Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko finally arrived in front of the Village. At first, the guards were wary of her, but once she showed them Buddy's item, they called for him.

"That took you quite some time." Buddy snorted, seeing the 'angry' fox stomping her feet. "I have already prepared your share, you can keep whatever you want, or you can trade it with us for some other items."

He told her with a chuckle, their loot this time was quite great, it seemed like those Humans spent a lot of resources to locate something, but it didn't seem like they found it. The only ones who ended up profiting were them and this little Fox

"Come inside, while we can't keep you around, it will be no problem under the ruse of celebrations!" He chuckled at her. "I will also answer your questions later, but for now, let's go."

Aiko jumped on his back, which he didn't mind. Because of this little rascal, he was well and alive. Moving through the Village, there were many more wooden houses.

It seemed like the Village had been enriched by the recent battles. There was some sentiment of melancholy, but most of them celebrated with meat and some kind of yellow liquid with red foam.

"You can't drink!" Buddy proclaimed. "We need you in good shape until you decide on your rewards! Otherwise, I will feel like I’m ripping you off." Buddy snorted happily. He wouldn't really rip her off, but it would be better if they made the trade while she was herself, so that she wouldn't feel cheated later. It would make him sad if she felt like that.

Aiko nodded, she was never ever interested in alcohol, so she wouldn't mind missing this celebration, but she would mind missing meat.

"Oh! It's the little Fox." Panther popped out of nowhere with slightly flushed cheeks. "Are you drinking with us today?" Never mind lightly flushed, he was totally hammered, judging by the fact he was talking to a rock.

Aiko shook her little head, making a few nearby passersby smile at her.

Buddy continued walking, ignoring his fellow comrade in arms who didn't stop talking to a pole.

He invited Aiko into his home. It had very large doors, possibly because Buddy was also large, but it was very simply made. If someone saw this wooden house, they would more likely say that this is a Barn than a House.

Aiko also thought like that, but because she couldn't speak, it saved her from a lot of trouble. Buddy was deified in this Village and many would rebuke her for her words.

It was a very simple house. The furniture was closer to Humankind than Horsekind. Dry grass was nowhere to be seen, but there were large couches or 'chairs'. It felt a bit overwhelming as Aiko was very small compared to this huge house.

Buddy calmly walked through the house and into one of the rooms further inside the house. There were a few rings on the table and parchment with everything written on it.

Unfortunately, Aiko couldn't read and could only rely on Buddy to read it for her, but she vowed to herself to later buy herself a linguistic skill.

...

Buddy told her the contents and she only blankly stared at him. She didn't know most of them, she could guess some which he called the Burning Sword, or Shield of Sorrow, but the rest? Nope! Those... names were too cringe and she just couldn't imagine anything meaningful under those names.

"I will pull each one out and you will tell me what you want or not." Buddy helped her with this, since he would be much more injured if he were to fight alone in that fight.

Aiko nodded and listened to him when he pulled out those things.

She didn't like most of them, she won't be using swords any time soon, nor will she be using shields. As for herbs... can't they be just found on the side of the road?

"You will take those herbs!" Pressured Buddy, he has never seen such intelligent, yet ignorant Fox. "Those are indispensable for your advancement in your Cultivation!" He told her seriously.

Aiko nodded and agreed to keep those herbs.

"No! You can not not take these Spirit Stones! That's like refusing gold coins! They are invaluable to the cultivators!"

"No! You need-"

...

This went on for most of the night. Aiko was completely overwhelmed by the vigour Buddy displayed and was mentally drained. She would have to increase her stats if she wanted to advance smoothly or she might become a smooth-brained...

Aiko sighed holding 5 [Storage Rings] that she couldn't use. The rest was traded for Spirit Stones... which she couldn't use. It was... an underwhelming experience.

Her ears hung low like someone cheated her and Buddy chuckled.

"There is a feast later, so you just have to wait, for now, let's take a seat and I will tell you about the history and why most if not all Villages won't shelter you." Buddy comforted the little Fox.

Aiko nodded, but her ears didn't recover her springiness as the food was too far from her reach.

Buddy walked them to the main attraction and sat down with Aiko for the story.

"Long, very long time ago-

There was a single continent where Humans lived miserable lives while the Beast ruled nature. They ruled their Villages and each Village had its own quirk.

Dragons had insanely long lifespans, sturdy scales and breath that could torch the plane. Phoenixes had their Vitality and their never-ending cycle of Rebirth. Monkeys had skilled hands that could craft pretty much anything the heart desired.

Then there were Foxes, miserable bed warmers for both Humans and Beast.

Don't get me wrong, Foxes had their masterful Illusions that were hard to see through... unless you had a lot more powerful cultivation.

You see, Foxes needed Human souls for them to Evolve into higher stages, but even then they would lag behind other races.

Then something changed, the Earth split, separating the continents.

The Density of Heaven and Earth increased drastically, thus paving the path for Humanity's return.

Humans thrived as they were much better at gathering the energy of Heaven and Earth than Beasts, which relied on other Beast Cores or natural formations.

Time passed and most races were miserable as they were attacked and plundered by Humans for resources...

Except for Foxes. Their kind had their beautiful Human Form, and as such they were very welcome in Human society for a time.

Then came the age of Gods, where old fossils laughed and ruled as they wished. The Dragon clan, Phoenix clan and many other clans gathered in one place.

Each and every one of them tried to boast about their race's might, when one of the Humans proposed something. 'How about we see how many of our young ones can reach Spirit Beast Rank?' It was a sound game, which started it all.

The races shared their findings but paused when Foxes presented theirs.

During that Age of Gods, around 80% of Foxes made it into the Spirit Beast Rank and their numbers grew. Both Humans and Beast felt repulsed, as their Human form was neither Human nor Beast.

They felt intimidated by their rapid increase of might. The Beast started joking at Fox's expense.

The most Powerful Kitsune wouldn't have it and declared, 'Since when are we, Foxes, so easy to bully!? We will see who has the last laugh when you can't use our services!' And she locked all of their Villages, isolating themselves from the whole plane.

This was an extremely heavy blow to both Humans and Beasts, as Humans could progress faster when Dual-Cultivating with Kitsune, while Beasts needed the soothing effects of their Illusions to rapidly advance their intelligence.

The leaders pleaded to the Fox Goddess and grovelled before her, but their pleas fell upon deaf ears. She would have none of it. The millions upon millions of years of trust shattered just like that.

"As such, anyone who would shelter Fox in their Village would incur the Wrath of the Fox Goddess," Buddy explained thoughtfully. "Also other races couldn't really take such a heavy slap, so even if some Foxes would like to live outside their Villages, there was almost no chance since the leader of said Villages would reject them." He shook his head.

"Which also means you have to do EVERYTHING in your power to not get kicked out of 'Fox Village' once you get there. There would be no chance for you to find a home, since none would like to shelter you... without some benefits." He gave the little Fox a meaningful stare and for some inexplicable reason, she felt a chill down her spine.

Aiko slowly nodded as Buddy laughed.

He was happy that she listened to him so intently and understood her situation.

Buddy didn't want to be hated by the powerful, since those powerful people were often incredibly petty. He would keep a good rapport with her allowing him to live a long life.

"As for what actually happened." Buddy snorted and Char nearby frowned. "Nobody knows any more, the only thing people remember is the rule 'Never Shelter a Fox!'" He shook his head at those idiots in the Olden Age.

"And before you ask, I have no idea where 'Fox Village' is, you might hear rumours near Human Villages since they like to hunt them for bed warming, but other than that, none of the major Villages would be able to help you." Buddy slowly pushed meat in front of her so she would forget such heavy topics.

"For now just do your best and maybe someone will guide you towards 'Fox Village'." He said slowly, but not really believing it himself. "Just keep in mind that 'that' place is your only true home."

Aiko had her mind full, she wanted to travel the world around having many homes in beautiful places, but now it seemed like the situation was not that easy.

She will need to find a way to coexist with both Humans and Foxes or... wipe them both out.

'Ha! As if I would be able to do something so big just by myself...' She lamented, but she needed some way to create full Human form or be powerful enough that nobody would be able to get in her way. Either way, this is another thing she has to keep in mind and think about periodically, so that she doesn't forget or doesn't miss some kind of 'fortuitous opportunity'.

She munched on her meat even though the party had not yet started and people stared at her, not strangely, but with an odd smile. They looked happy, as if they were liberated from their worries at this moment and just enjoying life...