Chapter 61 - Strolling Half-Naked

Rynold woke up the next day feeling tired than usual.

He sat up from his bed thinking about what had happened the day before. There was a lot of information to absorb, he had to admit it, but it turned out better than he had hoped for.

The trials themselves made it so that he became stronger over time. His understanding and utilization of Mana certainly improved according to the situation. Well, as much as he could anyway. But that wasn't all that happened that day.

After he received the parchment from Margareth the night before, Rynold realized that maybe he was in over his head. No, scratch that. He was way in over his head. As much as he wanted to improve his skills in a short amount of time, he couldn't unless he threw himself into danger every single chance he could.

Rynold put his feet down on the ground as he yawned and stretch uncontrollably — a morning habit he had developed over the years. He recalled what happened the night before.

With the induction ceremony over and Margareth had officially passed on the document, Rynold was toured around the tree. Only one thing that came into mind as he moved around the tree was that it was decked the hell out.

Despite being introduced as the new Lord, which he did not care for at all, Rynold soon realized that the tree's facilities were ancient but cool, nonetheless. Some resembled modern gyms, with their training rings and shooting ranges, machinery was nowhere to be seen.

Most of the things in the tree, in fact, were using magic to power their operations.

Apart from the gym though, there were study rooms and meditation areas with concentrated Mana that made Rynold's mind serene as soon as he entered the room. There were also workshops manned by what appeared to be dwarves who serve as blacksmiths and craftsmen.

Rynold instinctively wanted to get to work on his own crafting recipes but Margareth stopped him before he could do anything else. Every step of the way, he was introduced as the new "Lord," a title he really wished wasn't on his coattails at all.

Among his so-called "subjects," Rynold was introduced to the staff here and there, most of which were Elves. The Elfen race was infamous for their clear skin and elegant demeanor in folklore, which was more accurate than not.

It took a long time for him to get through every single area of the tree. Even with the help of magic floating platforms that made travel from room to room faster, it still took time. Sure, some parts were fun to look at, but it was still taxing for the newly appointed lord.

He was somewhat glad, though, that by the end of the tour, he had reached what appeared to be the penthouse. Rynold knew this was the penthouse because they were high enough to see above the clouds. He was glad that windows and magic arrays were keeping the wind from getting through. Otherwise, he would already be dead from the pressure.

That aside, he saw Eileen playing on the rooftop garden. She was having fun playing with the wind sprites that took care of the plants that were in the garden. Rynold smiled and waved to the child before Margareth directed him to his quarters.

Rynold passed out as soon as he was left alone.

It was a new day, Rynold thought as he found himself too lazy to stand up. He just sat down on the side of his bed and blinked, like a dead man walking.

Although his mind was going all over the place, he continuously panicked at the sudden responsibility that he had managed to acquire. Rynold admitted many times in the past that he was introverted. He was the type of guy to seriously just stay inside all day if he had the option to.

Now he had to manage an entire colony's worth of people? That's insane!

Thoughts came out from nowhere as serious doubt ensued. Rynold considered throwing all the responsibility away because he didn't have the necessary things to lead at all. Rynold knew for sure that he didn't have any sort of charisma unless he was completely and utterly drunk.

A drunk leader? Who would fall for that?

He continued along with the panic with his unmoving body and lazy blinking eyes until his stomach rumbled.

With the system enabling him to expand his body's capabilities to a different level, Rynold was still capable of feeling hungry. After all, he hadn't had a sustainable meal in a while. His current diet consisted of chips, bread, and water. Not a nutritious meal to say the least.

Now powered with a will to move, Rynold finally stood up.

He walked straight out the door and opened it. The garden that was in front of him was brimming with life as the sun shone from atop them. Rynold got on his personal transport platform and activated it to bring him to the dining hall.

The transport platform whirred to life as the Mana Crystal that was powering it made it afloat. Rynold grabbed onto the railing as the platform floated down from his estate and straight to the corridors that lead to the dining hall. Along the way, eyes stared when he passed by.

Rynold didn't really care if people stared at him. Who knows, maybe it was because of the transport platform that had engravings that looked like it was for royalty was the cause.

But he simply didn't mind it as food was the only thing on his mind.

Soon, Rynold got to the dining hall with several other people looking his way as soon as he entered. Some of them were the people that he had met last night, but Rynold continued down the aisle to get to the cooks that were distributing food.

As he walked down the aisle and grabbing people's attention along the way, the room suddenly fell silent as he reached the very end of it and grabbed a tray to get some food.

People were staring but Rynold grabbed whatever plate that looked like edible food. So many people stared and at this point, it was a miracle that Rynold didn't notice that even the cooks were staring.

It was then that Jack spotted Rynold. Well, it wasn't that hard considering everybody's face was pointing directly at him.

Jack ran up to Rynold and slung his arm over Rynold's shoulder.

"Hey, man," Jack said with an excruciating amount of enthusiasm that Rynold just won't put up with.

In his morning voice, Rynold responded, "what do you *yawn* want?" For the love of everything that is holy, he seriously didn't want to put up with a guy that's energetic and annoying at almost every step.

Jack guided Rynold to the side and sat down on the table where Oliver and some other people were. Before even saying anything else, Rynold started chomping down on his food.

People were still starting at Rynold which made the atmosphere awkward and unusually tense. The situation escalated now that he was eating and the whole table became the center of attention now.

Not being able to take it anymore, Jack finally called out to Rynold.

"Dude, do you have any idea why these people are staring at you?" Jack directly asked Rynold.

With a large gulp, he responded, "no idea. Not my problem."

"Okay. Okay," Jack acknowledged Rynold's reply and asked another question, "So, um... another thing. Why the hell are you half-naked?"

"Huh?"

Rynold stopped chewing for a second and absorbed the question that Jack had so eagerly put out. His head then shifted to his body and looked down.

The situation wasn't as bad as he had thought because he wasn't really half-naked per se. He was more of the ripped clothes that revealed a lot more than people needed to see.

Rynold was still wearing the same tattered clothes that he had wore the night before because he slept without even changing. The shirt he was wearing practically had an open back and abdomen, making it look like a D.I.Y. crop top gone horribly wrong.

Meanwhile, his pants were ripped all over. At this point, the paints he was wearing couldn't even be considered pants anymore because it was ripped all in the wrong places. The ankles were uneven, the crotch was slightly torn and, most of all, the butt was slit down the middle.

As embarrassing as it may seem, Rynold didn't even notice it. Maybe because his constitution has changed or he had finally gone insane, his clothes didn't bother him until Jack had so eagerly pointed out.

Rynold chewed silently and swallowed before moving his gaze back to Jack then slowly canvassed the area.

People were staring.

His face slightly turned red before taking a deep breath. Rynold slowly opened his mouth and looked at the people looking at him.

"Show's over," Rynold said before releasing his Mana without restraint.