Breakfast

"Mm... The sound of the water is getting louder. It must be morning."

Moss drowsily opened her eyes, stopped her dream training to absorb Mana Essence, sat up, and let out a huge yawn!

"Yaaawn--"

After climbing down from Little Ball, Moss scratched the ground and stretched. The sleepiness had not completely faded from her face.

"What a shame... I failed again today. I already knew I was dreaming, but I still... couldn't control the absorption of Mana Essence..."

Complaining as she staggered over to the wall near the mouth of the cave, she extended a claw and scratched the wall once to record the time.

Master, good morning!

Little Ball bounced happily over to Moss's side and greeted her.

"Ah, morning... Go fetch me some water."

Moss hugged Little Ball as it rubbed against her, patted its round head, and said with a light laugh.

Yes, Master!

Little Ball hopped toward the cave entrance, preparing to fetch water from the river channel.

"Be careful..."

Moss was not particularly worried about Little Ball going out, but she still gave the usual reminder.

But just because Little Ball looked obedient and sensible, one shouldn't assume it was still weak.

Little Ball had absorbed quite a lot of Mana Essence over the past three years!

Moreover, its level was linked to Moss's!

In other words, Moss was currently Level 7, and Little Ball was also Level 7!

Thinking of this, Moss opened Little Ball's panel and glanced at it.

Name: Little Ball

Level: Bronze Level 7

Constitution: 14

Spirit: 4

Skills: Liquid Form, Mana Perception, Jump, Poison Generation, Devouring, Water Flow Control, Water Purification, Water Storage, Concentration, Physical Immunity, Water Flow Resistance, Corrosion Resistance

"Mm, perfectly safe..."

Although Little Ball was not as strong as her, thanks to the invincible skill Physical Immunity, it might actually be even safer than she was!

"All right~ I should get ready too."

Moss smiled lightly at Little Ball's panel, shook her head, and prepared to make breakfast!

There was a stove made of small stones in the cave, with a can sitting on top of it.

She had fished the can out of the river channel. It was the sturdy iron kind.

Moss had threaded two handles through it with iron wire and used it as a cooking pot.

She took two strings of dried roasted snake meat from the rack nearby, untied them, cut the meat into small pieces, and tossed them into the can.

"Hm-hm-hm~"

Moss hummed softly as she worked, in an excellent mood.

Ever since she gained the ability to use fire, her quality of life had improved tremendously!

For example, the dried meat on the rack had been slowly dried with fire by her!

There were many varieties: dried snake meat, dried lizard meat, dried frog meat, and so on.

Compared to raw meat, this dried meat could be stored for much longer!

Besides the meat she usually kept in the cave, she had also put quite a lot of dried roasted meat into her Pet Space!

Moss had also discovered that the dried meat stored in the space lasted noticeably longer than the meat outside.

She no longer had to worry about failing to find food every day, nor did she have to eat those awful insects anymore!

"Hm-hm-hm~ There's still time..."

While waiting for Little Ball to return, Moss clapped her hands and decided to clean her body.

Moss moved away from the stove and stood in the center of the cave. She shook the fur on her body, and red light flowed back and forth between the strands!

Whoosh!

Suddenly, flames ignited all over Moss's body!

Every part of her was blazing fiercely, and the process lasted nearly a full minute!

Hiss...!

The flames slowly died down. Moss opened her eyes, looked at her snow-white fur, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Hehe, perfect control!"

The flames surging outward from her entire body could completely burn away or blow off dirt, allowing her to clean herself!

Moreover, this technique was not limited to simple daily use. It also had formidable close-combat applications!

Her claws and teeth wrapped in scorching flames possessed tremendous destructive power, combining armor penetration and burning into a single offensive skill!

Moss had named this technique Flame Wrap!

Together with Explosive Flame, it had currently become her strongest means of offense, as well as her greatest gain over the past two months!

Splorp!

Master, water!

Little Ball, now several times larger, squeezed through the cave entrance and called out to Moss.

"Ah, pour it into the can."

Moss turned around and replied before walking toward the stove as well.

Yes, Master!

Little Ball obediently answered, bounced over to the stove, and extended a tentacle to release the water it had purified inside its body.

Splash, splash, splash...

As Little Ball's body gradually shrank, the water quickly filled the entire can!

Looking at the clear, transparent water without the slightest odor, Moss happily patted Little Ball's head and praised it:

"You did a great job!"

Even though she had seen it many times over the past two months, Moss still couldn't help praising Little Ball's ability.

If someone asked what was rarest in the sewers, clean water would certainly be one of the answers!

And Little Ball possessed the most precious ability in the sewers—purifying water!

For a creature living in the sewers, not having to drink foul-smelling wastewater was such a blissful thing!

Among all the monsters, this ability was probably extremely rare as well!

At least, that was certainly how it seemed to Moss. She truly was incredibly lucky to have encountered Little Ball!

Even Little Ball had obtained Water Flow Control!

This was a supernatural ability on the same level as Flame Manipulation!

If Little Ball also learned Mana Release, its strength would receive a tremendous boost!

However, Little Ball's soul was not a mature soul from another world like Moss's. With its relatively low Spirit attribute, Little Ball's mind was still underdeveloped.

For now, it could not completely master the skill Mana Release.

Moss was not in any hurry about this, though. She would simply let nature take its course.

Master!

Having received Moss's praise, Little Ball happily cuddled up to her.

"Good girl... Come on, let's make breakfast."

Moss patted Little Ball, then went to the stove to prepare the meal.

"Vegetables, vegetables... Vegetable and meat soup for breakfast today~!"

Humming a simple tune, she took out the vegetable scraps she had brought back yesterday from the small bag beside the stove!

Moss used her claws to chop the scraps into even smaller pieces, then turned to Little Ball and said:

"I'll leave it to you, Little Ball."

Moss put the vegetable pieces into Little Ball's body and had it clean away the dirt and rotten parts on their surface.

Yes, Master!

While Little Ball washed the vegetables (and ate?), Moss also began starting the fire!

Moss did not use firewood. Although wood was common in the sewers, it was usually soaking wet and impossible to burn.

So Moss could only rely on Magic Power to create fire!

However, simply bringing a can of water to a boil did not consume much Magic Power.

Controlling the temperature of the flames and letting them burn slowly was no challenge at all for Moss now.

A ball of concentrated Magic Power floated into the stove under Moss's control, and crimson flames ignited right afterward!

Moss looked at the ball of Magic Power burning steadily beneath the stove and nodded lightly.

"Mm, this should do. It ought to be enough to boil the water."