[Other than the need to hide the Ani Bananas before they disappear inside the black hole that her stomach seems to be, we won't have a problem with her.] -Yes. I better store most of them to be safe.- Vincent placed a few Ani Bananas in a bucket and handed it to Ester to deter Lupa from stealing a few more. Then he touched the pile of dozens of yellow fruit and stored them inside his Soul Dimensional Storage. [88x Ani Banana (Unkown Quality) gained.] Tula couldn't get used to watching the objects being stored shining green and quickly dematerializing into mana particles. She stared with a pair of bewitched eyes until all the green shining mana particles entered into Vincent's hands. "Big brother Vincent is so cool!" Tula exclaimed while clapping as if it was a magic show. "Why don't we go and say our goodbyes to your uncle Kass? Night is approaching." Vincent noticed how quickly time passed. He decided it would be best to burry Kass and prepare to rest for the night. "Okey." Tula lightly nodded. She felt sad remembering her uncle Kass. Later the four of them arrived at the empty gravesite. Tula helped by respectfully placing Kass and the old woman in the grave. She insisted on helping her uncle go to what she called it, "the Dragon Heaven." "I didn't know you, but you saved our lives. I think the two of you were together, so I'm giving you a bed together. Rest peacefully for all eternity, and as your niece, Tula has said, I wish you go to Dragon Heaven." Vincent bowed in respect at Kass. Vincent felt the need to respect the person who decided to sacrifice his life to fight instead of using Vincent, Ester, and Lupa as bait and leave with the injured Tula. Tula hugged Ester as she tried to hold her tears. She wanted to send her uncle with a smile on her face. To show she was alive and well. "Thank you, uncle. I don't know how I got here, but big brother and big sisters say I will know when my memories and body return to normal. I wish you go to Dragon Heaven." Tula said, wiping her tears on Ester's clean set of clothes. Vincent grabbed the shovel and started burying the two corpses until Ester stopped him halfway. She explained how it was a tradition for people close to the deceased to take part in burying them. Later, the four of them finished the burial. Vincent checked the watch. It was time to call it a day. He decided to leave the burying of the two remaining young soldiers and Ani Banana gathering for the next day. Lupa stared at Ester and Vincent until she begged, "I want clothes like yours. I want to wear good smelling clothes when sleeping with my mate." "Big sister Ester, your clothes look new and clean. Can I have clean clothes too?" Tula added. Vincent and Ester suddenly felt terrible for not giving them a clean set of clothes. The cold progressed along with the night. The light fog began appearing, and the warm temperature becoming cold and humid because of the Elder Demonic Ani Banana Tree. Ester was in charge of the clothes since the Gender-Bound Bag Of Holding was used as a portable wardrobe. She shortly gave them a set of clean clothes to wear for the cold night. Ester guided the two girls away from Vincent's sight and made sure Tula kept the chest wrap worn. She didn't want to see the pair of mounds jiggle and trigger her inferiority complex. Denying the chance to seduce Vincent was her second motive. [So, Vincent... I want to confess something.] -Did you do something wrong?- [No... It's not that. It's how I have manipulated you to be with two women. I wanted you to love more than one person so that you would have a harem, and I would have a chance to be with you.] -You are not inferior to Ester or Lupa just because you don't have a body. As you said before, you are and will always be my number three, hidden from sight or not.- [You... thank you.] Kazumi stopped communicating and cried tears of joy on the emerald grass. She felt happy in the way she was accepted. She tried to hide everything behind an all-knowing intelligent facade while hiding her true feelings deep within her soul. 'I thought she was up to something when she insisted on creating a Harem. She might have thought I would forget or ignore her in the future since she is just a soul.' 'Was her doubt of not being wanted weighing on her mind the entire time? Even before she decided to speak to me?' 'Thinking about it. Kazumi must've felt lonely the first time she opened her eyes without memories and forced to see my life from the moment I was born.' 'She probably thought I would abandon her for not possessing a human body. Most of the time, however, I forgot I was talking to a soul. I won't abandon a person like that.' Vincent remained in deep thought as he almost let a chuckle from the over-worrying Kazumi's actions. She always acted sly and liked to joke a bit too much, but she was insecure inside. Kazumi wanted to help so that she would be needed and wanted. She worried Vincent might not need her and forget her soon after. "Is big brother talking with the guardian angel?" Tula asked. Ester nodded, thinking the same thing. She had no idea what was weighing on his mind. Vincent didn't seem to notice their arrival. He remained as if the three beauties approaching were invisible. "Ahh... you're back. Let's prepare to eat something and sleep." Vincent said after noticing them. Later the group cooked a fish each and ate a couple of Ani Bananas as dessert. Kazumi then stayed guard for the night while everyone went to sleep with a content belly. But before doing so, Kazumi visited Lupa in her Soul Domain. Lupa felt time slow to a stop. She opened her eyes as soon as she felt something different. Shortly, she saw darkness envelop her vision and the sound muting. A bright green wisp in an empty black background entered her sights next. "Am I dead?... " Lupa forgot how she insisted on meeting with Kazumi after wearing new clothes and indulging herself in a couple of sweet Ani Bananas. [Didn't you want to meet with me?] "This voice. It's what Ester said to have heard. A voice that enters into your head without hearing it from your ears. As if the thoughts are directly talking to me." Lupa rubbed her wolf ears as this kind of communication felt a bit unpleasant to her. [Well, nice to meet you, white wolf girl Lupa. It looks like Ester told you many things about me. You know, I helped to tell Vincent to mate with you. Aren't you thankful for my intervention?] Lupa suddenly raised a cheerful smile at these words. Vincent never truly accepted her advances until, on this day, Vincent said she was his woman. "Thank you, sister." Lupa lunged to hug the floating wisp. A pair of arms tightly held the helpless Kazumi. Momentarily, Lupa spun around in joy for meeting another sister. [Ok, ok. You can stop now. I'm feeling dizzy, even without a body.] Lupa stopped and released the hug. She took a few steps back, feeling like she did a bad thing with her tail lowered down. [Don't feel sad. We have a few minutes here. Why don't we talk until I have to send you back?] Lupa vigorously nodded, and her unmoving tail suddenly wagged, creating a small breeze. The two spent a few minutes until Kazumi couldn't keep Lupa in her Soul Domain any longer. Shortly, the darkness dispersed, Vincent sleeping beside her appeared, and time returned to normal. Lupa raised a smile and had a good night's sleep. *Day 21 Vincent opened his eyes in the morning. He lay on the bed alone under the shade of the gigantic tree. The three girls were awake and cooking fish for breakfast. It seemed the fish supply wasn't going to last long at this pace as another person joined them. [Good morning, Vincent. I had a good talk with Lupa yesterday. She wanted to meet with me more, and I can guess why. Her competitive nature might want to meet with me more than Ester.] [Pfff... haha. This wolf is hilarious.] -What did you talk about?- [It's a secret between girls.] 'I hope she didn't give Lupa any unnecessary tips. ' Vincent worried as he pulled himself up. After eating, Lupa and Tula continued their job of Ani Banana gathering. Ester decided to stay with Tula. She felt a bit shy being with Vincent all alone, so she stayed with Tula and helped her. Vincent left to dig more gravesites with a puzzled frown. Lupa scouted for anything new and reported that the smoke cloud was still there and rising at the same pace and intensity. The chance of the forest burning increased. [We should collect Ani Banana's faster with Ester helping out. I thought we could stay here for maybe a week or so and gain some Soul Power to power up. But we can't stay here for long. We need to head towards the river in the next days if the fire doesn't stop.] -Yes, I agree. Speaking about Soul Power, I could try upgrading my Soul Dimensional Storage. What do you think?- [I agree to give it a try. I have a feeling that the more you use your abilities, the easier it gets to use them.] -You are right. I can use most of my abilities with only a few thoughts. I don't need to focus on my intentions for a long time until the notification window appears.- [I think your mutation allows the possibility to upgrade your abilities. In fact, when your Overheat became stage one, the notification window didn't say upgrade at both Inspection and Soul Dimensional Storage, but mutate instead.] "Upgrade and mutate must mean the same thing. Maybe this is possible with the help of the two distinct classes inside my body." "Let me try. " Vincent closed his eyes and envisioned the desire to increase the storage size. As both of them thought, a notification window to mutate his ability appeared a second later. [Wish to mutate an ability has been detected.] [Mutation of Soul Dimensional Storage is available.] [Will you spend 10sp to mutate Soul Dimensional Storage?] [Accept -10sp] [Decline] "Accept. " Vincent accepted with an excited smile. [-10sp to mutate Soul Dimensional Storage. 10sp Remaining.] [Soul Dimensional Storage 1xCubed mutated to 2xCubed] [Soul Dimensional Storage stage zero increased to stage zero (1/10)]