Two days had passed since William and the rest of the First Year Students returned to the academy. The red-headed-boy was now able to move his body, but he was still not back to his peak condition. It was also at that moment when news of Matthew's and Leah's disappearance reached his ears.
Initially, his first thought was to go to Aberdeen and join the rescue mission to find them. However, he knew that with his current condition, he would only become a hindrance instead of a help if he chose to go.
"Are you worried about Matthew and Leah?" Oliver asked. He was currently hiding in William's shadow in order to protect him until he fully recovered from his injury.
"Yes," William answered. "I wish I could go to Aberdeen and look for them."
"You don't have to worry about that. I received a message from Mistress that your Grandpa and a few of the veterans of Lont had gone to Aberdeen to look for Matthew and Leah."
"Really? That's good."
William sighed in relief knowing that his Gramps had gone to save his Big Brother and Big Sister. He was sure that James wouldn't stop until he found the two teenagers inside the dungeon.
The red-headed boy was currently inside his dormitory room and no one, aside from the officers and Wendy, were allowed to visit him. Right now, Kenneth was with Priscilla and doing his duty as Secretary of the Solaris Dormitory.
This gave Oliver the opportunity to talk to William and discuss important matters.
"Will, there is something that I need to tell you," Oliver said with a serious expression. "I was planning to wait for a day more, but these two kids are getting anxious."
As if waiting for Oliver to mention the two of them, the twin souls flew out of William's shadow and hovered in front of his eyes. They twinkled like two stars, one yellow, one red.
"I'm glad that the two of you are safe." William smiled as he gazed at the two souls in front of him.
The two souls bounced up and down as a mysterious melody reached William's ears. William could vaguely understand that they were trying to talk to him, but he couldn't understand their language.
Fortunately, Oliver came to the rescue and translated their message for William.
"These two kids want you to help them revive their loyal Guardians," Oliver translated as he too, flew out of William's shadow. "Do you remember those three beasts in the dungeon core room? These two want them to be reborn."
William blinked when he finally understood what the two souls wanted to do. He had completely forgotten about the Mythical Beasts because back then, he had lost consciousness while trying to resist the corruption. There was simply no opportunity for William to worry about others in that crucial period.
"You said revive." William gave Oliver an inquiring gaze. "Did the guardians die?"
"Yes." Oliver nodded. "Just like how these two kids lost their outer core, the guardians also lost their physical bodies. However, the twins used their remaining power to bind the souls of their guardians to their Beast Cores."
Oliver waved his wing and three, black, High-Grade Cores floated in the air in front of William. "Although the two succeeded in binding the Guardians' soul to their beast cores, this is only a temporary stop gap. [I]in two more days, the souls will completely dissipate from the cores and they will be lost forever."
William sighed as he looked at the three floating cores. If he absorbed them, he might have gained an incredible amount of experience points. But, seeing the two bouncing souls in front of him, he no longer had the heart to carry out his plan.
"How can I help?" William asked. He didn't want to waste any more time because there was a possibility that a visitor would come knocking on his door. Since time was limited, it would be best to cut to the chase and get it over with.
"We need to perform a ritual in which these three Beast Cores will be used as catalysts in order to revive the Guardians," Oliver explained. "They will no longer have memories of their past life, and would simply be 'reborn' as new beings that are no longer tied to a dungeon. Naturally, they will be bound to you. Just think of it as acquiring three pets to raise for free."
"Three pets to raise for free?" William felt slightly complicated. It was not as if he wasn't interested in raising the three beasts. He had already seen them and their capabilities, however, he didn't know if he was ready for such a responsibility.
Unfortunately, the two souls were busy nuzzling his cheeks as if they were trying to butter him up to help with the revival ritual. In the end, William agreed and Oliver began to write a magic circle in the center of the room in order to start the ritual.
When he was done, Oliver placed the three beast cores at the center of the Magic Circle.
"I need a pint of your blood in order to make this work," Oliver stated. "Is that fine with you?"
"Only my blood?" William inquired. "Nothing else?"
"Just your blood. In short, these creatures will be born with your blood running through their veins." Oliver smirked. "I guess calling them pets is inappropriate. They're more like your first born kids? Congratulations! You are now a father of triplets."
"Hahaha, very funny."
"Mistress always tells me that I have a good sense of humor."
Oliver gave William a serious glance as he conjured a shadow dagger in the air. "Well then, are you ready?"
William took a deep breath before nodding his head. As soon as Oliver deemed him ready, the shadow dagger flew and stabbed him in the arm. The young boy's blood gushed out like a fountain.
Surprisingly his blood didn't fall on the magic circle. Instead, it was magically siphoned to the three Beast Cores as the Magic Circle started to glow brightly.
Oliver chanted in the background and spoke in a language that William didn't understand. As the lights of the circle grew brighter, William could feel a growing connection with the Beast Cores that were starting to vibrate.
Suddenly, a blinding flash of light erupted from the center of the runic formation. The young boy was forced to close and shield his eyes until the light receded.
"It is done." Oliver's proud words reached his ears.
When William opened his eyes to look at the result of the ritual, he found three creatures looking up at him from beside his feet.
One of them was a golden snake. It was only a meter long and its golden reptilian eyes looked at William as if it was looking at its daddy. Suddenly, it crawled up William's leg, until it reached his neck where it happily coiled itself.
The baby golden snake flicked its tongue against William's cheeks as if giving him a kiss.
Before William could do anything about the baby snake that was looped around his neck, two barks sounded near his feet.
A puppy with black fur and blue stripes that resembled lightning bolts, pressed its small paws on William's right foot and barked. It resembled a baby Husky and looked very cute and adorable. It was half as big as William's arm.
William always thought that huskies were half dog and half wolf creatures. Of course, this was his only assumption. According to the magazine he had read back on Earth, Huskies were entirely different from wolves, and were of different species. Even so, some people believed that somewhere along the line, the two species mingled and thus the Husky was born.
Another bark caught William's attention and the boy immediately looked towards his left foot. There, another puppy stood and looked up at him with its tongue sticking out of its mouth. It was a bit smaller than the baby husky and looked very similar to a Boston Terrier.
The Terrier's fur was a combination of white and dark-golden fur. It felt so smooth to the touch that William wasn't able to stop himself from brushing its back with his hand.
The Shepherd felt like his heart was melting because of how cute they were. He patted the heads of the two puppies which made their tails wag like there was no tomorrow.
Ella watched this scene with a gentle gaze. Somehow, William's second mother felt that their small herd had grown a little bigger.