I dreamt about the battle at Witchaven. It wasn’t a nightmare, just the events playing off. It woke me up at 6 in the morning. I kept thinking about it. The situation in which we found ourselves in was a very difficult one.


    I had identified 5 methods on dealing with that situation. I could have used [Silver Torrent] but that would have killed everyone. Frost magic would normally work but due to circumstances that one was out. I could have used [Hsien], but it suffers from a long startup, which they will exploit. I could have broken the barrier by hacking in to it but that would take at least 5 minutes, or brute force through it but both would get stopped.


    Going 9t mode was the best option in the end. I had noticed a problem with it though. I don’t necessarily get stronger when I use it. It should multiply the mana in my system, but I don’t have any in my system. It does make spatiotemporal magic way easier and that’s what I’ve been using it for but my raw power stays the same as multiplying ‘0’ is pointless.


    I will have to address this issue at some point but I have too many problems and I can’t keep track of all of them. There are also so many things I should master. Many 9t die before they reach their full potential because of this. Neia is keeping her daughters safe because there are so many things, we need to be good at before we could slap some gods, fix the dimensional fabric and the like.


    That is ignoring the fact that most of us also have to figure ourselves out.


    Aylana is half 9t, half succubus, she has many problems and advantages unique to her. How many years will it take before she figures that out? Same for me. I haven’t even touched my phoenix side. I am 21 years old and I have nothing on it. How many more years will it take before I figure this all out? 30? 50? 100? 200 years? Or will I die before I get the chance? The only one who has the same mix as I do is my mom but I have no idea where she is.


    Mortals wish they were immortal. They might not be aware of immortal problems by doing so. It reminds me of the meeting I had with Thalia. I hope she realizes this, if she is still alive. I had missed many full moons so I haven’t been looking for her lately.


    Raishin had found out that she is still missing and presumed dead. I don’t want to give up on her but I have so many problems that I can’t afford to look for her.


    I looked out of the window. It looked over the lobby of the AA. The material hunting starts today. The last time I did this was when I needed materials for my katana. I will have to prepare for any situation because a simple fetch quest could end up in a fight with a god or I will end up solving a problem of another race. That’s how things go for me so I should prepare accordingly.


    I stepped outside. It was still early. I had decided that I would go to the elven village first, check up on Remi, get some plants and acquire Spirit Breath. My efficiency is unreal. I tugged at the [Dimensional Anchor] and arrived home. I found 2 elders dining at my table. They packed their stuff and fled the moment they saw me. What’s up with these guys…


    I checked my fridge and it was cleared out. These jerks…


    I asked around but Remi hadn’t arrived yet. The battle happened yesterday and Witchaven is quite far from here, of course she hasn’t arrived yet… I went to visit Bywen.


    Hey! It’s me again! I have a list here of stuff I need I wonder if I can have some. I also need Spirit Breath!


    “Let me have a look at that list, and why do you need Spirit Breath? You don’t need to ask me, you’re a spirit too.”


    Oh right, but do I just breathe in a jar?


    “I think it just means spirit energy but if you can fill your breath with spirit energy and trap it in a jar, that works.”


    I have no clue how to do that sorry.


    “I will take care of it then.”


    Bywen grew some random plants and grouped them up.


    Uhhm what are you doing?


    “Getting you the materials, you need.”


    You can just grow them?


    “I’m a life spirit. I can’t do this in an unlimited capacity but I can do this much. As long as I’m familiar with them I should be able to grow them. There is one you need to find, it shouldn’t be hard to do so since it grows in this forest, can you bring it to me when you find it? I can familiarize myself with it and grow it for you the next time you need it.”


    I wish I knew this before…


    “Just ask and I will see what I can do for you. Are there any other materials you need?”


    Uhh yeah but they are either rocks or things from rare, mythical or legendary creatures.


    I showed the rest to her. “Hmm, we might have that rock since it is useful in keeping pests away, I can’t help you with the others, sorry.”


    Don’t worry I have most worked out, I think. I will get Dragon spit from a dragon friend, the rocks from Yttroz Industries, a place that is popular for handling rocks and the other creatures, uhm I will manage, somehow.


    I watched by as Bywen was making this material hunt quite easy. Maybe having connections is also an important and invisible power. Maybe messing around and getting to know all these people wasn’t such a bad thing after all. I just have to harass Jerry and Vinny and most of the needed materials will be taken care of and anything I can’t get with connections I might be able to buy. All I had to do to get to this point was to just sell some rubies!


    “I am done, Slithervine shouldn’t be located too far from the village, they should grow near the river to the south, if they are not there they should grow near the confluence of the river.”


    Gotcha! Get Slithervine and bring it to you. Thanks for the other stuff.


    I left the village thinking about the possibility that Slithervine might be related to that minor god Greg killed a year ago. It didn’t take long for me to find a vine that was disguised as a snake. Normally its animals that disguise themselves as plants but this plant had different ideas.


    There weren’t many so I took all of them. This place seemed to be popular with the frog species. It reminded me of the frog paradise I had found and the large snakes that were feasting on them. This might be the frog paradise for this forest. No snakes though. How strange. Maybe this was the place of that snake god but his death had returned this place to the frogs.


    I looked around and made sure I wasn’t making an obvious mistake when I returned to the elven village. I decided to leave a shadow clone behind in the elven village for 2 reasons. He would guard my house against the food stealing elders and to write down the papers and books I had archived from Witchaven and give them to Remi. My only regret from burning Witchaven is the loss of their library.


    I have only read about 40% of the accessible section and half of its forbidden section. It is still a lot but a lot of information and hard work was lost. It doesn’t matter if the whole race goes under because of the lack of progress though.


    So, my clone will rewrite them as a form of apology to Remi for burning the academy down. I put some illusions on my clone to make sure he doesn’t pop out of existence when I forget about him or try to create the maximum amount of shadow clones, find out I already have one somewhere and try to dispel him.


    With that done I went back to Bywen and presented the Slithervine. We had a short chat and I left shortly after. Visiting Vinny was up next so I tugged on my [Dimensional Anchor] and returned to my old home in the jungle.


    I had to chase monkeys away and this place had seen better days. My first true home was a mess so Nilah and I spent the whole day fixing it. I also took a relaxing swim in the waterfall basin. I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed this place.


    Life seemed so much simpler when I arrived here first. I put some barriers on my renovated home which would specifically keep the monkeys out. There was so much monkey poop that had to be cleaned... I confiscated their food stash as rent. It is missing a fluffy couch so I placed Rignef’s couch in it. I need to find someone that is familiar with textile so that I can do something with my fur. I might have to go to Jarn for this. Another problem.


    I had simple weaving skills but apparently making a couch out of fur was quite advanced. It only helped me in braiding for making ropes and wires. I could also patch up my own clothing but… I inspected my outfit which was made in Jarn. I don’t think I will need those skills anytime soon.


    I haven’t been in touch with society lately so I don’t know what the state of clothing prices are currently. They seemed to be insane when I was a teacher because Hayley and Crissy wouldn’t shut up about it. I also don’t know the state of the Hourai rubies. They probably sell for something stupid like 9999 gold or something. At least I know that the previously Silent Night, is now Toxic Donkey. I wonder what Kyle did to get this far.


    The hollow tree came in sight. There is a big chance Vinny wasn’t here but I had no clues. Gittrian was my next destination but maybe his mother knows where he is.


    I walked into the nest of dragons and waved.


    Yoo anyone know where Vinny is?


    They got startled because they didn’t notice me. I saw some aggression from hatchlings but the others seemed to recognize me and a dragon approached me.


    “Ah Agnis, I’m sorry, I don’t know where Vinyr is. He took all of his belongings and moved years ago.”


    I see, thank you. I have a strange request; can I have some spit?


    “Why would you…”


    I presented some big tasty fruits and this dragon and others started to drool. I caught some and threw the fruits in the group.


    Thank you!


    This was too easy. Why is this a legendary material?


    I pulled on my [Dimensional Anchor] and returned to my house in Girai. Another place I haven’t been to for a long time. I didn’t need to renovate but I had to clean. Nilah and I wasted another day cleaning up.


    I made sure to leave the house during the night. The boat guy, Gregory, was taking care of tying the boats up.


    Hey, long time no see, can I bring some boats to the capital?


    “Agnis? You have grown! When did you arrive?!”


    I just cleaned up my house a bit, I’m leaving already.


    “Oh, it is good to see that you are fine, so many strange things have been happening lately.”


    Uh I’m out of the loop, what kind of strange things?


    “Strange monsters popping up more frequently, [Meteors] falling out of the sky. Ancient buildings popping up, a wide spread disease that greatly accelerates mana generation causing victims to get mana corrupted, the war between the Igrini Kingdom and the Aquini kingdom, so many things.”


    Wait!? Aquini and Igrini still went to war?


    “I don’t know the specifics but It seems the queen of the Igrini Kingdom had been assassinated and some ministers took over. It seemed to have gone downhill from there.”


    Shania’s mother got assassinated? She was such a kind person and a good queen… I thought we wiped out every problematic person by nuking the capital… it seems we were wrong.


    So, who is in power now then?


    “It seems the late queen''s eldest son, Nesho is in power.”


    This is fishy, I don’t like this at all. There are many more reasons now to stay away from Igrini Kingdom, it has become an even shittier place and these meteors are a problem… Wait that was me, right? The [Meteors] over Witchaven were not my fault though.


    But strange monsters everywhere. I’m not surprised.


    Thank you, Gregory, I will take 12 boats.


    “Thank you, be careful on the way to Gittrian, beware of the strange monsters and for when you arrive, be careful of the Electronium disease.”


    So electronium finally bites back, eh?


    “Oh no it can only be cured by a medicine made out of electronium. the Inquring Anaesthetist and his pupil had created and perfected the medicine. It is very expensive because more pressure had been put on Yzs to provide more electronium and they didn’t like it and threatened to stop providing electronium to the rest of the continent if their conditions weren’t met.”


    So, having 70% of the continent’s electronium come from just 1 country is finally biting them back, eh? Not surprised either, how about Jarn kingdom?


    “The new queen, Taylor, has finally managed to keep the country''s affairs under control and the prices of clothing are stabilizing. It’s just… their quality is normal, not what we are used to from Jarn. It’s wealth is getting sapped due to this.”


    Huh, didn’t Taylor die?


    “The king, Taylor, died yes, they are still unsure how he died, his daughter, Taylor has taken over.”


    He named his daughter after himself… It sounds like another country. Anyway thanks!


    I took the boats, connected to the air leyline currents. And used [Water Dragon dance] and went down the river.


    Hey Nilah, you’re too big to move around like that!


    Nilah was running around as if she was excited. Did she notice something I didn’t or is she just happy to do this again? I did notice some strange monsters in the river but they left me alone. As I got closer to the capital and I could already see that something was different in the city.


    The streets were emptier. People were still walking around but there were just way less. Nobody looked ill but maybe it was a fear for the disease itself or the cost of the cure. I wonder what would happen if I caught that disease, my body is devoid of mana. Am I immune or will I get screwed over and uncontrollably generate mana and die to nausea? I don’t want to find out.


    I completed the procedures and went to the Yttroz Industries.


    “Excuse me, pet’s aren’t allowed in here.”


    Oh, sorry, Nilah, Sword!


    Nilah turned into her sword form.


    “Can I see your magic weapon license?”


    Uhh, I’m a blacksmith.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    The clerk adjusted her glasses and looked at me skeptically.


    “A man as young as you and a blacksmith that can create magic weapons? I need to see your ID.”


    I handed my adventurer’s ID to her. She had a brief look at it before she dropped it.


    “Oh! I’m sorry! I… I didn’t realize! I am new here! Please don’t get me into trouble!”


    Ah, a refreshing response, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Don’t worry about it where can I find Jerry?


    “Jerry?” She tapped on her tablet. “Oh Jeremiah Odell…”


    Hey what is that? How did you suddenly know who I mean?


    She showed me a screen. There was a note which was some sort of list of translations in case individuals visited and were hard to understand.


    How rude.


    “Well, you seem to have a track record of sneaking in and saying things others don’t understand so every employee is trained to memorize this list and certain behavioral patterns. Anyone who doesn’t fit these are individuals that need to be removed but if they do fit these it’s probably you.”


    I wouldn’t mind if they kicked me out though…


    The clerk typed for a bit and continued. “They are aware of that. Unfortunately, I can’t get Jeremiah, since he is Ill, I will bring you to his substitute, follow me please.”


    Oh, ok.


    I got led to an office on the 4th floor. “We have a special guest.”


    I stepped inside and saw an aging man in his late 40’s or begin 50’s. He looked quite serious. His hair was turning gray but there was still enough black hair left.


    He got up and approached. This man was tall and broad. “Is this the Silver Torrent? So, you’ve caught a ghost?”


    A ghost? I’m very much alive!


    “It seems that it’s near impossible to get a hold of you.” He extended his hand. “The name is Damian Chosick, I am substituting for Jeremiah Odell in his absence.”


    I shook his hand.  Agnis Hourai.


    “I know, please sit down, what can I do for you?”


    The clerk left and I was sitting face to face with this new face, this face off was uncomfortable and I had to make sure I wouldn’t lose face.


    I have a list of materials that I need for a project, I was hoping that you could help me acquire them. Does Jerry have that disease that is going on lately?


    “Yes, he has been out for almost 2 weeks but he is slowly recovering, he will be expected to return in a week. These materials are highly uncommon but we can get all of them for you. Do you mind if we subtract the costs from your personal funds?”


    Go for it, also subtract whatever you need to rebuild ehhh [Meteor] related constructions and repairs.


    “That is oddly specific but there is no need for that, our pockets are deep enough to foot that bill. It will take us 2 weeks to get all these to you, dock 12, right?”


    That works fine yes, and I have a question to which I might be afraid to know the answer. How are the Hourai rubies doing?


    “Well, they have become a symbol of wealth and status. We have ceased to use them as a currency because there were only 412 in circulation when we stopped this a year ago. It drove their worth up to a worth of 21369 gold. Their current worth is unmeasurable at the moment. We have also used the golden treasures that you have provided us to create more gold currency. We have distributed it successfully and nobody is aware that there has been an increase of currency on the continent.”


    Wow you guys could have so easily become the villains in this situation. Good job.


    “We have gotten a lot of requests in, many want to commission weapons from you, one noteworthy name is Leefa Seorwynn.”


    Ugh, that chick again. I am quite busy; I will notify you guys when I get back to blacksmithing.


    “I see, either way the amount of requests have gotten quite high so we have refused them and any future ones.”


    Thanks a lot. Is there anything I can do for you guys?


    “You have done enough for us, don’t worry about this. I would like to chat for longer but I’m quite busy unfortunately. The CEO has disappeared again to one of his digging adventures so I have to fill in for him until they find him.” He gestured at an intimidating stack of paperwork.


    He did always complain about being stuck in his stuffy office.


    Damian got up and walked me to the door. “Don’t hesitate to pay a visit if there’s anything you need.” I left the office.


    What a nice guy, substitute for only 2 weeks and already getting worked to the bone eh? Makes me realize that I actually don’t know what Jerry normally does in this company.


    I tried to leave the building but it was a maze. I also had to evade overexcited employees so I decided to teleport outside. My teleport got redirected and I got sent to some place with a lot of guards.


    They have upped their security I see.


    “Whoa! I didn’t expect to catch you with this new system! It’s me the guard from the last time!”


    I tried to remember but I couldn’t remember who he was. I smiled and had to endure small talk. They even wanted me to sign their weapons. Most of the weapons they were wearing were low-quality swords I had made and sold to Yttroz Industries, so they already had the initials of Silver Torrent on them. But they wanted another one that looked a bit different.


    “Hehe, thanks a lot! Patrick is going to regret asking me to take over his shift now haha!”


    Right, I will have to take my leave, I’m quite busy.


    “Oh, don’t let us hold you up!”


    I got released and was back on the streets. I needed to wait 2 weeks. Do I stay here or find the other materials in the meantime? Those creatures I needed were quite rare so there was a 99% chance I won’t be able to find them within 2 weeks. I will stay here for a bit.


    I headed over to the AA and relaxed in the lounge area. Music was playing. It was quite good. The singer of this song though, damn she can sing. The AA seemed to be playing multiple songs of this group. It was of one of the popular idol groups I have heard snippets about for the last few years. Not only did the music vary a lot between the songs, it seems that the lead singer could hit almost any note, but her voice also seemed to vary from time to time.


    Is this singer using [Transform] on her voice? That is actually quite genius. Or maybe she can imitate voices like I can. Maybe I should visit one of their concerts one day to get more ideas for [Boss music]. I haven’t used [Boss music] since I put Inna to sleep and that was almost a year ago.


    I decided to hire a private duel room and practice the way of the sword and Dragonvein in there which I did till the end of the day and decided to sleep since there was nothing to do during the night.


    <hr>


    A great idea dawned on me the next morning. I could do some quests while waiting for 2 weeks to pass.


    I went through my inbox. So many requests that have expired.


    Oh, a message from Toxic Donkey. He seems to have finally killed Arby. Uhh that might indeed get people to change the role name. He was also getting serious with Io and he went to visit her family? Toxic Donkey, you idiot, they will either annoy you to death or kill you. Ugh. I will just have to believe in his stealth.


    More expired requests. A message from Vinny. He had broken into C rank and went with a party to investigate the newly formed jungle in Igrini Kingdom. It seems he knows that I was involved and was hoping I was doing well. This was from almost a year ago. There is another message from him enthusiastically talking about the unique flora and fauna he found there.


    I decided to write something back to Toxic Donkey and Vinny. I found more expired requests and requests to become my disciple? Totally not creepy. I started to get into fan messages. What is going on in this world…


    There was one message that terrified me. It said: ‘I will come over and take care of you.’ I recognized this line. I got cold sweat and looked around. I am happy to know she escaped from Hourai too but this is bad news for me. I checked the date. Summer was around the corner.


    I realized that the thought of Hisui being nearby terrified me more than a god trying to kill me. 2 shadow clones got sent out to erase any trace of my presence in the city. At least the messages can’t get any worse.


    Another message challenged me to a sword fight. Nice try Leefa. Nothing interesting besides that so I went to look for a suitable quest.


    C-rank quest, investigate strange noises in a forest. I can do that. I will just ignore the party size recommendation of 3. I realized that this could be seen as reckless and I moved to the side and hid. I looked toward the elevator.


    A familiar face appeared 2 minutes later.


    How does this guy keep doing this? Is he stalking me? It didn’t seem as if he knew I was here. Healerguy picked up some parcels from the desk and got back in the elevator. Healerguy pops up everywhere so I forgot that he was based in Gittrian.


    I left my hiding place and officially accepted the quest. The clerk had something to say though. “I am aware that you can do this alone as a B-rank adventurer but do you mind bringing 2 D-rank adventurers with you? They could use a bit more experience.”


    Uh sure.


    I got introduced to an unusual duo, a horse beast kin and a dwarf giant. Both were quite tall. My neck hurt from trying to look at their faces.


    They seem strong enough to me.


    “They are but it’s hard for them to find a balanced party because both of them are Unstoppable Beasts.”


    Ah double stacking roles, that could be problematic yeah.


    “Oh, wow the Silver Torrent!” The horse beast kin acted as he just met a celebrity. “This is our lucky day!”


    Uhm, I’m just a normal dude, I’ve hardly done anything.


    “That makes it even better! You appear, do something, disappear and nobody can copy or understand what you did!” The dwarf giant said. He was trying to keep his excitement under control. “It has that mysterious vibe!”


    Aha, so maybe I am crazy for thinking this is weird since either the whole world is crazy or I am.


    “I see that you are getting along with them, be careful out there!” The clerk left me alone with the 2 huge companions.


    Anyway, lets head over to the site first, we’re attracting a lot of attention.


    We left the AA and headed toward the north east gate.


    “So, what have you been doing since your disappearance?” I stopped bothering attempting to make eye contact when these guys were speaking but the horse beast kin was talking.


    It wouldn’t be mysterious if I told you, would it?


    “Oh, you’re right!”


    So, I don’t want to be an asshole but I have never seen the races of you two walk out such in the open. Gittrian is accepting but most still relied on cloaks and the like.


    The dwarf giant pointed at a big screen that had a headline stating that the idols were beast kin. “Oh, that’s because since the idols from Tails of Symphony had revealed their non-human identities, more and more non-humans got accepted and even looked at with interest and curiosity.”


    You mean that idol group that’s crazy good? They’re non-humans? Interesting. I guess there are positive events happening too.


    “They did announce this here in Gittrian so this has been spreading with Gittrian as the epicenter, it is almost as safe here now as in Ardella.”


    Oh, that is amazing! I guess the Aquini Kingdom is in a rough position so this is very good for you guys!


    “Yup! The north still has to get hit by this wave but it’s looking good for us.” The horse beast kin said as he was checking out a passing catgirl. The world seems to be going to shit on one side and getting a better place on the other side.


    How long does it take to get to the forest?


    “Oh, we can be there by tomorrow, I recently purchased a car!” The dwarf giant led us to an enormous vehicle.


    Whoa, that’s a large coffin on wheels. How much did it cost?


    “Too much…” His excitement turned into despair. How expensive are these things? I decided to not poke for details and got in.


    This is… spacious.


    The seats were too big, everything was too big for me.


    “Hey, Krau, how is he supposed to put on seatbelts?”


    “I have no idea. Hey you might want to hold on for safety reasons.”


    Uhh sure.


    The dwarf giant, whose name seemed to be Krau got the coffin on wheels moving. It made a lot of noise. It was similar to that bus thing I drove with my students. It was fast but not as fast as I was.


    Krau backed up the car. “So, is this your first time in a car? They are getting more and more popular as the Yttroz Industries is building more roads.”


    I have driven a bus before but I’m not a big fan of them, I am more a fan of those that run on mana, they seem to be quieter.


    “Yeah, but those are even more expensive also due to the rising prices of electronium so we have to rely on primitive ways to get these moving.”


    Electronium is tying a noose around everyone eh?


    The other large companion chimed in. “Yeah, I do understand why it is so popular because it’s convenient but I don’t understand why humans hyper focus on it so much. It doesn’t seem sustainable for a very long time.”


    “Hey Sieg, be careful with your words! He’s a human, you wouldn’t like it if someone talked about your race like that!”


    “Oh sorry.”


    Don’t worry about it, I share that stance, it was apparent with the situation with Jarn and now with Yzs, I’m sure they are over relying on another country for something else. The moment that country goes under, the whole continent is screwed.


    “Most of the lumber comes from Aquini Kingdom or Lopahz…” Krau said as he drove through a strange road in an underground tunnel. Did Yttroz Industries build roads for these coffin on wheels underground? I am impressed. Nobody will get run over like this.


    Of course, it does…


    “Igrini Kingdom is eager to use fire related warfare and burn the jungle and forests of Aquini Kingdom down but it doesn’t seem that they realize that they will cripple the whole continent in doing so.”


    Yeah, humans are stupid.


    Sieg turned around and looked at me. “Aren’t you a human?”


    Doesn’t change that they’re stupid.


    We kept talking about the questionable choices the countries on this continent makes until we reached the forest at sunrise the next morning. The car used normal roads the moment it left Gittrian. It was a bumpy ride as these roads weren’t optimized for coffins on wheels.


    “That was a long drive, are you guys ready to go or do you want to rest?” Krau said as he got out and stretched.


    I’m good to go.


    “Me too.”


    We got out of the car and walked into the forest. The trees were quite tall and it became quite dark.


    “So, there were strange noises, I don’t hear anything, do you Sieg? You have better ears than I have.”


    “I don’t hear anything.”


    Why is it here…


    It seems that I was the only one hearing things. It was a mix of the ticking I heard in the underground library and the ringing of a church bell. What is going on? What is making these sounds?


    I made a flame to light up the area but the light didn’t travel very far.


    Oh no… this is bad…