Chapter 18 – Char and Farewell

Chapter 18 – Char and Farewell

The party was nice, but for some reason, it increased her Level to only five. It seems that either that was not very high-quality meat or that she wouldn't be able to power level like before. That's not to say it was not delicious, she still ate every bit of meat that got in her range, making her look like a stuffed hamster.

...

"How are you feeling? Have you enjoyed our little festival?" Buddy chuckled seeing the lazy Aiko lying flatly on the 'armrest' on the couch.

She nodded weakly not wanting to move. She tilted her head to get a better look at Buddy, wondering where in the world he stored all that food.

"Hehe." He chuckled again. "I have my technique to stay fit, after all, everyone has their own little fantasy about me and since it keeps our morale high there is no reason for me not to fulfil those fantasies." He shrugged seeing those stars in Aiko's eyes.

"By the way Char would like to talk to you." He neighed. "I know the reason and you should think about what you want to do in the future once you hear it from him, it won't be an easy journey." He snorted.

Aiko nodded again, not really feeling up to talk with Char, but didn't reject it either. It's not like he was hostile to her and he gave her the opportunity to eat that delicious fulfilling meal so his 'status' was quite high in her heart.

"I will guide you there later, for now, sleep and digest your food."

Aiko didn't need to be reminded again and immediately fell asleep, the enthusiasm of the people here was too overwhelming for her. They would keep coming to feed her more and more food. Some wanted to pet her a little bit and some wanted to cuddle with her *Cough* Char's daughter *Cough*. This was too much for her and she avoided them later. Of course that got a laugh out of Buddy who was her benefactor and people soon kept their distance, allowing her to return to her seat.

...

"Slept well?" Asked Buddy, but looking at the yawning fox that immediately went back to sleep he shook his head. He had to grab her with his mouth as they didn't have powerful enough Divine Sense and placed her on his back.

He then slowly moved through the Village so that she still had a bit of time to rest, but not slow enough that people would gossip about them.

They arrived at their destination soon, but Aiko was still half asleep. He shook his head again but entered inside. The sooner she talks with Char the sooner she can make decisions and maybe their path will meet up again one day.

"Welcome my friend." Char greeted him in a friendly manner. "Where is the little Fox?"

"You still wish to tell her about that?" Buddy asked with concern.

"It doesn't matter if she knows it sooner or later, with her current talent it's only a matter of time before they recruit her." He shook his head. "We both know that." He pointed at the obvious.

"True." Buddy snorted and turned slightly sideways revealing a yawning fluffy Fox.

The maid who played the math game with her noticed her and almost fainted with a nosebleed. The other maids tried to support her, but staring in the direction from which she was fainting, they also noticed that cute half-asleep Fox that was rubbing her eyes and they too melted into one collective blob of sweetness.

"Little Fox." Char proclaimed in his ruler's voice. "The journey before you is long and will be filled with full of-*Haaaa*" He exhaled. "Whatever, you already seen me looking like an idiot so let's skip those flattering sentences. You will be invited or maybe even seek to join 'Fox Village' however that is not a true Fox Village. We are but a small continent in a larger world and Sects or Villages on this little continent do not matter as much." He shook his head. "Once you gather some fame and wealth you will be invited to the main continent where the true and mighty Sects reside." He explained.

"There you will truly struggle as this continent's power is much lower than theirs. You should always strive for the best and not skimp on anything! Only that way you can reach the Peak, but remember! While you are not welcome in this continent everything changes on the main continent. You have to be more careful as many old fossils like myself live there and take an interest in the strangest things." He glanced at her with a knowing expression. "While you can't avoid being noticed, you should always strive to be on top during negotiations or you will end up like me ruling over a small Village in nowhere." He shook his head.

"Do not believe Humans and do not believe beasts, only those that are with you and protect you with their lives might be sincere, but even some of them they would lay their lives to slightly improve their cultivation while kicking you around." He sighed. "Always be on high alert, no matter where you are. It might be exhausting at first, but once you get into rhythm there will be hardly anything that will catch you off guard!" He smiled gently.

[Improving the [Beast Core Purity] is extremely hard as most Pills can be only used once before they lose their efficacy.]

'Well, fuck me I guess.' She thought for a moment. 'Not literally.' She had this odd sense that someone was eavesdropping on her thoughts.

[Another way to improve the efficiency of Beast Cores is to 'burn' them. Powerful and Pure enough flame can Purify Beast Core, this is a slow and painful process, but it is possible to reach 100% purity this way.]

'... I hate pain...' Aiko closed her eyes. 'Hmmm.'

Aiko opened the [Skill Shop] and searched for any Pain-reducing skills.

[Hold your Breath]

[Decreases pain in the User's body and increases focus greatly for a short period.]

[After Skill ends User experiences backlash increasing the pain User is feeling]

[Pain Tolerance]

[User increases their pain threshold.]

'...' Aiko blankly stared at this and then opened [Cultivation Shop]

[Cold Heart]

[User cuts his basic Emotions]

[It has 6 Stages: Anger, Disgust, Fear, Happiness, Sadness and Surprise]

[User decreases its body temperature slightly, thus decreasing the pain User experiences.]

[Monks Heart]

[User cuts all 27 Emotions]

[It has 27 Stages: Admiration, Adoration, Aesthetic Appreciation, Amusement, Anger, Anxiety, Awe, Awkwardness, Boredom, Calmness, Confusion, Contempt, Craving, Disappointment, Disgust, Empathic Pain, Entrancement, Envy, Excitement, Fear, Guilt, Horror, Interest, Joy, Nostalgia, Pride, Relief, Romance, Sadness, Satisfaction, Sexual desire, Surprise, Sympathy, and Triumph].

[User won't feel anything once he completes this sutra.]

'No.' Aiko shivered looking at these useless techniques.

[Revolving Crushing Wheel of Destiny]

[User Cultivates by crushing his bones]

[Each circulation User crushes his bones strengthening them and as a by-product obtaining greater pain tolerance.]

'I just said I don't want any pain and you present me this?!' She spat at this stupid system, can't it find something useful?!

'Do I have to go with the [Skill] solution?' She thought deeply about this. 'Maybe if I can increase those skills I can obtain full immunity without penalties? If I can manage with just slight pain or if it counts the pain during combat when I'm full of adrenaline that could mean I would be able to level it up painlessly... somewhat' She snorted. 'It would be much better than crushing my bones or forgoing my emotions.'

She then paused... 'Shouldn't there be more Cultivation techniques?'

[That is correct.]

'... why can't I see them?' She asked while frowning.

[Because your Insight is not enough to understand them.]

'...'

[You should've evolved slowly.] System coldly said.

'I will manage!' She proclaimed while wagging her tail.