How can you seem so cold even when you're wearing warm clothes from the system? You have a powerful fire skill, can't you use it to keep yourself warm?

Sigh.

I take off the warm jacket I got from the system and put it on the little girl. She looks at me the entire time with wide eyes.

"T-thank you."

Yes, yes.

I also make a few orbs spin around, slightly altering their shape so they cut through the air more easily and don't emit a whistling noise. I start converting their energy into thermal energy and carefully, gently release it into the surroundings, much like how a radiator emits heat.

The cold wind continues to blow outside and it's become really dark, only the fireplace illuminates the room with its gently flickering and crackling flames.

As I do so, I continue to examine my restored arm, well, now my broken arm. Other than that, it seems fine. The skin covering it is pale and the arm is hairless, but it's perfect. The circuit, mana flow, and even its strength are the same as my right arm.

All this only makes me feel more bitter that I'm not with Lily to repay her, but hey, Kim is somewhat reliable, and when we finally group up, I'll make sure to repay her. Such a stupid girl. Who in their right mind sacrifices their arm for some odd-looking psychopathic guy?

Actually? Aren't I the most normal one here? Even the dog is weird, with his suspicious mastery over mana and telepathy.

Damn it, if I'm the most normal one, the system might have a problem.

As for Lily, I'm sure she can restore her arm. Hell, I'm certain that restoring her own arm is much easier than restoring mine. Still, that doesn't diminish what she did for me.

Silly girl.

Haaa, I'm bored.

"What are your skills?" I ask the little girl sitting across from me, only her head visible from under the jacket I gave her.

"Not telling!"

"I'll tell the doggo to play with you a lot," sorry Biscuit, I will sell you out because of my boredom.

"N-not telling!" This time there's a bit more hesitation in her voice.

"He can even talk to you telepathically and you wouldn't believe how fun it is to boop his snout," I pause, "it's surprisingly big and soft, yet when you boop it, it's cold to the touch."

"No!" she shouts.

I stop teasing her, feeling surprisingly slightly better, "I'll tell you my skills in exchange if you promise to keep away from Sophie." I can tell her about two of my skills that Sophie already knows, just giving her the names.

"I don't believe you, you already lied about your level!"

Oh, that's true! I recall my moment of victory over someone over 10 years younger, still somehow proud of myself.

Huhu.

Wait a moment? "Did you know I lied?"

"Yes! That's why I lied about what level Soph is."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Did I just get tricked by this little brat? Was I totally played by her, basking in fake glory while she giggled deviously behind my back?

Somehow I can't even get mad, I'm more amazed and... amused? Isn't this brat more dangerous than Sophie?

And in 5 years she'll be around 15 years old. A teenager sharpened inside the tutorial, and who knows at what level she'll be, and how devious? Plus, swayed by hormones?

I sense a lot of danger, a lot of danger.

Sset (Hell, group 4) - Yes, as you said. This is your family situation and you remember it right. As far as I know, these were your feelings back on earth and there doesn't seem to be any change.

BenDover (Hell, IDK) - Lol, noname, your childhood is so sad, I'm going to cry.

Sset (Hell, group 4) - Obviously I don't know everything, and you are not a person to share, but your behavior up until now seemed like you from Earth, maybe a bit more calculated and controlled, but that should be thanks to the skill.

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - (food gone)

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Thanks.

I feel much better now after a long talk with Tess, she confirmed a lot of things and it doesn't seem that anything important is missing. Maybe Sophie trying to make me not want to hurt her did mess with some memories of her?

That sounds somewhat probable, yet I can't be sure and Tess can't be sure either so I just use [Focus] to push my anger to the back of my mind.

Also, sorry, Biscuit, I know it's hard to not eat these decaying monsters outside, but there's nothing I can do now, so hang in there!

BenDover (Hell, IDK) - Noname, I don't know whether to pity your mom or make fun of her, lol.

You bastard.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - If I ever meet you I'll fuck you up. Start praying now so I don't meet you during the community tournament, if you're even able to survive, you piece of shit.

Unable to do anything to him through the community, I turn it off and calm down slightly after seeing that it's getting sunnier outside.

When is the community tournament even going to happen? Give it to me already.

As I stare out the window, I continue to mull over the last moments of Lissandra and the way she moved her mana to turn herself into a construct while absorbing even ambient mana and turning it into her own. A few ideas are already brewing in my mind, one of them being to use [Redistribution] to absorb ambient mana to copy her.

Hey, kinetic, thermal energy, seeing that the skill doesn't specify further, it's not that hard to imagine that I might be able to do it with more types of energy, it all lies in the effort I put in and my talent.

Yes, [Redistribution] relies on absorbing energy, holding it, and using it. It's a perfect counter-skill.

BUT! What if I get to the point where I can redistribute mana? What if I get to the point where I can redistribute not only external mana but my own mana? Turning it into different kinds of energy. That's one of the ideas.

Another idea is for a construct that would absorb external mana and turn it into my own. Both of these ideas seem terribly difficult, but hey, I'd better set some ambitious goals now than just aimlessly move around.

For now, I want to focus on creating a second construct instead of improving the first one. The reason being that if I improve the first one, I'll have to deal with excess mana again, so yeah, a new construct to help me handle mana, to allow me to invest more stats into it until I get to the point where I can handle more of it.

For that, another triple or quadruple focus would be amazing. Or maybe some upgrade for [Mana Manipulation].

Damn it, even upgrading my class or getting a subclass could help.

I haven't forgotten about my upgrade token, but I have plans for it and am worried that upgrading the class or upgrading the mana stat would spend it, I just don't test it and save it for now. There's something I need to take care of first before using it.

"What do you like?"

Huh, that's a weird question out of nowhere. I turn back to the girl and sit down. While both parts of my [Focus] continue to train moving mana and to shape it, I look at her.

"I like to stay up late. When everyone is already sleeping and it's really quiet outside." I answer her honestly, and somehow I miss the feeling of being able to do that. The feeling of just laying in my bed and not wanting to go to sleep.

"That's what old people do!"

Oi, listen here you brat!

"I like cute animals!" She says simply and looks at me as if expecting me to continue.

Haa, fine.

"I like to drink a glass of perfectly cold water during hot summer days."

She giggles and nods as if agreeing with me, "I like when Sophie caresses my hair."

"I like going to sleep after a shower and into freshly washed sheets."

"I like my mom!" Isabella says, and I can't help but feel some amusement over her childish energy and excitement. There's something amazing about the simple innocence of little kids.

"I like my mom too," I say in response and continue to listen to her chatter until the weather clears outside.

We get out, finding out that it's already warmer now that it's day. The monsters start appearing again, and I can feel their mana signatures all around us.

I also realize one thing: the monsters are getting stronger the better the houses around us look like.

Rats, Gargoyles, Alghouls. All of them are a tiny bit stronger than at the place where we appeared.

Then I feel a touch of mana on myself, someone probing me, sensing my signature. Only when another group of monsters starts moving towards us from the edge of my perception, do I realize that now the monsters able to locate us have started appearing as well.