The horses pulled the carriage through the portal; the noisy buzz of the crowded streets clashing with the silent ambience of the forest. Jacob and Victoria, the two at the ends of the benches close to the coach driver, peeked their heads outside the canvas frame curiously.

“Hey Cain… Aren’t those the weird glasses you gave us a few weeks ago?” Jared pointed to a few nobles prancing around with black glasses, occasionally bumping into things, and each other.

Cain poked his head out the back end of the carriage as analyzed the contraptions on their face using the Mana Zone. “Eh, close. They can hardly see anything from them though. It looks like a designer saw us and tried to replicate the glasses we wore but couldn’t do it perfectly.” He reported his findings with his Mana Zone to the party as he tucked his head back into the carriage.

Ah, that reminds me… I should make a hat. Cain pondered the feasibility of creating one from mana during the rest of the ride to the rental facility. He knew almost nothing about how the hats were made, or even what materials they were made from, despite only taking them off during showers and sleep.

He never saw the how the machines wove the cloth for the hats, or even the patterns on the fabric left from the weaves. Cain didn’t even know of the materials the hat was made from, something he was constantly exposed to when figuring out how to wash a new shirt.

If they needed to be washed, Cain just tossed them in the washer with his jeans. On the way out the door, he flipped a random hat on and never spared it a glance for the rest of the day unless he switched hats due to the build up of sweat or dirt.

For something that could nearly be considered an extra addition to his body, he knew next to nothing about it. I guess it’s true you’ll never know how much you miss something until it's gone. Cain stared blankly at the canvas of the carriage as it came to a slow stop.

—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (17ms)

Cain: Could you make me a hat real quick?

Dresil: Not unless you cut your hair to how it was in high school. You only like long hair because it covers the nape of your neck

Dresil: And having your hair down with a hat on doesn’t suit you at all

Cain: Hmm… I guess that’s true. I take it you’re offering to cover the nape of my neck with a leaf?

Dresil: Yep

Cain: Sweet, can you make it match the color of my skin so it doesn’t get discovered?

Dresil: Of course

Cain: Thanks

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

“We’re doing the same as always?” Jared’s voice brought Cain out of the zone; the carriage now stopped in front of the rental services.

“Yep. Cain; Veronica and I are going to go turn the quest in while Jared and Jacob return the carriage, so uh… Whose group do you want to join?” Victoria sought Cain’s next step as Jacob stored the gear that still laid on the floor of the carriage in his storage ring.

Veronica’s eyes shone through Cain as he pondered what to do next. “I guess I’ll join you guys. I kind of want to see the details about the quest submission process.” He replied as he hopped out of the carriage, closely followed by Veronica and Victoria.

“Alright. We’ll meet you guys in the tavern in a few hours!” Victoria hollered her last statement towards Jared and Jacob. The creeks from the carriage rocking nearly masked Jacob’s hum as he stepped onto the ground, stirring the peaceful dust clouds. Jared waved his hand behind his head as he hopped off the coach bench and walked into the rental store with Jacob.

Cain, Victoria, and Veronica crossed the street quickly then turned left and strolled towards the guild; the girl’s eyes occasionally lingering on the displays behind glass panels. Cain pretended not to notice their lingering eyes with hints of yearning and adjusted his pace to match theirs.

10 minutes had passed by the time they reached the guild, despite it only being a short jog away from the rental facility. Hah… so much to do so little time. Cain thought as he held the door open for the girls.

—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (27ms)

Rex: Huh? That thought was so random…

Cain: eh not really

Cain: I saw Veronica’s eyes lingering on arrows -> thinking of ways to artificially strengthen someone -> remembering about the brain enhancement models of the prisoners -> remembering to check in on the Mage Tower’s Master’s progress into reaching the 9th circle and the side effects of doing so -> figuring out a way to artificially increase one’s magic circle count while not missing out on the physical and soul enhancement benefits that comes through traditional cultivation…

Rex: Stop, stop, stop

Rex: Sheesh… If you kept going you probably would’ve typed an entire essay

Cain: :kek: more like a research paper

Rex: Bloody hell man

Dresil: …when did you become british?

Rex: When I binged some scottish and english tv shows

Dresil: Understandable

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

Cain followed after Veronica and Victoria, manoeuvring through the crowd and joining one of the two lines for the reception desk. “Is it normally this crowded?” Cain asked as he looked above the six heads in front of him to see two receptionists and Maddison frantically flying about and taking requests.

“Shouldn’t you know?” Victoria’s voice came from somewhere behind Cain as she shuffled through the crowd. Dang… I didn’t even realize she was gone till now. He thought as she rejoined Cain and Veronica, sticking close to the elf.

“Most of these people are here to take up hunting quests from the Shadowtrap family. For some reason they just issued an enormous amount of requests to the guild.” Victoria continued as Maddison waved the trio over.

Odd… Something must’ve happened for the surge to happen right now. Ah, hehe… it is about that time. Cain remembered something related to the matter, yet lacked the means to confirm if it was truly the case without sinking a decent amount of time into finding out. Hah… another thing to do…

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

Rex: Wait, how come you guys are skipping the line right now?

Rex: Also, what did you remember?

Rex: :sussip:

Cain: Victoria probably notified Maddison we were here to turn in a quest and the last one is a surprise

Rex: …why isn’t there another line for turning quests in?

Rex: I see how it is…

Cain: Pffft, relax. You’ll find out soon enough anyways

Bob: It appears they have one or two receptionists working behind the desk handling both sides of the quests. This system is great for low-mid traffic, but clogs greatly during heavy traffic.

Bob: The fact that they are still using this method implies such periods do not happen enough to warrant having at least two receptionists behind the desk at all times; one for turning quests in and the other for registering taken quests.

Rex: I see… Thanks, you saved my brain cells

Bob: If you’re thankful, give me a riddle.

Cain: :wheeze:

Dresil: :kek:

Rex: the heck…? Since when did you learn how to swindle?

Bob: Yes.

Rex: …

Rex: I think Cain is a bad influence on you

Cain: pffft, since when did you become old enough to parent Bob?

Rex: mfer!

Cain: I swear that wasn’t me

Dresil: :innocent whistle:

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

“Are you guys here to turn in that undead quest?” Maddison asked as Victoria stepped up to the small side of the L-shaped receptionist desk; Veronica and Cain shadowed her, giving the two enough room to converse without suffocating.

“Yep. We found this weird cursed substance that drained the life of everything it came into contact with. For living things it seemed to drain their mana first then their life.” Victoria reported the party’s findings as she fished out the quest paper and vial of the cursed substance from one of her pockets.

“I see… That’s usually done by a lich. Did you perhaps find out how big the area was and anything on the lich?” Maddison filled out some documents as she talked; Cain’s approach making her pause shortly.

“The Lich was around a 7th or 8th circle and the cursed area was about 74,000 m². I took care of the cursed area and the lich though so it’s just a dead zone.” Cain answered Maddison as she took notes on what he said, pausing when the enormous figures came out of his mouth.

“A 7th circle Lich? And he’s already dea-er… un-undead? The cursed area of that size was also taken care of?” Maddison’s tone depicted her disbelief, those who overheard their conversation snickered lightly.

“I’m sorry Cain. I’m not trying to doubt you or anything, it's just what you’ve said is hard to believe. The existence of such a powerful unknown lich going by undetected from the kingdom alone is already hard to believe.” Maddison did her best to ask for proof without offending Cain in the process; shooting a few glares at the bystanders who looked like they were going to try something as she spoke.

Cain stretched out his hand over the desk as a portal appeared above it, depositing the lich’s skull. “His soul vessel was inside of his skull.” Cain rotated the skull to show the indent on the inside of the frontal bone. “I uh… kind of obliterated it so there’s not much left.” Cain muttered bashfully, mimicking the body language and gestures to show embarrassment and shame.

“Oh, here’s what the dead zone looks like though.” He quickly changed the subject away from his “shameful mistake.” The portal that the skull appeared from rotated above Cain’s head and stretched into the size of a big, flatscreen tv, showing an overview of the dead land.

“Wow…” Maddison uttered mindlessly, the eerie scene replacing the snickers with curious gazes. “I didn’t know portals could be used like this…” Maddison commented to fill the empty silence as she finished her notes.

“Even water can slice mountains if used properly.” Cain noticed that most eyes and ears were tuned in to their relative area, and decided to share a piece of wisdom. Unfortunately, it flew over most of its audience’s heads.

“Alright… I’ll file the rest of this away then. Who should I deliver the rewards to? You have the rewards for the B-rank quest and the A-rank addition. Hmm… there will probably be an additional reward for dealing with the cause… and with the scale of the cause…” Maddison continued her indiscriminate mumbles and scribbles as Cain turned to face Veronica and Victoria.

—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (ms)

Cain: Do we need gold?

Dresil: Not really, maybe for your territory but you said you wanted to leave everything to them

Dresil: Your biggest expense is food, and that’ll be solved by the Shadowtrap family in two months or so

Cain: True… Alright

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

“If the rewards are gold or anything below what a 6th circle can use, you guys can have them.” Cain’s stance on the distribution of rewards shocked the eavesdroppers; Victoria’s perplexion overshadowed Veronica’s joy in that moment.

Victoria craned her head to peek at Maddison’s notes then did some quick estimations. “You sure? It’ll probably be a few thousand gold.”

“Yep. You guys will need the money to get some decent gear anyways now that you’re a B-rank party.” Cain confirmed, waving his arms about to make room for a portal. Many people refused to budge out of spite or annoyance from Cain’s abrupt, odd actions.

He created a portal in what little room he cleared and slowly increased its size. The annoyed bystanders avoided the purple and black wisps of the portal like the plague, effectively providing clearance for the travel portal.

“Oh, Cain. Before you go, a quest about a dragon came in recently.” Maddison fumbled around the stacks of papers on the desk and fished out a quest slip. “Sweet, I’m going to take care of some of my errands. I’ll be back around dinner though.” Cain stated while glancing over the slip for a few seconds.

Victoria nodded as Cain’s silhouette disappeared through the portal; Veronica waved slowly, her eyes longingly peering beyond the blacked out entrance. The portal above the two that displayed the dead region and the one Cain went through disappeared seconds later.