524 Splinter Shotgun
Shortly, the gate entered their view. In front of the gate were Lenn and Renn. The twins looked more tense than usual.
The carriage arrived in front of the gate a little later. When Vincent asked why the twins looked as if they were acting as if stopping the smallest fly from entering the gate, they explained a rather funny story.
The more soldiers passed by during their patrols and stopped to chat with the twins, the more they got to know how famous their father was. Additionally, some of them would tell the twins how they had received unforgettable training exercises from the taskmaster Koss.
The more Lenn and Renn got to know soldiers who knew their father, the more the twins felt they needed to act diligently. The twins wanted to uphold her fatherâs image and be the sons of a respectable man.
Vincent ended up laughing while Lupa didnât like how her playthings... her sparring partners were more tired than usual.
*Woof*
Vincent smirked. âLupa wants to spar with you two, and she doesnât want to give you a handicap. She also hopes you do not overwork to maintain an image. Those who spar with Lupa should be proud of being worthy.â
âReally? We are good enough?â Asked Lenn.
âI guess sparring with teacher Lupa is better than with teacher Ganni or teacher Russo. â Renn said.
.....
*Woof* [I am best girl Lupa after all.] Lupa barked while raising her head proudly.
The twins opened the gate and hoped Eliara and Fliara would take their shift soon. They wanted to show Lupa how much they improved from the training Ganni and Russo gave them.
The carriage later arrived in front of the entrance door. When everyone exited the carriage, they heard the gate open again. A carriage with one horse was pulling the carriage, and two male butlers were at the front. It was unmistakably the Ponalis familyâs carriage.
Vincent informed Sofy that he wasnât going to go out today if a sudden trip didnât arise. Sofy understood and went to park the carriage to give the approaching Ponalis family carriage a lot of places to park.
Later, Aceon and the old maid exited the carriage. It didnât take long for Tiffi and Aceon to hug as if they didnât see each other for months. Both looked happy, and the view provided a pleasant warmth to everyoneâs hearts.
âLords and Ladies. I have prepared an area with chairs for anyone wishing to train outside. I have also prepared a table and some chairs for a snack.â Maid Xu respectfully extended her hand and continued, âIf anyone is interested, please follow me.â
Shortly, Vincent, Lupa, and Iris remained as the others followed Maid Xu. Even the two butlers later parking the carriage and taking the horse to the stable joined them later.
âLooks like everyone wants to enjoy their Sunday outside.â Said Vincent.
âI will take care of the plants and check what they are doing.â Iris curiously looked in the direction the others went. âI wonder if it will be fun.â
*Woof* [I will spar first. Then eat later.] *Sniff* [I smell sister Sakura coming.]
Sakura appeared a few seconds after Lupa informed them of her presence. In her hand was a pair of wooden gauntlets.
âWelcome home.â Sakura greeted with a smile. She looked excited by how she slightly swayed her hips to look more feminine.
âI have complete wood gauntlets version two. â Sakura said. Afterward, she curiously looked at Vincentâs hands and asked, âHow did you find the last pair?â
*Whimper*
âHuh? Is something wrong with sister Lupa? Did she get hurt?â Asked Sakura. She moved her gaze and noticed Lupa lower both her ears and tail. She became worried more now.
[I wonder how Sakura is going to take the news, hehe.] Kazumi joked.
Vincent summoned the pair of wood gauntlets Sakura gave him the week before, and her eyes couldnât believe what they saw.
*Cough* âLupa became a little bit too excited when she found out it takes a few tries to cut the wooden gauntlets.â Vincent explained with a pair of cloth gauntlets and many barely holding pieces of wood. It couldnât be called a gauntlet anymore.
*Woof* [I think I will go to rest.] Lupa said before running away with a guilty conscience.
Iris noticed Olive and Lian waving at her. âI will go to the kids and plants. See you two later. Bye.â She said before leaving Vincent holding Sakuraâs destroyed work alone.
Sakura frowned. She grabbed Vincentâs hand and said, âI demand compensation.â
âSure. But I would like to let you know that the wood was stronger than I thought.â
âHumph! I will make you better gauntlets. I hope they can have a shape of a gauntlet when they return.â
âYes, wifey.â Vincent agreed before he got pulled into the demonâs workshop. That day, the walls of the workshop shook more than usual while the compensation was underway.
Kazumi became bored and went to explore. Unbeknown to Kazumi, she could travel a little more distance because of Vincentâs mana and control increase.
Kazumi arrived in a place she could only see on the TV on Earth. On a long table were Zefine, grandma Luisa, Tula, Yula, Xu Xao Long, Grace, Markia, Alice, Leah, Clara, Beth, and Tiffiâs old maid playing bingo with dice and ticket paper slips.
Plow was on the table playing with a grin. As if lady luck chose Plow as her vessel to visit the mortal realm and display her powers, Plow was winning more than everyone participating in the game combined.
Not too far from them were Aceon, Maria, Tiffi, Lilith, and Ester using her Earth Sigil. It appeared one group was having fun while the other group was training.
[This is a pleasant view. Sometimes I wonder how Vincentâs life on Earth would have been in the supernatural disaster didnât taken his parents away. He might have grown into a happy family like the one big family in front of me.]
Kazumi wondered about a possible past that Vincent didnât get to experience a few years before becoming a teen.
âI want to show this new move I invented.â Said Ester, with the skin on her hand coarse and earthy.
Ester touched the ground with her hands. The earth became soft and waved as if alive. Like living mud, it started climbing and covering her arms.
Lilith, Maria, Aceon, and Tiffi became amazed to see Ester controlling a small amount of earth in her hands. The four thought they saw a Mage proficient in earth magic manipulating the earth.
The earth soon hardened, and a thick gauntlet with many cracks formed on her forearms and hands. It looked easy to break, yet Ester looked so confident it was a success that the four of them douted what Esterâs intentions were.
Ester stood up and raised her hands. They trembled as the weight of the gauntlets wasnât light.
On top of the Earth Sigils appeared the Wind sigils. As the two fused together, a breeze escaped from the cracks and made her sleeves slightly wave.
âStand back,â Ester warned while moving her hands toward the trees.
Suddenly, the two fused sigils became intensified with the light of multiple Wind Sigil applications and fusion.
âSplinter Shotgun. â Ester said the name of her new move while the brittle, hard earth gauntlet trembled under the pressure of the wind accumulating underneath.
The gauntlet burst into splinters, and a gust of strong condensed wind was able to blow forward with all the sharp pieces of the earth gauntlet captured in its current.
*Bam! Rustle.* The loud sound and the rustle of the tree leaves captured everyoneâs attention. When a small cloud of dust dissipated, many dents and holes up to three inches deep appeared on the treeâs trunk.
The bingo players clapped and later continued playing. They acted as if they were so used to seeing extraordinary things. Enough for Esterâs display to simply be another one of them.
Aceonâs eyes almost popped out, Tiffi became excited and hugged Ester as if she was her idol, and Lilith congratulated Ester. On the other hand, Maria compared the difference between the Mage Class and Esterâs power.
Kazumi was spectating all of this happening. She used Soul Visit and congratulated Ester. Kazumi also told Ester how Splinter Shotgun was safely recorded in her memories for eternity.
Ester looked at Kazumi and reassuringly thumped her chest. âWatch me grow, Kazumi. I will not drag everyone down again.â
[Okay, but do you think they will grow more? Hahaha.]
âMy chest grow... Huh!?â Ester covered her small chest and frowned. âYou...â
*Wink* [Bye.] Kazumi said before slyly returning Esterâs consciousness back to the living world.
Ester suddenly started to frown, making those around her confused. They thought Ester became unhappy because of the result and not because Kazumi joked about her chest, triggering Esterâs chest inferiority complex.
Ester was asked my questions by the bewildered Aceon, such as what shotgun means.
Ester shortly replied, âVincent said it is a handheld weapon that can shoot many projectiles at once.â
Aceon scratched his head because of his puzzled mind. When he was about to continue asking, the excited Tiffi interrupted her father and requested to see a dance.
*Clap, clap, clap* Everyone clapped after Ester finished providing entertainment with her dance.
âVincent was right. I should learn to dance like you, teach...â Tiffi paused to peek at Maria, looking at her with a frown, and continued, âElder sister Ester.â
Esterâs heart raced with excitement. This was the first time someone wanted to learn to dance like her instead of thinking it was a dance no bipedal with bones can do.
The response Ester received from Tiffi almost brought her to tears from joy.