Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko woke up the next day, her body was no longer aching.

She was confused and she wondered if the previous day was just a dream, but seeing the grinning Grandmaster, she knew that it was not a dream.

"Since most Foxes already had their Beast Cores checked you won't need to go through the normal way." The Grandmaster suddenly spoke.

Aiko sighed, while her body was no longer aching she was still feeling very heavy.

"Do I have to?" Aiko asked frowning.

"We can also train more." The Grandmaster smiled.

"I will go!" Aiko suddenly agreed to go. 'I don't want to experience that beating again...'

"We will go soon, so eat something for now." The Grandmaster said while standing up and going somewhere.

Aiko came to Mei for more food, but Mei was not home, so the only thing she could eat would be meat from her system, which she didn't want to.

Aiko waited for them to return. She was already addicted to Mei's cooking and she knew that her cooked meat would pale in comparison so she didn't even try.

'I hope that the Beast Core test/exam or whatever that is, is quick...' Aiko wanted to finally finish her massage chair, but previously she was unable to, due to material and work constraints. Now that she could buy the missing material and borrow the power of the Forging Peak she would be able to finish that chair and then she could focus on that feather.

...

The Grandmaster came to pick her up, but Mei was still not there.

"There is an annoying person overseeing the test, so you can just ignore her." The Grandmaster spoke gently.

They went through many small forests until they arrived at the test site. There was a crystal clear ball on a pedestal.

"You are finally here." The person in charge narrowed her eyes. She already disliked this short little Fox.

Aiko didn't say anything. She noticed that the Fox was glaring at her. She didn't like that as she had done nothing so far, it must be another grumpy person.

"Come forward, you are the last one." That Illusion Fox said.

Aiko walked towards the pedestal and put her hand on it.

Nothing happened.

Aiko tilted her head.

"I have not told you to put your hand on it." The Illusion Fox was annoyed.

Aiko rolled her eyes.

The Illusion Fox clicked her tongue. "Seriously, why do they cater to something as insignificantly useless as this Fox." She murmured, but Aiko didn't hear it as she was more curious about the crystal ball than about grumpy Fox.

"Your hand." The Illusion Fox was incredibly irritated at those shiny cute eyes.

Aiko plopped her hand on it again, but this time some kind of fog whirled inside.

Aiko was curious and mesmerized about the inner workings, but kept silent as she knew that this grumpy Fox wouldn't answer her.

"50%" The Illusion Fox clicked her tongue again. "Barely passable, at this rate you will be kicked out soon." She smiled.

Aiko didn't say anything and left, which angered the Illusion Fox further, but she was unable to act as the Grandmaster was watching. 'Annoying little things.'

The plaza was soon deserted and some other Foxes moved the pedestal with the crystal ball somewhere else.

"What are we waiting for?" Aiko asked. Mei was still nowhere to be seen.

The Grandmaster narrowed her eyes as if finishing her business.

"You should be careful about the Mystic Fox." The Grandmaster warned Aiko.

"Mystic Fox?" Aiko tilted her head.

"The one that was overseeing this test." The Grandmaster explained.

"Oh, okay." Aiko didn't have a good first impression of her so it was natural she would be more guarded about that 'Mystic Fox'.

They finally moved from this place back to the abode where Mei was waiting.

"Passed?" Mei didn't look all that good.

"I'm still here." Aiko spoke gently.

"Good. Go practice with Grandmaster today and someday we will finish the chair." Mei looked upset, but Aiko didn't know why.

The Grandmaster gently guided the confused Aiko away.

Once they arrived at their sparring ground Aiko finally asked.

"What's wrong with her?" She didn't understand.

"There was something unsavoury that happened, she will be alright with time." The Grandmaster looked oddly serious.

Aiko had a bad feeling, but for some reason, words couldn't leave her mouth, they were stuck in her throat.

...

*Whack**Ding**Bang*

Aiko fought against the Grandmaster, dodging her wooden sword and using [Lacerate] to try and sever that weapon.

Aiko no longer thought about beating the Grandmaster as the Grandmaster was out of her league, her wooden stick was not and she could feel she was getting closer and closer to scratching it.

[Lacerate: Lv.8->9]

It was definitely not because her Lacerate improved!

"You are distracted again." The Grandmaster smirked.

*Whack*

A good whack on Aiko's head was steaming a bit from the impact.

Aiko clutched her head and rolled around trying to dodge the combo attacks.

The Grandmaster shook her head, Aiko was natural at this and if she wasn't distracted this time she would suffer fewer injuries.

'There is only so much power I can put into this wooden sword before it either shatters or injures the little one.' The Grandmaster shook her head fending off the frenzied Aiko.

At this point, Aiko was even using rocks on the Grandmaster to put pressure on her, but all she got from the Grandmaster was laughter.

"Stop laughing!" Aiko threatened, but the Grandmaster only laughed more.

"You are the only one who would use rocks like that." The Grandmaster was amused, but she had to admit that the impact from the rocks was on the heavier side. 'Maybe if she could imbue her rocks with Spiritual Energy they would hit harder.'

The Grandmaster was half absentminded, but unlike Aiko, she had the situation under control and would not get beaten so easily. 'Right... any techniques that are usable are for human form, the proper ones, there are some pseudo techniques for the pseudo form, but those burn too much Spiritual Energy to be usable in combat...'

The Grandmaster couldn't find a way for Aiko to strengthen her impact, but she could at least help her with her accuracy and strength of the throw.

"Stop ignoring me!" Aiko was mad, huffing at the Grandmaster who was lost in thought, but still able to put her in place.

"I'm only thinking about what is good for you." The Grandmaster defended herself cutely as she used only one hand to deal with Aiko.

"Grrrr." Aiko growled at Grandmaster clearly upset.

"We will be practising throwing skills later." The Grandmaster suddenly announced startling Aiko.

*Whack*

"You are wide open." The Grandmaster chuckled after giving Aiko another good whack on her head.

Aiko clutched her head again and glared at Grandmaster with teary eyes.

"Alright, that's enough, let's go for throwing." The Grandmaster shook her head.

Aiko held her head but followed the Grandmaster, escape was never an option unless she got stronger.

...

They stood before a thick tree. It wasn't all that tall, but it was thick enough that not even 5 people at the same time would be able to hug it completely.

Aiko was intimidated.

"What are you scared about? We are not doing anything bad." The Grandmaster smiled, this tree was known for its durability and even weapons wouldn't be able to put a dent in it.

"Are you sure? This tree seems important..." Aiko stared around. Normally trees would have mess around them and plenty of weeds, but this was seriously maintained and looked dignified.

"It's only important if you can use it, now grab some rocks and we will practise your throwing skills." The Grandmaster smiled and walked away about 30 meters from the tree.

Aiko picked up a few rocks, she still had some in her storage ring, but she didn't use those and kept them in reserve.

"Now come here and you will be shooting from here." The Grandmaster smiled, that dangerous and sinister smile.

"T-that's far!" Aiko shivered.

"It's fine. You will manage." The Grandmaster still kept that smile.

Aiko grumbled but still went next to the Grandmaster.

"Now throw." The Grandmaster pointed at the tree.

Aiko didn't want to injure that tree so she didn't throw seriously, but...

'Missed?' Aiko felt dizzy, indeed, she never threw anything from a distance of above 15 meters, but that wouldn't make as big of a difference, right?

"See? You have a lot to practice." The Grandmaster spoke gently. She flicked a rock from her hand and it hit the centre of the tree, exactly the centre!

Aiko frowned. She was not at throwing, but this kind of skill was... unreal.

Not to mention that rock vaporized once it met the surface of the tree! How can a tree easily shatter a rock?!

"That tree is special in the way that it can't be damaged by ordinary means." The Grandmaster explained once she read Aiko's mind.

Aiko nodded, but she couldn't wrap her head around it. "How can it... and so easily...?" Her brain was in overload mode and she just couldn't figure it out.

"You will understand once you spend enough time practising." The Grandmaster stroked Aiko's head.

Aiko pouted but didn't shy away, it was quite nice even though the Grandmaster had rough hands.

...

Aiko kept throwing the rocks till the end of the day, she was surprised at the speed of her gaining the skills.

[Enhanced Mind: Lv.4->6]
[Assassin Mastery: Lv.3->5]

'Is this what it feels like when you have a proper teacher?' Aiko smiled widely.

"This is enough." The Grandmaster spoke.

There was a pile of rocks under the tree, some cracked, some shattered, but most left intact.

"Gather the rocks and place them here, we will be returning some other day." The Grandmaster gave her an assignment and left.

Aiko quickly stored those rocks in her Storage Ring since she didn't want to bother with moving them by hand and followed after the Grandmaster.

The Grandmaster's lips twitched, just because she left that place didn't mean she was not looking through her Divine Sense.

'She is probably the only one who would store normal rocks in Storage Rings.' The Grandmaster couldn't believe her eyes at first, but then just shook her head. 'I should've stayed so that I knew what was going on in her little head.'

Aiko caught up to the Grandmaster. "Do you think she will still be grumpy?" Aiko asked the Grandmaster.

She was talking about the strange behaviour that Mei displayed.

"It will take some more time and you are also not allowed to leave my abode until you are at least juvenile." The Grandmaster shook her head.

Aiko paused. "What about my Rune studies?" She wanted to go outside since she didn't know how long would it take till she was a juvenile.

"Can they even teach you anything more than you already know?" The Grandmaster narrowed her eyes, she already heard about this little rascal learning thousands upon thousands of Runes, it would not be an understatement to say that she was unrivalled in the sheer amount of Runes that she knew.

"Definitely!" Aiko lied through her teeth. She didn't believe that they could teach her anything about Runes, but maybe about the different Inscriptions?

"We will see." The Grandmaster chuckled, she already read through Aiko's mind and was amused, but she couldn't cave in so easily, it was important for Aiko to grow well than to fight in the Village.

"Once you reach juvenile you will also go for the Assassination Peak, I heard that the Peak Elder over there missed you." The Grandmaster smirked.

"Missed Mei, you mean." Aiko rolled her eyes.

"No, I'm being serious, once she calmed down a bit she was impressed by your skill." The Grandmaster told her the truth.

"I see..." Aiko didn't believe that at all.