[Master, wake up.] Dresil’s voice roused the sleeping Cain, the walls of the caverns collapsed into the ground revealing the young man burying his face into a massive ball of fluff. Sinclair whacked Cain on his back with his tail to prevent him from sleeping past the departure date.

“Ok, ok. I’m getting up.” he mumbled while dismissing the sound proof magic circles and stretching his arms. Cain’s nose intercepted the smell of the party’s breakfast: a few unlucky rabbits. Several plates of food emerged from a portal next to Cain; their freshness and warmth overwhelmed the previous smell. Cain immediately dug in while Sinclair headed into his dimension to continue his sleep.

—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (26ms)

Bob: Congrats on reaching 500 million soul power.

Cain: Dang, already?

Bob: Not exactly, but by the end of today you’ll be well over it.

Cain: How long do the effects of that apple last?

Dresil: About a month.

Cain: Ah, makes sense.

Rex: …no, it doesn’t make sense.

Cain: Remember the artifact apple thing I ate on my first day here? Go skim the memories if you haven’t seen them.

Cain: That boi apparently helps my soul power grow.

Bob: It does much more than that, but yes. It speeds up the assimilation of the soul while strengthening it to match the speed.

Bob: Its effects are greatly increased though since it’s speeding up the assimilation of Rex and I’s powers, which greatly increase your own soul power the more that is merged.

Cain: Indeed.

Rex: …I’m just going to go back into my corner.

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

Looks like I’ll finally be able to start fine tuning my control over mana more once the increase evens out… Cain pondered the slip in his control over mana over the past week. There was the occasional case of controlling more or less mana than intended. Especially when drawing out mana for the alien washpod; now that he could control all of the mana needed to form it at once without streaming into creation like he used to.

Last night Cain attempted to control a stream of mana and feed it into creating the necessary water. He made the mistake of using the slight pain in his head to limit how much he controlled at once before converting it into water at the same pace he drug it out of the Mana Storage. The content of the blob of mana reached well over 400 million before he noticed something was wrong.

He spent a few awkward minutes explaining to the startled party that he was just playing with one of his Master’s gifts and promising not to do so again outside of the dimensions. Even though the mana was still disguised, roughly 1% of the mana could be felt due to its incomplete disguise.

When Victoria asked if he controlled all of said mana, Cain’s rough calculations reminded him that at 50 million mana he was supposed to start showing signs of losing his will. He quickly spun some lies that led the party to believe that he could only control 10 million mana and the artifact managed the rest of the mana.

Cain sighed as he recalled the headache that event caused, eagerly looking forward to the moment he can freely control his mana like before.

His hand grasped at the air above the empty plates, not realizing he had already finished his breakfast. Cain glances over the party members to see that they’re packing up for another long ride to their next destination.

When Jacob said it’d take 12 days, I thought he meant a round trip… I might just teleport everyone back to the guild on our way back. Cain considered the possibility of doing such while pacing around the ashen campfire, allowing Dresil to clean up their area.

—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (42ms)

Rex: Do you hate the traveling that much? I mean, you’re not doing much during the ride so it’s understandable.

Dresil: Oooh, Rex used a big word.

Rex: :proud:

Cain: Nah, I actually quite like just lazing around.

Cain: Having to travel this much is just making me restless.

Rex: Go on…

Rex: Fine… I’ll cook some skewers for you.

Cain: So, I never stayed in a town longer than 5 years, with the exception of one.

Cain: I think the longest I’ve stayed in a house or apartment was 4 years? Something like that. Pretty sure the average was around 2 years though.

Cain: And I’ve flown on more planes than I care to count to the point I could sleepwalk through the security checks and they wouldn’t notice anything.

Cain: Essentially, I grew up drifting and I really just want to settle down in a place for a few decades.

Rex: I see… sort of…

Bob: Is this why you’re able to adapt quickly and to most scenarios?

Cain: That’s part of it.

Cain: I got annoyed having to experience jet lag, so I just didn’t.

Rex: …yep he’s not human. How the hell do you manage to pull that off?

Cain: Just mess with your perception of time some and you’re good.

Rex: …yeah, no.

Cain: Skewers?

Rex: Coming up.

Cain: :thumbs up:

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

Cain joined the party when they finished packing up the campsite and cleaning up after themselves about 14 laps around the campfire later. Dresil merged into Cain’s clothes on his 10th lap, thus he boarded the carriage smoothly and prepared to take another one of his naps.

“How are you not dizzy?” Victoria asked him as Cain laid out his legs on the opposite bench. “Hm? I’m just not, I guess.” He replied, unsure how to tell them he got rid of the dizziness that comes with pacing in circles. Moments before Cain lowered his body to take his fake nap, Rex delivered the skewers with Bob’s assistance.

The presence of beef offset the short exhale that churned the air before Cain, his sigh cut short from the snacks. Veronica’s piercing stare threatened to skewer the skewers. Cain offered one to her so he could eat in peace, free from her gaze.

The party’s trip continued unimpeded. Veronica’s wishy-washy behavior was frozen due to the sudden offer of a snack; the following overthinking, embarrassment, and nervousness distracting her during the rest of the ride.

By the time the party arrived at their next campsite, she had come to the conclusion her silent, slightly pushy plea for the snack came across as a forceful demand; an ultimatum. Cain enjoyed her changing expressions and moods, occasionally teasing her here and there, knowing full well she’ll look back on this event light-heartedly. That is, if Veronica ever realized she simply overthought herself into embarrassment.

The carriage rolled into their next campsite minutes after the sunset. The party hastily unloaded and set up camp while Cain made dinner. He served them their food then started a huge batch for himself.

“Oh, hey. How do you guys brush your teeth and keep your nails trimmed and all?” Cain asked around, spitting out a piece of black tartar he plucked with his tongue. “There’s a utility spell for brushing your teeth, you just need to cast it with some water and your brush nearby, unless you have the water element.” Victoria responded while cleaning her hands with some water from her pouch.

She demonstrated the spell for Cain, who in turn observed it with every function of his eyes active. He opened a portal to the Mana Storage and created a small bowl of water along with a toothbrush with toothpaste applied to it. His observations showed him that a stream of mana controlled the brush to do its job thoroughly.

Cain activated the spell by recalling the magic circle he saw. The spell drew water from the bucket and lifted his toothbrush. Heck… Cain realized his control slipped slightly; although to him “slightly” was at least a few hundred thousand mana.

The overcharged spell began brushing Cain’s teeth violently, scrubbing every corner, nook, and cranny, thoroughly reaching places he never knew was possible with a toothbrush. The party observed with awe and concern; most of their awe turned into concern when the spell dissipated after performing its duties.

“Are you sure he’s ok…? He’s even foaming at the mouth and everything.” Jared asked, hovering over Cain who seemed like he had a seizure on steroids. “He’s fiiiiiine. Although you may want to step back some since his food is about to burn.” Veronica spoke up when she noticed the meat Cain was cooking sizzled a little too hard.

Jared immediately sprung backwards, barely missing the clash of foreheads as Cain leaped to check on his food. He rinsed his mouth thoroughly with the bowl of water he prepared on the side; its use, rather than the water element, didn’t go unnoticed by Victoria.

“Ah, for your other question we usually just tear or peel our nails off if they grow too much.” Victoria replied while Cain ate his food while preparing another batch. “Really? Doesn’t that hurt a lot or cause some bleeding?” Cain snuck some of his food to Sinclair who lazily lounged near the warmth of the fire.

“Yep, we just have Vicky heal any minor injuries tho- Huh? What are these?” Veronica questioned the metal objects Cain tossed to her; he had created it while she spoke and tossed a pair to each member. “The small one is for your fingers, big one for the toes. I can’t observe your skills well if y’all aren’t in your top shape or close to it.” Cain flipped his burger as he spoke, eyeing its rareness with his Mana Zone.

“Oh… Thanks…” Victoria muttered while inspecting the object under the light of the campfire. She showed the boys how to use them since she used one before. Cain noticed Victoria’s and Veronica’s proficiency and recognition of the clippers, making a mental note to check the technological level of their countries later.

“Hm… ah-uh… Cain?” Veronica nervously shuffled to his side. “What’sup?” Cain mumbled while eyeing his food. Heck this dumb slur… I guess old habits do die hard. Cain cursed his well-hidden slur’s reemergence, which thankfully went unnoticed by Veronica.

“Can I sit over… h-here to borrow the light?” Veronica fumbled out her words, occasionally looking back at Victoria who had a mischievous grin. “Sure.” Cain absentmindedly replied while assembling and devouring his new burger and preparing the next victim.

Veronica’s heartbeat overpowered the cackling of the fire and Cain’s absent-minded tone. The soft grass greeted her hands as she took her spot next to Cain. She leaned her back against his and pulled out a book from her coat to read. The moment their backs touched, any thought of reading her book disappeared from Veronica’s mind; only the thoughtless thumping in her ears powered by her nervousness prevailed.

Victoria smirked and gave a slight nod, then left to prepare the inside of their tents. Although she could’ve tried to pull a move on Jared, she was aware of Jacob’s longing gaze into the woods. Being a fifth wheel must suck… It wouldn’t surprise me if Catherine came along our next quest. Cain observed their silent reactions with his Mana Zone, leisurely eating another freshly cooked burger.

The other three moved about the campsite in silence or exchanged some side conversations, leaving Veronica to have her moment with Cain. Hm… the time of that event should be soon. Dresil, are you sure you’re ok with this? Cain asked her within his thoughts, his instincts telling him she watched every moment of Veronica’s development.

—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (16ms)

Rex: …ok with what?

Cain: If you don’t know, then you don’t know.

Rex: welp.

Rex: Oh ye. You had a slur? How come we didn’t notice it?

Cain: Yeah, I didn’t talk much before getting yeeted here, so it’s only natural.

Cain: I just managed what and how I spoke constantly. It was easy most of the time since I needed to watch what I said in the first place.

Bob: Does your slip up mean you’re getting comfortable with the party?

Cain: Looks like it.

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

Cain used his Mana Zone as his hands to avoid disturbing Veronica; her enjoyment and nervousness could be felt through the occasional shivering of her muscles. “Ver, it’s time to start the shifts!” Victoria’s call jolted Veronica out of her peaceful world next to Cain. She reluctantly disappeared inside her tent since Jared and Victoria had the first shift.

Cain cleaned up the mess he made while eating and making his dinner, then he and Sinclair disappeared into their cavern. He performed his usual night time routine, the only difference being Dresil’s silence.