Summoned and Unwanted

‘It might become more confusing to add numbers to their name. I can’t carve a number on them as well. It feels inhumane, and Ester might hate me if I do that to her Soul Pet.’ He pondered.

“Butterfly, Butterfree. Hmm... FreeFire, FreeIce, FreeWind, or FreeEarth. What about FreeAll? or FreeForAll?” Vincent murmured until a name stuck in his mind.

“How about Freerie? A little play in words for free free. The sixteen crystallized emerald butterflies freely flutter in the dark sky, giving life to their surroundings with elegant dance and a subtle illuminating body. Like their soul owner Ester.” Vincent became slightly poetic while explaining the reasoning behind the name.

All the sixteen emerald butterflies circled Vincent, elevated by the happy mood of receiving a name after so much deep thinking and consideration.

Ester smiled when looking a Vincent and the butterflies around him. ‘He looks nice.’ She thought.

Unbeknownst to Vincent, Ester, and Lupa, Kazumi was the most excited and happiest person in the Soul Domain. To have more than one guest in the Soul Domain felt like a dream come true.

.....

Living alone in a dark place lit by a small patch of emerald grass without company felt depressing to someone like Kazumi. Furthermore, she can only see the living world by using mana to see with Vincent as the anchor point.

This problem of feeling chained added to her need to tease Vincent for a tranquil mind. Therefore having more than one person hearing Kazumi’s voice simultaneously would make anyone feel this short and straightforward invite as a memorable one.

[Thanks for coming to my home, but the time to leave is upon us... regrettably. Ester and Lupa, my wonderful sisters. I will invite the two of you to my home from time to time and let you see your children.]

Kazumi then turned her gaze on Vincent and kept teasing with a cheerful tone.

[Vincent, could you perhaps find a new woman and flirt with her enough to conceive a maid in here? I need a servant because this cute curvy wisp has no hands. Ohh! Try to find one that can give great massages. I would like it more.]

“Do you see how Kazumi teases me all the time?” Vincent almost had a manly tear fall from his eyes. However, he wanted to change the subject before it went off-course and new trouble starts brewing.

Lupa kept playing with Wolfie and petting the soft tough-looking crystallized emerald fur. She was in a world of her own as two of her dreams were achieved in less than twenty-four hours.

“Hahaha.” Ester laughed while the butterflies danced and turned at Vincent’s remark. She didn’t seem to mind about this subject as before. As if she knows Vincent will remain true to his words and love her regardless of her lacking features.

[Times up. See you next time. Bye-bye.]

Kazumi said. Not a moment later, the consciousness of Vincent, Ester, and Lupa was back in the living world after the darkness dissipated.

Ester looked at Vincent and suddenly said, “Thank you for promising not to take advantage of us. Kazumi informed us about our Soul Synch stat a few days ago, and she told us how your powers are because of our bond. Now I can understand why you wanted to keep it a secret from us.”

“I don’t mind getting taken advantage of. I love head pats the most. ” Lupa added with a grin.

Vincent looked at Ester and Lupa with an apologetic expression. Knowing how someone feels or seeing the relationship level could be perceived as manipulation if an argument arises.

“I tried my hardest not to let you find out, but... now you know. I am sorry for hiding this fact. I can grow stronger after our soul compatibility reaches a certain threshold. Only after we get married with a magical contract can I continue to cultivate... ahem, increase our relationship, and gain skills.” Vincent honestly explained after their previous talks didn’t include all the details.

Ester felt like a dagger pierced her heart after hearing the explanation. She was the reason Lupa didn’t want to marry so that they could get married simultaneously.

“I... I’m sorry for dragging you down again...” Ester covered her face and was about to cry. The determination she gained by fighting Soldier Ants disappeared in an instant. She felt like a burden once again.

Vincent quickly understood his words hit a soft spot. He promptly hugged Ester and comforted her with a warm embrace, “I can live for one hundred years if the Book Of Heroes is to be trusted. It’s only a week, a month, or a year of waiting to fix this problem. Having you by my side is the same as a paper telling us we are officially married.”

[I missed casanova Vincent, hehe. Wolfie and Freerie are cheering for you. It seems they can share my ability to comprehend what’s happening outside. Or maybe they can feel what their parents are feeling.]

-Soul Pets.-

[Tomato tomato tomata, hehe.]

Vincent felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned his head, a pouting Lupa appeared with her arms open for a hug.

“Okay, okay. You’re next.” Vincent turned around and hugged the pouting jealous wolf girl.

After some time passed and Ester collected her thoughts, she decided to stop thinking negatively and trust Vincent’s words.

The morning continued, and the afternoon offered shade from the sun. Lupa seemed eager to see Wolfie, and she asked how it was doing. Vincent had to act like a communication device between Lupa and Kazumi for almost a day.

On the other hand, Ester didn’t ask to know how the butterflies were doing. She felt they were in a safe place, and she didn’t need to worry about their well-being. Kazumi was also with them.

Vincent hoped for the day to end and have a good night’s rest. Lupa’s wishes to know about how Wolfie was doing tired him.

‘I need to train. I need to find a good spot to train. I need to increase my mana.’ Vincent thought to stop thinking about how Wolfie was doing all the time.

Vincent looked at the sky. The sun was gradually setting, and the stars were slightly becoming visible. Vincent nodded and decided to say, “How about we call it a day and rest here? Ester and I need to spend some time training.”

“What about me? Are you forgetting me, my mate?” Lupa immediately questioned.

“Never. I didn’t mention your name because you don’t have mana as we do. Your training is different from ours.” Vincent clarified the misunderstanding.

“Okay. I will train by myself and become best girl Lupa.” Lupa boasted.

-Please don’t teach her more words and slangs. Lupa is absorbing this knowledge like a sponge.-

[But isn’t Lupa best girl? You had a lot of research material on...]

-AHEM!!!-

“You are quite intelligent, my little wolf. Ok, train and become best girl Lupa while Ester and I will try to see if we can increase our mana capacity.” Vincent praised Lupa to the moon to let them train without getting interrupted.

Later, Lupa trained not far from Ester and Vincent. She was climbing trees and jumping down, landing on all fours. It looked silly and useless, but only the person climbing the trees with a gradual increase in speed and jumping down with immense focus knew the real reason.

Lupa imagined the Great Yok Boar standing before her. The enemy she fought practically alone.

Lupa tried to recreate the first fight. The time when the ability Primal Insight activated and helped her win. However, she could keep training until the darkness of the night hindered her sight. In the end, Lupa was only able to increase her reaction speed and movement speed.

Nearby were Vincent and Ester sitting on the grass with their legs crossed and their eyes closed. They appeared to be meditating with the instructions of Kazumi Sensei.

Kazumi Sensei’s Mana Sense proved beneficial to understand if Vincent and Ester were making any progress or if they were simply sitting on the grass with their eyes closed.

[Remain in this current position. I can see both your mana circulating and microscopically... marginally increase.]

-What do you mean by microscopically?-

[Fine, fine! It’s just a hunch.]

-A hunch? Do you feel a hunch that this pose is working?-

[Profound cultivators say that a tree doesn’t grow in a second. You need to cultivate to grow, and it takes time to mature from a seedling.]

-Why do I feel like this is a scam?-

[Tell that to the cultivation stories you read.]

-...-

Vincent couldn’t retort. Vincent remembered how Kazumi knew everything he experienced and everything he forgot. However, Vincent wished Kazumi’s Mana Sense could help them more than giving her a hunch of improvement.

Vincent hoped the hunch wasn’t a lie or a mistake.

Four hours later...

Vincent felt exhausted and his legs numb. He decided to check his stats and call it a day before getting stuck in a sitting meditating position.

.

[Stats] Strength 9 || Agility 8 || Perception 8 || Mana 4

.

“...” Vincent couldn’t believe he only increased a whopping total of one mana after an arduous four-hour-long mana cultivation session.

Vincent felt happy yet sad at the same time. To gain or raise the mana stat and increase their chances of casting spells is a dream come true for many people from Earth.

Learning and using magic is a thing of miracles, but the improvement rate felt too slow to call getting stronger. Physical training felt more beneficial than mana training.