Sometimes Lupa would climb a tree and jump down swinging her claws. On every quick hit at the same precise location, one Soldier Ants became staggered and inevitably died after her claws penetrated its hard carapace. She tried not to get her claws stuck this time. The second one was about to suffer the same fate.

Vincent's mutation finished. He threw a punch at the Soldier Ant, targeting him, knocking it back from the impact. The ant didn't die in one hit this time. It felt as if they adapted, or it knew his attack pattern beforehand.

However, the Soldier Ant's plan was all for naught. Vincent rushed forward and swung his other arm down like a mighty hammer, crushing the ant's head.

While Vincent was killing the Soldier Ant, the other two ants didn't pause.

Tula's hands trembled from fear. The sword in her hand slipped. She was about to cry as the scary Soldier Ant rushed at her. Suddenly she remembered the shield in her hand.

'Please, Uncle Kass, protect me. Please, Big Brother Vincent and Daddy, save me.' Tula thought while holding her uncle's shield with all the mustered courage. The shield gave her the strength to stand her ground with the pair of trembling legs.

*Bang*

The Soldier Ant charged at Tula, but she surprisingly didn't fall from the impact. The years of training experience her body possessed allowed the child-minded Tula to stand her ground this time. Even if she was afraid to the point of closing her eyes and wish all of this was a bad dream, the body didn't betray her courage.

The Soldier Ant continued with its relentless assault. It lunged at Tula once more, but it targeted other body parts this time.

*Clang, clang, clang*

The armor protected the terrified Tula. Tulip was next to her. She stared at Tula, getting attacked without moving a muscle. What passed through her mind was something only she knew, but one thing was certain, she was too afraid to move or... wanted Tula dead to take the armor.

Without support from Tulip, Tula could only guard against the relentless attacks. She had a ten-year-old mentality, so she was already doing too much for her current condition by holding the shield and not falling.

Taking place at the same time near this fight was Ester and the Soldier Ant targeting her. She tried her best to fight against the ant by blocking the attacks with the heavy adult mudcrab shell shield tied to her arm and swinging the hiltless sword Elsir.

The Soldier Ant became angry and impatient as an indestructible shell shield was blocking all its attacks. It soon lunged with fury, but luck wasn't on its side. Ester swung her shield, delivering a well-placed shield bash.

The ribbon snapped from the collision, and the shell shield fell on the ground, but the Soldier Ant became staggered in this exchange. It stood still, twitching its head and antennas as if it bashed its head against an unbreakable rock.

Ester experienced enough life-threatening situations to know it was time to take advantage of the situation. She quickly raised her sword and swung it down at the Soldier Ant's head.

Ester suddenly stopped with her glowing crimson eyes fixed at her hands and sword from surprise. She unknowingly used Frost Sigil, and a surprising thing happened.

The hiltless sword Elsir possessed a few frosty looking runes glowing on its blade. Each rune shone icy white while emitting cold. It seemed like the runes were resonating with Ester and her freezing power. The runes looked similar to the sigils hovering on her hands.

Ester wasn't strong, so the blade got stuck on the Soldier Ant's head without killing it. The cold blade stuck on its head broke the soldier ant from its daze, but it was too late.

The Soldier Ant felt it was in danger. It vigorously tossed its head until Ester lost her grip. The Soldier Ant then retreated a few steps backward. However, it acted strangely. The icy runes on Elsir didn't fade nor lost its brilliance the farther the ant retreated.

[You should go and help Tula now that you finished this Soldier Ant...]

[Hey! Look at Ester's sword! It's glowing with white runes on it! There is also a barely visible mist of cold surrounding the Soldier Ant right now.]

Vincent quickly turned his gaze and noticed two things. A Soldier Ant standing still like a frozen statue while twitching its antennas and Tula getting attacked.

However, after Vincent killed the Soldier Ant and Ester seemingly froze the second one, the Soldier Ant attacking Tula abruptly stopped. It set its sights on Vincent for no apparent reason. As if it wanted to kill him for something.

The remaining Soldier Ants attacking Koss, Lupa, and the new recruits stopped and seemed to change their target to Vincent strangely.

'Why are the soldier ants suddenly only looking at me as if they want to kill me first?' A sudden thought passed through Vincent's mind.

Luck or not, Koss, Lupa, and the two new recruits, Hara and Culo, took the opportunity to kill the Soldier Ants while they were distracted and hissing at Vincent.

Koss finished the third Soldier Ant with a quick heavy swing decapitating the ant.

Hara and Culo managed to strike the Soldier Ant's joints cutting multiple limbs. As the Soldier Ants became crippled without the ability to dodge nor lunge, the two young soldiers managed to chop the two ant's head off.

Lupa landed on top of the distracted Soldier Ant and dug her claws in the ant's neck, tearing its head off. A violent sight for a cute wolf with a triumphant grin on her face.

Vincent took out the deadly Demonic Beast's rock and threw it at the Soldier Ant previously attacking Tula.

*Whoosh*

*Crack*

The Demonic Beast Rock immediately killed the Soldier Ant upon hit. The force from the rock throw and its toughness were too much for the Soldier Ant's carapace to withstand.

Everyone took a breather after all ants were dead. But this moment only lasted for a few seconds as their eyes soon noticed a Soldier Ant standing still with a strange, barely visible cold mist surrounding it.

The Soldier Ant remained in place, frozen like a statue with Elsir stuck in its head. Not breathing, not blinking, and its antennas didn't twitch anymore. It seemed dead.

[It's better to inspect the ant for confirmation. However, the barely visible cold mana mist surrounding the Soldier Ant visible only with Mana Sense suggests otherwise.]

-You are right. I forget to use inspection because of this situation and a long time without using it.-

[Name] Soldier Ant (Male)

[Description] Killed by brain freeze. Killer Ester.

[Loot] None

[Death by brain freeze? The info makes the ant's death look like a joke, but to have the brain completely freeze from Frost Sigil seems like a painful way to go.]

-I wonder if the sword accelerated Ester's freezing power.-

[I have a similar thought, but... why is everyone surrounding the frozen ant as if it's a masterpiece?]

-Did you forget that only we can know if it's dead or not?-

[Teehee, silly me.]

Everyone apart from Vincent surrounded the Soldier Ant. The fear Tula and Tulip felt suddenly washed away from the strange and mysterious sight.

[Overheat deactivated.]

[Host Race returning to human.]

Vincent stopped using Overheat. He noticed Lupa wagging her tail while curiously inspecting every nook and cranny, trying to guess what was happening. The others, apart from Ester, did a similar thing.

"Don't be afraid. Didn't I tell you how the sword was enchanted and soul bound to you? It seems your power is linked with the sword." Vincent said to the confused looking Ester.

Ester turned her gaze on to Vincent and replied, "Is it really fine? It's not anything dangerous?... Did I kill the Soldier Ant by myself?"

"Yes, you did. You got your first kill." Vincent replied with a smile.

"Ohh! The sword is very cold!" Lupa said after the curiosity got the best of her and tried to grab the frosty runed blade.

"This! This is an artifact for sure!" Koss exclaimed in utter surprise.

"Where did you acquire this artifact? The effects are too outstanding for a normal enchanted sword." Koss continued.

"What is an artifact?" Vincent replied with a question of his own.

"Artifacts are exceptional items that are very powerful. Normally they would have a name, special, multiple, or powerful enchantments imbued in them. For a common sword to look like this, it must be an Artifact Grade sword." Koss quickly explained.

[Does that mean Ester's father is a wealthy noble? By the look on her surprised expression, Ester didn't know what an Artifact Grade was.]

-Yes, she looks as surprised as all of us.-

"Uhm... yes. Its name is Elsir, and it has multiple enchantments bound to my woman. Something called Soulbound. But I don't wish to say how it's in our possession." Vincent replied while making known that only Ester could use its power.

"Incredible. That is an almost lost enchantment technique I heard once or twice in my entire life. Elsir has the potential to become a Legendary Grade sword since it can kill a Soldier Ant when..."

"Ahem, no offense, but the user isn't that strong. " Koss informed. He tried to say that Ester was weak in the most delicate way he knew.

Ester quickly frowned when being called weak. Lupa quickly glared at Koss for mocking Ester, yet her tail lightly wagged from meaning she was Vincent's strongest woman. The top wolf of the harem.

"Don't bully Big Sister Ester." Tula stopped gazing at the frozen Soldier Ant and defended Ester.

[It's your time to shine. Say something nice and score some love points.]

'Kazumi thinks everything is a game... well, let me try to encourage Ester since Koss said what he said for information purposes only. He seems to be a bit too blunt with his words.' Vincent thought.

"Don't be discouraged. It means you have become stronger. But it also means that you can watch our backs in a fight with this power-up. Furthermore, take a look at your hands. You forgot to turn off your sigils. Your cute red eyes are still shining." Vincent praised Ester and then reminded her that the Frost Sigil spell was still active.

"Ohh." Ester quickly stopped channeling mana in her Frost Sigils. As the frosty sigils hovering above her hands faded and her crimson eyes stopped shining, the icy runes on Elsir stopped as well.

As if the human and sword were linked together through the Soul Bound effect, Elsir became an ordinary-looking hiltless sword once again when the connection ended.