[Master, it’s time to get up.] Dresil attempted to wake Cain through her thought transmission. After a few minutes of nothing happening, she removed the leaf from Cain’s eyes and had Bob open a portal to Sinclair’s dimension. The artificial light used to light up the pup’s home leaked through the portal and illuminated Cain’s room. Unfortunately, there were no windows for the rising sun to wake Cain, thus Dresil had to do this.

Cain gradually stirred awake, tossing, turning, and occasionally grabbing a blanket or pillow to put over his eyes. Each time he did this, Dresil promptly removed it. Cain slowly yawned awake while stretching in bed, realizing it was futile to sleep any longer due to Dresil. At least I slept for 12ish hours. He thought to himself while propping his back against the wall.

—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (7ms)

Cain: Why did you wake me up so early?

Cain: We’ve got about 50 mins until we need to leave right?

Dresil: Yep. In all honesty, I thought it would take you 30 mins to get up.

Dresil: Have some breakfast though.

Cain: Ooooh, food.

--------------------------

Dresil directed Bob to open a few portals and deposit breakfast. Cain used SRI to open a portal to the Bow Storage and carefully placed Athena on a freshly created platform circle that hovered on his left. He created the same configuration of mana models as he did yesterday while gorging on the fruits and meat.

Cain continued his feast for roughly 15 minutes before Dresil ordered Bob to close all of the portals. “Aww… that’s it?” Cain asked as he finished the last piece of meat. “Yep. The party will probably have lunch before the ruins though.” Dresil reassured Cain as he left the bed and stretched some of his muscles.

Looks like my control over the enhancement has gotten a lot finer with the limit at 10%. I’ll have to check whether or not it’ll change if I release the limit later. Cain thought to himself while staring at Athena. “When do you think she’ll come out and sign a contract?” Cain asked Dresil while sitting on the edge of the bed. “Why don’t you just try talking to her again?”

Dresil has a point… Cain mulled over what to say to Athena, then decided to toss all plans in the air and wing it. A prepared speech would only sound superficial, flat, and false compared to something he came up with on the spot. Errors and all.

[Good morning. Would you by chanc—] “Will you please shut the hell up! I’m trying to sleep here!” An angry, small, feminine figure materialized over the bow, yelling at Cain. Although her appearance was somewhat similar to his mana models, there were fractures all over her projection.

“At least when adventurers speak I can ignore it. But no! You just haaaad to use thought communication, which is like holding my ear and yelling in it!” She continued to rage while stomping and pacing throughout the bow. Cain stared in awe at the little figure, trying his hardest not to laugh.

“You can’t sleep forever though.” Cain said when she finally managed to calm down and sat on the edge of the bow. “It’s not like I have a reason to be awake.” She grumbled in response. “I feel that, I used to be the same way until I came here.” Cain replied as he leaned forward, with his elbows on his thighs.

“Oh, reaallly? Go on then, tell me about your situation.” The spirit of the bow skeptically commented then grumbled “not like it’ll help me anyways.” “I used to be excited to work on my projects or any field related to engineering really. Then I did some rough calculations for each project and found out that I’d need millions of dollars just for a prototype.

“I tried seeing if I could somehow win the lottery by creating a program to calculate the numbers or get a job and save up. I found out I’d need at least ten years to save up just for one project, since my yearly salary would be 100,000 to 200,000 dollars.

“The lottery route didn’t help much either. I’d have to win several times to progress anything to a decent amount, let alone the feasibility of creating a program to do so. Ah, the lottery is where a bunch of people buy tickets and one of them is picked at random to win a lot of money.

“Sure, I could just continue to design my projects, but they’ll forever remain as such. A design. The lack of fulfillment from that depressed me and then I was summoned here a few months later.

“When I came here and was introduced to mana, it removed any need for money. Since I needed the money to fabricate the parts or buy materials, but now I can do so myself. Basically the introduction of mana turned my unrealistic dream into something that was possible within my lifetime.” Cain plopped his back down on his bed while he talked, staring at the ceiling and playing with a strand of mana.

“Sounds to me like you just give up easily.” The spirit retorted. “Perhaps… It’s more so I set unrealistic expectations or goals and get frustrated when they can’t be completed. But dreams are supposed to be unrealistic, and that’s my conundrum.” Cain sat up and swung his legs so he sat on the edge of his bed once more.

“Master, you just need to break up your goal into smaller, achievable goals.” Dresil offered advice and a skewer of meat to Cain. “Yep. I was just confused at that time since what was once achievable and realistic became unrealistic and hard to accomplish.” Cain replied as he ate the skewer.

“Wait, how did we get swept talking about all of your problems.” The spirit asked Cain when she saw Dresil’s affection towards him, a tinge of jealousy crept into her tone. “Ah, sorry. My narcissism took precedent for a bit there. Anyways, from your note that you left behind, it seems a starting step could be new designs or ranged weapons to test out.

“Have you looked at the mana models around you? Although they don’t need much testing since their designs have been perfected over the decades, I wasn’t able to remember their components perfectly so there’s some kinks to fix.” Cain gestured to the models of guns, tanks, and planes as he spoke.

“I have.” The spirit proudly responded, seeing some light to her situation. “The problem is that I was only created to test out bows, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to replicate these… things.” The spirit hovered over to a pistol that kept firing some bullets. “Although I have 7 gem sockets. “My… creator… created me with flexible and neutral materials then created a socket for each spirit so he could test out a variety of combinations of elements. His goal was to only be limited by his imagination… and he achieved it well.” The spirit's proud tone turned solemn after the first sentence was spoken.

—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (14ms)

Cain: What does she mean by gem sockets? Are we talking about the same ones used in rpg games?

Dresil: Pffft, no, Master.

Dresil: Spirits can condense part of their power and crystalize it, forming a gem.

Dresil: Spirit weapons with sockets can use these gems to add elements to their attacks and techniques, or even cast some spells.

Dresil: Without the sockets, they’d only be able to use the elements of the materials they were created with or just be enhanced by their contractor’s mana.

Dresil: You’ll have to contact Bob for the specifics.

Cain: I see… Thanks.

Dresil: Yep.

--------------------------

—Dms: Cain and Bob— (22ms)

Cain: Did you see the latest development?

Bob: Yep. I assume you need more info about the gems the spirit mentioned?

Cain: Yep.

Bob: Understood.

Bob: Spirits can crystallize part of their power into small gems.

Bob: The size is generally the same, but with the higher grade of the spirit, the higher the quality and concentration of the gem and thus its power.

Cain: Does it consume soul power?

Bob: No. It’d be more accurate to say it consumes mana and mental power. Most spirits will be exhausted for the next few days after creating a gem.

Cain: I see… Thanks for the explanation.

Bob: You’re welcome.

Bob: Do you need Rex and I to make a gem?

Cain: Not yet. I think the bow is too damaged to be able to socket a spirit king’s gem.

Bob: Understood.

--------------------------

“If you had that fire spirit condense a gem, I might be able to replicate these… things. Is there any mana involved?” The spirit turned around to ask Cain after inspecting the pistol. “Nope, it’s just chemical reactions and mechanisms. Are you sure you’re able to handle a Spirit King’s gem? Your body looks pretty cracked.”

“Chemical? Mechanisms? What are tho—wait, did you say Spirit King?” The spirit paced along the limbs of the bow then confronted Cain when she realized what he said. He nodded then showed her his left arm. “They’re both Spirit Kings. One is fire and the other is space.”

“Well, aren't you just a capable little human.” Why does she sound like Rex now… Cain thought as he sighed from the feeling of deja vu. “So, do you want to sign a contract with me? I’ll be able to eventually get you a gem from every Spirit King.” The spirit stared at Cain, trying to decipher if he was telling a lie or not.

“Where does your confidence come from?” The spirit asked Cain, eyeing his every microexpression. “I already have contracts with two Spirit Kings, it won’t be hard to get in touch with the rest and ask for a gem or two.” Cain replied, stretching his arms and yawning some. “So what do you think of the name Athena?”

“Don’t go deciding that I’ve already signed the contract.” The spirit snapped back then paced upon her bow limbs once more. “First, tell me what these things are.” She hovered over to two fighter jets having a dog fight.

“Those are called planes. Those ones in particular can fly faster than the speed of sound and have the destructive power to easily flatten a large city or castle.” Well… large in their terms I guess. Cain thought when he noticed the discrepancy in the terms. “Really?! This small thing can?”

Cain spontaneously laughed for a short moment. “Sorry, there’s just no way that small thing can. The actual size of the plane rivals that of this inn in length. It’s maybe half its height though.” The spirit’s glare silenced Cain’s small laugh before he corrected her.

For a moment, the eyes of the spirit’s projection flashed in wonder. It seemed as if all her previous worries were washed away by Cain’s new ideas. Yet it was only a fleeting moment. A mere millisecond compared to the eons of isolation she went through.

“I’ll sign a contract if you can give me 10kg of mithril. It’s what I need to repair myself quickly.” The spirit declared as she sat back on her physical body, crossing her legs and resting her chin on her hand. “I don’t know what mithril is. Will any other metal work?” The spirit contemplated Cain’s response for a few moments.

“If… you give me 50, no, 100 kg of a strong metal, preferably not an alloy, then it should work.” Cain calculated the mana needed to create such an amount to 100 million swiftly. “...that’s all?” “That’s all.” Cain sighed as he tapped on the wooden floors of the inn. The wooden floors creaked with each small tap.

“I’ll give it to you later then. I don’t think this inn will be able to withstand its weight.” Cain replied while dispersing the mana models. “Can you even create that much metal?” The spirit asked Cain dubiously, clearly doubting his capabilities, as anyone who didn’t know him would.

—Dms: Cain and Bob— (4ms)

Cain: Is the Bow Storage large enough to hold the metal?

Bob: It is. I created it to be 10m³ in case any unforeseen circumstances required a larger area.

Cain: Sweet.

--------------------------

Cain used SRI to open a portal to the Bow Storage. Within that dimension, he commanded SRI to open a portal to the Mana Storage. Cain created a magic circle that drew out the required mana from the storage dimension and created 100kg of titanium on the spot. The portal to the Bow Storage acted as a window for the spirit to witness everything that was happening.

“Im-impossible…. haha… “ The spirit chuckled slightly as she muttered her disbelief. The once dim ray of hope was now shining brightly in front of her. “I can create up to 250ish million kg of metal. Although I have more mana to do so, I’d rather save it for other uses.” Cain stated once the titanium was done being completed.

“I’ll sign the contract. Athena is a good name.” The spirit instantly said after Cain’s statement. A chain of mana appeared and bonded Cain and the spirit bow. The contents of the contract flooded Cain’s mind. Pretty simple, no manipulation, hidden clauses, or the like. Nice. The contract appears to be more physical than the one with Rex and Bob though. Cain analyzed the contents for a brief moment.

A sudden repetition of knocks interrupted the duo’s contemplation. Dresil quickly merged into Cain’s clothes and had Bob store the memory foam away. Cain stood up as a voice outside the door pierced the walls, “Cain! We’re leaving in a few minutes!” “Alright! I’ll be right down!” Cain yelled back then directed his attention back to the bow.

“Oh! Once I finish absorbing all that metal, don’t keep me in that stuffy place anymore. At all.” The spirit sensed Cain was about to move her and thus quickly said her piece. “Fair enough. What about when I had you locked to my back?” Cain dispersed the platform circle and carried the bow using a loose mana net.

“That’s what you used over the past few days right? That’ll work.” The spirit said then vanished back into the bow. Cain took this moment to inspect the bow for 7 sockets. One was seated within the pressure rest, presumably the main socket. There were three on either side of it within the riser.

...There’s so many cracks here, if I didn’t know for a fact there were 7 sockets I would’ve thought they were just chunks missing… Cain concluded when he finally found the sockets. He then quickly laid the bow to rest near the block of titanium and left his room to meet up with the party.