—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (23ms)

Rex: …you sure that was a good idea?

Cain: Yep. I’m curious as to how a promotion affects the telomeres and cells.

Cain: He also has something I want, so it checks out.

Rex: impossible…

Bob: Are you talking about the technique he used to enhance his brain?

Cain: Indeed.

Rex: Huh…?

Cain: The boi had mana signals and broken pathways in his brain. Although they looked small and frayed, they appeared to enhance his brain somewhat.

Rex: Ah, yeah, I still don’t get it.

Dresil: Rip, so close to a smart Rex. Guess that’s too much to ask for.

Bob: Indeed, maybe next time.

Rex: :ded:

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

Cain closed the group chat and directed his attention to the party that hovered around the guild. “I’ve got some errands to run, do you guys need a portal anywhere before I leave?” They shook their heads, Cain nodded then created a portal behind him. “Alright, I’ll see you guys at dinner then.” And with those words, he disappeared through the portal and reappeared at the weapons shop.

“Hi, I’m here to confirm my contract with the bow I purchased over a week ago.” Cain stated while dragging Athena out of her dimension. “Hnngg… at least let me finish eating the mythril first.” Athena’s sprite pounced around on Cain’s head. “Ah… Miss Jessica said you’d be coming by. All you need to do is show proof of the contract then you’re all set.” The receptionist pulled out some documents to be filled out.

“Hahahaha… you won’t be able to leave here until I show them proof.” Athena laughed madly as she sat on top of Cain’s head. “Neither will you.” Cain’s statement shocked her out of her fantasy. “Fuck… fine, here’s the proof.” Athena gave in and showed the mana chain that bound the bow and led to Cain.

“Alright, that’s all sir. Please come again next time.” The receptionist bid farewell to Cain as he opened a portal behind him and entered it; Cain waved his hand in the air to bid farewell as he walked onto the campsite grounds within the mountains.

“How far is your progress?” Cain asked Athena as Dresil unmerged from his clothes and did her usual things. “I should be able to socket a gem by tomorrow–Woah! What the! Where did she come from?” Dresil's emergence shocked Athena to the point her sprite nearly fell of Cain’s head.

“...you live inside of a dimension and yet you’re surprised that Dresil came from my clothes?” Cain’s puzzled tone portrayed his confusion to Athena even though she couldn’t see his face. “Yeah, man! She just… materialized out of nowhere! What if she appeared right next to me?” Athena frantically raved while hiding within Cain’s hair. “You freak out over the weirdest things…”

“Says the man who can make a castle disappear but is still scared shitless about spiders.” Athena teased Cain as she slowly rose from his hair. “Hey now, those motherfuckers—” “Boo!” Athena emerged to come across face to face with a mini Dresil, the sudden appearance sent her shrieking and tumbling around Cain’s head, almost falling off once more.

“Pffft, nice one Dresil.” Dresil and Cain laughed as he used his mana to help Athena back on top of his head. “See! What did I tell you! It’s creepy man!” Athena yelled while roaming around Cain’s hair, lifting parts of it up as if she were searching for more mini Dresils.

“Mhm… What were you going to say earlier about the gems?” Cain tried to suppress his laughter so he wouldn’t accidentally shake Athena off in the process. “Ah, right. You should be careful about where you place the gems. The longer they’re in, the harder it is to get them out, especially for the Spirit King ones.” Athena dangled her feet off Cain’s forehead as she spoke.

“I see… anything about their positioning I should be aware of?” Cain asked while examining the sockets on the bow within his hand. “Yep. Place the one you’re going to use the most in the center and try not to place opposing elements next to each other. The farther a gem is from the center, the more control you’ll need to direct the mana along the veins.” Athena hopped of Cain’s forehead and walked along her body, pointing to various sockets as she spoke.

“Anything else?” She asked, clearly impatient to go back to absorbing the mythril. “Nope, you can go now.” Athena nearly danced through the portal Cain created to her dimension, leaping onto the pile of mythril when it came into sight. Cain sighed and laid down on the mat he sat on.

“Hey Dresil, can you make me a pillow?” Cain asked Dresil as he stared at the moving clouds. Vines sprouted from the collar of his shirt, Cain lifted his head to let them form a pillow, then embraced the softness. “You not going to do anything?” Dresil asked when she saw Cain elevate the stone under his legs to serve as a makeshift pillow.

“Nope.” Cain replied, relishing the softness of the mat despite being on stone. A pillow under his head and a pillow under his legs; this combination provided the best comfort while laying down for long periods of time. Cain’s chiropractor recommended it as a sleeping position to ease the pain on his lower back, and he has yet to change it since.

—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (401ms)

Rex: …you’re not going to do any experiments or anything?

Cain: Nope, the rest of today is a lazy day.

Rex: Aight, but I’ve got some questions.

Cain: Shoot.

Rex: 8 days ago, why did Dresil report to the group who summoned you that you could only use the fire and water elements?

Cain: I think I answered that already…?

Rex: Ye, I mean why those elements.

Cain: Oh. It’s because I can use fire and water the best out of all of them.

Rex: …huh?

Cain: My mana doesn’t mimic the elements like the people of this continent do. It replicates their actions.

Cain: So for air, I have to heat up a pocket of air to create wind.

Cain: For earth, I need to use a mana net to displace the earth, but this could also cause structural problems. Another alternative is to create earth from mana, but that takes a lot of mana to do.

Cain: For shadow, I need to manipulate the light in the environment until I learn how to stretch or manipulate shadows.

Cain: For light, I need to bend the rays of light with my mana or a lens.

Rex: I kind of get it… that’s annoying though.

Cain: Indeed…

Dresil: Why did you ask about this just now though?

Rex: I… tried to solve it on my own…

Bob: Impossible…

Dresil: Quick, check the glaciers, they might have froze themselves.

Cain: You got a fever or something? Wait, what’s the opposite of fever?

Rex: a cold?

Dresil: Phew, he’s still Rex.

Bob: Indeed

Rex: :huh:

Cain: A cold is a sickness caused by one’s body heat decreasing thus weakening the immune system. That’s why one of the symptoms is a fever; it’s to warm the body back up to kill the virus.

Dresil:

Rex: Oh…

Rex: Anyways, next question: Why didn’t you get angry when Veronica was targeted earlier today?

Cain: I was annoyed, but not mad/angry.

Cain: I’m too slow to anger. You could trash my room and steal some of my stuff and I wouldn’t feel anything beyond frustrated.

Cain: Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll let you off, but it also means I’m not going to hold a grudge.

Rex: Weird mfer…

Cain: :nod: I just can’t seem to hold grudges in general for some reason.

Rex: …what happens when you do get mad?

Cain: I recommend you don’t find out.

Cain: Even before being introduced to mana, I could never guarantee the other person’s safety or my sanity.

Rex: :horror:

Rex: Doesn’t that mean it’ll get worse since mana has been affecting your mindset?

Cain: Yep. Although it doesn’t affect it directly, it’s more so that it has opened more pathways to achieve what I wanted to achieve, and my mindset changed accordingly.

Rex: …so if these paths were available on Earth, your mindset would be the same as now?

Cain: Kind of. It changes depending on the situation I’m in at the time, but basically.

Rex: …how does that make sense?

Cain: Think of the human personality as a steel rod surrounded by gel. The overall volume is the same for everyone at the same age, but there may be more steel in one person and someone else may have more gel.

Cain: Some people may be missing chunks of steel while others may be missing chunks of gel.

Cain: The steel is their base personality, this will only change due to genetic disabilities or environmental breakdowns. Basically extreme situations.

Cain: The gel is basically how much they can change themselves to adapt to their current environment. A simple example is being formal at work and informal at home.

Cain: A more complex example is changing your personality to fit in a group versus what you’re like online where anonymity is your mask.

Cain: Everyone is born with a predefined shape, it could be a sphere, rectangle, etc. This shape represents their starting personality, the one formed by their genetics.

Cain: The environment someone is exposed to changes this overall shape, making it possible to go from a sphere to a triangle, a dodecahedron to a rod/cylinder.

Cain: An example is being born overconfident and always bragging, but then a major incident happens in school and now you’re always humble and know your limits.

Cain: It doesn’t have to be something that occurs in an instance though. Changing your personality to fit in where you don’t belong will slowly turn you into a mix of those you hang out with.

Cain: The gel part of the personality shape thing morphs and adapts to your environment, allowing you to be formal, polite, and in some cases a pushover at work, and stubborn yet confident at home.

Cain: The unyielding people, the ones who are always true to themselves will have a very high ratio of steel compared to the gel. While the ones who can adapt and fit in into any social environment will be the opposite.

Cain: Mental breakdowns can crack and chip the steel rod, causing pieces to float in the gel (random outbursts is an example of touching said fragment).

Cain: The pieces can always be put back together, but the cracks will always remain.

Rex: So… What about your situation?

Cain: According to the analogy, it’s either balanced completely, and I can just freely change the shape to how I see fit, or I have very little steel.

Cain: I simply don’t know because it’s been a long time since I truly felt an emotion without it being triggered out of habit, forced, or simulated.

Rex: Damn… Doesn’t that have it’s own benefits though? You’re basically a chameleon who can adapt to anything, the perfect spy.

Cain: Yep, but it also means there are occasions where I feel something and I question if this is how I truly feel or if it’s something that’s been forced due to habit, change in mindset, etc.

Rex: Damn… That’s depressing.

Cain: Meh, it is what it is.

Rex: Does that mean you don’t feel some emotions?

Cain: Yep, among them are sadness, sorrow, and guilt.

Cain: Just because I can’t be sad doesn’t mean I can’t be depressed though. Although I haven’t shed a tear for about 5 or 6 years.

Rex: :speechless:

Rex: What about happiness from memes?

Cain:

Rex:

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

Cain watched the wind mold the clouds, trying to make heads or tails of the image they painted across the sky. A few hours passed like this, a few hours of just existing. No thoughts, no emotion, just peace and food. When the sun set beneath the horizon, Cain stretched his limbs and paced around the campsite to liven up.

—Dms: Cain and Dresl— (10ms)

Dresil: Some of the party reserved a table if you want to join them.

Cain: Ok.

Cain: …I really need to find a hobby, but there’s nothing that I’m used to doing around here.

Dresil: Shall I inquire about what some people do to pass time?

Cain: Yeah… I’ll try to think of something too.

Cain: Might just end up recreating some video games instead though.

Dresil: Ok, I’ll let you know when I’ve concluded my research. :glasses:

Cain: Sweet, thanks.

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

Dresil cleaned up the campsite while Cain hopped on top of a rock and took in the view presented before him. The night life of this country seemed to be very active, more active than Ouroboros. “Dresil, are these mountains in a different country?” Cain asked when he thought he saw some people flying on swords.

He dismissed it as having read too much manhua and the distance messing with his mind. The brain sees what it wants to see, or what it recognizes. If you show a distorted figure to a farmer and an office worker. The former might see one of their crops while the latter might see a computer or a common office item. It’s similar to how the brain will hear what it wants to hear.

“Yep, it’s called Xunfu Cheng.” Dresil stated, walking back to Cain now that the cleaning was done. Welp… that’s a flag. Cain thought as he hopped down from the rock. Dresil merged into his clothes while he walked into a fresh portal connected to the guild.

He greeted Victoria and Veronica, who sat at a table to reserve it, sitting next to Veronica in his usual spot. The trio talked for a bit until Jared and Jacob joined them; Victoria called over a waitress once she saw the boys walk into the guild. They ordered a couple of feasts and some drinks; Cain converted them into Root Beer at the party’s wishes.

—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (17ms)

Cain: How are we doing on money?

Dresil: I’ve been using the profits from the monster parts that the guild gave us so far so our initial funds are the same.

Dresil: You were right when you said they’d give you some percentage of the gold earned from the loot, although it’s not much since the price of each of those monster parts dropped drastically.

Cain: Makes sense… how much longer can we go on before our initial funds start to tank?

Dresil: About a day or two.

Cain: Ok.

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

“When do you guys want to do another quest?” Cain asked the party, eager to hear their answer but anxious to leave the capitol so he doesn’t eat a whole through his wallet. “Hmm… Shall we have a meeting about it and pick one tomorrow? Say… after lunch?” Jacob offered a suggestion to which most of the party nodded in agreement.

“Sounds good, although I won’t be able to join you guys for lunch since I’ll just be waking up.” Cain replied, perplexing Jared’s mind intensely. “By any chance… Do you get stronger the more you sleep? Why do you sleep so much?” “Perhaps, perhaps not.” Cain gave a vague answer to his question while suppressing a small laugh. Jared stared at the food before him, contemplating whether or not he should sleep longer so he could get stronger.

The five of them continued their feast, sharing stories of quests from a time before they met. Cain would occasionally pitch in with a story or two of his. From a table surfing junior high student to racing cars on a bicycle. Their laughs echoed with the others within the guild, their mood resonating with the joyful cheers, beer contests, and occasional food fights.

Jared had drank so much soda by the time they were finished, it appeared as if he were drunk. Victoria had to lend him his shoulder to keep him from passing out before reaching the inn; her beat red cheeks and shifting gaze weren’t complaining though. Cain opened a portal to the inn for them and followed afterwards.

They went to their rooms, bidding goodnight to one another, and turning in for the day. Cain completed his nightly routine while trying to think of some hobbies so he’s just not lazing around all day or bothering the party. He continued his train of thoughts until he was swallowed by the many blankets of his bed and drifted to sleep.