Chapter 288 – Still No Success

Aiko prepared Herb after Herb. It took her a while to get used to the counting and everything surrounding it.

Adding the essence of the first Herb was only successfully done after the 20th try.

The essence of the second Herb took her another 50 tries. Aiko wasted a lot of Herbs since she had trouble counting her breath. Not to mention that at the speed of her breathing would change when she was too focused, throwing her off the right path.

Aiko had to get used to staying calm and maintaining her breath under these stressful conditions. It was not easy, but Aiko was able to somewhat manage.

The Pill Cauldron's lid shook. The Herbs' essences were in the mixing stage.

Now Aiko had to maintain this kind of flame for at least 2-3 hours to finish the Pill. The important part was to keep the flame steady. She could still ruin the Herbs if she was not careful about it.

Likewise, Aiko could not use Divine Sense since it could ruin the ingredients, so she had to keep slapping the Pill Cauldron in order to mix it properly.

She could not shake the Pill Cauldron since it was too hot and Aiko could get burned by it.

Slapping it was the only way to keep the essence inside rolling so it would mix properly!

The first 5 minutes were the hardest for Aiko, but once she got used to the amount of Beast Core Energy that she had to deliver, things got much easier.

Now was the second challenge for Aiko and that was... to not get bored!

She had to watch the Pill Cauldron for hours!

Aiko didn't want to ruin those materials, but that didn't mean it was fun watching the Pill Cauldron! It was boring as fuck!

Mei nudged her side and Aiko almost jumped up.

"M-Mei!" Aiko yelped. She didn't want Mei to tease her right now as everything worked quite well!

"En~?" Mei teased Aiko. She had no problem letting Aiko waste their materials, and well this was the perfect opportunity for revenge.

Aiko was defenceless and vulnerable. She finally achieved something, but that devil Mei tried to ruin it by teasing her!

"I won't forget this!" Aiko yelped.

"Yes~?" Mei kept teasing Aiko. She didn't go as far as physical teasing, but there was just something so intoxicating about the current Aiko.

Thanks to Aiko working with a lot of Herbs and focusing on refining the Pill, one of her Dew Fox abilities had unknowingly kicked in. Her body leaked a very pleasant smell that not only has the ability to intoxicate others, but also enhance the effects of Pills!

Mei was completely unaware of this as she had only met the Dew Fox in passing. This was a lethal trap for anyone who watched the Dew Fox refine Pills!

Mei hugged Aiko, making her scream and yelp from the sensation.

"M-Mei! It will blow up! I can't focus!" Aiko was almost crying from Mei's ruthless teasing.

"It's fine. I already set up a barrier." Mei said hazily, her head burrowed into Aiko's neck nook.

Aiko completely lost control from the sensation of the warm breath on her neck.

The essence inside the Pill Cauldron destabilized thanks to the sudden drop in temperature.

A translucent barrier appeared around the duo protecting from the explosion.

*Boom*

The explosion shook the Grandmaster's Abode. Yet none rushed inside.

They were already aware that Aiko might cause explosions and the connection from Aiko didn't weaken, so they were not worried.

Especially the Grandmaster, who was watching with glee as Mei was on the offensive.

'I was not aware that Dew Foxes could be so beautiful and bewitching.' Dai Lu narrowed her eyes. She could hear Aiko's and Mei's thoughts, but that didn't mean she understood what caused them.

She watched Aiko panic as Mei kept hugging her.

This resistance lasted for a few minutes before Aiko gave up and surrendered to her fate. A fate of being hugged by Mei for a prolonged time in an embarrassing position...

...

A few days later, Mei finally snapped out of it. She saw the messed up Aiko and recoiled.

'This was surely not my fault, right?' Mei was shocked by the sight. It seemed like Aiko cried for quite some time.

"It is your fault. You should let her rest and not hug her for days." Dai Lu scolded Mei.

"Days?!" Mei suddenly had a headache. How could it be days when she doesn't remember it like that?!

"Let Aiko rest and control yourself better next time. You were so intoxicated that you made Aiko cry." Dai Lu shook her head as she laughed at the blushing Mei.

"Shut up and get out!" Mei's face was completely red.

"Then I will leave you to it~" Dai Lu stuck out her tongue before running outside, so that she could avoid Mei's wrath.

Mei massaged her temples after glaring towards the running Dai Lu. She sighed again and moved Aiko onto the bed.

Aiko looked exhausted, so Mei wrapped her student inside of her tails additional comfort.

'I don't understand how I could lose control...' Mei shook her head. She was left speechless when she smelled Aiko's smell all over her body.

Mei used [Clean] on both Aiko and herself. She was concerned about the pleasant scent that her body gave out, but for now; she needed to clean this place.

It was a mess thanks to the explosion. Shards were embedded into the walls. Black soot was everywhere, especially around the explosion and on the ceiling.

Fortunately, Dai Lu ventilated this place when Mei was hugging Aiko, so the smell of burned Herbs was almost non-existent.

Mei cleaned the place while carrying Aiko in her tails. She was concerned that Aiko would hate her, so she also prepared a few candies.

...

The next day, Aiko woke up. She blinked a few times before she finally realised that she was not wrapped by Mei.

Aiko stared cautiously around, when she sniffed something really nice.

*Munch*

Aiko immediately munched on it and to her surprise, it was a Pill Candy!

"Good morning." Mei smiled a bit awkwardly.

Aiko snorted unhappily and looked away.

"Aiko..." Mei sniffled a bit. She understood why Aiko was doing this, but it still saddened her.

"I have more, so please forgive me..." Mei didn't know how to make it up to her, so she would just use what Aiko liked.

Aiko snorted, but still munched on another Pill Candy.

It took 20 Pill Candies until Mei was forgiven.

"What happened to this place?" Aiko asked suspiciously. She was in her small form, but she still had a pair of eyes that found trouble with this room.

'It is suspiciously clean...' Aiko narrowed her eyes, looking around.

"I have cleaned this place, so you could sleep properly." Mei played innocent, but she understood what Aiko meant.

Her room was never clean. Herbs would be scattered around and Pills would be found lying everywhere, especially if she was not satisfied with them.

This room was overly clean and overly prepared for the next explosion.

Aiko stood up gently and looked around. It was suspicious that Mei would take so much time out of her day to clean her mess.

"So, will you forgive me?" Mei smiled gently, patting the small Aiko.

"Fine." Aiko pouted, those Pill Candies were too tasty.

"Rest for today, tomorrow we will refine again." Mei soothed Aiko and let her sleep inside her tails again.

...

Another day passed. And there was a major announcement from the Sect.

In 2 years time, the Secret Realm will open and many individuals will be allowed to enter, but the numbers are still limited.

Thanks to Aiko's and Mei's business. Not only did they secure some of the limited spots for themselves, but they also secured some for the Blood Fox and the Twins as well!

Now the whole team except the Princess would be allowed to head inside, but Aiko had her own plan for the Princess as she could just stuff her in her tails.

It was an unspoken secret that there was a Human living inside the Fox Village, but since she never left the Grandmaster's Abode, nobody tried to go after her.

This saved a lot of trouble for everyone and everything was overly peaceful.

There were some factions that tried to ruin Aiko's business while she was learning things, but Grandmaster and the Muscle Peak easily took care of them.

Aiko was fine and could focus on refining again, but...

"No hugging! No tickling! No breathing on my neck! No smooth-talking!......"

Aiko scolded Mei and made special rules just for her, so that she wouldn't end up as a stuffed animal being hugged for days on end again!

Mei kept nodding, but Aiko felt like this was a pointless endeavour.

...

Aiko started refining again. She already got used to the timing and everything, so the first part went smoothly. The second part likewise went smoothly.

Her [Alchemy Mastery] reached level 5, but was stuck there. Aiko was unable to advance in that way and was slightly upset.

Mei did her best to just comb Aiko's tails as to take her mind off of things. Aiko's scent was a bit too addictive to her for some reason and Mei didn't like that.

However, she had to keep close to Aiko, so that she wouldn't accidentally get hurt thanks to another explosion.

The Pill Refining advanced smoothly and Aiko was in the endgame.

"Do you still remember the hand signs?" Mei asked gently.

"En." Aiko nodded. She was already preparing her hands to do the hand signs.

Mei nodded and left Aiko be. This would be another learning experience for her, but she was happy that Aiko was not yet discouraged!

Aiko slapped the Pill Cauldron after making the elaborate hand signs.

The Pill Cauldron's lid flew up.

Aiko could not wait and looked inside to see the Pills, but just as she looked inside... soot blew into her face.

"AGHHHHHHHH! MY EYESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" Aiko started screaming.

Mei did not expect this outcome. She knew that those Pills were ruined already, but she didn't expect Aiko to just shove her head inside just to look at them.

Aiko was rolling around in pain, her hands on her face as she rolled on the ground, from the stinging the soot brought to her eyes and ears.

Mei applied [Clean] on Aiko and she stopped rolling around.

Mei came closer to Aiko and she heard her sniffing.

"I hate this!" Aiko was crying. She spent so many hours preparing this shit, only for soot to come out!

Mei was startled. She didn't expect Aiko to cry over this.

Aiko's face was covered with her hands as she sobbed.

Mei leaned above Aiko to soothe her, but she didn't expect Aiko's shocking critical hit.

Aiko's face was covered with tears. She looked like a fragile beauty.

Something about Aiko was strange, but Mei was already intoxicated by that sweet scent and this fragile display.

Mei slowly leaned in... only to snap out of her daze.

"Y-y-you should g-go outside as I clean this place." Mei's was completely red and she kept stammering.

Aiko blinked a few times as she couldn't understand what Mei meant, since she was the one who left the room...