"Damn, that was a good song." Jared commented shortly after it ended. The party nodded their heads in unison. "What's the name of the song?" Victoria asked out of curiosity. "'Highway to Hell' by AC/DC." Cain replied while extending his legs and letting them rest on the opposite bench. "I'm going to nap, so just wake me up whenever we stop." Cain announced as he lowered his head to where he was sitting.
Dresil created a support for his waist along with some guard rails. Leaves sprouted from the collar of Cain's shirt, forming a soft pillow. "Sounds good. We'll be sleeping outside tonight though." Jacob replied moments before a leaf covered Cain's eyes. Catherine grumbled in disappointment while Cain merely hummed his acknowledgement. The mini forms of Bob, Rex, and Dresil disappeared during their conversation; the speaker was left rooted to the ceiling.
—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (10ms)
Dresil: Master, what about lunch?
Cain: Oh yeah, it's nearing noon, huh?
Cain: Meh, I'll eat if I'm awake or not lazy enough. Otherwise I'll just have a bigger snack later.
Cain: I just really need a few hours of not doing anything to relax. The past few days have been too eventful.
Dresil: Understood.
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Cain hovered in between a state of half-asleep and immersed meditation, unable to fall asleep completely. This was not only because of the lacking sound-proof magic circles, but also because he was inactively aware of his surroundings. They were traveling through a monster-infested forest after all.
The carriage trotted on while playing some mild rock at a volume only they could hear. Within an hour, they stopped to cook some food within their storage rings. Veronica looked questionably at Cain, wondering whether or not to wake him up for lunch. Victoria stopped her and shook her head, figuring it'd be best to let him rest.
After they had their meal, the party cleaned and packed up their belongings then departed once more. Catherine helped with one or two dishes, but was quickly told to just sit in the carriage due to how poor of a job she did. Whenever someone went to leave or enter the carriage, Dresil would use her roots to rotate Cain's body outwards; his legs hanging outstretched in the air, barely held up by Dresil.
The carriage took off once more, this time not stopping until the sun set. Jared steered the carriage to an open area a few meters away from the beaten path. Cain rose from his "slumber" and left the carriage along with the rest of its inhabitants. He stood off to the side as Jacob distributed tarps, ropes, and pikes for everyone to set up their tents. Catherine took out the same materials, but of higher quality.
While the party set up their tents and belongings, Cain walked over to the logs that formed a square around the firepit. He used his mana zone to detect dried branches, leaves, and wood then had SRI teleport them into the fire. Cain arranged the sticks into a teepee over the dried leaves then broke the branches and carefully placed a few on top or around the small teepee.
"~Ignite~" Cain spoke and the dry leaves caught on fire. "Dang, you make a better firepit than half of us here." Jared commented as he walked up and sat on the opposite log as Cain. "Got to make the food somehow." Cain replies as the rest of the party take their spots. Jacob sat next to Jared, Veronica and Victoria sat next to each other on the log to Cain's left, and Catherine sat on the log to his right after laying a blanket on the wood.
Veronica nodded in agreement to Cain's words while she sat down. "Are you going to make a tent for yourself?" Victoria asked Cain once everyone sat down. "Dresil already did." He replies while taking out a few skewers with raw meat on them. Vines sprouted from the ground to serve as the posts to roast the meat. The party looked behind Cain as he made his dinner; they saw a small cavern made of roots.
"That wasn't there before… right?" Jacob asked warily. They all shook their heads in unison, except for Cain who was eyeing his meat. "Dresil might be the fastest one in the guild when it comes to making tents." Jared commented in awe. The rest of the party nodded in unison while taking out a few pieces of assorted meat to place above the fire.
"I'm surprised we haven't come across a single monster on our way here." Jared comments while walking back to his spot after placing his meat. "Is it normal to come across a few?" Cain asked while eating some meat that was already cooked and stored in the Snack Storage. "Usually there's one or two stragglers that'll run across the path or try to ambush weak adventurers." Veronica nodded her head to Jacob's answer.
"Although they're weak enough that they'll die to a few arrows, there's almost always at least one." She added. "I guess it was because the invasion just ended then? There were a few hundred thousand monsters on that field, or so I heard." Cain quickly added that last part after he noticed Victoria's suspicious glance. To the party's knowledge, Cain was never on the field and was still asleep that day. "It seems like it." Jared mumbled, wiping the drool from his mouth as the smell of cooked meat wafted over to him.
He quickly changed his seat to Jacob's right side since the smoke came quickly after the smell. "So, Cain. You got any interesting stories to tell us?" Victoria asked Cain when she noticed the atmosphere was once again heading into an awkward silence. 'It always seems to happen when he's here…' She thought while waiting for Cain's answer.
"Nah, not really." Cain replied, finishing off another skewer. "What about your master? Does he have any?" Veronica asked, slightly intrigued about this mysterious character. "I heard one of his friend's donkeys married a dragon." Cain's comment brought forth many gasps and astonished gazes.
"Damn, that donkey has some serious game." Jared remarked while dodging some twigs Victoria tossed at him. "Right? They even had kids." The party stared at Cain in disbelief, unable to comprehend his statement due to its absurdity. "How… is that even possible?" Catherine mumbled, just barely audible for everyone to hear.
She had no intention of joining their conversation, but slipped up due to this absurd statement. Catherine understood she was just tagging along and thus planned to remain in the party and participate in fights, but nothing more. A few feet away, yet worlds apart.
"Man… we have magic here. Anything is possible nowadays…" Jared sighed while getting up to flip everyone's meat. Dresil used a vine that branched off from the posts that held everyone's meat to constantly flip Cain's. He liked his meat medium rare, or at the very least, without any burnt pieces. This was something that was hard to achieve without a grate or a proper grill and thus required constant maintenance.
'How does this always happen..?' Victoria thought once Jared sit down; the silence being disturbed only by the birds and crickets in the distance. "Truth or Dare?" Victoria proposed, to which everyone nodded or murmured in agreement. 'Huh? They have that here?' Cain thought to himself as Jared sharpened a stick and spun it in the air.
—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (17ms)
Dresil: It appears to be something another summoned individual brought with them.
Cain: Was this confirmed from the adventurers' memories you read?
Dresil: Sort of. Moreso the rumors from said memories. The only difference is you're supposed to swear everything on your mana.
Cain: I see… Doesn't that make it more tense or awkward than it needs to be?
Dresil: Nope. Based on the memories it just added to the excitement.
Dresil: You can deny one question and ask to change to dare once though.
Cain: I see… sounds fun.
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The stick landed on the grass with the sharpened end pointing to Victoria. She smiled lightly then cleared her throat. "*ahem* Cain, truth or dare?" Cain finished his bite then thought for a few seconds. "Truth." he replied, then hesitatingly set his half finished skewer to the side so he could reply without food in his mouth.
"How old are you?'" Victoria asked Cain the moment Dresil transmitted [Say, "I swear on my mana: …" it's the format usually used.] Cain tapped the ground two times, communicating his acknowledgment to Dresil; the spot where he tapped was directly over the roots that stretched out from Cain's clothes and popped back up over the fire pit.
"I swear on my mana: I've seen countless kingdoms rise and fall, endless plots unfold and crumble. The human nature is but another subject to me." Cain's mana vibrated to his words, confirming their truth. The party members stared at him in awe and reverence; a mini Dresil emerged from his clothes and sat on his shoulder.
"The novels and manhwa you've read don't count, Master." Her statement confuses the party for a second, trying to process how exactly that fits in. "...dang it. I swear on my mana: I'm 20." Cain said somewhat dejectedly.
"How many books did you read for your mana to consider your first statement as the truth?" Victoria's question was the missing puzzle piece to the others, except for Catherine who also understood what Cain meant earlier. Veronica seems to be lost in thought now that she knows Cain's age.
"400 or 500. I lost track after 300 so I don't really know." Cain said while finishing off his skewer. "Hmmm… Veronica, truth or dare." "Y-yes? Huh? Oh, uh… dare." The flustered Veronica stumbled to get the words out of her mouth. At first she thought Cain figured out she was thinking about him and thus panicked.
"I dare you to give me your meat skewer." Jared stared blankly into the distance after Cain spoke. "Oh my god… I've been blind to the possibilities." He mumbled shortly after Veronica reluctantly handed him her skewer. Dresil coordinated with Bob to deposit a few fruits onto Veronica's lap, somewhat allievating her dejected mood.
"Victoria, truth or dare?" Veronica nudged her slightly as she spoke. "Truth." Victoria replied. "Who do you have feelings for?" Victoria's cheeks turned a slight rosy red. "I uh.. I refuse to answer this question." She replied hesitantly. 'I think this is the only time I've seen her flustered.' Cain thought to himself while Victoria pondered who to choose next. Veronica whispered into Victoria's ear: "You got to tell him sometime though."
"Catherine, truth or dare?" Victoria's question startled Catherine. She thought that she wouldn't get a chance in their game and planned to just sit on the side. "Uh… truth, I guess." Catherine hesitantly answered. "What are your feelings for Cain?" Veronica immediately trained her gaze towards Catherine after Victoria asked her question.
"I swear on my mana: I think of him as a potential business partner, hopefully a good friend." Jacob sighed when she answered; Veronica relaxed somewhat but still kept an eye on Catherine. "Jared, truth or dare." "Oh yeah, is this beauty finally going to ask me out?" Jared teased Catherine while dodging various utensils and stale food that was thrown by Veronica and Victoria.
Dresil promptly returned the ammunition, thus creating an endless stream of flying objects. Jacob scooted to his left some, closer to Catherine's log, to avoid being caught in the crossfire. He nervously bounced his near up and down when he realized how close he was to her.
"Dare." Jared finally replied when the girls stopped throwing things at him. "I dare you to stop flirting with me." Catherine issued the ultimatum. Veronica and Victoria giggled to the side, as Cain said "Yikes man, she got you there." Jared merely nodded his head while trying to think of any possible loopholes. Unable to come up with any, he switched his focus to figuring out how else to pass the time.
"Jacob, truth or dare." He asked after a short moment. "Truth." "Who's your crush, huh?" Jared questioned with a teasing smirk, nudging Jacob's side with his elbow. "I'll go with a dare instead then." Jacob promptly replied while trying to avoid Catherine's gaze. "Aw, you're no fun. I dare you to try to lift the carriage up with no mana then." Jared spoke while grabbing his skewer and distributing the rest to others.
Veronica's skewer was given to Cain when it was cooked roughly rare or blue rare, thus these skewers were at medium to well done. Jared held Jacob's skewer and watched as he walked up to the carriage. Jacob bent down to a squat, grabbing the side of the carriage with his hands. He struggled to stand up, veins bulging on his muscles as they attempted to lift the heavy load. The carriage came off the ground by a few millimeters, although this wasn't noticeable to anyone but Cain.
Jacob released his grasp and let out a heavy exhale. The carriage shook slightly while he turned his back to it and walked back to his seat. "So close man." Jared commented while handing him his skewer. "Yeah… *huff* Maybe when I *huff* get closer to S-rank I can lift it." Jacob replied while panting lightly.
"It's getting pretty late, so we should distribute night watch schedules then turn in for the night." Victoria caught everyone's attention. "I can help out if you guys need it." Cain offered to which Catherine also joined in. "Hmm… then Jacob and Catherine get the first shift, Jared and I will cover the next, and Cain and Veronica will get the last shift. Any objections?"
Victoria's proposal was swiftly accepted by everyone. "When do we leave in the morning?" Cain asked Jacob, wary of how much sleep he can get before his shift. "No later than a few hours after dawn preferably." His reply sent Cain into doing some rough calculations. 'So each shift is roughly 3.5 hours… not bad.'
—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (3ms)
Cain: Ask Sinclair if he wants to sleep outside or not.
Dresil: Yes, Master.
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Everyone dispersed into their respective tents for the night. Jacob adds some more firewood to the fire while occasionally stealing a few glances at Catherine, who still sat on her log. Sinclair walked through a portal that appeared in Cain's tent. The duo layed down with their backs facing each other. Cain established the sound-proof magic circles over his ears and attempted to sleep.