The morning was like yesterday, except now there were no clear goal in mind, except routine. He stood up from the bed, stretched a bit, before sitting in front of the table and counting up as he planted, grew and harvested cabbages.
"One...~" - He counted the first, before planting another seed. He used the growth spell on it till it was mature and produced more seeds. Then finally harvested - "Two...~"
This is a cycle similar to counting how many trees you pass by - enough to drive anyone insane after enough repetition. As of now his mind was handling the cycle quite well, but he wasn't so sure how long he would be able to bear this responsibility. He did promise the guild a steady flow, so backing away right now won't be good, but automation would be nice...
As he continued this cycle, "Ten...~" - He thought about the possibilities, an automatic system that feeds itself, but how??? How does he get more mana, how does he make objects hold mana. He was aware of his lack of knowledge as of now, but this was something he will look further in the future.
"Twenty-three...~" - 'What if i transformed information or physical into mana? But how...'
"Twenty-four...~" - 'I can transform physical into information, but that's all i can do with my current knowledge.'
"Twenty-five...~" - 'More inspiration will come... Wait a minute... Spells are just mana taking shape, like heat, or water, or a gust of wind... But if they can transform mana into another type of energy - so can I...'
"Twenty-six...~" - 'What is an explosion? A bunch of energy going outward, being a vibration, being kinetic, being thermal... That's what Megumin does.'
"Twenty-seven...~" - 'What a lovely discovery... The basis is every spell imaginable. Therefore i have "Imperfect Conversion", since it only goes one way. From mana to any other... I would need to refine my theory some more...'
"Twenty-eight...~" - The feeling of accomplishment filled his very being, the realization, the enlightenment. He felt aware, a feeling of euphoria flooding his senses.
He smiled through as he continued. - "Twenty-nine...~ - about 45 seconds later - Twen~... Oops, Thirty!~"
He decided to take a break, pulling out his adventurer's card in hopes of finding a new spell in it, and there it was - 'Imperfect Conversion' - 5 points.
He immediately redeemed his points for it. Before testing it out, he picked up and focused on the dagger's edge, before converting mana into thermal energy. He then created a bit of water on it, which immediately hissed and turned into steam...
Success, the euphoria returned for a second time, but this time it was more intense.
Could be useful for fighting - striking far harder than he is supposed to would be useful, or shooting arrows directly from his hand, like that one guy from that one movie about some galaxy saving people he didn't remember the name of.
And so with that he continued working on the bumping the cabbage count within his astral storage to 50.
For the next 15 minutes he imagined the possibilities, he was literally a mana generator, so he would have a certain amount every day, after which he would rest and refill. So he has infinite amount of every type of energy if he has time. Spacing things out is important.
He would come out of his room with a renewed from within. Off to the guild to get his daily paycheck.
When there he found his friends talking about going on a quest, neither of them could agree with one another. Everyone wants their fantasy. For example: Megumin's fantasy, a lot of small enemies grouped up together, or Darkness'... Actually we will skip that one.
He went to them. - "Morning guys, what's the mood today?"
"Going on a quest." - Kazuma replied.
"I figured that much. I meant how are y'all doing."
"Oh, i suppose good mood? How about you?"
"Pretty good, discovery after discovery."
"What do you mean?"
"Not telling, you are quite envious." - Svetislav said, before turning around, his shoulders bouncing once. - "Good luck with the quest."
Kazuma didn't disagree on that, but he didn't like the comment either.
Svetislav went to Luna and dumped out all the cabbages. - "As agreed." - He said.
She simply nodded, proceeding to count the pile again. After confirmation she gave Svetislav 500000 Eris.
In the meantime, the others were looking at the quest board, which did seem more empty than usual except for all the harder quests. Luna approached them and explained. - "Sorry about that. Unfortunately one of the Devil King's top generals took up residence somewhere outside town, because of that all the weaker monsters in the area have gone into hiding. There won't be easy quests for a while."
Aqua immediately went to Svetislav, once again trying to beg.
This time wasn't as hostile, he simply looked at her in the eyes and said: "Don't sell your dignity."
She took that offensively, but it didn't matter - he said what he wanted to teach; it was her choice to learn or to not learn.
And so Kazuma and Megumin went to wherever.
Svetislav headed to the fields to rest, because there was nothing else to do, and he didn't want to spend his time laying in bed - he wanted to lay on the ground and think.
And so the hours passed by, then the days. During his time he occasionally met Chris, it felt random at first, but eventually it became almost intentional, or at least it felt like this. Darkness weren't here, because she had return to her home, Aqua had a part-time job, which is more dignifying than begging him for money, and Kazuma and Megumin had gone towards the same direction.
Every day he did the same thing, in the morning grow 50 cabbages, then sell them, after which he was free to do whatever, but that usually lead to him taking walks in random directions around town, which gave him the advantage of knowing where everything is... And also existential crisis..
One day he felt like this was enough, he wasn't progressing in character, he wasn't progressing in skill either, all he did was do job for 40 minutes, before going full lazy mode. Sloth, the stillness in his day-to-day life disturbed his peace, because, he felt unfulfilled.
Today he walked once again in a random direction, but in this street he saw an alley way, upfront was a sign that said it all: "Succubi cafe"
For a moment he was tempted by the thought of fleeting pleasure, a soft touch, but then when he imagined himself in this position, he felt disgust, he felt angry.
Succubi are demons, right? No one will mind a few dying.
He continued walking, taking his emotions under control, he had stayed too long and had experienced more emotional pain, old scars...
On and on he moved, until he reached the tailor shop randomly. When he spot the shop he realized, he had forgotten about his clothing.
So he went in.
"Welcome back, i have everything ready for you, plus a few perks, given you are now my honored customer." - The girl said, looking in his direction.
"Thank you!" - He replied.
She pointed towards where the clothes are and then towards the changing room.
He went there, before changing to his new clothing, he didn't realize just how well she has made the clothing till he saw it. The shirt had long sleeves, but with the option of rolling them up, then the vest, which stood well with the shirt, if he tucked the shirt in the pants. And finally the coat, big and heavy.
And then the bonuses, a scarf that matches the pants and a top hat, along with a wooden cane.
"You over did it." - Svetislav commented.
"That's the point, are you ready? I want to see how it suits you."
Svetislav came out of the changing room and showed himself to her.
"Alright, a job well done! Congrats and thank you for your generosity." - She said.
Svetislav put the scarf, the hat, and the cane in his astral storage, before heading out.
"Farewell. When i need more clothing i will come back."
"And i will gladly design your next set. Good bye!"
With that Svetislav thought to himself about the cloak and the dagger he took from the thief a three weeks prior. So he decided to search for him.
After a while of searching, Svetislav found the man, to whom he went.
"You..." - The man seemed hostile at first, but when Svetislav didn't say anything and placed the cloak and dagger, along with 250000 Eris, the man was stunned.
Before he could say anything else, Svetislav had already walked off.