A couple of hours ago, while Ester fainted from nervous overload, Lupa spent some time asking to know when her mate would tie the knot and become a pack with her.
At that time, Vincent was still flustered about the sudden decision he made. Vincent shook his head from time to time and somehow managed to resist the urge and temptation. Later, he told Lupa that what she wanted would happen when the time is appropriate.
Lupa seemed happy by his response. She stopped asking and went to look for Lenn and Renn to see how the twins were doing. She also wanted to see their training progress and check if she would have a good sparring match soon. It appeared Lupa had thoughts of her own when it came to the appropriate time.
These words garnered the attention of those that knew what the promise revolved around. Other than Vincent and Kazumi, who knew about the agreement, Ester had a slight idea, and her face turned red.
Distracted by these words, Vincent turned his head to look at Lupa, the excited wolf girl waving at him and saying encouraging words she thought would help.
Ollie smirked and took this opportunity to shield bash Vincent, throwing him on the floor with a loud thud. Without Kazumi warning Vincent, he remained unguarded until the shield knocked him away.
"Argh!" Vincent landed on his head first and got hurt. Light steam appeared on his forehead, and mutated green blood started to trickle.
Ester became deeply worried when Vincent got hurt in front of her eyes. Her chest felt tighter and tighter at the thought of her beloved getting hurt.
Ester didn't want to see such a sight again if possible. The thought of watching Vincent gravely injured would be the death of her. But, shortly, the recent horrible experiences resurfaced, and her heart became filled with worry.
"Vincent!" Ester shouted, filled with distress.
Vincent opened his eyes, and suddenly, a light appeared before his eyes. The light flattened and enlarged, forming a notification window.
[Blessed Retainer Ester has reached Soul Synch 50%]
[A new power has been born from the compatibility of the two connected souls.]
[The Host has acquired the Trait: Mana Body.]
[The Host has gained 1 mana stat increase.]
[Mana Body description.]
[The body becomes compatible with the mana surrounding the user. The user gains benefits such as faster mana regen and faster mana limit increase. Fluency on controlling or directing mana increases.]
[The Host's body has gained a new influence. The mutation has become active. Mutation Class is mutating.]
[Overheat has mutated to stage three.]
[Mutation effect changed from 50% stat increase to 0% stat increase and 10 stat increase per every [Blessed Retainer]]
[Current total stats - Strength 39, Agility 38, Perception 36, Mana 31]
[Inspection is now available to mutate with Soul Power. Addons now available to mutate.]
Vincent started experiencing change throughout his body. He could perceive things better, move his limbs easier, and feel lighter as if his body suddenly lost a lot of weight.
Vincent jumped instead of slowly getting up. The new strength boost made him feel better and stronger than he previously was.
Vincent looked at Ollie, but he didn't move a muscle. Vincent then turned his head at the spectators and noticed Gevan and the BABBO team with a surprised expression.
Vincent's eyes then laid upon Ester and Lupa. Ester had a smile on her face while wiping her eyes. The last one percent push came from worrying so much that she wanted Vincent not to get hurt anymore.
On the other hand, Lupa waved her arms even fiercer and encouraged, "Yeah! Look, look. My mate became stronger! It's our win now, hahaha!"
[Not only Ester gave you the ability to increase your mana, but your body has also mutated and upgraded Overheat to the third level.]
[Overheat is now giving a flat stat of ten stat points instead of percentages. So ninty-seven more harem members to go until you have enough power to beat Kevin's killer.]
Kazumi joked, but something else happened, and she wanted to keep it a secret for now. Kazumi wanted to surprise Vincent the next time he visits his Soul Domain.
Vincent's appearance changed. His eyes shone brighter and fiercer than before. The light green steam erupting from both sides of his lips increased as if the mutated blood started burning fiercer.
The last change was the mutated blood gauntlet protecting half his arms. As if sentient, freshly mutated blood quickly covered his gauntlet and almost instantly hardened, making it thicker with a few small protruding spikes and edges. The tips of his fingers became pointier as if small claws.
Furthermore, on the back of his hands were three cracks on the gauntlet resembling a claw scratch. The three cracks emitted bright green light and steam similar to the steam exiting his mouth. It continually rises a meter high until it fades and dissipates in the air.
Vincent now had an eerie presence. He was a human, yet any person with a good sense of presence thought otherwise. Vincent felt dangerous, and his hoarse voice because of the constant building blood made it harder to persuade people to believe otherwise.
"Just what is that ability? I need to read more books ASAP!" Belowin asked with a curious expression.
"Is it me, or it's getting hotter in here?" Bartholomew fluttered his shirt.
"I think it's coming from Vincent. He had almost transparent smoke before, but now it's easy to see. Is he on fire?" Abigail continued.
"Be careful honorable brother. Before thou stands an evil this Heroine hasn't felt before. Such mighty craving to kill and devour is revolting. This Heroine might need to help exorcise the poor mortal from his infected shell." Beatrix could feel Vincent's mutation, almost similar to how Feng Mengli did.
However, Feng Mengli knows about Vincent's secret, and he didn't seem to wish any harm. On the other hand, Beatrix believes such a strong malicious intent is always harmful and can never be controlled.
"Is it safe for Vincent to continue?" Gevan asked Ester and Lupa to re-evaluate the situation he never saw before.
"If my mate continues. My mate is fine." Lupa promptly answered. She didn't wish to answer more questions as her eyes wanted to remain glued on Vincent.
'Such a dreamy strong Alpha my mate is.' Lupa thought.
"Lupa might be right. Vincent should know best when to stop." Ester added. She didn't worry too much since Vincent didn't look in pain, so Ester thought the wound on his forehead is a scratch. Ester also knew Kazumi would help if any complications occurred.
Gevan looked back at the imposing Vincent and said, "You can continue with the test Ollie. However, I suggest you accommodate the newly Awakened Vincent."
"Even the Guild Master thinks you Awakened new power. I thought the same. Let's continue. Less than three minutes remain, haha. " Ollie said and then laughed. He seemed excited for some reason.
"Then, I will go all out to test my new mutation. " Vincent replied with his threatening hoarse voice.
Vincent sprang forward, faster than before. Ollie was surprised by the sudden increase in speed. He didn't know Vincent's stats changed as well.
Ollie thought that only the overwhelming presence and the gauntlets changed. Ollie started to reveal a smile and blocked Vincent's strike.
One strike after the other, loud clangs and bangs filled the hall. The fight remained a stalemate; however, the intensity of the battle increased. Ollie was slowly starting to use more power as time progressed until surpassing a D Ranker's strength.
"I feel a little be sad about this. I tried my best to spar with Ollie to the best of my abilities, but he never seemed satisfied. But now, thanks to Vincent, Ollie can have a good spar." Bartholomew sulked.
"Don't worry, brother. You know Ollie respects strong people. Vincent might become his new best friend." Abigail tried to comfort her envious brother. She knew her brother always wanted to Awaken into a Warrior similar to his only human cousin, but his progress seemed as slow as a turtle on dry land.
"Is that all you got?" Ollie taunted. He wanted to experience a great spar as much as possible in the little time remaining.
Vincent rushed to deliver a punch and noticed an incoming sword swing from his side. Vincent's perception of his surroundings increased and his speed as well. Vincent hastily halted his actions and lowered one hand to parry the attack.
*Clang!*
Vincent used the momentum to twist his body and raise a fist upwards to deliver an uppercut directed at Ollie's jaw.
Ollie felt danger and weaved his head to the side, resulting in a missing uppercut rising and almost touching his cheek. Ollie then took a step back, but Vincent didn't let Ollie gain the distance to swing his sword. Like an infighter boxer, Vincent stayed stuck on Ollie's trail.
One move after the other, Ollie started to look as if he would get hit soon from a mistake or miscalculation. Keeping the sparring match going at a quick pace would strain any combatants.
Vincent moved more than Ollie, yet Vincent looked less tired than Ollie. Vincent still benefited from a quicker stamina regeneration than the average person.
"Phew. This fight has become interesting. Did Vincent really learn these moves from Koss? I can feel a resemblance to Koss's CQC, yet it feels improved and sometimes improvised." Gevan said. He brushed his goatee and had a gleam in his eyes filled with curiosity.
"Vincent knew some moves before Koss trained him. " Ester answered.
"Interesting. Interesting. Koss succeeded in fulfilling his wish. The new generation is among us." Gevan then turned his gaze at Ester and asked, "I heard you three are staying with Koss's family. Is Vincent perhaps interested in teaching them instead of their father?"
"Yes, he already is. They are calling Vincent their teacher." Ester confirmed.
"Those two copy humans are already crying from sore muscles. Humph... weaklings." Lupa crossed her arms and pouted. She wanted to spar with them soon and become stronger. Watching Vincent fight brought forth the urge to spar with someone.
"Great. Great. It might become exciting in the upcoming years. " Gevan looked pleased as he nodded with a smile.
"Guild Leader, you better stop drooling whenever you learn about new classes and skills. " Belowin then took out a notepad-sized book, a thin pen-sized stick wrapped with a piece of fabric and wrote something.
"Brother is having difficulties. Better keep this moment memorable, hehe." Belowin murmured.
"Guild Leader Gevan, I'm sorry for what my cousin said. You know how Belowin and Ollie like to tease each other and try to up one another, very much different than their personalities when apart. " Abigail apologized.