Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko munched on a piece of jerky along the way towards the hidden Shadows Peak. That's how the Assassination Peak was called once you entered it and since Aiko could technically enter, she was supposed to call it like that.

Aiko hid in the shadows and tailed yet another person from the Shadows Peak. He was completely unaware that Aiko was tailing him and even munching on a piece of meat. He could not even escape her when she was in her Human form.

What a poor sod...

...

"Hey, bastard! It's enough that you get tailed once, but twice...!" The guard was left completely speechless when he noticed that small teen tailing this useless bastard.

"I was not tailed! Other than-" The Youth who was tailed once again by Aiko was trying to defend himself.

"Hello~" Aiko spoke near his left side.

"GAH!" He jumped backwards throwing his knives at Aiko. 'Shit! I panicked! I hope she doesn't get hurt.'

Aiko tilted her body and the knives passed by her without injuring her.

The guard and the Youth stared at her strangely.

"I'm back~" Aiko smiled at the dumbfounded duo.

They looked at each other like they were seeing some kind of ghost.

"What's wrong?" Aiko tilted her head. She was unaware that Youth was a rising star when it came to assassinations and he was well-trained in throwing.

"You have tailed him, so you are allowed to enter." The guard spoke slowly after recovering.

"Well, duh, I was already admitted here." Aiko pouted.

"You were?" The Youth stared at her strangely. "My nickname is... Nightingale..."

At first, he introduced himself with fervour, but when it came to his nickname, he trailed those words into oblivion.

"Pfft." *Cough* *Cough* "That's a very pretty nickname." Aiko tried to maintain her facial expression, but it was twitching so much that it made matters even worse than they were previously.

The Youth blushed. It would be something else if a battle-hardened assassin called him that, but when a pretty girl like her called him... He suddenly felt embarrassed about that nickname.

"Well... who did you tail at first?" Nightingale asked.

"You." Aiko smiled sweetly, charming both of them.

"Huh..." Nightingale was charmed for only a moment until his face hardened. "But I was only ever tailed by... a... cub?" He was trying to measure her up and down.

"No way you are that cub!" He rejected that motion, no way that little cub could turn into such beauty.

"Bingo!" Aiko applauded him. "See? It was not that hard." She giggled. They were a funny bunch with ever-changing expressions.

"Fuck! I can't believe I lost!" Nightingale cried out and collapsed on his knees.

Aiko stared at him strangely and shifted towards that guard. "Pst, what is this all about?"

The guard smiled bitterly. "The Peak Elder of this place told him that if he is followed again, he will go through the Assassination Training again."

"Oh..." Aiko felt kind of bad, but only kind of, who told him not to practise his craft and be tailed again.

"So." Aiko slapped his shoulder, at least that's what she tried, but she almost slapped his butt due to the height difference.

Aiko awkwardly coughed. "Why are you so tall." She looked away, embarrassed from misjudging the distance.

The guard rolled his eyes. 'You are just too small.' "Did you need something?" He spoke politely, he was against a Vicious Cub... Vicious Fox? Anyway! He couldn't afford to take this encounter lightly, or his ass... Ahem.

"How do I get inside? Do I have to wait outside?" Aiko asked curiously, trying to look through the locked doors.

She got closer, trying to peek and listen to the sounds inside.

Suddenly, the door opened and slammed into Aiko.

"AGH! What kind of bastard!" Aiko yelped at them since the doors didn't injure her, but she was still startled since she couldn't hear anything.

The Peak Elder stared at the cursing girl and then at Nightingale. "You will have to train again."

"Peak Elder, have mercy! It's the same person!" Nightingale pleaded.

The Peak Elder paused and looked at the cursing girl. "Vicious Cub?"

"Who are you calling Vicious Cub, when you slammed the door into my face!" Aiko roared at the Peak Elder.

The Peak Elder chuckled, she liked her energy. "I thought you would never come."

"I don't intend to stay for long." Aiko shrugged. "I want to see how it works and if I don't like it I will go for the Hunting Peak."

"How daring, do you believe you will be able to leave once you enter." The Peak Elder threatened.

"Normally no, but you can't afford that." Aiko smiled mischievously.

"Oh? And who would I be scared-" The Peak Elder was so that this little one didn't have anything great, but she didn't expect this little cub to cut her off.

"Jade Fox." Aiko replied blandly, not letting the Peak Elder finish.

The Peak Elder stiffened, she couldn't believe that this little Vicious Cub would use that name so blatantly.

"And for your information, she was not in a good mood for over a year." Aiko's smile widened, seeing the Peak Elder deep in thought but with a frowning expression.

The Peak Elder clicked her tongue. "Daring. Not bad, but her influence can only get you so far."

"I mean, I have already cleared the first part, twice. So we can move on to the other parts, and you can show me around. Then we can discuss things." Aiko looked at Nightingale crying on the ground.

"Is the Assassination Training that hard?" Aiko asked, not understanding his sorry state.

"Not really." The Peak Elder shrugged, she was the one who came up with the Assassination Training, so it was only natural for her to see it as such.

"Are there any other tests before I take that Training or...?" Aiko asked with some curiosity, trailing her words.

"Follow me." The Peak Elder didn't say much and walked inside.

Aiko followed her normally.

"Silently." The Peak Elder warned Aiko.

Suddenly, she almost couldn't feel Aiko at all.

Sound, smell, breathing and so on, were easily suppressed by Aiko, and it was hard to spot her.

The Peak Elder's eyes shined. 'I found a high quality Jade Stone, if i polish her properly she will easily surpass me.'

"Not bad." The Peak Elder nodded and moved forward.

The Courtyard was silent, eerily so, but Aiko kept looking around.

"I feel like my body will be stiff if I have to do what those guys are doing." Aiko suddenly murmured, attracting the Peak Elders's attention.

"What?" The Peak Elder played innocent.

"That guy, that one, and that one and..." Aiko kept pointing at those hidden assassins hiding all around the courtyard.

"But there is nobody there." The Peak Elder smiled and played the dumb card.

Aiko picked up a nearby rock.

*Poof*

She transformed into a small Fox and used her superior speed to launch that rock.

It was aimed straight at that assassin. That would not have been such a big deal if he hadn't underestimated the speed at which Aiko could throw that rock with her small Fox's body.

*Ding*

"AGH!" The hidden assassin cried out and fell down from the tree twitching.

*Poof*

Aiko turned back into her Human form and clothed herself. "That one." She pointed again. "Should I shoot down the others?" Aiko played the innocent card this time.

The Peak Elder's lips twitched. "There is no need." Who would have thought that this little Fox would play her game, but she couldn't afford to injure so many of these sorry bastards, since they would have to do the Assassination Training all over again.

The Peak Elder smiled sinisterly while thinking about it and Aiko kept looking around.

This courtyard had many trees and bushes. Perfect spots for Assassins.

"How strange," Aiko murmured. "I can definitely feel their presence, but I can't locate them?" She tilted her head.

The Peak Elder raised her eyebrow. This test was about spotting all the younger assassins, but it seemed that she was able to catch those thin threads of the veteran assassins.

"Elder Shadow." The Peak Elder spoke.

The nickname Shadow was only given to the most upstanding assassin.

"Have you called, Mistress?" The Shadow appeared near her and Aiko stared at him intently.

"It wasn't him..." She murmured. She kept looking around trying to spot that person, but she was just unable to grasp its location.

"You can finish the tests with her, give her a guide around the estate and explain things to her. If she doesn't like it let her leave this place, unharmed, but give her a Token if she changes her mind." The Peak Elder commanded.

The Shadow Elder was surprised and stared at the little girl beside the Peak Elder. "As you wish." He bowed gently.

"Please follow me." The Shadow Elder spoke gently, attracting Aiko's attention.

"What was that?" Aiko narrowed her eyes.

The Shadow Elder was surprised and even the Peak Elder paused. They exchanged glances.

"That would be voice seduction." The Shadow Elder answered truthfully.

"Oh." Aiko's eyes shined.

It was an interesting technique since it attracted Aiko's attention. If it was possible to attract someone's else attention like this it would make sneaking around much easier and if there existed some kind of recording crystals... hehe~

"You will be taught in due time once-" The Shadow Elder wanted to explain, but he was cut short.

"She can skip that part of training or our Peak wouldn't last." The Peak Elder's voice drifted into the garden, but Aiko felt confused.

She didn't understand how voice could drift from everywhere without a starting point, it felt like Peak Elder was everywhere around her.

"Yes, Mistress." The Shadow Elder was shocked since that part was one of the hardest on the newcomers.

"Or at least 'that' part, she can practice others." The Peak Elder spoke again, but yet again Aiko could not find her.

The Shadow Elder didn't understand and stood there dumbfounded.

'No sex education you dumb bimbo!' The Peak Elder frowned and sent him a telepathic message since she couldn't bear his stupid face that ruined her prestige.

'But Mistress...' The Shadow Elder wanted to protest since this test was the easiest and most effective for gaining information.

'If you have anything to say, say it to Jade Fox and see her reaction.' The Peak Elder snorted, she was aware that Jade Fox was treasured by the Sect Leader, but even this little one was treasured by the Grandmaster!

If the Jade Fox was displeased not only the Sect Leader but also that terrifying war machine would be going after them, their little hidden Peak wouldn't be able to defend itself!

'I understand.' The Shadow Elder bowed. He would ask Jade Fox later about this matter and skip this part of training for the time being.

"So what are we doing now?" Aiko asked curiously startling the Shadow Elder.

He was so taken in by the conversation that he could barely notice Aiko's approach.

'I will have to train harder, it seems like my basics are lacking...' The Shadow Elder frowned.

"How many assassins are you able to notice in here? And where are they?" The Shadow Elder gave this little one her first test.

"I have counted 21, but I can only find the location of 13 of them." Aiko answered truthfully.

The Shadow Elder raised his eyebrow. "Where are they?"

Aiko pointed straight at them.

'It didn't seem like she was lying...' The Shadow Elder narrowed his eyes. "There are 8 left."

"I know..." Aiko frowned. "I just can't seem to grasp their position, I know they are there somewhere, but I just don't know where." Aiko clicked her tongue.

The Shadow Elder nodded. "You have found all the youngsters so we can say you have passed, as for the others... there are an additional 12."

"Eh? You count even those that are taking a shit?" Aiko was surprised and the Shadow Elder choked.

"What?" The Shadow Elder doubted his ears.

"They are taking a dump? Shitting? Letting out those poisonous bricks?" Aiko repeated in different words.

The Shadow Elder coughed awkwardly. "Yes, they are also counted."

"But I still could only find 11..." Aiko frowned.

The Shadow Elder was amused at this point and clapped his hands.

All the nearby assassins moved outside their hiding spot and Aiko stared at them.

"This one! I couldn't find you at all." Aiko tilted her head. "How? It doesn't seem you are all that exceptional. You don't look even half as good as this grandpa." Aiko pointed at the Shadow Elder.

The Shadow Elder almost coughed up blood. 'I'm not that old!'

"I use illusions to trick my enemies." The Youth smiled, seeing the battle-hardened Shadow Elder choke up. He really did like this little one.

"Hmmm..." Aiko suddenly lost interest. "What's the next test."

The other assassins chuckled, his existence was ignored which brought them joy.

The Shadow Elder clapped again and they returned to their positions, but Aiko could feel them shift around.

"Let's go to the next place." The Shadow Elder spoke, but this time without voice seduction.