Branut stood in front of Bo, looking over his Status. Bo was nervous. Would she think it was super cool like Lima Bean did? Or would she say it should be longer?

She would like it, right? Of course, she would. What was he worried about? Everyone always thought his Status would super cool. She would say-

'Honestly, tt's not up to my expectations.'

Bo's jaw dropped to the ground. What?! How could this be? Had Lima Bean lied to him? But why would she do that? Lima Bean never lied! But...

Branut snapped her fingers in front of his face and said: 'Pay attention. As a fighter, you should not have such low proficiencies. And your spells! They're so useful and yet you have zero percent done! Explain yourself!'

Bo shifted and looked down at his paws. 'W-well, I haven't fought anything in a while so-'

'What does that have to do with anything? Haven't you heard of practicing?'

'Um...no?'

She sighed. 'Have you at least been taught how to use your magic?'

'Yup!'

'Good. We'll work on that later. For now...we're going to work on physical skills.'

'Okay!'

Bo beamed up at her, eager to get excited. A voice nagged at him that the smile she gave back wasn't quite alright, but he ignored it. Branut was cool.

***

Pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow-pow.

That was the sound of Bo's fists. She had constructed a training dummy made of rock-she had [Mane Manipulation-Earth] too!-and had him use [Hare Boxing] on it.

It was severely deformed from Bo mindlessly punching it for two hours. And what did he have to show for it? Two percent higher proficiency!

Tired and angry, he stopped punching. His 'training' had done nothing but waste his time! Going out and fighting something would yield more results! He thought Branut would be a good teacher; clearly, he had a lot to learn.

He yelled: 'Branut! You told me practicing would work! Nothing's happening!'

'Be patient, Bo! Becoming a good fighter takes time!' she yelled back.

'But I don't have time! I wanna be a good fighter now!'

Branut stomped back up to the surface and glared at him. 'You asked for my tutelage, didn't you?'

'I don't even know what tutelage means!'

Her face tightened and her tail started flicking back and forth. 'My time is precious, Bo. If you won't do what I tell you to, I'll go and find someone else to train.'

Bo hesitated. Did he want to lose his teacher? Was his boredom worth it? She wasn't teaching him anything; he was just hitting this stupid training dummy over and over again!

He harrumphed and puffed out his chest like he'd seen Lima Bean do when she talked back to Michi. 'You aren't training me, though! You're down in your burrow while I'm out here alone and punching this thing!'

Her face screwed up even more. She looked like Uncle Brutus did after he chased a skunk away from his nest tree and got sprayed. 'You're just a bad student!'

'Am not!'

'Yes, you are!'

'Fine,' he said, slamming his paw into the ground, 'I'm gonna go find someone else to train me!'

'Go ahead! See where that gets you!'

Bo harrumphed again and stomped off. Branut called after him: 'Real fighters walk on their hind legs!'

He looked back and stuck his long tongue out at her before bounding off into the distance.

*****

Branut fumed as she watched the hare leave. that insufferable baby. Who did he think he was, calling her a bad teacher? She knew exactly what she was doing!

If he couldn't see her greatness, then he wasn't worth wasting her time.

And then she realized she lost her one ticket to stealing Michi's Metanut.

'Hare!' she yelled. 'Come back!' She started to run after him but hesitated. She couldn't leave her burrow unattended. What if a thief came? Well, she could use [Mana Manipulation: Earth] to cover up the entrance...But what if someone else knew how to use it and found her home?

Her nuts...her precious nuts...

Reluctantly, she went back into the burrow and started another nefarious plot to achieve her goal.

*****

Bo was back home sooner than expected. He had just lost his teacher, he couldn't find a new one, and his paws hurt. Today had not been a good day.

He looked around for someone to cheer him up, but the Falcons were in their nest tree and Lima Bean was asleep on her rock. He knew better than to disturb her while she was sleeping looking for cuddles; she got mean when he did that.

So he went into the burrow and found Michi reading one of his books. The fox looked up. 'Well?'

Bo climbed into the big beasts lap and curled up. 'I couldn't find a teacher to train me, Michi.'

The fox laid a gentle hand on his back and scratched a super-de-duper good spot with his claws. 'Train you how?'

'I wanna be a good fighter so I can protect everyone.'

Michi laughed. 'You? Protect us?'

'Yeah! I'm strong! See? My strength's at 33!' Bo flexed, showing off his super-strong muscles (in truth, nothing appeared but Michi humored him anyway.)

'My, my! You are quite strong for someone your age,' Michi agreed, patting his head. 'But us adults can do just a fine job of keeping you safe.'

Bo frowned. That may be true but...

'Michi, Lima Bean's always saying you're super old. Shouldn't old people be protected?'

The fox's eye twitched and said through clenched teeth: 'Does she now? Well, I'll tell you, Bo, I'm perfectly capable of fighting. Even if my body's failing me, I can still use magic.'

Bo's eyes widened. That was right! Michi was super strong when it came to magic. 'Do you think you could teach me to become a mage? We haven't done any magic training in a while.'

Michi grunted. 'That's right. I haven't taught you ever since the mouse came...'

Bo grinned up at him. 'So you'll teach me?'

The fox leaned back in his chair, put his book down and crossed his arms. 'Are you sure you wouldn't want Lima Bean to do it? Don't you like it when she teaches you?'

'Well, yeah...But I wanna spend time with you, Michi!'

The fox smiled down at him and rubbed his head. 'If you want me to, I'll do it.'

'Yay!'