Ignorance is bliss.

POV: Helena Oakwood.

"Create for free, don't even think about charging anything for it!"

I had just returned from Dylan's room, where my son had asked me about the price, how much I would charge to create a sapphire condenser matrix for his friend.

I said it would depend on the size, of course. It wasn't cheap or easy to make that matrix, as I used a special ink made of expensive materials and a special brush.

Dylan had said he would ask Devas about the size and then talk to me again. I just nodded and said goodbye, returning to my office until Alalia ambushed me the moment I walked in.

"Create what for free?" I asked the Dryad. Was she eavesdropping?

Hadn't I told her that this was rude?

"The matrix, of course. Create it for free, don't charge your usual outrageous price." Alalia huffed, clearly aware of the matrix's price. As I said, it wasn't cheap.

Depending on the size, costing ten thousand royal gold coins would still be cheap.

Before I could ask why, the Dryad continued.

"Do it as a favor for me, or I'll stop giving you the strands of my hair to make your brushes and I'll get the ingredients from my 'Brother' who's always asleep!" She said in a playful tone, but still, I could see that she would really do it if I charged even half a copper from Devas.

I blinked confused... Okay... this was serious then.

Since Alalia had "met" Devas, she had been acting strangely, and by strange, I mean acting like a love-struck teenager, skipping and jumping around the mansion while laughing cheerfully.

I had lost count of how many times in the last three days I had heard the name "Devas" from the Dryad's red lips, always with a silly smile on her face.

Even though Alalia didn't show herself to anyone but me and Charlotte, the maids had started to notice that something was wrong. How?

The plants in the mansion were literally dancing.

The flowers moved like exotic dancers, the trees like street performers, even the grass moved in a rhythmic way.

It became so noticeable that I had to invent a lie, telling the maids that it was all my fault, that I was testing a new matrix that ended up malfunctioning.

After that, I warned Alalia about the effect she was having on the plants. It was getting to the point that, even though the Dryad was restraining herself, her power was spreading outside the mansion grounds, making even the plants outside the estate start moving joyfully.

Alalia seemed to contain herself after that, but from time to time, I could still see one or two branches of the trees dancing.

It was so strange, as I had never seen the Dryad so happy, that I considered for just a second that Devas might have done something to her.

I quickly dismissed that thought. If Alalia, of all people, had fallen under some kind of spell or curse, we would already be doomed.

She was, by far, the strongest being I knew by a huge margin. The power difference was so great that it was even tasteless to compare. I would even say that she was the strongest creature on the entire planet, even though Alalia denied it every time I said that, claiming that she didn't even make it to the top five.

And even if I asked for some explanation, who was stronger than her, she would just stick out her tongue and say it was a secret.

"Alalia, we're friends, I've known you practically my whole life. So I won't mince words. What the hell is happening?" I said as I sat in the chair, pouring tea for both of us.

Alalia, again, as she had been doing in the past few days, used the same cup she carried around, the cup Devas had drunk from when he talked to me and Charlotte.

This obsession was strange, frankly. I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up tomorrow and found Devas tied up with vines in Alalia's bed.

And everything was even more surprising, as I had never seen the Dryad interested in any man. She didn't hate them, just ignored them as if she had a slight resentment towards them.

I had asked her the reason for this once. She pouted, making a face, and murmured words that I didn't know the exact meaning of.

"Stupid green sword and its stupid bearer who has no compassion for my cute face."

What was that supposed to mean after all? What sword was she talking about? Who was this bearer?

After that, Alalia had been sulking for days, looking like a wilted flower.

The Dryad finished drinking the tea, licking her lips slowly while smiling, as if remembering something, and answered me.

"Nothing... really just..." She smiled, swinging her legs in the air, her feet not reaching the ground. "I'm happy, I feel like Devas is someone important..."

Woman, don't make that love-struck teenage face, you're over five hundred years old!

I sighed, placing my cup on the table.

"I already planned to give him a big discount. Creating the matrix for free wouldn't change much, actually. He had saved my baby, after all, and if Alalia owed me a favor for that, it would be even better.

I'll have her make those fruits she produces in her hair; that should help Dylan recover faster.

"But you'll cut the base of the matrix." I pointed my finger at the Dryad, who whistled and tilted her head to the side. "Don't even think about escaping; I hate cutting obsidian, it's a pain, and you do it much faster and more easily than I do!"

In the end, I managed to get her promise to cut the stone. Just mentioning that it would speed up the delivery process for Devas made her agree quickly.

We continued to have tea for a while before I asked about something she had mentioned before.

"But still, if he's important, do you want me to send the flame guards-"

"No!"

Before I could even complete the sentence, Alalia cut me off, shouting and waving her hands quickly in denial.

Although I couldn't feel Alalia's mana, I could see, not the mana, but the plants in my room.

They were all moving strangely, as if just the thought of bothering Devas made them restless.

Some even seemed like they would jump on me, tying me up before I could even leave the room.

After a few seconds, Alalia seemed to calm down, along with her, the plants.

"Don't force him to anything, let him do his things." The Dryad commented, her eyes seeming to look at something only she could see, before continuing, her expression changing completely.

In all the years I knew Alalia, she always had the same emotions.

She was usually cheerful, fun. When she read a sad book or saw a play that particularly moved her, she became teary-eyed.

Few times I saw her looking at the moon at night, scared, few times angry, and often with a depressed, sad air.

But never, never, had I seen her with such a serious look.

Whenever she said something, it was in a playful tone or when she wanted to make Mellisa or Charlotte blush, a coquettish, seductive tone.

But never had I seen her serious to this extent.

Her eyes seemed to have lost their sparkle, turning into two dead purple stones, her hair became static, losing the gentle sway it had even without wind, even the room's plants seemed to have died, turning into statues.

"Never, I repeat, Helena Oakwood..." My full name? She never called me that. "... Never, become an enemy of that man. Understand?!"

When I didn't answer, she asked again, this time, somehow even more serious.

"Do you understand?!"

I didn't respond verbally; I didn't know if I could, so I nodded slowly. When I did that, Alalia seemed to relax, her serious air dispersing, and her usual, playful appearance returning.

The Dryad noticed I was scared and jumped on me, jumping over the table, hugging me and burying my head in the middle of her breasts, taking my breath away for a moment before she lifted my chin, making me look at her.

"I didn't mean to scare you, little Lena, sorry if you got scared, I would never hurt you." She smiled sweetly while stroking my head.

I slapped her hand and stood up, getting out of the uncomfortable position I was in. Alalia was one meter and forty-eight centimeters tall; I was one seventy-three.

So, for her to pull my head to her chest, I had to bend, it was even more uncomfortable since I was sitting, and I had to be careful not to fall off the chair.

Alalia, as I returned to a comfortable position, fixing my hair, laughed lightly and stuck out her tongue while bouncing back, returning to her vine chair.

"I wasn't scared, you flighty Dryad, just found it strange. Why this warning?... Or was it a threat?"

... Maybe I need to change my underwear, since I might have gotten a little scared, but that's beside the point.

Alalia, if she noticed something, didn't comment but replied to me.

"It wasn't a warning, much less a threat, little Lena, but me protecting my dear family." She smiled sweetly, sipping her tea again before answering me.

"I don't want anything to happen to you, little Melissa, or Chacha. That's why I told you not to make Devas an enemy."

Protecting her family... from him, Devas?... Why?...

And why was someone's name missing from this sentence?

As if she had noticed her mistake, she tilted her head to the side and said in a playful voice while tapping her closed fist on the side of her head.

"And Dylan too, of course, how can I forget him. Hehe!"

...

I knew it was a joke since, even though Dylan was the only one unaware of Alalia's existence, the Dryad treated him better than the other men. She even gave him birthday presents.

It was funny to see him startled every time a gift randomly appeared in his room, even after he surrounded everything with protections, after it happened for the first time.

But still... not a warning or threat, but rather, protection...

I hadn't noticed anything, of course. Devas was strong, probably at the level of a steel-ranked contractor, maybe one who had just climbed to platinum rank.

Something at that level couldn't threaten our family. Melissa was a platinum-ranked contractor, Charlotte was close to that too.

I, even though retired, was at a gemstone level...

But if the strongest among us, Alalia, who could probably sweep the kingdom off the map with little effort, had said that, I'll believe her.

She must have noticed something I didn't... Devas must really be dangerous...

[...]

POV: Devas Asura

Don't explode, don't explode, don't explode!

"BOOM!"

"Damn it!"

I emerged from the smoke, coughing and brushing off the soot as I removed the protective helmet I was wearing.

Another piece of armor had gone to hell thanks to these runes exploding for any damn reason.

"Krirkrikrik"

Even before I took off the protective helmet, I heard a crackling sound of fire... a sound eerily similar to laughter, coming from the table right next to me... a table where I had left the necklace...

Without hesitation, I turned, throwing the helmet with all my strength in the direction of the sound, hitting the necklace that flew far and hit the wall.

"Silence, you miserable thing!"

This damn flame had started to get smarter; every time I fed it, it seemed to become more "conscious" in a certain sense.

I would have been worried, as it was a flame from hell getting smarter, but this thing was practically harmless and seemed to act more like a troublesome child than something from hell.

"Krirkrikrikkrirkri"

Even hitting the wall, the crackling sound didn't stop but seemed to increase even more, as if the flame was even more amused.

"Laugh, you can laugh, it's the only thing you know how to do. I'm sure if I take a random stove from the inventory, it'll make a hotter fire than yours!"

What kind of flame burns at ten degrees?!

Damn it! Even after feeding it for the past three days, this damn purple fire had increased its damage to eight and its temperature to twenty... twenty!

Damn, if I clapped my hands, I generated more heat with my hands than that!

To make matters worse, the flame seemed to be offended by the truth I said and glowed slightly, its purple flame vaguely forming the image of a human hand... showing me the middle finger.

Where did this thing learn that?

"Listen here, you little shit!"

I went towards the necklace and picked it up, starting to spin it in my hand. I had found out that this little guy hated that. Let's see if it has the audacity to do that again after half an hour in the fan!

Meanwhile, the (CHAT) was as active as ever.

[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: It's amazing how less than a week ago, DS was fighting to the death with a badass pose, and now he's fighting with a spark. I'm sure if you add up their IQs, it reaches 30, with the fire having 20 of those. (Iron Man emote laughing while eating popcorn).

[TohsakaHeiress]: Honestly... I don't know if I'm annoyed or impressed with this scene. Wasn't this fire supposed to be a very ancient and powerful hellfire? Wasn't this the guy who destroyed an army?! What happened in the last few days?!

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]: I GOT THE HAIRS! I have a clump, must have at least 100 hairs, and then, how will it be? Can I give a friend discount, 5 hairs for a gold bar, how about that? Cheap, right? (Emote of a generic guy with dollar signs in his eyes).

[WiseWizardGleam]: Hm... the way this little flame gets smarter and comes from hell reminds me a bit of Fiendfyre... but much friendlier. (Emote of an old wizard stroking his beard).

[AsuraLady]: The fire is purple, you see, Saeko? That's why it acts like that. If it were pink, it would be polite and gentle with Devas! (Emote of a little lion with a proud pink mane).

[Purple Samurai]: I've never seen a tsundere fire... but if you say so, Saya-sama, I'll agree. (Emote of a zombie samurai hiding laughter).

[(MOD)RedHuntressLive]: Don't spin it like that! It's horrible to get dizzy. I hate it when it happens to me! (Little Red Riding Hood emote feeling nauseous).

I spun the necklace for a few more seconds before putting it back on the table, the flame inside it spinning rapidly and flickering as if it were dizzy.

At this point, it really didn't make any sense for a fire to get dizzy, but it didn't matter much.

I ignored most of the messages, focusing on one in particular.

"I know you act like a thief and have the steal skill, but if you think I'm an idiot, you're wrong. I'll give a maximum of five gold bars for the hair strands!"

Kazuma must think I'm an idiot, it can't be. I was almost sure he had pulled those hairs from Aqua's brush or something, maybe even bribed the goddess with drinks.

Of course, a goddess's hair strands were worth much more than the few gold bars I was offering. For example, I'm sure if I offered one or two of those hair strands to Rin, she would offer even her virginity or "worse" in them.

But I couldn't help but bargain. After all, dealing with people like Kazuma, if you gave an inch, they would take a mile.

I quickly pulled Kazuma into a (CHAT) where only he existed, and started bargaining with the neet who died of a heart attack.

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]: These are goddess hairs! At the very least, I can offer 10 hairs for one gold bar, take it or leave it!

"Aqua being a goddess doesn't change the fact that she, at the moment, is more nerfed than your chances of getting laid. Seven bars for everything!"

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]: Urk! Don't throw it in my face just because you're an isekai harem protagonist! Do you know how many drinks I had to bribe that useless goddess for these hairs? 15 hairs for 1 gold bar! Don't try to downplay it!

"Me? Isekai protagonist? Harem?! Don't you have a mirror in the stable where you're sleeping, by any chance? Ten bars, all the strands, and I'll throw in some equipment for you to use on your missions."

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]: Deal! Give me some clothes too, and I can even get Aqua's panties for you if you want.

"She doesn't wear panties, idiot."

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]: WHAT!?

After that, it was just about finalizing the transaction. Kazuma got ten gold bars, enough to survive for some time before Aqua drank his savings.

As promised, I gave him an iron armor and a leather armor, along with two swords and daggers, and some clothes. I packed everything in a box and exchanged it with him for the drunk goddess's hair.

I didn't know why, but reading Rin's messages almost having an aneurysm in the (CHAT) made me laugh a lot.

-//-

[Aqua's Hair Strands (113x)]

Type: Material Rarity: Light Red.

Description: Goddess hair strands, traded for beer bottles.

An excellent material for crafting magical items related to water and anti-undead.

Recommendation: Magical focuses in general and Accessories.

Note: Contains a lot of mana and traces of divinity.

-//-

I didn't know what to feel about the remaining divinity in the hair. I probably should feel something because of the [Divine Anathema], but frankly, I didn't care much.

In fact, I didn't even know if I was supposed to feel anything. I didn't like gods much in general; that was something of mine even before I came to Terraria, but still, there were different cases.

Aqua was one of the most useless and harmless goddesses I had ever "met."

I gently shook the hair strands in my hand, being careful not to let them fall.

This didn't serve much for now, but give me a few days, and you'll see if I couldn't do something with this.

This, along with the matrix that Dylan had told me two days before that his mother was preparing for me, would give me enough mana to bring my idea to life.

I still found it extremely suspicious that the guide's mother offered me the super expensive matrix for free. Actually, suspicious was an understatement, but I wouldn't complain. I would just stay alert in case she tried something.

"KIRKRIRKRIRKI!"

I pushed my thoughts to the back of my mind when I heard what I suppose was the desperate scream of a starving child.

But it was just the Shadowflame crackling, the strongest, loudest, and fastest it could.

The reason?

I moved the hand holding the strands to the side, and I could see the fire following it, swaying to the side where the hand was.

... The hair strands in my hand.

It even seemed well-behaved, swaying gently, waiting for me to throw the strands for it to eat.

You little motherfucker! if you think I'm giving you this here, you must have frozen your nonexistent brain with the nonexistent heat of your pathetic flame!

Actually...

I shook the hair strands near the necklace, but still, away from the Shadowflame.

"Submit, and I might consider giving you some strands! Let's see who's laughing now, damn it!"

Shadowflame froze for a few seconds, as if it had been frozen in time, before starting to crackle again, but this time in an angry manner.

"KKEEIKEEID! KRKI!"

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth? Oh, wait, you don't have a mouth, or a mother!"

"KRKRIRKRIRK!"

I had no idea what this thing was trying to say, but since it had chosen not to acknowledge me as its master, no divine food for it.

I threw some slime cores into the flame, as usual, before stashing the necklace in the inventory.

[…]

The matrix that Dylan's mother was going to make for me was ready; one of the mansion's maids came to deliver it to me at Geralt's inn.

I didn't even blink, knowing they knew where I was "living," as it would be easy to find out by asking around. I wasn't being secretive about it.

Interestingly, the maid, a fox beastkin. Not a "Fox girl," with just ears or a tail, no, she had a fox face and arms with fur and hands with claws.

She was the first "furry" I had ever seen. Interestingly, despite being "non-human," she had fine features, a "snout"? I think that's what it's called, short, and slit green eyes with long and lined eyelashes.

Her fur was light brown with hints of white; overall, she was really pretty, as strange as that might be.

Living in Terraria had changed some things in my mindset, hadn't it?

I had seen yesterday, while at the market, a vendor who was a dwarf. He was pulling a cart full of items, which must have weighed around a ton or more.

You know what my first thought was? It was: "Oh! that axe looks cool, I'll buy it."

When it should have been: "Holy shit, a guy who's one meter twenty is pulling a cart that must weigh a ton or more, what the hell is this?"

It's funny how just living here changed me, even without me realizing.

I sighed, pushing these thoughts to the back of my mind, and stared into the maid fox's two green eyes, which, curiously, when she looked into my eyes, she shrank.

She had a haughty pose; her steps, from what I had seen, were graceful, making no noise as she walked on the wooden floor. But the moment she stared at me, or rather, my eyes, that had changed.

I could see her fox-green pupils shrink and narrow until they seemed like just a line, her fur slightly bristled, and her ears flattened, beating on her head.

She was tall, I guess? I didn't know the average height of her species, but for a human woman, she was quite tall, about one meter seventy-five. But the way her ears folded back and she shrank made her seem much smaller.

Even her tail, which I could see swaying slightly behind her body, locked up, bristling slightly like the fur on the rest of her body before curling around one of her legs...

She even trembled slightly, to the point where I'm sure if I clapped, the sound would be enough to make her run away... Okay, what the hell was this?

Did I have something on my face or something? I don't remember having an intimidation passive. Woman! I should be the one scared here; did you see how your claws look as sharp as hell?

To my dismay, she seemed to realize my gaze on her hands, her claws, and closed them, holding one hand with the other, placing them against her chest, trying to appear even smaller and less intimidating...

Ha... I could already see that today was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?

I sighed again, opening the door to the room and stepping aside.

"Do you want to come in? I can serve... tea or something." I couldn't help the contempt in my voice when talking about this miserable drink. "You came here, I presume, on orders from Helena?" Should I say Duchess? Frankly, I didn't know, but I didn't care to find out either.

She made a small grunt when I spoke, looking even more miserable, but still entered the room.

Why the hell did I seem like a villain here?

[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: Intimidating a young maid DS?! I expected more from you, where have you seen that?! (Iron Man emote exclaiming in protest)

[(MOD)WhiteHuntressLive]: She cowered as if she was afraid just to see you, what are you, Devas? Can't you try to look... less like yourself? (Snow White emote sighing)

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]: I feel like I've seen this scene somewhere... Probably on a site not suitable for minors, and usually with several bad tags too... (Generic guy emote deep in thought).

[TohsakaHeiress]: Why does the Phantasmal Specie in the room look like the prey here? And why do the teary eyes make her so...

[BlakeHuntressLive]: Intimidating? Edible? Devourable? Like a young maid going to attend her master at night? (Black cat emote with a mischievous smile wiping drool with its paw).

[TohsakaHeiress]: I was going to say vulnerable! You perverted cat!

[(MOD)RedHuntressLive]: YANNNGGG!!! BLAKE HAS THAT WEIRD FACE AGAIN!! (Little Red Riding Hood emote scared).

What do you mean, be less me, damn it?

And don't you dare put me as the protagonist of those weird hentai you watched, Kazuma! I am the victim here! I didn't do anything!

And Blake, damn it! You finally deciding to tell your team that you're a faun is a cool thing, but letting your perverted side out like this is another story, contain yourself! There are children in the (CHAT)!

I sighed again. It wasn't even noon, and I had already done this more than ten times...

"Listen..." I said, sitting in the desk chair. "I won't do anything, just tell me what you came here for, and it's okay..." I spoke as low and calm as I could.

Damn it! Still, this scene was weird, especially since me sitting in the chair looked like I was expecting her to "serve" me...

Luckily, the maid seemed to finally gather courage and handed me a small bag she was carrying.

"Here... The lady sent me to deliver this to you..." She spoke, her voice meek and low.

I wasted no time and reached out, opening my hand to take the ring, which made her tremble and close her eyes, as if expecting me to attack her...

I had to refrain from facepalming. For God's sake!

I quickly took the ring and infused some mana into it, seeing that there were some items, one of them being a stone with a drawn matrix. Great!

Without hesitation, I nodded to the maid, tossing a little bag with some coins to her. "Here, for the journey." Without hesitating, I left the room, leaving this strange scene, along with the maid who had almost fainted when I abruptly stood up.

Even though I wasn't guilty of anything, not doing anything, why did it seem like I was? Especially since I was running as if I owed something?...

I sighed again, it must be a full moon tonight, for the day to start so miserably, only being a full moon...

[…]

I quickly passed by the market, seeing if there was anything to buy, some weapon or item that caught my attention, finding nothing, I ran to "my" clearing, where I arrived in Terraria.

There, I took the ring the maid had given me and inspected it quickly. The inside of the ring was large, from what I knew.

A medium "travel space," it had something around ten cubic meters, varying little, this one had about fifty cubic meters.

It was large compared to the normal ones, but still, compared to my VoidBag, which at this point was the size of a medium-sized country, it was tiny.

I took the first item that interested me the most, the stone plate with the matrix drawn on it.

The moment I "pulled" the plate out and it fell to the ground, I knew something was wrong, as even though the plate appeared less than ten centimeters from the ground, when it fell, it caused cracks in the earth...

How much did this damn thing weigh?!

Looking at the stone plate more closely, it was about ten meters in length and width, with about one meter in height.

It was black, which reminded me of obsidian, and cut into a perfect square, its surface and side completely smooth, as if it had been passed through a grinder...

Okay, who cut this? And how? If this was really made of obsidian, it, even though not the hardest stone, still wasn't easy to cut, and the worst part, it was brittle.

How didn't this shatter when it was cut?... Magic, probably magic...

I sighed and looked at the matrix drawn on the stone.

It was a large matrix, made up of nine circles, one smaller than the other, circling the center, all with a small spacing between them, until reaching the last one, which was close to the center and had a larger space, alone.

Interestingly, all except the central circle were painted with a silver-colored ink, less the central one, which was a dark green color.

And looking closer, in the center of everything, very small, there was a light green circle, of a subtle color. I wonder why; the different ink was obvious, but why were these two like this?

I pushed these thoughts to the back of my mind for now and touched the edge of the plate.

[47,938,491 SP required to fully analyze the item: (Mana deconstruction and condensation matrix)]

…

... Okay, this has to be a joke.

I had recovered a good portion of the SP I had spent upgrading the inventory, in fact, even more, with the mission reward and the passive SP from the stream, which seemed to increase every time I did something, like fighting.

But still, I had about almost four million SP, which was quite a lot, considering I practically earned about two million SP in less than a week, but damn!

Nearly fifty million? What was this thing made of? Because the more knowledge I had about something, the less it cost to analyze.

I knew, or at least thought, that the base was made of obsidian. I understood how the Mystic Symbols worked with a certain level of knowledge.

So, the ink remained. What the hell was this ink made of?!

What the hell made this thing so expensive?

A mind-controlling matrix with ink that used materials from Crimson itself! It cost about three hundred thousand!

"Haa... Alright..." I sighed, tossing some slime cores into the center of the matrix and activating it, pouring a bit of mana onto the stone plate.

The first thing that happened was a "pulse" from the plate; then, one by one, the circles started activating, starting from the outermost, all forming a silvery barrier around the center of the matrix.

Interestingly, even though the barriers were silver, I could still see the center of the matrix.

Finally, the last circle, the green one, glowed in an even darker green, and the slime cores began literally disappearing into the air, shining faintly, before a small burst of light occurred.

After less than five seconds, instead of the slime cores, there was a single blue pebble, the size of a bean. When I analyzed it, this is what appeared.

-//-

["Artificial Sapphires" (Impure)]

Type: Material/ConsumableRarity: Blue

Use: Ingest or absorb mana.

Note: Contains about 23% various impurities; continuous consumption not recommended.

Description: An "Artificial Sapphire" created from decomposed slime cores by the matrix: (Matrix of mana deconstruction and condensation).

-//-

Okay, I already knew I wasn't supposed to consume this, or at least not consume more than one per hour, that's what Dylan had said.

Still, from what I had seen in the market and what Dylan had told me, impurities varied, with the average being about thirty to forty percent impurities.

Either I got lucky, which I highly doubt, or this matrix was better than normal ones... Huh...

I continued throwing random things into the matrix and testing, trying to understand how its Mystic Symbols worked.

After a few minutes of testing, I had several blue pebbles and some theories.

First, I had thought that the matrix literally deconstructed everything into mana, but that was quickly discarded after some tests.

It was practically impossible for that to happen; the amount of mana used to change each molecule and each atom into mana would be absurd, not to mention the amount of information required for that.

This matrix would be something on a divine level, and if that were the case, the "Artificial Sapphires" wouldn't have impurities.

After that, I began tossing different things to try to figure out a pattern, all while reading the Mystic Symbols on the matrix, and I came to a conclusion.

The matrix wasn't a matrix.

Or rather, what made all of this work were just the central circles; the rest was just a barrier, isolating the dark and light green central circle from the rest of the world.

Or even better, it isolated mana from the rest of the world, creating a kind of mana "vacuum."

This was brilliant, but at the same time, not really, for one simple reason. I had figured out how this thing worked. It didn't turn everything into mana; no, it only turned one thing into mana: heat, or rather, thermal energy.

The barriers literally served as insulation, leaving only the item and the green matrix, which literally seemed to "attack" whatever was there with ferocity, destroying whatever was there down to the molecules.

And this destruction caused heat, explosions, lightning, and many more things that should have destroyed the matrix, but the smaller circle, the light green one, seemed to protect the matrix, the inside, while the gray barriers, the outside;

The dark green was aggressive and attacked; the light green was gentle and protective...

And I knew that this matrix absorbed heat because when the reaction of molecule destruction went beyond just the release of thermal energy and light, like gases or other reactions, the "Artificial Sapphires" came with a lot more impurities, as if the matrix didn't know how to transform these things properly...

Interestingly, I also doubted if Dylan's mother really knew what this matrix did because I had already thought about using heat, thermal energy, wind, and others to generate mana. The problem was that I didn't know how to do it, how to "make" mana.

What was mana made of?

This matrix, somehow, knew, or rather, its materials knew, not the matrix.

It was obvious after a while that what made this thing work were only the two green circles in the center; the dark green destroyed everything and devoured, turning it into mana, then into "Artificial Sapphires."

And the light green protected the matrix when something went wrong.

After some more time, I realized my mistake.

This thing didn't absorb thermal energy; it absorbed light, or rather, it absorbed the photons of light generated by the burst of light.

That's why most things seemed to glow. I didn't know how, but this green matrix literally broke down molecules in a way that almost always caused a burst of light, and then it absorbed the photons, generating mana...

I was wrong because I was literally doing photosynthesis to generate mana!

Screw this matrix; it wasn't even a matrix; it was a cage for that dark green circle, and the light green circle that made this cage not explode.

How did this happen? How could it perform mana photosynthesis? I had no idea; my best guess was the material of which the Mystic Symbols were made because the symbols themselves, from the dark green circle, literally had these meanings:

Plant, Life, Anger, Nature, Tear, Enraged, Rage, Absorb.

There was nothing about transforming, but rather, absorbing. Nothing about destroying, but cutting into pieces.

In other words, it wasn't the symbols themselves that made this thing work, but the ink, the materials of the ink.

The ink was made of something so insanely good, such an awesome material, that the genetic memory of the material generated mana by absorbing light!

And what it couldn't transform, it absorbed, causing the small impurities in the "Artificial Sapphires," which made me wonder. Why?

If this material was so amazing, why did it absorb these things that it didn't transform into mana? Why not just ignore them? It seemed "intelligent" enough for that.

I came to a simple conclusion: it absorbed this because it wanted to, or rather, it used light by absorbing it to perform "photosynthesis," generating mana, or life, in this case, and absorbed the rest to digest itself for another purpose, or at least it tried, but it couldn't, as there was no longer a body for that.

That thing, which Dylan's mother used as material, had such an absurdly strong genetic memory that, even dead, it tried to devour everything that entered its "mouth," feeding the body with mana and eating everything, trying to generate energy...

At first, I had thought about that "thing" in Dylan's house, but its mana reminded me a lot of the light green circle, something, no matter how strong, gentle, affectionate even.

This dark green circle, on the other hand... This thing was aggressive to the point that, even dead, it seemed to continue with anger...

Honestly, I didn't know if I wanted to know from where, or rather, what these materials had come...

[...]

I continued throwing things into the matrix to generate "Artificial Sapphires." Meanwhile, I picked up the other two items that existed in the ring, namely a fruit basket with some fruits and a letter, or rather, a piece of paper with the following words.

[I hope you like it! Signed: Your secret admirer.]

My first reaction was: "WTF?"

My second reaction was: "Is Dylan's mother trying to offer me something or what?"

My third and final reaction came when I used the Analyze: Item on the letter.

[Letter written by Alalia, the last Dryad of Terraria]

To say that I was surprised would be the same as saying that water is wet.

"A Dryad...?" I murmured as I read the letter.

The moment I read that name, the pieces fell into place.

Was the Dryad the "thing"?

Damn, how? Wasn't she weak? How did she seem to have enough power to catapult a country into the abyss?

And why was she in Dylan's house? And even better, why, when I analyzed the fruits, did they have this description?!

-//-

[Apple (ManApple)]

Type: ConsumableRarity: Green

Use: Eat or make a dish.

Description: An apple created in the joyful hair of a Dryad, rich in mana and vitality.

When consumed, partially restores mana and gains the buff: "Nature's Blessing."

Nature's Blessing: Greatly increases mana regeneration in locations in contact with nature.

Slowly purifies the body's mana in locations in contact with nature.

Slightly increases the body's natural regeneration in locations in contact with nature.

Note: When preparing the apple in a dish, the effects can be decreased or increased depending on how the dish was prepared.

~ A gift for my Hero Hihi! ~

-//-

Hero? Lady, did you happen to go insane?

I had never seen you in my life. What did you use to think that I was your hero? Tell me so I can stay away, because damn!

If a being with enough mana for me to mistake it for a mountain ended up in this state, I, who was just a soft human, would explode if I got close to that!

"Ha..." I sighed as I grabbed my phone.

[Monday]

It had to be, damn, it was obvious that today was Monday, and I was sure now that it was also a full moon. What was missing to complete my bingo of misfortune?...

I shook my head and pulled a sofa from the inventory, sitting down and drinking some water.

You know what. Screw it! "It doesn't matter, I didn't read anything, I don't know anything."

I spent practically the entire afternoon studying the Mystic Symbols, both Terrarian and Goblin, and a bit of the runes.

All of this while sitting on my sofa, tossing things into the matrix for it to consume and give me more "Artificial Sapphires."

The Dryad? What was that? Alalia? What is that? Is it something to eat?...

Ignorance was a blessing, and at this moment, I was the shepherd.

[...]

OMAKE (CANON?).

POV: Devas Asura.

I had finished the day and returned to the inn after transforming a few more things using the matrix.

As always, I said goodbye to the stream, wishing everyone a good night, and went to sleep.

Less than two hours later, at two in the morning, I woke up, fully armed. The culprit? The sound of rain falling on the inn's roof...

"What a bother..."

This was getting annoying already...

I took a deep breath and grabbed a drink from the inventory. Only after drinking did I remember.

I had never seen rain here in Terraria. Sure, I had fought in the rain, but still, I hadn't seen rain in a calm way.

With that thought, I walked to the window and opened it, only to come face to face with...

"What the he-"

[...]

POV: Anthony Edward Stark.

I had woken up to the alarm on my phone notifying me that Devas had started a stream.

Still sleepy, I yawned as I looked at the time.

[02:12]

It was early. What had happened for him to start the stream at this hour? He usually started the stream around four in the morning.

Opening the stream app, I saw that there were few people watching the stream, only about fifty people, but it was slowly increasing.

Even at this hour, people were watching him? DS was getting famous. As far as I remembered, the peak viewership of the stream had been almost two thousand viewers...

Yawning again, I commented when I saw that DS was just standing there, holding an aquarium; inside the aquarium, a goldfish.

Okay...?

I quickly commented.

[GeniusBillionairePlayboy] If you opened the stream to show me your goldfish, I'm going back to sleep, you know what time it is, you maniac! (Iron Man yawning emote).

I swear, if that's the only reason I woke up...

Devas, who was reading the (CHAT) and talking to some people, smiled as if he had seen a guinea pig when he read my message and commented while looking at the camera.

"Hey, Stark, I was waiting for a few more people before showing my friend here, but we can start now." He placed the aquarium on the table and pointed to it.

"This is Bob, the goldfish. What do you think of him?" He smiled, as if he knew something that only he knew.

Without hesitation, I commented.

[GeniusBillionairePlayboy] Horrible nomenclature! And why a goldfish? Wasn't there something better? And why the hell do you need to introduce your little friend at 2 in the morning!

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality] I have to agree with Mr. Stark, I woke up because of you! I didn't even know this stream had an alarm! (Emote of a generic angry and sleepy guy).

Devas seemed to get even happier when Kazuma appeared, his smile threatening to leave his face.

"Great, one more. Now that I've introduced Bob, I'll let him introduce himself." Devas then picked up the fish with his hand; it was a big fish, as it practically fit in his entire hand.

Before I could comment on assisted suicide or something, he went to the window and placed the fish on the sill, where the rain I had been hearing could reach.

It was here that things started to get strange. Frankly, when I woke up the next morning, I didn't know if I had dreamed it or hallucinated it.

Because when the goldfish touched the rainwater, it literally stood up, using its hind fins as legs, and with its right fin, it waved to Devas.

"May I leave now, Mr. Devas." The fish spoke! And not only spoke, but its voice was a deep voice like that of a broadcaster.

What the hell!

[AdvocateOfGenderEquality] WHAT THE HELL?!

At this point, Devas was smiling to the point where I could see all his teeth, probably imagining the faces of the people watching the stream, as the entire (CHAT) had the same reaction.

Devas shook his head and waved to the fish, telling it it could go.

"You can go, Bob, thanks for being patient, here." Devas threw a small umbrella, the kind used for drinks, to the fish, who caught it and bowed in thanks.

"Thank you, sir, have a good night."

Without waiting, the fish jumped out of the window, falling to the street and starting to walk away, using the umbrella as a shoulder rest.

Next to the goldfish, two more goldfish appeared and waved to Devas from the street.

"Hey, Bob, good night, Bob, bye, Bob!"

Devas waved to all of them, who responded as one and walked away.

"Good night, Terrarian/Devas!"

All of them were Bobs? And all of them had a deep voice?... I need to stop drinking... I knew there was something in that vodka...

At this point, Devas couldn't take it anymore and started laughing, holding his stomach and throwing himself on the bed.

"Damn it, I really hate this planet!" Even saying that, he had a smile on his face...