Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko ran ahead once again. She would collect anything she liked along the way since it would be hard for that male Fox to catch up.

This saddened and made Aiko happy; while she wouldn't be able to develop her Divine Ability, at the same time she wouldn't hear his annoying voice.

'I should fish out where those graves are and then abandon them...' Aiko thought. His unwillingness to level up her Divine Ability upset her after that night.

'Well...' Aiko frowned, the distance was still great and there would be plenty of opportunities to make himself useful.

At least that's what Aiko hoped.

She waited once again for her team.

"I'm weaker in my Human form, but I'm still faster..." Aiko mumbled.

"You can ignore a lot of terrain, but we have to also keep our senses sharp in case there are other Beasts around." The Umbra Fox said defensively, she was slightly sad that she couldn't keep up with Aiko.

Aiko narrowed her eyes, but eventually shrugged. "Yeah, being awesome is hard."

Her team laughed and petted her, which Aiko didn't dislike... the petting was something she didn't mind, but she was confused as to they would laugh at her. She was seriously awesome!

Who wouldn't want to double jump in the air?! It's like a dream coming true!

Aiko could only shake her head at them. It would be quite some time before they arrived, so maybe she should train her team?

But how would she do that? What was needed to improve them? Aiko didn't know. She would later look at their system menus and decide what to do, but the last time she looked, there was not much to level up...

She could also experiment on them with the system items, but that should be done in a controlled environment just in case. If something happens to them, Mei would be able to save them, or at least that's what Aiko hoped...

Well... the system was very useful for her, but she didn't know what it would do to others; she was slightly bummed out by the fact she would have to test it on her team…

Aiko narrowed her eyes. The Shadow Passion was nice, but she didn't form any relationship with her... If she could poach her and then use the items on her...

Aiko's cheek got pinched.

"Auch. Why?" Aiko was agitated.

"Lady Liu said that if you make a scary face, we are supposed to pinch your cheek." The Blood Fox replied with a gentle smile, as if she didn't mean to pinch Aiko, but was just following Lady Liu's instructions.

Aiko stared at her for a while trying to guess if it was the truth or not, but she couldn't get through her poker face and her [Intention Perception] also didn't pick anything up.

Aiko tilted her head, was the Blood Fox truly looking for her or did she just figure out a way to fool her senses?

She honestly couldn't tell. The Blood Fox, like the Umbra Fox, had the perfect poker face and kind-looking smile. It was hard for Aiko to suspect her, but at the same time, something felt amiss.

"What do you think about Shadow Passion?" Aiko nudged the conversation in a different direction.

"Are you now collecting servants?" The Umbra Fox felt hurt.

"That's also not a bad idea." Aiko pretended that she didn't mean to steer the conversation in this direction.

The Blood Fox gave a sharp look to the Umbra Fox and she could only shyly look away.

The Umbra Fox didn't expect that Aiko didn't think of the Shadow Passion as a nice servant to have...

"That's not bad, how do you poach-Auauau." Aiko wanted to ask them how to poach someone, but her cheek was pinched by the Blood Fox once again.

Aiko looked like she was wronged and the Blood Fox pursed her lips. It was just so easy to bully Aiko...

"Well..." The Umbra Fox hesitated. "I heard that if you make the team leader surrender, you can force him to remove the contracts." This was one of the reasons the Umbra Fox wanted Aiko to look more dignified.

If you are a pushover or look like a hoodlum, you are more likely to be challenged, or at least that's what the Umbra Fox observed.

If Aiko was challenged and lost in the same rank... The Umbra Fox wouldn't have a good ending since her contract would be null.

She wanted to avoid that at all costs, as that would be a terrible end for her.

The Umbra Fox often hid herself so she was not known and the one time she was known by one male Fox... she almost ended up in his harem...

The Umbra Fox shivered and looked at the duo.

"Are you alright?" Aiko hugged the Umbra Fox slightly above her butt since she was simply too small.

The Umbra Fox felt warm and caressed Aiko's hair. "I'm fine as long as you won't be defeated." Her inner thoughts leaked.

The Blood Fox wanted to glare at the Umbra Fox for the previous statements, but stopped herself after the last statement. She understood the Umbra Fox's worries.

The Blood Fox hugged the Umbra Fox too.

The Umbra Fox felt warm all over, she was happy to be in this team and that this team didn't contain any male Foxes. She felt much safer like this.

...

Suddenly, Aiko's ears twitched and she stood straight up.

The Umbra Fox sighed. It seemed like Aiko picked up something and her interest diverted from the hug.

The Umbra Fox didn't blame Aiko as she understood her mind a bit better. She was young and mischievous, which meant she could get away with a lot of things.

She didn't mind that Aiko would do this as this... 'stage' of life wouldn't last all that long and it was better to get this out of her system while she could before things changed.

It was... kind of fun to watch over someone so much younger than she was...

Aiko's ears twitched. She really wanted to know what that sound was, but at the same time, she didn't want to stop hugging the Umbra Fox. Her teammate needed a hug, so she would keep hugging until it was enough.

"You can go." The Umbra Fox gently nudged Aiko. She was happy that Aiko willingly tried to comfort her, but she also didn't want her to get bored.

The hug was enough and since Aiko wanted to go on an adventure she would concede as an adult...

Aiko's tail wagged, but she didn't separate yet. "Are you sure?"

Seeing the overly excited Aiko the Umbra Fox chuckled. "En." The Umbra Fox giggled, feeling better.

Aiko immediately strained her ears and ran towards the direction of the sound.

She was curious about what she would find at the centre of that sound.

...

Aiko arrived in front of a strange door.

It looked incredibly old, almost ancient.

"Those who seek bliss may enter?" Aiko tilted her head.

She couldn't understand what that meant, so she waited for her team.

She explained what she found and gestured to her team for help.

The Umbra Fox blushed. "I think we should skip this one."

"I do agree." The Blood Fox also nodded, but due to her incredible poker face, there was not even a blush.

Aiko narrowed her eyes, staring at them intently. The only reaction she got was from the Umbra Fox. Something about this was suspicious...

"Alright." Aiko nodded gently and her team breathed a sigh of relief... but not for long.

"Let's knock on the door and see if anyone is home." Aiko smiled gently, but her team really wanted to stop her.

*Knock Knock*

Unfortunately, they were a moment too late to stop the little Devil.

Nothing happened after Aiko knocked on the door. Her team breathed out in relief again, but they jinxed it once again...

"Who is disturbing my slumber?" A booming voice descended on the area. It was difficult to figure out if it was a male or female voice.

"Trespassers that do not seek bliss are to be- hiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" The ghost appeared with a clear message, but the moment she spotted a small Fox she immediately screamed from fear and vanished.

'This feels like another deja vu...' Aiko thought and for some reason, she was quite irked by that reaction...

Her team was stifling laughter.

She raised her tiny and cute fist.

*BOOM*

There was a loud sound from her fist colliding with the door. It sounded like the door was made out of metal...

Aiko stiffened, she didn't expect this door to be so strong...

She was in quite some pain and held her tiny fist.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" Aiko's voice spread throughout the forest, scaring most animals into running away.

Aiko's hand naturally swelled up, since it couldn't bear the impact against something much harder than her body.

Her team pursed their lips, sometimes they wondered if Aiko returned to her Animal Rank...

...

At this time the Mirage Fox's team finally caught up only to see the ghost vanish and the Vicious Fox punch the door.

The Mirage Fox had a headache since his suspicion about being a babysitter was almost confirmed.

The Shadow Passion felt bad for the small Fox since she hadn't ever seen a Ghost act that way towards a Fox...

But she almost laughed out loud from that punch...

...

Aiko glared at the door, since she could hear a faint chuckle from it.

"Ammunition." Aiko commanded her team and they collected some rocks.

Aiko transformed into her Fox form and readied her tails.

*Swish**Ding**Swish**Ding**Swish**Ding*

The door didn't budge and the Mirage Fox shook his head. He couldn't understand how his Divine Ability was so hard to use against someone so stupid...

The Shadow Passion felt bad for the tiny Fox and wanted to help her, when...

"Alright." Aiko finally finished stretching her tails. She was not that worried that her Beast Core would be fully drained, as rocks were not considered gruesome and thus it would not trigger that title.

*Swish**Ding**Ding**Swish**Ding**Ding**Swish**Ding**Ding*

Aiko was still not working at top speed, but her speed was picking up over time...

*Swish**Ding**Ding**Ding**Ding*

At this moment, the Mirage Fox stiffened. He would be able to resist a few rocks, but what was insane for him was that the rocks were picking up the ambient Qi! They were being strengthened!

*Ding**Ding**Ding**Ding**Ding**Ding*

Aiko was working faster and faster, not only her team, but also the Mirage and his team gulped.

Yet, Aiko was not finished.

*Ding Ding Ding**Ding Ding Ding*
*DingDingDingDingDing*
*DiDiDiDiDiDiDiDiDiDing*

Everyone was speechless as Aiko was like a repeater, throwing anything that was in her tails' range.

Yet, to no one's surprise, the door remains impregnable, at least that's what they thought until the door eventually succumbed to the onslaught of abuse!

*Crack Crack*

Aiko smiled like a devil and laughed. "Come out, little Ghost~" Aiko hummed as she kept pounding the door with more Qi-infused rocks...