12 The second attempt, and rationalization of the first.

"Okay, we are about one street away now, so they can't see us. Anyway, system, these beings shouldn't be able to communicate with us unless they use Ep, right? Their very existence within this realm should rely on Ep, right?"

[The host is correct. Just now, a small amount of Ep was manipulated to move the air molecules in the air and cause a sound wave to form.]

"Huh. Smart. But... Why did the breeze seem 'old'?"

[The system believes it is merely due to the slightly stuffy air in the area. This caused the host to be tricked into thinking the breeze was old, when it, actually wasn't.]

[The host also should stop thinking that this Mr. Bottin easily created a sound wave. It required the entire soul to move in the way a sound wave would move, and coat itself in some Ep to make sure it affected the atmosphere.]

"Wait, doesn't that put Mr. Bottin in a significant amount of danger?"

[The host is correct. For just 1000 Ep, the system could have taken all of the Ep Mr. Bottin had, and forced it to go to where ever souls go when they have no Ep.]

[The confusing thing is, how did Mr. Bottin know how to manipulate Ep.]

"Is it possible he also has a system? Or that one of his ancestors did, and they passed down the knowledge of Ep usage?"

[It is possible, if 73 billion Ep can be located, and it all combines together at the same time, it can form a system egg, which can then inhabit a soul. Because of this, it is unlikely that there would be 2 systems formed in a 1000 year span of time in this part of the world.]

[It is possible to pass down the knowledge of how to utilize Ep, however, it is incredibly difficult for anything to comprehend it.]

"Okay, that is expensive, and it also confirms that Mr. Bottin is either over a 1000 years old and extremely lucky, or that someone gave him the knowledge needed."

"Which would also explain how he figured out how to produce sound waves without a throat. Unless of course, he was a musician, then it might have been a little easier. But comprehending Ep usage without a system won't be easy."

In any case, we have learned quite a bit from this. I am pretty sure that Mr. Bottin knows what Ep is, and most likely has a way to collect it, if he is willing to spend so much on speaking. This means investigating that house was not a mistake!

"Hello again! I'm back after some amount of time!"

"It.. It's been 10 minutes." replied Mr. Thimblworld, in a raspy, stuttering voice.

"You.. you are back so soon. Why..?"

"Ah, well, you never gave a specific time frame to come back in." answered George.

"That.. that should of been obvious..."

"Nah, I am autistic, I automatically take everything literally. Anyway, I still need to talk to Mr. Bottin, so if you could just go and grab him, that would be really useful. Or if you can't do that, can you bring me to him?"

"N.. no, I can not do that. Mr. Bottin is busy resting, an.. and does not wish to be disturbed."

"Howe.. however, he does wish to tell yo.. you that he wi.. will talk about 'Ep' if yo.. you bring a depress.. depressed person next time. Or any other per.. person with a mental illne.. illness."

"Ah, really? Hmm. Will this person be in any danger?"

"No. Mr. Bottin is ve.. very nice and peaceful."

"Okay, thanks Mr. Thimblworld! Next time I come, I shall bring along some people I know who aren't doing so well mentally!"

[Ep + 0.65]

"So, seems like we are in need of a mentally ill person. Wonder where we can find one of those... "

"HA! I know a bunch of friends who have a mental illness of some shape or form, this is easy! I just need to make sure I am strong enough to protect them, as they will be my friends."

System, how much Ep do I have?

[The host has 318.01 Ep.]

Sounds good. Say, system, quick question, just how much am I limited in outputting all my physical strength?

[Not as much as the host believes. The host has more of an endurance set muscle structure, meaning that the host can last a while, but can do nothing immediately.]

[To change to an immediate response, while keeping the current endurance would take up roughly 230000 Ep.]

Less expensive than I thought it would be. Alright, a different question then, how strong am I?

[The host weighs 71 kg. The host can move their hand at roughly 2 m/s. The host could potentially bend a weak, hollow, metal bar, if they really tried. That is, a 90-degree bend.]

Oh, huh. Neat. Say, can you spend half the Ep on increasing the regenerative speed of my muscle strands? Due to the fact that I can already stay focused on exercise for around an hour, if I can increase the speed in which I grow, then I'll get a lot stronger. Or at least, I won't have to spend Ep on strengthing each muscle strand and can do it myself instead. Also, spend the other half on making my heart and lungs function as best as possible.

[The system understands, 260 Ep is being spent on increasing the strength of the heart and lung system, and 58.01 Ep is being spent on the regenerative properties of the host.]

"ARRRRAGH WHY DOES THIS HEART SO DAMN MUCH< SERRIOUSLY< LIKE SPEND EP ON LOWERING PLEASE NOW"

[The host has gained 0.5 Ep, and this has been spent on lowering the pain reaching the host.]

"ARRRRrrRRRR A LITTLE BETTER, but jeese, ah, it is over, but still, really painful."

"Anyway, want to explain why the Ep went that way?"

[Certainly host. As the regenerative speed of the host's muscle strands increases, the tax on the heart to pump blood around the body faster to supply the needed nutrients will increase. The host's heart is at a low level, and so required most of the Ep to fix it, and put it in a state of being able to pump blood around the host's body with relative ease.]

"Well, that sounds great. Say, with all these new benefits, I might as well go for my daily morning jog, and test them out, ay?"

"Oh yeah, I also need to contact some of my friends. Let's begin by contacting Mr. Strasberg. He is relatively sane now, but still does technically suffer from anxiety and other such problems."

[Ep + 0.3]