Chapter 39

Chapter 39: A voice from the soul

Lupa shivered from fright. She held on to Vincent as if her life depended on it. It seemed she was terrified of lightning strikes.

Soon the sound of heavy rain approached. The wind picked up its force as the lightning steadily rumbled, forming a troublesome combo of nature.

The small campfire was snuffed out by the forceful wind carrying the rain. Luckily, the cart blocked the entrance. It protected them from most of the wind.

*RUMBLE

Lupa shivered from fear in silence. On his neck, Vincent could feel something wet sliding down. Her eyes rained tears from terror.

Vincent lifted Lupa like a princess, but she kept her hold tight. With a reassuring, warm voice, Vincent said, “Don’t worry about lightning, it can’t touch us here.”

However, Lupa didn’t respond. Vincent then decided to let her rest with Ester, so he approached the bed, lowered Lupa, and suddenly another lightning struck nearby.

.....

*RUMBLE

Lupa yelled in terror, pulling Vincent on the bed down with her. Both stood next to the sleeping Ester, who slept like sleeping beauty.

“Please... don’t leave me... a human party we once attacked in the rain... a human was annihilated by lightning.” Lupa weakly said with her shivering lips.

“Ok, lets rest for now. But first, can you turn into a wolf? It’s for Ester... to keep her warm.” Vincent made a quick excuse as her plum chest kept pressing against him. It wasn’t time for such thoughts, so he made an excuse.

Lupa slowly nodded. She released her hold and swiftly shapeshifted to a white wolf. The scared white wolf rested on Vincent, snuggling as much as she could.

*RUMBLE

“Shh... It’s ok, my little wolf. I’m here for you.” Vincent warmly said while he gently brushed her soft and smooth white fur.

The temperature quickly decreased, but their location seemed favorable to protect them against the wind or rain.

At the end of the cave, where the three rested, the strong wind felt like a windy breeze. Vincent and Lupa covered by the boar’s pelt could stay warm. Ester didn’t seem to mind the wind as she stayed asleep.

Lupa snuggled her snout against Vincent’s chest. His calming words and caring actions allowed her to feel at ease. As if he could protect her from all harm.

Time passed, but the rain and lightning didn’t stop. As both rested beside each other, their eyes felt heavy and soon closed to sleep. In the end, they slept without a guard duty.

When Vincent was asleep, a display window appeared for hours until it automatically disappeared. He ended up missing the message it had. What it was, he had to find out in the future.

Sharing the warm boar’s pelt and using their body heat for warmth helped Vincent and Lupa survive the night without becoming sick. Ester remained the same.

*Day 10 Morning

The warm sun lit the cave. The temperature returned to how it was before the massive storm arrived. Vincent was asleep dreaming a strange dream.

Vincent was on flat land, but suddenly, water violently surrounded him. Water kept rising, but his feet were rooted to the ground. His body felt heavy like a rock while he could only watch himself drown.

Vincent frantically flailed his arms around. But try as he might, his body remained stuck to the ground. Soon, he started suffocating.

Vincent suddenly woke up from this nightmare. He felt drowning in real life as when his eyes opened. The situation didn’t change.

On top of him was the heavy white wolf Lupa. She licked him in excitement to wake up. She wanted to thank him for protecting her last night.

Wolf saliva filled his face as it went down its throat. Lupa was the cause of his nightmare. The one currently suffocating him.

*Cough

‘It wasn’t a dream! I’m suffocating in real life!’ Vincent thought as he was about to die from friendly fire.

“I’m awake, please stop *cough. ” Vincent begged before the excited tongue drowned him in saliva to death. He patted her head to stop. However, Lupa licked even fiercer.

[I’m happy for last night, so I want to make you happy. Are you not happy?]

“Then stop, or you will *cough suffocate me. Patting your fur makes me *cough happy too.” Vincent swiftly answered.

Vincent raised his hands. Soon, the set of fingers tickled Lupa, forcing her to stop from excitement. Playing with Kevin’s old dog allowed him to hit the right spots.

[Ahh... yea...]

“Next time, do things in moderation. ” Vincent said with a frown.

Vincent swayed his hands back and forth, caressing her head. She loved this as her wagging tail created a faint breeze. After a minute or so, he stopped.

[Why stop? Here continue.]

Lupa rolled on her back. She stared with a pair of puppy eyes for more. She acted like a spoiled wolf, but her cute puppy eyes were hard to resist.

Vincent, with a frown, said, “Five minutes, then I will stop.”

[Hmm... Yesss. This is the... best.]

Vincent chuckled. Lupa was joyfully saying this while making funny faces at the same time. She moved her legs as if scratching the air.

Vincent began to wonder. What did Kevin’s dog think whenever he did this? What do dogs think when their owners pet them?

Time flys when in a happy mood. Soon, the pleasant five minutes of caressing ended. Vincent retreated his hand, but Lupa felt sad for how quickly the fun ended.

Lupa shapeshifted back to a beastman. Then she took care of Ester with a frown. The Golden Acorn effects ended, and Ester’s face returned to the usual sick pale color.

In the meantime, Vincent went outside. He left the empty barrels for the rain to fill. But the storm might have carried them elsewhere, so he wanted to check.

As Vincent gazed from left to right, two barrels stood in the same place. However, a nearby tree was struck by lightning. It seemed to have mostly burnt, and half of it remained intact.

The storm was intense. It seemed that it kept going on all night long. The soil was soft; mud filled his sight with patches of water here and there.

The burnt tree made Vincent thankful for the cave and its timely shelter. It could have been them if not for the cave.

Vincent went to check on the two barrels. Both had around a quarter of rainwater inside. He thought that every bit helps, and grateful the barrels didn’t fall.

However, after pouring the rainwater into one barrel, a strange thing happened, a different telepathy voice from Lupa wolf voice spoke.

[Congratulations. Half a barrel of rainwater acquired. Yey for the indecisive Hero Vincent. Don’t be afraid; I’m just a voice, hehe.]

Vincent stood frozen in shock while these words rooted him to the ground. A mysterious telepathic voice sounded in his mind. The same way Lupa communicates with him.

However, it wasn’t Lupa as she became a beastman and cared for Ester inside the cave. It wasn’t time for jokes. Also, he noticed how the tone and the voice were a bit different than her’s.

The voice also spoke as if it knew Vincent for a long time, like a long-absent friend that knew him quite well.

“Wh-who are you? Ho-how... how do you know me?” Vincent asked. His eyes carefully scanned all his surroundings. However, he could pick nothing but trees, soil, and rainwater.

[I’m no one dangerous, hehe. You have forgotten to check your stats to see if your Soul Power has reset. I can save Ester if you save me.]

The mysterious voice seemed to know everything about their current situation. Not only the voice knew about his inspection ability, but it knew he was a Hero and is Ester sick.

.

[Name] Vincent Agius

[Condition] Healthy

[Soul Power] 20sp

[Class] Soul Hero

[Class] Soul Mutation

.

Vincent followed the suggestion to inspect himself. He wanted to see if something was wrong with his body since the voice said to take a look. However, he was fine and the twenty Soul Power as well.

As Vincent lowered his gaze, the inspection ability showed a class stat. Strangely, it displayed two classes for him. But the Book Of Heroes never mentioned of a Hero with two classes at the same time.

One was of a hero class that every otherworldly had. The other class seemed to have originated from his mutated blood. It seemed the mutation became more potent in this world and mutated a class on its own.

Unlike Kevin, Vincent had no side effects from the mutation. So he thought how his blood and body accepted or fused with the mutation on Earth. A possible outcome no one could confirm.

‘Is this why I turned into a terrifying high regeneration mutated berserker-like monster to kill the Great Gray Wolf?’

Vincent considered in deep thought. However, the mysterious voice seemed to see the display window as it said.

[Looks like you have enough Soul Power now. But we don’t have much time to chat. Ester is in danger of dying. Her body can’t handle the raging mana any longer.]

[Only I can save her with my power to see mana. You see, Ester isn’t sick from an infection like the magical fever you think is the culprit.]

[Instead, she is making herself sick by constantly channeling her mana without knowing. The coldness around her must be from a mana related thing she is currently channeling.]

“What do you mean? And how do you know this? I never saw that condition. Show yourself, or do you want to trick and kill us?” Vincent inspected his surroundings once again. But no living soul could be found.

[Heh... You can’t find me no matter where you look.]

[Let’s start with the introductions first, shall we? My name might be Kazumi since that’s what I’m guessing. I’m the new soul living in the darkness of your Soul Domain.]

[I was born yesterday when your Soul Power reset. However, I woke up before you exited the cave. That’s when I saw Ester with my ability. She had mana spiraling out of control. I could sense it was hurting, to downright killing her.]

[As you have noticed, I am talking to you informally like friends that knew each other for a long time. But that is only for me.]

[You see, I have seen all of your memories as if it was a vivid dream. I have recently awoken from watching all your twenty-five-year life from a passenger seat.]

.....

[You could say I was like an invisible friend. I couldn’t be seen, and I couldn’t interact with you. I stood beside you, watching your life like a VR movie experience.]

[Regradably, I have no memories of my past life. Only my personalty or my ego remained in this form. That said, I understand you entirely yet think differently than you.]

[In a way, I can think like you and point out your faults, which is a long list.]

[You kept living in the past, but the present is now, and the future is waiting to get paved. Kevin wanted you to change, and your parents as well.]