Refusing My God’s Advances

"Catch!" Isilda called to me, as I tossed the second rabbit at Scarlet, who shot it out of the air.

I turned back and caught the last rabbit, but right as I grabbed it, Scarlet shot it in half splattering me with blood. I dropped the first half and winced at the bloody mess that was left of the creature.

"Sorry!" Scarlet exclaimed as she ran over to me.

I looked down with a shake of my head. "Next time, just wait till I get the monster away from me before blowing it apart," I sighed but then frowned when I looked down. There wasn't any blood on me.

I had felt the splatter and the wetness, but when I glanced down at my clothing, it was spotless. I touched the fabric, half-expecting to feel the stickiness of blood, but there was nothing. "Huh, must be some kind of magical cleaning property or something," I mused aloud, more to myself than anyone else.

Scarlet seemed relieved, her cheeks slightly flushed from the excitement and the mishap. "I'll be more careful next time. And... your outfit seems to have some impressive features."

I nodded, appreciating the practicality of my gear. "Seems like it. It's more useful than I initially thought. Anyway, let's keep moving. We have a lot of ground to cover and I'm eager to see how much we can accomplish together."

As we ventured deeper into the Crystal Cavern, the monsters got stronger, but none of them could even come close to challenging us. Scarlet hadn't even got to try any of her skills until we got the the seventh cave.

"And we are back here again! We are cruising today!" Lila cheered as we reached the Abyssant Voidling cave.

I had gotten lucky and gained four more souls during our fighting. They were only a pair of blue Ice Wolf souls and two green Emerald Boar souls, but souls nonetheless. The last time we had been at this cave, Cynthia, and Isilda had to sit out the fight because they weren't strong enough.

"Girls," I said, and Cynthia and Isilda turned to me, both knowing I was talking to them. "I am going to return you both to my inventory, but is there a way I can give you the souls without changing your class? I am worried that if I keep giving you both random souls, you might lose the classes that you have now."

Instead of the girls speaking, Scarlet spoke up. "Danielle said that we can lock our current classes and abilities in place before absorbing new souls. It's a bit like setting a save point for our essence. That way, we can integrate the power of new souls without altering our foundational attributes or classes."

I nodded, impressed by the foresight and intricacies of the golem system. "Alright, then let's do that. I'll lock your current state before giving you these souls. It should bolster your power without risking the unique aspects of your identities."

Both sisters smiled as I returned them to my inventory, but then turned to Scarlet. "Thank you for telling me that, but I am sorry that I can't give these souls to you. I know they are ones that you can absorb."

Scarlet shook her head with a smile. "They won't work for me anymore. I need epic-rated blue, green, and red souls just like Lila."

"Really?" I asked, looking at Lila, who nodded. "I guess that I am going to have to find other uses for the souls that I collect."

While opening my inventory, and finding the options to lock the girl's class, I thought about my passive skill. Soulforge Master was a legendary skill, and it allowed me to shape souls and put them into more than just golems. I still didn't know exactly what that meant, but a plan was forming in my head.

As long as I could finish this cave today, I would spend the first half of tomorrow testing out Soulforge Master. I had to claim the island after that and fit in learning the magic to move the island in at some point. Tomorrow was going to be my last day before we would have to descend to the capital of Reshan, Marquisto.

I gave Cynthia the first soul, and her rarity rank went up to epic. I had given her the unique rare dragon soul yesterday, so I was curious how many souls it would take to rank up Islida. Sadly, it had taken all three souls, but I had learned something. Unique souls counted as two, while normal souls counted as one towards their rank up. It was a useful piece of information that would guide my decisions in the future.

With their classes locked and their power enhanced, I called forth Cynthia and Isilda once more. They stepped out of my inventory, their auras noticeably stronger. The air around us seemed to crackle with their increased power, a testament to the effectiveness of the soul infusion.

"Feel any different?" I asked, looking between Cynthia and Isilda.

Cynthia flexed her hands, a smile playing on her lips. "Stronger. The ice and fire within me feel more potent, more... harmonious."

Isilda nodded in agreement, her eyes gleaming with a new intensity. "The flow of time and ice in my spells feels more refined. I can sense an improvement in control and power."

Satisfied, I turned my attention back to the task at hand. "Good. Let's proceed. With our increased strength, I'm confident we can clear this cavern today without any problem."

Yesterday, Lila and I fought the Abyssant Voidling alone, and we had some trouble because of its gravity magic. I had been able to study its movements, and then just backhanded it like nothing. I still didn't really understand the ability, but I had no skill that could do anything like that.

Regardless, now I had four epic-rated golems with me, that all had a massive boost from my stats. I was kind of excited to see the girls fight, and I considered using my Super Fan Mascot outfit. It was pretty embarrassing, but if it meant giving the girls a boost, I had to swallow my pride.

"Is everyone ready?" I asked as I summoned my Super Fan Foam Finger, and all the girls nodded.