Chapter 83

  Eyes of the World (II)

While Senna cleared a great deal of difference between her and Cain and Emma, Diya and Jamal slowly came to, waking up to the ruling chaos surrounding them, realizing they had won. Jamal was especially surprised, as he was fairly certain he was plateauing straight for the hardened rock that he would not have survived. Seeing Cain with them, however, answered the confusing reality, prompting him to shrug and stretch the creaking bones.

As Cain suspected, the group, similarly to him, was besieged by a string of notifications that they spent a long time mulling over. Titles, namely, were the biggest victory for everyone, boosting their primary stats considerably. Just as he, they all received a single item, two slots for the Classless Spells, and even two Traits each.

Unlike him, however, they weren’t ‘Knighted’ as it was commonly called in his previous life. From what he understood, that had more to do with him ‘defeating’ someone greatly above him rather than clearing the Floor itself. Even the notion that they had cleared the First Floor shocked the four, though opened their eyes greatly to what sort of an achievement they actually accomplished.

“You think people are talking ‘bout us?” Jamal asked with an expectant look in his eyes.

“Well, they are talking about people who cleared the First Floor,” Cain replied with a chuckle. “Nowhere does it say it was us, though.”

“H-huh? There ain’t like a Tower-wide announcement or something? Laaame...” Jamal grumbled.

“What? You want to be on the news all-day-every-day long?” Emma quizzed.

“Well, I mean, maybe not... every day... but just a mention would be nice, you know?”

“You can always show off when we get to the entrance,” Cain said. “I’m sure you’ll make the news as the guy who broomed the floor with a hundred people with ease.”

“... you really think I’m that strong?”

“Why do you look like you’d actually do it is the question...” Cain sighed, shaking his head. He also realized that they never really had a chance to fully put just how strong they are into perspective. Save for running into a couple of groups, they spent most of their time fighting monsters and creatures much, much stronger than them. “Anyway, you guys wanna heel it out of here or eat first?”

“Eat!” Emma said.

“Yup, I’m starving...” Jamal nodded.

“I’m... I’m hungry too.” Diya said.

“...” Senna said nothing, though a part of her wanted to just get out, as far away as possible from Cain and Emma.

"Alright, eating it is, then," Cain said as he expertly took out several cans of beer as well as a bottle of champagne and five glasses, charging Earth and building a fairly decent-looking table in the matter of seconds upon which he lay everything. The group stared briefly, gobsmacked, at the sight in front of them, then dubiously looked at him. "What?" he shrugged. "We're celebrating a big-time victory! What kind of celebration doesn't come equipped with champagne?"

“... when did you even pack all this crap?” Emma asked.

“Didn’t you tell me you just snuck out a few beers?” Jamal asked right after.

“Tsk, an alcoholic...” Senna grumbled silently from the side, with only Diya remaining silent though, similarly, distinctly remembering that Cain only mentioned bringing out a few cans of beer with him.

“Or, or, I may be so skilled I actually made all of this on our way over? Huh? Did you ever think about that?” Cain retaliated.

“Wait--did you, really?”

“Of course not,” Cain replied quickly. “I bought it all when I went to fetch Jamal from the woods and kept it stashed. Come on -- Diya, take out whatever food we have left. Let’s have a feast!”

“...”

“...” everyone shrugged similarly soon after, sitting down on impromptu-made chairs of stone, using Mana to cushion them. Cain quickly poured everyone a glass of champagne and handed them out while Diya started taking out all manner of food -- from sandwiches to chicken that Cain quickly used Fire to roast, and even some BBQ meat.

“Man, I gotta say, even though it was fun,” Jamal said as he bit into the chicken wing. “I really thought we’d come up short there at the end. It was a sticky mess...”

“It really was hard,” Emma nodded. “Looking back, we really did make a lot of mistakes.”

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“I could have healed better...” Diya said, nibbling away at an apple.

“I could have been faster,” Senna said. “And far more accurate with my throws. I need to get better at attacking when I don’t have a clear view of the target...”

“... will you guys can it?” Cain said suddenly in a harsh tone, drawing attention to himself. “You did something nobody else in the entire fucking world could have done. It’s fine to be self-critical, but, from time to time, you gotta stroke your ego as well. You earned it. All of you. Be proud of it, okay? You were fucking amazing and if I hear any one of you say ‘I wish I could have done this or that’, I’ll really roast your ass. And I don’t mean metaphorically.”

“...” the group turned silent for a moment as they smiled stealthily, hiding their faces in the food and the drinks.

“Where’d you wind up anyway?” Emma asked.

“Fighting some jackass,” Cain shrugged. “Idiot thought I was easy pickings ‘cause I was an Elemntalist. Ha ha ha, I roasted the bastard’s ass so hard he smelled of chicken nuggets.”

“I bet he fought a Dragon or something...” Jamal said.

“My bet’s on a humanoid construct twice as strong and as fast as the one we fought.” Senna said.

“I’m gonna go with a literal Devil or something.” Emma joined in on the fun, grinning.

“You... you should be careful...” Diya warned while Cain looked at them oddly.

“Ah, yes, of course,” he nodded. “I fought a fucking Dragon and not only lived but won. Totally. God, sometimes I fucking wonder whether you ever even finished high school dude with all your dumb takes.”

“WHY ME?!!” Jamal cried out. “ALL OF US SAID SOMETHING STUPID!! SO WHY PICK ON ME?!!”

“’cause yours was the stupidest.”

“EMMA SAID YOU FOUGHT A FUCKING DEVIL DUDE!!” Jamal didn’t give up.

“Yeah, but I’m also trying to get back together with her,” Cain said indifferently. “On the other hand, I can’t give more than four and a half shits about you.”

“... THAT’S IT!! I’M SO FUCKING QUITTING THIS PARTY AFTER THIS!!”

“Yeah, right... where will you go? Solo?”

“You’re okay... right?” Emma asked as Jamal fell silent, comforted by Diya who poured him another glass of champagne, offering a few kind words.

“... yeah,” he replied with a smile. “Fantastic, by all metrics.”

“...” though she didn’t look as though she bought it, Cain really was, for a change, telling the truth. If anything, his path was even clearer now than it was before fighting the skeleton. It was just another example of why he would never climb this place alone. Not even necessarily because he couldn’t do it -- though that played the part -- but because he would miss out on times like these. If the four of them weren’t around... why would he celebrate? He’d just head out and onto the next challenge, like a mindless drone.

“What’s next?” Senna asked.

“What do you mean?” Cain asked back, taking a bite of the sandwich.

“I mean -- do we go to the second floor?” she elaborated.

“We?” Cain asked, grinning.

“... shut up.”

“No,” he chuckled. “What’s the rush? We go out now, relax, take in the sights, play around, rest, and so on.”

“I wonder if Lana’s studying properly?” Emma mumbled aloud.

“Depends,” Cain said. “Is she more like you or me?”

“... you, definitely you.”

“I don’t see it,” Cain said. “She’s far more withdrawn, just like you were at her age. Remember? I had to drag your ass out of that dollhouse-of-horrors every day. God, that thing still shows up in my nightmares...”

“Shut up!! I spent literal years building that shit, man! Do you know I literally cried that day you told me how creepy it is?! I was so excited to show it off to you, and you went and ruined the whole thing!”

“Wait--you really cried?” Cain asked, incredulously surprised.

“Of course I did, jackass,” Emma rolled her eyes at him. “Wouldn’t you have cried if I told you your ‘Yu-gi-oh card collection’ was absolute garbage?”

“... you take that back.”

“Really? Really?!”

“Makes you wonder how they ever got married in the first place, huh?” Jamal mumbled as the other three realized Cain and Emma lost themselves in their own little world.

“Really?” Senna quizzed. “If anything... makes you wonder just how much he had to fuck up for them to get divorced.”

“Y-yeah...” Diya nodded. “They really... are nice together.”

“... just can’t imagine being with someone since I was a wee-kid,” Jamal said, shrugging. “Like, at some point, you just run out of things to say, no?”

“You really think Cain -- fucking Cain -- will ever run out of things to say?” Senna asked with a confused expression. “I swear, there’s so much horseshit in that brain of his he could break a record for speaking the longest without ever saying anything.”

“Yup, good point...” Jamal nodded with a chuckle. “So, you decided to join us, huh?”

“Y-yeah,” Senna mumbled, looking away as her cheeks reddened. “Got a problem with that?!”

“... welcome aboard,” Jamal grinned. “I honestly feel much safer with you around. No offense Diya, but no matter how smart you are, you seem incapable of saying anything negative to Cain. At least, now there’s someone who won’t put up with his bullshit.”

“I--I can say bad things about him!!” Diya protested.

“Oh? Really?” Jamal glanced at her. “Say one. Just one bad thing about him.”

“Don’t bully her, dude,” Senna said. “No way in hell that’s happening. And, even if it does, it’s gonna be something stupid like ‘he’s too cool to be real’...”

“... uuuh, I--I can say bad things! He--he... he would look cooler with a different haircut!”

“My God...”

“Uaaa, that was lame as all hell...” Senna added, hiding a smile.

“You guys done?” Cain asked, seemingly having just finished his bout with Emma. “We should hurry back so you guys can witness the prime of just how much our actions have broken the world.”

“Yup, ready.” Jamal nodded, standing up.

“Hey, what’d you do to Diya?” Emma asked.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“She looks like she’s about to cry, dude...”

“A-ah... n-nothing, we did nothing... dust! Yeah, there’s a lot of dust around here! Must be the dust!”

“I swear,” Senna said. “Even with how much you are ‘anti-Cain’, with every passing day you are starting to talk more and more like him.”

“... saying that hurts more than if you literally stabbed a spear into my ass.”

“...” while Cain enjoyed the developing shenanigans that, for a change, he had no hand in causing, he couldn’t help but once again thank his lucky stars that his memory of previous life was extremely fuzzy. If he went around and started recruiting all the ‘top-tier superstars’, the likelihood of anything like this becoming a reality was virtually zero. Second floor... huh? His mind slowly drifted over onto the future briefly, thinking of their next-next step. It will really toss everything into a twist... man, I’m kinda looking forward to media’s takes on the Mirrored Lakes. Wasn’t there an ‘expert’ the last time around that claimed the whole thing was a conspiracy by the front-running Conquerors to hold others back? Ha ha ha ha...