After the truck driver made sure that Cail was fine, it drove away.
Now, sitting blankly at the ground and staring at the wilderness on the side of the highway, Cail saw a small mushroom growing on the tree stump.
"I have a new dream, I wanna be a mushroom... Just growing, just chilling, and being happy." It was an unhinged thought, alright, but Cail felt that he wasn't in the right state, either mentally or physically.
Before doing the trade, he experimented a bit to learn what his affinity is. The results were... a bit surprising.
Remember that he can touch threads coming from the creatures? His ability is very similar in nature.
He actually used his ability subconsciously at least four times. One was when he entered the dome placed on the plaza, two was when he pulled the parasite out, three was when he saved the man from the skull‑headdress guy, and four was when he was watching the Sinner attack.
So based on that, what was his ability?
"Nullification..."
It was a property similar to that. It can touch, ignore, and penetrate void energy like it was nothing. It made Cail a bit immune to mind‑casting and other void‑related magic.
Of course, this power is not absolute. It can only nullify void energy. If someone smacks him with a bat or if he were in a battle with someone above Conductor, he'd be dead in no time.
"But still it's useful." Still sitting on the ground, Cail thought as he pulled some weeds out.
He can infuse objects with his void energy, and that object will also gain the nullifying property.
He got that idea after he let the students held onto him as they were going out of the dome. It work, so he probably can use his ability in that manner. Infusing objects with it.
Before coming to trade, he did a lot of experiments including the gas bullet that he fired. It wasn't an original gas bullet; it was infused with his void energy.
He also put some nullifying effect on the paper bag, although he only put so little that one void energy disturbance could cause it to vanish.
While what he did was a success, the after‑effects of using void energy affected Cail. After making the gas bullet, he had been feeling very off. It was as if he was stepping on clouds. He could barely feel his body and some weird colored veins appeared randomly all over him.
"I feel so bad." He took off his helmet and dry‑heaved. It felt like the world was spinning.
He was in no shape to do anything but he still did it anyways.
Looking back at his choice, Cail remembered the time where he hesitated, "The trade wasn't supposed to be that brutal... Well, maybe it was supposed to be, but I almost changed my mind halfway through."
The reason why he was cautious at the trade was because one, he is not their real instructor. What if the trades were just a bait? The moment he appears, a group of academy teachers would pop up and beat him to death. Then after killing him, they will steal the artifact.
It was a possibility. Only a possibility, but Cail felt he still needed to be cautious.
It was also because of that reason that he widened the time range for when he would arrive. He knew the lure of artifacts and he knew that they will be anxious no matter what. Them arriving early was within his calculation. The purpose of that was to observe them.
But after seeing that they genuinely believed that he was their instructor, he was about to change his mind when he heard the argument.
Hearing that Hal was gonna let him contact Neris's family, Cail's decision reverted back to plan A.
Neris's family sounded powerful. Cail doesn't want to come in contact with powerful people from the other side as of now. Hal's plan was unacceptable for him. His annoyance meter for Hal increased.
Cail went through his first plan, but he had a bit of trouble executing it. His nullifying ability was a bit vague. It can cover his tracks from Void Users and also suppress void energies. The plan worked better than he expected.
Then he face‑palmed, "No matter how well the plan went, I still felt very pathetic." He was driving like drunk because he could barely balance himself on the motorcycle and estimate his speed.
He put his helmet back on but he still didn't stand up. He was wearing the glasses but he didn't turn on the gear. Everything looked normal except for the deer‑headed man crawling like a monkey on the side of the road.
After a few minutes of rest, he finally mustered the strength to go home. He pulled his motorcycle up and looked at the road.
In the middle of the highway was the deer‑headed man. He was no longer crawling, but standing in front of Cail.
Cail looked dead.
I tried to ignore the problem but the problem approached me.
To be honest it was a bit spooky, but all Cail felt was exhaustion.
"Now what is this?" His eyebrows were meeting each other because of how hard he was frowning.
Seeing that it wasn't moving or doing anything, Cail didn't harm it. This type of creatures are other people's job, not his.
He ignored it once again as he tried to start his motorcycle.
Cail was busying himself and it was just standing there, menacingly.
Vrom Vrom Vrom!
After the motorcycle started, Cail gripped the accelerator and drove away.
The deer‑headed man continued looking at Cail departing. After a few minutes, seeing that Cail was finally gone, he crouched down on the ground and picked up the weeds that Cail was playing with a while ago.
Now, holding the weed in its hands, the deer opened its mouth, revealing numerous sharp teeth. It threw the grass into its mouth and ate it like a delicacy.
After it was full, it stood up. Its head turned around 190° as it surveyed the road. Seeing that everything was quiet, it crawled down once again, this time, vanishing into the woods.