A waitress walks up to Cain's table, appearing between Jared and Victoria. Jared jumps slightly since he was still zoned out, causing Veronica to laugh silently. The waitress sets down 5 beers then steps back so Victoria can distribute them to everyone.
"Your food will be ready within a few minutes. You guys are really lucky… Most of our chefs were about to clock out when you ordered." The waitress states while the beers are being handed out.
"Oh, sorry about that." Victoria comments on the side.
"Don't be, they get paid by the hour so they were delighted to cook some more. Enjoy." The waitress then takes her leave.
"Cain, can you show us that technique now?" An impatient Jared eagerly awaits Cain's decision. Needless to say, he is very excited about this new drink. Jacob nods in approval, while the girls glimpse at the beer indifferently.
"Sure, it's done." Cain replies. The moment Jared spoke, he started the process to convert the beer into soda. Everyone at the table stares at him in disbelief once again.
"Huh? Already?" Jacob asks with a bit of weariness.
"Yep." Cain confirms with a nod of his head, almost bonking Dresil with his chin.
The group stares at their cups suspiciously. After a moment of hesitation, everyone but Victoria takes a sip.
"Holy shit, this is good." Jacob comments while dodging some of Victoria's silverware.
"Language." She says firmly.
"Sorry, sorry. It just tastes so good. You should try it." Jared replies while trying to pull the knife that was wedged halfway into the chair. 'Damn, did she use mana to throw this?!' He thinks after finally succeeding in pulling it out.
"You're really suggesting her to drink alcohol? But I agree, this does taste good." Veronica admonishes Jared, reaching for silverware to throw, only to realize that there was none left.
"Relax, there's no alcohol in these drinks." Cain states while Dresil hands Veronica silverware made from some sturdy vines. After a quick inspection, she discovers they are sturdier than the wooden silverware commonly used.
Victoria stares at her cup suspiciously, then hesitantly takes a sip. She quickly chugs it in one go, then lets out a mighty burp. Everyone begins to question how such a hefty burp could come from such a small frame. Jacob shifts his gaze from himself to his soda, questioning whether or not he could let out such a burp.
"Oh, pardon my lack of manners. That just tasted so good." She states while wiping the corners of her mouth with her handkerchief.
The Dean of the Adventurer's Guild walks past them, eyeing Cain for a brief moment. Cain notices this movement and begins his play. He creates a small slip of paper using mana, then proceeds to write on it using mana to dye parts of the paper in black to form letters.
This is done while he is folding the piece of paper behind Dresil and under the table, away from any prying eyes. Dresil notices what's happening and the moment Cain moves to get up, she floats towards his back; using vines wrapped around his waist to support herself.
By the time Cain is standing up completely, Dresil is comfortably resting on his back, and the note is complete. Cain bends down on the floor, appearing to pick something up. Then stands back up and offers the Dean something.
"Sir, it appears this fell out of your pocket." Cain states while giving the Dean the slip of paper. In the Dean's eyes, this looks like a gold coin.
"Oh, thanks young lad." He replies before walking over to Madison clumsily. Cain sits back down with Dresil adjusting herself to once again be on his lap. The movement is eyed by everyone oddly, including the fleet of waitresses bringing the food.
"Looks like your familiar is quite clingy." Victoria conveys with a bit of skepticism. She then directs the waitresses to place all of the food on the table. An extra table was brought over to store what wouldn't fit. Maddison can be heard in the background lecturing the Dean.
"Yeah… this is the first time she's like this." Cain replies while stroking Dresil's hair; she hums in satisfaction. Victoria sends the waitresses off with another order of beers.
Cain starts his speedy feast once they leave. Dresil uses a set of vines to swap empty dishes and bring full dishes in front of Cain. Jacob, Jared, and Victoria secure a few dishes for themselves while Veronica attempts to keep up with Cain's pace, only to fail miserably.
---Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex--- (22ms)
Rex: Damn dude, you eat a lot.
Cain: Ye, it's surprising me too. Usually I'll only need to eat half of what's on the tables for a day, but it seems like the more I use mana, the hungrier I get.
Bob: Perhaps it's due to the energy consumed during mental calculations?
Cain: Maybe… I've done a lot of calculations that would usually take longer or give me a headache when I do them, yet none of that occurs. The extra mana and food consumption probably has something to do with this…
Cain: I should research it later.
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By the time the waitress arrives with 10 beers, the extra table has been cleared of food and is now filled with empty plates. The waitress gestures over to some busboys who commence their arduous job after setting down the beers.
The party looks at Cain who gives a firm nod, confirming that the beer is now soda. They continue to feast in awkward silence, not knowing what to talk about.
Cain grabs a piece of steak and brings it closer to him to eat. Just before devouring the bite, Dresil swoops in and steals it. This swift movement caught the eyes of the party who are now gazing at Cain and Dresil in anticipation of what happens next.
Everyone knows not to touch a foodie's food, but the person who did the deed was the foodie's familiar. Thus they were not sure of what was about to happen next, but hopefully it would be an interesting show.
Cain looks at his empty fork, then at Dresil chewing his steak, then back at his fork. After a moment of silence he expresses in a befuddled tone, "U flippin' wot m8?"
Dresil looks up at Cain, hugs him, then retreats into his clothes. Her dress was dissolved into vines and followed her shortly after.
---Dms: Cain and Dresil--- (9ms)
Dresil: Thanks for the treat!
Cain: :dumbfounded:
Cain: ...What about your clothes?
Dresil: I ate them like I did with the Master's shirt. Only now I can reproduce it whenever I want.
Cain: Huh… So you've been upgraded from a giant tree to a walking closet?
Dresil: Masterrrr… :pout:
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A minute passes by with no one doing anything. The party reluctantly continues to eat after realizing that nothing entertaining was going to happen.
Cain scoots up to the chair, filling in the space Dresil took up when she was on his lap. In place of her vines, Cain uses the mana in his mana zone to escort empty plates away and bring new ones to him. Although it was wobbly at first, Cain eventually got used to the process.
It started with one plate at a time, slowly going up to 10 plates moving at high speeds with no wasted movement. Everyone but Veronica commended the mental toll this must have taken, as well as the fact that Cain was keeping up with the flow, devouring everything in front of him within seconds. Veronica was desperately trying to secure what food remained.
No suspicion was aroused since underneath each and every plate there was a magic circle. Although the magic circle didn't do anything except look pretty. There was a similar circle, tweaked slightly, at each plate's destination.
Within minutes, there were only 3 dishes left on the table. Cain and Veronica glance at each other, then lunge their forks towards the last steak. The prongs of their forks entangle, causing both of them to retreat and strike again.
Their fierce clashes continue, slowly rising above the steak to avoid shredding it. Sparks appear to be flying between the two as they engage relentlessly. Cain's fork slowly begins to break from the clashes between the fork made from Dresil's vines. Jared, Jacob, and Veronica notice the cracks forming and watch eagerly to see who the winner is.
---Dms: Cain and Bob--- (5ms)
Cain: Can you create a portal underneath the steak and the exit portal above my plate?
Bob: ...Sure.
Bob: I assume the sparks are an illusion from your mana zone?
Cain: Yep
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In the final strike, a portal opens up below the steak and it reappears on Cain's plate. Veronica was the only one who didn't see what happened as she was too engrossed in the strike that was supposed to decide the owner of the steak. Their forks clash for the last time, causing Cain's fork snap into four different pieces.
The delighted Veronica reaches for the steak, only to realize it wasn't there anymore. She looks over at Cain with complex emotions, watching him eat the last bite of the last steak. Shocked, bewildered, bamboozled, flabbergasted, perplexed, amazed; all leading to a blank stare.
Cain returns her stare and just shrugs. "All is fair in love and war." He says, relishing the taste of the last bite. Victoria nods her head, seemingly taking a mental note of this saying. Veronica turns her head away swiftly, slightly angered by Cain's cunningness.
Cain lets out a small sigh and creates some potato chips using mana underneath the table. He opens the bag and stealthily throws a chip at her forehead. "Veronica, think fast." He says when the chip is midway on its flight path.
Veronica tracks the movement with the corner of her eye, then gracefully lunges at the chip and catches it with her mouth. She heartily chews it, surprised by the texture and taste. "Woah this tastes good, what is it?"
"It's… a snack from my hometown." Cain replies absentmindedly. 'I was just trying to start a food fight… but I almost fell in love, heck. That was too perfect.'
---Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex--- (43ms)
Rex: Why did you even create chips out of mana? Thought you said they'd be suspicious if you did something like that. It can't be as simple as "just to throw something at Veronica."
Cain: I did it away from their eyesight so they saw nothing. They'd probably just think it came from my storage space.
Cain: It was an experiment to see if I could regain the calories consumed during the mental calculations to create food. Unfortunately the efficiency is too low and if anything it'll just drag out the starvation.
Cain: It'd probably be better to just use mana as the source of energy instead of calories at that point.
Rex: But you didn't even finish the bag of chips… :sus:
Cain: Why would I need to? I know how many calories were consumed and how much I can get from any food I've had previously pretty accurately. Especially after this feast.
Bob: Was this also to test whether or not you could create organic matter? :think:
Cain: Nope. I did that when I made my shirt a few days ago (cotton is a plant) and when I made paper (smashed up plant matter).
Dresil: Master, you should be careful of using creation magic. Overusing it could mess the cycle of mana if there is one.
Cain: You're right. Don't worry, I have a plan in place for this.
Cain: F
Dresil: F
Bob: F
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