[Master, it's time to wake up. There's food on the way.] Dresil's voice rebounded throughout Cain's skull, forcing him out of his slumber. Dresil pulled the leaf off his eyes, allowing the rays of sunlight to blanket them in turn. Cain took a deep breath as he slowly woke; dismissing the sound-proof magic circles over his ears and propping his back against the bedpost.
Dresil deposited his breakfast on the mats she laid out on the bed. Cain quickly ate while checking the time. '11:14am… nice.' He thought while opening a portal to the Mana Storage to create a clay cup and fill it with water. After drinking two cups of water, he transmutes all of his refills into soda.
Cain leisurely feasted on the food laid before him for about 40 minutes. He then left his bed to do morning stretches while Dresil cleaned it and stored the memory foam mattress away. Cain waited until Dresil merged into his clothes before using SRI to open a portal a few meters from Jared's master.
He sighed when the portal revealed Jared's master laying on a couch that sat elevated by a few steps. Cain spread his Mana Zone throughout the room to get a general layout; slightly shocked to receive feedback depicting it to be similar to the clan halls he read about in manhuas.
His eyes glanced over Jared's master, who displayed her sexual appeal. She wore a dress that revealed her deep valley, some of it threatening to spill out of its shallow confines. The lengthy slits along the side exposed her thighs through portions of her long black hair. The dress itself hugged her assets tightly, accenting her curves and revealing all the right parts to drive the wits out of anyone who dared glimpse upon her figure.
The man in question quickly scanned her memories as he walked through the portal, trying to find a reason behind her current attire. The information he found that came attached to this reason frustrated him slightly. 'Why must I use my brain cells so soon after waking up?' Cain lamented as he walked up to Jared's master.
"So you're the Cain every noble has been gossiping about recently?" Jared's master asked Cain while casting him a seductive glance through her deep purple eyes. Cain nodded while grabbing a chair from the side and repositioning it so he could sit facing Jared's master. "You're… not as handsome as I expected." The disappointment in her tone rang throughout Cain's ears.
"And you'd look better in modest clothes." Cain fired back without hesitation. Although her insult didn't affect him, he was slightly annoyed with having to use his brain not even an hour after waking up. "Oh? Does this old lady suit your tastes? I heard that you were interested in older women." Jared's master teased Cain, yet he just stared through her eyes, as if waiting for something.
"...Are you going to introduce yourself, or must I guess your name?" Cain asked after a few minutes of silence. "You have yet to answer my question though." She replied, feigning a pout with a playful, harrumph; each minute gesture brought forth an irresistible lure. "I'm already interested in someone else. Besides, being 34 isn't really that old. Now, what's your name?" Cain's reply shocked Jared's master, causing her to lose her facade for a short moment.
"How… did you know how old I am?" She asked while dropping her hand used to support her cheek. Her violet eyes sternly analyzed Cain as she awaited his response. "You have yet to answer my question though." Cain replied with a completely flat face and tone; not even a twitch of his muscle gave away what he thought during this moment.
"Ah… forgive me. My name is Lily." Jared's master replied, propping her cheek on her hand once more, casting seductive glances towards Cain here and there. "C'mon Natasha. I thought we were answering each other's questions truthfully." Cain playfully teased Natasha, his tone suggesting an uncomfortable familiarness; playing games with her mind.
"Just, who are you?" Natasha ceased all pretenses, sitting up properly. Her eyes relaxed to a stern glare that threatened to expose Cain's secrets. "I'm someone you shouldn't play games with, lest you want to come out on the losing end." He replied while leaning back, his relaxed attitude showing no signs of taking Natasha seriously as an opponent.
"Let's get down to business then. Shall we continue this game of asking and answering one question each? Without lying, of course. I'm sure as the ringleader of the information blackmarket in this city, and country, that'd be very valuable to you." Cain spoke with a sedated tone, one that carried his boredom through the air.
"Yes… Let's continue. I guess it'd be my turn now." Natasha replied while reaching into her storage ring and pulling out a loose coat. She wrapped it around her upper body, her eyes not leaving Cain for a single moment. "See, much better." Cain taunted Natasha; she feigned a polite smile with a threatening look in her eyes.
Cain smirked when he read her reaction. Natasha caught the smirk that existed for a miniscule amount of time; a smirk that forced her to realize she had been playing in his hands from the start. "You're dangerous…" She muttered after wrapping herself in loose layers. Her long black hair covered the gaps left by her dress below her waist.
"Dangerously hungry." Cain replied immediately. Cain stared through her perplexed eyes, reading her body for what element she had. 'Everyone's elements seem to be reflected in their eyes so far… That purple hue with the dark background… Does that mean she has fire, water, and shadow elements?' Cain analyzed then double checked his guess by turning on the functions of his eyes. 'Yep… She must come from somewhere powerful if she survived having conflicting elements.'
"What does that have to do with anything?" Natasha replied absent mindedly, thrown off by Cain's relaxed mood that retained a threatening force within. "Nothing, just that I'm always hungry. I didn't know you'd be this easy though." Cain's voice set Natasha's instincts on fire; she had once again fallen into his trap.
"Pardon me… while I go change my clothes." Natasha excused herself, scoffing when she heard Cain. "Go ahead." His tone depicted that he gave her permission to leave her own abode. Shortly after, she dismissed her frustration, worried that it may just be a part of his plan. 'Looks like I can look at the group chat now.' Cain sighed as he opened up the group chat to look in on the chaos Rex caused.
—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (101ms, starting from Cain's first message)
Rex: Why do you need to use your brain cells?
Rex: HAHAHAHAHA
Rex: She called you ugly
Rex: :pffft:
Rex: Wait, don't assign me homework
Rex: …
Rex: It's been a few minutes, is he not going to respond?
Dresil: Relax, there must be a reason why he hasn't even opened the group chat yet.
Rex: Woaaahh, she's only 34? She looks 20.
Rex: Pffft, Lily sounds like a stripper name
Dresil: …just what have you been reading/watching?
Rex: Just about everything.
Bob: I think we may need to enable parental controls for Rex.
Dresil: I agree.
Rex: Wait, nooooo.
Rex: :beg:
Rex: Hohoho, play with her how? :hehe:
Dresil: Yep, parental controls are being enabled
Bob: Agreed.
Rex: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Rex: Pleaseeee…. I'll stop.
Bob: Can you change his perms to the storage?
Dresil: Unfortunately I can only interact with Cain's mana and magic circles, but I'm unable to change anything.
Bob: Well… That's a good thing in itself.
Dresil: Agreed.
Rex: :huh:
Rex: hehe, anyways, I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Dresil: Until Cain reads this… mess.
Rex: Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.
Rex: shit.
Rex: I can't delete anything either.
Rex: :Pain:
Rex: haha, dangerously hungry, good one.
Dresil: Just wait until he has an appetite for fire.
Rex: :horror:
Rex: I'll behave, I promise.
Rex: I don't want to be eaten.
Rex: Ooooh, she has water and fire elements? How did she pull that off? I thought they were supposed to conflict with each other.
Rex: …why's it taking him so long.
Rex: hahaha, he called her easy.
Rex: Ah, finally. She left so that means he must be opening the group chat soon right?
Cain: …damn dude.
Cain: I just opened the group chat so give me a sec to read everything.
Cain: Yep, I'll be enabling parental controls.
Rex: :Pain:
Dresil: rekt.
Cain: She probably used the resources of her family to survive the conflict between her elements until she was able to bring the shadow element in to mediate them.
Bob: Interesting… That must have taken a lot of resources since she wouldn't have the strength to force her shadow element to balance the two until her mid twenties.
Cain: Indeed, I'll have to look through her memories again to know more. I just did a quick scan because her seductiveness was sus.
Rex: She was hot though.
Cain: …do spirit kings even get horny?
Bob: We shouldn't…
Dresil: At this point, Rex is just an enigma.
Rex: hehe, I'm unique.
Cain: …rip. Anyways, I couldn't open the group chat because of her skills. I wouldn't be surprised if she knew I was receiving some sort of telepathic message when I did.
Rex: Dang… there's a skill for that?
Cain: You just need to be adept at reading body language.
Rex: …yep humans are complicated.
Cain: Your daily quota has been increased to 1 mill per day.
Rex: What?! 500k should be enough to sustain the mana models though.
Cain: It's punishment.
Rex: Fine… where should I put the extra mana?
Cain: It's natural mana, right?
Rex: Yep.
Cain: Put half of it into Sinclair's dimension and the other half into Athena's.
Cain: Dresil, when you get the time, can you coordinate with Athena to liven up her dimension as she likes, like you did with Sinclair's?
Dresil: Yep.
Cain: Sweet.
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