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The butler led us to the library of the mansion, where they could speak undisturbed in a quiet environment. After everyone took a seat, he spoke.

"So, second young master… what is it your friends wished to ask?"

"It's regarding Battle Souls," I cut in, taking this conversation into my own hands. "I want to know more about them."

Faced with my serious expression, the butler smiled, ever-so-slightly.

"Mm, that is quite the advanced topic. If I may ask, you are not an Ancestral Mage yet, yes? Why do you want to know about them now?"

Tch… Long Lu asked me the same question.

"This is a good opportunity and I don't know when I'll get to meet another experienced Golden Monarch to teach us about them," I replied. "Besides, if I learn about them now, I can pretty much skip the Ancestral Mage stage and go directly to Golden Monarch when the time comes."

"… Hm. While that is a good mindset… I'm afraid it is not possible," the butler replied quietly.

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You see, a Battle Soul is not something that can be just 'obtained' after performing a series of gestures or set chanting," he explained. "It is a physical manifestation of one's soul, the very essence of their being. They are not made of mana but something called Soulpower."

"Soulpower…" The girls and I echoed in unison, craving for more knowledge.

"The first awakening of your Battle Soul will be the hardest one. After you accomplish that, you can call on it whenever you wish."

"How do we gain Soulpower?" I asked.

"Through various 'experiences,'" the butler responded broadly. "Combat, knowledge, even something as simple as fishing can allow you to reach a state of enlightenment and gain Soulpower. The amount and experiences needed for various people is different, but as a general rule of thumb, if you are gaining a lot of Soulpower and still hasn't awakened your Battle Soul, chances are it's quite a rare one."

From what I read in a library a while back, Battle Souls were split into several categories, with Human-types being the strongest and rarest. Naturally, this meant they would need the most Soulpower to call upon for the first time.

"So there's no way to target farm Soulpower?" Ming Hao asked, using video game terminology that the butler somehow understood and shook his head.

"No, there are methods — you just need to find the experience you are most passionate about. For everyone, this is different. It can be video games, making friends, fighting someone who's stronger than you, and perhaps even sex with the person you love. It all depends on the person and what they care about most."

"In other words, we can test out all of these activities and see which one gives us Soulpower…?" Lin Luo muttered. "How will we know?"

"When you obtain Soulpower, you will know. Your body will entire a state of pure euphoria and transcendence, of blissfulness and fleeting tranquility. It is a feeling that otherwise cannot be described by words, but your heart will feel 'fulfilled' inside."

"I see… what about awakening our Battle Souls? How will we know when we have enough, and how do we summon them?" I asked.

The butler shook his head. "You don't have to summon them. When you have enough, your Battle Soul will appear for the first time automatically, right after you finish performing the last 'experience' you needed to meet the Soulpower threshold."

"Huh, that's neat… what about the different Battle Soul types? Is that predetermined by talent and luck?" Yu An Yan questioned after some thought.

"I'm afraid so, yes," the butler replied sadly. "Personally, I was hoping for at least a Mythical Beast Battle Soul, but all I got was a normal animal one."

"Ha, with Xuan Kai's luck, he'll definitely get a Human one!" Ming Hao chuckled, to which I sent him a glare.

"Don't jinx it."

"Yeah, yeah…" He shrugged nonchalantly, completely disregarding my comment.

After that, we decided to grab lunch, then explore Fragment on our own. The girls would follow me, of course, while Si Ye forcefully dragged Ming Hao along with her. Long Lu spent his time catching up with his parents.

Of course, the girls and I weren't actually just exploring. We were trying out different activities to see what could help us gain Soulpower as quick as possible.

"So… let's start with you, Feng Mian," I said. "What do you like doing?"

"Hm… I guess I like shopping?" She suggested after some thought.

"Oh yeah, I love shopping as well," Qing Yue added.

"I think all of us hear like shopping, to be honest…" Yu An Yan muttered.

"Mm…" Yu An Xue confirmed with a nod.

"Nya~ I've nwever tried before, but I would nyove to!" Amane giggled happily.

"Not me," Obsidia hurriedly denied. "I will sit this one out."

"Likewise," Lin Luo agreed, folding her arms defiantly.

"Um… I would rather read as well…" Lan Xiao Su murmured quietly.

"Oh, come on~" Qing Yue said, pulling the three together. "Doesn't hurt to try, does it?"

"No, I really-"

"Obsidia, Lin Luo," I cut in. "Neither of you have any new clothes, do you? It's time to get some… unless you want to wear the same thing forever."

"These get cleaned automatically, so I'm fine," Obsidia replied.

"Same," Lin Luo added. "I could care less about something as artificial as fashion."

"Hm… well let me put it this way," I suddenly said as an idea formulated in my mind. "I'm getting sick of seeing you two wear the same thing everyday, so go get some new clothes."

"You…!" Lin Luo gritted her teeth at me in anger while Obsidia shot me a cold gaze, but I was unaffected by either.

"Human… you are pushing the line."

"Consider this part of our deal."

"Tch… fine. I don't particularly have anything to do anyway…"

"U-Um… Xuan Kai," Lan Xiao Su whispered, tugging on my sleeve lightly.

"Hm?"

"D-Do you get tired of seeing me as well…? I-I'm really bland, so I pretty much only have two outfits…"

"No no," I hurriedly said, shaking my head and smiling at her, before eyeing Obsidia and Lin Luo to make sure they were out of earshot. "I just said that as an excuse to force them to go shopping. Though I wouldn't mind seeing you in different clothes sometime, you're all already stunning beauties that look good no matter what you wear… I couldn't get tired of seeing you all even if I wanted to."

She blushed at this and widened her eyes a bit.

"A-Ah! T-Thank you…"

I grinned and took her hand, leading her to follow the other girls as we set off to find a mall. She smiled warmly with a flushed face as she let me take her, both embarrassed and happy at the same time.

The other girls shot glances back at us, jealous, but didn't interrupt the nice atmosphere.

While they were love rivals, they were still good friends, after all.

*****

It didn't take long for them to arrive at Fragment's biggest, best shopping mall. While the structure, with eight legs spiraling outwards and three floors with a massive ball in the middle, was quite impressive, the name was somewhat bland. It was literally just called Fragment Central Shopping Mall.

Our guide for Fragment, Xiang Peng, may not be here anymore, but the signs were more than enough to tell us this info.

"This is bigger than Coastal City in Shenzhen, right?" Feng Mian asked.

"Pretty sure," Yu An Yan replied. "By quite a lot, actually."

"What are we waiting for? Let's head in already!!" Qing Yue yelled excitedly, skipping into the building with those light footsteps of hers. As she went, she waved at the passerby, bringing smiles to everyone's faces. She was like a living ray of sunlight, bringing joy to anyone who passed by her.

"Ooh, this store seems good!" She shouted, waving for us to come over. The store's name was Arcane Outfitters, with loads of clothes inside. Since the size of the shop was so big, I figured it'd be a while before they finished.

"Whew… go on, join them," I said to Lan Xiao Su, who tilted her head at me. 

"Eh? You're not coming?"

"Uh… no?"

"Sorry, but that's not happening~" Feng Mian smiled innocently and clung onto my arm, dragging me into the store.

"W-Woah! Hey!"

"Heh… you wanted to force me into joining this little excursion, didn't you? It's only fit you see it through to the end…" Lin Luo smirked sadistically, craving for some revenge. 

She normally wouldn't even touch me, but now, she was full on hugging me and practically throwing me into the store.

"Ngh… damn it, you guys-"

I tried resisting to the best of my abilities without using magic and accidentally hurting them, but the nine girls quickly overpowered me with ease.

"M-Mei Gui! Help me out here!"

"Apologies, Master… but I wish for Master to judge whether clothes look good on me."

"Anything looks good on you, please, I hate shopping!"

My pleads were ignored, and all passerby thought the girls were too beautiful to be actually doing anything evil to me.

"U-Um… Xuan Kai," Lan Xiao Su said suddenly.

Y-Yes! My savior, Xiao Su-

"Y-You look good to me no matter what you wear, but I would like to see you in some new clothes as well…"

Noooo!