The trio enter through the front door, Han Xi immediately goes for her bed in the corner of the room, while Xu Hau and Lei Yue colpse into a chair at the table. It's been a long and exhausting day for both Xu Hao and Han Xi, and the two are eager to rex.
Xu Hao looks down at Han Xi and smirks. “You were amazing today, Miss Han Xi. I seriously can’t believe you're so strong. You really are a strange fox.” he says, his voice full of admiration.
Nodding her head, Lei Yue agrees, “Yes, I agree. I never could have imagined a fox cub defeating a savage beast. It's incomprehensible, but it happened.”
Han Xi raises her chin smugly, looking up at them from her bed on the floor. ‘I did do pretty good, didn't I?’
Both of them giggle at Han Xi’s expression and then sigh in relief, rexing in their chairs.
-----
At the front gate of the vilge, a shady character peers in between the cracks of the front gate. He is wearing a dark cloak over his body, hiding most of his identifying features.
‘This is strange… usually they have a guard posted to this gate day and night. So why is it different today? Perhaps, it's reted to that smoke I saw coming from the center of the vilge.’
He locates the mechanism to open the gate, and only opens it just enough so he can get into the vilge without being noticed. He makes his presence scarce and slowly creeps towards the center of the vilge, using the shadows as cover to keep himself unseen.
As he passes by each house, he sneakily peers into their windows. One thing immediately becomes clear; no one seems to be in their homes. The sun has only recently set, and it wouldn't be uncommon to see someone in their home making dinner or rexing at this hour, so why do things seem different today? This only fuels his curiosity, as he decides to proceed with his investigation.
He continues until he reaches a house on the corner of a street that leads directly to the center of the vilge. Moving his body against the house for cover, he peeks around the corner, only to see everyone in the center of the vilge around a bonfire. ‘What is going on here… celebrating something perhaps?’
Chuckling to himself, his face contorts as he smiles sinisterly. ‘It's not like they have much to celebrate anyway~. They are all a bunch of weaklings.’
In the distance, Elder Fu can be heard proposing a drink to his fellow neighbors. “Let's all have a drink to celebrate our new guardian beast! Cheers!”
The mysterious man's eyebrow raises, intrigued by Elder Fu’s comment. ‘Guardian beast, huh?’ This intrigue does not st long, as he circutes his Qi to prevent himself from ughing too hard. ‘That’s cute! They must have adopted a lost puppy! No guardian beast of theirs will pose a threat to the Shadow Demon Sect.’
He turns around and starts making his way back to the entrance of the vilge. ‘This trip was a waste of time. Though, I should still report this to the patriarch.’
-----
Xu Hao yawns loudly, exhausted from all the running around today. “I think that’s about it for me tonight. Good night, both of you.”
Nodding, Lei Yue agrees with him and they both head to their rooms uneventfully, leaving Han Xi alone in the corner of the main room.
Han Xi stretches her body, rexing on her bed. She rolls over onto her back and wills her system notifications open. ‘Let's see what kind of progress I have made after all today's fighting.’ She scrolls through her notifications, using her paw to swipe through them.
[EXP gained!][Level Up! You have reached Level 18! +1 to all stats.][Level Up! You have reached Level 19! +1 to all stats.][Level Up! You have reached Level 20! +1 to all stats.][You have gained 15 stat points and 6 skill points.][Your strength stat is maxed out for your current beast grade and can not improve any further until evolution. Converting +3 into stat points.][You have met the requirements for evolution.][Skill [Tail Whip] has leveled up to level 6!][You have received a message from an unknown number: “We have been trying to reach you regarding your spaceships extended warranty.”]
Her expression goes bnk, her eyelid twitching a bit in annoyance, looking at the st entry in her notifications. ‘Spaceship? I don't even have a spaceship. Wait, I can receive messages? What carrier does my system even use, and where does the sim card go?’
[I utilize eSim technology.]
Han Xi curses her system out in her mind, irritated at its response. ‘Of all the questions you decide to reply to, you chose that one?!’
She shakes her head, brushing her irritation aside. ‘Forget that! It says I can evolve now?! Hell yeah! I wonder if it’ll be painful…?’ Her body shudders, imagining what evolution could feel like. ‘I can’t imagine it being pleasant. Your bones and innards just rearranging themselves…’
She covers her eyes with her paws and then shakes her head even more than before. After a moment, she lowers her paws and stops moving her head. ‘No use worrying about that right now. I need to evolve regardless, so It doesn't matter if it will hurt or not.’
Noticing something else interesting in her notifications, her eyes move down to another message.
[Your strength stat is maxed out for your current beast grade and can not improve any further until evolution. Converting +3 into stat points.]
She nods her head approvingly at the message, happy with this result. ‘This is wonderful to know. At least when I max out a stat, I’m not missing out on any stat points. That means I could technically level up another stat 2 times as fast instead of this one! When you think of it that way, this feature is fantastic! Considering the alternative is losing stats.’
Swiping her paw to the side, dismissing the notifications, she now wills her status screen up. ‘Now, let's see how things are looking…’
User Status--------------------------------User Status--------------------------------Name: Han XiGender: FemaleLevel: 20 (Max)HP 210/210Mana: 0/0Age: 2 DaysRace: FoxSpecies: Arctic Fox CubGrade: Animal (Evolution Possible)Stat Points: 73Skill Points: 29Subordinates: 432
--------------------------------Titles--------------------------------[Merciless Bonker], [Projectile Weapon], [Guardian Beast of Snowmere Vilge]
--------------------------------Stats--------------------------------Strength: 50Toughness: 21Agility: 35Stamina: 38Spirit: 20
--------------------------------Skills--------------------------------Skills interfaced with system:Slot 1: RadarSlot 2: Empty
Passive:[Minor Regeneration(Lv.2)], [Enhanced Reflexes(Lv.4)]Active:[Bite(Lv.3)], [Scratch(Lv.4)], [Growl(Lv.2)], [Sprint(Lv.6)], [Hide(Lv.2)], [Dig(Lv.1)], [Radar(Lv.5)1300ft(396.24m)], [Tail Whip(Lv.5)], [Pounce(Lv.3)]
--------------------------------Divine Abilities--------------------------------[Queen's Authority]
--------------------------------Inventory--------------------------------Guide to the Immortal World (Beginner), Meat (7x), Rubber Duck (1x), Health Pill (2x), Lucky Pill (1x), 10000 Year Moon Essence Stone--------------------------------
--------------------------------Quests--------------------------------None--------------------------------
[colpse]She scrolls through her status screen, grinning widely, happy with her current results. ‘This is only the end of my second day here, and I am already preparing to evolve. I feel like I’m making great progress!’ As she continues browsing the screen, her smile quickly turns into a frown as she reviews her titles. ‘Seriously though… [Projectile Weapon] and [Merciless Bonker] are definitely in bad taste. What does the system think I am? A fox cannon?! Another thing that's confusing me is the system said my [Merciless Bonker] title wouldn't activate for projectiles, but then gives me a projectile based title while activating it? How does that make sense?’
[The conditions of your [Merciless Bonker] title only apply when you use or throw projectiles, not when you are the projectile.]
Han Xi nods, accepting the system's response. ‘Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Despite having shitty names, at least the titles are somewhat practical. At least, I don't have a shitty title that makes it more difficult to sleep on cheaper beds or something like that. This bed isn't luxurious, but it sure is comfortable right now.’
Her head falls back against her bed, exhausted from today’s activities, letting her body rex. ‘Today was really busy. I should get some sleep now. I know there's more to think about… but I can do it tomorrow.’ She closes her eyes and lets herself drift off to sleep, slipping into a dream…
-----
Hmm… where am I? Oh… that’s right. I’m camping with my family in a campground near a ke right now. We rarely sleep anywhere other than our own home, so I suppose waking up in a camper would confuse anyone, especially on the first day, right? I must admit, for a camper, these beds aren’t half bad. I seem to be the only one inside right now, so my family is probably outside waiting for me to wake up.
Looking down at my phone, I check to see what time it is. It’s only 8:32am, so they haven't been up very long. Though, I really wish I would stop getting all of these scam emails. I dismiss the email and take a deep breath in, enjoying the fresh air coming in from the open windows. I can already smell breakfast being made, too. I make my way out of bed and freshen up, getting ready for the day.
Today is the day we are going fishing out on a ke. My family has always loved fishing, and we’ve done it for as long as I can remember. My father works really hard to support the household, and he managed to afford this new camper and a canoe as well. I've been looking forward to this trip for months, but now that I am on summer vacation, we finally have time to make it happen.
As I turn towards the door, I hear knocking coming from outside it. “Keith, are you up? Breakfast is ready. Once we’re finished, we are heading out onto the ke.” I start walking towards the door, excited to have a warm breakfast and a cup of coffee to start the day. I’m not even sure if someone my age should have coffee, since I’m only 13. Whether I should or shouldn't, I sure like the taste of it though, despite drowning it in fvored creamer. I’ve heard a rumor that if you drink coffee when you’re young, you won't grow tall. I personally think that rumor is completely false. How would drinking coffee make you stay short? That sounds like something someone who doesn't like being short would say. Well, anyway, I better get outside before my food gets cold. “Yeah, I am up, I’m coming out now!”
I walk outside and see my father making an egg sandwich on the stove-top outside our camper. It’s small, maybe like the size of a briefcase and gas powered, but it works really great when you’re outside. Sitting at the table is my step-mother. She is reading an article on her phone, already having enjoyed her breakfast. After sitting down with them and eating breakfast, we went to get all the supplies to go out onto the ke fishing. We made sure to pack our lunch, extra drinks, fishing poles, the tackle boxes and bait, as well as life-preservers, in-case we fell out of the canoe. After gathering all the equipment, we walked the canoe over to the edge of the ke. We left just a bit of it on nd; that way we can board it without having to get our shoes wet. My father wasn't so lucky, as his job was unching the boat. Meaning, his shoes would almost certainly get wet. After unching off of the nd, we pass the trees surrounding the camp area, revealing a beautiful scene of open water. The surface is so calm, I can easily see my reflection in it. My short blond hair and blue eyes reflecting back at me.
I pick up my fishing pole and attach a lure in the shape of a fish with 2 hooks on the bottom to the end of the string, clipping it on. After, I cast it into the ke, as far to the side as I can cast. Maybe I didn’t need to cast it so far, but casting it as far as you can is part of the fun, right? Slowly, I real it back in, allowing it to trail somewhat behind us as we continue to float farther away from the nd. Suddenly, I feel a tug on my rod. I pull back my fishing pole with sizable force, before everything starts to fade to bck…
Dreams, after all, always seem to end at the best part.
AnDwHaT5
