Promised Quest

Vincent couldn't believe how such a blow didn't break any limbs. Tula slid and rolled on the moist red grass without stop and crash-landed on her head, but she is still alive and kicking.

Vincent shook his head to stop thinking and stored the sword.

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[1x Steel Sword (Common Quality) gained.]

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Tula held Vincent's hand the entire time after arriving at the place of her violent landing. However, scared as she was, no memory resurfaced to help her recover from the current predicament.

"Your magic trick is nice... but... I want to leave. I feel scared here." Tula approached closer to Vincent, pressing her pair of goods against his arm.

"There is nothing else of value to take with us here. We can leave. " Vincent said with a poker face. He turned around with Tula stuck on his arm and started walking back.

[Ho, ho. Look at that lousy poker face of yours. It must feel nice, but I wonder what your future wives would think.]

Kazumi sarcastically said, causing Vincent to escape from heaven instantly. They were about halfway back to the others, and Tula kept holding Vincent's arm in her plum chest.

Vincent feared Lupa might see them from high above. He wasn't as lucky as Tula.

"No more hugging?" Tula asked with a cute voice and a pair of brows forming a cute puzzled frown.

"Your big sisters might think something else since you have the body of an adult." Vincent tried to reply with an easy to understand response.

[Nice reply, casanova, but I have a hunch it's not over yet. ]

Kazumi lay on the emerald grass, ready to enjoy another unfolding drama of the troubled Vincent.

"Big brother, can I also become your bride?" Tula quickly asked, causing Vincent to freeze on the spot from the sudden question.

Tula felt left out. Furthermore, Vincent mentioned he didn't want to be seen with her latched to his arm because of Ester and Lupa. So she asked for the same treatment like a spoiled child with a pair of puppy eyes that is hard to say no to.

[Uff... now you're in trouble, boy. Hehe.]

'The sly Kazumi likes to enjoy watching me suffer from embarrassing moments. But what should I reply with...'

'Ohh, I know! Tula has the memories of a kid and should forget as she grows older or regains her memory.' Vincent quickly thought of a solution out of this predicament.

"Ahem... well... when you grow older, I might accept it. But you are too young now, and your adult body won't fool me." Vincent tried to escape by saying the same thing every adult says to a kid. He also used the lie of her current body, not being her actual body, to help with his case.

"But I look like an adult, so I'm old enough." Tula puffed her cheeks for not getting her way.

"You're still a child. When you're cured and grow up the normal way, ask me again, I promise." Vincent continued using memory loss as an excuse to stop her insistence. He wanted to push the problem for the future Vincent with the hopes of her forgetting.

"Okay big brother, pinky swear." Tula reached out her pinky finger, ready to do the pinky swear.

Vincent raised a smile at this kind of childish promise. He forgot the last time when he made a pinky promise, but a smile raised at one of the most memorable pinky promises he could never forget.

It was when his mother promised to make as many apple pies as he wanted on his next birthday, and it ended up being a birthday to remember. Both mind and belly couldn't forget.

Vincent extended his pinky finger and locked with hers. Tula hastily started singing the pinky swear song as she didn't want him to change his mind.

A miraculous thing happened after Vincent spoke a word he never said in this world. He said, "I promise." A powerful word that stimulated a mutation in the mutated system in his soul.

The desire to promise and be rewarded with a happy ending like his most memorable birthday, combined with the word "promise" might have helped with the mutation to develop.

A new notification window appeared in front of his eyes. Both he and Kazumi stared at the words as they became surprised silly by the content on display.

The two of them felt the real world and a game-like world united into one. The more they experienced things not possible on Earth, the more questions were raised.

'How could these unimaginable things function and exist?' Vincent and Kazumi thought many times during their stay.

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[A promise from the soul has started the process of system mutation.]

[The class Soul Hero has mutated from the influence of the class Soul Mutation.]

[Soul System received an update.]

[Promised Quest is now available.]

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[Promised Quest: Marry Tula]

[Complete the agreed promise of marriage to Tula.]

[Quest conditions to be met.]

*Magical Contract with the word marriage. (Not Met)

*Suffering from no negative conditions. (Not Met)

*Marriageable age. (Not Met)

[Rewards]

*Wife Tula

*Title: Husband

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Vincent didn't know what to do or say. In front of his bewildered eyes appeared a marriage quest. Just when he decided Tula would forget in the future, this had to happen.

[There is no accept option... does that mean you need to marry Tula? There isn't a time limit either. At least we have time to work with.]

Kazumi didn't have any good suggestions.

Vincent wasn't forced nor had a time limit, yet they didn't know what would happen upon the quest's failure. Would there be a punishment? or would it simply go away by itself?

'Marry Tula?... I somehow got Ester and Lupa to accept marrying me at the same time. But how will I be able to explain this to them?' Vincent pondered as he tried to rack his brain for an answer. For a way out of this predicament.

[Tula is staring at the strange expressions you're making. Oh, I know. Why don't you try to change the promise? Maybe the quest's completion conditions changes as well.]

[It's worth a try, at least since the notification said a promise from the soul. Maybe it's similar to an honest promise. A promise from the heart.]

Vincent gulped, mustering his courage to try this theory out. The only hope was to change the quest and be on the safe side not to fail the quest when declining her feelings.

"W-w-wait one moment! I want to change the promise to something easier." Vincent stuttered while trying to change the promise.

"Hey, big brother! It's not fair! You already swore!" Tula became mad. She pouted, puffing her cheeks, and stomping her foot on the red grass. She wasn't happy about breaking the promise made a minute ago.

"Please can we change it to something else... I promise to be your big brother for life and will always protect you." Vincent said, ready to start begging.

"But big brother, don't you like me?" Tula asked. Her angry frown was quickly subsiding and getting replaced by a pair of hazy eyes from the tears collecting, ready to erupt into a waterfall.

'I know... I can use Kazumi as an excuse. Didn't Ester say she was a guardian angel? Let me make this all her fault, hehe.' Vincent finally raised a faintly sly smile on his troubled face.

Kazumi suddenly felt like something wasn't right, and as her senses thought, Vincent soon placed all the blame on her. As the mastermind of the change in promise.

"Inside my body resides a good guardian angel. She told me your name and your condition when I was unconscious. That's why I knew everything without the need to hear it from Ester or Lupa."

"After I made the promise with you, the guardian angel Kazumi reminded me about my curse. I bring misfortune to those around me and cause people to hate or hurt them."

"Ester and Lupa have no family members left in this world, so we decided to become a family and support one another. But you are different. You have a family back in Lusterfall City. I don't wish for your parents to hate you."

"That's why I can only be your big brother forever. But don't worry, the curse will activate if we sleep in the same location for more than half a year."

"The guardian angel Kazumi that helps me pick the right choices wanted to protect you. That's why she doesn't want me to marry you. But being a big brother is no problem."

Vincent tried to fabricate a believable story while shifting the blame on the sly Kazumi as revenge for all the teasing she makes.

The sly Vincent acted the part. He quickly donned a saddened face and tried his best to make his eyes seem like he was about to cry. His acting was slowly increasing by the day.

[What the! Are you using me as an excuse? Humph... I'll get you next time.]

Kazumi became mad about this. Vincent used her name to escape his promise. She didn't think he would ever stoop so low, yet she was the cause of this small payback.

Tula stared at Vincent without uttering a single word. She thought of many things to retort and keep the current promise, but she didn't want her parents to hate her if his words were true.

In the end, watching Vincent looking sad and heartbroken made Tula think the spoken words about being cursed were true. She ended accepting his proposal.

"I don't want my mummy and daddy to hate me. Okay then... be my big brother forever." Tula agreed to change her promise. Soon she sang the pinky promise song along with their pinky finger lock together, promising to become siblings.

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[Promised Quest: Marry Tula, changed to, Promised Quest: Become Tula's Big Brother, through mutual understanding.]

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[Promised Quest: Become Tula's Big Brother.]

[Complete the agreed promise to become Tula's big brother.]

[Quest conditions to be met.]

*Suffering from no negative conditions. (Not Met)

*Days lived together [0/365] (Not Met)

[Rewards]

*Little Sister Tula

*Title: Big Brother

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A quest window soon appeared. It displayed great news to Vincent as the quest changed to be called a big brother instead of a husband.

Vincent and Kazumi could now understand better how this new questing system activated. It seemed by promising something, and certain conditions reached.

Vincent and Kazumi have to become weary of the future and not flaunt the word "I promise" without care. It would prove a problem and become almost a taboo word until the needed.

Vincent couldn't make a fake promise anymore, something challenging for the unknown future he will have to face. Any kind of promise will have great significance, and most probably need to be upheld since what happens upon failure is still unknown.