Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

"Sit, spin, clap." Aiko commanded the wolf after collecting all of her loot.

'This is really good, but does it need some kind of home?' Aiko still didn't get the next wave, which puzzled her. Normally, the next Wave would've already started, but maybe this doggo was still considered hostile?

Aiko couldn't imagine that, since this wolf followed all of her commands and even tried clapping for her.

'Does it resent me?' Aiko had no idea how the system assessed if something was friendly or not.

Tilting her head slightly, she went into her safe area for the time being. If the wolf was still around, Aiko would try to take it with her, but if not, then oh well.

She didn't really want to force anything and while it would be nice that the wolf followed her. She still had those small slimes to use, so she didn't need to pay too much attention to it.

Inside her home, she had a cosy snack with a soft couch which caused her to quickly fall asleep.

...

The next day Aiko walked towards the small doors and as expected. The wolf was nowhere to be seen. Moreover, she could see those green nasties riding around on wolves, making things even more difficult on her than they already were.

Well, if push comes to shove her, then she would just stay in the safe area and bombard them with ranged attacks.

Sure, she would earn jack shit, but at least she would be safe. There was no telling what those riders could do, so safety should always come first in these kinds of situations.

As for which weapon she would use... do you have to ask...?

"Of course sling, I don't want to spend too much money." Aiko nodded her head seriously. The burning thingy was fine, but collecting the loot while hoping the Wave would change, was not.

It seemed like the wolf leader didn't really disappear, since Aiko saw it sleeping in front of some kind of large round building.

"Wait, is that a village?" Aiko tilted her head. Since when those uglies could form something like this?!

"Well, what to do." Aiko pondered on it for a while. It would be bad if she took too much time, since she didn't know how much time passed outside.

The system also answered only some questions, which also bothered Aiko.

Simply questions that would obviously be revealed by implications were completely ignored. While difficult questions with multiple answers were likely to be answered.

Aiko found it puzzling at first, but she soon stopped dwelling on it.

There was no reason to overthink things, since she was already used to the system being silent.

With her understanding, she got to work. While her mortar was too expensive for the time being. She could always take the free stuff and do magic with it.

Speaking of magic. Aiko should learn more of it once she wipes out a few more waves, since it would be a significant boost for her.

"I'm sure it will be fiiiine." Aiko didn't really want to visit the library, so she was counting on the fact that she was in the safe area.

And even if she wasn't, she was confident in her speed compared to those wolves.

"But the arrows are an issue." Aiko could see them work, talk around and everything in between. It was quite the sight to behold, but something caught her eyes.

"They are rubbing those frogs on those arrows?" Aiko tilted her head. If she was right, those arrows would have some kind of nasty status effect.

She wouldn't know what kind of effect until she caught the same frog that they had and even if she did...

"Frogs are nasty." Aiko shuddered. She didn't like their soft and squishy sensation.

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She had nothing against them, if they were not so slimy. Thanks to that, the soft and squishy sensation was quite revolting.

Aiko swung her sling. She would try a few test shots and see if any of those wolves would get faster due to this external threat.

*Swish*

One rock blasted a goblin out of its riding position as its brain splattered everywhere.

"Eeewwwww." Aiko immediately shook her head. She would not want to retrieve that loot, but why were they suddenly so squishy?

Sure, they were darker, but would that make so much difference? Unlikely!

Aiko wouldn't want to research them, but she would still observe them~!

...

A few days after Aiko observed them enough, she came to a few conclusions.

These goblins were weaker than in the previous waves. However, to make up for it, they were much more skilled in their hands and everything associated with it. It also seemed like they had clearer hierarchy, making any commands much more effective.

"So if I went out I would be in trouble, huh?" Aiko calmly nodded her head. This called for either mortar and just bomb it from the side or burn everything.

However, the burning part was difficult, since if she didn't spread it enough it would be a huge disaster for everyone.

It seemed like she would have to stay inside the safe area for the time being and figure out how much damage they dealt and what the frog thing was.

The frog was probably some kind of poison, since it was colourful, but mostly maintaining blue.

Aiko felt both impressed and concerned about their cooperation, but nothing a few rocks couldn't solve~!

...

The next day something surprising happened.

The goblins went on a hunt, but this time Aiko would be able to observe them and see what those arrows would do to a monster.

The goblin pulled the string, barely grazing the deer, but what happened next made Aiko think that she should really wait inside and just snipe them.

The deer quickly lost the sense over its body, making it susceptible to attacks. However, those nasty goblins didn't stop there.

They would peel the skins of the victims while they were still alive.

The next part would be where they would pull out their knives and start carving their bodies for all that they were worth.

They had quite the nasty and sadistic streak, but Aiko couldn't really comment on that.

She was just happy that she could stay inside the safety area, making this 'special event' feel like a breeze~!'

Aiko wondered how her slimes were doing, so she put down her tools and went over. It was good that she didn't have to interact with this world so closely. While she did like to take jabs off of everyone, it was always good to know that she wouldn't be scolded over it.

Pausing her steps, Aiko found that the slimes didn't change all that much, but that was also a fat lie.

The status told her that those slimes were developing a lot and that the biggest slime was the Spirit Slime.

The Spirit Slimes was peculiar, since it never moved when Aiko was not around.

It kind of felt lifeless, but that was also not true.

The sludge was trying to anger the two other slimes, making them attack it so it could absorb their strength, but unfortunately, that sludge was destined to die.

"At least not now." Aiko nodded her head, testing the new feature that she got.

She was able to transport herself into the small cave base.

The slimes were pretty much everywhere, but it got really confusing when most of the slime didn't move.

It seemed like the slimes stored quite a bit of food in these jelly forms, but the nutritious food was still the slime itself, at least that's what she read.

The cave was quite expansive, unlike what it looked like on the merchant's table.

These pieces were obviously of higher quality than from the shop, but unfortunately, she couldn't sell them.

There was no one around to sell it to and even if she went into the shops, they usually didn't deal with her materials, so she had to run around in order to find the right shop for it.

As for the materials, monsters started to drop herbs and other things, wrapped in gentle silk that would be removed once you 'obtained' the item through the transaction.

It was hard to say why this rule was like this, but it was not the strangest thing that Aiko experienced, so everything would be fine.

Leaving the cave, she went into her home again. It had a nice bath which Aiko never used, so maybe it was time to use it?

Aiko filled that strangely white bathtub full of warm water before undressing herself.

She dipped her toes into it and once she realised it had a nice temperature, her body slowly submerged itself with the water.

Aiko had a blissful expression as she enjoyed the warmth thoroughly. She would wash some of her dry parts to make them wet and also to clean anything that might be on her.

It was strange, since she didn't get all that dirty in this place as long as she paid enough attention.

This place was mesmerising, but why was it accessible only once? Aiko could use this place to train others, so taking it back was her priority even if she didn't know how to go about this.

"There will be something in the library." Aiko groaned. She already worked hard, so a few days of rest should hurt, right...?

...

A few days later Aiko walked out of the sturdy doors to see what was in front of her, but that made her speechless.

There were even more goblin villages around and some of them were also pretty far away, so most of her weapons couldn't reach.

Feeling a bit indignant, Aiko wanted to burn and explode that place.

Well, she still needed their loot and everything, so she shouldn't use destructive means for the time being.

'I wonder if there will be others beside me...' Aiko narrowed her eyes. Exploration with more people wouldn't just be fun, but it would also be a lot faster.

And if she could converse with them, even better.

She would ask them so many questions about those books and questionable toys with lingerie that they would regret placing it for sale!

Aiko nodded her head. This plan would be great, but would anyone else be here? Did she have to clear more Waves? It was possible.

It felt like everything was caused by the Waves and would also be resolved like that, so she just had to be patient... somehow...