Summoned and Unwanted

Vincent hoped the matter could be taken care of without the need for his presence. If more soldiers decided to accept Vincent Lionheart as their sponsor, he might end up needing to spend half of his Sunday signing papers or doing other related procedures.

Vincent sent the letter and went to the arrival hall at a quick pace. Shortly, he arrived and saw a flash of light. Lilith and Clair appeared coincidently upon his arrival as both teleported a bit later than usual.

Lilith became happy to see how she didn’t need to wait for Vincent. However, she had forgotten how they were a bit later than usual, and how she needed to walk quickly to arrive on time.

Lilith’s smile later turned into a frown while being pulled by her hand and pulled by walking quickly.

Maria arrived, and the magic lesson began. While the lesson was the usual meditating in silence kind of activity, Melissa approached Maria and whispered an offer.

Soon, Maria let the young attention seeker Melissa show her meditation form. At the same time, Maria acted like a teacher and gave pointers on how to best relax one’s body for the perfect mind and body synchronization.

Later, when the lesson was over, Maria glanced at Vincent and noticed a smirk on his face. She frowned at the thought of casting spells for eight minutes straight. It was a bothersome hassle to her.

Vincent, Lilith, and Maria teleported. A surprising sight welcomed them as lines of small rocks formed a large rectangle. Furthermore, the grass was trimmed, making it look like a combat area.

.....

Ester, Lupa, Iris, and Plow were placing the last of the small rocks. It appeared this was something they began preparing after Lilith let to surprise even her.

“My mate is here!”

“Vincent Vincent, arrive!” *Pho*

Both exclaimed at the same time. Their tail wagged with the anticipation of being praised for helping out.

“This is unexpected...” *Sigh* “So you really have reached fifty mana in one...” *Sigh* “No, probably less than a day’s time.” Maria looked slightly annoyed, yet a deal was a deal.

Maria had to honor the deal and cast her spells while trying not to cause harm. Additionally, holding back was the most bothersome thing to her.

Maria placed her inspection gemstone in his hands, and a soon sigh left her mouth. She lost the bet.

.

[Stats] Strength 22 || Agility 20 || Perception 22 || Mana 52

.

Shortly, Vincent, Ester, and Maria stood in the combat area. On one side, Vincent and Ester stood beside each other, while the frowning Maria stood on the other.

Ester’s hands became cold while a Frost Sigil hovered above each of her hands. Vincent used Overheat, and his mutated blood-hardened gauntlets emitted heat. The two stood beside each other while containing an element opposite to the other in her hands.

Maria held her wand *~Sigh~* “Are you ready?” She asked with an annoyed expression.

“Yes. You can start now.” Vincent responded with his hoarse voice.

*Sigh* “Mana gather and freeze, Ice Shard.” Maria moved her wand and shot a small icicle toward Vincent.

The small icicle reached Vincent, yet without showing any signs of distress, he swung his hand and slapped the icicle to the ground. The attack was so weak to Vincent that he treated it like a fly.

On Vincent’s face soon appeared a frown as he knew this wasn’t all she could do.

On the other hand, Ester felt she could stop the small icicle without much difficulty because her hands currently have immunity to cold. Additionally, her flexible body allows her to alter the direction of the projectile when she moves her limbs without the constraints of inflexibility ordinary humans suffer from.

[I can sense the same low amount of mana gathering around Maria. I think she is going to shoot another small icicle at you.]

Time was of the essence to Vincent in Overheat form. He had to go big or fail big. He couldn’t spend the agreed eight-minute-long time playing with small ice. Dangerous ice spells were his targets.

“Teacher Maria. Please shoot Ice Lance at me.” Vincent requested.

“It is too dangerous to shoot an Ice Lance at this distance...”

“Do it.” Vincent insisted.

“But...”

“Shoot. Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.” The audience consisting of Lupa, Iris, Lilith, and Plow, encouraged Maria to up her game.

Vincent smiled at his wives and familiar cheering squad. He extended his arm and signaled to bring it on. Vincent ordered a tasty menu of cold mana to absorb, and he wanted to begin tasting it now.

“Vincent. You asked for it. ” Maira responded to everyone’s wish.

Maria held her wand tightly, and the temperature gradually became colder. The mana around her changed with her intent to use an ice-type spell.

“Mana gather and mercilessly freeze, Ice Lance. ” Maria said. A cold mist appeared in front of Maria’s wand. An icicle began to form, and it rapidly grew about one meter long.

Maria flicked her wand, and the long icicle defying the laws of gravity, shot toward Vincent at great speed.

Vincent gazed at the icicle and braced his legs for the upcoming impact. His hand extended, and his fingers prepared to grab and hold the ice lance with all his might.

However, the distance was too close, and the icicle traveled too fast to allow thinking and reacting at the same time. Both body and mind needed to move as one, and Kazumi was the key to make this happen. She used Soul Invite to take advantage of the time slow-like effect, helping Vincent have enough time to guide his body appropriately.

Vincent could see the ice lance gradually getting closer slowly, and he began moving his hand to the point of capture.

*Bam! Crack!* The lance of ice landed on his hand, but the force of the impact caused his gauntlets to crack.

The ice lance dragged Vincent two meters back before he stopped his body. Catching the long spear-shaped icicle caused everyone to become stunned.

Vincent and Kazumi couldn’t believe how the ice lance was so powerful that it cracked the hardened mutated blood gauntlets.

Fighting a mage wasn’t as easy as they thought it would be, and the gauntlets needed to become tougher to fight stronger foes.

On the other hand, Ester, Lupa, Iris, Lilith, and Plow saw Vincent struggle. They felt scared, yet happy to see Vincent win against the ice lance from an almost point-blank distance.

As for Maria, she thought Vincent was going to move away after seeing the ice lance being shot from a couple of meters away. Watching Vincent catch the ice lance made her open her eyes wide and gasp in shock.

Vincent looked at the ice lance in his hands. The ice was melting quickly as his gauntlets drained the mana, and the heat melted the ice. By the time Ester snapped out of her daze, the ice had melted on the frowning Vincent’s hands.

[That’s it? You didn’t gain mana.]

Vincent was more surprised than Kazumi. He hoped to become stronger after doing this dangerous stunt. However, the powerful ice spell didn’t award him any mana growth.

Vincent hoped he had made a mistake, so he wanted to try again. He looked at Maria and urged, “Another one. Make it more powerful this time.”

*Gulp* Maria saw his gauntlet cracked after catching an ice lance at base power. She worried Vincent might die if he tried to catch another one with more mana added.

“No.” Maria rejected the demand and shook her head. She didn’t want to risk killing someone who wasn’t born a noble and wasn’t an arrogant person.

Ester walked beside Vincent and looked at Maria. She raised her hands and said with determination in her voice, “We will catch it together this time.”

*Sigh* “I will add more mana into it then. But don’t blame me if you get hurt.” Maria surrendered after everyone present wanted her to shoot another one.

“Mana gather and mercilessly freeze” Maira paused for a moment to gather more mana. As the mana became cold and gathered into the icicle, the one-meter-sized ice increased by a couple of centimeters in both length and width.

Vincent prepared to catch the ice when Ester suddenly went in front of him. She leaned her back against his chest and raised her hands.

“Let’s do it together. ” Ester said with determination to succeed.

The ice lance was formed, and it was about to shoot at any second. If Vincent made a mistake, Ester would die.

When Vincent was about to move away from the projectile’s path with Ester, they heard, “Ice Lance.” Maria finished casting an ice spell with more power this time.

*Tap* The ice lance landed in Ester’s hands, but she wasn’t strong enough to hold it. *Bam!* A pair of warm gauntlets clasped the ice from hurting Ester. The fingers dug deep within the ice, and they began absorbing the mana out of it quickly.

Vincent and Ester were pushed back about one meter this time. Their combined strength helped to block a more powerful ice lance.

Vincent looked down while Ester looked up. Soon their eyes met.

“Don’t do dangerous stuff like this, Ester.” Vincent worryingly said.

“I trust you with my life. Hehe.” Ester replied with a beaming smile and let out a giggle.

The long heavy icicle held by the pair of warm gauntlets was melting quicker because of the heat. Additionally, because most of its composition was mana and it was disappearing rapidly, the melting process advanced.