The Dog and the Fennec Fox

In the evening at Buena Village, curling smoke rose from the chimneys, mixing with the scent of burning pine, adding a touch of warmth to the cold winter day.

Well then, let's disband here.

Lynch stood at the fork in the road at the village entrance, waving to the other three. Thanks for your hard work today, everyone. It was a pleasure working with you.

Not at all! You were the one who carried the whole team!

The dwarf Bronzebeard carried a few freshly distributed wolf pelts on his shoulder, grinning so widely that his big teeth showed. Next time there's a good deal like this, remember to call me! I'll give you a twenty percent discount!

The guard Rhodes also solemnly bowed once more, then took the dwarf and left first, leaving space for his young master and this expert.

Asik stood in the snow, looking at Lynch. His slightly immature face was filled with a mix of conflict and expectation.

He pushed up his monocle, seemingly having made some kind of resolution, and spoke:

Mr. Lynch, there is some news... I think you might be interested in.

Hmm? What is it? Lynch was calculating how much the wolf pelts in his hands could sell for. Hearing this, he looked up.

It's about student recruitment.

Asik lowered his voice and said mysteriously, I received reliable news that next Wednesday, a true VIP will arrive in town. They say it's a high-tier magician from the royal capital, specifically responsible for scouting potential apprentices for the Nine Royal Academies.

Although they say they are recruiting school-age students from the entire territory, a master of that level definitely has extremely high standards.

Speaking of this, Asik looked at Lynch with a burning gaze:

Although my current level isn't enough and I most likely won't be selected. But Mr. Lynch... I feel that with your miraculous Arcane Missile modification technique, if you go, that master will definitely see you in a new light!

Perhaps, you could directly get a special enrollment quota, or even be taken in as the master's personal disciple!

In Asik's eyes, an unorthodox genius like Lynch, despite having formidable combat skills, lacked a systematic inheritance. If he could receive guidance from a famous teacher, his future would absolutely be limitless, a true seedling for a Magic God. He genuinely wanted to pave the way for his idol.

Lynch didn't show much reaction after hearing this.

Go be an apprentice? Adding his two lifetimes together, he was already at this age, and he also had the system, the biggest cheat of all. Why bother going to an academy to suffer?

However, going to join in the fun wouldn't hurt.

He could also take the opportunity to see what level the orthodox magicians of this world were at, so he could have a clearer assessment of his own strength.

Besides, the roast chicken shop in town tasted pretty good, so he could take Felsy there to try it.

Sure.

Lynch smiled and nodded. Sounds quite interesting. If I'm free then, I'll go with you to take a look. Don't underestimate yourself either; prepare well, I believe in you.

R-really? Then it's a promise!

Having received the expert's affirmation and promise to accompany him, Asik flushed red with excitement. As if injected with chicken blood, he hugged his staff and ran home joyfully, ready to continue tackling that magical theory problem.

...

After sending off his teammates, Lynch didn't go straight home.

He first went to the village's general store and sold all the dozen or so wind wolf pelts, wolf fangs, wolf claws, and other materials he had received in one go.

Although the price the boss offered wasn't too high, the advantage was that it was paid in cash. Holding the heavy bag of silver coins, Lynch was in a great mood.

Earning this extra income is even faster than selling medicine.

As for the magic cores dug out from the wolf corpses, Lynch naturally kept them all for himself.

Finding a secluded corner, he summoned the system and held those faintly glowing crystals in his palm.

Absorb.

With a silent thought, several streams of warmth flowed through his palm and into his sea of qi.

[Ding!] [Absorption complete!] [Experience points increased! Current progress to Tier 3: 5.8%]

Looking at the slow but visible growth, Lynch clapped his hands in satisfaction.

Many a little makes a mickle. As long as that pack of wolves on the north slope works hard enough to breed, my leveling speed will be guaranteed.

At this moment, Lynch still didn't know that the boss of the north slope had already been silently one-shot by Kuma.

...

By the time he returned home, the sky had completely darkened.

Pushing open the courtyard door, a familiar smell of food wafted out—it was Felsy heating up last night's leftover boiled fish.

Honey, I'm back!

Lynch called out as he walked into the house.

However, when he passed through the living room, his footsteps suddenly stopped.

From the thick beam in the center of the living room, a pitch-black magical rope hung down, and at the end of the rope hung a familiar figure upside down.

Kuma.

This pitiful beast-eared girl was currently hugging her chest with both hands, eyes closed, doing a uniform circular motion in mid-air along with the rope's momentum.

Round and round.

Although her expression looked somewhat like she had nothing left to live for, the moment she heard Lynch opening the door, she immediately put on a resolute expression of I'm enjoying this and I'm cultivating.

Yo, Kuma?

Lynch put down the things in his hands in surprise and walked up to her. Late at night, doing that... anti-dizziness tolerance training again?

Yes... Brother Lynch.

Kuma gritted her teeth, forcibly suppressing the dizzy feeling of her brains being shaken up, and said with a trembling voice, As an excellent postman... constantly maintaining... maintaining a state of training... is my professional quality!

What could she say?

Could she say that it was because she talked too much and teased the Witch Lord's romance, so she was hung up like air-dried bacon by her humiliated and angry boss?

That was absolutely impossible!

Truly too diligent.

Lynch sighed sincerely.

He looked at Kuma hanging upside down in front of him.

Due to gravity, her short red hair hung down, revealing the pair of furry ears hidden among the strands.

Perhaps because of the blood rushing to her head, that pair of ears was bright red right now, looking exceptionally soft and squishy. As her body rotated, the ears twitched, as if waving hello.

Lynch felt his hands itching a bit.

As a fluff-lover, facing this adorable creature right in front of him, hanging down with gravity, it was hard to resist the urge to pet it.

These ears...

Lynch reached out as if possessed, and in the instant Kuma turned towards him, he pinched that pair of beast ears.

They were warm to the touch, and the texture was excellent.

Soft and fluffy, covered with a layer of fine down, pinching them felt like squeezing two freshly baked hand warmers.

Lynch couldn't hold back and gave them a couple more rubs.

Mhm... not bad, not bad.

Lynch commented while rubbing, Kuma, do you usually do maintenance on your ears too? This feel is even softer and smoother than the ears of the big yellow dog raised by old Wang at the village entrance.

And this shape, flopping down is particularly cute, exactly the same as when that big yellow dog was little.

Boom—

Kuma's face, originally flushed from hanging upside down, instantly turned dark.

A big yellow dog?

Did he just say a big yellow dog?!

This was simply a monstrous humiliation!

As a noble branch of the Demon Realm's royal family and the Thirteenth Pillar of the Scorched Earth Guard with a thin yet pure bloodline, how could she be compared to some lowly canine creature that only knew how to wag its tail?!

"Let go! Let go right now!"

Kuma thrashed wildly in the air, her fur bristling. "You stupid human! Who are you calling a doggie!"

"I am a fox! A fox!"

"And a Red Lotus Fold-eared Fox with a noble bloodline at that! Not some big yellow dog! These ears are folded because of my pure blood! Do you understand?!"

Kuma yelled in anger. If she hadn't been tied up, she would have definitely given Lynch a taste of her frenzied scratching.

"Huh? A fox?"

Lynch paused, let go, and carefully examined the pair of ears that were still twitching in anger.

"A fold-eared fox? There's such a breed?"

"Still, they really do feel like a dog's," Lynch muttered under his breath. "Especially with that goofy vibe."

"Keep talking and I'll bite you!" Kuma bared her two little fangs, looking as fierce as she could muster.

However, in Lynch's eyes, she posed absolutely no threat.

Just then, the curtain to the kitchen was lifted.

Felsy walked out carrying a steaming bowl of fish soup.

She glanced at Lynch, who was still fooling around with Kuma, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly, though her eyes revealed a helpless look that said, you two are so childish.

"Alright, stop playing around."

Felsy snapped her fingers lightly.

Snap.

The rope suspending Kuma instantly vanished.

"Ouch!"

Kuma fell flat on her butt. She rubbed her sore rear end and looked at her boss with a face full of grievance.

"Time to eat."

Felsy calmly uttered the words, placed the bowls of rice on the table, and turned to Lynch. "Wash your hands and come eat."

"You got it!"

Lynch immediately abandoned the sulking Kuma and eagerly trotted off to wash his hands.

Kuma sat on the floor, looked at the hot soup on the table, then at her own messy, rubbed ears, and sniffled.

"Hmph, for the sake of the boiled fish, I'll forgive you this time."

"Stupid human... Sooner or later, I'll show you the true power of a fold-eared fox!"