Breakfast

"Mmm... the sound of flowing water is louder. It's morning."

Moss groggily opened her eyes, stopping her dream-training of absorbing Magic Substance and sitting up with a big yawn!

"Haaah—"

Getting down from Little Ball, Moss scratched the ground and stretched, the sleepiness on her face not yet completely gone.

"It's a shame... I didn't succeed again today. I already knew I was dreaming... but I still can't control the absorption of Magic Substance—"

She grumbled as she swayed over to the wall in front of the cave, extending a paw to scratch it and mark the day's time.

'Master, good morning!'

Little Ball hopped over to Moss's side, greeting her happily.

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

Moss hugged Little Ball, who was nuzzling against her, and gently stroked its round head, saying with a light laugh.

'Yes, Master!'

Little Ball hopped away towards the cave entrance, preparing to fetch water from the river.

"Be careful..."

Moss wasn't worried about Little Ball going out, just habitually reminded it.

Don't let Little Ball's docile and sensible appearance fool you into thinking it's weak now.

In these three years, Little Ball had absorbed quite a lot of Magic Substance!

And its level was linked to Moss's!

This meant that if Moss was Level 7, Little Ball was also Level 7!

Thinking this, Moss opened Little Ball's status panel to take a look.

[Name: Little Ball]

[Level: Bronze Level 7]

[Stamina: 14]

[Spirit: 4]

[Skills: Liquefy, Mana Perception, Leap, Poison Generation, Devour, Water Flow Control, Purify Water, Water Storage, Concentrate, Physical Immunity, Water Flow Resistance, Corrosion Resistance]

"Mhm, very safe..."

While its strength wasn't greater than hers, with its invincible skill, Physical Immunity, its safety level might even be higher than hers!

"Alright~ I should get ready too."

Moss smiled faintly as she looked at Little Ball's panel, shaking her head and preparing to make breakfast!

Inside the cave, there was a stove built with small stones, and a tin can was placed on top.

She had found this can in the river, a sturdy iron one.

Moss had threaded two handles with wire, using it as a cooking pot.

She took down two skewers of dried snake meat from the nearby grill, untied the rope, and cut the meat into small pieces, dropping them into the can.

"Hmph hmph hmph~"

Moss hummed a tune as she busied herself, in a very good mood.

Ever since she gained the ability of fire, her quality of life had improved significantly!

For example, the dried meat on the grill was something she had slowly dried with fire!

There were many types, like dried snake meat, dried lizard meat, dried frog meat, and so on.

These dried meats stored much better than raw meat did before!

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

Moreover, Moss found that the dried meat stored in the space was clearly more durable than the meat stored outside.

She no longer had to worry about finding food every day, nor did she have to eat those disgusting insects!

"Hmph hmph hmph~ Still have time..."

While Little Ball hadn't returned yet, Moss clapped her hands, deciding to clean herself.

Moss moved away from the stove, stood in the center of the cave, shook her fur, and a red light flowed back and forth between her hairs!

Whoosh!

Suddenly, flames ignited on Moss's body!

Her entire body was burning fiercely, and this process lasted for nearly a minute!

Hiss...!

The flames slowly extinguished, and Moss opened her eyes, looking at her snow-white fur with a satisfied nod.

"Heh heh, perfect control!"

The flames erupting from her body could thoroughly burn away or blow off dirt, thus achieving the effect of cleaning her body!

Moreover, this technique wasn't just for simple daily functions; it also possessed considerable close-combat effectiveness when used for attacking!

Her claws and teeth, wreathed in scorching flames, possessed extreme destructive power, making it an attack skill that combined armor penetration and burning!

Moss called this technique "Flame Entanglement"!

Currently, along with Explosive Flame, it had become her strongest offensive method and her greatest gain over the past two months!

Puyo!

"Master, water!"

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

"Ah, just put it in the pot," Moss replied, turning her head as she walked towards the stove.

"Yes, Master!"

The Little Ball obediently responded, hopping to the front of the stove and extending its tentacles to expel the purified water from within its body.

Gurgle, gurgle…

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

Moss looked at the clear, transparent, and odorless pure water, happily patting the Little Ball's head and exclaiming, "You did a great job!"

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

If one were to ask what was rarest in the sewers, clean water would undoubtedly be one of them!

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

Not having to drink foul-smelling sewage was such a blessing for a creature living in the sewers!

This ability was likely extremely rare among many monsters!

At least, that's how Moss saw it; she felt incredibly fortunate to have encountered the Little Ball!

Furthermore, the Little Ball had even gained Water Flow Control!

This was a transcendent ability on par with Flame Manipulation!

If the Little Ball also learned Mana Release, its strength would be greatly enhanced!

However, the Little Ball's soul wasn't like Moss's, a mature soul from another world. With slightly lower mental attributes, the Little Ball's mind was not yet fully developed.

Currently, it couldn't completely master the skill of Mana Release.

But Moss wasn't in a hurry about this; she believed in letting things happen naturally.

"Master!"

The Little Ball, having received Moss's praise, was happily acting spoiled towards her.

"Good boy... let's make breakfast."

Moss patted the Little Ball, then moved to the side of the stove to prepare the meal.

"Vegetables, vegetables... this morning, we're making vegetable and meat soup!"

She hummed a simple melody as she took out the chopped vegetables she had brought back yesterday from a small bag beside the stove!

Moss used her claws to chop the pieces even finer, then turned to the Little Ball and said, "I'm counting on you, Little Ball."

Moss placed the vegetable pieces into the Little Ball's body, letting it clean off any surface dirt or rotten parts.

"Yes, Master!"

While the Little Ball was cleaning the vegetables (eating?), Moss began to start the fire!

Moss didn't use firewood. Although wood was common in the sewers, it was usually damp and wouldn't catch fire.

So, Moss had to rely on Mana to burn!

However, just boiling a pot of water wouldn't consume much Mana.

Controlling the flame's temperature to burn slowly was not difficult for Moss at her current level.

A ball of concentrated Mana floated into the stove under Moss's control, and a crimson flame ignited!

Moss looked at the steadily burning Mana ball beneath the stove and nodded gently.

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