Shower.

—

[Two hours later.]

Waking up exactly two hours later inside the Margarita office bedroom, as if his body were guided by precise biological clockwork, Richard wiped his eyes and yawned before sitting up straight to gather his literal souls.

Once every ethereal atom of his that had been roaming through the Cognitive Realm clouds was collected, Richard no longer felt sleepy. Although the Lanfear thesis had finally helped him understand what happens during sleep, he still marveled at the process.

With the Mythic Path now available to him, Richard could clearly see what was happening during his dreams. He flew through the colorful clouds like a child, enjoying the view and playing with the dust. It felt as if he were a baby again, without a trace of worry or concern. 

Playing, laughing, and giggling in that realm was all he did. Richard thought that maybe this is why deep sleep makes people feel refreshed and ready for the day, as it seems to erase their miseries.

He remembered Freya, the lady who once played with him and protected him from the looming shadows that attacked her dimension, ensuring that the beings there could sleep peacefully without nightmares. Richard decided to use his watch to send a message to Lanfear, requesting that Skidbladnir's inhabitants assist her in alleviating some of her burden.

Although he knew she was far beyond Gaunter O'Dimm in controlling space-time curvature and didn't need help whatsoever, it was still a good gesture to show goodwill and potentially secure the support of a powerful ally who shares their alignment.

Walking toward the bathroom to shower with Pure Mana water, Richard produced a literal Sun atop his palm and gradually created a body of atomic clouds rotating around it. Opening the door made from Yggdrasil wood to contain the heavy mass of energy inside the bathroom, Richard placed the yet to be replica of the solar system in his left hand and used his right hand to remove his clothes.

Compressing the atomic clouds to form a planet-shaped object near the Sun, which is Mercury, he finally turned on the shower after getting undressed. Feeling the cooling, minty sensation all over his body, he then turned another knob responsible for the soap created from the glittering dust gathered by Skidbladnir.

His mind was suddenly filled with an abundance of inspiration and enlightenment, liberating his body with a heavenly sensation reminiscent of drinking warm herbal tea while falling through the clouds and listening to lofi hip hop music.

Richard focused his attention on his left palm. Compressing the atomic dust that swirled around his palm, he attempted to create a Venus-like planet while avoiding the issue of the Three-Body Problem.

The Three-Body Problem involves three celestial bodies with their own gravitational forces affecting each other, resulting in chaotic orbits even if they are initially placed perfectly. Despite his state of enlightenment, Venus still collided with Mercury, even though the measurements were accurate to the picometer.

Sighing in regret, Richard scattered the replica. Producing another solar system and personally adjusting the mechanisms of fundamental forces, he observed a non-automatic solar system with every celestial body from Mercury to Neptune, including dwarf planets and asteroid belts. Seeing the illusion in his right palm, he shook his head and dispersed the falsehood that could not run naturally.

After practicing and finishing his bath, Richard took the towel made from Yggdrasil fibers to remove the Pure Mana, which was too heavy for a normal person to bear. Because according to Einstein's famous equation, more energy equates to more mass.

So, noticing that there was no water outside his body that could accidentally splash into the surroundings and cause a sinkhole, Richard wanted to wear his usual clothes but paused when he saw the bedroom.

Looking around and seeing Jaina leaving the mansion with a basket of enchanted needles and thread, Richard opened the bathroom door and glanced at the edge of the bed. There, he saw the kimono, hakama, zori, and tabi socks that he had forgotten to wear for almost two or three weeks, as they had been damaged beyond repair at that time.

Raising his eyebrows upon seeing the now intact clothes that looked like new, Richard decided to put them on. Turning around to look at himself in the mirror, he saw an almost exact replica of Yoriichi Tsugikuni from his fragmented memory and nodded in satisfaction.

Breathing in and out, Richard exhaled ionized flames to put stress on his muscles and practice his body's durability without performing push-ups or similar exercises. He then left the Margarita bedroom and entered the office, finding it empty with no people around. 

Activating Transparent World, he saw that everyone was currently in the left wing of the mansion where the dining hall was located, and he also noticed many female green elves outside the protective bubbles behind Faralda on the far side of the archipelago.

Flipping his watch to teleport, Richard's body turned to dust and traveled through the quantum Ethereal Realms. Arriving suddenly in front of everyone, causing them to jump in fright, he chuckled at their reactions.

Sitting down beside Ember and Ervine while eating fruit produced by the Ancient of Harvest and picked by Night Elves, Richard listened to their ongoing conversation, wanting to know why there were so many green female elves outside the protective bubble.

"Brokilon is in a mess. After we defeated and escaped from the Devourer's clutches, that dragon decided to take the forest as his base of operations. He defeated four Mythic Path holders one after another who were transported there, plus Eithné, who was suffocated while protecting her forest alone."

"First, Fenrir, a wolf beast of the Primal type. Second, Sleipnir, a horse beast of the Primal type. Third, Nurgle," Ervine gagged, trying to hold back vomit, "Excuse me. Third, Nurgle, a disease ogre of the Demon type. And lastly, besides Eithné herself, Terendelev, a silver dragon of the Dragon type."

"And the saddest part is that even though Terendelev, the dragon, is also a holder of the Mythic Path, she immediately fell under the control of a shout: Aar, Dov, Hah, which I recall translates to Slaving Dragon Mind. I don't know why, but seeing how quickly the Devourer learned this shouting magic makes me think of Alduin when I see that dragon, though not exactly the same."

"Luckily, even though the Devourer is powerful, Cenarius, who was brought into the Physical Realm by Faralda at that time, is even more so and was able to trap the dragon deep underground in Brokilon. After that, the stubborn Eithné finally decided to ally herself with us, seeing many of the dryads dying one after another. That's why there are so many dryads now outside the archipelago, waiting to be teleported into the Yggdrasil."

—