Two Days

Two days soon passed in the Lonewind City and traces of the disaster had begun to be mended; rebuilding the damaged and destroyed structures, opening the economy for the evacuees that returned.

Lives were lost, families were compensated and that's the end of it. The city couldn't afford to remain stagnant. This was how the world worked in this era. Dwelling on a disaster that could happen anytime would just slow down the gears of society.

Even Bert, Aldrin's friend, returned to assess the damage to his restaurant and plan for its renovation.

Naturally, most of the affected residents were compensated by the government, even the residents they evacuated from the neighboring districts. It was to keep the economy running; all from the Mayor's deep pockets to regain his approval ratings.

And during these two days, Aldrin was unaware of the undercurrents that were happening in the city.

He was unaware that the Lonewind City Mayor began to trace the source of the audio file and even sent someone to return to the Southern District to investigate the area. Ordered to find even a minute clue as to who recorded the file as well as the identity of the man talking in it.

He was also unaware that every major player in the Lonewind City had already caught wind about his spherical Energy Quintessence. Despite not being a rare occurrence, a good seed is still a good seed. Moreover, his background as someone not from an Energy Refiner lineage also sparked curiosity as to how he managed to craft a spherical Energy Quintessence. All of them have begun drafting contracts to entice him into signing.

While being unaware of those undercurrents, his whole attention for the past 2 days was poured into IDLE Database and his progress as an Energy Refiner. He couldn't afford to slack off when he was aware that a Dimensional Rift could be opened anytime by the organization that man belonged to.

"Oii... Idiot brother, you're on your PC again. Get your ass up. It's dinner time."

As the door to his room opened, Althea, while grumbling that, went behind him to pinch his head with her knuckles.

Although it's not hurting him, Aldrin, who was disturbed in his concentration, reflexively grabbed her sister's arms as he raised his head to meet her gaze. "Alright. Alright. But when will you learn to knock?"

"Are you deaf? I've knocked multiple times. You're too focused on your monitor." Althea frowned as she tried twisting her arm to get out of his grip but it was futile.

Nonetheless, upon hearing her words, Aldrin embarrassedly released her before following her out to the dining room where their parents were waiting.

When he returned to their house in the Southeastern District the other day, Aldrin already noticed that despite having this attitude, the girl was elated and excited to have him back.

Whenever she would find a chance, Althea would sit next to him, asking him about the things that happened to him during the past years that he's away from them.

And ultimately, she would end up asking him how it was like to be an Energy Refiner.

For the past two days, Althea observed him and found out that Aldrin was mostly lazing around their house. If not catching him in front of his PC, she would see him in the living room, fiddling or just straight up staring at his phone.

Due to that, her curiosity ballooned and she couldn't help but want to solve that mystery.

The mystery of why is her brother too different from most Energy Refiners she can see through different forms of media and in the dimnet.

He's a complete slacker!

But in Aldrin's defense, she just hadn't seen the instances when he would exercise to keep the cells inside his body awake and refine Dimensional Energy both from the converted IDLE Points and the everpresent Dimensional Energy in the surrounding.

"By the way, Althea, have you chosen which college you'll attend?"

After finishing their dinner, Aldrin opened a conversation for the sake of also updating himself at what's happening in his family.

He returned after years of hiding from them, it's natural that there's now some sense of detachment and he wanted to somehow mend that.

At the moment, they're all gathered in the living room, making that question also be heard by their parents.

"... Not yet. Is it bad that I also want to be an Energy Refiner like you?" Althea answered with a bitter smile. "I know it's impossible given that it's up to chance to awaken like you. That's why... I will settle to be a soldier instead. I think I will attend a military academy."

"Are you sure about that?" Their father asked and, on his side, their mother also had inquiring eyes.

"Yes... I have thought about this—"

"Don't. Althea. At least not now." Aldrin cut her off.

Not that he wanted to change her decision, he just thought about the future. Soldiers, even if they could operate a Metadome, would only become a cannon-fodder whenever a Rift would appear. If she really wanted to become an Energy Refiner... Aldrin believed that he could help her in the future.

If it's impossible through the IDLE Database, he could... get the money needed for that other option to awaken. Injecting her with Dimensional Energy.

"Why not? It's what I decided, idiot brother!"

"No. If you really want to go to a military academy then go. Take their training. But don't be a soldier... If I earned enough as an Energy Refiner... I will pay for that method for your awakening."

"Heh. You must be joking, idiot brother. That's millions of credits!" Althea almost shouted, disbelief apparent in her voice.

Even if she wanted to believe, having her brother go to such length for her was making her feel guilty.

However, Aldrin just stood up and began patting his sister's head.

"And I assure you, I can earn that." Aldrin confidently declared.

He decided to take care of them after all. And if his sister decided to become someone who could also fight for the safety of everyone, then making her an Energy Refiner would be the best choice instead of letting her become a soldier and lose her life on her first deployment.

"Aldrin... Don't say that. Even if being an Energy Refiner is profitable, you also have to think of yourself. And... isn't it too dangerous?" Their mother worriedly said.

"Don't worry, mom. I will plan for it." Still filled with confidence, Aldrin reassured his mother. "That's why Althea, train yourself and wait for me to get that money. Being a soldier is akin to becoming a human shield. I don't want you to become like that. Take this as my selfishness as your brother. I will only ask you to wait, can you do that for me?"

Although still baffled by her confident brother, Althea found herself nodding to his question.

After seeing that, Aldrin smiled and excused himself to return to his room.

He could be mistaken as a boaster but as long as the IDLE Database was with him then it might not need years to earn that much.

Tomorrow would be his return to the Refiner's Association and he's finished with his preparation.

His preparation to appear like a complete newbie in the Energy Refiner world.

That's a façade he had to make for himself. Otherwise, he wouldn't know how to explain being enlightened in three Concepts and having a complete Dark Warrior Battlesuit stored in his Spatial Pocket.

There are also unexplained transactions in his bank account.

Aldrin was aware that the IDLE Database was actually masking his bank account or better yet, the true owner of the mysterious system had some connection to it. Considering Federation Credits kept on being filled and consumed by him on a regular basis, he wasn't being notified by that kind of irregularity.

The only problem now was how to explain if someone noticed the sudden swelling of his pockets when he's just a new Energy Refiner.

That's why for the next few months or years if that's not enough, he would keep a low profile until he gained some foothold that would back his wealth.

Or perhaps, IDLE Database had a yet-to-unlock feature that would solve that problem for him.

Either way, he had to focus on two things at the moment, his new identity as an Energy Refiner registered to the association and the continued progress using IDLE Database.

-

-

"I should refrain from getting a new concept for now..." Aldrin muttered after contemplating in front of his PC. He had just finished the fifth run of the day wherein he manually controlled his Dimensional Clone again.

His progress these past two days was quite significant.

He successfully enlightened himself with the Shadow Blade Concept yesterday. And in his observation... The reason why he failed to enlighten himself with it back then was because of his progress as an Energy Refiner.

Although there's probably no upper limit on the number of Concepts he could be enlightened with as he grew as an Energy Refiner, he couldn't just pick every Concept and be enlightened with them.

His head would be in a serious mess whenever he would use one Concept because of how convoluted his mind became.

As for the IDLE Points he gained and consumed. Deducting the IDLE Points he used for converting to Dimensional Energy, renewing the Small Merchants, purchases and upgrades, he still had quite a sum for today; 2791 IDLE Points. Moreover, he's still expecting more than 6000 when the clock ticks past midnight.

He converted a lot of Dimensional Energy by now due to his high income. However, the progress it made was just the continued expansion of his Energy Quintessence.

During these two days, he hadn't encountered another large-scale battle between the insects where he could fish on. Due to that, his earnings for Idle Adventure's five runs per day earned him 8529 yesterday and around 7971 today.

And it only reached that much because his earning when he's manually controlling the Dimensional Clones was more than triple compared to when he's letting them move by themselves.

On average, the Dimensional Clone could now earn him 1000+ IDLE Points per run.

Well, that would probably rise again because he spent 7500 on one of Striker's sabers, unlocking a Skill that costs another 5000 Points to level up to 1. He had yet to buy that though. His IDLE Points were still insufficient so he had to wait for midnight.

"I'm already prepared but... I still feel like I'm missing something..." Aldrin wandered his eyes to the Idle Shopping interface. Staring intently at the list of what he could buy. "That's right. Even if I will not use it yet like the Dark Warrior Battlesuit that cost me 3000 points, I should also buy the next tier of my weapons. It's for Idle Adventure and... just in case I might need it."

After spending another 1000 to buy a higher-tiered sword and handgun, Aldrin comfortably rested his back on his chair.

The only thing left for him to do tonight was to wait for midnight. But given that he had this free time for himself, he sent a message to check on Renissa who had already arrived at Sunspeak City.

He promised to regularly check on her. And that's what he's doing.