Chapter 67: Emerald grass illuminating the darkness
Lupa took the first turn. She noticed how her nails restored themselves after a day's rest. With a smile, she spent her guard shift training her shapeshifting ability.
Ester didn't train that night. She felt exhausted as her eyes had a hard time staying open. However, she held the watch and used it to stay awake.
Ester would sometimes gaze at Lupa and Vincent sleeping. She would raise a light smile as she pondered about her new life and how she felt happy by all this.
*Day 17
The watched buzzed, waking the half-sleeping Ester up. She woke Vincent to change their shift. It took a few seconds for her to sleep like a log when her eyes closed.
Vincent stretched his body, but it felt refreshed and energized for more training. His body wasn't sore anymore from the training and cart pulling he did the previous day.
[Hey, Vincent. I'm all fired up and ready to go. Why don't we start the skill creation process now? I thought a lot about what to do while you slept; I hope it's enough to help us progress to the end of this project.]
"Then let's start." Vincent focused his thoughts to form a skill. Momentarily, the learning window to accept appeared.
.
[Will you spend 20sp to learn a skill from the host memories?]
[Host has one hour to think, imagine, and understand for an ability to form.]
[No refund. No discount.]
.
[Accept -20sp] [Decline]
.
"Accept. " Vincent sat down next to the burning campfire. Closed his eyes and brainstormed a way to make the impossible work. He wanted to help if Kazumi would ask.
.
[-20sp used to form an ability or spell. 20sp remaining.]
[59:59 time remaining.]
.
Vincent stood guard murmuring for one hour until Kazumi contacted him again. She didn't sound happy as her voice sounded a bit depressing.
[I failed. I can't find out what is missing to complete the skill... I'm sorry.]
Vincent used Inspection on himself to see how much percentage to learn the Dimensional Storage skill remains. It stopped so close to a hundred that it urged him to try again. This time together.
.
[Name] Vincent Agius
[Condition] Healthy
[Soul Power] 20sp
[Class] Soul Hero
[Class] Soul Mutation
.
[Class Soul Hero]
*Soul Retainer Bond (Blessed)
*Inspection(Basic)
*Soul Spells - Minor Heal
*Dimensional Storage (Unable to use until 100% understanding. Current progress is 95%)
.
[The process is stuck at ninety-five percent, but I don't know how to continue. Like it says in the notification window, all the twenty soul power got used with no refund.]
"We didn't fail though. Maybe our progress was too good to notice how hard it actually is. Your help with this process feels like a cheat." Vincent tried to brighten the mood with some positive words. He didn't want Kazumi to think it was her fault when she did her best.
"Kazumi, can you pull me into my Soul Domain with your Soul Vist ability? Like what you did to Ester." Vincent had considered a plan in the hour Kazumi was doing her best to learn Dimensional Storage.
[Yes I can, but it won't last long. I'm a little tired from the research. One moment and...]
Kazumi used her ability. Vincent felt time stopping as his surroundings became engulfed in darkness, blocking the crackling campfire sound, leaving darkness and silence to approach with the speed of a storm.
Entering his soul domain felt almost the same as the Soul Retainer Bond skill. But the only difference was the time to enter and exit. Soul Visit slowed time until time completely froze while Soul Retainer Bond stopped time immediately.
Kazumi, the cute green shining wisp, appeared in front of Vincent. He immediately could feel how lonely she was when his gaze landed upon the green wisp living in this nothingness alone.
At least Kazumi could see in a third-person view when she focused on the mana surrounding Vincent, or this would be a punishment not wished on the worst enemies.
[What ever you do, don't use Inspection on me.]
These words caused Vincent to gain the urge to inspect her even more.
.
[Name] Kazumi Chiba
[Condition] Healthy
[Class] Kn0wl?dg3 Hero
[Soul Synch] 24%
.
[Class Kn0wl?dg3 Hero]
*[Inspection level too low.]
.
"Oops, my bad, hehe. But that's sad... You only like me this much?" Vincent sarcastically said with a sly smile.
[Stop teasing me, and let's focus on Dimensional Storage. Are you going to use your last stockpiled Soul Power to learn the skill?]
Kazumi didn't seem to like the teasing about her affection level. She also felt embarrassed for being too low by how much she knew about him with a pair of faint embarrassed white cheeks.
There are different attractions and different conditions for the percentage to grow. In Lupa's case, she practically knew no one. She and Vincent stayed alone, allowing the percentage to grow considerably fast.
Vincent shook his head to remove any unnecessary thoughts of revenge teases. He gazed at Kazumi, who had her body lightly flicker along with her embarrassed mood.
[I learned a new ability called Vision Projection from the work you gave me.]
Suddenly, a fifty-inch window like a hologram appeared out of nowhere above Kazumi. It showed multiple cropped images of the thoughts she sent to the hologram display.
[This is my new ability, pretty neat, right? These are the images about the ideas I thought so far, and the ideas of how we can possibly finish the ability.]
[This has been a massive project you burdened me with. At least it had some fruits to it. Like a deja vu similar to what Ester and Lupa stated they experienced, I suddenly remembered an ability I had when alive.]
[I saw myself in a human body, but the faces, people, and surroundings were all hazy. I think I was in a goblin tribe, and I think there was a human with me as well.]
[Furthermore, I had a great body, more attractive then what we saw in the vision... just to let you know, that's all, hehe.]
"Great body aside, you have learned or remembered a skill different from me." Vincent hoped to see if another Hero could awaken their skills the same as him, but it wasn't so it seemed.
[Did you forget? You make your skills while we awaken them. You are the special one, oh mighty cheater Vincent.]
"So, you are saying my class breaks the laws of this world? Then I might be able to use magic as well. I want to throw a fireball one day. Even a lighter sized flame is enough for me." Vincent drooled at the thought of using magic. However, he forgot mana was the key to cast a spell, something he didn't have.
[Minor Heal is a spell, but oh well, enough chatting for now since I can't keep you here with me for long. Even if I wish to.]
[More precisely, four more minutes before I throw you out and enter into a half a day emergency deep sleep.]
Vincent nodded and thought of mastering Dimensional Storage.
.
[Will you spend 20sp to learn an ability from the host memories?]
[Host has one hour to think, imagine, and understand for an ability to form.]
[No refund. No discount.]
.
[Accept -20sp] [Decline]
.
"Accept. " Vincent gazed at fifty-inch window hovering in mid-air. It remained in the same place even after Kazumi went beside him to watch what she was projecting.
.
[-20sp used to form an ability or spell. 0sp remaining.]
[59:59 time remaining.]
.
Two minutes swiftly flew by. Both brainstormed while assertively gazing at any helpful reference Kazumi had seen and memorized from his memories.
The slideshow made Vincent realize how much work and effort was put in to reach this far. He could see many theories.
Many of which Vincent didn't know how she thought of them. The little green wisp was more intelligent and resourceful than he thought.
There were some theories on how the items would get reconstructed and deconstructed into a magic liquid-like matter. How time would stop for what's inside, and how space would work.
The window abruptly faded as her warm wisp glow started to dim. It meant Vincent didn't have much time left. After he gets kicked out, he would need to continue solo for the remainder of the time.
"I'm a Soul Hero... we are in my Soul Domain... Kazumi lives here alone... " Vincent murmured to himself while brainstorming for an answer to this seemingly impossible solution.
"I got it! What if we took the word of soul-bound items literally? What if they get stored in here? It's not like this place has any space problems." Vincent excitedly said.
[Briliant idea. I didn't think of something like that because I didn't want to cause you any problems. But like Kevin likes to say.]
[Simple is the best.]
"Simple is the best."
The moment both of them said this. A notification window appeared in front of Vincent.
.
[Dimensional Storage learned.]
[The user can store non-living items inside their Soul Bound Dimensional Storage.]
[A place to hold the items as desired by the user will begin forming.]
.
After they both read the notification window, the Soul Domain started shaking as if an earthquake suddenly erupted inside this mysterious place.
[What's happening? What did you desire to cause this?]
"Kazumi, do you see that? There is something green appearing from under the dark ground." Vincent noticed sharp emerald looking spikes emerging from the darkness beneath his feet.
Vincent approached with caution at this expanding patch of crystals. The closer he approached, the more he noticed how these green crystal had the shape similar to grass.
The ground didn't stop shaking even after this mysterious patch of emerald crystal grass stopped expanding. In the middle of all this mysterious emerald grass, a green liquid erupted like a fountain with steam rising from it.
There was no need to guess what it was. The mutation seemed to have entered into his Soul Domain by his wish and solution to have the Dimensional Storage work.
Liquid drops collected above the fountain, forming a ball of mutated green substance floating in mid-air. It gradually increased in size while it spun on its own at rapid speed.
This spinning ball suddenly stopped and begun wiggling as if alive. Second, after the other, the ball stretched until it formed into a perfect solid-looking square box.
It stopped floating in mid-air and fell on the fountain clogging it. After the box fell, the earthquake mysteriously stopped. As if the cause of the earthquake was quelled.
"Did... did you see that? That is the solution I found, haha. I wanted to change this place for you. Luckily, it seems it worked." Vincent said in an excited tone.
Kazumi didn't know what to say. She became so happy that she couldn't reply. The thought of using his dangerous mutation to change the Soul Domain, for the sole reason not to leave her alone, made Kazumi feel happy yet worried of what change this could bring for the future.
"Looks like I surprised you too much." Vincent petted her wisp head with a smirk.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
VisualKoFey
VisualKoFey A new change happened in his Soul Domain while learning the beneficial Dimensional Storage ability. A new place where Kazumi can rest and not feel alone in the darkness. She can see some color when not using her mana to see the living world from a third-person view.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone