Chapter 24: Lightbending

If you have a cooler name for bending Skills, let me know!

*

Miles strutted back inside the wintry forest as his senses gradually returned to normal. While his feet carried him, Miles reviewed the rest of his Mission rewards, and concluded his status. Along the way, he started using one of his new Skills, Marking. It created a constant hum of notifications inside his mind. Miles didn't find it irritating, quite the opposite in fact. It was enjoyable to listen to.

Miles was instantly drawn to one notification that came his way the moment his Mission was completed, causing him to look at it again.

[Ding! Basic Foxfire Lv1 -> Lv2.]

[Ding! A new effect has been unlocked for Basic Foxfire.]

[Ding! Lightbending Skill has been obtained.]

'Lightbending...Seriously, Yozora didn't bring me into Avatar, did she?', Miles immediately retorted. Jokes aside though, he saw his Skill panel update, and a second effect appeared beneath Basic Foxfire. Miles wondered if this Skill behaved differently to his other ones. Previously, this skill had two locked effects. With him unlocking the second one at Level 2, it may not go up to Level 10 or 100 like his other Skills potentially could.

It was very possible Basic Foxfire capped at Level 3.

Recalling mythical foxes in his previous life, Miles knew that they excelled in three elements over the rest.

Fire. Light. And Lightning. 

Miles had unlocked Lightbending now. With that same train of thought, it was very likely that Miles would get a lightning bending skill next. All three of these elements are similar in nature, but behave completely differently. Fire causes destruction wherever it goes, lightning can create and concentrate energy, dealing bursts of damage with strong outputs at a rapid pace. Light, on the other hand, is more of a supportive element. Miles wondered if he could create healing and buff Skills by bending light to his whims. It would also help him create illusions too.

'It's definitely something to test out for sure. I bet once I start using Lightbending, it will give me Light Affinity. I'm just not sure how to incorporate light into my attacks yet. Perhaps something blinding to distort my enemy's movements?', Miles wondered, trying to think of a method as he continued listening to  Marking notifications sound off inside his mind. Before he realized it, the level up notice came.

[Ding! Marking Lv1 -> Lv2. Spend 1 Stamina to mark 2 meters.]

'Ooh! It doubled the distance that I can mark now while still costing one Stamina. So this is how the levels will go for this Skill eh? It'll be much more cost-effective down the line.', Miles mused.

To add to that, Miles finally learned how much it took to cover his Territory too. He had a glance at his Status Window, navigating to the Territory section.

[Current Territory]

 -Cold Lake Alberta - 0.02.

It went up by a whole tenth of a decimal. After the decisive battle he had against the flock of Geese, Miles had 130 Stamina remaining. His maximum increased to 165 thanks to completing the mission and leveling up once. He spent ten stamina to mark ten meters. It finally increased from 0.01 to 0.02.

That meant every ten meters, Miles' territory would expand. He didn't even need to research his book any longer to see how big Cold Lake was, not like he wouldn't still do that. He had the books to research, and he was still going to do so.

Every one hundred meters would increase his Territory by 0.1%, so that meant he had to traverse a thousand meters to increase it by one percent. And if he multiplied that by another ten...

'I really have to travel ten thousand meters to complete that Mission?', Miles paused. He did another mental calculation. 'That's about six miles. So the entirety of Cold Lake, including the lake itself and the surrounding forests and hills, stretches on for sixty miles huh? That's a lot of ground to cover as a single fox...', Miles mused.

Thankfully, expanding his Territory wasn't bound by a time limit, unlike his Mission to subjugate the wolf pack.

Miles had another glance at his current stamina while thinking that.

[Current Stamina: 120/165.]

'Still plenty of stamina left. I'll continue at my current pace for now. Let's see how much territory I can mark before returning to my burrow. Since its level rose, I can cover twice the distance than before. I should make use of this while I can...', Miles concluded, keeping his current task at hand. He knew he wouldn't go for too much longer though. His stomach was already growling again, feeling hungry. He knew he stuffed himself silly last night, but he already wanted to eat more! 

'And by the way, don't take what I said last time seriously. Marking covers most of the Skill's usage. I only relieve myself when I need to. That was an adventure of itself that I will not be privy about. Thank you very much.', Miles retorted, not wanting to recall the time where he had to go to the bathroom for the first time as a fox.

'Toilets were really one of human's greatest inventions...And the Japanese toilets at that...', Miles trailed off, before shaking that thought away.

He focused on the task at hand, and saw his Stamina rapidly deplete. Thankfully, Marking was at Level 2 now, and that essentially cut his distance in half. Every two meters he marked spent one stamina now. Miles happily yipped while trotting knee-deep in snow. He didn't find it cold at all. It was like he was drifting through a sea of clouds.

[Ding! 20 meters have been marked. 20 meters have been marked. 20 meters have been marked...]

Ignoring the notifications for now, Miles eventually found himself back at his burrow. The giant tree that overlooked the rest of the forest. He didn't need to rush back home either. He enjoyed some fun time frolicking in the snow that was a foot deep. He would jump in and out of it, rolling around, rubbing his back against it, and so on.

[Ding! Host's territory has expanded to 0.2% of Cold Lake. Current Stamina, 20/165. Marking Lv2 -> 3. Spend 1 stamina to cover 3 meters.]

'Nice. Marking leveled up again. I guess at level 10, it will cover ten meters.', Miles wondered. Miles's assumption was likely. He could use that same thinking for his other skills too. A couple of them were already starting to take patterns, just like Steel Claws. Its boosted damage would increase by 5% for each level up. 'At least for now, anyways.', Miles concluded.

'My stamina is pretty low now. How many pieces of goose meat should I eat tonight? Should I try one of the Fine pieces, or jump right into eating the Unique one?', Miles couldn't decide on which graded meat he should try out first.

Thankfully no one seemed to disturb his little burrow that he made. He remembered the exact spot that he dug into. Taking the bark off, he opened it. It wasn't attached to anything, so it plopped onto the snow. It really was a small hole that he dug. He could definitely expand this place, likely going underground. That should level up Burrow quite a bit too.

After closing the bark slab back on his entrance, darkness entered his view. It really was dark inside the carved tree. Miles wasn't worried though. It actually provided him a sense of comfort. His eyes could still see clearly around him.

Miles wondered if it was a trait of being a fox, having great night vision. It didn't create a Skill yet which caused Miles to ponder if it would or not. Did this system of his have traits that Miles couldn't identify? Perhaps it would give him one after he did his First Evolution? It made Miles want to reach that as soon as possible even more now...

Before he could evolve further though, he still needed two levels. He was practically at Level 8, and would reach it after doing another Consume session.

And guess what? He had plenty of meat to eat now!

Miles's tail started to thump in anticipation. A soft noise spread around his burrow at a quick pace. It was very soothing to listen to with the stillness of winter poking in from outside. Compared to yesterday, it was rather clear outside, and had little snow falling. Hunters could have come and gone, but Miles didn't spot any. They likely stayed inside the town, as it had just snowed the night before. 

Since there were no immediate threats nearby, Miles wanted to test something first before he started to eat his meal for the night. And that was to try Lightbending! Miles wasn't going to do anything fancy. That would be saved for further experimentation.

Miles closed his eyes, going back into the depths of his mind. His imagination began to play out. Starting out as a tiny speck, a little ball of light began to grow larger and larger, until it was the size of a fist. As if in response to the ball of light, Miles reached his paw upward. Space began to twist and distort, and before he knew it, a glistening ball of light appeared out of nowhere.

Seeing his Lightbending successfully trigger, Miles smiled. He heard a notification that followed suit. As he checked his Illuminate Skill, his tiny burrow brightened, revealing the dark brown wood all around him. Miles needed a light source for him to read his books that were still in his inventory, and now he could!  He didn't want to use Firebending, as that could pose a risk of his home burning up in flames.

[Ding! A new Skill has been created. Illuminate. 10 Stamina consumed.]

[Current Stamina: 10/165.]