Chapter 24 – I want to QUIT!
The Queen ate her meat with Aiko as they settled in a lush forest. They still had quite a long journey till they arrived at their destination.
"We got few Spirit Stones, herbs... useless manuals... they didn't have anything worth our time, but that herb." The Queen frowned. "This was a waste of time." She concluded. Sure those [Storage Pouch]es were useful for the current Aiko, but once she learned how to properly control her Qi, she would be able to open [Storage Ring]s which are incomparably bigger and more compact.
'Well not completely.' She looked at Aiko. 'It is good that she could see what happens to people that succumb to inner demons since her aura is closer to a demonic beast, but her actual energy is neutral in nature, which is interesting.' She chewed on her slabs of meat, while Aiko ate small pieces. It was enough to sate Aiko's hunger, but not enough to enjoy the taste. 'Her neutral energy is a good thing because many Beast Cores of lower beings get cleansed after their death making those Beast Cores more neutral in nature. That is why it's difficult to find the proper Beast Cores for fast advancement, but with a neutral disposition she would be able to eat all those Beast Cores that are normally used in alchemy and thus are dirt cheap to obtain.' She smirked.
'I don't like how she is looking at me... I hope she won't force me to fight another unfair beast...' Aiko cried in her mind, not letting it be seen on her face, otherwise, this mean Fox would lick her even when she tried to sleep. She felt like this stinky Fox was strangely attached to her all of a sudden. She wouldn't let her out of her sight and would always drag her around or carry her.
'Carrying isn't all that bad since it's soft and I can often sleep, but it's a pain in the ass to walk.' It would make Aiko uncomfortable or if she moved too much it would even hurt her!
The Fox sat near Aiko and waited for her to finish her food. The Queen liked to observe her little Servant, as the gentlest wind would be able to change the colours of her fur. It was a mesmerizing dance for her old soul and she felt healed whenever she would watch it.
That was one of the effects why Foxes were so popular, they had a natural soothing effect because of their incredibly fluffy tails. It would take only a few pats to calm down your restless heart and relax your mind.
Of course, some cultivators hunted them so they could sell stuffed tails and while they did sell incredibly well, it couldn't really compare to the real deal.
The Fox placed Beast Core in front of Aiko. "Let's boost your Beast Core a bit, just focus on drawing energy into you." She gently told Aiko as she pierced the Core and separated pure energy from impurities. She didn't mind those impurities entering her body as her Core was pure enough that it could deal with a small amount of said impurities. It would be a different matter if she consumed a lot of it, but Aiko wouldn't be able to sustain such rapid improvements... or at least that's what she thought.
Unfortunately, she never met someone with neutral energy, otherwise she would curse herself for such naive thinking.
Aiko didn't know how to draw that energy into her. She stared at the leaking energy. It felt... tasty? She tilted her head and a bit of that energy entered her body. Aiko flinched, but not from being repulsed, but from being startled. That energy was very soothing, it felt like the river was caressing your skin and it also soothed her painful Beast Core. She slowly closed her eyes enjoying that feeling when.
*CRACK*
The pleasant feeling disappeared. It was no more. She felt disappointed and looked with a sad expression at the mean Fox.
The Queen stared at the little thing that was staring at her with 'big' cute eyes, trying to nudge her for more, but she just couldn't... she was too shocked at her consumption rate, normally that was supposed to be impossible and it would take quite a while for her to consume that Beast Core. Unfortunately, her Beast Core was very hungry, it was hungry because it was unstable. This instability was from the fact she didn't have that 'secondary' bloodline that would create equilibrium. As such her Beast Core compensated with increased absorption capabilities, which Queen was unaware of.
'I don't believe she will be able to consume all our Beast Cores in one sitting!' She challenged Aiko in her mind, which only proved fatal for her Immortal Soul.
...
'I-I can't believe it...' She stared blankly at Aiko who was smiling at her.
[Beast Core(1%): 620 -> 1,000]
'All... our Beast Cores... in one sitting...' She suffered a major blow as she kept looking at Aiko who looked completely fine and not affected by the amount of energy she just consumed. 'I-I would have to take a few hours to consume all of them, but... she didn't need even an hour!?' The Queen was completely speechless when she saw Aiko cutely look at her, clearly wanting more. "Bah! You want more?!" Her inner thoughts leaked from her mouth.
Aiko nodded smiling nicely and making a cute expression. It was certainly bullseye for the mean Fox, but she ran out of Beast Cores! The rest were special Elemental Cores, which had many unique uses and she wasn't willing to use them on her since her Core was still not stable enough. "I-I don't have more!" She stuttered.
Aiko was sad that she couldn't eat any more tasty Beast Cores. It was not quite as tasty as meat, but it was gentle and soothing enough that she would have to pause if she were given the chance to pick only one of them.
"You will need to wait for later!" The mean Fox said somewhat guiltily, but she couldn't cave in here, otherwise she would have to guide this little thing for her entire life! That thought crossed her mind for the first time and shockingly her mind wasn't all that against it, but her Immortal pride wouldn't allow it and pushed that motion away. 'As if I would succumb to such simple temptations!' She declared in her mind.
She placed Aiko on her back and moved from this place. It was too close to where those Cultivators fought and while it was fine to stay there for a snack, it was not fine to stay there for the night. They would have to move a bit throughout the night until they would be able to rest. This was just in case so that 'that' sect wouldn't send more disciples to that location. It was fine in a way that she could easily slaughter them, but it was not fine considering their elders might come too and if she killed them then their masters would come and after that... yeah, a never-ending flood of people after them. That was also one of the many reasons why beasts hated Humans. There were just too many petty Cultivators on their side and their pride could pierce the heavens!
The mean Fox found a peaceful place near the pond. It was a shiny pond where Qi oozed out of it.
'A natural Qi formation.' The Queen's eyes twinkled. 'This would allow me to advance to the Peak of Magical Beast and if lucky enough I could then find a place where I would be able to reach Spirit Beast!' She was very happy about her find as these kinds of places blend into their surrounding and were incredibly hard to find, like Spirit Stone Mines!
She placed Aiko near the pond so she would also get some effect. She then turned around to cook a bit of meat for Aiko and herself.
'What a pretty pond.' Aiko thought as the pond was making small stars inside it, gently twinkling as if inviting others to bathe in there.
Aiko relaxed and energy washed over her body. It was a much more natural kind of feeling, like when you drank spring water, instead of tap water. It was refreshing and would make you more healthy.
[Level gained.]
'Huh?' Aiko narrowed her eyes and relaxed as messages popped one after another.
The Queen felt a shiver down her spine and she turned around to see what was happening, only for her to drop her meat and rush towards Aiko.
"NO! BAD BEAST! DON'T YOU DARE STEAL MORE FROM ME!" The Queen dragged Aiko away, which prompted her to stop slurping that energy like it was never-ending spaghetti.
Aiko looked away with her ears down and pleading eyes. The Queen suffered another major blow, but couldn't budge this time if she wanted to be closer to leaving this place. "No! You have already consumed enough!" She said. "Your Core is already full for the time being!"
Foxes had a much smaller Beast Core capacity than other beasts. Thus they had an easier time advancing, but a harder time advancing with good Evolutions. They were also much weaker than other beast equivalents, making them very susceptible to harassment and kidnapping.
Aiko stared sadly at the stinky Fox, using her cuteness to the maximum.
The Queen licked her several times. "I can't bring you closer, you need to advance if you want that energy, okay?" She was gentle with her but didn't want to bring her closer as their survival would depend on this.
Aiko didn't say anything and pouted away, Queen took another hit into her heart and said gently, like a soothing child. "Once we reach the 'Fox Village' I will give you plenty of snacks and Cores."
Aiko's ears twitched, that offer was tempting.
"I will include my cooking too." The Queen sighed. She lost to this Fox again, but seeing Aiko so happy... it wasn't all that bad feeling.
"Okay, okay, let's discuss your Evolution later." She licked Aiko and returned to her cooking.
Aiko was tempted to get closer but chose not to. The meat smelled nice and she was looking forward to it more than to her Levels, albeit they were impressive.
[Level: 8 -> 19]
But she also drained quite a lot of energy from that pond and it was not as shiny as it was before. It would have a lesser effect now, but it was still beneficial to anyone who found it.
The Queen and Aiko ate their meat and the Queen returned to the pond to Cultivate and absorb that energy, she wouldn't leave even a piece of energy behind. She didn't want those bastard Humans to have any.
'It's... much less than I expected...' The Queen thought sadly, looking in a certain direction. '*Sigh* I will have to be careful in the future with what I give her or where I leave her, lest I lose all my treasures because of it.' That pain still was engraved in her heart and she wouldn't be able to forget it for a very long time, fortunately, she was not a petty Immortal that would take revenge on their juniors... even if they were a bit mischievous and thieving at times.
She closed her eyes and slowly Cultivated into the morning, but didn't notice Aiko in the shadow who was sleeping on her tail with a happy expression.
