Chapter 4 – First Evolution and Skills

Aiko stared at the screen for a good while, cursing constantly.

'What do you mean I need 20 Vigour?! I have only 10 Stat Points! Not to mention, I don't know If I can Level Up further or if I'm stuck at this level! I have to hunt or find some non-poisoned food to figure that out, and fuck that! I need Skills that will let me hide since I'm so god-damn weak even when I levelled up!'

He clicked his tongue and stared at the screen, clicking on [Fennec Fox] description, since that was the only Tree that could be clicked on.

[Fennec Fox][A Desert Fox that specialized in survival in the desert. It has unusually large ears, which increases its auditory senses and can even hear prey underground. Those ears also help dissipate heat and maintain 'comfortable' temperatures in desert climates. Survives longer without water. It is considered an exotic pet and is extremely sought after.][Specialization: Desert Survival and Hearing][Body: Smallest of the Fox Kingdom][Strengths: Increased Intelligence and Beauty (Depends on the condition of head and fur.)][Weakness: Overall Strength and Toughness.]

Aiko didn't like its weakness, but he was extremely happy about the water and hearing part. He relied on his senses a lot and if he could improve them that would be great. There is also a lot of dry air coming downstream, which could indicate a dry environment. That would be perfect for this type of fox. What he liked the most from this was the increased intelligence. Aiko didn't care about beauty, since he wouldn't be meeting any Humans anytime soon.

'I need more Intelligence...'

[Do you wish to Evolve into [Fennec Fox]?]

'Evolve me.'

[Do you truly wish to Evolve into [Fennec Fox]?]

'Evolve me already!'

[Very well.]

Aiko could feel some dissatisfaction with the system, but he didn't care. He needed Mind to learn from that book and clear his mind. He needed to think and carefully plan what he would buy with-

'ARGHHHH'

Aiko screamed, but only a whine came out of his mouth. He could feel his bones compressing and shrinking. His mind was blank from the amount of pain he experienced just from his bones. Then his organs, muscles, skin. Everything started to shrink. It was unimaginable pain and he already fainted several times, only to get woken up again by even worse pain and then fainting again.

This repeated many times until he finally grasped some of his sanity and no longer felt any pain.

Aiko panted heavily and was startled by how much more he could hear around himself.

He groggily stood up and walked towards the river. Here, the current was slow enough that he could see... herself?

Aiko looked into the water. The first thing that greeted him were his almost comically large ears. They were at least twice, maybe even 3 times the size of his head. He frowned but was mesmerized by his cute little head. Now, he didn't like foxes that much, since the last time he met one… it stole his food and ran away like lightning! But he had to agree that every cub was just so cute and lovely that you couldn’t help but say 'Awwwww.'

Aiko’s paws were tiny with small dark beans that cushioned his travelling. He had small claws that were extremely sharp, but not developed enough that they could hunt prey. He had extremely light blue, milky eyes and creamy fur that would blend in the desert perfectly, but in the forest... yeah.

Aiko will need something for stealth ASAP.

Aiko had delicate and soft fur, which even surprised her, so she looked at her system for answers.

[

Name: AikoSpecies: [Ordinary Red Fox Cub(Female)] -> [Ordinary Fennec Fox Cub(Female)]Age: 0.08/10Beast Rank: AnimalLevel: 10 -> 1 (1st Evolution)Title: [Foul-mouthed], [Agile], [Brave], [Courageous]

Stats:

HP: 29/38 -> 42 -> 16/16ST: 15/18 -> 20 -> 13/13

Vitality: 2/29 -> 2/32 -> 15/15Vigour: 9 -> 10 -> 12Toughness: 19 -> 21 -> 13Strength: 29 -> 32 -> 15Agility: 33 -> 36 -> 22Dexterity: 9 -> 10 -> 11Mind: 9 -> 10 -> 20Insight: - -> - -> 10Beauty: - -> - -> 20Luck: - -> - -> 11

Stat Points: 8 -> 10 -> 11Skill Points: 8 -> 10 -> 11

Skills: [Dig: Lv.1], [Bite: Lv.1->2], [Scratch: Lv.1],

Passive Ability: [Desert adaptation: Lv.1]

Blessings: [Blessing of the Ancestral Nine-Tailed Fox], [Blessing of the Ancestral Phoenix],

Items: [Introduction to the Mortal Realm], [Newbie gift]

]

Aiko... quite liked that his stats were more even now, it was true that they would change as he levelled up, but they were quite pleasing to the eyes. Especially Mind and Insight. Even when he was on Level 1 he had 20 Mind!

[(1st Evolution)][Each Evolution will give you +10 to almost all stats!]

'Fuck YEAH! This is what I'm talking about!'

Unfortunately, his joy was short-lived as soon as he noticed a few other things...

'W-what do you mean 10 years lifespan max?!'

That was right, he only had 10 years to live! Why didn't the System improve his lifespan?! Or maybe he only had less than 1 year to live and the system gave him 10 years through [(1st Evolution)] boost?! That would be even worse! What if he couldn't improve enough to reach the threshold of evolution?! HE WOULD DIE!

Aiko calmed down, his mind was much quicker compared to before and he would spend every single second cursing this system!

He huffed, opening the [Skill Store] and looking through it to find anything that he could use...

Aiko settled on [Hide], [Dash], [Danger Sense] for his survival and [Tracking] plus [Enhanced Sight] for his hunting needs. He also picked [Health Recovery] and [Stamina Recovery]. His newbie system went away so now he recovered only 1 Stamina per hour, but with this, it was 2 Stamina per hour! HP was worse since it was only 1HP an hour and 0.01% of Max HP. This meant 16 hours to fill his HP capacity, while Stamina was just 6.5... which was still awful, but he hoped as he improved his passive and active skills he would be in a much better place.

He placed the rest of his Stat Points in Agility and Vigour.

[

Name: AikoSpecies: [Ordinary Fennec Fox Cub(Female)]Age: 0.08/10Beast Rank: AnimalLevel: 1 (1st Evolution)Title: [Foul-mouthed], [Agile], [Brave], [Courageous]

Stats:

HP: 16/16 (1pH & 0.01%pH)ST: 13/13 -> 13/18 (2pH & 0.01%pH)

Vitality: 15/15Vigour: 12 -> 17Toughness: 13Strength: 15Agility: 22 -> 27Dexterity: 11Mind: 20Insight: 10Beauty: 20Luck: 11

Stat Points: 1Skill Points: 4

Skills: [Dig: Lv.1], [Bite: Lv.2], [Scratch: Lv.1], [Dash: Lv.1], [Tracking: Lv.1]

Passive Skills: [Hide: Lv.1], [Danger Sense: Lv.1], [Enhanced Sight: Lv.1], [Health Recovery: Lv.1], [Stamina Recovery: Lv.1]

Passive Ability: [Desert adaptation: Lv.1]

Blessings: [Blessing of the Ancestral Nine-Tailed Fox], [Blessing of the Ancestral Phoenix],

Items: [Introduction to the Mortal Realm], [Newbie gift]

]

Aiko was satisfied for now, he still had some Skill Points left, but he didn't want to look through the shop while being near rivers.

They were high-traffic zones that he would have to avoid, which, luckily for him, was possible because of his current species abilities.

[Desert Adaptation][1st Effect: You can survive in the desert][2nd Effect: You don't need to hydrate as often]

He felt like there was more to it, but he would only know once he improved that Ability.

[Passive Skills][Skills that are always on, but at higher levels can be toggled off. Consume a small amount of your natural Stamina regeneration to keep going][Passive Abilities][Improved Skills. These are passive abilities that are always on but can be toggled off. They don't consume any Stamina (Unless said otherwise), instead, they consume mental power or ####. There is also the possibility to consume Vitality or ####, among other things.]

Aiko ‘drank’ some more water. Now that he was dry and refreshed because of his advancement in Evolution, he embarked on a journey to find himself a den so that he could use the rest of his Skill Points for more useful Skills.

Aiko thought about it for a bit. There was a very dry and warm air draft coming from downstream. It would be nice if the climate was also drier or possibly desert-ish for him to completely utilize his [Desert Adaptation].

Aiko walked downstream and periodically use [Hide] and [Enhanced Sight] combined with [Danger Sense] to the fullest when he was out in the open. He didn't know what kind of predators he could encounter, but now that he was so tiny, he would be able to avoid a lot of them... is what he hoped.

The journey was surprisingly uneventful. He passed meadows and plains with very tall grass. He didn't encounter any animals at all.

Aiko arrived at his 'destination', looking around, he was both puzzled and shocked at the sight.

In front of him was a very rocky desert, with a strange tree in the middle. The 'desert' wasn't all that big, only about 1 mile in diameter. It was an extremely dry and hot place that even his [Desert Adaptation] with his long ears, had a hard time dealing with.

He frowned cutely, looking around again. He noticed a lake that was... bubbling?

'Nope! Not staying here! This is one hell of a creepy place!'

Aiko didn't want to spend time here, his skills wouldn't allow it and since it was open space, it would be hard to find a Den or survive. Moreover, this place was so small that he could see the opposite side of the forest. This meant that predators would be able to see him if he lived here and since those predators would be faster than him, they could ignore this scorching desert for a few moments just to catch and devour him.

Aiko turned around, walking back inside the forest. This maneuver lowered his stamina by 5 points. Leaving him with only 8 points. He can only traverse the forest for about 4 more hours, including his regeneration, before needing to find a dense bush to hide in and recover.

Aiko ventured through the forest. It was a quiet place and soon he knew why that was.

In front of him was a grassland littered with corpses. Both Humans and Animals... Animals?

There was a horse with horns and a huge lizard with wings. Lion with a snake tail and a frog with mantis hands... It was a bizarre sight. His [Danger Sense] was warning him. He sharpened his senses and noticed heavy breathing. There was a Human still alive, albeit barely. He was in front of... a panther? That was a panther, right? That panther was completely black and blurry, but it should be a panther.

He could hear the panther speak?

"Kekekeke, how does it feel to be done in by a 'lowly' Beast." He scornfully laughed at the Human.

He noticed the panther was wounded, but the human was worse off.

"My sect will wipe you all out, Beast!" The Human proclaimed righteously.

"Kekekeke, surely you are not that dumb." He laughed. "It took you 100 people to best 5 'lowly' Beasts." He was amused by this dumb Human.

"We have hundreds of powerful elders. Each one can wipe out your whole Village with a simple wave of their hand!" He laughed maniacally. "Now die!" He wobbled towards the panther.

The panther sighed, clearly bored by this human. The panther waved his paw, cutting the human into 3 separate parts without actually getting close to him.

This greatly shocked Aiko and he gulped. He was fascinated, but terrified by this display.

'Wouldn't that mean that monsters in here were powerful enough to kill me from a distance...?'

Aiko hoped that wasn't the case, but if that was the case... he would need a lot more skills to deal with that or hide from them.

Aiko was deep in thought and didn't notice the panther looking at him.

"Alright, stand up fuckers. I know you are still alive." He scoffed at his fellow 'friends'.