The Emerald Chest

Ester felt like Lupa's actions could cause trouble. She approached the troublesome wolf girl and pulled her wolf ear while saying, "Didn't you see them hurting? You might bring us trouble if you continue to act like that. Didn't you want to be a good girl?"

Lupa turned her gaze at Vincent and displayed an apologetic expression with her other ear lowered and her fluffy tail facing the ground.

Vincent approached the two girls. He patted Ester's head and whispered in her ear, "I support your teaching, but don't hurt your sister too much. She might not let you pet her head and soft wolf ears if not."

Ester swiftly stopped and retreated a few steps back. She averted her gaze with a pair of light red cheeks. Lupa, on the other hand, frowned but quickly turned upside down after receiving a few pats on her head.

Tula wanted to join Vincent, Ester, and Lupa. Koss noticed her face's expression to receive a head pat and decided to give his daughter one. His hand soon landed on her head and gently moved from left to right.

Tula turned her head and noticed her father caressing her head. She opened her arms and hugged her father while saying, "Thank you, daddy. I like missed your head pat."

Koss smiled but had a conflicted feeling.

The last time he did something like this was many years ago, after his relationship with his daughter deteriorated as she grew older and wanted to fight with weapons like her father and uncle. It felt nice to meet with a childish daughter once more.

The three new recruits exited from behind a tree mostly cleaned from wetting themselves from fear. It felt humiliating to stay with cleaned wet pants, but they had no way to speak up.

They felt like Vincent or Koss would beat the living daylight out of them, and the scary cute wolf girl preys on their injuries as if it was nothing to her.

With everyone ready to continue, the group of nine left. As night approached, Vincent decided to find a place to call it a day.

Koss found it a bit strange to camp early as he normally forced the other four to continue marching until it became hard to see. He wanted to meet with his twin brother and daughter as quickly as possible.

*Day 28. Early morning.*

Lupa's guard shift ended. She went to wake Vincent, then followed him until he sat on a rock beside the campfire with a wide smile on her face. The intention to sleep on his lap was a bright as the day.

"I want to keep a good watch on the three sleeping basterds. Why don't you go and sleep with your sister?" Vincent said to the wolf girl desiring a comfy Hero bed.

"But I want to... " Lupa pouted.

"You know Ester, and I depend on you. Go and rest, my little wolf." Vincent insisted once again.

Lupa didn't like to miss her sleep beside Vincent. She went to sleep while stomping her feet like a child throwing a tantrum.

[Lupa always cracks me up, haha. She's like to puff her cheeks and pout when not getting her way.]

-Do I look like a bed or a pillow to you?-

[Maybe it's your scent that allows her to sleep, knowing she isn't alone anymore. Maybe like an animal instinct.]

Ester felt Lupa lay beside her and later snore. She and Tula took a few rides on the cart. As such, she didn't feel that tired.

Ester slowly pulled herself up not to wake Lupa and went to sit beside Vincent. She turned her gaze at Vincent and said, "I didn't feel that tired. Do you mind my company?"

Kazumi wanted to butt in as usual but quickly decided against it. She wanted to see how this romantic scene would unfold.

"Your company is always welcome. Thank you for staying awake with me." Vincent smiled as he boldly caressed her head.

Ester raised a content smile. She closed her eyes and let his warm hand brush her hair. The courage she mustered to approach and sit beside him all alone made her heart flutter uncontrollably. The embarrassed, shy girl used happy feelings to fight her shyness.

'I did it!' She thought while trying to calm her fluttering heart.

"You can rest like this." Vincent gently touched her chin and leaned her head on his shoulder. He then continued, "It feels a bit strange to have this many people with us."

"I feel like that too. But you make me feel safe and relaxed." Ester responded. She closed her eyes once again and fell asleep a few minutes later.

Vincent held Ester and sat on the grass with her. He placed her head on his lap and softly said, "The more I watch you, the more I see you breaking out of your shell."

[Now that's what I call a romantic ending. But aren't you speaking for yourself as well?]

-I know, I know. I need to change for Ester and Lupa. But most importantly, for myself.-

[Hey! Why am I not included?]

"You cute wisp, hehe. " Vincent murmured while giggling. Kazumi felt a bit irritated for not hearing what he said.

*Day 28. Morning.*

Hours later, the sun dawned, and the light of morning welcomed them.

Vincent decided to do his morning daily training routine since he forgot to do the previous day from Lupa sleeping on him. He needed to become as strong as possible.

'Time waits for no one.' He thought.

Kazumi noticed Koss staring at Vincent with a strange inquisitive expression. But he said nothing and let Vincent train. It felt as if he wanted to say something but held his tongue.

'Could it be that this kind of training isn't used in this world? Or is Vincent doing something wrong?' Kazumi pondered, trying to figure what passed through his mind.

The group left after breakfast and spent a dull day of walking. It became a common occurrence to find nothing to eat.

They only met with a few birds. The little critters flew too quickly to catch when they rested on a branch high above their heads.

Maybe they could catch one or two birds with a bow, but alas, only swords and makeshift spears were in their possession. Kazumi didn't think it was time to create a poorly made makeshift bow, so she didn't suggest the idea.

While time passed, and the light of the day was reaching its end, Vincent started to notice their water supply was running low. He thought it would last longer since they added both their water supply together.

'Finding the river to resupply our water source is urgently needed.' Vincent thought. He later privately told this to Koss before going to sleep.

*Day 29*

Another day passed, and another early morning arrived.

[How about you use some of the collected Soul Power? You should have one hundred and twenty Soul Power.]

-Hmm... I'm interested to know what happens after Soul Dimensional Storage reaches ten out of ten.-

[Why don't you give it a try?]

Kazumi asked, filled with curiosity. Both of them wanted to know what happens if the ability reached a hidden bottleneck similar to Soul Synch.

Soul Synch has a hidden requirement, and Soul Dimensional Storage might too, they both thought. It forced the user to marry the retainer for the next stage in their soul-bonding relationship. They wondered what it would be for the storage.

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[Wish to mutate an ability has been detected.]

[Mutation of Soul Dimensional Storage is available.]

[Will you spend 10sp to mutate Soul Dimensional Storage?]

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[Accept -10sp] [Decline]

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"Accept. " Vincent said in the darkness of the morning. Everyone was still sleeping, allowing him to experiment to his heart's content.

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[-10sp to mutate Soul Dimensional Storage. 110sp Remaining.]

[Soul Dimensional Storage 5xCubed mutated to 6xCubed]

[Soul Dimensional Storage stage zero (4/10) increased to stage zero (5/10)]

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"Hmm... that means I need to upgrade five more times, costing fifty Soul Power." Vincent rubbed his chin with a curious smirk.

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[Wish to mutate an ability has been detected.]

[Mutation of Soul Dimensional Storage is available.]

[Will you spend 10sp to mutate Soul Dimensional Storage?]

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[Accept -10sp] [Decline]

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"Accept, accept, accept, accept, accept. " Vincent repeated five times at the ability upgrade notification window.

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[-50sp to mutate Soul Dimensional Storage. 60sp Remaining.]

[Soul Dimensional Storage 6xCubed mutated to 11xCubed.]

[Soul Dimensional Storage stage zero (5/10) increased to stage zero (10/10)]

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A new notification window appeared as this happened. It provided information the two curious people wanted to see. The ability to upgrade the ability even further.

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[Soul Dimensional Storage stage zero is now available to mutate with Soul Power to stage one.]

[Will you spend 20sp to mutate Soul Dimensional Storage stage zero into stage one?]

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[Accept -20sp] [Decline]

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"Yes, hehe. Accept." Vincent chuckled with a delighted grin. He felt like winning the jackpot with the ability to upgrade his abilities through mutation and Soul Power.

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[-20sp to mutate Soul Dimensional Storage. 40sp Remaining.]

[Soul Dimensional Storage stage zero mutated to Soul Dimensional Storage stage one.]

[Soul Dimensional Storage 11xCubed mutated to 12xCubed.]

[Soul Dimensional Storage stage one (0/10) increased to stage one (1/10)]

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Vincent suddenly felt pain originating from his mark. He lowered his gaze, and it was shining brightly under his shirt. It was fortunate everyone was asleep since the green light illuminating from his side was similar to a flashlight under his shirt. No excuse could help him this time if caught.

[Hey, Vincent. Your Soul Domain is acting up again!]

"My mark is also acting up. It's a bit painful and hot too. Can you use Soul Visit on me? I want to see what's going on." Vincent said with a light contorted face.

Vincent thought the emerald block produced a problem after upgrading the storage capacity. It rested on the patch of emerald grass while clogging the passage he opened, denying the invasion of his Soul Domain.

Kazumi had a similar thought, agreeing with his thought. She immediately used Soul Visit, inviting Vincent into his Soul Domain.

Vincent opened closed his eye and shortly opened them. What they saw caused him to gasp in surprise.

The emerald grass swayed as if there was wind in a place where the wind didn't exist. The emerald block at the center of the patch of crystal grass shone brightly. As if a block containing a miniature sun inside landed on a field of crystals.

Vincent and Kazumi stared at this occurring oddity with awe. Shortly, the light started to subside, and the faint tremors subside as well.

At the center of all this stood a larger green block. It resembled more of a chest now and had many carvings on it. If it was a language, both had no clue.