*You have dragged yourself through pain and pressure, learning on the spot while you developed and honed your skills! You have gained the skill Mental Expansion. Contrary to its name, this skill does not expand the senses or self in any way. Instead, it widens and thickens the barrier of your very mind, deflecting attacks at the cost of a large amount of Psychic mana. Use Mental Expansion to increase the flow of the mana river as well!*

It took me two [email protected]#$ing hours to get that skill. Two hours of this damn fox's torture. It sucked.

She went through 3 more of those condensed balls of Psychic mana, probably cackling in joy at my pain. By the end, I was barely conscious. I gargled out in exhaustion, too tired to be angry. Did I mention this sucked?

To be honest though? The feeling of elation at my self-improvement was positively worth it. In fact, I was so elated, I didn’t even use the cry of justice skill I totally had.

She smirked at me, gazing at me with something that resembled pride. I bowed my head, feeling like I was some type of buddha who had gone through the trials of 9,000 tortures. I was tempted to say; 'this one thanks the master’ but it didn't feel appropriate for the moment. She was technically my mother after all.

After a good half a second of eye contact, I slumped to the floor, A goofy smile on my face.

I woke up on the bed later, grinning like an idiot. I felt Junior's sleeping form at my back, his short and sharp breaths making me feel uncomfortably warm. I looked up at the ceiling, pumping the meditation skill.

*Hard work and effort have paid off! Meditation III becomes Meditation IV*

I have decided I love leveling.

I stopped meditation, exhaling deeply in thought.

I felt my mind wandering, questions popping into my mind as fast as a kid cramming tacos into their mouth at an all-you-can-eat buffet. The most prominent question was about the ratio of gaining skills versus leveling them. Why are skills so hard to get, but so easy to level? Is it just like a thing that happens? Or is there some kind of logical reason? Hmm...

The only thing I could think of is that getting skills and actually leveling them are two separate things with their own difficulty bases. Like, It took 5 of those Psychic balls to get me the skill, but If I take another one head on right now? I’d probably level twice. That's… 10x the amount. Not that I’m complaining, of course. I just think it's a little bit ridiculous. Maybe effort and fear make you level faster too? Actually, that would make sense. The more danger, the faster you level the skill.

With my curiosity partially suppressed, I cycled the air and Psychic mana I had gathered throughout my veins, breathing in deeply, just feeling the power in my small body.

I could almost feel my body growing, my cells duplicating themselves by the thousands, slowly increasing my size. I couldn’t wait to be able to walk on my own without the assistance of my mana.

That wasn’t the only thing that was growing though. My body took in the ambient mana, converting and corrupting, storing it in my core, breathing in an endless cycle that felt natural. Felt right. Is this what it's like for everyone? If so, I don't ever wanna go back to my old world.

I filled myself with my air mana, infusing my muscles and bones while activating balancing act. I turned to the side, peering at the small form of a red fox. his soft breathing and vulnerable form made me smile, ever so slightly. An almost cruel glint reflected off my eyes.

Hehehe. I will have my revenge. Just you wait…

I woke up early, feeling the powerful mana curl around my arteries, pumping along with my blood. Who needs mana channels when you have perfectly good blood vessels that spread all across your body?

Burning balancing act on high, I shed the wrap that covered my body. I stood up, slowly creeping to the still sleeping fox. I had been planning this ever since he had woken me up with that pounce yesterday. Now, It was my turn to get the jump. I would have to time this perfectly as to not wake him up or alert him of my presence. Besides, we would be with Psychic mana today. This could be the perfect warm-up!

My legs shone with a silvery sheen, my couching form reducing them to barely visible stubs. I felt the bed shift under me, responding to my sudden weight concentration. I pumped more mana in, eyeballing my trajectory…

I shot into the air with a whoosh, the bed springing back up. I rolled in midair, turning to my side and bringing out my elbow. I tucked in my legs and fell, my arm making contact with a body of red fluff, slamming into its side in a way that would make any pro wrestler proud.

The moment I did, I led a Psychic tendril barrelling into his mind, yelling telepathically.

“Good morning, good morning, GOOD MORNING!” I said. The red fox let out a high-pitched whine his squished body heating up underneath me. I let out a grin at his stutters.

“Wha… What are you… Ow…” He wheezed while I grinned, knowing it would take way more than this to hurt this little piggie. Or fox, in this case. “Did you… How…? Wait…” He came to an abrupt realization, finally feeling awake enough to piece together what had happened.

“Oh, YOU LITTLE-” He yelled as he twisted his body, throwing me off the bed and onto the floor as I made an ungraceful flop that didn’t hurt that much. I hadn’t really planned this far, I had just wanted to exact sweet revenge. In hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have taken it out on him of all people, but oh well. Perfect time to try and train balancing act.

Unfortunately, I was sorely reminded of the gulf between our prowess in seconds. He jumped down from the bed and pounced toward me, forelegs aiming at my squishy body. I held my breath, cycling my mana as fast as I could while my heart worked overtime to get it across my limbs. I infused the weightlessness and power into them, demanding reflex and agility.

I dove to the side, just about avoiding the flash of red and black before they pivoted on their paws and lept back towards me. I didn’t even get a chance to say a one-liner! I stumbled to a crouch, feeling a breeze fly over me and paws hit the ground, turning around to grab me once more.

“You jerk!” He whined telepathically. “I only woke you up like that because I was in a hurry! Mother said you had to be up, and fast! I also never actually tackled you!”

“Oh yeah? Then just consider it revenge for the other 3 times you tackled me down. Besides, you're a strong little squirt, you can take it!” I smirked, uncrouching.

He huffed, drawing in a breath that made my eyes widen. Wisps of steam leaked from his closed jaw, as I felt the room heat up, the molecules of air and water vibrating excitedly. I dived out of the way of his breath, landing on the floor 2 feet away, crashing my arm down onto the stone floor.

I widened my eyes further when I felt bits of ice tingling on my skin, fusing me to the wooden floor. It was a feint! I tried to shoot to my feet, but it was apparently too late for that. The heat was totally gone, and in its place was a suffocating cold that made me shiver.

My breaths fogged and my eyelashes trembled, clattering along with my teeth. 4 paws padded over to me, looking me in the eye with his silver-grey eyes. This time, he was the one smirking triumphantly.

“Ha! You can’t beat someone who fights evil monsters all day! You’re crazy!" He said. I wanted to cry again, and he didn't seem to care one bit. "You can’t stop me, na nana nana na!” He said while poking his claws on the bridge of my nose, my numb skin not responding. I wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation as well as I wanted to bash his face in. His stupid rhyme sounded suspicoulsy close to a mocking tone many children used when they were taunting someone. I shivered.

Unfortunately for me, fun-size was right. There was no way I was beating him unless I had a plan. I had gotten my revenge, but at what cost? My dignity. That's what.

10 seconds later, I decided enough was enough.

“Pl-please get me out of th-this.” I said with chattering teeth.

“Not until you apologize, you jerk!” His mental voice carried itself into my addled mind like a paper airplane on the wind.

“B-but you never ap-apologized when you did s-stuff to me!”

“Did too!”

“D-did not!”

He ruffled his fur, whiskers twitching in self-satisfaction. “I dunno what you're talking about, young spirit of flame.” He said in a snooty tone. I winced at the name, feeling my fire mana bubble below my Psyche, thankfully still banished to the very depths of my subconscious mind and heart.

“If you apologize, I promise I’ll let you get up.”

“L-like hell you will!”

"I'm serious! Just say that you're sorry and that you are also a jerk for doing that to me."

I didn’t believe coming from his lying mouth. But... What else was I supposed to do? Use fire to blast him off me? Wait for Viralya to return? I get the feeling that she'll just make things worse… My contemplation was quickly broken when he brought his mouth full of sharp teeth dangerously close to my frozen head.

“Okay! O-okay. I’m sorry for tackling y-you. It was mean… And I’m a… Jerk” I most definitely was not! The little fox had it coming!

I wasn't a fool though. I squashed my rebellious emotions, only letting bitterness leak through the link.

He gave me a big toothy smile and the frosty patterns shrunk, melting slowly as to not burn me from the sudden temperature change. I was really tempted to just tackle him right here, but I knew that wouldn’t end well for me.

My teeth chattered as he padded out the doorway, smiling before cutting the connection. Jerk. I thought.

I breathed in deeply. I would not be using my fire mana to reheat myself, no matter how tempting it was. I stood up on shaky legs, mana pumping through me sluggishly. I took a couple of minutes to gather my bearings, just trying to warm up. Wobbling a bit, I stumbled into the trophy room, seeing Junior sitting down in front of Viralya, waiting for me.

I didn’t make eye contact with the jerk, refusing to look him in the eye, no matter how angry I was. It would only make things worse.

Viralya observed this quietly, turning to look at the little guy's cheeky smile. I took a minute to meditate while I sat down, now without a chatter in my teeth. When my eyes open, the simmering flame of rage had turned into just a small spark. I vowed to get better with both my skills and mana control.

I hated being tossed around in my previous life, and I still hate it. Both of us attached Psychic tendrils to Viralya, preferring Telepathy over the sequence of growls and whines that was a fox's tongue.

“We're going to focus more on mana sense today.”She spoke. She eyed my light shivering disapprovingly, probably wanting to pressure me in to use my fire mana, while reassuring me she had my best interests in mind. She didn't though.

“For today, I want both of you to study the way I move mana around me. See if you can observe the underlying shapes and patterns I use to better my efficiency with my Mana control. Watch closely.”

Her fur suddenly erupted in thousands of different colors, herding and weaving hundreds of fine threads that overlapped across her red body in majesty. Our eyes filled with wonder, watching the mana being controlled and cycled throughout her body, catching glimpses of a red and silver energy mixing with the aura from her. After she had given us time to observe, she spoke once more.

“While this is technically a spell called Mana Coat, I seldom activate it. I prefer using fine control and flexibility over one-sided static spells. While it's easier to maintain as a spell or skill, the benefits of mana control are far better, allowing for changes mid-battle as well as great flexibility.” The coat flexed and turned, forming little studs that fit across her body like a glowing Christmas tree. Airy spikes shot out of her body, mixing with earthen and icy forms of the sharp studded spikes.

She smiled at us, Continuing to cycle her control across the elements as mana erupted from her like an earthquake. I was amazed. Could I do this too someday? Surpassing her control and chopping my enemies down with blasts of wind and Psychic attacks? Maybe I could get so good, I could control storms and even hurricanes!

She chuckled, sensing my thoughts. Juniors must have had a similar thought as she looked to him first. “Ah, yes. I haven't shown you most of my spells have I? Well, there's a good reason for that. Don’t want you trying to lose yourself to my style and fine control! You have your own path in mana after all!” I silently wondered if that was a religious thing.

"Do you think... I could control the elements such as you do? Master them all?"

Her whiskers twitched, turning to me. “Your excitement is primitive and much more focussed on oneself. To answer your question, unfortunately, no. It is unlikely you will be able to 'master all the elements’ as you might think. You could, however, gain basic control over some you do not have the applicability for, as well as get very very good at the ones you DO have. I myself do not specialize in mana control. It just comes with age and practice, as it's useful for many things. And if your wondering, no. I could never hope to match a mediocre mage with their home element using pure mana control. That is the stuff of myths.”

I nodded, still just as excited. Okay, so maybe I couldn’t dive deep into the unknown waters of this world's oceans, or submerge myself in molten lava, but I Could possibly fly, or learn how to move stuff with my mind!

She chuckled.

“Alas... I regret to inform both of you that my lessons on skills and spells will come to an end soon."

Junior and I looked at each other in confusion, then back to Viralya as she sighed.

"I am not so cruel as to leave you without an explanation young ones." She smirked. "Not only are your skills radically different from mine, but you also shouldn’t have your young minds corrupted by my ideals and fancies! Yes, although one of you has wind mana, just like me, it is very different in form and function. You would do best to remember all mana is unique, even those of the same type.”

She paused. “It is not my job to perfect your skills and training, it is but my job to guide you and provide support if needed. I will not skew you from your path to power. Your destiny is yours alone.”

That was… Admirable? I didn’t exactly know how to feel about that one. She’s a fountain of knowledge, why couldn’t she teach us? She had already taught little foxy here for months before me. Or… Did she?

Now that I think about it, he had mostly been hunting monsters and fighting in the woods, but to be fair, he was a magic fox. Maybe this is just how spirit beasts did their thing. After all, I knew next to nothing about them, let alone this world. Regardless, after watching the mana fade around her after a while, the words I had been hoping for came.

*You have seen and understood a great master in the arcane arts! Mana Sense IV becomes Mana Sense V*

My first level 5 skill! I thought. That had been just enough to push me over to the next level.

"I want you to look carefully at my mana, seeing how it eclipses one type, but falls back on another. Concentrate..." She said while reforming the Mana coat. And so, the short-lived grind began...

A couple of hours later, she stopped forming and nullifying her ‘mana coat’ “Alright. Now that we have gone through some mana sense training, I want both of you to train on one another. You cannot rely on my magic all the time after all.” She smiled.

I snapped out of the tired daze I had been in, my attention coming back to reality in a flash. I looked to Viralya, seeing her sort of warm foxy smile. I took the cue and looked back over to Junior's far too innocent face.

Hell no! I don't want to train with fun-size here! I was still upset about how he almost killed me! Multiple times! And you want me to 'train' with this punk? Nu-uh. No way. He'll stab me behind my back when I'm not looking and call it a training accident!

Unfortunately for me though, Viralya did not mention my indignation, nor Junior's amusement, only pushing us forward until I saw the culprit of my troubles only 3 feet across from me. He sat elegantly, his smile genuine as if nothing had ever happened between us.

It made me a little angry, but I still said nothing, not even glaring at him. I looked down and crossed my arms in a slump, a pout on my unwilling lips. He suddenly looked to the side, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Mother, by training, do you mean skill training or sparring? I would love to indulge in some light sparring. Pleeeease?” He smiled bashfully. Ugh. I hate him so much right now.

She looked over at us, almost already out the exit. I hadn’t even noticed her leaving. She waved her paw at us, in a dismissive gesture turning back and walking outside.

I turned back to see the same Junior, now smiling evilly at me. I choked, fear kicking in.

"Hey wait! I'm sorry okay?!" I said whilst backing up like a crab. "Can't we resolve this with diplomacy or something?!" He said nothing, his paws padding forth just padding forward. "Please!?"

Junior, being the golden child he was, ignored my ass and bolted towards me, steps as cold as the winter winds, propelling him forward like he had a leaf blower attached to his back. He threw himself at me with killing intent. Children were so cruel.

I only just had time to evade, throwing myself to the side in a sudden surge of mana and balancing act. The sparring match had begun.