Author’s Note: Only three Chapters today. Releasing eight Chapters yesterday turned out to be (un)surprisingly exhausting.
Thank you for your continued support!
...
There wasn’t any disbelief in the dragon maid’s voice anymore, only genuine amazement, and awe.
Isaac opened his mouth to answer before suddenly freezing.
Only then did the full implication of what he had been doing finally sink in. He had spent so much time adjusting genes, and controlling Aura that he had overlooked the most obvious result.
"Well... yes," Isaac admitted after a brief pause. He rubbed the back of his neck before continuing, "But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. They’re only children right now, and we have no idea how long they’ll take to mature. They still need to grow, learn, and decide what kind of lives they want to live."
The dragon maids nodded after hearing his explanation. They were happy to hear he wanted to give the children the choice to choose their future.
Even so, something told Isaac that these Happy Bunnies were going to love fighting.
Isaac stretched his arms before preparing to leave the Soulbind Pendant. As he turned around, he noticed what looked like a lone Bramble Hare standing quietly in front of him. The little rabbit simply stared back without moving.
Isaac looked at it for several seconds before realizing something was wrong. This wasn’t a Bramble Hare at all.
"...Punpun?" he asked.
The little rabbit nodded in response. Before Isaac could say anything else, one of the dragon maids came running from the mansion and quickly stopped a respectful distance away. She bowed apologetically before speaking.
"I apologize, Master. I didn’t think he would already be able to move around this quickly, so I lost sight of him." She glanced toward Punpun before lowering her head again. "I’ll make sure to keep a closer eye on him from now on."
The maid took a step forward to pick him up, but Punpun didn’t even look at her. His eyes remained fixed on Isaac the entire time, making Isaac pause for a moment before smiling.
"Do you want to come with me?" he asked.
Punpun nodded so quickly that his ears bounced.
Isaac bent down, picked him up carefully, and placed him on top of his head. The little bunny immediately wrapped his tiny paws around Isaac’s hair and settled down as though he had always belonged there.
"How is it up there? Is that comfortable for you?" Isaac asked while raising one hand just in case Punpun lost his balance, not that a fall from this height would do anything to him.
Punpun’s ears twitched happily before he answered in his slow, slightly awkward voice.
[It... is... good... Papa,]
His words came out with noticeable pauses between them, but they were clear enough to understand. The nearby dragon maids stared at him in complete surprise, despite having seen him speak once already.
Isaac looked at their expressions with some confusion.
"Is it really that surprising that he can already move around and talk?" he asked.
"It is, Master. Though, we don’t know if this is something every Happy Bunny can do, or if it’s unique to him because of his exceptionally high innate talent. We’ll need to observe the others before we can be certain," Celeste answered.
"Alright then. Keep watching the other Happy Bunnies for now. I’ll take care of Punpun today and see if he does anything unusual," he said.
Celeste hesitated before asking another question. "Master, what about his food? He’ll still need to eat at the proper times."
"Prepare his meals inside the Soulbind Pendant like normal. I’ll return there whenever it’s time to feed him, so there shouldn’t be any problems," he said.
The maid bowed once more, satisfied with the arrangement.
With everything settled, Isaac stepped out of the Soulbind Pendant. The surroundings changed instantly as he reappeared inside the mansion, and the difference in the environment was immediately noticeable.
Although the City’s mana concentration had increased significantly over the past weeks, it still couldn’t compare to the rich mana inside the pendant.
The Soulbind Pendant was also filled with gentle solar and fire mana that naturally soothed its inhabitants. Outside, that comforting atmosphere disappeared almost completely. The sudden change seemed to frighten Punpun far more than Isaac had expected.
The little bunny immediately hugged Isaac’s head as tightly as he could. His tiny body trembled against Isaac’s hair, making it obvious that he was frightened by the unfamiliar surroundings.
Isaac reached up, gently lifted the little bunny off his head, and cradled him in both hands.
"It’s alright. No one is going to hurt you. I’m here," he said softly. Punpun looked up at him for a moment before pressing himself against Isaac’s palms, still trembling despite the reassurance.
Isaac couldn’t deny that he found the sight a little amusing. It was hard to believe that this tiny, frightened creature was technically an Overlord.
The contrast between Punpun’s rank and his behavior was simply too great, and it made Isaac smile despite himself.
Since there was still some time before he needed to do anything else, Isaac decided to introduce Punpun to Avery. He left the mansion and walked toward the farm, where the Water Elemental Spirit spent most of her time looking after the fields. Before long, he stepped onto the farmland and called out to her.
"Hey, Avery."
Water slowly seeped out of the ground a short distance away before gathering into a familiar humanoid form.
Within seconds, Avery stood before him with her usual calm expression, though her eyes immediately settled on the bunny in Isaac’s hands. A small smile appeared on her face as she leaned forward to take a closer look.
"Is that a Beast Pet you hatched from the Beast Egg?" she asked.
Isaac blinked in surprise, though he made sure not to show it outwardly. It seemed Avery already knew that a Beast Egg was one of the rewards for earning a Solo Clear, otherwise she wouldn’t have guessed that so quickly.
Keeping his expression calm, he shook his head. "No. It’s a new monster species I created called the Happy Bunny. Punpun is the first one."
Avery froze for just a fraction of a second. She slowly lifted her gaze from the rabbit to Isaac, studying him carefully as if waiting for him to admit he was joking.
When he didn’t, she asked, "You created a monster species?"
Isaac nodded without much thought. "Is it really that surprising? I’ve already created the Sunflower and the Pea Spitter before this."
He honestly didn’t see a significant difference, since both had involved changing existing monsters through his skills.
"Those are Tier 1 species, while this is Tier 2. The difference between them is enormous. It’s like comparing a drawing of a tree to growing an actual tree from a seed. How did you even manage this? As far as I know, you shouldn’t have any skills capable of creating a Tier 2 species," she said.
Isaac trusted Avery enough to explain what had happened. He told her how his Aura had evolved and how he had used that Aura to influence Seed of Providence until the skill changed in the direction he wanted. He also described the process as accurately as he could, though much of it had happened through instinct rather than conscious calculation.
For one of the first times since meeting her, Avery looked completely confused. The dignified Water Elemental Spirit stood silently for several moments while trying to make sense of everything she had just heard.
Eventually, she shook her head in disbelief. "That shouldn’t be possible. Most Overlords spend years learning how to alter even a single skill with Aura."
"About that... I think I was talking to the skill while I was changing it. It almost felt like the skill understood what I wanted, so everything became much easier. Is that normal?" he asked.
Avery’s eyes widened noticeably. She stared at Isaac for several long seconds without saying anything, making him wonder whether he had said something strange.
When she finally spoke, her voice was much quieter than before. "Talking to your skills shouldn’t be possible."
She lowered her head and began quietly mumbling to herself. "Could it be a unique Physique? No, that wouldn’t explain everything. A Bloodline doesn’t make sense either, especially since you were able to share your wives’ abilities, and they don’t have anything like this. Then... could it be one of your unique Titles?"
After thinking for another moment, Avery looked back at Isaac with a serious expression. "Would you mind telling me your unique Titles? Only the ones that belong exclusively to you. You don’t need to reveal anything else if you’d rather keep it private."
Isaac considered the request instead of answering immediately. Avery had helped him from the very beginning and had played an important role in making Selene’s Trial go smoothly. More importantly, she had always been trustworthy, so he didn’t mind revealing information that wasn’t especially sensitive.
He quietly listed his unique Titles while leaving out anything related to Title stacks. There was no reason to mention those after everything Beroga had already explained to him. Avery listened without interrupting him until he finished speaking.
"Lifebringer," Avery said after a brief silence. She frowned as though a missing piece had finally fallen into place. "That should be the one responsible for this."
"For letting me communicate with my skills?" he asked.
"Yes. Although I’ve heard of the Lifebringer Title before, but never this particular ability. Either no one has discovered it until now, or the people who knew about it deliberately kept it hidden," she said.
"If you haven’t heard such an ability from the Title, then are you sure it’s the Title’s ability?" Isaac asked.
"It’s only a theory, so I can’t say anything with certainty. Still, if I’m right, your Lifebringer Title is allowing you to interact with your skills directly, and that will make altering them far easier than it is for anyone else," she replied.
Isaac nodded slowly, accepting her explanation. Even if she wasn’t completely certain, Avery knew far more about Titles than he did, so her guess was probably close to the truth. He decided there wasn’t much point in thinking about it further until he learned more.
Before either of them could continue the conversation, a powerful gust of wind swept across the farm. Isaac looked up and saw Alice descending from the sky with Emily riding on her back. The dragon landed smoothly nearby before lowering herself enough for Emily to climb down.
Emily walked over with a smile, but it disappeared into surprise the moment she noticed the rabbit in Isaac’s hands. Alice’s attention also shifted toward Punpun, and both of them studied the little bunny curiously.
"Who is this? His mana feels strangely similar to yours," Emily said, flying over.
"That is—"
The rest of his words never left his mouth because a powerful wave of mana suddenly spread through the area.
He immediately turned toward the source. Alice.
She didn’t seem to be releasing it intentionally, but the mana surrounding her was overwhelming nonetheless.
Punpun reacted almost instantly, burying himself against Isaac’s chest while trembling even harder than before.
The little bunny clung tightly to Isaac’s clothes, refusing to look anywhere except at him. His tiny voice shook as he spoke, barely loud enough for anyone else to hear.
[Pa... Papa...]