused on her Beast Core and released some Energy from it. A torrent formed around her, coating her body, but she was not as skilled as Grandpa Lin and she was constantly losing her Beast Core Energy.

"It's not very efficient..." Aiko frowned.

Grandpa Lin smiled. It was good enough that she could create the barrier, but she also noticed that it was not very good for Foxes, as their Beast Core Energy was different to his.

"It's not that bad..." The Blood Fox said, forming a similar barrier to that of Elder Punishers.

Grandpa Lin staggered, she was barely leaking any Qi from this barrier. 'Is this really her first time?' He was confused.

Aiko glared at the Blood Fox, she couldn't believe she was outdone by her. How could they be her servants when she was worse than them?!

'Oi system, help me!' Aiko yelled at her system.

[Do you wish to acquire [Qi Manipulation] for 1,000,000 Skill Points?]

*PFT*

Aiko almost coughed up blood. 'I told you to help me, not ridicule me! I don't have that much!' Aiko cried out in her mind.

[Do you wish to acquire [Basic Qi Sense] for 10,000 Skill Points?]

Aiko choked. 'You shitty asshole! Jerk! Meanie! You are doing this on purpose!' Aiko cried, but she didn't want to use her last [Ability Coupon] on [Qi Manipulation] nor a [Skill Coupon] for [Basic Qi Sense], since she had 9,364 Skill Points.

Aiko looked upset, which pleased Grandpa Lin as he would be able to guess her emotions, unlike those Stoic Foxes where he had to try hard and guess.

"It's fine, it's your first time trying this." Grandpa Lin tried to soothe Aiko, but one girl had a different idea.

"It's also the first time for me, Elder Punisher." The Blood Fox pouted.

*Grrrrr*

Aiko growled at the Blood Fox, Aiko's fur stood straight and she glared at the Blood Fox.

The Blood Fox hummed, avoiding Aiko's gaze.

*Whack*

"Auch." Aiko held her head, glaring at Grandpa Lin, who whacked her head.

"It's bad to be jealous of others." Grandpa Lin reprimanded her, but he felt a stinging feeling on his back.

He turned around to see the Passion Fox glaring daggers at him.

'What in the world is wrong with them...' Grandpa Lin couldn't understand why the Passion Fox would do that when he tried to help her.

Grandpa Lin coughed awkwardly. "Keep practising the Qi coating." He left this strange place and walked towards the training grounds the Umbra Fox was using for her guidance.

...

The Blood Fox stared at Aiko who was still glaring at him.

"Are you alright?" The Blood Fox was concerned.

"Hmpf." Aiko huffed at her, annoyed that she did it so easily.

The Blood Fox approached the pouting Aiko and gently caressed her head where it hurt, because of her Divine Ability she was able to soothe Aiko's pain.

Aiko still pouted at her but didn't reject the petting as it felt quite good.

"Rest for now and I will help you with the Qi coating." The Blood Fox was gentle with Aiko, since she drove those voices away.

Aiko snorted, but didn't reject her as she couldn't be outdone by her servant, but she was curious...

'I wonder what her menu looks like...' Aiko looked through her system.

[Companion: [Passion Fox (Affection: 64,346)]]

'What the fuck?!' Aiko was startled when she saw that ridiculous number.

[It is possible to view your Servant [Passion Fox].]

Aiko clicked at the Passion Fox and the menu appeared before her.

Aiko stared at it blankly.

[Insight: -1]
[It is impossible to determine the learning speed.]

Aiko cursed in her mind, not only was her insight in the negatives, but her Luck was too!

'Does that mean she has heavenly luck or some shit like that?!' Aiko stared at the gently smiling Blood Fox.

'Not to mention, her fucking [Blood Enhancement] can always be on! This is just unfair!' Aiko cried out in her mind.

'This whole thing is unfair!' Aiko sobbed quietly.

Aiko glanced at Blood Fox's tails.

'At least those tails are 9/10.' Aiko was so upset that because of that she lowered the rating by 2 points! She would never admit that she wanted to sleep inside those tails!

The Blood Fox caught Aiko staring at her tails and asked gently. "Would you like to have a nap?"

"No." Aiko pouted, but she was already sitting on her tails.

*Poof*

"Definitely not." Aiko was still pouting, but her body was already sinking into Blood Fox's tails and she slowly drifted to sleep.

...

The Blood Fox stared at Aiko, 'What a weird Fox.' but she didn't mind Aiko being like this. As long as she wanted to be with her, she didn't mind this kind of thing. She didn't need to scream her mind out trying to silence those voices.

Not to mention, Aiko was also very soft and lovable, so she just treated her as something small and cute that she needed to spoil and take care of.

The Blood Fox looked away, there were quite a few observers, but she just ignored all of them. She was not interested in those weaklings.

She grasped with her hands. She didn't believe that Aiko was unscathed when she hugged her so strongly, but Aiko was unaffected and only said that it was too strong...

The Blood Fox stared at the peacefully sleeping Fox and wondered how strong she was to be able to shrug her off like that...