Chapter 312 – A lesson to be learned…
Aiko offered to assist Mei with her rest each time, but the stubborn Mei would reject it every time
So Aiko just ignored her and snuck next to Mei whenever she slept to assisted her anyways.
Mei was upset at first, but chose to give up, since it didn't feel all that bad.
...
"How much is left?" Mei asked Aiko gently.
"We are in the last 10 batches." Aiko pulled out another block of dirt.
"So little..." Mei sighed.
"You say that, but weren't you grunting just yesterday?" Aiko narrowed her eyes.
"You are imagining things." Mei pouted and finished harvesting another block. "Are you sure that you can store so much in your tails without it degrading the Herbs?"
Mei was pessimistic about this part, since she had never heard of any spacial storage that would allow you to preserve Herbs.
Most of the herb preserving containers were special boxes with special cloth or water inside that would allow you to store the Herbs without degrading them.
"It should be fine." Aiko didn't know for sure, but so far even if she pulled out the Herbs, they looked just like before. Was it because she mixed her own energy into her [Tails Storage]? Aiko was concerned that the Dragon's energy could penetrate her [Tails Storage], so she filled it up with her own energy while she was in her Dew Form.
Mei gazed at Aiko. She was currently in her big form. Mei didn't like this kind of body for certain reasons, but she was able to suppress that prejudice for the time being.
"You should wait till you turn small." Mei glanced at Aiko before returning to harvesting again.
"I won't leave this place in this form." Aiko understood that it was not wise. This form was too big compared to her smaller form. She would have a hard time dodging things once again if she was in this big form.
Mei nodded with a light smile. She was concerned that Aiko would be reckless after training her Divine Sense with her old friend, but that seemed like a needless worry on her part.
Her old friend was patiently teaching everyone and they advanced greatly in their Divine Sense training. The first one to reach the threshold for Mei to give out the Beast Technique was surprisingly the Blood Fox.
But since she didn't reach the proper Beast Rank for it, it was postponed.
"I will be going again." Aiko just turned small and the blocks were quickly vanishing.
"Okay." Mei nodded. "Be careful." She could feel that chaotic energy from the directions where Aiko was always going. It seemed like the Beast was losing its mind over losing its garden and would soon fall into a chaotic state.
At that time Aiko would be in danger since that kind of energy easily seeped into the underground...
With Aiko gone, Mei turned towards the Blood Fox.
"You surprised me." Mei willingly admitted.
"I'm just trying to catch up." The Blood Fox shook her head.
"I will prepare the Pills for you, so you can safely and easily advance to another rank." Mei sighed. "But I would still prefer it if you took Aiko's kindness. It's safe here and nobody will be able to hurt her."
The Blood Fox didn't answer. It felt like everyone had some kind of expectation for Aiko, like she would always be with them on that long treacherous journey.
"Can it be called our journey if someone walks in front of us?" The Blood Fox narrowed her eyes.
"You are too young." Mei sighed and shook her head. This kind of thing only applies to Human Cultivation, not Beasts. It seems like the Blood Fox was a bit too steady in her approach, which might come back to bit her in the butt later.
The Blood Fox didn't say anything. She knew that Mei meant well, but she was worried that she would depend on Aiko too much. What she was after was a relationship of equals, but with this pace, she would become just another ornament like Wanshu.
She was part of the group with her own Mate, but they didn't engage with Aiko much now. Either it was Wanshu's jealousy or the fact that Aiko might be more desirable to Yuxi. The Blood Fox could not tell at this point. This whole group was too chaotic to begin with.
Mei didn't know what to do with Aiko. The Blood Fox tried to get closer to Aiko since she was desired. Yuxi liked Aiko thanks to her strange dreams. This whole group was a mess...
"How long will it take?" The Blood Fox asked. They had to keep this under wraps otherwise Aiko would throw a tantrum and force the gifts on her...
"Don't worry, it will be done." Mei understood her worry, but she would still tell Aiko.
Aiko needed to know the state of her team. Concealing anything was never a good idea to begin with. Aiko might throw a tantrum or she might leave them on their own paths.
Aiko needed to learn that her team had their own journey, but asking for help was not a sin either. Until they realise that, it will be a hard journey for everyone...
...
Aiko dashed through the forest for possibly the last time, with the help of the Blood Fox. She was able to sort and 'compress' the Herbs, which allowed her to store a bit more than she expected.
This would allow her to take the rest of the 'garden' and never return here.
What the group didn't know was the fact that Aiko already suffered a few internal injuries, but thanks to the system's HP regeneration; she was always fine.
There was no need to tell them and worry them, so Aiko never told them and always healed the minor internal damage before returning, so none of them were any wiser.
'The chicken is thrashing again.' Aiko narrowed her eyes.
The flying 'chicken' was thrashing around the mountain. It lost its opportunity to advance and break the chains of this Secret Realm, so it lost its mind and was destroying its nest.
It also became more sensitive to energy and sound. Once it noticed that familiar energy, it immediately descended upon its garden.
Aiko was currently setting up her Ability in order to be able to harvest the last few pieces when pressure descended upon her.
'Alright, this is not good.' Aiko frowned. The damage was not too much, but it still pained her heart that she was losing HP.
[-50 HP][-50 HP][-50 HP][-50 HP]
Each second she would lose 50 HP, which was not much, but it would definitely stack up over time and slow her return by at least a few hours.
'Stupid brainless chicken!' Aiko roared in her mind. 'Why can't you just beat your head on a nearby rock and die?!'
She was being completely unreasonable, since she wanted to make Mei happy. This also prompted her personality to become a bit more twisted.
'If Mei likes it, you are supposed to give it!' Aiko felt no remorse for stealing this thing when her body was coated in darkness.
The [Good/Evil] was showing its teeth when Aiko suppressed her Moon Form.
The chicken thrashed faster and harder, destroying the last part of his 'garden'.
'Oi! You bastard!' This naturally interrupted Aiko's Ability which was almost ready.
The Flying Beast roared once again when it noticed that the last piece of the garden was destroyed. It didn't care that it was the one that destroyed it. All it cared about was to kill the one with that familiar energy.
*SKREEEEEEEEEEEEECH*
The Flying Beast roared one last time before its heart and mind were completely consumed. It would never achieve any greatness at this point and only fall deeper into the bottomless hole that is the demonic path.
The Flying Beast's energy spiked like never before and Aiko was in a lot of pain.
[-50,000 HP][-50,000 HP][-50,000 HP]
The insignificant damage turned into a significant one. Each second she lost way too much HP than she liked and at this rate, it would become dangerous soon.
Aiko immediately booked it, but the Flying Demonic Beast would not let her leave. He kept crashing into the ground trying to injure Aiko and thanks to that more and more energy penetrated the ground.
At this time Aiko was cursing, but thanks to her Shadow Form, she was still calm and ruthless. She would deal with this prick in her own way, and that would be by guiding it towards her new Grandpa.
The Dragon would be able to easily defeat this stupid Flying Beast, making Aiko safe.
The Flying Demonic Beast noticed where that energy was going and it panicked. It could never match the energy of the Beast that dwelled deep inside this forest.
As such, it became even more desperate.
*Crash*[-500,000 HP]
Aiko coughed up blood on the ground. She was shocked by the damage. If this continued, she would definitely die.
She was not as fast underground as above the ground. Yet she still managed to somewhat dodge the close blunt attack from the Flying Idiot and emerge from the ground.
The bloodshot eyes immediately strained and trained at Aiko. It would absolutely kill this dumb animal for destroying its garden! That was the vow that the Flying Demonic Beast made.
A shiver went down Aiko's spine and she immediately used all her strength to dash away.
But the Flying Demonic Beast was still far faster than Aiko.
It was quite a desperate time for Aiko as she was unable to dodge everything that the Flying Dumb Chicken threw at her.
It almost felt like the Flying Smelly Chicken was toying with her.
The Flying Half-plucked Chicken was definitely toying with this small Beast.
It could not believe that something, so small, could ruin its garden, so it was enjoying its time with it before it would slowly peel of its skin.
...
The Dragon noticed the outburst of energy and gazed towards that direction.
Mei was a step slower than her friend, since her Cultivation was much lower.
'I hope Aiko is alright...' Mei hadn't taken time to correct Aiko's behaviour, since she always looked so excited when she gave Mei gifts.
Mei... didn't receive all that many gifts in her lifetime, or at least not gifts that were out of pure adoration and nothing else included.
Most of them would give her gifts in hopes of getting in her bed, but Aiko was different...
'This was another mistake.' Mei could only hope that Aiko would be safe...
The Dragon waited and observed Aiko. She was gaining experience in dodging and running quite quickly, so he didn't react immediately.
'This will help her gain some of the experience she is missing.' He nodded to himself. If there was no strife, then Aiko's path might kill her later. It was a good idea to gain experience in a controlled environment like this one...
The Dragon soon used his breath to roast the Flying Demonic Beast.
He would then scold Aiko and explain that she should not hide behind others to obtain things and that she shouldn't overdo her plundering, so that a similar thing would not happen again.
After all, it was only safe because he was a Dragon, but if Aiko did this same when only her team was around... that would cause complete annihilation at best!