Vopor stared with his eyes open wide, too surprised to utter a single word. He didn't know what Vincent was trying to accomplish since Plow has already been imprinted.
The little blue fox shouldn't be able to be reimprinted as it is common knowledge about familiars. Death is always the outcome, yet Vincent is going to reimprint Plow with different colored blood. A thing Vopor had no words for.
A familiar's magic core can't handle two different imprints his parents taught Vopor. Furthermore, the books about familiar taming all stated the same warnings. However, Vincent could make... mutate his own rules.
Plow mustered her courage and licked the mutated bead of blood with the thought of scalding her tongue. *Gulp* But that didn't happen. Instead, time stopped, and her vision became dark.
"Huh? Why are we here?" Vincent asked after he entered the Soul Domain Bridge. Kazumi hovered beside Vincent, and the little fox Plow cutely sat in front of him.
[Don't look at me! It's not my work!]
*Pho?* [I. Dead?]
"Wait! Plow. Bark again!" Vincent urged.
*Pho, pho?...* [You. My. Bed. Me. Happy. Now. Me. Dead?...]
Vincent lifted Plow with a joyous smile and spun like a little child getting a pet for the first time. Vincent liked pets, and he treated Lupa like a pet at first, but it didn't last for a long time as her seductiveness changed his mind.
[This is very weird. What's the point in having both of your souls meet similar to a retainer bond?]
*Pho...* [Stop. Me. Feel. Bad...]
"My bad, my bad, hehe." Vincent placed Plow on the dark ground and patted her head one last time.
"Plow, you know you have accepted to become my familiar, right? Do you know what it means?" Vincent asked with a smile.
*Pho!* [Vin... Vincent, Vincent!]
*Pho, pho.* [You are. My bed. Plow not. Leave bed alone.]
Plow gradually started to make longer sentences as she got used to barking with the thoughts to communicate.
[Hmm... so this is why Lupa seemed rater intelligent when you first met her. The Soul Domain bridging both souls seems to make both parties share the same wavelength of intelligence. This must be why Lupa could remember and know how long she lived.]
Vincent scratched his cheek without knowing how to respond. 'Did Plow become my familiar because she likes to sleep on my stomach? I hope making Plow intelligent doesn't cause unnecessary trouble.' He pondered.
"Then do you want to be my familiar and stay with us? We will take care of you and love you. You already know that, right?" Vincent lowered on his knee and extended his hand.
*Pho!* [Plow will stay with. Bed forever!]
Plow approached Vincent's hand as walking with three legs became easier after the previous Blood Bond Contract.
"I'm Vincent and not bed." Vincent turned his head and pointed at Kazumi while adding, "Are you hearing her laughing at me? Do you want people to laugh at your master?"
[Ohh, come one. What's the harm with a good laugh?]
*Pho...* [Bad green ball is laughing at my bed... ]
*Pho* [Vincent Vincent. Plow is sorry. Plow has learned master's name.]
"It's great that you are learning to speak, little Plow... Ohh, it looks like time is up. See you in the living world the next time you blink your eyes." Vincent noticed the darkness of the Soul Domain Bridge become thinner and lighter. They were about to return at any moment.
Vincent opened his eyes, and a shocking scene entered his sight. Plow started coughing red blood on the table soon after her consciousness returned.
Everyone began to worry about what was happening to Plow. Even Vopor didn't think trying to make a second familiar contract would cause such a dangerous reaction. Vopor thought it simply wouldn't work.
"Big brother! What is happening to Plow? Is little Plow dying?" Tula urgently asked, filled with worry.
"Plow is..."Vincent stopped trying to come up with an answer as soon as a notification window appeared before his eyes.
[Promised Quest: Familiar Plow Completed]
[Rewards]
*Familiar Plow (Blood Imprint) (Mutated Blood Imprint)
[Notice]
[The host has mutated a bond. The host is mutating the soul bond with Plow of the fox species.]
[Plow's magic core is in the process of a mutation by its contracted master, Vincent Agius.]
[The familiar Plow requires nutrients to mutate and sustain the process.]
Vincent quickly picked Plow and rushed to the yard. He then placed Plow gently on the grass and curved his fingers, forming a claw.
"Argh!" Vincent uttered after he scratched his shoulder and let the blood fall on the coughing Plow.
"Is he doing the same thing?" Ester blurted.
"Is big brother going to heal Plow?" Tula asked on the verge of tears. All her eyes could do was to watch Plow suffer.
"Yes, I think. Lupa became better once. So don't worry, Tula, and trust Vincent." Ester was worried, but she had to act courageous, not to let Tula and the others feel the need to interrupt. 'Kazumi is with him.' She thought.
[I hope this works. Huh? Look! The mutated blood isn't evaporating like usual. Plow's body is absorbing it.]
Vincent frowned at the thought of not much blood oozing on Plow. He raised his other hand and scratched his remaining unwounded shoulder.
"Drink Plow, drink." Vincent raised Plow and let her drink. Surprisingly, Plow never seemed to be injured from his boiling mutated blood nor the steam exiting his wounds. As if Plow became resistant to heat.
A few moments later, Plow stopped drinking and closed her eyes. Next, in the blink of an eye, her blue fur turned green, and a second later, Plow became an emerald-like statue with the same color as the grass in the Soul Domain.
[Notice]
[The familiar Plow is in the process of mutating...]
[Mutation complete. The host can release the tamed familiar Plow from its shell.]
'I can't smash Plow out of the shell. I might hurt her. What about fire, though?' Vincent pondered an alternative solution. However, both ideas were dangerous. He wasn't certain, yet he had to act soon.
Vincent placed the emerald statue of Plow on the ground and summoned a small bag filled with Mutated Ash. He sprinkled a lot on Plow and then snapped his fingers.
Suddenly out of nowhere, a hot burning green flame burned the statue Plow. The temperature became so hot that everyone started to sweat.
Vopor didn't know what was happening anymore. First, he thought it was going to be a simple taming occasion. However, the familiar's owner tried a second contract, then a never seen before side effect happened, and now, the familiar is being cooked alive.
The green fire died in seconds as if there was no fire. The emerald statue of Plow remained surrounded by a small patch of burnt grass. It appeared the statue didn't suffer any damage other than becoming much thinner than before.
[I think it worked. Now we need to let Plow get out like a bird breaking out of its shell. I can see a few cracks where the crevices melted. I think it should be fine now and carefully break the mutated shell.]
Vincent lowered on his knee and hoped that it was the best decision he could make. Plow seemed to have gained heat resistance to a certain degree, but hitting the shell could hurt the little fox.
[Overheat duration ended from lack of mutated blood.]
[Host Race returning to human.]
Vincent felt his energy is completely drained, and the pain from the wounds started to painfully itch.
Even though Vincent lost mutated green blood instead of his red blood, the mutated blood is a part of him since it completely fused and combined with his human blood.
*Crack*
The statue soon shattered, and Plow emerged with clean and beautiful blue fur. Plow didn't look much different than before. Only her eye color changed to green. They looked like jewels.
"Plow!" Tula rushed and lifted Plow. She examined every nook and cranny. Then she raised a bright smile at the healthy Plow.
"The fox looks and smells different." Lupa appeared to be smelling the new mutated blood coursing through Plow's veins.
Vincent worried Lupa might have discovered a problem. He looked at Plow and used Inspection of her.
[Name] Plow
[Race] Mutated Nine-Tailed Fox
[Age] 8
[Condition] Healthy
[Core] Tamed Mutated Core
[Traits] Devour, Digest, Mutated Blood Tails, Mutated Blood Control
[Stats] Strength 4 || Agility 3 || Perception 6 || Mana 0
[Stats] Strength 0 || Agility 0 || Perception 0 || Mana 0 || Time 0
[Third Eye activate.]
[Devour description.]
[Devour will become active whenever the user's body receives nutrients, both liquid and solid.]
[The user has a twenty percent chance to store the power of the nutrients. The stats will be prepared to be digested at the user's wish.]
[Third Eye activate.]
[Digest description.]
[The user can activate Digest to use the stored power, and for each one stat, a roll of a one percent chance to be absorbed by the user will trigger.]
[Digest will increase the size of the user depending on the stored power. Each stat will make this form last by one second longer.]
[Third Eye activate.]
[Mutated Blood Tails description.]
[The user has tails formed with the user's blood. The blood tails will not harm the user. The blood exits through the pores and does not create wounds.]
[Third Eye activate.]
[Mutated Blood Control description.]
[The user can gain control of the Trait Mutated Blood Tails based on the user's expertise.]
[The controlled blood can become hard or soft.]
[The controlled blood can change shapes depending on the mastery of this Trait.]
-Wow, look at my familiar! Plow has the potential to become overpowered!-