Within a few hours, the carriage rolled to a stop a few meters from the ruins. Jared hopped down from the bench and showed the necessary paperwork to the two guards stationed there. The guard quickly read through the documentations then looked at the party exiting the carriage.

“It says there’s 4 members and one temp member, so why are there 6 of you?” The guard questioned Jared. Jared quickly searched his pockets and pulled out another piece of documentation. “Sorry, I forgot this one as well.” The guard took the last piece of documentation and glanced over it. “You’re all clear.

“We’ll stay here and wait for your report. Keep in mind there have been no scouts sent in yet so even we don’t know what’s down there.” The guard stated while handing Jared his papers back. “No problem.” Jared stated then ran off to join the others.

“Everyone make sure your weapons and gear is good to go. We won’t get many chances to rest once we head in.” Victoria started her speech once Jared joined them. She picked up a twig and began her next piece, drawing an “X” for every member. “Our normal formation is Jacob and Jared in the front with Veronica and Catherine behind them. I’ll be behind those two and Cain will take up the rear.

“Any objections?” The group’s silence answered for her. “Good. Jared you need to detect and disable all the traps we come across, Jacob make sure you’re ready to tank any attacks. Veronica we need you to be alert for any hidden enemies. Catherine… just be ready to attack anything. I’ll heal and draw the map.

“Any suggestions or objections?” Victoria once again waited for a response, but only the light rustle of leaves in the air replied. “Alright. For narrow corridors, we’ll do a straight line with Jacob in the front then Jared, Catherine Veronica, me, and Cain in the rear.” She marked every member with an “X” once more in a straight line then awaited for a response.

“How’s the airflow of the ruins?” Cain asked once Victoria completed her role assignment. “Huh?” She blankly stared at Cain as if he were speaking a foreign language. “How old are the ruins?” “Ah. A villager found them about a month and a half ago and then they were excavated a month ago.” Victoria answered Cain’s clarified question.

That’s pretty recent… I guess we don’t have to worry about any foul, moldy, or venomous air since it should be all gone by now. Hmm… Just to be safe I’ll use this chance to test out poison immunity. Cain laid out his plans then silently smothered the 4th layer of the partitioned mana layers with magic circles.

These magic circles recorded the contents and quality of the air. Cain created an oxygen and a nitrogen molecule then stored it in an abysmally small mana net with Bob’s help. Cain programmed the magic circles to read and record the molar mass of the air around him; Bob ensured its accuracy shortly after.

A sample of the air was then taken and compared to the stored nitrogen and oxygen molecules to find out the percentage of volume each one occupied. Some chemistry was done to find the rest of the contents, in which Cain created sample atoms or molecules and stored them within the poison immunity circles for later comparison.

The poison immunity circles checked the air contents once every second, comparing the atoms and concentrations with the ones stored. Any discrepancy in the contents were changed into mana and the missing space would be filled with whatever atoms or molecules needed to match the stored concentrations. This was done within a circular zone with 1 meter.

Cain and Bob created and tested the new functions as Catherine talked and Jacob did his demonstration.

“I thought Jacob was the leader, why are you doing this?” Catherine asked Victoria with a somewhat mocking tone. The ridicule was subtle, but still noticeable for Victoria. “Pffft, you really want Jacob to draw the diagrams?” Jared's outburst of laughter broke the uneasy tension between Catherine and Victoria.

“Jared… you don’t have to be so rude about it.” Victoria chided him. “No, he’s right Victoria. Maybe it’d just be better if I showed you?” Jacob reached out his hand to grab the stick from Victoria. A small sigh escaped her lips as she handed the stick to Jacob.

“Draw the straight line diagram, it shouldn’t be that bad right?” Catherine offered a suggestion to try and show she was sincere. Jared laughed uncontrollably in the background, having to walk away to not disturb the group.

Jacob took a deep breath and started working on his masterpiece. Roughly a minute passed with the girls staring intensely at Jacob’s work and Cain still zoned out, completing the prototype of poison immunity. “There, it’s done.” Jacob breathed out the tension he felt from the girls’ stares and Cain’s silence with those words.

“Huh…? What’s this?” Catherine stared at the diagram in uttered confusion. Cain completed the prototype a few seconds later and looked down at the ground. “Huh… Cool snake.” Cain muttered when he saw Jacob’s masterpiece. “Thanks…?” Jacob replied, unsure of how to respond to the compliment.

“Wait, how’s that a snake?” Jared came back from his short walk just in time to hear Cain’s words. Cain knelt down on the ground and pointed to the “head” of the snake with his finger. “This is the head, and those two dots are its eyes.” What was supposed to be an “X” was a triangle without its base and two dots at the tip of the point.

“These X’s along down to the last one are the scales.” Cain dragged his finger through the air, pointing to the 4 X’s in the middle. The point at which the two lines crossed to form an “X” were vastly off centered yet somehow matched up with the “X” below it, forming diamond scales.

“And this boi is the tail.” Cain pointed towards the last “X” which was more of a backwards “y” then stood up and brushed off his pant legs. “...this shouldn’t make sense and yet it somehow does. Jacob, are you just an art genius and we’re too stupid to see it?” Jared questioned Jacob’s “talent” but he just stared at the ground just as confused.

“Man… I was just trying to draw a straight line of X’s… how did it come out like this.” Everyone laughed heartily, Jacob joined in with a slight chuckle; spurred by the atmosphere. It took a few moments for the group to calm down enough to focus. “Alright, everyone, check your gear one last time then we’ll head inside.” Victoria instructed everyone then leaned on the carriage to do her checks.

“What do we do with the carriage?” Cain asked Jared who was cleaning his daggers. “We usually tie the horses up to a nearby tree and leave the carriage with the guards or villagers if we decide to take it out of the outpost during our quest.” Jared replied while eyeing the sharpness of his dagger.

“I’ll take care of that then while you guys are getting ready.” Cain stated then walked off towards the horses. “You sure?” Jared called after him, but Cain just waved his hand as he walked. “Yep, I don’t have much to prepare anyways.” With that last sentence, Cain disappeared from Jared’s view to unhitch the horses.

“Just so you know, if you kick me, it’ll hurt you more than it will hurt me.” Cain told the horses as he undid their harnesses. Having seen Jared and the servants do it several times, it was relatively easy to mimic once the spots that needed to be undone were identified. Cain looped the reins of the horse he just unhitched on the post of wood the harness was connected to. This post ran along the horses’ sides, so the reins had some slack in it.

Cain undid the other harness then grabbed the horse’s reins along with the one he had looped. “Any preferred spot you want me to tie them up to?” He called out to the guards who were watching the entrance to the ruins. “Tie them up to that tree over there. Bring your carriage somewhere around there too.” The guard pointed to Cain’s left, where their campsite laid on the grass.

It’d appear that some guards spent the night here, thus there were some tents and campfire setup. Cain nodded then led the horses to a nearby log that laid near the campfire. “Come” he whispered and used SRI to teleport a thick, yet short, log into his hands. “Shave” Cain used his mana to shave the log down to a post then impaled it into the ground.

Cain burnt some holes through the post using his mana and fed the reins through them then looped them into a loose knot. He carried the shavings of the log to the campfire to be used as firewood for later. He then walked up to the carriage and grabbed the wooden posts that the harnesses attached to and pulled the carriage behind the horses, near the wall along the entrance.

The guards stared at Cain in shock as he tugged the carriage with relative ease. “Is that normal?” The guard asked the party as they walked up to the entrance, having finished their preparations. “Nah, that’s nothing compared to what he’s done.” Jared stated as he watched Cain tug the carriage to the side of the wall.

“He knows that it’ll be tough to pull it out from that spot, right? The hitch is facing towards the woods.” The other guard asked as he watched in awe. “He knows, just continue watching.” Jared replied as the rest of the party caught up to him. Cain let go of the wooden posts then walked towards the side of the carriage to view its position.

“Rotate” Cain spoke and used SRI to rotate the position of the carriage so the hitch would be a few degrees to the right of the entrance, thus making it easier to hook the horses up and pull the carriage to the path. Because the operation was just the rotation of the carriage and involved little translational movement, it consumed little mana. Had that not been the case, it’d have taken a few million to move it due to the carriage’s mass.

Cain clapped his hands up and down to wipe off any splinters then joined the party at the entrance. The guards stared at the carriage and Cain in awe, unable to comprehend what just happened. “...did you guys know that was going to happen?” One of the guards finally asked when Cain had only taken a few steps.

“Nope, he just seems to have a solution for everything.” Victoria responded as Cain walked up to the party. “Everyone’s ready?” He asked as he joined ranks at the back. “Yep.” Victoria said then raised her staff up, signaling Jacob and Jared to enter. Cain lagged his steps behind slightly so he could talk to the guards for a moment.

“Can you guys look after my dog for me? He can help hunt for whoever is on the night shift as well as help guard. His senses are pretty sharp so he won’t be any dead weight and he’ll hunt for his own food.” Cain asked the guards. They looked at each other and shrugged. “Might as well, right? Some company would be appreciated.” One of them answered.

“Sweet, thanks.” Cain replied while using SRI to open a portal to Sinclair’s dimension. Cain transmitted the conditions he said to the guards as he walked out followed by creating a magic circle that allowed him to dm Dresil, Rex, and Bob. [Try using thought communication on that magic circle. I don’t know if it’ll work since it’s usually done with mana.] Cain instructed Sinclair as he walked off to the side of the carriage.

[It’s spotty. Most of the message is missing.] Sinclair replied after trying it a few times. [Alright, I’ll get Bob to help you out then.] Cain replied while taking a step into the entrance. He was stopped by the guards' stammering question, one of them had recovered from the shock of seeing Sinclair enough to ask. “T-that’s y-your dog? That d-demon wolf?”

“Yep. Make sure you explain to the next shift and the ones after that not to attack him. I won’t be responsible for any injuries they get when Sinclair defends himself.” Cain replied, once more about to head inside the ruins. “W-wait. I’m afraid my colleagues won’t believe that unless he has a collar or chained up.” One the guards tried to stop Cain from walking.

He sighed and realized what he said was right. Sinclair wouldn’t agree to have Cain’s mana constantly floating near his hide or on his head. That was no different then marking him as Cain’s slave, and that wasn’t the relationship Cain wanted either.

—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (7ms)

Cain: Can you create a big, yet soft or comfy collar for Sinclair?

Cain: Make sure there’s a hook for me to place a medallion or tag.

Cain: Place a clone in the collar so if he gets into trouble, we’ll know about it.

Dresil: Of course, Master.

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

—Dms: Cain and Bob— (11ms)

Cain: Can you help Sinclair debug his dm magic circle?

Bob: Understood.

Bob: Are you not going to add him to the group chat?

Cain: Meh, let him know one exists. Although idk if he’d want to.

Cain: Oh ye, let him know he has access to all of the tv, anime, and movies I watched, along with whatever I’ve read.

Cain: That should help relieve his boredom. Although that function will probably need some trouble shooting as well.

Bob: Understood.

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

Cain made the necessary modifications to the magic circle on Sinclair’s paw as he walked up to him. He held his right hand out for Dresil to form the massive collar on. When Cain knelt down before Sinclair who laid on the grass, the collar was completed.

[You heard them right? Bob will also fill you in on some things you can do to relieve your boredom.] Cain transmitted to Sinclair while creating a titanium tag with his symbol engraved on it; he opened a portal using SRI to make it seem as if the tag dropped from there. It was a slightly smaller version of the medallion he threw to the guard at the entrance of the forest two days ago.

[Yep.] Sinclair transmitted back, eyeing Cain’s actions with a hint of antipathy. [Let me know if it's too loose.] Cain transmitted while holding the collar up after hooking the tag to it. Sinclair lifted his head for Cain to adjust the collar. Dresil used her vines to connect the two open ends to fasten it together. Cain twisted the loose collar around Sinclair’s neck and fanned his hands out from underneath the collar, releasing the hair that was trapped underneath it.

Cain withdrew from Sinclair’s personal space when he was done. The pup shook his head to straighten out the adjusted hairs. The tag swung around, yet to Sinclair’s surprise, wasn’t a nuisance. Cain’s symbol projected outwards from the tag, displaying it for all to use see using the mana within.

Cain patted Sinclair’s head then walked back to the entrance. “S-sorry about this. I can’t guarantee what my colleagues will do if they don’t see your symbol first.” One of the guards stuttered in slight fear when he caught a glimpse of Cain’s symbol. “No worries.” Cain simply stated then entered the ruins quickly. He was already a few meters behind the party, but not so far behind that they left his Mana Zone.