" I thought as richer people you'd take like a taxi or have a private driver " Hazel said inside a train and Willow points out " Wouldn't teleporting be more luxurious ? " " Yeah , but there's the rest period when you're in the car , I remember taking a quick nap because of how much the car rocks " Hazel said .
" Dennis does that all the time when my ex-husband drives the car with her . She is such an energetic kid , she takes all the time she needs to sleep in the car and plays all the time before bedtime "
" Maybe Baby Dennis would've been much more adorable than this one " Hazel said " Oh , she is not as adorable even back then , she had pets before , but she ran so fast and she sped through the park one time . The other kids were terrified when she swam through a pond while the puppy drowned "
" Oh " Willow laughed at Hazel's failed attempt at a conversation " Then did she have a crush before ? " " Nope , I don't think there ever was one , not that I'm aware of "
She looks at Dennis " No mom , I really didn't have a crush , not even a celebrity one . I was fascinated by different creatures , but all I cared about at that time was looks and "
Dennis stopped that train of thought immediately " And what ? " " A life together , but then I reflected on it deeply and realised that the only way that was possible is if they can even keep up , but knowing me , I don't think that's possible "
" Oh , must be the hardships of being so different from people that you can only love a version of yourself ? Are you planning to cross parallel worlds and meet a male version of yourself ? " Willow joked .
Hazel drooled at the imaginative scenario , while Dennis's mom averted her Eyes away " That would be too freaky " " And you got any better options ? " Dennis shakes her head while her mother glances at the chains .
" She has a lot , but the problem is whether this lot of options would even be attractive to her . " her mother mentions and Hazel looks at Dennis's school and asked " Sis , are you still attending ? " " Partially , I only attended because those were mandatory class hours to keep me from being too outdated "
" Oh yeah , that is one of the unique things about our world , we usually call it a refresher . It's for updating our understanding by giving us more free time to keep up with the news " Dennis said .
" Aunt , is there any of that in your job ? " " For cleaning , not much , but management certainly . However , my refresher as a company manager is more like a get-together to understand each other's situation and problems , so we can accommodate them and I do take a few hours on management classes once in a while , so I don't have to stack it all together "
" You can do that ? " Willow asked " Yes , but usually these short hours are difficult to find and it's always online , so you really have to fit it into your schedule " " Oh , that's definitely going to cut into your time in the future Dennis " Willow said .
" More like Zilch's time , I'm going to have them find these hours for me and I'll just attend them " Dennis said while Hazel looked at Miss Debrah's reaction " Or you could get a secretary " Willow added .
" Nah , if I want someone to handle it , I'd rather it be someone as capable as Zilch " " Oh , careful now , eventually you'll really rely on Zilch for everything " Willow joked " You know I won't "
Hazel looks at the two and said " Maybe you two should date " the door opens to their stop " Yeah and when this star explodes " Willow said " I wouldn't mind " Miss Debrah said " I would "
...
Dennis dozed off while she was being massaged and when she woke up , they were already finished " So you enjoyed being " before Willow could finish her sentence to tease " Don't make it weird Willow "
" I wouldn't mind if you made either Satin or Zilch do it . I quite miss it when you walked over my tired body at night when you were a toddler " the two recalled seeing the sharp claws that Satin possessed and imagining Satin using the extra spider legs to crawl around Dennis , imagining a spider because of the six extra eyes around their "Hair" or Fur .
" Really ? " " You actually plan to do it ? " " Why not ? It was so good that it made me go to sleep quickly " Dennis said " Then you'd have to , you know " " It's not like I asked those two to wear clothes . In the first place , they don't have any gender because that's just how clones are unless they gain free will and are given one to be those kinds of toys "
" That is so harsh " Willow said " This is a really big mall " Hazel said trying to divert the subject " Great for talking while on the walk " ' she probably wants me to talk about something lighter . '
" Do you often come here ? " Hazel asked " No , I prefer to stay at home for work and learning . I have been abusing my fame to get good orders from the clones that are buying out plants so I can grow them in my Garden " Dennis said .
" When she was young , she wanted to get around the mall quickly to Save time and used her gift and mine to get around " " It was torture having to walk around the mall and seeing so little while moving slowly "
" So it's better to have some people to talk to just to keep her from abusing her gift ? " Willow asked " Yeah , sometimes we bring my friends and chat , but Dennis was going on to her own world most of the time , so they didn't really talk much when they were with her "
" Was she confessed to ? " Hazel asked and Willow couldn't help but think of reasons Dennis shot them down " She did , but according to Dennis , she felt that dating a human was too boring when there were other options . But then , when one of my friends was not human , she said that they were still boring because they were ... How do I say it again ? "
" Too cliche " " That , she doesn't like anything that feels too familiar . She wants things that always feel new to her , which is why she broke so many hearts and now she's got more hearts to break . I wonder when she would become attached to one ? "
" Didn't Piko mention Dennis carrying Satin around " Hazel asked and then Dennis's mother began asking Dennis " Dennis " " No , at best Satin and Zilch are just pillows for me to hug " Dennis said with no emotional attachment to the two slaves as people .
This made the three curious about Dennis as they head out for lunch and her mother watched Dennis , surprised to see something from Dennis and called Deks .
Dennis suddenly hears a voice as her mother begins talking to her daughter privately ' Dennis why are you like ... that ? ' Dennis reflected on the emotions she was feeling .
' The eldritch curiosity asked me a question about industrializing life , so I thought that the only way to answer that properly was to show that it is wrong because it could be possible that they would do the same to us . So I intend to back my answer by feeling this '
Dennis takes a bite of her food and her mother could see a brewing disgust that grew in Dennis's mind ' By self-loathing ' ' purely logical though , just so I have the morally high ground because I feel the cost of what it took to create this magnificent dish in front of me . But it doesn't mean I don't enjoy it '
Her mother could tell that Dennis was enjoying her lunch more than everyone else , despite the massive disgust building up inside of Dennis ' Do you really have to be the more morally right person ? '
' Hey , we give second chances to some killers and they redeem themselves . Plus , there are many worse people than those serial killers , like the processed food companies that feed us carcinogens and label them as a healthy salt or preservative '
' Can't argue with that ' the connection cuts and her mother wonders if Dennis feels some self-loathing for using her two slaves as living pillows ' I shouldn't bother with that , this lady knows how to handle people on her own '
As they finished lunch , they walked around the mall shopping for clothes and then to another food establishment to try out different drink combinations along with combinations of candy bars .
" And here is your random bar " they looked at the monstrosity of a bar that had smoke inside the air bubbles , dried fruit and nuts , a few root vegetables and some animal jelly inside .
Dennis ate it with a very straight face and her mother couldn't help but be surprised by how she was able to eat it and feel some joy in it while having the same amount of disgust that she usually feels just to have a moral high ground .
" Is it good ? " Hazel asked " For me , it is , Slowpoke makes my sensory processing ability greater because I trained it . Which is why this monstrosity doesn't overwhelm me , but of course it's an acquired taste , but it's not like I can be that picky for it "
" Oh , that is so gross and very fascinating . Maybe Gourmet world would be great for you " " I actually have a clone that is eating as much weird food , so I could handle more and more complex food too . In fact , I think I tried some of the processed food and I can taste the little bit of preservative they put in their food " Dennis noted .
" Aunt , wouldn't you scold her ? " " Is it because you think she isn't focusing ? " Hazel nodded " It's fine , most of our education strategies have been to listen to something while we are doing other things , it's why we still have the radio even if people want to watch television , because radio means we only have to listen while we drive and we can rest our eyes easily "
" Maybe this is what you get for raising her in an environment that optimizes growth " " It is what it is . There have been cases when people feel like they are behind and try to speed up their learning process , but that just slows them down because they didn't leave out time for reflection . Dennis is just a cheater for figuring out Slowpoke "
" Yeah , you are a cheater " " Then this cheat will be available for everyone and it would be great if they can also train their bodies as well as I have "
Hazel looks at Dennis's muscles and thinks about the workforce on manual labor " Then how does the manual labor work ? Do they have some kind of workflow that they have to allow them to listen to their info radio or something ? "
" They do , all the countries promote it because they want to focus the world's identity on optimization of growth , which is why it's so easy to study here and now that you can expand to other worlds , that ceiling has flown much higher for our upward mobility aspect " Dennis's mother said .
" Maybe because you've been running around , you couldn't find out , but that's really the case . " Willow told Hazel " I just hope what I said will keep those suitors away "
" Wouldn't your standards eventually catch up to you ? " Willow asked Dennis " I don't understand what you mean " " I do " Hazel raised her hand while Dennis's mom smiled , wishing she had a daughter like Hazel .
" If you keep raising your standards much higher , they might hit a limit in which you can't raise them high because it would feel like you're demanding them " " Oh yeah , I do have to find a solution , oh wait , there is , I just have to keep growing to the point I'm unattainable "
Dennis was hit again for openly being opposed " You will never get laid because of that attitude " Willow said while Hazel nodded " Not my fault , a lot of people can't keep up with me "
" Wouldn't it be partially your fault that they can't keep up ? " " Yes , but it would be less of my fault than theirs " Dennis said " You're fine with us " " As friends , if we were closer , I would've wanted more from someone I'm married with . "
" You sound a lot like those girls who expect their man to be as tall as a floor but more reasonable with your achievements " Willow said and then started asking .
" So how high must the standard be ? You said that anyone who wants your hand in marriage must beat either Satin or Zilch in competitions , but you only specified that they have to win , without specifying how many times they have to win "
Dennis looks at Willow , giving her some time to think and eventually she realizes " Oh , so you don't actually care if they win or not ? " Willow asked " Nope " " Is the competition meant to blindside people ? "
Dennis turned to her mom , " Not really , I did it because I didn't want people sending gifts , trying to bribe me into a marriage . Plus , people will eventually understand that I'm not the type to accept anyone because they won some dumb competition "
" But you always keep Saving attention and only stopped when you ruined my doomscrolling joys , how are you planning to put yourself out there ? " Willow asked and she suddenly understood why Dennis kept dodging the topic . Suddenly , the mood changed as Dennis's mother shot an angry look at Dennis .
" So that's how you are gatekeeping others from dating you before " " Wait , Mom , it's not like I intended to do that for just that reason " suddenly , they disappeared and the sisters looked at each other " That's your fault " " Nuh-uh , if I didn't say anything , you would've made more awkward silence " Willow said .
Dennis reconstructs her body another time after her mom used several utensils to kill her inside the arena spell " We need to talk about it , more accurately , this thing " an eye opens above them and Dennis finds herself enveloped in chains .
She gets up while looking at these and her mother asked " Why do you view your love like this ? " " This is the image of my love ? It's awfully accurate " " So you don't disagree with it "
" Yeah , being an artist means I visualize some abstract things for fun and I just happen to visualize as my love , like this ? " her mother gave a long stare at her and asked .
" Why ? Is it because you view people you are attached to as a burden ? " " Yeah , but it's mostly people like lifelong partners . It's kinda based on the divorce you and dad had "
Her mother was surprised to hear that , as she felt a little prick in her heart " I didn't know you were that influenced by our divorce . You seemed to handle it pretty well when you learned that you weren't going to be with your father "
" Oh , it's nothing emotionally scarring , it just served as good material , you know . When you said that you and Dad fell out of love because both of you were going in different directions at different speed , you were cleaning very hard and grew that career and Dad was too busy with paperwork and was much slower than you "
" So why chains ? " " Oh , that part is a bit different , I just feel that I don't want to force someone to keep up with me . I feel sorry for them " her mother becomes suspicious of this more empathetic side of Dennis .
" Fine , it just has to do with my attachment to things instead of people , after all , objects don't have to keep up with you " her mother hits her with an ax " This is quite the new side of you that I didn't know of "
" It's a side where I grow my soul you know , the three things we have to nurture the mind , body and soul ? I'm just growing my soul by reflecting on it " " Well , I don't care if that means you are fine with being single . I want you to give me grandchildren that I can legally show off "
She then proceeds to hack and slash Dennis a few more times before they leave and continue their outing " So are we clear about letting your attention Saver off whenever you go out ? "
" Yes mom " " Good , now before we split , give me a clone so I can shop in peace " Dennis sat on a bench where a lot of other people were focused on their phones , laptops and studies to notice Dennis .
But sooner or later , some people she knew began coming , she sensed a familiar presence and turned to Routen , who whispered to her " I'm so sorry , but my family pressured me to try to get close , ignoring the competition you set up "
Routen apologized , but then Dennis took the opportunity and said " It's fine , the competition is a ruse anyway , just so I can gather data through Zilch and Satin to give me the combat experience " " It's optional ? " Dennis nodded .
Routen was surprised by how he got in and worried a lot about what his parents and older siblings would push him to do " Spread that news along with the fact that my magic capacity is artificial "
Suddenly , that took Routen's attention as he adjusted his glasses and took a peek at Dennis's magic pool " Wow , you're right , but this looks so beautifully made it's unnatural "
" Cause it's artificial , I've been working on it , stretching my consciousness thin so I can accumulate knowledge and apply . Why don't you expand on your vision ? "
Routen followed that suggestion and started seeing mana strings that were spreading out of Dennis like she was the loom where all these strings gathered to form some kind of magnificent tapestry or creation .
" What are all these threads " Routen looks at the differently colored Strings " It's the connection I use to gather knowledge and magic . In fact , I also have other sources of power gathering that you can't see "
" So you are artificially creating your own power ? " Routen asked excitedly , while Dennis compared him to Elron because of his interest in learning " Yep " she made a smile and several onlookers paid great attention to Dennis trying to eavesdrop , but heard static because of a clone that Dennis left to interfere .
" Although it's not like it's easy for anyone to use it , so I wouldn't call it an innovation " " I think it would be better if it were difficult to use . If a lot of people can use so easily , then we might attract some tougher law enforcers from the deeper worlds . "
' It's not impossible , it just requires a really strong will to keep up with the daily grinding ' " Either way , I'm still thinking of further improvements " ' More specifically , my personal Sourceless project '
" Really ? That kind of power is enough for you to change an island " ' You'd be surprised how much effort goes to doing this '
" But why do you want to keep growing ? " Dennis thought of an answer for that " Because I want to be ahead , ahead of everyone , so I can handle things without having to wait for someone to do it "
Routen didn't understand Dennis's motivation for growth " Uhm , is there more ? " ' Yes , but telling you would bring trouble to me ' " Not really , it's just that I plan to make sure I'm ahead because it's better to be prepared for nothing than to be unprepared for something "
" Oh and is there a direction on your growth ? " " Probably self-sufficiency " " Self-sufficiency ? " " Wow , you really don't know what that means ? " Definition manifested showing Routen the text .
" Oh , that's what you mean by self-sufficiency " " yep , even though it is impossible to be truly self-sufficient since a lot of things will run out , we just say that solar energy is self-sufficient because there's a massive star that won't blow up in our average lifespan "
" But why would you want to be self-sufficient ? It's not like the world will blow up or anything " ' You have no idea ' Dennis thought , still sensing the deep influences of the higher being within Routen .
' I should think about it a bit ' " You should try applying magic techniques and spell formations with your innate magic " " But I don't need it " Routen said " And you don't need to learn about farming , but then you discuss how you wished there was a famine in your world so that it can develop "
Dennis drew a simple spell formation and pushed it to Routen to give him a better view " Now try to make this with your magic power " Routen easily does it with little magic power and ignites it to flames " it's really not that hard "
' My senses are telling me it is reducing ' Dennis observes how Routen masterfully controlled his innate magic power and she gave him more spell formations .
" Uhm Dennis , isn't this a lot ? " Routen asked , setting aside stacks of books that were copies of Dennis's knowledge " Why would it be ? It's the cumulative effort of many scholars and you are one , so you'd better make use of it "
" But that's the thing , I'm a scholar , not a battle sorcerer " Routen said " So ? I'm graduated in subjects of culture , but I'm the one who handled the problem . I don't hear myself complain "
Routen didn't have a defense against that as Dennis kept piling more and more grimoires on top of another " Here , this is a spell formation for an item box , but you have to preserve it or it becomes lose "
" What ? Why would they make that " " Cause unlike your world , the world of the inventor of the item box spell has needs " Dennis suddenly sensed something wrong with the architect of the mall , it was changing to a grassland and then back to its original state caused by one moving area of effect .
' Something is here ' she produced a protective Filter around her mother while also doing the same to herself ' I don't know who it is , but I'll have to buy myself time '
" I'll be moving fast for a while " " What do you mmmeeeaaannn ??? """ Dennis Loads a lot of time on herself after removing Slowpoke and focused on the sensations she was receiving .
' It doesn't feel like they are simply just changing the terrain and changing it back . This moving sphere of influence is kinda like that time when I used Seasons to supply the mana demand '
Dennis searches through her clones and checks the atmospheric data they had seen with Season Review to confirm which world they are in after she gathers a bit of data on the moving area of effect ' Trad , from Trad world '
She narrows down the people capable of producing such a great change indefinitely without attracting any attention and can only think of one ' The beloved child '
Dennis thought of her past involvement with the higher being and wondered if they were tracking her down because it seemed obvious enough that the pantheon of Trad would be opposed to anything close to the higher beings .
' They likely have skill sets like my eldritch sense , so I can be certain on whether my gifts have changed beyond recognition , but the problem is if they find out about Saver , Deks and Yeld '
Dennis didn't want to imagine the headache and quickly placed several things to stop any investigation from going too deep in her mental space ' Let's see , I need put deterrent information since they're from Trad world , this highly restricted content should shake them off . I should also put my darkest secret and personality behind and very deep things , to protect the memories of those three '
She begins to thoroughly use Shelves as they were shifting memories to stack up on each other , so any investigative eyes would encounter much less relevant information while protecting things like her kids .
She eventually finished organizing defenses and even stacked a lot of bootleg information to prevent anyone from seeing through them ' It doesn't matter if you are searching for food in a deadly forest if you can't handle what the forest throws at you , you might as well give up '
Dennis ends her preparations and gives one more grimoire to Routen " By the way , Feathers , you should learn this memory projection spell first , it's the special kind that shows you memories with you having to maintain it "
" Oh , this would be interesting " " Yep , make sure to use that at some gathering . I'll be counting on you in spreading this information " soon enough , the beloved child of gods walked close and greeted them .
" Good afternoon , Dennis Debrah . I was wondering if we could talk " they brought the powers of his gods down to freeze everyone , but Dennis stop the effect from landing on Routen .
" What is this ? " " A safety measure "
ns216.73.216.208da2
and then Add to home screen.