Summoned and Unwanted

Try as it might, the snow tiger couldn’t be free of Vincent’s grip. It tried to bite his arm off, but the gauntlet could not break. The only damage the snow tiger could do were meager dents.

While the snow tiger tried to struggle, it couldn’t stop from gulping the spicy snails. The more the tongue got scalded and the more its throat was on fire by the spiciness of the snails, the less it could perceive Vincent’s next moves.

Vincent didn’t have time to punch the snow tiger to death. All the mana he had collected was used to kill the large snow wolf with two hits.

Vincent’s mana reserves were low, and the seconds trickled. Time waited for no one, and it meant Vincent needed to make a killing blow in a matter of seconds.

Vincent moved his free arm under the snow tiger’s neck. His calm face contorted as he grit his teeth after he began channeling all his mana and more that he had into dozens of tiny wind sigils on one side of the hand.

After practicing hundreds of swings today, Vincent extended his fingers and moved his arm upwards with all the strength he could muster. He wanted to end this fight with one move.

However, Vincent knew it was not enough. Thus, he used both Ester’s power to increase his arm’s speed and impact power and using Lupa’s power to have a clearer judgment for his final move.

If he failed, Vincent would need to use twenty Soul Power for Soul Reset and try again. But the next time would be more challenging for Vincent as he would be suffering from Mana Fatigue.

.....

Vincent gritted his teeth and swung his arm upwards with everything he had.

*Swish* A trail of green light passed from one side of the snow tiger’s neck to the other. Blood followed the green arc, but the body and the head did not fall on the ground.

Awa was peeking from inside the cage of tendrils. She saw Vincent swiftly swing his arm and cut about half of the snow tiger’s neck. She saw the blood spill on the snow, covering the pure white snow into bloody red.

Awa couldn’t believe how mighty of a warrior Vincent was, yet the snow tiger had still not surrendered its life to the one who won. The snow tiger remained biting Vincent’s gauntlet to the bitter end.

Awa momentarily saw Vincent place his hand on the snow tiger’s shoulder and brutally rip the head from the body. More blood spilled on the snow, and shortly, the body fell lifelessly onto the ground.

Awa was at a loss for words, both from shock and surprise. On the other hand, the Cefeye shivered at the sight of Vincent’s might and brutality. They saw both the large body and head shine green and dematerialize into tiny particles.

Overheat ended a second after the large body and head were stored inside the Soul Dimensional Storage.

The man who killed two large beasts turned his gaze onto the Cefeyes as they stood between him and the people he fought to protect. He began walking forward, causing the four Cefeye to freeze from the fear of his might and the fear of what he was planning to do now.

The three male Cefeyes rushed in front of the female Cefeye to protect her. Protecting the female Cefeye was more important than their lives, it appeared.

Vincent stopped. He gazed at them and said, “The three of you are braver than your size. You can see that I took care of two magic beasts without receiving a single scratch, yet the three of you want to defend your leader.”

“Hehe.” Vincent chuckled while recalling how he had acted the same a few months ago in Aero Forest.

Vincent fought against opponents he would not be able to beat by normal terms, but because of tenacity and luck, he is still alive and kicking.

The prey fought the predator and won. The prey won enough until it became the predator. The cycle of survival turned Vincent into the man he currently is.

[Are you going to kill the Cefeye? We now know that there should be no more Cefeye around to fight us.]

Vincent looked at the female Cefeye. She wasn’t showing hostility or submission. Instead, she lowered to the ground and picked up pieces of fabric ripped from Awa’s clothes scattered all around the place.

The female Cefeye moved forward, causing the male Cefeyes to become confused. She squeaked an incompressible word and offered Awa’s ripped clothes to Vincent.

-How can I kill them now?-

[Yeah... I also would feel guilty to kill these innocent Cefeye now.]

Vincent summoned the snow tiger’s head. He threw it in front of the female Cefeye and said, “Keep the thorn clothes for yourselves. I will also give you this head. Take the skull and wear it proudly. It is a payment for not killing or mistreating the body.”

Vincent gave the female Cefeye a head pat on its damaged animal skull. He smiled and continued, “Your skull is damaged. This snow tiger’s skull will make you a fine Cefeye queen.”

The three male Cefeye became angry their leader was being touched. They squeaked a grunt as if to mean, ‘keep your hands off our leader.’

Vincent chuckled. He stopped giving the female Cefeye a head pat and walked to Plow, Zero, and Awa from the side.

Zero was in the process of reabsorbing the tendrils of the protective cage it created. The smaller the tendril cage became, the more Zero returned to its previous size and became a little bigger.

“How is everyone doing?” Vincent asked before looking at Awa, still shivering from the cold. “I hope Plow has lowered the temperature of your body by a little.”

“Plow kept Awa Awa warm. Plow wants praise.” *Pho*

“Zero. Protected. Good.”

“Thanks, you two. I am proud for acompaning me.” Vincent lowered and gave Zero a head pat. He lowered to his knee and gave Plow a head pat.

Awa stared at Vincent when she heard him tell the Cefeye to keep her thorn clothes. She couldn’t believe the man who acted as if he wanted to be her hero and win her trust would love the idea she was naked.

Awa became both angry and terrified. The more Awa pondered, the more negatively she thought about Vincent. Awa didn’t take too long to believe Vincent, and Plow played her for a fool.

Vincent was a slave trader in her eyes now. Only a slave trader would easily provide false kindness and later leave the person they betrayed naked and afraid.

Awa froze from fear the moment Plow stopped covering her thin naked body. She felt shame and humiliation watching Vincent staring at her body with a frown. She believed Vincent was assessing her value as merchandise.

Awa couldn’t take it anymore and wished for death. However, even if her lips managed to move slightly with the intention of uttering such words, no sound could be produced.

*Pho?* “Why is Vincent Vincent sad.” Plow asked. She was sure to protect Awa and keep her warm, yet Vincent gave Plow the impression she didn’t do a good job.

Vincent gently shook his head. He summoned a long warm pants and grabbed Awa’s foot.

Awa was overflowing with shame. She never believed in her entire life a man she never knew would dress her. Not to mention the moment when her body couldn’t move.

Shortly, Vincent dressed Awa in a set of warm clothes. His face couldn’t stop frowning at the clothes being oversized when put on a very thin body. A body with not much fat to hide the bones.

Even the talkative Kazumi remained quiet. This was her first time watching a person reduced to this state from starvation. Not even the slaves in Lusterfall City suffered from starvation, as Awa’s body appeared to be suffering from.

*Sk, skre*

Vincent turned around. He saw the female Cefeye remove a needle hair from its back. The hair needle was both rigid and flexible at the same time.

The Cefeye held the hair needle with both hands. She pulled from one side and cut her other hand, similar to a paper cut.

The hair needle was red at first, but after about three seconds, the color returned to normal. The female Cefeye placed the hair needle inside her mouth, chewed it, and spat it on the ground.

The female Cefeye grabbed the hair needle that had apparently absorbed the female Cefeye’s blood and saliva. The female Cefeye presented this hair needle to Vincent as if presenting a gift to an omnipotent being.

Vincent’s eyes quickly focused on the hair needle. As he had imagined, Vincent was being gifted a highly valued and sought-after Cefeye tail and not an ordinary hair needle.

.

[Name] Cefeye Tail

[Condition] Undamaged

[Grade] Exotic

[Description]

A tail willingly gifted from a female Cefeye. The tail has increased durability after willingly absorbing the blood and saliva of the owner of the tail in less than five minutes of the tail’s separation from the body.

.

Vincent gratefully received the valuable gift. It was mentioned in the monster book they read how female Cefeye can only have one hair needle-like tail in their entire life. It meant the tail was important to the female Cefeye as it doesn’t regrow.

Vincent summoned a spare green scarf Iris had given to Vincent. “Like you gave me something important to you, I will give you something important to me.” He said while wrapping the scarp around the female Cefeye’s neck.