Chapter 548
The door opened, and Vincent appeared. It made Eliara and Fliara sigh out of relief when the suspicious carriage was the one they were waiting for.
Vincent stepped out of the carriage and looked at the people inside. “It was nice meeting the princess of Lusterfall, her legs, and Biro’s father, the Royal Guard that protected my family and me many times.”
*Tsk* “I am more than legs.” Bilka said with her arms crossed.
“I want to meet again if possible. I can’t find many people gazing at me without greed, pity, or mockery like you.” Anna smiled pleasantly and continued, “Your wives also had a pleasant gaze.”
“See you again, Vincent. I hope you will not cause too much trouble. I am still young, and I don’t want to go to an early grave.” Lucas said as if his age was just a number. As if being a ninety-two-year-old man meant nothing to him.
Lucas winked and continued, “You might need to take my place and protect the princess in my stead. Unlike my son, who is trying to let our next generations inherit my family’s wisdom, you, Vincent Lionheart, might reach my level in a few decades.”
“And maybe after more women join your ~Harem~ hahaha.” Lucas couldn’t stop himself from joking.
*Tsk* “I don’t like it. I am going to be the princess’s legs. There is no need for an army of women who love...” Bilka glared at Vincent. “That lustful man.”
.....
Anna blushed. ‘Can I have a lot of female friends if Vincent becomes my Royal Guard?’
Anna happily thought of a possible future when Ester, Lupa, Iris, Lilith, and Sakura would become her friends. Friends that do not look down on her. Friends who treat her well without expecting anything in return.
“Ahem. Anyways, Feng Mengli was going to return to his home. As far as I know, he wanted to check on his family and sect. However, he told me to take extra care of you and hoped I could teach you how to control the mana surrounding us.”
[Is Lucas going to teach you something new? This day can not stop surprising me.]
‘What else can I learn at this stage?...’ Vincent thought before remembering something. ‘Wait! Is it the special Energy Flow ways the royal family can learn?’
“It seems you have realized what I am talking about. ” Lucas smirked. “I heard your body temperature becomes scalding to others when you use your equip type skill.”
“Equip skill?” Vincent curiously asked.
“Yes. Equip type is similar to how you wear gauntlets. Some of them also grant additional power during their use, similar to an enchanted weapon. However, skills similar to shapeshifting or berserker are in the transformation category as they alter the body and provide a boost.”
*Cough* “Where was I?... Ohh, yes, I was thinking of having you learn another way to control mana surrounding us with Energy Flow. It is a technique to cover the body with a layer of mana and infuse it with your elemental affinity.”
Vincent became confused and frowned, while Kazumi couldn’t understand how covering a body emitting a hot temperature with a layer of warm mana would help make others touch Vincent as if his temperature was normal.
“Confused, I see. Hahaha. Based on your equip skill, you have the affinity to fire.”
“Depending on your control mastery over the layer of mana, you can reduce the warmth and regain the ability to touch others. Similarly, you can control it to become hotter instead.”
Vincent and Kazumi started to understand how important the technique was and how this felt like the missing piece of the puzzle.
Currently, only those who are Vincent’s retainers feel pleasant warmth when they touch Vincent. The ability to touch others would be able to lessen one of Overheat’s disadvantages. It made Vincent interested in learning such a technique.
“I would love to learn.” Vincent agreed promptly. He didn’t want to miss the great opportunity.
Lucas smirked. “I will tell my son will begin teaching you the basics. I hope you will meet my standards the next time we meet.”
Lucas saw Vincent accepting with a nod. He grinned, closed the door, and knocked on the wall for the coachman to drive the carriage.
“So, what do you think about Vincent, princess?” Asked Lucas.
Anna smiled pleasantly.
“He is different, like the reports stated. He doesn’t act like a noble. He doesn’t ask for more than what he thinks his services are worth. He didn’t treat me like a princess, and when I requested him to call me by my name, he looked pleased and acted friendlier, yet without trying to win me over.”
“My princess is right. He is a vulgar man! The ‘he thinks his services are worth’ part makes the chair design mundane to him.” *Tsk* “It makes my blood boil thinking about a completed movable chair and not working as he most probably lied about.”
Anna giggled and gently patted Bilka’s hand. “I haven’t heard you click your tongue recently. Hehe, it looks like Vincent has made you feel jealous.”
Bilka frowned while her cheeks blushed from embarrassment. “My princess is in a good mood, so I will not respond.” She said while crossing her arms.
“Princess. Do you really want to move with the plan I suggested?” Asked Lucas with a serious expression.
Anna looked at the curtains covering the windows.
“Fate is always covered. The more we extend our hands to uncover our fate and see the light, the more we are left to wonder what the light behind the cover looks like.” Anna touched the curtain and opened the curtain slightly. “The future is not set in stone, and the light can suddenly brighten or dimmer. My choice has become harder now.”
“I am sorry my princess had to suffer so much for thinking like this...” Bilka patted her chest and continued, “I will do my best to make my princess smile many times every day.”
“Maybe Vincent was right. You really are a little girl, haha.” Joked Lucas.
“W-w-what do you mean!” Angrily stuttered Bilka.
“If my old friend’s hint is true, something we aren’t prepared for might happen, similar to what injured someone as powerful as Karta. It could happen now or tomorrow. It could happen next year or in a decade.” Lucas said in a serious tone. He spoke like someone who had a bad hunch about the future to come.
“Then I will do my best to...”
Bilka was interrupted when Lucas took out three tiny gemstones. Lucas broke each gemstone, and a hologram with Ester, Lupa, Iris, Lilith, Sakura, and Vincent’s stats appeared for a few minutes.
Lucas, Anna, and Bilka were surprised by the six status windows in front of them. It made their hearts race and their thoughts run rampant.
Ester made them blink many times. They even believed their eyes were playing a trick on them. They had discovered the fourth Sigil Mage to be immune to their magic. A mage that can use sigils without any repercussions.
Lupa caused them to wonder what the difference between a shapeshifter and a beast shapeshifter class was. Other than her unusual race and trait, Lupa looked ordinary to them.
Iris made them consider once again if their eyes were playing tricks on them. A goblin with a legendary class was in their presence, and they treated her like an ordinary person.
Lilith looked like an ordinary healer based on her stats. However, after noticing the Divine Blessing trait, Lucas and Anna wanted to research and see if Lilith is also an impressive person they need to keep an eye on.
Sakura made them understand why Duke Bobstrider Von Milloween wanted a staff made by her, while Anna and Bilka understood why Lucas gave Vincent a low-level advanced wand for payment.
On the other hand, Vincent’s stats made the three of them question if the gemstone was damaged and failed to work properly.
.
[Name] Vincent Lionheart
[Race] Human
[Age] 32
[Condition] Healthy
[Traits] Blood Tempered Body Stage One, Mana Tempered Body Stage One, Mana Body
[Class] Mutation
[Stats] Strength 74 || Agility 59 || Perception 48 || Mana 322
.
[Class Mutation]
*Overheat
.
“Hahaha.” Lucas started laughing.
“Did you find something funny?” Bilka questioned. She looked at the status window before it disappeared. “I could beat him based on his stats.”
“I didn’t see the inspection nor the storage skills. What do you make of that, Bilka?” Anna questioned Bilka.
Lucas noticed Bilka trying to rack her brains for an answer. He chuckled and answered, “It means Vincent has somehow the ability to hide some of his skills.”
Anna placed her hands on her legs and grabbed the cloak firmly. Her hands nervously trembled while asking Lucas, “Can we trust your old friend? Can we decide the future based on his words?”
*Sigh* Lucas relaxed in his seat and looked at the roof. “I hope Feng Mengli’s judgment is correct. I don’t know what us to do what the Selos Kingdom did and act arrogantly for doing so. ”
*Emerald Lionheart Mansion*
Vincent chatted with Eliara and Fliara.
The half-sisters were pleased to discover the cute girl with a pleasant voice was the princess of Lusterfall. They felt fortunate to take a glimpse at a princess that is never seen in public.
Vincent later went inside the mansion to ask for Sakura’s whereabouts. He had a great gift to give her. The wand could help her understand the ways to create enchanted objects.