VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne

Chapter 313: Stupid Questions

"Can I ask you a question?" Trivian said, asking a question.

Ren glanced up from the crystals he was sorting into mana content, and glared at the druid for a moment. He wanted so badly to point out that he just did, and that was the only question he would answer.

But he let it go, and instead just grumbled in annoyance,

"So long as it’s not a stupid question." However, as nice as he was being by avoiding his snarky remark, he couldn’t keep it all in, as he quietly added under his breath,

"Although, If you are asking it, I doubt that you would even notice if it’s stupid."

"It’s not stupid. What would be stupid is asking for someone’s help and then insulting them to their face. Especially when that person has good hearing." Trivian replied with a threatening smile. The druid was currently in charge of preparing the base for the potions.

A base that was created through plants that he had to sacrifice his mana to grow, which was very costly in this body since he didn’t have a source yet to easily regenerate what he lost, as well as a copious amount of D-Fuel as a replacement for the spirit water. The D-fuel had been brought with Ren for this purpose.

Spirit water was what was usually used, and was simply water that could withstand the burden of a lot of mana and could easily change its properties. Since it had been charged with Mana for distribution, the D-fuel was clearly designed to withstand it, as especially shown by Valerie’s personal exploits of charging it with more mana.

All one had to do was remove the mana already in it, so that it didn’t mess with the potion, and that would suffice as a base.

Ren glanced at Trivian’s hands, as he had actively stopped working to make the point of his threatening smile, before he grumbled again.

"Fine. I apologise. Ask your question, just keep working. This is important."

"I know that," Trivian said with a more genuine smile this time, "But it’s free to be nice and have good manners. So why not try it out some time, and maybe people won’t think you’re such an unbearable ass all the time."

"That doesn’t sound like a question..."

"Yup. Still true though. My question is, if you had all of these crystals, and you knew how to make them into potions, why not do it before the examination? Sure, we are high in the rankings now. But I thought you hated Prince of Stars, and would have wanted to leave him in the dust rather than let him take third.

Plus it could motivate others to do better and get people more powerful and ready for the attacks. Seems like it’s wins all round, no?"

Ren’s hands paused in their sorting, his fingers twitching ever so slightly. His brow furrowed and his gaze turned distant, as he stared at the ground for a few seconds. His hands slowly curled into fists, before he blinked and regained himself and came back to reality.

He glanced at Trivian for a moment, before focusing on his work again. This time seeming to be intent on avoiding eye contact.

"Not everyone deserves their power, or will do good with it. It’s best if we keep the world power level on a manageable level.

It’s best if they don’t know how strong we are, especially certain people. Our powerhouse is already powerful enough for the rest of us to hide behind. We don’t need any more attention than that. Not for now, at least."

Trivian thought about it for a moment, before nodding softly and sighing. He held out his hand, causing a few small sprouts to break through his skin and bloom into different flowers, which he then plucked and started to crush and chop.

They worked silently for a few minutes, until Trivian glanced at Ren again and asked tenderly,

"You know the future... The one you are from. Do I... Well, What I mean is... Was I alive when you came back? Did I survive what is to come?"

Ren froze again, not making eye contact with the druid for even a moment, as he stood with his back to him. The silence hung in the air for so long that Trivian considered that he hadn’t heard him ask, or he was simply ignoring him, before Ren finally spoke.

When he did so, his voice was monotonous and devoid of emotion, as if it was too hard to feel any of it and simply got shut out.

"Would it make you feel better if I said yes?"

Trivian lowered his head in a mix of sadness and shame, letting out a slight sigh before reluctantly turning back to his flowers and chopping them slowly.

"No, I guess it wouldn’t. I just... got curious, I guess. I can’t help but think about it sometimes, especially with what we are about to do."

"Then let me give you a bit of advice," Ren replied, a hint of anger seeping into his voice, although it was unclear whether it was because of Trivian’s question, or something more.

"Don’t ask the questions you don’t want the answers to. Because I really hate lying about it."

"Yeah... Okay." Trivian muttered sadly. He didn’t need the answer to his question anymore.

The two of them worked in silence after that, Using an old metal ice-plunge bath as their cauldron over a flame rune that they had Valerie quickly carve into the floor. Trivian added his plants. Some chopped, some diced, others crushed or squeezed, whilst Ren added specific crystals to the mixture.

The only sound within the room was the shuffling of feet and the bubbling of the brewing potion, until finally it was done.

Trivian found, washed and then filled four bowls left behind by the previous tenants with the concoction, before bringing it out to the others after Ren bottled up what was left over for future use.

Everyone noticed the heavy and dark cloud hanging over Trivian’s head, but no one asked about it. They had a feeling that they knew what it was that was bringing him down, and it was not a unique feeling.

But they knew not to ask the questions they did not want the answer to.