Gathering Wives with a System

His attention drifted to the other occupants of the subspace.

Draghar, the lizard-like Champion-rank beast, was curled up in a deep sleep.

Genos, the Guardian Machina, was crouched beside some unfamiliar contraption. Its metallic fingers adjusted small parts of the machine with precise movements.

Nearby stood two more Champion-rank summons he had copied earlier that day.

One of them, towering at nearly eight feet, had a gaunt frame plated in black carapace. Six arms hung at its sides, each ending in clawed hands.

Its elongated snout opened vertically rather than horizontally, and every inch of it radiated a dangerous presence.

This one, he knew, was Emily's second strongest spirit after the serpent.

The other was a leopard-type beast. Its body was taut with coiled strength, sitting upright on its hind legs.

Its golden eyes were fixed on Tyr, who was gesturing and making sounds that only the summons seemed to understand.

'Seems like it is interested in learning whatever instructions Tyr is giving,' Isaac though, chuckling at the summons' curiosity

Tyr, the treant, looked like he was in the middle of a lecture.

The eight feet tall summon appeared to be listening intently, nodding slightly every so often.

The serpent, however, was turned slightly away. Its head was tilted in a dismissive posture.

Tyr's leafy brow furrowed. His tone rose in what was unmistakably irritation.

Above them all, perched proudly on the roof of the house, was Emily's Tirra—the ghost bird—watching the scene with the kind of smugness only she could pull off.

"Tyr," Isaac called out.

The treant turned, and his metal-wooden features softened into a grin.

"Good work out there today. Also, the prototype spear you made was a huge help. I used it to take down the serpent."

At that, the serpent's head turned toward him.

Until now, it had been ignoring the gathering entirely.

Tyr, chest puffing out, spun back toward the serpent as if to say, See that? My boss used my weapon to kill you. And it was just a prototype.

The serpent's eyes narrowed. Its head rose higher, and a low hiss rolled out of its throat. It loomed over Isaac, its tongue flicking in and out. The motion was quite taunting.

Tyr's branches bristled.

His wooden form creaked as he began to grow in size. Before he could escalate, Isaac raised a hand.

"I'll take care of it," he said.

He stepped forward until he was directly under the serpent's shadow. It was close enough now that he could see the minute details of its scales, the faint shimmer that hinted at the raw power inside it.

He raised his hand, making a small flicking motion.

"Don't get knocked out, okay?"

Channeling his Spirit Affinity, he let the energy surge into his finger. Then he flicked the serpent's snout.

The impact was far more than the simple gesture suggested.

The serpent's head snapped back violently, slamming into the unseen barrier of the subspace with a resounding thud.

The sound was enough to jolt Draghar from its sleep.

The beast lifted its head, blinking in confusion as it took in the sight of the serpent recoiling.

The massive serpent straightened again, its scales catching the dim light inside the subspace.

It didn't seem injured—at least not in a way that mattered—but its posture had changed.

It no longer carried the same casual arrogance.

The way its muscles tensed and its body shifted made it clear it was now wary of him.

Its narrow eyes locked on Isaac.

A hiss slipped past its fangs, low and sharp, almost like a warning.

Before it could retaliate, a voice cut through the space. Cold. Controlled.

"What are you doing?"

Emily landed between Isaac and the serpent.

She wasn't touching the ground. Her bare feet stopped just above the grass, as if an invisible layer held her up.

She moved forward slowly, each step-like motion gliding her closer without ever breaking that slight gap between her and the earth.

Her eyes were fixed on the serpent.

"Did you try to intimidate Isaac?"

The temperature in the space seemed to drop.

The serpent's body shifted in place. Its tongue flicked out twice, then retreated. The air between them thickened with unease. For all its size and power, the sound of her voice had left it visibly unsettled.

Isaac didn't let his surprise show, but it was there. Emily rarely got angry, at least not in any outward, noticeable way. Seeing her like this was a reminder that she wasn't just the quiet girl who stuck close to him.

She continued forward, closing the distance until she stood right before the serpent's coiled body. Her hand rose, and she pressed her palm against the cool, scaled surface of its belly.

"If you ever attack, or even try to intimidate Isaac again…"

The sentence trailed for a fraction of a second, but the unfinished space in her words made the threat hit harder. The serpent's body tensed under her hand.

It had to tilt its head down to meet her gaze, while she craned her neck slightly to look up.

Yet despite the difference in size, it felt like she was the one looming over it.

Something about the way she stood, her shoulders still, her eyes locked forward, made it seem like she was in complete control of the situation.

The other summons had grown restless.

Draghar's head was fully up now. Its tail swished once before going still.

The insectoid six-armed summon had turned its head toward the scene. Its unmoving posture betrayed its attention.

Even Genos had paused his work.

"I will kill you," Emily finished. Her voice was calm, but the steel in it cut through the air.

The serpent lowered its head, then shifted further until its entire body lay against the ground in a coiled but flattened position. Submission, plain as day.

Then, perhaps out of habit, perhaps because it couldn't help itself, it darted a glance at Isaac. The look wasn't hostile, but there was something in its eyes, like an unspoken message.

You killed me. You came here to taunt me. Why I'm the one getting scolded?

Isaac nearly smiled at the thought but kept his expression neutral.

Emily turned back to him, and it was like the previous moment had been a completely different person. Her lips curved into a bright smile, and her expression was warm again.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?"

"I woke up because there was something I needed to tell you," she said, sounding almost like she'd been holding it in since the moment she opened her eyes.

Her excitement was enough to make him raise a brow. "What is it?"

"I completed my class quest requirements!"