The sky is dyed red by the rising sun, several howls can be heard in the distance. Cain begins to wake up, disturbed by the noise. 'Seriously… should I just eat all of the wolves in the forest? … I'll consider it if they disturb my sleep again.' He thinks as he tosses in his bed of leaves, eventually going back to sleep.
Jacob rises abruptly, troubled by the familiar howls. His hands move fast, checking his wounds. To his surprise they've been completely healed, not even scars remained. He examines his surroundings, discovering the floor of their carriage had been stained in blood. The canvas and frame were replaced by sturdy roots.
He gets up slowly and exits the carriage, shaking it violently, causing one of the worn down axles to break. 'How are we going to pay for these damages…?' He thought as he looked into the root cave. There sat a strange man wearing even stranger clothes, grumbling about being woken up too soon.
"Oh, you're awake?" Cain looks up after starting a fire. Roots take out wolf meat from Jacob's storage ring to prepare for roasting. Jacob walks up to the fire, attempting to sit across from Cain.
A huge mound, mimicking the shape of a tree trunk, emerges from the ground. Jacob rises abruptly, shocked that he touched the ground sooner than he thought. He sees the mound and looks back at Cain, weary of this man's presence he slowly sits back down.
"Are you the one who healed me?" He asks after getting accustomed to his chair.
"I am, you'll still need some rest before doing anything physical for a day or so." Cain responds as he stares at the skewers of meat. 'I should test what would happen if I tried inserting my mana into someone's body while their mana is still in there. The residual mana in Jacob's body seemed like it was trying to fend off an unknown disease, but there wasn't enough when I was healing him to confirm a reaction.' Cain looks up at Jacob, slowly smothering him with mana.
"Your friends are sleeping over there," Cain gestures to his right side. "They won't be up for a while. If you don't mind, may I ask you some questions?" Cain offers Jacob a piece of wolf meat. Jacob stares at Cain, still suspicious of him. "Relax, if I wanted to kill you, I could've done so when I was healing you."
Satisfied with this reason, Jacob takes a piece of the meat. Cain uses this moment of distraction to attempt to force his mana into Jacob. Jacob coughs violently as his mana fends off Cain's mana.
'I was right… maybe I should try disguising the mana as natural mana like I did with the wolves?' Cain disguises his mana and allows it to be absorbed into Jacob's body. He directs his mana throughout Jacob's body while Jacob begins to eat the meat.
'Looks like most of Jacob's wounds healed; the mana circles around his heart seems to be damaged somewhat from overuse. I'll use the mana from the meat to repair the circles and test the extent of what I can do like this.'
Cain's mana swims throughout Jacob's body, entangling with the mana of the wolf meat. His mana slowly introduces the wolf's mana to Jacob's mana to be converted. Cain directs the newly converted mana to the four magic circles around Jacob's heart.
'Looks like mana replenishes similar to how cells reproduce using natural mana as nutrients. Yet mine reproduces similar to a bacteria or pathogen and converts the natural mana… Interesting.' At this time, Jacob finishes the meat skewer and asks Cain, "I can tell you everything you want to know, but please heal my friends first."
Cain looks over at the three huddled on the side. He waves his hand, releasing mana, and uses the methods practiced on Jacob to heal all of their wounds in an instant. Jacob stares in amazement.
'Who is this person, to heal such wounds as if they were minor cuts…? I didn't hear any chants or see any magic circles…' Jacob looks back at Cain, who is eating his third meat skewer. Cain looks up from eating to see Jacob initiating a staring contest.
"No, you can't have any more wolf meat." He says sheltering his skewer. Jacob chuckles as he realizes what Cain just said. 'Wolf meat? As in demon wolf?' Jacob stares at the skewer, bewildered beyond belief.
He gets up, attempting to run away to protect his comrades before Cain interrupts him. "Don't worry, I used my mana to calm the violent mana and repair the mana circles within your heart. There was some extra mana left over, so congrats on your promotion to the fifth circle." Cain says nonchalantly, watching his fourth skewer being cooked with anticipation.
Jacob slowly sits back down, unable to calm his thoughts. 'I've been promoted?! Most tanks have a hard time just getting to the fourth circle and yet he helped me get to the fifth in an instant. Just who is this person to treat the fifth circle so casually? What are his intentions for my group?' Jacob begins his downwards spiral while Cain leaves an unfinished magic circle on everyone's body.
'This will help me keep track of everyone in the future. I can modify it to act as a hidden microphone or kill them on the spot too. I need to be extra careful in this unknown place.' The two sit silently, each preoccupied with their own problems. Victoria rolls around restlessly, before deciding to sit up slowly, just in time to hear Cain ask Jacob a question.
"How old is everyone?" 'I should break the ice with this question… I'm still a bit rusty with these things.' Before Cain has time to regret his decision, Jacob responds.
"I'm 23, Veronica is 193 years old, or close to 20 for us. Jared is 19 and Victoria is 17. I'm not sure how old Catherine is, although it's rumored she's 22." 'Sweet, they're right around my age. It won't be too suspicious if I merge into this group.' Cain thinks to himself as Victoria perks up at her name.
"Oh? Is Cain interested in Ver? She's a foodie like you, I'm sure you two will hit it off well." Victoria surprises both of them with her sudden voice. 'This girl… is she trying to set up a boyfriend for me?' Veronica thinks to herself as she slowly wakes up. The two girls stare at Jacob in disbelief, as his familiar figure sits across them, shirtless. They jump towards them, inspecting the spot where his wound was.
"Jacob! Are you ok? You were just injured, maybe you should lay back down." Victoria attempts to push his unmoving body backwards. Veronica stops halfway to Jacob, looking down at her leg, noticing that her strength was back.
'When did this get healed? Everyone else's wounds have healed as well.' She stares at Cain as he takes several skewers and gets up. "I'll leave you guys to catch up while I repair the carriage." He exits the cave that becomes drowned in chatter. The noise wakes up Catherine and Jared.
Cain stares at the blue sky tainted slightly with a red hue, standing at the entrance to the cave. 'What time is it? Hmm… let's make a watch so I won't lose track of time easily. Wait, nevermind. I can't do that until I'm aware of how technologically advanced this civilization is. It would be terrible if I drew some unwanted attention at this point. A magic circle should work.'
[Dresil, can you use my knowledge of astronomy to estimate the time? I'll be counting on you to update the magic circle on my left wrist. It doesn't have to be too accurate, as long as it's within increments of 15 minutes.] Cain forms a magic circle on his wrist while he communicates with Dresil. Two roots rise up, offering to take the skewers in Cain's hands.
[Of course, Master.] She replies while retreating the roots that made up the canvas and frame of the carriage. Cain begins drawing natural mana into his detection circle, preparing to create the parts needed for the carriage. He walks over to the side of the carriage, disappearing from the party's line of sight.
'By the structure and mechanisms of this carriage, I would say they should be at the early stages of the Medieval Ages. Some of these nails look like attempts of making steel, while the rest appear to be iron. Oh? This is interesting…' Cain crawls under the carriage, using Dresil's roots to support its weight, in case it collapses.
'It looks like there's two different techniques here. One uses a type of wood insertion as a fastener while the other uses partially made steel nails. The nails appear to be attempts at making steel, but they aren't a completed form of steel...
'Hm… two different craftsmen most likely made this... If so then these steel nails should belong to one of them. From what I gather, this civilization hardly focuses on technology due to the wide use of mana. I assume any form of technology will be made with mana integration in mind.
'I would like to meet this person who made the steel parts, they could help me make weapons and understand some production processes for Creation Magic. I'll replace everything with refined steel to get their attention.'
Cain peeks into the cave, checking on the party. They're chatting lively; Catherine sits off to the side, annoyed that her sleep was interrupted. She shivers in the cold and attempts to warm up with the blankets stored in her storage ring. Cain crawls out from underneath the carriage and observes the mana gathered around him.
'This should be enough mana to get started.' Massive gusts of mana encircle Cain while he creates and replaces 80% of the carriage. The horses, tied to the side of the cave, stare at him in disbelief, grass falling out of one of their mouths. Cain looks at them, gesturing with his finger for them to be quiet.
Enormous sheets of canvas float over a sprouting wooden frame; numerous pounding noises are made from the nails pinning the canvas to frame. The disturbance shocks the group, interrupting their conversation.
Within minutes, their carriage has become repaired, and even stronger than when it left the capital. Cain walks out slowly from behind the carriage, looking down at his wrist. 'Looks like it's close to 8am.'
[Thanks Dresil. What are your plans now? I can recover my mana and you are no longer in danger of dying.]
'She has no reason to stay now, well whatever she decides I'll support it.' Cain thinks, reluctantly mulling over the possibility of her leaving.
[I plan to stay with the Master. I believe I would have more fun here than anywhere else. Besides, how does the Master plan to survive without my knowledge of common sense here?] Her proud response shocks Cain. 'She's not wrong… Do I taste good or something? Oh well, it's her decision.'
[If you say so.] Cain transmits wearily.
[Do you need anything to eat? I haven't seen you eat at all over the past few days.] Cain picks up a skewer from one of the roots following him.
[I only need the Master's mana and sunlight to survive.]
'Ah, so I do taste good? I don't know whether to be happy or creeped out about that. Oh, maybe I should give her some crepes later.' Cain finishes his thoughts and skewer while entering the cave. The party looks at him in disbelief, unable to grasp where the materials came from.
"I expect everyone here to keep what I did a secret. From healing Jacob to repairing the carriage. I just arrived on this continent and would not like to raise too many eyebrows for now." Cain plops down next to the campfire, grabbing the second skewer from the root, patting it gently as thanks. The root appears to be delighted and returns to the ground.
"Of course, if our savior wishes it, then it shall be done." Jacob replies while gesturing towards Veronica. Veronica looks at Cain, then quickly looks away flustered when their eyes meet.
"If it's not too much trouble, I would also like to join your party. Also, please speak comfortably with me; I'm not too used to formal language." Cain suggests while picking up the last roasted skewer.
The party members look at him shocked; Catherine turns away and hisses softly. 'Damn, I was ignored again. I'll have to find a way to steal Cain from this poor party. I'm from a rich family so it should be no problem.'
The party members huddle up, their whispers echo on the cave wall. 'I can hear everything they're saying since they are within my detection circle. Oh well, let's see how this plays out.' Cain thinks to himself, finishing the last skewer.