Chapter 21 – Hunt?

Aiko shivered as hot breath blasted her face. She immediately used [Lightness Technique] to make the distance between them.

She stared warily as the Lizard's tongue swished in and out of his mouth.

"Another dumb beast disturbing my slumber." The Fire Lizard snorted.

He gathered flames in his mouth and shot them towards Aiko. Aiko's fur stood straight up as her senses warned her of her upcoming death. This Lizard hated her and wanted her to die. There was no way to negotiate only to battle.

Aiko jumped away with [Quick Jump] barely dodging the fireball. She used sprint with [Lightness Technique] to make up for the difference in class.

Aiko was elusive, being able to dodge everything that the Lizard sent her way, but she wasn't able to get close to him or injure him.

This time she waited until the fireball was closer and dove inside the ground with [Burrow].

Queen already wanted to save her and scold her, when suddenly Aiko was sucked into the ground. The Queen stared at the place where Aiko disappeared, completely speechless. 'So she did get something for consuming that shard! But what a useless technique!' She scoffed. She lost the perfect shard that could help her, to build her the perfect cave, yet this... *Sigh*

The Lizard was satisfied by burning that dumb Fox until not even ashes remained. He... was not the smartest Lizard. That was also because he just entered the [Magical Beast Rank]. He had developed intelligence, but that intelligence blinded his senses. His pride was too big as he Evolved into a Fire Lizard and would be able to evolve into [Salamander] if everything went well. He no longer relied on his senses but upon his unrivalled flames. Those flames were further imbued with the [Fire Shard] 's energy, which allowed him to prepare the techniques quicker and make them more devastating. After all, he was the number 1 reason why so many Cultivators died in here. They all wanted this shard as it could improve their [Fire Cultivation] and some even their [Spiritual Roots]!

Aiko moved below the Lizard and popped her head from below. The Lizard was unaware of her presence and was defenceless from this side. Aiko saw very pinkish and soft-looking skin. It looked delicious.

She slashed that skin with [Scratch], but it was a very shallow wound. It wasn't even bleeding!

She immediately dove down. The Lizard was puzzled why his hindlimb itched.

The Queen almost facepalmed. She wanted this fight to be properly difficult but didn't expect the creature in her Rank to be so, so incredibly stupid. 'This is... painful to watch.' She frowned. 'And it's all because of that Earth Ability! if she didn't have it she would struggle at least a bit!' Queen was unaware that Aiko didn't have any ranged Abilities. Most shadow beasts had some kind of ranged Ability that would allow them to utilize enemy shadows. That was also the reason why shadow beasts were so formidable on the ground, where there were plenty of shadows.

Aiko opened her menu looking through it and upgrading [Scratch]. It turned into [Lacerate], which dealt high damage at the expense of Stamina and Beast Core energy.

Aiko moved behind the Lizard popping her head up. Her Stamina was doing fine and she wanted to know where exactly the Lizard was, as she couldn't see when she was under the ground.

The Lizard already lay down, seemingly bored. This window of opportunity would allow her to strike his weak point... but where should she strike?!

'His whole body is red when I activate [Weakness Detection].' Aiko frowned. It seems she will have to pay attention to the Skill levels much more.

She dove down underground and made her way to the Lizard's tail. She sharpened her mind and used [Laceration] at his most relaxed moment.

*RIIIIP*

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAH" The Lizard screamed as someone cut deeply into the underside of his tail.

Aiko giggled seeing the damage and the blood that was spraying everywhere with shiny eyes. She didn't expect such a simple upgrade to do so much... but it did consume a lot of Stamina. She will have to manage her reserves well or she might die.

She hid in the ground as the Lizard was trashing above her.

She waited as her [Burrow] Skill would use much less Stamina if she didn't move.

"WHERE ARE YOU BASTARD!? SHOW YOURSELF!" The Lizard roared at the top of his lungs but was unable to find his assailant which enraged him further drawing his animalistic instincts back to the surface.

He then noticed that something small was below him, deep in the ground.

*ROAR*

He immediately raised his temperature to the peak, making glass out of the nearby sand and rocks. Penetrating deep into the ground.

Aiko felt this heat and was terrified by it. She immediately went down deeper and away from the Lizard to avoid the shock wave of heat.

Aiko popped above ground as she wouldn't be able to sustain [Burrow] if he trashed so much.

Lizard noticed that tiny presence and immediately aimed his flames at it.

Aiko jumped away and dashed further away from him. She would now wait and let him bleed- 'His wounds burned?!'

The Lizard's heat cauterized his wounds, making it impossible for him to bleed out. That was one of the main reasons besides his flames why he was such a tough opponent. Additionally, he was also immune to most lesser poisons as even if they made it into his bloodstream they would get vaporized by his inner heat.

'FUCK! SHITTY FOX I WILL PUSH YOU INTO MUD AND THEN SHIT ON YOU FOR THIS!' Aiko cursed the stinky Fox in her mind.

Queen was unaware of her cursing and was currently praising Aiko for her wits. 'It was a good idea to go for the tail. Whenever he moved the wound would open slightly furthering his pain and blinding his emotions. With that, the Lizard would get exhausted if he spent most of his energy in this enraged mode.' The Queen nodded approvingly.

'JUST YOU WAIT!' Aiko stopped her curses as her tail almost caught ablaze from the Lizard's attacks.

She scurried around like a rabbit getting further and further from him, no longer caring about the meat she would lose from escaping this hell.

'Oh... She gave up. How unfortunate, and she was close too.' The Queen shook her head at her silly Servant. 'That's fine, I didn't expect her to have that Ability.' Queen sighed. This meant that Aiko wouldn't get proper challenges, she needed to know her limits and constantly challenge them to get more powerful evolutions, but that is for another day.

She withdrew her illusions and the Lizard noticed her. He wanted to tear this Fox apart, but he couldn't, as fear assaulted his entire being.

"W-what pleasure do I owe to such mighty Guest?" He stuttered as he realized that he wasn't her match. What was worse since he tried to kill that little bastard Fox and then this Fox appeared... they are probably related in one way or another. This might be the end of him.

"I will be taking that shard." The Queen calmly pointed at the [Fire Shard] behind the Lizard.

"Yes, yes, here." The Lizard obediently handed her the shard. He might need it, but he has already attained intelligence, thus increasing his lifespan greatly. This will allow him to slowly and safely Cultivate to another stage. He didn't want to lose his life just for a Shard. It might be a treasure, but the dead do not need treasures.

"You are a lot smarter than this Queen expected." She smirked and used her Divine Sense to levitate the shard, shocking the Lizard even more.

"T-thank you, n-now if you excuse me." He really wanted to run away, since there were only two types of people that would call themselves 'Queens'. The first one was an absolute lunatic and high on her power, the other was an absolute powerhouse that could wipe anyone that came her way and unfortunately for him, this Queen seemed like the latter.

"You are excused." Queen said while leaving. She didn't need to kill him since he was Aiko's prey, but since she wasn't able to kill him... he would stay alive so that he could take revenge on Aiko and teach her about the world.

The Queen nodded at herself for such a brilliant plan as it was much safer than if Humans were those that wanted to take revenge. Beasts have their pride and would never group with others, but Humans... anything goes. That was the reason why it was less dangerous to annoy beasts than Humans. Humans would just group up and kick you until you were lying down and continue kicking you until you died. There would be no escape as there were more powerful Human Cultivators than lonely beasts. Sure, in the grand scheme of things there were a lot more monsters, but in terms of strength. They just couldn't compare against Humans as beasts had to hunt other beasts to advance, while Humans just needed to fuck each other...

The Queen sighed spotting her little Servant.

Aiko was inside the river cooling down and caressing her tail. She noticed a gaze on her so she turned around only to-

'Here you are you shitty stinky mean Fox!' Aiko growled at her while protecting her tail that was singed by the flames.

The Queen was amused that this little creature was willing to growl at her, but not at the Lizard. She glared at Aiko making her shiver.

Aiko's eyes moistened as the stinky Fox glared at her. 'It's not my fault alright!' She sobbed. 'I did everything I could!'

The Queen was stunned by that pitiful expression and the fact that her eyes looked cuter when they were moist. She looked so pitiful and lovable that she had the thought of returning after the Lizard and cooking him for their dinner! Fortunately, she was a powerful Immortal Cultivator and wouldn't be swayed by emot-

*Clean*

'GAH! I did it again!' Cursed the Queen. She cleaned this little fox out of any mud, dirt and/or soot.

Aiko still stared at her pitifully, cursing her in her mind, but much less once she realized she was much cleaner and didn't smell like burnt hair.

"You did well." The Queen praised. 'GAH! You were supposed to reprimand her for running away and then tell her she still did a good job!' She was failing miserably in maintaining her outer appearance with her inner thoughts.

Aiko looked at the stinky Fox much less hatefully, but she still vowed she would get revenge for every little thing!