[Master, I’ve got breakfast.]

Dresil’s voice pulls Cain out of his deep sleep. He disperses the sound-proof magic circles and sets the small blanket used to cover his eyes aside. He slowly sits up, resting his back against the bedpost. Dresil unmerges from the blankets that once smothered Cain in warmth; she had merged into them a few hours before Cain woke up to prevent him from finding out she cuddled with him.

Bob created several portals for Dresil to deliver Cain’s breakfast. Cain stares at the lack of meat with confusion, hesitantly grabbing an apple and eating it.

—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (240ms)

Cain: No meat?

Dresil: Nope, you need to eat something besides meat every once in a while.

Dresil: Once you can create your vitamins, there won’t be any problem though.

Cain: heck…

Dresil: …why are we in the group chat though?

Cain: I had some stuff to ask Rex and Bob. Ah, also you as well.

Dresil: …why didn’t you ask them last night?

Cain: I just wanted to sleeeeeppp… Converting that filthy castle into mana took a lot more out of me mentally than I expected. I was running on fumes the rest of the day.

Bob: Understandable.

Rex: So you had the energy of normal people the rest of the day?

Cain: …I guess so, huh? Dang someone needs to steal some of this energy.

Cain: Anyways, I did some rough calculations while bathing in the alien pod.

Rex: Ay! He admitted it as an alien pod.

Cain: …

Rex: Sorry. Continue. :popcorn:

Cain: It apparently took 14 quintillion mana to upgrade all of those houses in my new territory yesterday. I only had 286 trillion ish in the Mana Storage at that time, so what happened here?

Bob: Dresil notified Rex and I that you would try and pull off a stunt that would require an immense amount of mana. So I teleported Rex to a star that was about to become a supernova.

Bob: He converted most of its temperature into mana and I converted the extra mass into mana, thus downgrading the star to a normal red star.

Bob: I fed the mana through the Mana Storage dimension to make it easier.

Cain: Dang… I keep forgetting you guys are basically gods.

Rex: I’m great, aren’t I? :proud:

Cain: So if the magic circle that I made to upgrade the houses wasn’t completely self-sufficient the mana would have backfired on me?

Bob: Yep. Since even 0.01% of 14 quintillion is 100 trillion, a few million times more than your current soul power, your soul would’ve been obliterated.

Cain: Dang… I guess I should be more careful then…

Dresil: You think?

Dresil: Honestly though. You’d think someone so smart wouldn’t be so dumb.

Rex: Indeed. Your impulsiveness almost matches mine at times.

Rex: …so what do you mean by “self-sufficient magic circle”?

Dresil: :kek:

Bob: :popcorn:

Cain: Pfft, I thought you’d be injured or overloaded somehow after taking care of that supernova, but it’s good to see you’re still fine.

Rex: Hey! I’m somewhat… overloaded? Overworked? Idk, one of those.

Cain: Yes, yes. I’ll lift your ban on the memes since you helped out yesterday.

Rex: :hyper yay:

Cain: As for your question, a self sufficient magic circle operates completely by itself, without the need for any input or output of mana on my part. It automatically grabs or deposits whatever it needs.

Cain: This eliminates the burden on my soul since I don’t have to control the mana anymore, but unless I program a cpu or something similar, my brain is used to calculate everything.

Rex: :dafuq:

Rex: Then how did you upgrade all 435 houses without overloading your brain?

Cain: That task was just a copy and paste of one task over and over.

Cain: As for the upgrade process it was pretty simple: convert whatever is occupying the space into mana, then instantaneously fill that spot with what’s supposed to go there.

Cain: Although it was still taxing, so I was somewhat stressed afterwards. It was easier than learning an entire course in one or two days and acing the final though.

Rex: …yep, he’s not human.

Bob: Does this mean SRI uses your brain as the cpu?

Cain: Yep, but not actively. As in the calculations don’t surface to my thoughts and consciousness.

Cain: It seems to be getting faster though, so I’m probably getting used to doing it.

Rex: :dead:

Bob: :nod:

Cain: Anyways, Dresil. The first few days you were able to use my mana to some extent, but it seems like you haven’t been able to in the past few days? Something wrong?

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Dresil: Nope. I was only able to do so because my “will” wasn't completely my own. And since you gave me a lot of your mana, I was able to imprint myself with your “will” or mana and fool your magic circles into thinking my “will” was your “will”.

Dresil: Now that I’m starting to become fully sentient, my “will” is becoming more of my own and less of yours.

Cain: I see… Interesting.

Rex: Will what? Will who? The fuck?

Bob: Don’t worry about it Rex.

Rex: :dead:

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Cain continues to eat the assorted fruits while lifting Rex’s ban on the memes. Halfway through, he stops mid-bite and stares off into space, seemingly remembering something. He chomps down on the orange, then asks Dresil, “Hey Dresil… Where’s Athena? I remember setting her coords to my chair in the banquet, but I don’t remember taking her with me.” Cain looks at her, his face full of mortifying regret.

“I had Bob store her in her dimension.” Dresil’s reply caused Cain to sigh in relief. For a moment there, he thought that he had left her behind in the banquet. Cain continued to eat in peace until there were no more fruits left laid out on his bed. He reluctantly left the soft confines of the memory foam to stretch and wake up.

“When does the party depart?” Cain asked Dresil while stretching his legs out. “Right now.” Cain swiftly turned back to look at Dresil when he heard her. “Huh? Right now, right now?” Cain asked with urgency, attempting to clarify with Dresil. Dresil nodded, then left the bed and walked up to Cain, merging with his clothes. Cain opened a portal near the party using SRI and walked through it as Dresil tried to tame his bedhead.

“I’m not late, am I?” Cain asked the party as he walked out the portal. They were next to a rental carriage parked near the guild. “Nope, we were just about to send Veronica to go get you.” Victoria responded from within the carriage. She sat close to the coach driver’s chair, where Jared was mounted waiting for everyone.

Jacob sat across Victoria with Catherine on his left. He nervously fidgeted occasionally while also casting fleeting glances at her. So I guess Jacob’s crush is Catherine then… Good luck dude. Cain sends his silent regards with a nod then boards the carriage. He sat on the edge of the bench, next to Veronica, who was on Victoria’s right. Veronica sheepishly looked away; the events of last night surfaced through her mind.

Cain laid his head down on the bench and propped his feet up on the opposite bench. Dresil formed a support made from vines at his waist. “I’m going to take a short nap. Just let me know when we are near the boundary of the forest.” Cain declared to the party. “You sure you’re not going to fall? You’re pretty close to the edge there.” Victoria leaned forward some to ask Cain.

“Yep. Dresil has some vines wrapped around my waist and side so I won’t.” Cain responded then closed his eyes. Veronica sighed some, releasing some of the tension she accidentally built up due to her nervousness. “We got everything we need, right?” Jared turned around to ask the party. They all nodded, thus giving him the signal to set off.

The carriage leisurely trotted through the main rodded, arriving at the outer gates within a few minutes. Jared handed over some documents for the guard stationed there to check. He skims through them then hands them back to Jared. The guard signals to another to open the gates. The carriage exits the outer wall and heads on a path to the forest.

“Is it me, or is their security tighter than usual?” Veronica asked the party, trying to keep her mind from thinking about how Cain carried her to her room last night. Victoria had casually mentioned it to her this morning, thus causing the elf to be overly nervous since. “Yeah… maybe it’s because the invasion was only two days ago?” Jacob responded in kind, trying to keep himself from looking too often at Catherine.

“Nah, I think it’s because they still haven’t finished dissecting all of the corpses.” Jared responded while looking at the field of corpses. Some were salvaged to their bones, others were no longer there. “True… Someone could easily sneak in and harvest a few parts then sell it on the black market.” Victoria added to Jared’s statement.

“I’ve heard from some officials that the corpses aren’t decaying at all though. I guess Cain’s master did something? Either way it seems to be a good thing for now.” Catherine contributed to the conversation. It seems like Cain puts a lot of importance on this party. If I get in their good books, wouldn’t I be able to slowly warm up to Cain as well? She thought shortly afterwards.

Victoria eyed Catherine suspiciously, seemingly seeing through her facade. “I’ve also heard that whoever goes near the corpses will get sick shortly after leaving the area. The priests under a corrupt bishop are being forced to cure their illnesses at the priests’ expense.” Victoria commented while gauging Catherine’s reactions.

Huh… So that’s what happened to them. Cain thought to himself. He could never truly fall asleep within the short amount of time it takes to get to the border, thus he was just relaxing on his back. But why are people getting si–oh… I’m dumb. I forgot there are microorganisms that are helpful to the human body as well. Since the zone is currently set to eliminate all.

“Oh yeah, what was up with those priests? Are they the same ones that were over-charging for their services?” Jared asks Victoria. “Yep. They were all under a corrupt bishop. He was arrested for his crimes yesterday when the pope came back to the capitol. And his subordinates were made to treat those who work here without the usual pay from the church.” Victoria explained as she kept an eye on Catherine.

“...should I drive around the zone then? We’re on a path to pass through it right now.” Jared cautiously asked while slowing down the carriage some. “Nah, there’s no need.” Cain said while lifting the corner of a leaf that covered his eyes. “My master made the zone so it doesn’t affect those who travel on the paths.” As Cain said these words, he put it into action by changing some clauses with the Disinfection Zone that encompassed the corpses from the invasion.

“Sweet. Oh, Cain. Do you know what your Master did to all of the little guys? Surely they must have been crushed by the cyclopes and wyverns?” Jared asked while speeding the carriage back up to its normal speed. “Yeah, he should have teleported their corpses on top or to the side of the big ones.” Cain said as he placed the leaf back over his eyes.

—Group Chat: Cain, Bob, Dresil, and Rex— (13ms)

Rex: Wait, seriously? You did that?

Cain: Nah, Bob did though.

Rex: …but it wasn’t stated in your memories anywhere…

Cain: Does it need to be? There’s something called common sense…

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