Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko was sitting at the 'spawn' of the safe area. She was trying to figure out which box or item she should try first.

'Let's do a table...' Aiko really missed a table inside her caravan, so it would be nice to have one. She was not looking for anything big, a small low table next to her bed was all that she needed.

Aiko used her teleportation while levitating the small low table.

*Whoosh*

Aiko appeared next to the caravan with the gentle, light brown small low table.

'200 Mana...' Aiko nodded her head slowly, but this didn't seem to be quite right. The increase was 2 times, sure, but it just felt like it was wrong.

Recalling back without the table, Aiko picked something heavier.

There was a weight that she didn't really need, and she could take it without paying, so she used it for her next test.

*Whoosh*

Caravan, the same location, but this time with the weight.

'458 Mana...' So weight did matter, but what about size? Aiko levitated the weight and teleported back.

This time she picked a huge box, before teleporting until it cost her more than 200 Mana.

'210 Mana.' Aiko nodded her head slowly. She then levitated and teleported back, picking a smaller box instead.

'Ah, I should've done it in reverse...' Aiko groaned, but she still teleported the same distance.

The box was light and small and the distance consumed 200 Mana, so size also mattered, but...

'The bigger box is obviously heavier...' Aiko tried matching the weight by adding things inside, but then she had another thought.

'Wouldn't that make the transportation more complex?' Aiko groaned unhappily, it seemed like this test would be too complex for her to accomplish without additional help.

"Fine, I will just test [Party Magic] with [Transportation Magic]." Aiko nodded her head slowly as this part might be important.

*Whoosh*

Aiko checked her Mana as the Spirit Slime clung to her, wrapping around her neck.

"500..." Aiko smacked her lips. "Does that mean each cost 200? Or does that mean the teleport cost 100, party cost 200 and transport cost 200?" It was a plausible explanation, and it would be more obvious if she could pick a third one.

"Well, normal teleport was 100, with one support magic it turned 200, with two it turned 500 and with three... wouldn't that be like 1,000?" Aiko didn't need another support magic, but it was good to keep this in mind.

"Anyway." Aiko teleported to the plains that were usually empty. Her plan was to walk for a bit, then recall and repeat until she finally got to the final village.

Aiko was not really interested in the fortress village, since she no longer needed funds for food. Short-distance travel didn't require much, so Aiko no longer needed to hunt or waste her time like this.

'Should've done this sooner.' Aiko smacked her lips. She was slightly upset about this, but it couldn't be helped, she had a stubborn streak and there was nobody to scold her or guide her.

'Now that I think about it...' Aiko was more stubborn than usual, it felt like something was mixing with her, but it was such a vague feeling that she was not sure if she didn't just imagine it.

Shaking her head gently, she quickly changed her set within the tall grass. She was not too worried about enemies since this place was so vast that it would be difficult to stumble on her.

The shamans were also the only ones smart enough to cause problems to Aiko and those guys were rare, usually residing inside the village instead of outside.

Changing her clothes, she picked up her [Spatial Mage Set] and stored it inside one of her pouches.

The hat didn't quite fit, so Aiko had to somehow shove it into another pouch and even then it couldn't close, that's how ridiculous the hat was!

Shaking her head, it didn't affect her movement much, so Aiko didn't think too much about it. What was important was that it was on her and she could recall with it!

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

...

The walk was peaceful, it required a lot of recalls and teleports, but everything was cheap and easy thanks to her outfits. And, since she travelled during the night, there were no normal enemies that could spot her.

The special uglies were always asleep during the night, allowing Aiko to have free rein over the darkness.

The next village came sooner than she expected.

It had taller walls, mostly made out of stones, but this time between those stones, there was even something that bound them together, making them stronger and tougher than the previous villages.

Aiko marvelled at this fact, but also dreaded what the next village would look like.

'From how it looks, there is one more village before the final one.' Aiko had this vague feeling that there would be one more, but she hoped that would not be the case. It was quite bothersome travelling like this, and she couldn't even abuse the wolves, because of their collars.

'Wait, what if I picked the wolves from the earlier villages?' Aiko's eyes suddenly sparkled. She immediately recalled and went ahead to test it.

...

'Well, it seems like even the villages close to my safe area evolved...' Aiko sighed. All those wolves also had those damned collars, making them impossible to be tamed.

'No, maybe a taming set would make it possible?' Aiko thought about it, but some sets cost a lot of money.

Sets that enhanced battle-prowess, especially, were pretty expensive.

'Never mind.' Aiko just recalled, changed clothes and teleported again.

...

After days of walking, she arrived at another village. This one... to say it was a village was an understatement. This thing should be called a citadel, or something like that.

Walls huge as fuck, numerous uglies with armours and stuff. More orderly soldiers and lookouts, it was quite terrific how far these fuckers improved.

'I swear, if the next 'village' is even more ridiculous it's better to just nuke it!' Aiko didn't want to deal with this kind of scale, but maybe it had benefits?

What if all those villages converged into such a giant, they should all fit together, right?

'I definitely need something that has a big AOE, maybe even employ Yue to make it possible.' Aiko was considering what to do, before circling around the 'village'.

'This fucking thing is massive!' Aiko complained, but she could see the next village.

'...' She recalled back since she wanted to confirm things with Yue.

"Yue~" Aiko sang her name, but Yue was nowhere to be found.

"Don't be shy~" Aiko smiled happily, but Yue still didn't respond...

-----

'The demon is looking for me...' Yue cried out silently. She was not looking forward to those clothes, so she was trying to avoid Aiko.

Moreover, she also couldn't admit she felt good from that massage, so she was also avoiding the slime.

'But I can't hide forever...' Yue groaned. It seemed like Aiko wouldn't give up easily this time, which worried her a lot.

'But going out is...' Yue groaned even more. She didn't really want to encounter Aiko trying to rip her clothes and only offered an apron in return... Yeah, Yue had a wild imagination at times...

-----

"There you are~" Aiko hummed, trotting towards Yue.

"Y-yeah..." Yue obviously looked unwell, but she couldn't hide forever. 'Might as well get over it, my dignity might be able to heal over time...' But what she dreaded didn't come.

"Do you have any techniques that can cover a large area?" Aiko tilted her head at her.

"Hmmm..." Yue paused, thinking about it seriously. It was rare for Aiko to be interested in something. If that thing was a good thing or a bad thing, only time would tell...

"I think I would be able to conjure some kind of large mound, but nothing too big, why?" Yue wanted to know what Aiko wanted to accomplish with this.

"I need to wipe out the capital city." Aiko answered openly, since she had nothing to hide.

"..." Yue blanked. 'What did we do again for Aiko trying to wreck us...?'

"What did we- What kind of capital are you trying to destroy?" Yue changed her questions since it seemed wrong to ask about humans.

"There is a village of uglies that I need to wreck." Aiko pointed outside the walls of this place.

Yue breathed a sigh of relief, since it was this place, then it shouldn't involve any humans and that was important.

"If you can give me time, I should be able to prepare something bigger, but just how big are we talking...?" Yue was unsure of the scale of things, so she didn't want to promise something she wouldn't be able to accomplish.

"I will take you with me." Aiko smiled, she could show it from a distance and maybe Yue would be able to grasp the size?

"Ah, okay..." Yue was not looking forward to moving so quickly, but since Aiko didn't mention the apron, she didn't feel as threatened.

"Is that coming with us?" Yue gulped nervously.

The Spirit Slime, still smiling, happily waved at her.

"No, it costs more Mana to traverse like that." Aiko shook her head.

"Oh?" Yue was interested in these concepts, so she wanted to know more.

"Anyway, I will prepare, and you should do, the teleportation is not as friendly as I hoped it to be." Aiko sighed gently.

...

A day passed and Aiko was ready.

"How are you feeling?" Aiko asked Yue gently.

"I'm... fine." Yue was awkward, but still cooperative.

"Mind your knees, they might buckle under you." Aiko warned her, but that only confused Yue.

'What does that even mean?' Yue was unsure, but the surrounding area changed.

"This is my caravan." Aiko said before changing the scenery again.

'It was a nice caravan...' The second time, Yue could feel a strange sensation in her legs. It was unfortunate she couldn't enjoy Aiko's creation, but she was moving too quickly.

"Okay..." Aiko had the staff to hold herself together, but Yue was taking it better than Aiko imagined.

'One more and she will plop down?' It kind of felt like Aiko wished her to end up like that, but she just hated being the only one that was weak in this place.

The Spirit Slime didn't really have a concept of legs, so it couldn't buckle and Yue seemed more resistant than Aiko, which upset her.

The scenery changed again. Plains after plains until they arrived at humongous plains and far in the distance was the huge citadel.

Yue was still standing, but her legs were quivering. Meanwhile, Aiko...

"This is so unfair..." Aiko was sprawled on the ground, looking at Yue as if she was some kind of alien.

"It was quite the wild ride." Yue nodded her head slowly. It was an impressive technique, but it also seemed unstable if used repeatedly. 'I'm glad I was able to endure it.' She had this gnawing feeling that something might happen to her if she buckled down like Aiko did.

Aiko sniffled gently. 'Why am I always the weakest...' She lamented, but at least Yue was able to move around and observe the huge ass city...