"Mhhmhmmhmhhmm..." Akura is humming as she puts on her shoes. Today is a big day for her.
She can finally go outside the house! She puts on a cute pink backpack that is packed with food.
Sliding the door open, she runs out excitedly, her tail wagging.
"Trees! Bugs! Spirits!" She pointed excitedly as she walked down the paved path happily. Even though she is alone, her parents wouldn't naturally let her go truly alone. So she has 20 shadow guards tailing her and ensuring no malicious entity is after their young mistress.
"Hm?" Her ears perked in a certain direction; she heard or felt some mana vibration in the air.
'Is this [Fine-ears Tuning]?' She thought it was a weird sensation.
Two of the shadow guards froze and were sweating; they weren't expecting their young mistress to be able to sense the slight mana disturbance in the air when they cast their skills.
Akura froze as she thought up an idea.
'Beacon thingy!' She naturally forgot the name of the skill and checked her status. After checking, she used it on the big ancient tree.
["Fox-Mark Sigil" has been planted.]
["Fox-Mark Sigil" has increased to LV. 2.]
"Eh? Was it that easy to level up that skill?"
Akura tilted her head, adorable, her ears tilted as well, even though there are 'no' living beings in the vicinity.
The corner of her lips curled up as she soon thought up a great idea: she would spam the skill on any surface she came across on her walk.
"Kukukuku~" A sweet high-pitched giggle left her mouth, and her tail was swishing in excitement.
25 minutes later...
["Fox-Mark Sigil" has increased to LV. 8.]
'This is so easy to level up! Why had I never done this before?!' She laughs even more as she runs down the path.
"Ah! I see it! Tori gates!" She exclaimed excitedly, her mother has stated that once you pass the 10 gates, you will arrive at the city.
She doesn't understand how that works, as she doesn't have any knowledge of the warding they cast on Ruo Territory.
However, despite the obvious sign to enter the gate. She feels the instinctual need to jump on top of the first Tori gate.
She used [Big Leap] to jump up, and since she is still a toddler with a small height (about 120cm), she had to use her [Double Jump] to reach the top. Shocking every single shadow guard in the vicinity, Samiko will surely have a headache once they report back to her.
"High! So high!" She exclaimed excitedly, not even afraid of falling and injuring herself. Her stats are around the same stat of 18 years old untrained kitsune after all!
"Kukukuku! So fun!" She inhaled the air, and it felt so fresh and amazing. She can sense the dissolved qi from the air she inhaled inside her lungs.
'No wonder sensei said that training your [Qi Sense] is better whenever you're in a rich natural environment!'
She just sat there on the tori gate, admiring the views and sounds she heard.
Staring at the horizon, she felt an innate awe and desire to explore even further.
"Mom and dad used to be adventurers... Maybe I should be an adventurer too..."
...
"Hey system, are you there?" She asked softly as she closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of being outside.
[Affirmative.]
"My [Basic Senses] have been maxed out for a long time... But I'm wondering, if there are [Basic Senses], then are there [Advanced Senses]?"
[Affirmative.]
"So how do I get that?"
[Evolve your skill.]
"Eh? Can I do that?" Her mouth opened slightly in shock.
[Affirmative.]
"Why am I only learning about this now?"
[...]
"..."
[...]
"Fine... Giving me the silent treatment, rude," She puffed her cheeks and pouted, her cheeks looked like white mochis. Enhancing her adorableness.
She hopped off the Tori gate, and before hitting the ground, she double jumped to reduce the momentum and land on the ground without any pain. Her fluffy white tail sways as she is filled with excitement about exploring the city.
She started humming a soft melody that her mother used to sing for her whenever she went to sleep.
"Lour D'hvaglaa~ Unminoo~ The home of universe is itself~"
She bobbed her head left and right as she walked under the Tori gates, almost reaching the ninth gate.
"Yggdrasil may watch over the universe~ Oounnn Y'laanaaa~"
"We are their children. We are their blessing~"
"Mhhhmhmhmmmm..."
"Unminoo~ Unminoo... May she sleep peacefully in her home..."
"Lour D'hvaglaa~ Y'laanaa~!"
She smirked proudly for herself, remembering the song, even though she clearly had no idea what language or words she spoke. She loves the sound of the lyrics; it feels like the song of the forest.
She approaches the tenth Tori gate and, upon stepping through. She felt like she walked through a thin, invisible wall.
Her fluffy ears perk up as she is now in the centre of space, and the ground is paved with concrete. She looked back and noticed that she couldn't see the forest or the path she had taken to get here.
Her tail swayed curiously.
"Hm?"
Only one Tori gate is left behind her.
"Eh?"
She walks back under the Tori gate. Peeking her head out, she's back in the forest with the ten Tori gates.
"How does that work?"
...
"Anyways!" She smiled brightly as she resumed her adventure.
After exiting, the entrance to the Ruo Territory is surrounded by empty spaces for 200 meters, and upon walking further. Akura reached the metal gate and opened it.
"Awwwwaaaaah~" She exhaled in awe as bustling people in the street moved to and fro.
Her eyes sparkled as she ran around, clearly not because she could smell delicious snacks from the stalls.
Her head popped out in front of one of the food stalls.
"Oh? Who might you be, little kitsune?"
The female food stall owner remarked that she never once saw Akura around, since she knows everybody.
"Akura!" She said proudly, with her fluffy white tail wagging. "It's my first time exploring this city!"
She exclaimed while drooling over the food, making the lady chuckle. She had never seen a kitsune infant this adorable.
"Ey? You're from abroad then, missus?" The lady hummed while she prepared a Korean-style corn dog that Josh introduced 9 years ago to the world.
"Mh? No?" Akura tilted her head. "I was born here"
"Eh?" The lady spurted out, confused, but looking at the condition of Akura. She couldn't claim that Akura was being abused or held against her own will.
Akura puts her hands into her backpack and pulls out 10 gold coins.
"10 corn dogs please!"
The lady froze at the money, a sneaky suspicion creeping up her neck.
"Missus... What's your last name?"
"Mh? Ruo?"
"..."
"So... Corn dogs?"
"..."
"..."
"S-S-Sure... but... You don't need to pay me 10 gold coins..."
"Ehhhh, why?"
"1-1-1 gold coin is enough to pay rent for 3 months..."
"... really?"
"... H-How about this young mistress?" The lady smiled gently, trying to ignore the fact that she had met the only daughter of the family that ruled this city. She now understood why their rulers never once let their daughter out; she was too dangerous to be left alone.
"The 10 corn dogs is 100% free for you"
"Eh? Really?"
She nodded, looking at Akura with her flattened ears as she looked at her hands, staring at the coins she was carrying.
"... No! You take the money!" She puffed her chest outward and jumped up to place the coins on the stall.
The lady froze. This girl was too dangerous.
"In exchange, I get free corn dogs whenever I come over!" Akura smiled brightly.
"B-Bu-"
"No buts!"
"..."
"..."
"Y-Yes, young mistress..."
"Kuku!"
...
..
.
"Nwom nom... nmom... Chessy~ Nwnom..."
Her tail wagged happily as she explored the street, meeting more people, too.
Meanwhile, one of her shadow guards visited the stall lady and had her sign a contract so she would not tell anybody that she met Akura for the next 5 years.
...
..
.
It's now evening, and she has been up for 6 hours. She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
"Mh... Sleepy..." She looked around, trying to find a perfect napping spot, and her fox instinct roared out.
"Gasp... Mattress store?"
Her tail spun dangerously as she sprinted, barging into the store.
"I'm taking a nap here! Take my money!" She pulls out 50 gold coins, making her shadow guards choke on their saliva. Good thing that Akura wasn't paying attention; otherwise, she would be too curious and want to find out what that was.
She tossed the 50 gold coins at the shop owner at such speed that they broke through the wall beside the owner. Making the store owner's legs go limp, luckily, the coins didn't target the owner, as if something subtly shifted the coins. But now the store owner is crying and sobbing, now traumatised.
Not caring, Akura instinctively found the best mattress to nap on and jumped on it.
"Ooh..."
The combination of her kimono and the fluffiness of the mattress made her easily fall asleep.
"Snuu... Snuu..."
The shadow guards looked at each other in disbelief. Samiko will surely get another headache upon the report they give to her. But protocol is protocol.
They visited the store owner and made him sign a contract.
...
..
.
"Fuuuuh..." Samiko rubbed her head after the shadow guards brought back the sleeping Akura on her favourite cushion to the house and gave their report to Samiko.
"Didn't she learn anything from common sense class? Fuuh... She is really a handful"
She chuckled and shook her head.
Looking at Akura, who has been returned to her nest in her room, peacefully sleeping as if she didn't do anything.
"Goodness..."