Spending My Retirement In A Game

Benjamin looked at the side of his body as he was cleaning himself up with a wet paper towel that he crumpled up and placed on the counter next to him. The wound that he had there before had now completely closed up without even a single trace left. Of course, there were still plenty of scars there due to his surgery where his arm was cut off, but beside that, he was fine now.

"Thanks for the help, Jyuuk." The old man said with a light smile on his face, proceeding to show the young man the extent of his new transformative ability. The fact that he was now able to turn nearly 8 feet tall was something rather impressive and weird, to say the least.

Haruo looked Benjamin up and down, and especially took notice of the bathrobe that slipped further down around his waist the moment he increased his size like that. It seemed like it was about to rip open, and Haruo wasn't particularly interested in seeing what the old man would look like without it. Although, he was interested in the part that did reveal itself already, before slowly looking down at his own chest.

"I have ended up in a better shape than ever before due to my physical changes now as well. But for you, I know that you always used to look like that... How did you manage something like that?" Haruo asked with a wry laugh, before Benjamin looked back at him and shrugged, turning back into his normal size while pulling his bathrobe back over his shoulders.

"Ah, you know, just doing constant physical work does that to you. And of course, I ate quite healthily and made sure to get some regular exercise into my daily regime. That was the only way that I was able to actively work for as long as I did. But why are you asking? You didn't seem particularly interested before all this." The old man pointed out with a light, curious smile.

Haruo scratched the back of his head slightly nervously, "Well, things are changing. We are changing. And we don't even know if this is permanent or not. But now that I have this sort of body, I would like to know how to keep something that is at least similar, even if we were to lose this." 

Benjamin looked back at his close friend, and realized that his mind had been rather busy over the past few weeks. He had never thought about the possibility that this change that was happening to their bodies here on Earth may not be permanent. 

However, Benjamin wasn't particularly sure if his body would be able to take the backlash of returning back to his weak, slowly decaying self that he had become bit by bit over the past few years. Neither did he know if he really wanted to.

The old man took a deep breath, choosing to try and figure his complicated thoughts out at a later time. He didn't want to turn this conversation into something like that right now. Slowly, as Haruo and Benjamin were just sitting there, they could hear Jasmin coming over into the kitchen where they also were.

"Is everything alright?" She asked tiredly, rolling up next to them in her wheelchair. She noticed the bloodied paper towels that Benjamin had placed down next to himself, and looked at the old man concerned. Quickly, Benjamin explained the situation, and quickly demonstrated it by decreasing his size by a foot for now. 

Jasmin opened her eyes wide in surprise, or rather shock, and stared back at Benjamin, "You can do that now? Seriously?"

"Mhm. It's the reason why the threads from my stitches were cutting into my flesh." The old man explained swiftly. Jasmin seemed rather concerned, but seeing how it was Haruo that helped Benjamin out, she knew that he should be fine for now.

"But you said you reached roughly 65 recovered memories, right? Is that size-change ability the only thing you gained?" Jasmin asked curiously, and Benjamin looked back at her while blinking a few times, "That is a good question... I was only really focused on this ability for now. But you are right, there should be more than just this particular ability."

As the old man looked back at Jasmin, an idea sparked up in his mind. Slowly but surely, he looked at his palm. And then he pushed the force that was dwelling inside of him out through it. The air above his palm began to shift around as Benjamin's body seemed to be now fully capable of interacting with mana in the way that it did in the other world.

However, there was one more force within his body that was acting up when Benjamin's mana began to flow. He mixed it into his mana and led it to his arm, as a thin layer of rock suddenly grew on it.

"I can use magic now, it seems... Although this is apparently my limit for now." The old man explained, already feeling slightly exhausted from using his element just this little.

However, it was simply a fact that Benjamin had become able to make use of magic. While Samuel brought an ounce of mana over here, Benjamin was the first source of mana in this world that existed. It seemed like no matter what happened, he would be prepared for Samuel's plots from now on.

With his new incredibly overwhelming physical strength, his ability to now change his size, and the fact that he would be able to use magic like this, how would anything make it possible for him to be defeated in this world.

And even if Samuel managed to go forward with his plans, Benjamin and the others would be able to handle whatever situation was going to happen here. Not to mention that they would only become more powerful as time went on... Slowly, Benjamin was able to relax to an extent. This realization helped him stop thinking about how much of an abomination he truly was at this point.

--- 

Eisen slowly woke up and removed the blanket from his body. He pulled his legs over the side of his bed and stood up, before quickly getting dressed in the special suit that the Mannequin Golem was still wearing.

Once he was done, Serio appeared in the room to give the old man some tea, surprisingly.

"You never brought me tea like this before." Eisen pointed out. The Core Guardian swiftly nodded his head as he looked back at the old man, "Indeed, but this was your favorite in the past. You would drink it every day, all day. I figured now that your mind is slowly changing and you are feeling anxious as you become less of the man you knew yourself to be until now, having something familiar like this might help calm your nerves."

Eisen laughed quietly at the butler's explanation, "This seems more like I was addicted to this stuff rather than it being something that can help me calm down, you know?" He added.

Serio smiled softly as he pressed the cup of tea into Eisen's hand, "Possibly so, but it is good for you, either way."

The moment that the old man took even a sip of this liquid that seemed to glow in a golden light due to the shine of the sun pouring in through the window. Just the scent of this tea made Eisen feel weirdly relaxed, and it gave Eisen's mind a jolt of nostalgia together with that relaxation.

It was a bit weird, but Eisen was extremely excited to drink this the moment that all of these feelings entered his mind.

He placed his lips against the rim of the cup and took a slight sip. And the moment he did, the feeling that he would remember something new through this tea popped up in his mind. But either way, what Serio said didn't seem to be wrong. It really did make him feel quite relaxed.

However, while it was indeed quite delicious, it wasn't the best tea that Eisen ever had. So clearly, he must have some kind of sentimental connection to it. Eisen wanted to find out more about his former self's emotions and his connection to this world, so this kind of stuff was the perfect thing for him right around now.

The old man slowly made his way to the small balcony connected to his bedchambers and chose to finish his tea there, just relaxing as he took in the morning sun. Once he finished drinking the cup of tea, he turned toward Serio with a smile, "Thank you. I really enjoyed it. It doesn't seem to offer any particular stat-boosts though... Is there any reason for that?"

"Of course." Serio replied, "This tea is 'Rankless'." The core Guardian replied. Eisen really wasn't sure what exactly he meant. Noticing this fact, Serio quickly explained.

"These tea leaves were a product of transcendance. Someting beyond the 10th rank. However, things in that realm do not offer any sort of benefit. The few that know of this phenomenon thought that such items or materials that 'transcended' rather cycled through the system and reached a point before rank 0 again. They keep their supreme quality, but have been completely disconnected from the system of this world." Serio explained, "It is a rare phenomenon that you have exploited a few times throughout your life, although this Tea is the only instance that I could specifically name."

Slowly, it dawned on Eisen. He already remembered why this Tea was so important to him. And that wasn't because he somehow was able to recover his memories of the former Eisen's life, but rather because he remembered something from his own life. The life he led on earth.

This tea, instead of being something introduced to him here, was something that his father on Earth used to drink regularly. Eisen had it a few times then, and a few more times throughout his life at special times. Not that he specifically tried, it simply always showed up at special times in his life.

The day he met his wife, the day his first son was born, and the day that his wife died. It was always there, somehow.

And this tea that was completely disconnected from the system was something that reminded the former Eisen of the life that he led on Earth.

The old man looked back at the horizon and let out a slight sigh, realizing the meaning behind this tea for himself and the former Eisen.

"So it was the thing that kept him... me... connected to my former life, wasn't it?" The old man muttered quietly.