Chapter 39 – First Challenge
"That little one is kinda cute." A girl watching a large projection said.
"I know right? It makes you want to cuddle her, I wonder how she will look in her human form." Another girl also said.
"A beauty, of course." A guy chimed in.
"Go away! Nobody likes you!" The first girl glared at the handsome youth.
"That's right! Go and fight your harem you ugly cat!" The second joined.
Nobody liked the males in this Village, since they would take all the pretty females and others wouldn't be able to enjoy them. This caused quite the internal strife, slowing down the Cultivation progress of this Village.
What's more, the Elders also encouraged those pairings as they would birth powerful and beautiful fox cubs, but the fertility rate was too low to actually cause any impact.
That was the reason why they relied on external factors, like foxes that just gained intelligence. The thought of joining a large Village of the same race appealed to them greatly since most of them didn't really like other races as they were much uglier than the foxes.
As such most males in this Village had around 10 mates, but only a few were cherished...
"I will get her." The first girl said.
"What about the yellow one? Isn't that closer to your element?" The second girl asked, also eyeing the small cute furball.
"Aren't you closer to the purple one?" The girl asked instead of answering.
"You should know we got the first pick." The youth smiled, licking his lips and both of the girls rolled their eyes.
A pressure descended upon the youth. He grasped his heart and was sweating buckets, reverting back to a Blazing Fox.
The youth was wary as he looked towards the pressure, only for his heart to palpitate. He was mesmerised by the glaring beauty, but couldn't speak as the pressure was not small.
The girls were mesmerised too, but soon heard their peers speak.
"Isn't that the mate of the little one?" One not-so-handsome boy chuckled with glee.
"That's right." Another average girl giggled, also with glee.
The girls stiffened, they almost went after someone else mate. While it was not against the rules to try to poach others' mates, there was an unfortunate accident because of it.
A girl was stolen from a somewhat promising youth, by a prodigy. That promising Youth worked hard to catch up and that he did. Not only did he torture that handsome prodigy, but he also tortured his mates. It was a bloody scene before the elders got there since they were too busy bickering.
From that point on there was an unwritten rule about stealing others' mates: unless you seek death, don't.
That was especially true with this ravishing beauty which was already at Spirit Beast Rank. They couldn't compare to her, both in energy and spirit.
The beauty stopped the pursuit once she felt he was already half gone and returned to watch the screen. Surprisingly there were 2 other Foxes near her, but it was a strange sight...
"Are you finally giving up snowgirl?" The handsome fire youth chuckled.
"Are you perhaps joking, you should increase the fire, I'm freezing over here." The girl softly glared.
They both were beautiful, but unfortunately, nobody could approach them because their energies were currently fighting. Unless someone would be able to suppress both of them at the same time, one of them would be hurt and since they are part of the prodigies... they would get severely punished if something happened to them.
The Queen ignored them. While they were strong, their brains weren't all that developed and didn't know that they had the hots for each other.
...
Aiko was lying in the shade with the other Foxes, although Aiko was still some ways away since the other Foxes were constantly glancing at her strangely.
Aiko was disturbed by this fact at first, but now she just kept her ears perked for anyone approaching her.
The Yellow Fox also laid in the shade even if it made her weaker, but that was only because she was overheated. She spent too much energy against the desert and now had very little.
The Purple Fox was even more miserable as she looked like a wet cat, her illusions gone, her beauty gone, and all that was left was a pitiful wet cat.
The Shadow Fox was doing better as she was in her element recovering, but nervously glancing at Aiko who was resting.
Her mate the boom-boom Fox was the only one in the Sun as she was enjoying the scorching heat.
The Blood Fox was still in the desert hunting for anything to eat, but since others needed rest they didn't pressure the girl with the Cat Mask to do anything. Any kind of rest was good rest!
...
The youth with the Fox-Demon mask appeared near Aiko. He was in stealth to try to appeal to the little one, but little did he know that Aiko had helpers...
'Quick. Quick. Jump left!''Quickly before that bastard catches us!'
Aiko listened to the voices and used her [Quick Jump] to blast out of that place, colliding with the Cat Mask girl.
The girl caught her and stared in the direction in which she came from. The Cat Mask finally noticed her colleague.
She smiled with glee as the Fox-Demon mask was left there stunned.
Aiko jumped down from the Cat Masks girl staring warily at the Fox-Demon mask.
The Cat Mask was incredibly sad and cursed her colleague. She finally got to brush the little one's fur and it was incredibly soft even after running so much. She really wanted to hug that little furball to sleep.
'Fuck you!' The girl sent a spiteful telepathic message to the Fox-Demon youth.
The Fox-Demon youth was left there completely baffled, and confused about what he had done.
"Alright, since everyone rested enough, let me explain the next stage." The girl stood up, not leaving the Fox-Demon youth time to recover.
"In the next stage, you are tasked to cross this grassy field, river and mountain. The first one to pass would get a special prize." The girl explained. This was the stage of her colleague, but she wouldn't give him the chance to try to wow the little one.
"Each stage has different obstacles that you have to cross. You can die so be careful at all times. That is all."
Some Foxes that were hidden ran away immediately to not get caught by the Blood Fox.
Others reluctantly stood up ready to leave only to pause for a moment.
Aiko was already lying back down on the grassy field sleeping. It almost felt like she was not listening at all and ignoring everyone.
The others stared at her completely speechless as they noticed her breathing and heartbeat were slightly slower and in rhythm. Aiko was seriously asleep!
...Incense stick of time...
Aiko woke up yawning. She was already woken up once by that rude fellow so she didn't get enough rest.
She stretched and yawned again. The others were gone. Looking around they were in the field fighting something.
Aiko was confused. 'Did another thing already start?' She was unaware of the assignment.
The Cat Mask girl was next to her trying to hold her laughter as she observed the confused little furball.
She wanted to explain but was beaten by her colleague.
He tried to explain while petting Aiko, but Aiko wouldn't be petted so easily. Her body bent, avoiding his hand and then she growled at him.
They both were stunned as they were quite well-liked by all and this would be the first time someone intelligent would growl at them once they knew they weren't humans.
But what stunned them the most were Aiko's eyes that instead of the nice light-blue colour had now two rubies.
The girl's heart skipped a beat and she was not the only one as the many other girls watching from the stadium also skipped a beat and some even fainted!
The Fox-Demon was shocked by this sudden switch. 'Demonic Beast!' He immediately associated it with that.
'Kekeke, you ugly untalented bastard.''Kikiki, you cuckold.'
The shadows spoke to him, ridiculing him.
Meanwhile, the girl was blushing.
'Hehehe, what a pretty girl.''Hahaha, what cute ears.'
The girl was sensitive about her ears since they were a lot smaller than her peers and was often ridiculed by them.
Aiko snorted. Patting the girl's leg. The girl's heart almost jumped out of her chest when she saw that cute action.
She coughed several times trying to look serious, but she was constantly grinning like a pervert.
"The next stage is about crossing the grassy fields, river and mountain. There are plenty of dangers around, not just animals so be careful." The girl spoke more than necessary as she was completely taken in by Aiko.
Aiko nodded towards her and ran forward. None of the participants finished yet, but since she started so late, there was no point in telling her about the first prize.
Aiko dashed into the field as soon as she finished. She was not as quick since she was out in the open without any shadows, but that didn't mean she was weak.
Her [Intention Perception] screamed at her danger. She was currently near the Yellow Fox and Blood Fox, but that danger came from the front and not from the side.
She was confused but still used her [Prehensile tail] to slap the ground and change her trajectory out of the danger.
-50HP
She felt pain in her tail. It felt like something sliced her tail several times.
Aiko landed and warily looked forward. The grass was bloodied by her tail.
'Is the grass sharp or am I too weak?' Aiko thought, when her [Intention Perception] screamed again, this time from the side.
The Blood Fox didn't like this little shit, so she wanted to get rid of Aiko.
Aiko jumped just enough to dodge her which startled both the Blood Fox and Yellow Fox. Neither of them was expecting Aiko to be so quick.
The Blood Fox turned around aiming at Aiko who would be defenceless once she landed.
The Blood Fox used her Blood Ability to speed up. She caught up to Aiko who was about to land.
Aiko was smarter than her and even before landing she was already using [Burrow] and she sank into the ground where she couldn't be attacked.
The Blood Fox couldn't stop with her speed and she was not even intelligent enough to do that.
She crashed into the ground, burrowing part of her head in. She was stunned by the impact and dizzy from the aftermath.
She was confused because instead of tasty blood she had a mouth full of dirt.
Aiko's head popped up near the Yellow Fox, startling her again.
Aiko grinned at the Blood Fox before disappearing again.
The Blood Fox roared in anger, but couldn't find Aiko.
...
"Don't bite her you bitch!" One girl shouted.
"I will castrate you!" Another girl yelled.
"I will beat you on my bed!" The youth joined.
The girls looked at the youth strangely. They knew he was partially sadistic, but this...
On the wide projection, Aiko disappeared. The Blood Fox was looking around.
Aiko's head popped up again and those who were watching laughed out loud. Queen also had a hard time holding her laughter as Aiko was grinning towards the Blood Fox.
'This will be a messy stay...' The Queen thought. 'I have really overdone it with that medicine bath...' She sighed at her own perfection.
