Chapter 8: Beginner's Pack

Seeing that notification pop up just now, Miles wanted to raise his fist in anger, but he had paws now.

'Tail wagging aside, can I even form a fist to attack now that I'm like this?', Miles wondered, looking down at his paw covered in that black fur. He turned it over, and only saw a super small stub of a thumb.

'Oh no...', Miles inwardly cried again. He couldn't even form a fist like he could as a human! That assured him he would need to find new ways to attack and hunt.

He also saw silvery-bone like claws sticking out of his paw too, likely having been affected by [Steel Claws]. He didn't know how powerful this skill was and it was something to test later.

For now, Miles had his gaze shift back to his [Status]. Currently, his Remaining Stat Points are 12. He started with 10, and thanks to being Level 1, [Twilit Fervor] activated, granting him an additional two points as it is noon time. He would have to be careful of when to get experience points, as the skill offered more points during the night.

Miles pondered for a moment seeing his available Stat Points.

'Should I become an all-rounder? Or should I try to prioritize my attack power to make it easier to fight, or dump them into Agility in case I find myself in a tough spot?', Miles pondered.

Agility did tempt Miles, but remaining weak wasn't what he wanted to do. Besides, foxes were naturally agile animals. They could easily outspeed large animals like bears. And seeing this landscape was a wintry pine forest all around him, no doubt did bears likely lurk in its depths, among other scary animals. Miles even took a moment imagining him taking down a wild Moose.

'Put 5 into Strength, 5 into Endurance, 2 into Agility', Miles thought. 

[Ding! Host has consumed the remaining Status Points. Please see Host's updated [Status]].

Miles took a moment to see what his new status looked like. He inwardly smiled seeing the latest results.

Level: 1/10 (0/10)

HP: 25/25 MP: Locked Stamina: 98/100

Strength: 6 (1->6) Endurance: 6 (1->6) Agility: 3 (1->3) Luck: 5 (0->5)

Attack Damage: 18 (STRx3) Toughness: 18 (ENDx3)

Critical Hit Chance (New): 5% (Luck x 1%)

Critical Resistance (New): 11% (Crit Hit + Endurance)

Miles didn't know what power truly felt like yet, but he felt his body get a bit firmer, and he could feel that his claws became sharper. If Miles encountered a wild animal boasting 1 Endurance, he could deal a whopping 65 damage if he attacked during the night and if he dealt a critical blow!

'I should focus on surviving first and foremost. It would be unfortunate if I died now after having that Fox God go through the effort in giving me a second chance.', Miles concluded.

'Now let's go check where my other interest was. Does the [Divine Fox System] have its own Inventory?', Miles wondered.

Seeing that Miles's [Status] opened up when he thought to open it, he figured it would be the same for Inventory.

'[Inventory]', Miles thought.

Sure enough, his [Status] window vanished before him, and it was soon replaced by a large Inventory. Box after box, row after row. There was no separate area to where Gear was displayed, so Miles wasn't sure if this System had Gear yet. For now, his eyes wandered toward the top leftmost box. Inside, it had a present-like image. It read - [Beginner's Pack - Level 1].

'So Yozora really did give me a Beginner's Pack. That, combined with the [Innate Ability] and the extra Stats is what she probably left me with. I really do need to thank her later should I get the option to do so.', Miles inwardly thanked her.

'Still, the 'Level - 1' part does leave me intrigued. It's not going to do what I think it's going to do, will it?', Miles mused. 

Either way, Miles did a subtle motion of his paw to not attract any attention, as if he used it to tap a screen. The Inventory icon of a present-like image began to glow, and it did a short open animation. Immediately following that, several boxes became occupied in his Inventory. Among them was a more colorful wrapped present icon than the one before him. Seeing several items now in his Inventory, Miles proceeded to have a look at each one.

Occupying the first four slots were four books, to Miles's surprise.

-[History of Canada - Vol 1]

-[Bestiary of the Northern Territories]

-[World Atlas - The 1800s]

-[History of the Howlett Family]

Each one of these books likely contained information Miles needed after being brought to Earth-10005 and with his starting point being Cold Lake in Alberta. Miles didn't even know if Alberta even existed at this time. His history knowledge of how Canada came to be was lacking, so Miles felt grateful that the Divine Fox System would give him the history lesson he desperately needed.

Miles wasn't sure how to use these books yet, whether they would vanish right after being used and get put directly into his head, or would it bring the book out his Inventory for him to read it? The Divine Fox System didn't give him any Wisdom stat to start off with, so Miles was curious to see if such a stat would get unlocked.

For now though, he proceeded to look at his other items after these four books.

The fifth item appeared to be a sealed scroll, and was crimson red in color. After that was an icon which had two hands shaking each other, initiating a handshake. After that, it was a wanted-poster-like icon. From there, there was one blue bottle, a red bottle, that more colorful wrapped box at the very end that Miles saw earlier.

Miles went through them one by one and his eyes lit up, each one great in their own right.

-[Skill Scroll: Basic Foxfire]

-[Reputation Function]

-[Missions Function]

-[Double Experience Bottle - (1 hour)] x1

-[All Stat Booster (Common)] x1

-[Beginner's Pack - Level 5]

Miles thought most of these items before him didn't need any explaining, but the one that drew attention to him the most was the Skill Scroll. It granted him a new Skill, Basic Foxfire. He knew many foxes down the line could generate this so-called Foxfire, as it was a unique skill they could use. No other beastial race could use Foxfire, except for foxes.

"Yip?", Miles uttered, tilting his head to the side. His fluffy ears swooped downward in response, seeing this icon remain in his view. Miles wasn't sure how to use the Skill. But considering it was Inventory, Miles reached out his little paw again, and tried pressing the icon. Sure enough, a sudden notification startled Miles, not expecting to get a reaction like this.

[Ding! Would Host like to learn the Skill: [Basic Foxfire - Level 1 (0/100)]?]

'Of course.', Miles immediately thought to himself as he saw a Yes or No icon appear before him. As he "pressed" yes, the Skill Scroll vanished from his Inventory.

[Ding! Host has learned a new Skill, [Basic Foxfire - Level 1 (0/100)]

[Basic Foxfire - Level 1 (0/100)](+)

[The Foxfire Skill is the most fundamental skill in becoming a Divine Fox. This Skill allows the Host to bend the elements to their will. Many derivatives can be acquired through using Foxfire. It doesn't just bend fire. Depending on Host's talent in using Foxfire, Host could even bend lightning or light to their will. On top of that, Foxfire can be used in both offense and defense. It can lash out at Host's enemies, or provide Host a protective shield.]

-Special Effect 1: Grants [Firebending] Skill.

-Special Effect 2: Locked.

-Special Effect 3: Locked.

'What is this, Avatar?', Miles immediately retorted the moment he saw Basic Foxfire's Skill Description. It would seem it was one of the fundamental skills to become a Divine Fox. Just that alone drew Miles's interest. 'I'm guessing Yozora has Foxfire too...', Miles could only guess.

Still, he now had an attacking ability he could rely on to protect himself. No doubt Miles will learn more skills as he discovers new ways to attack.

For now, he saw that Basic Foxfire granted him [Firebending]. It did not have a Level or experience bar next to it like others did, but Foxfire did, which Miles found weird. Perhaps using [Firebending] would level up Basic Foxfire as a whole? Miles decided to look at [Firebending].

[Firebending]

 -Special Effect 1: Allows Host to manipulate fire to their will. Fire-based skills can be created. Currently, depending on the skill created, Stamina will be consumed as **** hasn't been unlocked yet. To unlock ****, Host will first need to achieve ****.

Miles raised his eyes seeing [Firebending]'s Skill Description. Some of it was blocked, not letting him see it fully. Miles could fathom a guess as to what the blocked part was, but either way, he was very anticipated in trying Firebending out. He would need to be careful with this though, since using SKills created with [Firebending] will drain his Stamina. He was now at 98 Stamina thanks to those couple of actions he previously took.

Miles glanced at the rest of his Inventory before he looked back at [Firebending]'s description. He got an urge in wanting to try it firsthand. Would he just need to imagine the Skill he wanted to use, since [Firebending] mostly relied on imagination?

Thinking that, Miles entered his own thoughts, and began to imagine a scene. As he did, his internal body began to heat up, increasing his internal temperature. As that body heat rose, Miles began to direct it toward his face. Imagining the Skill he wanted to create with [Firebending], the picture became clear in his mind.

In the next moment, Miles's fangs suddenly became ablaze with a red-hot flame, causing Miles to become shocked. His face felt hot, but it wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, feeling this hotness around his mouth appeared to soothe him instead. He just blinked at the fire, pupils shifted downward. Thankfully there was no one nearby to see him do this. The town in the far distance was too far away for anyone to catch a glimpse.

Seeing the fire not disappear on his fangs, Miles heard more notifications sound off inside his mind.

[Ding! Due to Host activating [Firebending], a new skill [Fire Fang - Level 1(0/100)](+) has been created.]

[Ding! Due to Host activating [Firebending] for the first time, [Fire Affinity](+) Skill has been created.]

[Ding! Host has used Skill, [Fire Fang], granting 1 experience point to Basic Foxfire. Current Level: 1 (1/100)]

[Ding! Due to activating [Fire Fang], 5 stamina points have been consumed. Current Stamina: 93/100]

Hearing the rippling flames over his mouth, Miles just stared in shock seeing these couple of notifications, unable to formulate his thoughts for a good moment.