Red Panda Quantum Beasts

Edited by: ASaltedFish

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After describing the interstellar universe, some core memories, and basic societal information to Aster, Ellery dropped a bomb that made his reincarnation/transmigration not as shocking.

It turned out Ellery's soul had gone back in time. Ellery died five years from now because of a sentinel who wanted to have two guides to himself. The other guide was jealous of him, always fighting and trying to pit him to death.

The sentinel was named Leonard Vales and he had a lion quantum beast. The guide went by the name of Darian and had a koala quantum beast.

In the end, Leonard and Darian teamed up to kill him, taking his one-year-old child from him in the process.

[My biggest regret was falling for Leonard, that bastard. I thought we could make it work because we had a high match rate, but he still went with Darian who had both a lower match rating and a lower rank than me.. That's when I realized that these match rates only meant compatibility spiritually, not emotionally or even physically.]

Aster let Ellery continue his rant because it seemed like he really needed someone to listen to him.

[Thankfully, I was able to go back to the time when I hadn't fallen in love with that bastard and only knew about the match rate. Unfortunately, my soul cannot control my body right now and I don't know if I will ever be able to in the future. But, since I have you here, you can help me with some regrets I have. Maybe, once I feel satisfied, I can finally move on… Well, that's how ghosts are, right? I feel like I am one now.]

Ellery was laughing to himself, but Aster didn't think this was something to laugh about! He took over Ellery's body like a demon and Ellery was sticking around like a ghost! How did this even happen?

'Is there any way to help you move on or, better yet, give you back your body?'

[I don't know about giving back my body, but I do know how you can help me with my regrets! I just need you to find a sentinel who not only has a higher match rate but is stronger, better looking, and richer than that bastard is! Once we have a child, we should name him after my future son that I had with Leonard. He probably won't look the same, but it's better than having the face of that shithead.]

Aster concluded that Ellery's personality was definitely different from his own.

'Okay, that all makes sense… Since we don't know how to get you your body back, I can at least help you with your regrets. I don't know about wanting a kid. I didn't even consider having one in my past life, nonetheless now.'

[That's fine, take your time. I will be here in the meantime since I'm by no means in a rush to leave. We still haven't found the perfect partner for us!]

Honestly, Aster was a bit of an introvert in comparison to Ellery, who seemed more extroverted. Plus, he's loud and has no filter. Aster had always been a soft-spoken person who was always tired, moving at a snail's pace. He loved fluffy animals, relaxing at home, reading a good book, and looking at beautiful crystals and gems. Ellery seemed like the type to have a lot of friends and was always on the move.

Were they going to be okay?

[Don't worry about it. Just think of it as me adopting you and showing you the ropes. Ah, before I forget, I will show you how to use your spiritual powers. First, I want you to meet Sol, my quantum beast.]

As he said that, a red panda emerged from who knows where and onto Aster's lap.

[Sol, say hello to Aster. He's going to be living in my body from now on.]

Sol, who was sitting on him, waved his little paw to say hi.

'Hello, Sol, my name is Aster. I don't know how this happened, but please take care of me.' Aster gave a little bow as a greeting to Sol. 'Oh… Do I have a quantum beast too?'

[Hmm… Well... I'm not sure, actually. Do you want to try it out and see?]

'Sure! I hope I can have a quantum beast as cute as Sol.'

Aster's weakness was cute animals, and to him, all animals were cute, even the so-called ugly ones.

[Okay, this is what they teach everyone who awakens as a guide. First, you need to feel your spiritual energy. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and you will eventually feel this warm and comfortable energy move throughout your body. It's something you can control, so try to focus it all in your fingertips before slowly moving it throughout your body.]

Aster did what he was told and quickly felt the spiritual energy he hadn't felt earlier. He felt his senses heightening allowing him to hear what was going on down the hall. He could even smell the flowers from outside the open window despite being on the 3rd floor.

Ellery could feel Aster moving his spiritual energy around his body, so he knew that he quickly learned it. Maybe it was because Ellery's body had recognized Aster's soul, but it allowed Aster to quickly understand how to circulate spiritual power.

[Now, I want you to call into your soul for your quantum beast. Ask them to materialize themselves in front of you. An image in your head should pop up the moment you think of doing so. Afterward, you will have to use your spiritual energy to materialize the quantum beast in front of you. Take your time. Well, since you are in my body, you should be quick.]

Aster's quantum beast was also a red panda, but his red panda had a lighter orange-brown fur on its face, while Sol's face fur was a darker orange-brown. They seemed to be two different species of red panda.

He felt a bit more weight land on his lap, so he knew it was a success. He opened his eyes to see the two red pandas sitting next to each other, looking at him with curiosity.

[You were able to call upon your quantum beast so fast! Now, you should give them a name.]

Aster looked at the red panda and felt like he was looking at the moon in the night sky, so he unconsciously mumbled the name Lune.

[Lune? I think that's a wonderful name. Look, Lune looks happy with the name too.]

Lune walked up to his neck and hugged Aster, rubbing their cheeks together. He was happy to have a name and to meet Aster.

'It's nice to meet you too, Lune!' He couldn't help but hug Lune back. He was warm and fluffy, different from how he had imagined him to be. Aster thought that he wouldn't be able to feel the warmth because he was a spiritual being, but it seemed he still had a lot more to learn about quantum beasts.

Sol felt a bit left out and also wanted to join in on the hug.

Aster wholeheartedly accepted Sol into their hug, and he felt he had made it to fluff heaven.

'So fluffy, so soft…'

Red pandas were his favorite animal. He felt as if he could ascend right now and feel content with his life.

[I have to put Sol away, someone is coming!]

Sol disappeared from Aster's arm, leaving only Lune in his place. Panicking, Aster also put Lune away.

A man and a woman walked into the room. The woman wore a school uniform and the man wore the standard military outfit.

From Ellery's explanation, the man was his advisor, another A-ranked guide whose husband was a higher-up in the military. His name was Yun Chan-yeol. Mr. Yun had slightly wavy, short, dark brown hair with eyes of a matching color. He was on the taller side and was a bit lean. All in all, he seemed to be a very beautiful man.

This made Aster confused. Why was everyone he met so beautiful? Well, everyone he had met so far was conventionally beautiful by the standards of his past life.

The young woman beside Mr. Yun was a classmate and former best friend named Airi Sasaki. She looked to be someone of Japanese descent with a small stature, round eyes, and thin black bobbed hair. According to Ellery, she was not a guide or a sentinel, just a normal person who was in one of the non-sentinel/guide programs. There were many normal people in the military, so this was common.

"Ellery! I rushed over the moment I heard you woke up. It's good to see that you are awake." Her voice was soft and kind of high-pitched, but not enough to destroy his eardrums.

Airi was the cutesy type of rich girl. As for how Ellery knew her, they were in the same club at the Academy.

[Pretend you don't know her. I really hate this bitch. Backstabbing, lying, two-faced bitch.] Ellery mumbled some more profanities, showing how much Ellery loathed her.

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you two are." He gave an awkward smile. "I have amnesia and I haven't remembered anything. May I ask for your names?"

This was the first time they both heard that Ellery had amnesia. It was also the first time they had seen Ellery speaking in a soft, polite tone. He didn't even use any profanities!

Ellery's body was still on the shorter side and was a little skinnier than usual from being in a coma, but he still looked the same as how Airi and Mr. Yun remembered. Usually, he was a lot more energetic and happy, matching how he looked. Ellery had fluffy reddish-brown hair and golden-brown eyes. He was cute, lovable, and seemed to light up the surroundings with just his laugh, although he did have a slight profanity problem from time to time. Now, even though he still looked adorable, he was a lot calmer. It made him seem well-behaved and even a little shy.

Airi didn't know what to say, so she looked at Mr. Yun with her puppy dog eyes looking as if tears could begin to fall at any moment.

Mr. Yun sat down on a chair next to the bed.

"Mr. Aster, my name is Yun Chan-yeol, but you can call me Instructor Yun or Mr. Yun. I am your adviser who was assigned to you this year to make sure you have everything you need to graduate from the Imperial Military Academy. The academy has sent me over to ensure you are okay and to let you know that they are currently investigating the incident. It doesn't seem like an accident, so they are taking this very seriously and you will soon receive an explanation from the academy."

"I understand… Hmm… What exactly happened to me?"

Mr. Yun couldn't help but think that this amnesia was bad, like, really bad if he forgot so many things.

"Usually, student guides are on standby at the base campsite with the professors; but for some odd reason, a large number of level 3 and 4 Ineks attacked it. While the instructors were busy keeping the Ineks at bay, some slipped past their defenses. Eyewitnesses have stated that they saw someone pushing you down, using you as bait. But because of everything that happened, they can't remember who pushed you. Luckily, before you could be eaten, a sentinel guest instructor saved you, however, you had already passed out by then."

Ineks were interstellar reptilian beasts showing no signs of higher levels of intellect shown in some other species, including humans. They did, however, like to eat higher intellectual beings for their spiritual energy. They dropped cores that were an important source of energy in the interstellar era as they powered almost everything from mechas to at-home appliances.

Aster felt like Ellery's life was too exciting for his normal, slow-paced self…

"I see. If you could, please thank the person that saved me. I would do it myself, but I can't leave the hospital right now and don't know who it was."

"That's fine. I will let Marshal Edros Caecius know. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you couldn't thank him in person. He knows that you are still recovering."

[Hehhh the cold, heartless, Marshal Caecius actually came to save my life. I didn't ask who saved me before because I didn't lose my memories the last time around. I thought it was irrelevant and just had someone else thank the other person, but to think it was the famous Marshal. The more you know.]

"Thank you for doing that for me. When I recover, I will be sure to give my thanks in person."

"No need to be polite." Even Mr. Yun felt it was a bit awkward to have Ellery be so formal. "I will take my leave now that I have finished everything I needed to tell you. I wish you a speedy recovery, Mr. Aster."

With that, Mr. Yun left the hospital room leaving Aster with Airi. In Aster's head, he could hear Ellery cursing at Airi, telling her to leave with Mr. Yun because he didn't want to see her "green tea bitch of a face."

Aster decided to stay silent until Airi decided to talk or leave the room. This was what he usually did when he didn't want to talk to someone. He didn't even look at her.

"Ellery… Did you really forget me? Your best friend?"

Tears were already falling down her face as she sniffled, grabbing a tissue from the bed stand. It was conveniently placed at arm's distance from her.