"So you finally decided to notice us, huh? Wait… we're not dogs!" One of the three adventurers on the side speaks up, only to realize his mistake midway through. He immediately gets punched in the face by what seems to be the leader.
"Shut up and go back to our table, I'm in need of some beer." The leader then leads closer and whispers into his ear. "Prepare the aphrodisiac in case this goes south." Of course this was picked up by Cain's Mana Zone, then translated by Dresil. The Mana Zone sends all information directly to the brain. In other words, instead of reproducing the sound, it deciphers and formats it into a text format then sends it directly to Dresil, who then translates it and sends it to Cain. The whole process usually takes less than a quarter of a second.
"Who might this young man be? Are you perhaps the owner of this plant monster?" The leader addresses Cain.
"I am Cain, and Dresil is not a monster. I am in charge of her though, did something happen?" Cain states with his eyes narrowed. He begins to insert his mana into this rough looking man, preparing to use it in case things get out of hand.
"My name is Sig-gwon. Your pet and this elf spilled food on me and have yet to give me proper compensation." The leader states gruffly, lowering his hand to the sword on his belt.
—Dms: Dresil and Cain— (5ms)
Dresil: Master, we didn't do that, it was all set up. Please believe me…
Cain: Don't worry, I do. You'd need a godly level of clumsiness for two people to spill food onto one person…
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"Compensation? Should I give it to the food for landing on you?" The tables around Cain are suddenly filled with laughter. Veronica and Victoria giggle softly while Jared and Jacob hold a stoic face. However, anyone could tell that they're trying their best not to die of laughter; unfortunately for them, it is futile.
"Hah?" The leader let out an exasperated sigh. "Are you saying I'm a disgrace to this… grub?" The leader points to the mashed potatoes and steak sauce covering his leather armor. From the stains, Cain guesses the trajectory of the plate that did the deed.
Really…? There was no force or anything behind it, it's like it grazed him but he smeared it some more to exaggerate it… Usually there is an impact splatter due to the force the plate collides with. Whether the force is caused from fumbling due to loss of balance or purposefully spilling it on someone… Cain lets out a small sigh. Seriously… If you're going to fake it, at least do it right.
"Hey man, you said it, not me." Cain shrugs after he says this. At this moment Jared and Jacob can't hold their laughter back and join in the roar of laughter. Jared holds onto his sides while trying to catch his breath. Victoria pats his back while having fits of laughter. Although she isn't holding it back as much, she's doing it much better than the boys. Veronica attempts to distract herself by gorging on the food laid out on the table.
The remaining subordinate of the Sig-gwon attempts to calm him down. "Huff… You motherf*cker lets--"
"Huh? No, I don't engage in that practice, although I do like milfs." Cain states, once again adding fuel to the rage of Sig-gwon.
"You… Fight me right now. Let's have a duel. If I win, you have to give me this elf and your pet for tonight." The leader states in a moment of anger.
"Sure, but when I win, you become my meal ticket and will pay for this food. I already have a duel scheduled though and I'm too lazy to do another hmm… Let's do this. I'll make you kneel down with one word, if I fail, you win. When you kneel, I win." Cain states while eyeing some steak. Man… I just want to hurry up and eat…
—Dms: Dresil and Cain—10ms
Dresil: Isn't Sig-gwon korean for "meal ticket"?
Cain: Huh? Maybe… Hehehe, the boy was destined to be a meal ticket…
Cain: Wait, that's actually kind of sad, dang.. Meh, free food. Anyways, are you ever going to get up from sitting in my lap?
Dresil: Maybe… but not now.
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Sig-gwon bursts into laughter. "Haha… ha… You really think you can do that? Fine, however if you win I'll pay for your meals until the day I die. It'll be your loss though. Who's giving the countdown?" The leader smirks, imagining the things he would due to the new toys he'll shortly receive.
On the contrary, Cain decides to put a little effort in once he hears that Sig-gwon will be his meal ticket forever. His eyes shine slightly, his droopy eyelids that were always half closed raise slightly. They appear to have been lit up by the sudden offer.
"I will!" Dresil perks up, almost hitting her head on Cain's chin. Sig-gwon spits on the floor in disgust.
"3… 2… 1… Go!" Dresil states in a chipper mood.
{Author note: This next bit is in the perspective of Sig-gwon. This is specific to him, no one else sees or hears what happens next, not even Cain.}
Cain looks at the ground, his eyes hover over Sig-gwon's knee level. "Kneel-erp…" Cain bellows in a voice with extra bass, further amplified with mana. Sig-gwon plops on the floor, attempting to raise his head. What he sees sends fear to his very soul.
The once calm and collected Cain is now staring down at him, peering into his soul. Cain's eyes were once an indecisive iris filled blue and teal in a brown background. After he fixed his eyesight and accidentally fused it with mana, a ring of blue and teal, bordering on light green, glowed slightly, desperately trying not to be swallowed by the deep, dark brown hovering in the back. His once circular pupils were now a smooth diamond. What Sig-gwon sees is the latter, with a twist. In the pupil of Cain's eyes, a small flame is dancing vibrantly, his once dark brown background is almost black.
To top it off, behind Cain was a gigantic eye of a creature. The eye was closed, but one could tell based on the eyelid alone, it wasn't just any creature. The eyelid was filled with rough scales, scales that emitted an aura capable of a few B-rank adventurers each.
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It was a given that if anyone disturbs this creature's rest, causing it to open its eyes, not even the gods would be able save the perpetrators. They'd be devoured along with them instead.
Everything about Cain was menacing, the background seemed to fade away in his presence. Even Dresil, who was once a chipper beauty, was now sneering down at the lowly creature hunched over on its knees before her.
Her arms were around Cain's neck with her head resting against his chest. She sat on his lap with her legs outstretched. Yet, even this cute pose was more frightening than any monster Sig-gwon had faced up until now.
I done f*cked up… was the only thing Sig-gwon could manage to think in this moment.
{Author note: The perspective is now back to normal. In other words, this is what everyone in the guild sees and hears.}
Cain looks at the ground, his eyes hover around Sig-gwon's knee level. "Derp…" is all that escapes from his mouth. Although the word was enhanced with mana, it was disguised to everyone but Sig-gwon, so there was no noticeable change in the tone, volume, or weight it carried. And yet this one word silenced the entire guild.
Sig-gwong dropped to his knees, his hands supporting him from falling on his face. Everyone in the guild stares at Cain in disbelief.
—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, Rex— (200ms)
Rex: Noble Vampires reference?
Cain: Yep.
Dresil: Master… I thought you said you weren't going to use more than 10% of your prowess...
Cain: I did, that didn't even use 100,000 mana though.
Dresil: Eh?
Bob: Just what did you do to the poor entertainme-er, lad…
Cain: I promoted the creation of the chemicals that were responsible for fear, changed what he heard and saw, and added some adrenaline to the mix. ...my gut tells me something unintentional was also added, I probably got too excited at the thought of having a permanent meal ticket. I don't know what he saw, but it seems to have done the trick.
Cain: I think the message he heard was mixed up part way through… modifying sound waves imbued with mana was harder than I thought…
Bob: Impressive…
Rex: Let me know when more situations like these occur, I can use them to make memes… hehe
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The remaining subordinate of Sig-gwon stares at his boss concerned. He repeatedly moves his mouth, with no words coming out, until he finally manages to utter "B-boss… Are you ok?"
Sig-gwon doesn't move. Rather there's no reaction at all, it's almost like he fainted. The subordinate lowers himself under his boss' shoulder, attempting to pick him up. All the subordinate feels is dead weight, not a muscle moved from Sig-gwon's body.
He did faint…
"Take your boss and leave. Don't forget about our bet. Hmm…" Cain speaks up after watching the pitiful sight. The subordinate nods and quickly retreats from Cain's sight.
A moment of contemplation goes by before he hollers across the guild. "Oi, Maddison! Can you make sure all of my food related expenses are paid for by Sig-gwon? I'll charge them to my credit to make things easier, deduct whatever fees you need."
Maddison's ears perk up at this last bit. After all, that's like giving free money to a receptionist. "Sure… Are you sure though?" She asks, reluctant to believe Cain knows what he just did.
"Yep. They're food related fees after all. So Meal Ticket will have to pay them anyways." Cain replies, then adjusts his seat so he is now properly facing the table filled with food. Previously, Cain was sitting half-on-half-off the chair, balancing Dresil on his lap.
It was a habit of his to take this position whenever someone unknown walked up to him or was around him. It allowed for a quick flee while also maintaining normal comfort levels, usually. He had forgotten Dresil was on his lap when he performed the habitual movements. Thus he was stuck in an awkward position.
—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (35ms)
Cain: Dresil, are you going to move?
Dresil: Maybe…
Dresil: Does the Master not want me here?
Cain: Nah, it's not that. I'm just confused as to how I'm supposed to eat like this…
Dresil: Don't worry Master. It'll be slightly tedious but I won't obstruct you too much. I'll use some of my vines to catch any food that may fall as well.
Cain: If you say so…
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Cain stares at the numerous dishes in front of him… From steak to lamb, sausage to snake, a variety of meat was laid out. Jacob gestures to Cain to dig in and the party begins to feast.
Within minutes, Cain has devoured several kilograms of steak and lamb, followed by a kilogram of snake and sausage combined.
"Dang… Did you guys not feed him while you were out?" Victoria asks Jacob and Jared as they stare at Cain and Veronica. Veronica is desperately trying to keep up with Cain's speed.
"No… well, he did run out of snacks…" Jared replies while attempting to reach for a piece of steak with his fork. A spatial portal opens up below it and reappears over Cain's plate. Cain looks at Jared with a look that reads "Sorry, not sorry." He continues to feast, using his mana and spatial portals to bring the food laid out on the table to his plate.
Cain leans back after devouring the last steak, exhaling in satisfaction. "Aahh… I need something to drink to go with this." The party stares at Cain baffled. He just devoured 37 steaks, 12 snake sausages, 5 links of sausage, and 15 slices of lamb in roughly 10 minutes. The only food they were able to eat was what they ate before Cain arrived and any vegetables.
"Should we order some more food as well?" Victoria asks after recovering from her stupor.
"Yeah, we don't have to pay for this anymore. Maaann… free food just hits different…" Cain grins, his eyes displaying satisfaction. The once droopy and dull eyes were now wide open, filled with energy and light. Victoria calls over a waitress to their table.
"Hits… different?" Jacob asks, puzzled by Cain's wording. His satisfaction and contentment seems to be spreading among those around him. The once gloomy, tense atmosphere is now replaced by what one would expect to find when surrounded by their decade long friends. It's almost as if Cain's emotions were contagious, erasing any negativity, allowing the once petrified Jacob to question the mysterious being about something small.
"Ah, sorry. It's slang from where I'm from. It basically means 'eating free food is a different experience.'" Cain explains while sitting up. The waitress has just arrived and is taking orders from Victoria.
"Yep, yep. Can you also clean all these plates too? Thanks. Oh, Cain, what do you want to drink?" Victoria looks over at Cain who is eyeing the waitress like she's his next meal. 'Did all the food go to his head?'
"Hmm… Beer is fine. Don't forget to order enough food for you guys. Sorry for eating everything all of a sudden… I was famished without my snacks…" Cain replies before lowering his head slightly, showing his sincerity and hiding his cheeks that are turning slightly red due to embarrassment.
"No worries… but didn't your familiar take 20 or so wolves? What happened to all of your snacks?" Victoria asks after sending the waitress off. She flees from Cain's gaze in a rush. Veronica nods her head, showing her interest in this topic.
"Did you eat them all?" she asks, eyeing Cain with a newfound respect.
"I wish… Most of the meat spoiled since we didn't preserve it at all. Not to mention all of the wolf meat isn't edible, or at least doesn't taste good, by just smoking it in the fire. I think I was only able to eat about 40kg…" Cain replies with a solemn face.
Only 40kg?'The group simultaneously thinks. 1 kg of steak is enough to feed one person for a day, on average. According to Cain's experience with meat and Dresil's confirmation based on knowledge from various sources, the only difference between the two is that wolf meat is more nutritious. In other words, Cain ate at least 40 people's worth of steak, not accounting for the bonus nutrition from the meat actually being from demon wolves, as a snack through a day and a half.