Vincent decided to kill the snail. He wanted to see if a different stat would appear. To his surprise, a new [Effects] stat appeared.
[Name] Moldy Snail (Corpse)
[Description] Killed by crushing. Killer Vincent Agius.
[Effects]
*Minor Relaxation
[Is my hero class perhaps affecting your inspection ability? Did it upgrade after discovering and naming the Mutated Ash?]
Kazumi laid a few theories which Vincent agreed in a heartbeat. She was the most probable cause of the mysterious change in his inspection ability.
"These snails have a Minor Relaxation buff but don't look appetizing at all. But food is food, and it might help Ester even if it feels like feeding her poison." Vincent took out a piece of cloth he left in his pocket to use as a handkerchief.
Vincent proceeded by collecting a dozen in the handkerchief while fastening it with a tight knot. He didn't want them to escape as the Minor Relaxation buff could be useful for a good rest.
"We can call it a day." Vincent took out his watch and glanced at the time. It was getting dark, and Lupa might still be on edge guarding the cave. Some time passed since the tree fell with a loud racket.
Later, Vincent returned to the cave while Lupa heard a pair of familiar footsteps approaching the entrance. Her tail wagged in excitement as she stared at the entrance with the hope that Vincent was safe.
"Sorry if I kept you waiting..." As Vincent said these words, Lupa lept and hugged him with worry. She felt a plethora of feelings after hearing the tree fall, but Lupa didn't know which to choose as she planted her head against his chest.
"Lupa missed you." Lupa didn't raise her head. Instead, she took a whiff of his scent to calm down and find out if he had the scent of blood from an injury.
Vincent raised his hand while feeling embarrassed by this turn of events. He gently brushed her soft hair, and warmly said, "If you heard a tree fall, it was me who pushed it. I'm not injured, so you can stop."
"Ohh... I found some food for later, but don't take a peek." Vincent didn't know if inhabitants of this world ate snails or not. To some countries, snails are a delicacy, but Vincent never ate snails before.
Lupa nodded and slowly took a few steps back. She felt happy that Vincent didn't change, yet he felt like a different persaon. A bit more mature and confident of himself.
The naive Vincent was quickly changing his actions. A thing he couldn't do in thirteen years, he did in ten days. Kazumi gave him the push he desperately needed as she knew all of his past.
[Name] Ester
[Condition] Moderate Injured, Sick (Fever), Moderate Mana Fatigue
[Soul Synch] 25%
[Class] Sigil Mage
Vincent sat next to Ester, happy with the results of the inspection ability. Soon, Lupa sat beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. It was time to wait for the four of them as it was far from midnight.
Vincent told Lupa many stories about Earth and Kazumi to pass the time. Lupa twitched her wolf ears in interest, but the story kept going until she fell asleep. It seemed hearing long stories was her achilles heel.
Vincent checked to see if the rapidly growing Soul Synch increased from the storytime. Regrettably, it stayed stuck on the fifty percent mark. Maybe there was a condition to increase it further for more power he pondered.
[Vincent its midnight. Check your stats.]
Kazumi informed Vincent exactly when the second became sixty, and the time became midnight. She acted like a personal secretary to the maturing Vincent.
"Lupa, wake up. It's time to heal Ester." Vincent gently nudged Lupa. She drooled on his arm from the sweet dream she had.
It was a dream which she was the Leader of the pack. Ester begged for a piece of Vincent as he only had eyes on the strong and admirable Lupa.
"Huh?" Lupa opened her eyes. A hint of sadness crept on her face as real life was different. Lupa wasn't the top dog yet. Shortly she realized how it was time to heal Ester and rushed to hold her hand.
Both Vincent and Lupa nodded to each other. It was time to heal Ester once and for all. Vincent held Ester's other hand, focused on his healing spell, then said, "Soul Power Minor Heal, Soul Power Minor Heal."
[-10sp used for Soul Power Minor Heal on Ester. Blessed Retainer discount activate. 10sp Remaining.]
[-10sp used for Soul Power Minor Heal on Ester. Blessed Retainer discount activate. 0sp Remaining.]
Suddenly, Ester became engulfed by a layer of green light. In the blink of an eye, another layer added into it like a second additive spell.
It almost felt the same as when Lupa and Ester became retainers, yet the intensity wasn't blinding bright. Ester didn't hover in mid-air either.
A while later, both spells finished their job. Vincent raised a smile when his eyes caught a glimpse of a pair of warm cheeks. The color of her face finally returned to normal.
Lupa wiped her face as a tear of joy slid on her face. She wanted to welcome Ester with a warm smile. Then she excitedly said, "Yey, Ester's pale face is gone. She looks healthy like before!"
[Name] Ester
[Condition] Injured, Exhausted
[Soul Synch] 25%
[Class] Sigil Mage
Vincent sighed in relief after he confirmed Ester was only exhausted from the healing spell's side effects. His hand soon brushed her hair while his worries slowly faded.
[It's finally over, but you better rest. Don't worry. I only need sleep to pass the time or replenish my mana. You two sleep while I stay guard.]
-What about the time flow? Is it slow like when we met with the Retainer Bond?-
[It seems that time only slows down when two souls meet. Or most probably, time slows when it's used to meet with another soul directly and have seconds as a time limit.]
[In other words, time slows down when a person's consciousness enters their soul and can probably see anyone's Soul Domain. It seems my current form allows me to automatically and change the time difference since my consciousness is already in my soul.]
-So my Retainer Bond has five seconds, and your Soul Visit should have something like that?-
[Yes and no, mine doesn't have a timer, it seems. I've been with Ester for around ten days in her Soul Domain, after all.]
-In other words. If the ability is used to awaken the soul's consciousness by entering their Soul Domain, then the time flow would change.-
Vincent nodded with the understanding of how her ability was a double-edged sword. It lasted longer than Retainer Bond yet endangered her life from consuming mana to keep active. A risky ability best saved for important occasions.
Ester slowly opened her tired eyes. Both moved from left to right, from Lupa to Vincent, who both held one of her hands. She slowly raised a smile and then said, "I feel exhausted, but... I don't feel sick any more."
"Take it easy. I completely healed you, so you should only feel tired. With a good night's sleep and some food, you should feel like nothing ever happened." Vincent warmly said while tucking Ester under the warm pelt.
Lupa felt at ease as the night of worry ended. She rested next to Ester and patted on the makeshift bed, indicating Vincent to sleep beside her. On her face was a grin while her tail wagged along with her emotions.
"So you remembered Kazumi was going to stay guard, you sly wolf, hehe." Vincent chuckled while gazing at the happy Lupa. She gave him vibes of a pet that wants to sleep beside its master. However, she was sexy instead of a cuddly cute pet.
*Day 11 Early Morning
Vincent was sleeping, yet awake at the same time. The thing he feared the most seemed to have returned, yet it felt different. It wasn't a normal deja vu dream. Instead, it appeared more like a vision.
[Vincent, can you hear me?]
Vincent turned his gaze and noticed the familiar green wisp body of Kazumi behind him. Lowering his gaze down, Vincent noticed how his body was also a green wisp.
The only difference was the marks on their bodies. Vincent had four tiny runes on his wisp body while Kazumi had a small retainer rune on her forehead.
-How am I like this?-
Vincent began to worry. This was not only the first time he had a body in his dream. But Kazumi was with him in this place.
[You better notice where you are, or this place might stay blurry like a nightmare. This dream's target could be behind you since you entered this dream facing that way.]
Vincent turned his wisp body around. Where ever his gaze noticed and understood, the surroundings became more apparent. It seemed he had to look and focus on the blurry surroundings personally.
Vincent felt as if it was real instead of a fake reality. Unlike on Earth, he could feel emotions such as overwhelming sadness, but those were emotions he managed to seal with Kevin's help.
The more clear the scenery became, the more familiar of a scene it appeared before them. Soon, both could see a depressed fourteen-year-Vincent sitting on a chair in a room he detested the most.
It was a waiting area where one had to wait for their name to be called in the special hospital lab for mutated patients. Only then could they enter since they had strict rules.
Visitors for the patients or patients themselves, would wait and gather in a supervised room with many cameras recording any action or any strange activity.
[I remember this day! It's when you met with Kevin. Did your first time sleeping after I became conscious trigger this? As if my soul had or activated some sort of memories?]
Kazumi pondered in deep thoughts while Vincent could see Kevin walk by and sit beside the depressed young Vincent.
The wisp Vincent could remember how much he was relieved whenever he could leave the orphanage. Young Vincent was treated like a monster, feared by the carers and children alike.
Kevin soon sat next to Vincent while huffing a few breaths. The waiting room was on the fourth floor, and unfortunately, the elevator didn't work that day.
Kevin was waiting for his weekly blood result when he sat next to the young Vincent. No one else was in the waiting room, leaving the two waiting alone.
Kevin fanned his face with a comic book. A few minutes later, he calmed down, and his sweat stopped trickling down.
As time passed, Kevin's curious personality took the best of him. He turned his head and took a peek. Soon a frown appeared on his face at such a sad scene.
The young Vincent held his head lowered down as he stared at the ground. On his face were a pair of hopeless green eyes while an aura of despair surrounded him.