Chapter 21: Chapter 20: Beginner's Pack Level 5

The next morning.

'Mmm...Roasted duck meat...', Miles' thoughts stirred as they were greeted by the ray of sunlight leaking into his dimly lit burrow. It would seem the next morning had dawned.

'Is it morning already...?', Miles continued, feeling more awake now. As his mind became clear, his body began to shake.

He placed his two tiny paws downward before him, doing a big stretch of his body. His back arched upward, and his glossy tail popped out. It was curled up into his body until now. Its fur puffed outward, making it very soft to the touch.

Miles then did a quick shake of his head, getting any dirt off that may have gotten stuck to his body during his rest.

Opening his eyes, darkness immediately greeted him, with a faint glow of light peeking inside. His little burrow was dimly lit with the ray of the sun peeking inside. Miles covered up his burrow which made sense. It was very soothing waking up to the sun not beating down on his eyes. He even heard faint cries of blue jays echoing around higher, likely perched on some tree branches of pine trees nearby.

'A lot really did happen yesterday...', Miles paused, taking the time to recall everything that happened to him again. It was beginning to click for him yesterday, but his mind was much clearer now.

He is just a little fox.

'I'll need to get used to living like a fox. Thankfully I have the Divine Fox System to help guide me. Yozora did place me one year before Wolverine leaves Cold Lake too, so I have to make the most use of my time here during this one year. I may not need to entirely seek him out either, if I am to conquer that wolf pack. With the System triggering that Mission, it's possible this wolf pack is the same one Wolverine will encounter...', Miles mused.

Miles concluded the Wolverine will come here in some form or fashion, so he didn't need to actively seek him out. He'll come his way in due time.

Which was good. That will allow Miles to solely focus on growing his strength, and expanding his own territory.

And to start that off, Miles's eyes lit up as he remembered everything that happened to him right before he fell asleep.

'I'll have to work on expanding my territory. And didn't I reach Level 5? Don't I have my next pack to open?', Miles thought as his eyes sparkled. Sadly that thought was interrupted by another notification.

[Ding! A new Skill has been created, Rest. Stamina has been replenished.]

[Rest]

-Upon receiving enough sleep, stamina and health are restored to full.

[Current Stamina: 125/125]

Miles's eyes lit up again seeing this new Skill.

If Miles ever found himself low on Stamina, he could hightail it out of there, escape into his burrow, and promptly sleep off any loss in stamina!

It didn't say how much he needed to sleep for. It would appear that as long as he had a good rest, this Skill will trigger.

'And speaking of Skills, I got Marking too, didn't I? That sounds pretty straight forward. It should help me expand my territory. As he thought that, Miles's expression turned deadpan.

'And I won't go into the details. I'm a fox. And it's Marking. You get the idea.', Miles retorted himself, not looking forward to using this Skill. But Miles was a wild animal now, and he figured it would have to be done eventually. It would help solidify his own territory.

Instead, Miles disregarded the Skill's description and only glanced at its effects.

[Marking - Lv1 (0/100)]

-Special Effect 1: Spend 1 Stamina to Mark 1 meter. Increases Territory by a small degree.

'Right. Territory is now a thing. I should check to see what that looks like too before I open my next Beginner's Pack.', Miles thought. He activated the Divine Fox System again, and saw his main page. At the very top was a button to view his Status. He skipped that this time, and moved downward. He brushed past Inventory, Missions List, and Reputation, landing on Territory. He did a motion acting like he pressed a button again, and the Territory menu opened up.

Miles did have interest to see Reputation and what it had to offer, but considering he was a fox right now, he figured Reputation wouldn't have any point to see what it did now. It will likely come into play further down the line, likely when Wolverine leaves Cold Lake.

So for now, Miles's main interest lay in the Territory function. He wanted to see if he had any territory of his own yet. And sure enough, he did!

[Current Territory]

-Cold Lake, Alberta - 0.01%

Miles blinked his eyes seeing such a small figure before him.

'How much of that 0.01% is a meterr?', Miles immediately wondered. 'And for that matter, how big is Cold Lake anyway? I feel I'm going to need to spend a lot of Stamina for this...', Miles doubted, seeing such a little figure before him.

'Well, everything starts somewhere, even if I have to take baby steps to achieve it.', Miles concluded. It may not happen soon, but he was looking forward to having all the wilderness surrounding Cold Lake to his own!

As if it reacted to him, Miles heard another notification, drawing his gaze to it.

[Ding! A new Mission has been tasked to Host. Expand Territory.]

[Expand Territory]

-Mark 10% of Cold Lake, Alberta.

Reward: 100 EXP. Minimap Function. 10 Stat Points.

Miles's eyes lit up again seeing this new Mission appear. 'I don't know how much Stamina it will cost to Mark 10% of Cold Lake, but just seeing those rewards will make it worth it. Especially the Minimap Function, I'm guessing it will give me a display of my current location, and how wide my Territory is. It may even list others' Territory, and who to look out for...', Miles mused, seeing this new Mission before him.

Before Miles realized it, Miles had three Missions to tackle now. Eliminate the Flock of Geese, Subjugate the Wolf Pack, and now Expand Territory. Each reward shown in it was something he wanted to claim for himself, but he would have to work hard. What he would accomplish first would be the first Mission he was tasked with. Miles wanted to hunt the rest of the Geese before they left for good.

Miles wasn't going to go out and hunt right away though. It was time to use his next Beginner's Pack!

Miles willed his Territory menu, and it vanished. He proceeded to Inventory, and saw it was pretty bone-dry now. He had his five books, and the gift pack to open. He had used everything else.

As far as the books went, he would need to settle down in the coming times to thoroughly go through each one. He wanted to start with the first volume of Canada's History first, as he was brought into Cold Lake. He wasn't too familiar with how Canada worked. Hopefully by reading this book, it will give him the information he needs to see how big Cold Lake is too.

[Ding! Host has opened Beginner's Pack - Level 5]

[Ding! Exquisite Wolf Meat (1*) x1, History of the X-Men, 30 EXP, 5 Stat Points, Steel Claws Upgrade Scroll, and Beginner's Pack - Level 10 have been obtained.]

[Level 5/10 (25->55/160)

Available Points: 5

[Steel Claws Upgrade Scroll]

-A scroll that powers up Steel Claws, making Host's claws tougher and more durable. It does not level it up. It enhances the Skill to a higher grade.

'A complete Skill enhancement...?', Miles mused, recalling the (+) symbol that several of his Skills had. Perhaps it was pertaining to that?

Apart from that, Miles was already a third of the way to Level 6! He also obtained another book, which would likely detail who the X-Men were and what they did. He was placed in Earth-10005 so he would likely come across X-Men first before encountering other MCU characters.

It may have not been the scroll, the book, nor the exp or points that drew the most attention for Miles.

No, it was the Exquisite Wolf Meat. When he ate the meat of the dead Geese yesterday, it did not have any fancy name to it. The wolf meat also had a star rating. Miles wondered if he came across certain animals, would he encounter more meat like this? It didn't say it was cooked, but it was likely a much higher rarity of wolf meat compared to the normal wolf.

Miles took a moment to see what its effects were, leaving him stunned...