Cain walked out of the portal, greeted by the fresh scent of food being cooked. “You guys having lunch already?” He asked as he sat down on one of the stumps around the campfire. “Nah, we’re just cooking our food so we can eat on the road.” Jared replied while turning his meat skewer.

“You done?” Victoria asked Cain as he eyed the meat. “Yep. What happens to the ruins now?” Cain replied, glancing towards the guards who were looking around, unsure what to do. “We need to inform the guards about the status and safety of the ruin then they’ll inform the Adventure guild and they’ll send some archeologists and people from the Magic Tower.” Victoria replied while brushing off the dirt and twigs that stuck to her robe.

She glanced at Veronica, who took one last long stare at the meat being smoked before reluctantly leaving with Victoria to inform the guards. Cain glimpsed towards Sinclair, curious how he was doing. Sinclair eyed the horses with some drool coming out of his mouth; his hunger inspired by the tasty smell that occasionally wafted over him.

—Dms: Cain and Sinclair— (351ms)

Sinclair: Looks tasty…

Sinclair: Got any food for me?

Cain: …if you’re that hungry you can go hunt something.

Sinclair: It’s so far away…

Cain: I’ll cook it for you if you do

Sinclair: Finee…

Cain: How’s the collar?

Sinclair: It’s comfier than I thought it would be.

Sinclair: Dresil’s clone scratches the spot it covers occasionally which helps.

Cain: That’s good.

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

Sinclair slowly got up, stretching his back and legs for a few minutes before dashing into the forest. His sudden movements startled the guards, interrupting their conversation with Victoria and Veronica. Guess they must be new here. Cain thought when he noticed their reactions; he used SRI to bring some uncooked meat from the storage to cook for later as well.

So we got the lazy, playful teenager Sinclair, the arrogant, dumb, and rash Rex, the wise elder Bob, the gloomy, smart teenager Athena, and Dresil… Sheesh… just one big happy family I guess. Cain thought to himself, intently watching his meat slowly rotate over the fire. Jared grabbed a few cooked skewers and added some firewood into the fire after handing the skewers to Jacob.

—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Rex, and Bob— (20ms)

Rex: I’m not dumb…

Rex: You guys are just too smart so it makes me look dumber

Dresil: So you admit you’re rash though.

Rex: …

Cain: Are you sure you’re ok with the name Bob though?

Bob: Indeed. It’s short yet profound. It’s the same no matter if you say it forwards or backwards.

Cain: …if you’re happy then I guess it’s fine.

Dresil: Masterrrrr, what about me? Why didn’t you say anything about my personality?

Cain: You’re my walking closet though.

Dresil: :pout:

Cain: Pffft, nah. It just seems like your personality hasn’t quite evened out from all of the memories you’ve read.

Dresil: …I guess that makes sense.

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

Cain sighed while looking around the campsite, slightly impatient due to how long the meat took to cook. His eyes crossed with Veronica’s as she and Victoria walked back to the circle; Veronica averted her gaze seconds later. Catherine sat in the carriage, organizing some blankets on her spot to ensure the comfiness of her seat. Jared and Jacob grilled the last set of skewers, occasionally poking the fire.

“Are we going back to the stronghold or just riding straight towards the capitol?” Cain asked Jacob, storing one of his skewers into the Snack Storage. “We plan to skip the stronghold and eat lunch on the ride. That’s why we’re cooking it right now.” Jacob replied while checking the storage space of his ring. Cain nodded, noticing that by the time Sinclair brings his food here, the party’s lunch will be done cooking.

—Dms: Cain and Rex— (16ms)

Cain: Pop quiz.

Rex: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Rex:

Cain: Complete this well, and you can take the day off.

Rex: I can make do with that…

Rex: What’s the quiz?

Cain: Flash cook Sinclair’s meal within a few minutes without burning it but while evenly cooking it.

Rex: …is that even possible?

Cain: Just control the heat evenly.

Rex: …you say that like it’s just like flipping a coin.

Rex: Is there a punishment for failing?

Cain: There is, it’d be best to at least barely pass.

Rex: :Pain:

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

Jared handed Jacobs the last of the skewers to store in the ring. The two left the campsite to prepare the carriage to leave. The horses were already hooked up to the carriage and on the exit path. While Jared checked the harnesses of each horse, Sinclair exited the forest, each paw almost bouncing off the ground in excitement; his tail wagging to the beat of each step.

He dropped the deer he caught at Cain’s feet then circled behind him and laid his head on the log Cain sat on, eagerly awaiting his meal. “Hover” Cain muttered and lifted the deer carcass into the air with his mana. He fed streams of his mana underneath the skin, then made a smooth cut along the spine and pulled the skin off using the mana under it.

Cain fileted the meat of the deer into their separate parts, tossing the organs into the Mana Trash dimension. He placid the legs, thighs, and breast of the deer on a table magic circle to his right, a few centimeters above Sinclair’s eye level in height but a meter away from him. Rex ignited a stream of fire from Cain’s left arm and directed it to the uncooked parts. The fire smothered the meat; Sinclair’s worried whine frolicked with the flames.

—Dms: Cain and Sinclair— (314ms)

Cain: Relax, it won’t be burnt.

Sinclair: If you say so…

Cain: You want the bones?

Sinclair: No, they’re too small.

Cain: Ok. You going to walk alongside the carriage throughout the trip?

Sinclair: For most of it, I want to eat within my dimension first.

Cain: Alright, let me know when you’re done.

Sinclair: Ok.

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

Rex fully cooked the deer over the next few minutes; the flames receded into Cain’s left arm when he finished. Cain inspected the meat; most of it was cooked to rare or medium rare, but there were some burnt parts. After discarding the burnt parts, Cain changed the coordinates of the table magic circle to be in front of Sinclair by half a meter and slightly to his right.

—Dms: Cain and Sinclair— (300ms)

Cain: It’s done. Just go inside your dimension and when you stop moving it’ll stay where it’s at until you’re done eating.

Sinclair: Thanks.

Cain: Yep, do you want to be added to the group chat?

Sinclair: Nah, it’s already hard enough using the dms.

Cain: Ok.

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

Cain opened a wide entrance leading into Sinclair’s dimension; the pup tranced through it, his eyes not leaving the meat for a millisecond. Cain brushed off his pants as he made his way towards the carriage; the party had been ready to leave since Rex finished cooking the meat. “Ready?” Jared hollered behind him towards Cain.

“Yep. I’m just going to take a nap during the trip again. Sinclair will come out at some point to get some fresh air.” Cain informed the party while lying down on the edge of the seats. Dresil emerged from his waist to support it then covered his eyes with a leaf. Cain created sound proof magic circles around his ears and pondered how to make a fool proof poison immunity system.

—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (12ms)

Dresil: You retrieved the glowsticks and flashlights, right?

Cain: Yep. I did it shortly before coming up here. They’re in the Mana Trash dimension.

Dresil: When are you going to convert all of that into mana?

Cain: Meh… later.

Dresil: :sigh:

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

The carriage set off on their journey back to the capitol. Sinclair came out his dimension through a portal SRI created roughly an hour later. He trotted along the carriage most of the time, but occasionally ran circles around it or sprinted towards the forest to chase a bird. Surprisingly, the horses showed little signs of fear when Sinclair ran near them.

Jared, Veronica, and Victoria swapped seats, rotating the one who drove the carriage every few hours. Unfortunately Jacob was too big to fit in the gap between the coach chair and the roof of the carriage. In order for him to get a shift, they’d need to stop the carriage and he’d have to walk around. Catherine just didn’t know how to drive carriages. Whoever didn’t drive the carriage cultivated lightly; some minor conversations were exchanged here and there.

They continued on like this for about 10 hours; eating lunch roughly 3 hours in. It took longer than they initially thought to find a suitable place to set up camp so they quickly set up their tents and got a fire going to make dinner. Sinclair paced around the campsite until Dresil set up their little cavern.

[Master, wake up.] Dresil forced Cain awake from his nap. Hmmm? Ah, I guess I dozed off while thinking. He thought while yawning and stretching himself out of the carriage. He joined the party around the campfire, Dresil cooked a quick dinner for him and Sinclair. “When do we leave tomorrow?” Cain asked when everyone finished their meal.

“About 2 hours before noon? We have a 7 hour ride back to the capitol and we’d like to report to the guild before sunset.” Jacob replied before standing up and brushing off the dirt and twigs. “Alright, I’ll take care of the night watch so get some good rest.” Cain stated while using SRI to cover their campsite in a cubic formation of portals.

“What is… this?” Catherine asked, staring through the portals. “It’s like an alarm system. It also prevents anything from entering it. If you head over there, there’s a small rectangular section with a green shaped door thing.

“You can go to the restroom there. Just tap on the door to open it; red means someone is in there, green means it’s empty.” Cain explained to the party while pointing towards the far corner of the cubic portals. The campsite and the carriage laid within one of the corners of the cubic portal setup. The restroom section was on the opposite corner roughly 35 meters away.

The party bid their goodnights then went to their separate tents, except for Victoria. “You not going to sleep?” Cain asked moments before heading into his little cavern. “Nope. I’m close to breaking through to the 3rd circle, so I’m going to that now while I have the chance to focus on it completely.” She replied while arranging some leaves and firewood.

“Alright, good luck.” Cain bid his farewell while heading towards his bed. “Thanks.” Victoria’s voice softly traveled after him. Sinclair laid next to Cain after he got settled in the sleeping bag Dresil made. Dresil covered his eyes with a leaf while Cain made sound-proof magic circles around his ears and fell asleep two hours later.