[I think since your soul becomes conscious when experiencing that kind of dream, I should get summoned along with you.]
[Name] Vincent Agius
[Condition] Healthy
[Soul Power] 20sp
[Class] Soul Hero
[Class] Soul Mutation
Vincent raised his hands and used inspection. His lips curved a smile when his eyes landed on the Soul Power stat. The number zero, which stayed like that for a long time, finally changed.
[Nice. You can start spending again after this cute wisp cost you a fortune of Soul Power to buy her cuddly services.]
"Spend? I want to save it!" Vincent exclaimed.
Vincent was the kind of player who likes to hord items for later use. However, there was a problem. Where could he store things in this real magical world?
[A Hero first needs a Hero harem. Secondly, a Hero needs endless storage. Third, a Hero's castle. Fourth, Wifes and mistresses. Fifth, more women...]
"Hold it for one second! Just how many women does a Hero need, miss expert?" Vincent interrupted the strange requirements a Hero needs from her point of view.
'Did I read too many bad influencing Heroic stories?' He thought.
[I have an ability that can see the future. I didn't mention it because it's too powerful. But now, I have to announce that I have the Future Vision Foresight ability.]
Vincent became curious, yet his face remained the same. He could already feel that this was another joke. If it weren't, Kazumi would be confident of everything that happened, such as knowing that Ester would recover and what her abilities were.
[Hehe. I saw how you lived in a castle surrounded by ten... I mean fifteen beautiful women of different races. People treated you as a god and a king while I the cute Kazumi stood by your side.]
"So you had a nice dream about having a body, right? No need to say nonsense about me, an unwanted person having that many women. Are you trying to kill me by snu snu?" Vincent shook his head in denial.
[Fine, you caught me. I don't have such overpowered ability at my disposal. But you are wrong; those two outside are ready to enter the harem. With me obviously included, twelve more to go, hehe.]
[Also, death by snu snu? Every Hero needs to grow a pair boy. Heh... I would teach you if I had a body.]
Vincent woke up in a good mood, but it quickly turned sour as the teasing never stopped.
'Is Kazumi trying something? Heh... she doesn't know how to hold back her tongue because only I can hear her. What she said would be too dangerous, though. Too much attention would make me hunted. Even if I mysteriously arrived twenty-five years earlier and no one immediately suspects I'm a Hero.'
Vincent pondered while exiting the cave. His head became filled with ideas and thoughts about multiple subjects. Now that their journey could resume, after the forest, more danger might approach them.
"Morning, girls." Vincent approached with a bright smile. Gazing at the two talking sitting on rocks made his mood change for the better.
Ester and Lupa turned their heads, returning a smile. No matter what happened to Ester and Lupa, the new day brought a new beginning with it.
[They aren't trying to heat the rest of the spicy mushroom and snail soup, are they? It would make all of you feel tired again.]
Vincent noticed the large pot heating on the campfire. As Kazumi said, it would be a problem.
Vincent grabbed the large pot from the handles, lifted, and placed it on the ground. As both girls stared at him with a puzzled frown, Vincent said, "The soup makes us tired from the snails relaxing effect. We should only eat it at night, or we would be tired all day."
Ester and Lupa gazed at each other as if they tried to place the fault on the other. Soon both nodded in unison and said, "We're sorry."
"Ahh... It's fine, don't worry. We can eat the pork jerky I made instead. In the meantime, Ester can train her Frost sigil since your job is to preserve food not to fight. Practice makes perfect as some say." Vincent planned for Ester to become stronger as this forest felt dangerous to travel unprepared.
To train without the need to hurry for a fight would be beneficial since they didn't know how mana worked in this world. Kazumi could only sense mana. However, her memories were all of Earth along with Vincent.
Lupa quickly ran for the cart to bring the pork jerkies. It was left inside the cave to block the cave's entrance.
On the other hand, Ester gently nodded at his words while lightly blushing. The inspiring words that she wasn't useless to the team touched her heart.
Vincent rolled the rock beside Ester, then lifted the large pot and placed it in front of her. As Vincent sat beside her, he said, "Try freezing the pot with your sigil magic. Don't worry; I'm beside you."
Ester gulped in nervousness when Vincent sat close to her, almost shoulder to shoulder. Her face had a hint of red while averting her gaze in embarrassment.
Ester focused on the pot in front of her while the curious Vincent's gaze made it harder to focus. He stood beside her for support and for Kazumi to use Mana Sense to spot any problems with the Mana flow. But this made the situation worse.
"Umm... Could you not look at me like that. It feels strange." Ester said with a low nervous voice. However, her wording made Vincent think she disliked him.
"I'm sorry if I'm bothering." Vincent apologized. He stood up and took a few steps back. Then continued, "Is this ok now? I want to keep a watchful eye on you since I don't want to see you get sick again."
Ester tried her best to hold a poker face, but her lips arched a faint smile from such caring words. She could feel her heart flutter from both his words and the nervousness of using her spell.
Ester felt scared to use spells that could harm her. But after becoming immune to her magic and Vincent by her side, she felt like she could do it. She could use Frost Sigil.
Ester approached both her hands beside the large pot. She closed her eyes. Then she tried to remember the same feeling in the Frost Sigil awakening vision.
Ester opened her eyes. The pair of crimson eyes beautifully shone red, giving them the appearance of priceless treasure. At the back of each hand appeared a light blueish circle with many shapes and lines, giving it the appearance of a mystical sigil with the sign of frost.
The sigils of frost hovered a few inches above the back of hand hands. White cold smoke of condescension appeared on her hands as if they were about to catch on fire.
Ester felt strange, her hands appeared to be cold, but she felt nothing wrong with her hands. Even the temperature felt the same to her.
However, Vincent, who stood a few meters away from Ester, could feel the temperature becoming cool. The use of the Frost Sigil seemed to work without the need to say a command like inspection ability. A spell that activates by thought alone.
-Is Ester currently doing ok?-
[No need to worry. Unless Ester forgets how to stop her spell, there will be no problem. I don't think Ester is crazy enough to keep using the spell, become mana fatigued, and keep on going until hurting herself.]
Vincent sighed in relief. He slowly approached Ester while she kept staring at her cold hands. Vincent sneakily sat beside Ester, but her concentration was too focused on her spell to notice his nearby attentive gaze.
Ester carefully touched the pot, but nothing happened. It didn't freeze as she thought it would. The coldness output didn't seem as potent as it appeared to be.
"Hmm... The cold feels weaker than what your body emitted. Maybe because now you can control the output, and your body is instinctively lowering the output. " Vincent thought out loud while rubbing his chin. He was curious about why the coldness was weaker.
Ester yelped in surprise and fell on the ground. Vincent approached too close for her comfort.
Her cold hands rested on the grass. The cold touch began slowly, freezing the grass pressed down by her hands.
[It looks like the cold still freezes stuff. I can see the grass freezing against her frosty touch. ]
"Sorry for scaring you. Don't worry if the cold output is slow. Maybe when you can control your mana, you could make the Frost Sigils decrease to colder temperatures." Vincent tried to encourage Ester while his words could prove true.
[In an unknown magical world, anything is possible until proved wrong. Well, that could be said for our last world, hehe. Mutation and teleportation. What else did we miss on Earth?]
"Do you think I could become stronger?" Ester became motivated by such words of encouragement.
Ester still remembered the scene of Lupa attacking Vincent to protect her as if it just happened. How Vincent defended against her sharp assault with his new unique protection power. Both felt strong, and Ester didn't want to get left behind.
Ester pulled herself up, plucked out the frozen stuck grass from her hands, then gazed at Vincent with a look that made her burning passion appear. Her crimson eyes became a bit brighter and her two Frost Sigils as well.
[Haha. This girl learns quickly. I can feel more mana emitting from Ester. It feels overflowing yet under control at the same time. Was Ester meant to become a Sigil Mage from the beginning? Did she need a nudge to awaken?]
-Always trying to figure out how the world works are you? Maybe you are right, maybe because her mother was a Sigil Mage as well. But now we need to help her control it.-
[You are right. You were summoned to this world closer to Ester than me. Maybe she is your fateful number one in the harem, hehe.]
Vincent sighed while trying to ignore the seductive devil in his soul. Shortly, he sat on the rock and waited for Ester to sit beside him.
Ester gulped while her heart fluttered. After spending a minute gathering enough courage. She sat beside him.
Ester focused on the pot to ignore Vincent's curious gaze. Momentarily, she began trying to freeze the soup before her mana ran out.
"How about now? What do you think?" Ester asked with a smile, happy for the swift progress she is making. The sigil's intensity increased, and the temperature around the two lowered. However, Ester was consuming more mana than before.
Eater noticed Vincent raise a smile when she increased the output. She felt happy to be considered important for once, but not long after, their special moment of alone time ended.
Lupa returned with a few pork jerkies in a small bag. One jerky swayed in her mouth while getting chewed. Her smiling face froze after she saw how she was forgotten.