Ester wrapped a bedsheet around Lupa's waist. With some knots and some cuts, she made a makeshift skirt. As for the alluring upper body, she gave a shirt from Trek's clothes to wear. "I like staying without clothes. But it's not the human way." Lupa looked a little bummed out by the clothes. However, she didn't want to get scolded for being a bad girl when Vincent wakes up. A while later, Vincent opened his eyes. He could feel strange as if his body was numb. No limb responded to his command. Somehow he was paralyzed from neck down. A sense of fear rose while only his head moved. "Anyone there?" Vincent called for help. Last he knew, Ester and Lupa should still be alive. However, the first person to help was someone he never saw. Lupa ran like the wind, tripped, and fell on Vincent. She sat on top of him while her white tail wagged in happiness. Vincent stared at her cheerful smile while his face flushed red. Such a smile couldn't be hostile. Her eyes, fur, and hair color also resembled that of Lupa. The beauty with fluffy white wolf ears was on top of him. Her face drew closer; then she opened her mouth. Lupa couldn't resist the temptation anymore. She licked his face like a pet that missed its owner for a long time. "My mate. You woke up!" Lupa happily licked his face. Unfortunately, he couldn't move. "Help... This wolf is... assaulting me. I can.... barely breathe." Vicent called for help. He hoped Ester didn't run away and can save him from this predicament. Like a hero, Ester intervened and pulled Lupa away from him. "Don't you know how to hold back?" Ester felt strange. Her heart was beating fast for some strange reason. "Thanks." Vincent thanked Ester while he took a breather, then continued, "As you can see, I can't move my body. That's why I couldn't stop her lick attack." Ester and Lupa approached and lifted his arms up. As he told them, both fell as if they were lifeless. There wasn't even the slightest resistance in them. "I'm glad you girls are ok. I noticed your tongue and your familiar colors. You are Lupa, right? " Vincent raised a warm smile. There was no need for confirmation as the white wolf beastman was too similar to Lupa to deny. Vincent felt happy that everyone he wanted to live, survived. However, he suddenly got surrounded by two beauties. Ester was enough, but now, a more alluring and forceful beauty appeared. Lupa stared at Vincent with a passionate gaze and a pair of golden puppy eyes, showing that she wanted something from him. Ester, on the other hand, wore a puzzled frown. Her world was turned upside down by these past few hours. Then she remembered Vincent had inspection ability. With an idea in mind, she asked Lupa to drag and help him sit against the wall. "Now, you can use inspect since you can see your body." Ester huffed a few breaths, she was tired and dragging Vincent was tiring, even with help from Lupa. Vincent could see his body. Then with a shy and puzzled frown, he asked, "Umm... I don't remember fainting without a shirt." Ester shook her head as if she knew nothing denying his words. Unfortunately, Lupa didn't know about the mood and casually said, "Ester took off your shirt. Then she touched your chest and body multiple times. I think she liked... " "N-nothing happened. I wanted to see if you healed, that's all. " Ester interrupted Lupa by quickly covering her mouth shut. 'Looks like Lupa doesn't know when to keep quiet. The two are an odd combo.' Vincent stopped this subject while he had a funny thought. Then he used inspection on himself and Lupa. [Name] Vincent Agius [Condition] Healthy, Crippled(Damaged Nerves) [Soul Power] 0sp [Name] Lupa [Condition] Healthy [Soul Synch] 10% Vincent saw the problem. Whatever happened, he ended up using more than his body could perform. The strain was too much to bear. Two theories floated in his mind. That he burdened his body too much, and this was a side effect. The other was how after the strange form ended, not all damage healed. "Ester, how long can we stay here? Is this cabin safe? " Vincent asked a strange question. However, Ester quickly understood. An otherworldly being that can't move would need to hide. "That bastard Trek was a gambler. It might take a few days for others to notice, and a little bit more for loansharks to appear." Ester had a sour expression. It seemed their relationship was that bad. "Thank you for staying with us. It's understandable if you ran away because I'm a person from another world." Vincent felt at ease near Ester. She didn't seem like a bad person and struggled with him to survive. "I'm tired of running away. That's all. At least you saved my life, unlike a person from this world. That bastard left us for dead." Ester placed a sheet to cover his naked chest. She tried to hide both her embarrassment by covering it with anger. She thanked Vincent in her own way while cursing the deceased Trek. Vincent thought it was best to stay away from this subject. His troubles were enough, and the strange bundle of mystery was attentively staring at him with a pair of golden eyes. "How can Lupa look like this?" Vincent couldn't take his eyes away from her sweet lips. They felt good yet deadly. "Now that's a good question. My parents taught me that beastman are beastman, and animals are animals. Animals can only become magical beasts or demonic beast. Not turn into a beastman instead." Ester had a perplexed expression on her face. It seemed what happened had more mystery than it meets the eye. "I'm special, after all. My mate is special, too, hehe." Lupa gave a sly wink happy the be more special than Ester. Vincent remembered the promise he made. Now that she became a beastman, he can't deny the promise to mate. As if she read his thoughts, Lupa said, "So, when will your body heal? When will we mate? Humans mate all season, right?" Vincent averted his eyes and didn't reply. Ester, on the other hand, felt her heart beating faster. 'Why do I feel strange after Lupa changed?' Ester kept trying to figure out what her heart wanted. But she didn't know. "Lupa, could you tell me what happened to you?" Vincent tried to change the discussion. Fortunately, it worked. Lupa retold what she saw and experienced. If they didn't see her current appearance, then believing would be hard. After her story was over, a strange layer of light enveloped her body. The layer gradually increased in brightness to blinding light. Suddenly, the glowing silhouette of Lupa changed at a rapid pace. From a beastman to a wolf. Her clothes fell, but the light covered her body, censoring everything with bright light. [Nooooo] [I'm a wolf again... I can't mate now.] Lupa whimpered in sadness. It seemed her transformation had a timer or needed to be mastered. "Impossible!" Ester exclaimed in surprise. Then she took a few breaths calming herself and continued, "Did Lupa become a Shapeshifter?" However, this was a question no one couldn't answer. "Can you tell us what you know and why it is impossible." Vincent was confused. Why couldn't Lupa become a beastman? "My father told me that hundredths of years ago, magic was given to the people and animals by dragons. People could have a magical soul and animals a magical core." Ester brushed the fur of the dirty white wolf while trying to understand this situation. "Magical soul gives the ability to awaken a class. For animals, it's to become a magical or demonic beast. Lupa, who is or was an animal, gained a magical soul and a shapeshifting class instead of a core." Ester pointed out the strange oddity. "Lupa didn't have a core before becoming my retainer. Also, the book had a few records of magical beast retainers gaining power. "Vincent didn't see any cores in her status like the great gray wolf. Now they reached a gray area. The retainer bond caused all this, and that was the explanation they could assume. "Well... I will wash Lupa outside. I will heat the fish soup after. Would you like to have some?" Ester didn't want to think about this anymore. Her head was about to explode from all this, and the once fluffy white wolf had its fur stained with dried green blood. It seemed the shapeshifting to wolf form preserved the dirty fur. Lupa, with its tail down, followed Ester while it whimpered along the way. "So, I'm alone again, huh?" Vincent had some time for himself. Time to think about what happened and what to do next. How not twenty-four hours passed, and he survived a fight against death. All possible because of the thing responsible for the death of hundredths of thousands of people. The mysterious contagious fog. Time passed as he brainstormed to come up with a plan. Will he heal? What will he do next? Such questions filled his mind. Vincent was in such deep thought that he didn't notice Ester approach. She picked Lupa's clothes and went out without him noticing her. Later, Lupa joyfully entered with a bowl of fish soup in her hands. Lupa intended to feed her mate since she became a beastman once again. "Open wide. " Lupa shoved a spoonful, making the startled Vincent choke. *Cough "Hit him! He is suffocating!" Ester rushed inside with the worry of Lupa messing up. As she tough, she was killing Vincent. Lupa worryingly clenched her fist and punched his gut as hard as she could. Vincent spat a piece of fish, finally breathing once again. If his body could move, then he would tremble in fear. A wolf was trying to kill him once again. "But... but... " Lupa felt bad. Her wolf ears lowered, and the tail pointed down at the floor. Ester took the bowl from the sad Lupa. With the bowl now in her hands, she gulped filled with nervousness as she never fed a man before. However, she was skilled at feeding. Vincent was able to drink and eat plenty enough not to choke. "An old lady who lived next to us in my previous home needed caring. I would sometime feed her like this." Ester explained since Lupa crossed her arms and pouted at her success. Ester was making this look very easy to do. Ironically, the person who previously held a knife pointed at him with fear was now fed by that same person with care. A strange twist of fate indeed. As the feeding finished, the day had just begun. Only a few hours passed after the sun rose. "Are there any healing spells in this world?" Vincent decided to ask. If his theory was correct, then he might have a shot at healing himself. "There are scrolls and spells. Maybe even abilities. " Ester responded, filled with curiosity. 'Is he about to do another miracle?' She thought. "At night or maybe at midnight, I might be able to learn something I wish for. But there might be a requirement." Vincent was trying to guess his power. Then he decided to ask, "How do people learn spells?" "I don't know since I don't have a class. But one time I saw my father hold his head from a headache. Then he told me, "My little Ester, father has learned how to make a minor heal scroll. All the practice and failures finally paid off." " Ester raised a faint smile as she remembered about her past. It seemed the only past she liked was about her parents. She might have run away from home and made a contract with the gambling drunk Trek. But the reason might take some time to say.