“Well… that’s troublesome.” Cain’s mumble caught Victoria’s interest; something that proved troublesome for Cain could be disastrous for them. She stepped forward, examining the sample that floated in the air. “What is?” She asked after a moment of trying to find her own answer.

“This substance was made by a lich, it strengthens the undead on it and drains your mana if you come into direct contact with it. If you have no mana, it drains your vitality. The lich that made this is around the 7th circle so we can either continue onwards or head back right now.” Cain explained the situation for the party without leaving a single clue out.

A puff of air left Jared’s chest, his face holding an expression one would have after being told their wife had triplets instead of one baby. Jacob’s face soured with worry while Veronica had a hard time controlling her excitement from fighting a strong enemy.

Girl… you’re going to get yourself killed like that one day… Cain thought with concern when he noticed Veronica’s reaction. “You can make sure we don’t die still… right?” Victoria asked Cain, trying to probe his abilities yet also make sure they could still live if they entered.

“Yep. If you guys do decide to go in, I won’t interfere unless it’s necessary. It’ll probably be until you can no longer hold out in this cursed soil though.” Cain stepped off to the side, grabbing the reins of the horses and leading them a decent ways away as the party discussed their options.

When he came back, everyone was gathered in a small circle discussing battle plans. “I take it you guys are heading in then?” Cain spoke as he walked up to the border, replacing his cursed soil sample with a fresh one.

“Yep. Where will we go when we ‘die?’” Jacob asked; the “die” used here was the one Cain mentioned while setting his ground rules when they first met. They agreed when a party member would have died without Cain’s interference, he would teleport them to a safe spot and heal them up. They wouldn’t be able to join the fight until it was over though and were thus considered “dead.”

“You’ll be floating next to me.” Cain stated, directing his mana within the mana net that held the fresh cursed soil sample to transmute half of it into mana and the other half into water then mana.

“Floating?” Jared questioned Cain, unsure if he heard him right. As he spoke, the first half of the sample vibrated violently, putting up a resistance similar to when someone’s mana was converted into Cain’s mana. The second half was seamlessly transmuted; the party glanced at the experiment then dismissed it as something normal.

“Yep. I’ll be in the air above you so I’ll have the least amount of interference. …aren’t you guys surprised about what just happened?” Cain noticed their lack of reaction, a little disappointed he didn’t get to see some picture worthy expressions.

“Man… it’s hard to get surprised about anything with how much nonsensical things you do everyday.” Jared groaned from the side. “I was just curious how you were going to make us float.” He continued, showing signs of having a fear of falling. Victoria seemed to take a mental note of this.

“It’ll only be a couple of meters up. Don’t worry though, you won’t fall.” Cain said as he reactivated the first prototype of Poison Immunity. He used a sample of air from roughly a hundred meters away to ensure its quality as the benchmark and tweaked the programming to turn the suspicious contents of the air into water first then mana.

Cain also added in a few clauses that coordinated with the tagging database to not convert anything that had a tag on it. This would prevent any party members or random critters from accidentally becoming water then air.

Hmm… I guess a refresher is in order. Damn, it’s so hard knowing how many brain cells we’ll have at the moment of the transfer since Bob can’t lock in a specific time. Dumb mtl… Anyways, if you don’t need the refresher feel free to skip it.

The first instance of the Poison Immunity Prototype (PIP) was used back when we raided the ruins. It compared the current air sample with the benchmark sample; a sample stored within the magic circles.

The PIP then converted any extra remnants of air into mana and used that mana to fill the effective area with the remaining atoms to match the benchmark sample. This means that the entirety of the effective area of the spell wouldn’t suddenly become water, potentially drowning someone.

An example is the air within the effective area having 82% nitrogen, 17% oxygen, and the normal amounts of miscellaneous contents. PIP would convert 4% of the nitrogen within the area into water, then mana, and then it’d become an additional 4% of oxygen. Remember that Bob recorded and stored the information about the benchmark sample as Cain doesn’t have the accuracy to do so.

Back to the transfer…

“So, you guys ready to head out?” Cain asked the party as he stretched some. He let out a sigh disguised as a yawn as he spread his mana across the entirety of the cursed zone. Seconds later a magic circle appeared a few meters underground to maintain the new mana zone, disguised as much as possible.

The party checked their weapons, accessories, and miscellaneous tools as Cain secretly performed these actions. Can’t have the kids getting hurt from something unexpected… he thought while putting the finishing touches on the underground magic circle. Apart from being an extension of his Mana Zone, its density was extremely scarce compared to the original; barely having enough mana to monitor and report everything within.

Jacob glanced around his member’s faces, receiving a nod from anyone who was ready. “We’re good to go now.” He stated once everyone had nodded or acknowledged his silent check.

“Alright, I’ll be just above you guys so head on in. Ah, is it normal for other people to take the same quest?” Cain asked while sitting down on a magic circle that appeared behind his waist. He brought his left knee to his chest, extending the magic circle into an amoeba shape to support his left foot. His right leg dangled off the ledge as he rested his head on his knee, his foot just above the party’s heads.

“Occasionally, whenever it’s a big quest. That shouldn’t be the case for this one though.” Victoria answered, noticing the peculiarity of Cain’s timing. “Anything we should be aware of?”

“Nope. I’ve already given you enough of a hint. Have fun!” Cain joked with them to ease their nerves, yet only got dry smiles and wry laughs in return.

Jacob moved in between Victoria and the soil border, Veronica walked up behind her while Jared occupied her right side. Jacob gave Victoria a signal to project the cleansing barrier once everyone completed their final checks.

Victoria clenched her amulet and staff in her hands while mumbling a short prayer. A few seconds later a thin spherical shell of holy light surrounded the party, warding off the cursed substance as they started their trek forward. They squeezed inside its range, reducing the space they took up to lessen the burden on Victoria.

Cain activated the Poison Immunity Prototype in the same moment Victoria cast her spell, converting the cursed substance that lingered in the air around him into mana. Looks like they’ll be fine.

The barrier seems to be keeping the substance away… I’m still too far to see the specifics on Victoria’s spell though… I’d rather not use my Mana Zone to pry for more info since it might cause an adverse reaction. Cain observed the party, the magic circle he sat on floating after them.

—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (34ms)

Rex: …so many things to question.

Rex: First, aren’t you afraid of falling? Why are you on the edge then?

Rex: Aren’t the functions of your eyes still active? Won’t that be bad?

Rex: How are you just floating after them?

Cain: Ye, I’m trying to get over that by sitting like this.

Cain: I left the functions on so I could see how long I could keep them active. Eventually I want to keep them all of the time.

Cain: I locked the platform coordinates relative to the party using SRI… C’mon you should know this by now.

Rex: …ain’t no way I’m going to know that just by watching.

Dresil: Aren’t you a spirit king though? Shouldn’t this be simple?

Rex: …I am a spirit king, fuck.

Cain: …you really forgot you were a Spirit King? Maybe we should put a lock on the comics and memes.

Rex: No pleaseeeeeeeeee. I’ll take up training with Bob if I have to.

Cain: Bob, you heard that right?

Bob: Indeed. I’ll work him to the ember.

Rex: Fuck…

--------------------------

The party journeyed forward with Cain floating along behind them like a balloon. The party maneuvered through the dry stumps of trees for a few minutes, the barrier leaving behind a cracked dirt road in its wake. The mossy cursed substance struggled to recover the lost area, the residue of the spell delaying its advance.

The ground abruptly showed signs of movement a meter in front of the barrier; Jacob held his right fist in the air, a signal for everyone to stop. Three skeletons popped out of the cursed earth, one directly in the front with one more a meter or so on either side of it.

The cursed soil slid off their bones, slowly enhancing the invisible mana threads that intertwined them. Their jaws clacked and their bones creaked as they advanced towards the party. The skeletons raised their rustic weapons, preparing heavy strikes against Victoria’s barrier, a barrier they thought was solid.

Veronica fired a notched arrow at the left skeleton; retaining control over the arrow to retrieve it later. The middle skeleton advanced towards Jacob, who anchored his feet and raised his shield slightly outside of the barrier to parry its attack. Jared took advantage of Jacob's sturdy stance, using his thighs and upper arms as steps to backflip himself towards the skeleton on the right, landing on its shoulders.

He pried the skull off the skeleton’s vertebrae, tossing it in the flight path of Veronica’s returning arrow. As Veronica's arrow neared the airborne skull, Jared used the skeleton’s shoulders as a ledge, pouncing onto the middle skeleton.

The whistling arrow pierced the airborne skull in an explosion of gray and green, causing the corresponding skeleton to degrade into a pile of bones. Jared repeatedly bashed the skull of the middle skeleton with the hilt of his dagger, finally shattering it by the time Veronica’s arrow landed in her hands.

Jared holstered his dagger quickly, using his hand to latch on to Jacob’s shield that laid half a meter away. He lifted his body into the air, performing a handstand over the shield as the skeleton soldier collapsed into a pile of bones and Jacob pulled the shield within the barrier. Jared shifted his weight to his right, propelling himself over Jacob with his hands and landing on Victoria’s left.

Dang, that was pretty efficient. The entire fight lasted… 12 seconds? Not bad. Cain complimented the party in his thoughts as they advanced forward. His original estimate on the battle length was around half a minute due to their limited mobility and the skeletons showing off the physical strength of C-ranked adventurers.

The party encountered several more small packs of skeletons in the next few minutes. They fought them in the same manner as before with Jacob guarding the barrier, Jared bouncing around the skeletons, and Veronica providing support from the rear.