"That leaves just the two of us here." Gehera muttered once Hazen and Truck-Kun vanished. Hazen had been building a pathway using his own timeline, gradually sending more and more of himself to the Cultivation World over time.
With his mysterious set of abilities, Stencil didn't even manage to sense anything.
"What's the plan now?" Gehera asked.
"Well first of all, I'm hungry." Compass Carburettor felt his empty stomach and then asked, "Have you learnt to cook during all these years?"
"Of course," Gehera rolled her eyes at him before saying, "Because of what you asked, I've been a genius writer, a famous celebrity, the most viewed content creator, and now am a professor in one of the best universities."
"Seems you've used the Secret Society well…" Compass Carburettor muttered upon seeing Gehera stare at him with a strange gaze.
"I mean…" Gehera paused for a moment before pointing at herself, "I personally did all that. The Secret Society only helped with the background work."
"It's hard for me to process information from them, and hence, I had to personally make a move most of the time." She said, arriving at the living room before taking out a book to show him, "This is a book I wrote about you."
[Contained Villain]
That was the title of the novel, a bestseller biography that sold more than eighty million copies world-wide. It talked about the origin story of the Contained Villain, the enmity he had with the Genesis Hero, etc.
"They even made a movie about this." Gehera said, "The movie turned out pretty well. It made Contained Villain a household name. Parents use it to scare their kids to make sure they eat well and all the other things that they do."
Compass Carburettor flipped through the contents of the book, taking a seat as he slowly read through it like a normal human, puzzling Gehera.
"Why don't you turn it into Mental Fragments and digest them? You'll instantly gain all the information in it." Gehera asked.
"Yes, I would indeed gain that." Compass Carburettor shook his head, "But at the same time, I would lose the immersion and emotion I would experience while manually reading it."
"Unless necessary, I shouldn't abuse my powers. It would only cripple my growth in the long term." Saying so, Compass Carburettor read the novel with interest, commenting from time to time of his observations.
Five hours later, he was done, setting aside the book to see Gehera working in the kitchen, cooking after cleaning up the mess that Hazen had made for the past week.
Staring at her working back, he asked, "When did you learn to write so well?"
"From the Systems, of course." Gehera said, frying some vegetables as she continued, "I stole power from a variety of them during that war. And since I had time in this world, I began to comprehend the related totems. Usually, I just blindly used them."
She grated some onions and coriander to sprinkle at the top, "But once I understood their concept, I was able to absorb all the knowledge in them. Even though my Totems are still single use, I now gain all the information regarding them. And just by learning that information, my mental faculties expanded drastically."
"I can cook, sew, paint, play more than a hundred music instruments, reached an athlete in a dozen sports, and many more." She grinned, "They may not seem much, but I've been able to pace myself better in all aspects, including battles."
"I did fight against Stencil thrice until now. And even though I lost, Stencil gained nothing from all three fights. Moreover, the fights only served to further deepen the image of the Contained Villain." She said and brought the dishes, arranging them on the dining table.
"Ohh, they smell delicious." Compass Carburettor muttered, rubbing his hands before gorging on them, his eyes lighting up as he flashed a thumbs up at Gehera, "The food tastes great. Come, you eat too. Or else, I'll finish them all."
"Alright," Gehera smiled contently upon seeing him enjoy her food, taking a seat as she too began to eat, asking once all the dishes were licked clean by Compass Carburettor, "Are you eating just for the experience?"
"Pretty much," Compass Carburettor nodded, "There's no reason not to, right?"
"Besides, there's one thing that I understood when I wasn't acting for the past seventy-five years," Compass Carburettor said, drinking some water to speak, "In the previous battle, my lack of experience played a major role. Even though I had endless experiences in the form of Mental Fragments, they weren't mine. So, I couldn't use them to their full potential."
"Moreover," He complained, "Even when Immortal supplied me with infinite energy, all it helped me with was in terms of the quantity of my attacks. The quality never changed. And as you saw, except for the final attack, nothing else worked."
"And hence, I changed my growth path." He lifted a finger, "Originally, I planned to devour entire worlds and raise my quantity. That would only help me against Grade 2 Systems. But that would be my limit. To face the Grade 3 Systems and above, I need to innovate further and raise my quality."
"Condense all my power within myself as a single being. That's my goal." He said, "And for that to happen, strengthening my Mental Strength is the fastest way. And just as you did, experiencing things manually is the best for me."
"Wait a second," Gehera noticed something amiss in his words, asking, "Isn't Stencil's wellbeing the only thing you care about? Didn't you face the Systems in the past just for a conflict of interests? Why are you now focused on Grade 2 and Grade 3 Systems as a priority?"
"Your current tone contradicts everything you stood for in the past." Gehera stared at him in all seriousness, "What changed?"
"They attacked Stencil and succeeded multiple times." Compass Carburettor let out a cheerful smile, "So, it's no longer a concept of living in hiding with my daughter."
"Everyone that took part in harming her would die horrifying deaths with the utmost regret etched in their minds." He calmly washed his hands and stated as if he was just reading a fact from a book, "Until the war, I took the approach of avoiding the Systems, since honestly, even when I was the Main Character, I feared them, as they are that terrifying, especially the Grade 3 and 4 Systems."
"But now, things are different." He arriving at the living room and switched off the TV, staring at the blank screen to say, "My only emotion towards them is the intent to eradicate them."
"I Hate Systems."
