-Afternoon. Nefiru's POV-

The afternoon advanced while I try to avoid the sun rays coming from the front by positioning myself in line with the tree trunk and waking up Shaila on my back who keeps trying to sleep.

...Sorry, I'm not a fluffy pet, and these hairs are like wires too. I sighed at the girl struggling to nap on top of the rocking body. I intend to strengthen my scales, claws, and fangs but not sure how since neither of my Affinities seems useful... I lament the fact that I'm not an Earth Dragon capable of enhancing the scales or claws with metal and avoid the need of wearing humanoid armors or weapons. Earth dragons are lucky... they can be flying tanks enhancing their bodies with Titanium which is tough, lightweight metal and certainly, they don't have to do something stupid like ditching their dragon bodies to wear human-size armors for defense.

Fighting an Earth magician must be a pain, especially dual ones with Fire who makes all the glass around here...they have the defense and strong attack. I recall Lester explanation regarding the huge advantage Earth Magicians hold a on defense and weapon crafting.

However...as a lightning user who can play with thousands of volts, and creates magnetism...metals won't be much of a problem. Well, there must be a way at higher Ranks even with my affinities because I'm not getting a humanoid body to wear armors just as Lester advised.

"The rest would be Green for Wind Affinity which makes normal air we can breathe or control it, and Darkness users can be Tamers or assassins like Alphonse who always have black hair, but not much is understood of that profession. Darkness users have to gather elementals under the sun or near a reliable source, like Light users because at night they are not as abundant, so people think it's like the opposite effect of Light affinity that uses the same Elementals." Lester finished describing how to identify all professions.

"That is one messed up Profession and how do you even distinguish them from the rest of the black haired population?" I wonder the reason why they are the exception to the rule.

"They can work as assassins precisely because others mistake them as commoners from afar, but they do have the choice to work as a Tamer or like Alphonse who used his stealth abilities in espionage and spying for our kingdom." He affirms the Darkness users advantage of being indistinguishable.

I notice Liana's scent then turned to look towards the middle back door where she is peeking out from then converses something with the other two and goes back inside. I think she was looking for us and what does she do during the day for entertainment other than sex and play with that whip she carries? Moments later She came out of the kitchen holding some glasses of refreshments and placed them over Lester's table on my right then called Shaila down. I raised my right foreleg to make it easier for her to climb down then she sat on the bench next to me.

"Oh! Sweet drinks." I sniff the sweetened water then got closer to the other table.

"Here! Open up." Shaila brought a glass into my opened jaws and poured the sweet water over my tongue which ran down my throat.

"Slower, it's been too long, and I wanna relish it, but be careful not to drop the glass..." I warned her to not feed me glass.

"This goes beyond spoiling and if they were both humans, I would barf..." Liana commented spitefully while holding her drink half full.

"Sighs, before this dragon came, managing the family was already exhausting enough and hardly rewarding when the only respect I got was from people who fear me like a monster..." Lester muttered and finished his glass of sweetened water.

"Liana, find someone to give you attention as soon as possible." I scoffed looking at her body who seem to be craving men then turned to the other brother. "Shaila, I think Lester broke...should I fix him with lightning? Nevermind, he looks okay enough!" I half-joked into urging the depressed guy to continue my lessons but earned a glared from Shaila.

"Hmph, it just feels strange." Liana crossed the arms under her breasts and averted her gaze in annoyance.

"Don't bother...apparently we are not trustworthy enough to know what he told Shaila and she doesn't want to say either." Lester stared at her and shook his head.

"Okay, stop being a downer, or there will be dragon hugs for everyone!" I pulled Shaila with my right paw on her thin waist towards my snout.

"Hyaah!" The captured little girl quivers in my hold.

"Do you really think I would stay here being a pet just to get food?" I sternly announce staring at Lester.

"It tickles..." She protests when I lightly rub her belly.

"You see...back in the wild, I needed bigger prey, but couldn't overcome certain beasts like organized wolves or powerful snakes when venturing into their territory and it was a matter of time before they preyed on me, then wandered around in search of new possibilities. Though my curiosity got me captured like an idiot, it also allowed me to learn just about everything needed to figure out how to proceed from here and the mere knowledge of Magic you guys have taught me, saved me years of figuring this out by myself." I patiently explain my reasons for remaining among humans.

"So...you are saying, you no longer need to stay here?" Lester asks confirmation while Liana also stares.

"Yes, but I have an odd connection with this tasty girl that made me stay here in the first place, so I'm gonna need that gate build to come and go to the forest." I turn my gaze to the girl stopping my claws from rubbing her.

Trust can be cultivated through various methods besides gained over time, but most people ultimately have a price, be it ten dollars or a thousand before they betray while others just need a little reason that works for them. I lived enough moments of betrayal to realize the importance of loyalty, and it might be too soon to matter more than her family, but I won't give up Shaila just because I don't need her right now. Though she's probably like this because of the trauma that broke her and I will truly know once her heart heals... fixing a broken tool huh? Attracting broken girls might be part of my soul dispositions just like anything water-related was friendly to me and I turned out to have high Water Affinity.

The crazy girls that stood out were the psychopath who attempted suicides seeking attention and the blond woman who had sex with all men she could behind my back. Love is such a beautiful thing when it works, but when you think a girl acting like a Disney princess is 'The One' while she fucks your co-workers, then you stop giving a shit about love and just seek the pleasure of sex. Well, I don't really need such mental state to be happy and having a trustworthy companion to share my long life is a better investment than a short-term passion which is why I'll need to seek a permanent mate to spend the mating seasons with.

"I already said I'd do that when money allows, but be prudent and don't expose us to more danger just because Shaila wants to spoil you." Lester concedes pointing with the palm of his arm resting the elbow on the table.

After Liana had changed her seat to avoid the sun, the sunlight coming from the front entered her blue eyes in a split second making them very clear and catching my attention. I didn't notice this coincidence before now because I didn't care enough to have her in my head, but Liana is eerily similar to that bitch Nalia from Earth who had sex with every man behind my back until my co-worker's ridicule made me suspect it.

Nu huh... there's no way Liana is that bitch reincarnated or another version of her since this is not a parallel world and she was alive when I died, but the resemblance is uncanny... I deny my realization of Liana's name being Nalia with switched letters which are both also blonde with blue eyes and have a habit to have sex with any man. Though Liana's breasts are smaller than Nalia, it might be the exercises she does.

"Why are you staring at my breasts?" Liana followed my gaze and questioned. "You grabbed me here and left a scar that I will have to ask Grandmother to remove." She slipped a hand from below to rub the scar.

"Is Nefi interested?" Shaila turned around to look into my right eye asking.

"I just recalled someone exactly like Liana who brought me great sadness." I sighed then explained to the girl holding my claws.

"I see...it gets that easy to ignore sadness huh?" She muttered looking down then pulls her body out of my grip and sits on my paw while the other two brothers look at each other in silence.

I should have made this connection sooner since it's certainly abnormal to find a person so similar in another world, but what if it's really Nalia reincarnated? Souls leave the plane when the organism dies then manifest again if the conditions are right, but the probabilities of a particular person appearing in this world without intervention are astronomically small. Though I wonder what the conditions to re-emerge are and if they leave a dimension to go straight into another vessel as if to fill a hole, or maybe only Reincarnators experience this phenomenon? Nalia was probably alive when I died, but if Guardians are involved, then there are other possibilities outside of what I know that could make this happen.

The whole tea party in space with Guardian was abnormal enough, but I experienced other things after being born that would make one believe in ghosts. First, there were weird voices in my head probably guiding me towards Shaila, and now Liana seems to be a reincarnated bitch from my past life. The things Guardian didn't say are bothering me since this World was selected for a reason without hearing my opinion unlike everything else we patiently talked about, and it was as if he was in a hurry to throw me here after the no supervision wish. Lower digit fragments obviously have an agenda, and since my last two wishes restricted them with bonuses to alter my life, it's possible they also changed their methods to interfere, then there must be a reason behind finding Shaila. I stare at the pondering girl sitting on my paw with her eyes closed while holding the claws.

Unbeknown to the quiet people relaxing under the tree or sitting on my paw, I analyze what their existence means to me and proceed to stare at Lester. I'm probably just associating since I did have a blond friend with blue eyes similar to Lester in my previous life, but I can't recall anyone like Shaila unless she was one of the two white dogs we had haha...wait she wanted to be a wolf and there is indeed a white wolf that stands out in my memories.

"Shaila, have you ever dreamed of being a White Wolf?" I probed to confirm my theory while breaking the silence.

"Mm-Hmm..." Shaila nodded confirming. "Most dreams are vague, but I remember running freely through forests...other wolves and a blurry white reflection when drinking water..." She described looking at the ground then lifted her head after finishing. "How did you guess?" She inquires with a puzzled face.

"I was just wondering the reason why you wanted to be fluffy." I lied averting my gaze and avoided telling her until I'm sure.

I see...you are her huh? My first companion back after my soul came into existence hundreds of years ago. The one who birthed my children and wagged her tail happily while coming to greet me in that dream...my White Wolf Mate! We met as strays then slowly formed a pack on our own until it reached a dozen individuals with most being our Cubs and after we perished my place was probably taken by the third in ranking, our son yellow coat. Guardian said the Wolf from my second lifetime wanted to find his mate, but he couldn't grant that wish at the time, and now this series of events leads towards the possibility of Shaila being that Mate. He also said I would like this world, but didn't say why... so the connection with her is nostalgia from encountering the soul that shared a lifetime with me, and that means her soul must also be very old...

However, if she reincarnated into wolves more than once, then why wasn't she a wolf this time? Probably because her Soul was too powerful for a wolf pup, met the conditions to be born into a human or she would have become a snack for my parents. There are still many things I don't know about Souls, but them being a manifestation of self-awareness is probably just one stage and the others I can think of are Soul birth when it comes into existence as a feeble organism, True Soul once the creature gains self-awareness, Divine Soul after Rank 10, though Lester also said it changes at Rank 7, he didn't seem to know more. So, looking back at my own lives, the rat was probably infant-soul, the wolf was child-soul, the Draconian was teen-soul then the adult soul and lastly the True soul.

Just how much older than me is she? Typically it's the male who chooses the mate, but she without a doubt made possible I became an Alpha. Even back when we were wolves, her soul was probably much older already when she acted like a true Alpha that could handle the pack alone, but the natural reincarnation process is inefficient, so mine grew stronger and faster because of the Guardian's intervention. Though I'm not sure how much better is the Fragment system compared to the natural reincarnation process. I compare our age while feeling more grateful at the intrusive higher entities.

I may be letting my imagination run wild but everything has a catch with these Guardians, and it's possible that souls from my past life were brought here to influence or help me since even Liana had a trigger role in all this despite being born around twenty years before me. They might look like mere correlation, but it is a fact that these events led me to Shaila and if she is that wolf mate or Liana is Nalia then it's also very likely that I will find more reincarnations, but... I look towards Liana, and she tilts her head without saying anything. Not all of them are worth finding. Well, the monster from the hunter lifetime should give me the same feeling as Shaila but will be hard finding it when the only thing I remember is the bloody appearance and its hatred for humans. The draconian family will be trusted allies as well, but I wouldn't know where to begin searching...this world is bigger than Earth!

"Say, you guys keep praising your grandmother, but why is she such a great person?" I inquired looking at Liana who mentioned her last.

"She is the best healer in the country and can even regrow lost limbs...she's healed Shaila completely." Lester answered in Liana's stead emphasizing the last word said.

That is one super grandmother, and with a healer like that, I won't stay a crippled dragon if there's an accident and could ask to enhance my body, but the muscles of the white girl are in need of improving as soon as possible. I concluded that meeting the legendary grandmother would be beneficial for Shaila's frail body and mine. However, regrowing the bone must be a nightmare considering healers can't manipulate calcium which is Earth element, but they could accelerate the osteogenesis process using osteoblasts cells and bone from other creature for the calcium.

"Hey, what other relevant Magic combinations are beside the healers or glass-makers, and can I do one with Shaila too?" I question the possibilities lifting the girl up.

"There are forest races who practice combinations that can make plants grow faster and they get hired to work in the crop fields east of the capital, but there are also others who manipulate people like puppets or steal their life force." Lester's face twitched in disgust. "There are two types of combinations people do, and the most common are separated which includes effects, like using wind to propel rocks made by another Earth magician or fire to melt rocks." He explained the safest method that avoids Spirit clashes using matter devoid of magic. "The second method intertwines your Magic with someone else's to feed off the elementals which leave your Spirit bare if your control is not perfected, and there has to be absolute trust to avoid clashes, but there is still a slight interference when two types of elementals feed of different energy over the same area." He elaborated the complicated method that requires high magic control and trust.

"Combining our Spirit is not a problem since we can go inside each other's bodies, but I'll have to fix her lack of knowledge on light, and you fix her thin body because she's not even worth as a snack." I declared while recalling Lester's early repeated words.

I didn't notice the first time he emphasized 'completely,' but Shaila is virgin again, isn't she? I recalled having my magic blocked in certain parts of her body and decided to tease her again, but while watching the white skin on her face turn bright red, she slapped my snout to stop the intrusion then sighed before petting me. Was I treated like a child seeking attention just now?? Well, the petting is good...I'll purr a little as a reward for not making a big deal out of it.

After having my Magic blocked by hers, I learned how a lower density cannot stop the refined Magic of higher Ranks entirely. Holy shit that also means that someone strong enough can make magic inside the body against your will...this will be troublesome when fighting Ranks. I realized the terrifying fact that magicians high-rank enough can kill normal people with just a thought.

"Yes, I was aware of that fact after the prank yesterday, but don't give her false hopes!" Lester scowled. "To our knowledge, Light magic is useless by itself since it's hard to rank up, can't hurt anyone and you'll be lucky to get hired for party tricks or shining light in the dark. She is coveted for being the only Rank 3 Light magician heard of at 8 years old, but she also studied anything related to light very carefully and ultimately resigned..." He harshly describes light magic.

"Muu...I was not as lucky as Mother to get Water with Light to become a healer..." Shaila pouted crossing her arms after I lowered her to the ground.

"Of course it's useless since you people don't even know what Light is, and nobody bothers researching how things work because everyone thinks the only way is through your own Magic practice, but also ancient knowledge of Light magic seems to have been lost." I rebuked Lester who raises an eyebrow at me then turned to look at Shaila. "Get something to write, and if you get distracted during my lessons, I'll use lightning on you!" Shaila nodded to my stern demand, and Liana goes to fetch the paper while grumbling.

I started the explanation when Liana left, and it proved extremely difficult for her to understand since there were no pre-existing concepts to use as references, but analogies and graphics written on the ground with my claws helped. I had to describe many simple things that are common sense to people from Earth before getting down to what photons were, and the papers Liana brought were used to write mostly resumed concepts which Lester thought was just nonsense.

Why non-human MCs in stories ever write things on the ground to show intelligence? A few geometric patterns, mathematical formulas, and basic quantum mechanics were enough to freeze these people for a while until I could almost see smoke out of their heads. I wonder the difference writing makes.

I focused on Light once she understood enough then started applying the new knowledge while using the Mana I freed inside her body and by sundown, Shaila's enthusiasm shone...literally. It turns out that injecting magic into somebody then untangling the mana allows them to absorb more of it than outside of the body... probably because of the domain thingy and it is more efficient, but it's not something anyone can do it seems.

"She's glowing..." The three of us stare at the unmoving girl shining on her whole body with the eyes closed.

"Yes...She's analyzing an insight, and it seems your nonsense helped her, but our heads hurt." Lester complains rubbing his temples.

Moments later Shaila's body starts to glow different colors then opens her eyes and looked at us with a broad smile. If magicians learn like using a tool many times until they find out how it works, then light users do it with a computer to learn how the microchips works...well, she has enough notes to study for a month so I can focus on hunting tonight.

"Rank 4 now! Magic is almost empty again though..." She happily announced while looking at me like some battery charger.

"Congratulations, you can make colors now." Lester mocked looking at me as well.

"Oh really? Hand over that staff with gems to Shaila." I ordered for the Iron Rod with diamonds encrusted to make its way to her. {Shaila, use a single but intense wavelength color inside the gem and make it bounce around by reflecting it back the other direction until you can't hold the accumulation anymore then point crystal a side at Lester's eyes while letting it out through a tiny opening.} I instruct Shaila while snickering.

Light elementals work the same as lighting by producing photons when magic is injected then controlling by re-absorbing them, but the process is fast and efficient enough to be called reflection. Though at higher rank we should be able to control particles with more precision or maybe without elementals since they are just helping. We'll need to get her some diamond daggers since the staff is too conspicuous and she can probably learn Stealth soon too.

"Actually it should have been possible to make them from rank 2 if only I knew they were waves..." Shaila lamented playing with colors in her hand.

"Oh! The light colors look pretty when they go through crystals." Liana commented on the side excited.

"Dont worry, you won't feel a thing since you'll die instantly...at the speed of ignorance!" I smirked with my teeth visible from the intense light source being charged on my right.

"H-hold on, I'm your brother, don't use me as target practice for a new magic!" He stuttered getting up from the bench at the approaching glowing yellow object.

"Stay still brother, this is only warm light." She comforted while holding up the staff with one of the gem sides towards Lester who is going behind the tree trunk.

*Ksssshhhh~!* A small thin yellow laser is shot at the tree, burning its bark while leaving a trace of sizzling wood slowly burning with a width of a pencil and almost as deep.

"""...""" The three froze in the dark of twilight after Shaila's magic ran out and my smile is not seen.

"You failed!" I reproached her while looking at Lester coming behind the tree. "But good job in pulling it off on the first try and next time use a wavelength not visible to the human eye so you can kill without them noticing." I praised the positive result of her efforts and advice.