"We will arrive at the gate to the capital shortly." He states, after attempting to guess what was happening. At this piece of news, Cain sits up abruptly.

All of the adjustments have been completed. Since the Mana Zone's range is 4x bigger than Insect Eraser, I've decided to tag every living thing. This will ensure most methods of spying will be intercepted.

I've identified these creatures using a catch and release system, taking small amounts of blood to be used as DNA as samples. If a similar creature appears, but has an abnormal amount of mana, then it will be marked as "suspicious." Time to solve some lingering questions...

Cain looks at Jacob, preparing to ask a question. It should be fine to show them this… just to be safe I'll add a clause to their tags that spreads the tag to anyone they meet. "I'll show you which elements I can use as thanks for answering my questions after you answer this one. Why don't you have physical enhancement casted permanently?"

The group looks at Jacob expectantly, passively rushing him so they can see what elements Cain can use. "There have been some adventurers that have tried that. They usually can't cast any more spells while doing it and their body breaks down eventually if they attempt to maintain it for long periods of time, unable to bear the strain." Jacob says this with a sigh and a sorrowful expression on his face.

Did someone he know go through this? Well, looks like my initial assumption was right. It doesn't seem like it'll be a problem for me for now though since my body can withstand 30 million mana. I can use a magic circle to lessen the burden as well.

According to the past circles I've cast, they seem to reduce the burden by 90% if extreme care for detail is taken while creating them. I'll use 1 million mana to strengthen my body, maintained and controlled by magic circles and eventually increase it to 10 million mana. At this point I can still control 2 million for spells.

The only thing that I've casted that even comes close to that number so far is creation magic so it shouldn't be a problem.

It will be properly implemented after I have time to thoroughly test it and get used to the sudden increase in strength. I'll temporarily strengthen my body to get familiar with the process and diffuse it once we get to the gates to be safe. Cain stares at the floor thinking through the process for strengthening. He gathers mana throughout his body, establishing a multitude of circles, unseen by the party staring at him waiting for his answer.

Once the process is stabilized, Cain stretches out his palm. He shows off every element, similar to how he showed it off to Dresil. They stare in amazement, unable to comprehend how this is possible.

Catherine begins to shake a little. Just what is his background?! I have to rope him in to my family at all costs. She unbuttons her shirt, revealing some cleavage. Noticing Catherine's movements, Cain makes some preparations.

[Dresil, I'll be counting on you to make sure I don't fall into any honey traps. I don't trust myself around those melons yet.]

[Leave it to me, Master!] She responds enthusiastically. If anyone wants to seduce my master, they'll have to get my approval first.

Crap, did I just unlock her fighting spirit? Oh well, time to settle this awkward situation. After a brief moment of silence, Cain withdraws his mana and the elements disperse. "Please don't spread this around yet. I'll know if you do and the consequences won't be good for anyone involved." Everyone nods in agreement, still unable to figure out why such a person would willingly join their party.

Catherine.exe has stopped working. Between finding reasons to tie Cain down and trying to comprehend what else he is hiding, her brain has been fried, unable to come up with relevant schemes. At this moment, they've reached the gates of Fawkers.

The large stone walls loom over the carriage, the guards patrolling the top appear to be on high alert. Jared greets the guards at the gates, showing them the quest papers and adventurer's license. The guards give a nod of approval and Jared passes through.

The party's carriage travels straight for about half a kilometer before stopping. In the distance, a sturdier and bigger wall encircles an extravagant castle. The carriage has been parked in front of the rental shop; an attendant rushes out to greet Jared. They chat for a little bit before Victoria stands up, getting ready to address the group.

"All right, everyone. Jacob will go to the blacksmith's shop across the street to get new armor. Catherine, Cain, and Veronica will go next door to register Cain as an adventurer and turn in the quest. Jared and I will drop the carriage off and get food for everyone. Any objections?"

They all nod in agreement while Cain deciphers the change in leadership. Victoria lets out a sigh of relief while sneakily hiding a piece of parchment paper. That's pretty smart. Having Victoria, the group's flower, order everyone around instead of Jacob. Jacob's kind temperament doesn't suit commanding but they won't disobey Victoria.

Everyone gets off the carriage, splitting up in their designated groups. Cain, Catherine, and Veronica head to the adventurer's guild. Cain stares at the building in amazement. It looks pretty sturdy despite being three stories tall. Their architectural techniques don't look too advanced, is it being protected by mana?

Cain walks in, guided by Veronica to a table with the receptionist. He looks to his left, seeing a setup similar to a medieval tavern. There is a door in the far corner, hidden under the second floor balcony.

Adventurers sit at the many tables, drinking, eating, and chatting. Some are huddled around a board to the right of the door in the corner. A large reception desk is laid out on a convex wall. Within the space provided by the curve, two receptionists scuttle around.

Through the use of Mana Zone's detection, Cain discovers the room connected to the space for the receptionists to move around shares a wall with another board filled with quests, except for a small difference. A hidden entrance appears to have a path that leads directly to the third floor.

Cain peeks around the corner of the receptionist's desk and sees that board laid out on the side wall of the outdented room. He attempts to see what is on the second floor, unable to get a good look while approaching the desk.

I'm still not used to the third person view from the Mana Zone… The receptionist stares at this outsider wearing odd clothes inspecting the building. She shifts her gaze to Veronica as she nudges Cain to stop looking around. She is surprised there were no wounds on Veronica's body despite her clothes being torn.

"Did you guys come back already?" She asks as Veronica and Cain walk up to her. Catherine wanders to the wall of portraits again, lost in thought.

"Hey, Maddison. Yeah, we had to come back quickly. It was too much for us right now, luckily Cain saved us." Veronica replies, looking at Cain to make sure she didn't say too much.

"Yikes, at least you're not hurt. Since you guys didn't get 30 sets of wolf fangs as proof of the kill, that means the quest has failed though. Please follow me to file the paperwork." Maddison pulls out some papers while speaking. Cain stares at her unconsciously.

Dang, she's my type. From the glasses to her hair and eyes… heck. Wait, glasses? From what I've seen, this place doesn't have the technology to accurately shape glass. Cain looks at Maddison's glasses intensely. He notices mana floating around and within the lenses. Is it some sort of artifact? Oh right, the quest.

[Dresil, did you save the fangs of the wolves by any chance?]

[Yes, Master. I buried all of the bones under the cavern at the time in case you wanted them later to experiment on.]

Man… What would I do without Dresil? [How long would it take to bring them over here?]

[In order to bring them into the city stealthily, I'm afraid it'll take several hours.]

[Ah ok… I'll figure something out.]

Crap, that's way too long… Oh wait, this is a good chance to attempt spatial magic. I have some remnants of my mana over there. Cain focuses on his mana at the cavern, directing what remained to the fangs of the wolves. He tags each fang with his mana, then uses the remaining bits to draw a magic circle that attracts natural mana.

Let's see... Folding the space like a piece of paper to connect the two points would be the simplest method. Cain establishes the specifics while Veronica takes the stack of papers from Maddison. After getting everything set up and testing it with a blade of grass, he interrupts Veronica right before she signs the papers. Man… I hope this works, I was in a rush to create it...

"Wait, I have the fangs with me. You should probably bring someone to help." Cain says, hiding the blade of grass. Maddison gestures over to the other receptionist who directs Veronica to the side. They clear a space for the fangs to be deposited. Noticing that they are prepared, Cain forms a magic circle above the cleared space and activates the magic circles at the cavern.

33 sets of fangs plop on the desk from a weird looking, fractured gate floating in the air. 2 sets of fangs decay into dust and another set is atomized then dissipates into mana immediately after leaving the gate.

Dang… as if the atoms being separated wasn't enough, it converted the mass into energy… I shouldn't use this method until it's stable. Cain contemplates how to improve the spell, unaware of Veronica's affectionate and perplexed stare. She is the only one who is aware that these did not come from Cain's storage ring due to the techniques used to conceal all mana.

"Is this really alright?" Veronica asks Cain in a hushed voice.

"Yep, I'm joining your party anyways." He replies before gesturing towards Maddison. "I would also like to register as an adventurer." Maddison gives a nod of acknowledgement and pulls a crystal ball out from under the desk.

"Put your palm on the ball. It will read what magic circle and elements you have." She says while pulling out the registration paperwork.

"After that, write down what skills you have. They can be anything from dual casting and silent casting to distracting a boss with dance moves. These skills will be kept confidential and will only be used by employees when suggesting party members or tasks.

"A-rank quests are on the second floor and can only be taken by parties with special approval or 3+ A-rank adventurers. After signing these documents, you can attempt to summon a spirit over there." Maddison points to the door in the far corner.

Cain places his hand on the crystal ball wearily. I really hope this doesn't break due to an overload… Unless I'm using creation magic, most of my mana replenishes instantly thanks to the Mana Zone. The crystal ball shimmers brightly before dimming. In the center, the word "Error" appears.