Book 2 - Bonus 2 - Foxy Training (Patreon)

[Hey guys! Here's the other Bonus chapter for Book 2, coming out in a couple weeks! I still feel like this chapter is missing something, but most should think it was fun, hopefully? Please let me know what you guys think!]

Fhesiah cycled her heavenly energy through the meridians in her body, in tune with the beating of her heart and her breathing. Through this process, the Qi was condensed into almost-liquid form, entering her Dantian.

The density of energy in her chamber decreased with every breath. The Hearth of the Refuge drew in tons of energy from the cosmos as it traveled, but even that must be condensed into her chamber for a period to enjoy all the benefits.

Mainly that she could spend much less time cultivating. Rather than spending weeks in some cave, she could condense it down with her formations purchased from the [Multiverse Market] and be much more efficient with her time.

She had similar formations back in her chamber at home, but she was impressed with the Framework’s methods. Something it was doing to the energy and how it personalized the formation for her made it much easier to absorb and make her own. Though, she felt it was related to her Hearth and Jake’s connection to her.

The near-liquid energy entered her Dantian, and she formed the energy into additional hexagonal bricks. Some joined the general atmosphere of her Spiritual Palace, making her current foundations even sturdier. She could filter the Yang energies into her mosaic, empowering them.

Her body became closer to the heavens, becoming both stronger and sturdier with every breath. Her body was getting close to sturdier than the very same armor she now wore. Despite being newly crafted, she already surpassed it–unless she filled her runes with mana from her Hearth or Jake’s [Energy Sharing].

Fhesiah sighed. She had to work further on her [Draconic Empowerment] ability. She was closer to making it work with just Qi and her draconic flames but had difficulty finding the perfect balance. The mana she had simply wasn’t enough for all of these things.

It helped that her Hearth drew it in so rapidly, but she used it to supplement her flames and empower the runes on her armor. Adding the empowerment would have her using it faster than she could store it.

Pulling it from Jake worked, but his mana was already limited by enhancing her and her sisters. He was already worried about being a living buff bot; what if she stole all his mana for her own spells?

Her spiritual temple now resembled much of their Refuge. However, it couldn’t really be the same. They constantly moved rooms around in their Refuge and added things, after all, so this was more as if she alone chose what their home looked like. It was painstakingly difficult to change once she built something in her temple.

As much as she wanted to work on her ability, she needed to continue absorbing heavenly energy. Spending it would not allow it to be absorbed to increase her cultivation and thus level. So she moved on to her other paths to power.

She read through several alchemy manuals with a sigh as she continued absorbing energy. Fhesiah was happy Zeke had provided them, but many had nonsense injected, enough that she had difficulty filtering the truth from mere flowery language.

Sects would protect their knowledge, sometimes with code. Thus, she ended up using the Framework’s guidance, combined with a bit of trial and error. Unfortunately, that meant time. Time that she couldn’t enjoy being at Jake’s side. Or on top, underneath, in the air…

Her Draconic Bloodline bricks full, Fhesiah willed the sun to set and activated her skill, [Bloodline Transformation]. Her bones creaked, but she pushed her transformation much slower, having all the time she wanted rather than being in combat.

Still, with all the pain, she debated removing her wings on the draconic side to make the whole process easier. The pathways within still aided her with her flight and were a big reason it was so easy for her. Perhaps she would no longer need them when she created her Cultivator Core.

She may benefit from other changes at that time. She had chosen the more compact humanoid body, but Fhesiah had seen the power in some size and mass. Fhesiah would wait for the results of her racial evolution and then go from there. No doubt, she would learn a significant amount from this process of the Framework.

Her body finished shifting to her most recent point of progress. The hormones and energies in the body were completely different, now moving to a Yin aspect. Already, her line of thought was changing.

Dragons, being Yang-aspected beings, were far more active. It was assertiveness, creativity, and it was action. It was… unfortunately, more masculine. At least half…well, maybe not half, some of her horniness was related to this energy being prevalent in her.

She was at an imbalance due to not moving her yin aspect energy forward. She opened her eyes inside her spiritual temple, looking at the mosaics of her bloodline. That imbalance only continued, thanks to the dragon mosaic. Several purified dragon souls were stored here, their energies being slowly drained. There was next to nothing to improve her yin bloodline mosaic.

She took out her purchases in her cultivation room with a scowl. Three small piles of aspected Qi crystals were in front of her. She was happy she could obtain them at all, the rare crystals at their Tier. Her scowl was because, normally, two out of the three would be a terrible method to improve her power.

She bet that, once again, the gods had interfered for her to otherwise obtain them. The auction appeared just when she needed them. Then, she won with little contest; their value greatly exceeding what she paid. Just like Zeke providing her exactly what she required, it was all way too convenient.

Her fox face scrunched up in a frown. Yin aspect was passivity, intuition, and introspection, among other things. Already, she was being influenced by shifting over to the other form with different thoughts and lines of thinking entirely.

It was also feminine. Fhesiah already desired just laying with Jake while he brushed her new fur after cleaning it in a nice bath. Well, she still thought of rewarding him with some fun afterward.

She sighed. Fhesiah really needed to fix her imbalance. So many of her actions and personality were likely driven by being a dragon.

She reached for the moonlight-aspected Qi crystals, crushing one in her hand. The almost vapor entered the atmosphere of her cultivation chamber, and she breathed it in, cycling it into her body. She filtered it through her hearth and looked on in satisfaction as only the purest yin energy entered her mosaic, the rest wafting in and increasing the density of her spiritual temple.

Qi was the energy of the heavens and the purest form of the energy. However, it could be changed. Heavenly energy contained all the truths of the universe, but certain environmental factors could often influence the levels of these truths, changing the aspect of the energy itself.

Near a powerful volcano, fire, or lava Qi could eventually form, having more focus on the truths of fire. It would lose truths for this to happen, usually, their opposite. It would lose truths of ice, for example.

In the case of moonlight Qi, it was certainly a more yin aspected Qi. Thus, it would lose yang-based truths, like that of the sun.

Most would want to use these types of energies but waited until they made their cultivator’s core. That was when they made their choices in their path, making their focus much more permanent. Most never absorbed this energy until then because it would change their very foundations.

Unfortunately, she was already imbalanced. She was merely trying to correct this, but this was a small measure. She absorbed the next crystal, a darkness Qi crystal. Once again, it entered her mosaic without issues, though she believed there was less. The energy was even less-suited for her mosaic. Thankfully, the hearth eliminated all her worries by only giving her what she needed.

She looked at the last set of crystals. These were the true reason she doubted their availability was a mere coincidence. While moonlight and darkness aspected Qi could probably form on a Tier 1 world, they were much more common among Tier 2. However, the last energy crystal was pure Yin Qi.

Such advanced or distilled Qi would only appear on Tier 3 worlds or above. Even in the demon realm she was from, her father would hesitate to obtain some for her at Tier 1, finding it too extravagant. And yet, she somehow obtained them for Tier 1 credits? What a joke.

Still, the energy was appropriate for her Tier. She crushed it and cycled the energy inside her body once more, her vulpine smile one of satisfaction as one hundred percent of the pure yin energy entered her mosaic. Her black-purple flames became all the brighter, her bloodline stronger.

She worked on cycling as she worked toward fixing her body. She had to remove one hair follicle at a time and change one hormonal gland at a time. Shift one bone, resize another. Like an artist zooming in to remove blemishes, she changed her body one small spot at a time with her flesh-shaping skill.

Of course, her focus was still on her bones. Her [Sun and Moon] Technique was a dance, one that was incompatible with being a fox. She may end up needing a new technique in the end, anyway, but that didn’t help her right now. Thanks to the technique, she would be much stronger as a humanoid.

Thanks to obtaining [Draconic Empowerment], she would benefit much more from using her claws in melee than the Sun dance aided. Perhaps, when they reached the next Tier, she would be helped in modifying or evolving the ability to fit this.

Fhesiah was getting faster with flesh shaping as she improved the skill, but it was time-consuming. She knew it would be weeks before she got it where she wanted it. Of course, absorbing the crystals took enough attention that it slowed down her flesh shaping.

She simply didn’t have much time to devote to changing her body. Perhaps it would only take a week if she focused exclusively on it. But the Hart clan was always moving forward, and thus she had to, as well. Fhesiah would not allow herself to fall behind, no matter how much she looked forward to showing Jake her surprise.

The energy density in the room eventually faded, causing her to call her cultivation session quits for the day. Her tails swished behind her as she felt her bond and used her divine sense to check on everyone within the Refuge.

Jake was still busy enchanting. His efforts would continue for hours. She smiled as she watched his capable focus and working his magic. She couldn’t help but find his expression sexy as he operated his contraption, narrowing in on every fine detail as he worked hard to protect his girls with his enchantments.

The thought of him continuing that focus and expression while she went under his desk made her wet, but she changed her thoughts quickly, knowing now was not the time. She checked on Berri and Blood, finding the two to be practicing their spells.

A rare occasion, but Berri was much more focused on learning runic magic. If Jake had just had her memorize the runes to produce spells, perhaps she’d already have accomplished several.

However, he was a firm believer in better foundations producing better results. She would have to learn the vast number of rules and understand the process to be able to move forward in the future.

Fhesiah believed this was the right course of action. It was challenging enough to experiment, find working spells, and improve them for just plain mana and demonic runes. Needing to accomplish this for Berri but with holy light mana and for Blood with dark mana would be way too much.

He’d never move forward on his own personal advancement if he was always doing their job for them.

He would learn from their experience and efforts, almost as if he was delegating them the task. Still, Berri was not well suited for the near mathematical precision in creating working spells.

Because of all the variables, perhaps her luck or creativity would kick in, allowing her to treat it more like an art rather than a science. The girl certainly had plenty of those traits.

In contrast, Blood learned all the rules rapidly, perhaps even better suited for the magic than Ophelia. Still, she didn’t have the benefit of Jake learning along with her, slowing her down.

Fhesiah’s tails swished behind her as she thought. She would leave them alone for now, the girls making good progress, focused on their task. That left Ophelia.

The girl was currently practicing against a sleek, armed training golem. Powered up to the peak of their Tier, to that of a boss monster. The girl was forgoing using her new shield and trying to use what she learned from facing the previous champion in combat.

Fhesiah looked over her own body. She was no longer hunched over but was still almost entirely covered in fur. Her chest was still mostly the chest of a fox, and her face, too. She did not want Jake to see her like this. But Ophelia was fine.

Fhesiah strapped on her bracers and greaves, her chest armor not really fitting over her strange body. Her body was sturdier than the training armor anyway; she wanted the armor’s ability to deflect blows more easily.

She purchased a training nodachi: a long, single-edged, curved blade. She could fight Ophelia as a mage, but she would enjoy a more martial approach. Fhesiah had training in most weapons, cultivators spending plenty of time trying to find the weapons that resonated most with them. It had been a long time since she wielded one, but she knew at least she could outdo most in that last Battlegroup.

She sauntered through the house to meet Ophelia. Luckily, after the incident where she couldn’t speak to the drakan, she fixed her vocal cords. Mostly. “Mind having a match with me? We both could use some practice, I think.”

Ophelia finished her parry of the humanoid golem, which had a sword, kicking it back. She paused its activities and looked over.

She was startled. “Wha– Wow, that’s your work in progress? You wanted to fight like that?”

She smirked. “No, I dressed up and purchased a training weapon to meet Jake in the bedroom. Wait, that’s what you would do, isn’t it? No wonder you’re confused.”

Ophelia blushed, but then she looked excited as she realized Fhesiah really wanted a fight.

Fhesiah took out her [Torch of Hestia], floating it near.

“I could fight you as a mage, but figured we both wouldn’t gain a lot out of that. You wanted to practice your new methodology, and I wanted to get my blood flowing. I also wanted to thank you.”

She frowned. “Thank me?”

“It’s thanks to you that Jake is well protected, and I can focus on my own path. Without you, Jake and I wouldn’t have as much freedom.”

“Freedom? How did I give Jake that?”

“By pushing him, both with his melee training and his spell training.”

Ophelia cocked her head. “Spell training? I never pushed him with that.”

Fhesiah’s smile grew wide. “Oh, but you did. Jake was much more motivated to learn Nordic runes, to learn them along with you. He was interested, but probably would have taken the easy way out with me teaching him spell forms when it became a challenge to accomplish anything. That he had to get better for you was what drove him. Us girls drive him to do just about everything he does. It’s thanks to that he found his own path: this one.”

Ophelia looked a little proud, but she got into her fighting stance. “I’m happy you’re with us too, sister. But we better get fighting soon, or Jake will finish what he’s up to. I wouldn’t want to cut it off short because we were gushing over each other all day.”

Fhesiah hummed. “I told you I wouldn’t mind gushing–”

Ophelia blurred toward Fhesiah with her spear thrust forward, and Fhesiah’s tails flicked several foxfires into the air above her as she drew her long blade. She met Ophelia’s spear at the end of her draw, stopping her momentum.

Ophelia narrowed her eyes on Fhesiah’s blade but otherwise said nothing as her feet touched the ground. She maneuvered left and right quickly, Fhesiah raising her blade in an overhead stance. Fhesiah stirred the flames of her bloodline, her body filling with ethereal light. Her foxfires floated around her as she prepared her illusion.

Ophelia’s spear thrust quickly at her chest, her body just out of range of Fhesiah’s blade. Fhesiah swung down to meet it, as the speedy girl would not be outmaneuvered so easily. But it was a feint, Ophelia pulling her spearhead back as she advanced. Fhesiah’s blade met nothing but air, and Ophelia stabbed out again.

The training spear poked Fhesiah in the chest, dispelling her illusion. Ophelia’s eyes widened as the foxflre next to her became Fhesiah with her blade up high, coming down like a guillotine. Ophelia’s wing hardened with holy light and came to block, and she shifted her body, but Fhesiah was too quick, enhanced with Qi as she was.

Fhesiah’s blade rested near Ophelia’s neck. “Looks like the first win goes to me. But you didn’t have any idea what I could do, huh? Not very fair when I know everything you can do.”

Ophelia’s eyes hardened. “No, but our enemies don’t play fair. I’ll have to learn how to deal with this, and anything else we’re not familiar with.”

Fhesiah smiled. “Spending some hide and seek time with Ira is highly recommended. There is much to learn from being around such a special creature. I can help you with how to deal with illusions. Unfortunately, I don’t have a good way to practice against a mentalist. We’ll just have to hope our purifying flames and high attributes rebuffs any of them. For everything else, your runic magic should find a decent counter.”

Ophelia nodded, and they went back to their sparring. Fhesiah varied her illusions, from minor shifts of her body’s location to attacking Ophelia from three spots at once. She even started trying to strike her with her foxfires and added her torch into the mix, sending flames at her to disrupt her flow.

But Ophelia used minimized movements, both dodging and twisting with attacks. Her spear and body spun, quickly swiping illusions away and kicking out at Fhesiah. Fhesiah pushed her to expand her senses, and Ophelia pushed Fhesiah to use her blade and illusions effectively.

The girls were filled with sweat, their bodies exhausted. The Refuge’s Hearth kept their magical resources high, but eventually, their minds would feel out of touch with their bodies.

Ophelia said, “You’re better with that blade than I could have expected. Why don’t you use it all the time?”

Fhesiah shook her head. “I may keep a blade to draw, but my Technique focuses on keeping enemies at a distance, while I aid allies with illusions and attack from afar. If they pass through my illusions and cursed flames, I think too much will have gone wrong at that point that a sword could make much difference. Let’s take a bath? We can have Bloodberri join us, just us girls. I’ll do your hair up again, just like old times.”

Ophelia chuckled. “Old times? It’s only been a few months. Still, we’ve gotten so busy lately, it feels like forever now. I guess Jake will be busy for a while yet?”

Fhesiah nodded. “Let’s hurry up, and we can make him dinner before he’s done.”

They all met up, and they took a bath. They all talked about what they were working on. Ophelia was close to finishing their pieces of equipment. Jake had already enchanted several of them, but their full sets still needed to be completed.

They entered the bath, Bloodberri joining them.

Berri said, “Oh, that’s your foxy form? That’s like a cat dog. Full dogs are cuter.”

Fhesiah just ignored the childish jab. She knew that despite being almost mean, she believed her statement was true. Being mad at that would be like being upset that water was wet.

They all entered the tub, the water was nice and hot: just like they all liked it. They worked on getting each other cleaned and working through their hair. When it was Fhesiah’s turn, she used her [Bloodline Transformation]. She switched back into a dragon-touched demoness in the tub.

Ophelia asked, “Why’d you switch? I guess it’d have been a lot of work for your fur…”

Fhesiah smiled at Ophelia. “I wanted Jake to be the first one to brush me. I wanted everything about me to be a virgin once more.”

Ophelia snorted. “You’re too much. I guess if you enjoy it, no matter the mental gymnastics it requires, Jake will too…”

Fhesiah smirked. “Surely you see the appeal? What was that one book you had called, Being Trained by the Stern Knight Captain? I suppose it might have been referring to the girl becoming a knight, but–”

Ophelia was flustered, “T-That, stay out of my room! A-And, who’s training who, here?”

“But dear sister, I did not enter your room. And, that’s an interesting topic. I think we are all training each other, in a way.”

Blood hummed, then added with a smile, “I’ll have to keep that in mind. That sounds like fun.”

Fhesiah shivered. She couldn’t wait for her to join Jake and her for fun in the bedroom. Soon…

Berri said, “Let’s go make something to eat! I’ll make Jake some of those cookies. Blood found a recipe for me to make!”

They all dried themselves off, an easy application of the clean spellform, and got dressed.

Ophelia said, “I’ll grill some of that beast boar. There’s some of that giant lizard left, but after fighting the lizard people, I don’t think I’m up for that for a bit.”

Berri looked at Ophelia like she was stupid. “Why not? Lizard people taste good too.”

Ophelia groaned. “We talked about this. We don’t eat things that talk.”

Blood scoffed. “Boars talk. They don’t use words, but I can feel what they are trying to say. They often say the same things as the lizard people. ‘Please, don’t eat me! I have children to feed.’ Doesn’t make them any less delicious. You’re weird, bird girl.”

Ophelia’s face morphed into a grimace, frowning and looking for a rebuttal. Her worldview was flipped upside-down. Was it really not different? She didn’t even notice she was called a bird girl.

Fhesiah smiled at Ophelia’s cute expression. She told Bloodberri, “Still, it’s different enough for those who aren’t beasts. Do your best to at least pretend it is, around Jake. And Ophelia, or you might shatter her worldview.”

Ophelia moved to the grill and started up the grill to cook the boar like her body was on autopilot.

Blood shrugged. “It looks like the stomach is winning out, and she’ll be fine once she smells that boar cooking. Maybe she should have just went for that lizard, might have helped her get over it quicker. When the alternative is a lot of salads…” She let that thought hang in the air.

Ophelia froze but then took on a determined almost angry expression. She plopped on the boar meat on the hot grill, then took out the lizard flanks and placed it next to the boar.

She glared at Fhesiah and Blood as the flesh seared, and the smell of the two meats entered their noses. Ophelia added a third meat, some kind of cow.

Fhesiah said, “I knew she’d move past it.”

Berri said, “Birds are weird. Yummy, too.”

They all got to cooking, the girls finishing up just as Jake finished up his recent project.

Jake arrived, learning that there was food to be had. They had the table set and ready, Fhesiah and Berri adding their cooked sides, dessert, and cookies to the table.

He said, “Wow, thanks girls. This looks great.” He looked over everything. “Grilled boar, cow, and lizard? Quite the variety, Ophelia. What brought this on?”

Ophelia blushed but clearly didn’t want to relive the conversation as her eyes searched for a distraction.

Fhesiah decided to help her out, “Trauma, mostly.”

Berri said, “I made the cookies!”

Jake was confused, but he chuckled. “Thanks, Berri. Either way, this all looks great. Let’s eat!”

They dug in, and they enjoyed their meal. They had their fun, and Fhesiah saw it as yet another good day. Productive, yet fun.