Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Even as Aiko screamed that, she still went back to where she popped that scroll and looked around.

”A freaking lake, great...” Aiko groaned unhappily. She didn’t really want to go diving in this place, but it seemed like she would have to pick a few more spells to make this work.

Fortunately, she still could collect some of the marbles from the surrounding villages, since the splash did quite the number on them.

’But I have a lot of resources, how about I buy more than that?’ Aiko raised her eyebrow before going back to the safe area to pick a few things.

...

”First.” Aiko went through the library to see if she could find any spells that could help her mass collect things, mostly marbles.

That would be very hopeful, but this library was not organised well enough, so Aiko had a hard time finding anything.

Was it possible that it even existed? Yes, but she couldn’t find it.

Meanwhile, she did find a water-breathing spell, calling the [Merfolks’ Dive]. Not only would that allow her to breathe under the water, but it also allowed her to move swiftly, like a fast fish.

This overjoyed Aiko, since she was not fond of diving. Not because of her tails, she didn’t have any right now, but because it felt wrong to dive for so long.

Short dives were possible, but she wouldn’t collect as much as with a full dive with a spell.

She would have to bear it for the time being, since there were over 10,000 marbles!

’What if I bought the Spirit Slime’s growth?’ Aiko tilted her head slightly. This would be very helpful, since that slime could help her collect things.

”Let’s see about that.” Aiko walked towards her home and the small homes on the side.

The cave home was occupied by slimes, and it seemed like the stalemate between them continued.

The most overjoyed one was the Spirit Slime, as it was the most powerful one out of them. However, it was also docile, so it didn’t try to hurt the other slimes or oppress them. Sure, it did establish its domain where the other slimes were not allowed to go, but that was beside the point.

Aiko petted the Spirit Slime which had a happy face, as if giggling.

’Let’s see...’ Aiko pulled up the system menu to see if she could do something about this. There were numerous things she could do and growth was one of them.

’1 mil...’ Aiko groaned. She had enough funds even if she bought a lot of spells and things like that. She could even buy one of those scrolls that summoned that thing that flattened her, but that did cost 500k.

Aiko was considering what to do, but then again, collecting all 10,000+ was unfeasible for Aiko.

’While it collects for me, I will be able to scout the other villages.’ Aiko didn’t want to spend even more time here since things were getting out of hand, especially with work...

If she had to attack more villages like this, she needed better spells, that much was obvious.

However, those spells were also dangerous, it didn’t seem like they had any limits when it came to self-harm. She had to consider everything and even test it outside the safe area, since only then would she be able to see its destructive potential.

[1 week until the Spirit Slime grows.]

There went her one million, but this was worth it! No more hand labour!

Nodding her head gently, Aiko went back to the library to see if she could find something more.

The Gate of Capital B was interesting. There was also this beam technique, but Aiko didn’t understand why she was supposed to be an old turtle for that.

There were a good deal of interesting magic, but she grouped them like this:

This book’s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

[Blood Magic] - It allowed her to regenerate and reinforce her body.

[Gate of Capital B] - AOE magic with minimal detriments, but the Mana consumption was severe, so she would have to find another outfit to take with her.

[Teleport] - Movement.

[Lottery Magic] - It would rotate a lottery before giving her a random weapon. It could range from overpowered to useless.

[Hymn Magic] - Buffs and debuffs.

With that, Aiko paid another 250k for this, leaving her with only half a million. This was quite the blow, but she got so much magic that it would be worth it in the long run.

She also needed to raise her Mana. So she raised her Level to 50, but something happened to her Mana.

[MP: 350/350 -> 1,000/1,000]

When she hit 50, her Mana doubled for some reason, so she would like to hit 100 before hitting more villages.

That was very much possible since she would later have plenty of resources!

Nodding her head gently, she left the library to visit her home again.

The Spirit Slime still had a few days, so Aiko went out to test her new spells.

”[Blood Field]!” Aiko lost half of her HP and established a 10-metre blood lake around her. It was not too deep, and she could walk around like she was uninhibited, making her feel strange.

The liquid was certainly there and this one was supposed to be buff...

The blood-red lake was startling as it reflected her face perfectly. It was a pale face with red eyes and fangs.

”This is definitely not me.” From what Aiko could remember, she had blue eyes, not red, so maybe this was part of the [Blood Field] effect.

Aiko tried to kick, ignoring the fact that she didn’t have a proper outfit for it.

*crackle*

Her movement created a small sound whenever she finished her motion, making her feel overpowered.

’Does that mean I can maintain it forever?’ She didn’t lose any more HP, so Aiko thought that maybe she could just deploy it and forget about it.

Stepping out of the lake, she used a Blood Needle just to test the strength.

The strength was not too bad, since the blood hardened, but it was not something that was too impressive.

However, inside the actual [Blood Field], that was something completely different.

The Blood Needle turned into several and not only its hardness improved, but speed did too, making it easier to aim and hit.

Aiko was overjoyed, since this buff lasted on the Blood Needles even when they left the field, meaning that she didn’t need to use this one defensively.

”[Gate of B].” Aiko shortened it since she didn’t think much of it, but what greeted her was a-

*Smash*

”...” Aiko blinked a few times. She was almost hit by a freaking fridge!’

She cast it again, but this time it was a pan and the next time it was guitar. The object would change depending on the Mana and speed the spell was supposed to work at. The higher the values, the more ridiculous the object thrown.

”Now even a plushie that is stuffed with concrete...” Aiko was flabbergasted when she saw that the first time, but no matter how many times she tried to cast it, all the objects were simply abnormal!

”Now...” Aiko quickly dipped into the safe area to refresh her Mana.

She had just barely enough Mana to utilise the [Teleport].

The Mana wrapped her body while her actual body briefly disappeared before she found herself in the safe area.

[You have died.]

[Cause: Suffocation]

”What...” Aiko tilted her head. ’How is that possible?’

[You have teleported into a wall, Princess.]

Aiko blinked her eyes a few times before slapping the system away. ’I can’t believe I did that, but where did it actually take me?’ Since she didn’t die because of Mana, it must’ve been successful, but where did it take her at that moment? She didn’t know.

It was a dark and brief ’encounter’ making it that much stranger.

”Whatever.” Aiko would learn how to use it inside instead of outside.

The [Lottery Magic] was probably the most interesting one out of them.

It summoned her to a small slot machine, which she had to pull and wait for it to pick a number. That number was associated with a weapon that she could use, or not.

The more balanced the weapon, the fewer restrictions it had, making usage that much easier.

However, if you got rubbish or an OP weapon, then she had to use it at least once before she was allowed to roll for another one.

The first roll was a small teddy, which turned into a bloodthirsty plushie that ran around with a knife, trying to stab anything remotely suspicious.

What Aiko appreciated was the fact that the plushie was not hostile towards her. She thought that would be the case, considering her previous experiences, but maybe this time it was an exception.

The cost of a roll varied, from as little as 10 Mana to as much as 10,000 Mana.

Of course, the 10,000 Mana would give her something amazing, or maybe not, who knows, it’s a lottery...

Another roll gave her a squeaky hammer, but each squeak the hammer increased in volume until it was unbearable.

Maybe if she had some noise dampening ear-covers, she could use it, but like this, she would be just stunning herself.

Yet another roll rewarded her a cookie. This cookie made her immortal and allowed her to use as much Mana as she wanted, as long as it was within 30 seconds of consumption.

”This is nice.” Aiko nodded her head happily as she looked at the last magic.

[Hymn Magic]

”[Hymn of Destruction].” Aiko recited the manual and Rune Circle appeared above her.

It was round, with many symbols, but 12 main symbols. The middle one lit up with red hue, making her concerned, but then a dragon head appeared above her.

It was a small dragon head that shot a laser, obliterating anything within radius.

”Nice.” Aiko smirked. She now had many things that she could use, so it was time to rest and wait for the Spirit Slime to finally mature~!

Leaving for her home, she pretty much left everything behind her.

She would have to choose an outfit next time and many more things, so she was quite tired of thinking about all of it.

It did concern her a little, considering her Soul Points consumption. She wanted to use it on her tails, but clearing this turned out to be harder than she expected, maybe because she procrastinated. As such Soul Points were better spent like this, so that Aiko was more powerful and would have fewer issues moving forward~!