Chapter 26 - [ Host evolution ]

"Hey, no need to get mad; it was just a little, and by the way, he no longer depends on lifeforce but now mostly on mana," the woman adorned in white said, trying to justify her actions.

"Cough!! Cough!!!... It doesn't matter, the life force is still needed for his evolution and other factors... What you have done was not in the agreement," Francesco said, still coughing, looking more sick by the second.

"Hey!! Why are you making me out to be the bad guy? I just took some lifeforce not for myself but for you," she said, believing Francesco was being unfair.

"For me?!..." Francesco said as he mused on what the woman in white meant by that.

He was dead and died at the hands of Sol, the major god of the kingdom of Lux. Why would he need lifeforce? The only thing lifeforce would provide him with would be energy, which he did not need as he slept, waiting for his time to descend into the world of the living through his candidate, Ossa.

"She just came to have fun," Francesco thought as he realized the life force was not necessarily meant for him, but for her, who needed him to be strong for her.

"Huh... I know you have missed me and have been lonely, but please refrain from stealing the lifeforce of my candidate; if you do, it might take too long for me to come back into the world of the living," he said to the woman who was now pouting, looking at the sick man with a look of injustice.

"Ok... So will you take it?" She said, trying to sound cute.

Francesco nodded, the ball of white light converging on his body.

His body momentarily glowed with white light, and after the light dimmed, his skin had gained the radiance of youth, and his lean body was now healthy with incredibly toned muscles. He had momentarily gained the appearance of when he was alive.

"The life force will only keep me in this form for about three hours," Francesco said as he sat up on the bed, observing his body.

"Three hours!! That's not enough, but I will manage," the woman said as she started undressing.

What happens next is left to your imagination.

After three hours, the woman left, leaving the zombie-looking Francesco alone.

"She really has no self-restraint... Why did I marry her again?" He thought to himself.

"Well, whatever; hope she does a good job this time," he said, pulling the sheet over his head, returning to his timeless slumber.

Back in the world of the living, Ossa and Bel had successfully made it back to the territory of the shadow wolves.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Bel asked Ossa, yawning despite waking up a few hours ago. Each time Ossa was injured by the wasp, he was healed at the expense of Bel's mana, making her sleepy, as her mana had not fully recovered after being used to fully heal him after the battle with the sonic ware bats.

"Nothing, you seem tired; you can go to sleep," Ossa said internally, his eyes solemn.

Bel, who could not understand Ossa but felt his emotions and desires, sensed that he was still bothered by something.

"How I wish I could understand you," she said, as she could not hear Ossa, making it difficult to hold a conversation with him.

"Yawn!!!" Bel was sleepy yet wanted to help Ossa.

"Sleep, Master Bel; I am alright," Ossa said internally, his eyes conveying his feelings.

"Ok, but don't go anywhere," Bel, who understood his emotions, said. She drowsily crawled towards the omega, using her as a pillow.

They had stayed in the alpha's den as Ossa did not know where the rest of the pack was.

The Omega opened her eyes, noticing it was Bel, she closed them, going back to sleep.

"Sigh!!, how incompetent am I... I made my Master sad. If I cannot even keep Master Bel happy, how can I fulfill the wish of Master Francesco," Ossa said internally, mediocracy seeping in.

[ System Reboot Complete ]

[ Killed a mid-tier giant wasp ]

[ Killed a mid-tier giant wasp ]

[ Killed a mid-tier giant wasp ]

[...]

[ Extracting life force ]

[ Extracting life force ]

[ Extracting life force ]

[...]

Notifications sounded in Ossa's mind, snapping him out of his thoughts.

" Mors, you are back " Ossa exclaimed, excited to welcome the system.

It had been about hours since the system left, and notifications of the wasp killed finally started coming in.

[ 20 mid-tier normal magical beasts' life force extracted ]

[ Transfering life force to contractor ]

[ Life force transferred ]

[ Converting life force into mana ]

[ Process complete ]

" Mors?! " Ossa called out as the system was not responding to him, the notifications still sounding in his mind.

[ Sorry host ]

[ I have settled what I needed to ]

"Oh, ok... By the way, this time you did not take any lifeforce for yourself," he said as he noticed the notifications did not mention the system taking lifeforce.

[ Yes, that was one of the reasons I needed a reboot ]

" Oh ok... " Ossa said, accepting the system's answer as he did not know any better.

" So why did you have to reboot, you said it had something to do with my soul," Ossa said, remembering that the system had gone into reboot after analyzing his soul.

[ Yes, I went into a reboot because of your soul ]

[ You have a Deus seed and thus I had to make some changes ]

" Deus seed, what's that?! " Ossa inquired.

[ Basically, you have as much potential as Francesco, so you would have to work twice as hard ]

" I have the same potential as Master " Ossa said internally, finding it hard to believe.

[ Yes, so don't fret, when you fall, believe that you will make it, as you have the support of Francesco and myself ]

The system said, trying to cheer him up.

" Thank you, I'm sorry for being weak, I promise I will be stronger for both masters," Ossa said, his mediocracy washed away.

" So what has changed after your reboot ", he inquired.

[ Host evolution ]