Compatibility

Edited by: ASaltedFish

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Aster's day was neither difficult nor long. Actually, it went by really quickly. He also got to meet the few friends of the Gardening Club that Ellery had actually liked. After meeting them, Aster liked them as well; two of them were guides, and one of them was a regular person. 

One of the guides he got along with was named Liáng Hua (梁花). In Aster's understanding, she looked like someone of Chinese descent. Liáng Hua had long black hair that was always in a bun. She was also pretty short, barely reaching Aster's chin. Once she talked about gardening and making stabilizers, however, she never stopped talking, similar to her guinea pig quantum beast that squeaked a lot when it was excited. She was also one of the few B-ranked guides with a potential of S-rank. 

As for the other guide, his name was Silve Forrest. From Aster's understanding, he looked like someone from Eastern Europe. He had light brown hair and forest-green eyes. Standing at a similar height to Liáng Hua, he was small and cute, just like his hamster quantum beast. While he wasn't the best at gardening, he was quick with making stabilizers. He was a C-ranked guide with A-rank potential. 

As for the ordinary person in the group, his name was Yang Saem (양샘). The spiritual energy he gave off was on par with A-ranked guides and sentinels, so he decided to focus on cultivating plants for stabilizers. According to Aster, he appeared to be someone of Korean descent. His short, black hair was always well-maintained in a two-block hairstyle that matched his face well. While he may have been the tallest of the group, he was also the quietest, rarely talking. Even though he didn't say much, he still enjoyed the company of his friends.

With Ellery's help, Aster was able to invite them out to eat. It was just to hang out and get to know them and the gardening club they were all in. 

The three didn't mind it and were quite happy to get close to Ellery. They were friends with him before, but ever since Airi began to hang around Ellery, they had begun to grow a bit more distant. They were glad Airi was no longer in the picture and could freely get to know Ellery. Planning to meet up over the weekend, Aster hoped it would go well… 

*****

Later that day, Marshal Caecius went back to his office in the First Fleet's headquarters. As they had always been considered the sword of the Imperial Family, the headquarters was located near the Imperial Palace.

He sat at his desk and listened to his adjutant talk about several important military matters like their plans moving forward, the territories they oversee, and things of that nature. 

The adjutant's name was Ito Akimitsu. He's an S-ranked sentinel who hasn't reached his full potential. While he did have SS-ranked potential, it was incredibly difficult to actually achieve SS-rank. It was still a question of whether or not he would be able to reach that rank in this lifetime, showing how difficult it was to advance in rank. His quantum beast was a black bear, but he didn't look as big as one. Though he was tall, he wasn't the widest. The only thing that matched his quantum beast was his black hair and eyes. 

Since he had regular guide appointments, he didn't show physical signs of corruption like Marshal Caecius.

As he was listening, he put his hands in his pockets and felt something cold touch his skin. When he took it out, he finally remembered about the stabilizers he was given earlier that day. 

"Marshal? Did you finally find some stabilizers that work? If you did, have you gotten into contact with the guide who makes them?" 

Akimitsu talked quite fast and didn't miss a beat while asking questions. 

"No, I got them as a gift from that young man I saved over a month ago. He told me that if they weren't compatible with me, I could give it to someone else. I haven't checked the compatibility rate, but I doubt I would be able to use them…" Marshal Caecius mumbled the last part but Akimitsu was still able to hear him. 

Marshal Caecius had lost all hope because he had a low match rate with all the stabilizers and guides he came across. He tried so many he lost count years ago. He never gave up testing compatibilities, but it was disheartening every time it said low compatibility. 

"Why don't you give it a shot? Maybe this time, they will work. If not, let me try them out. I have only been able to find stabilizers with medium capability… If these are the ones for me, I would probably ask for marriage right away!" Adjutant Ito was starting to get delusional. 

Marshal Caecius nodded and used his terminal to check. The terminal was connected to a person's body at all times and could check the person's basic health status as well as connect them to the Starnet. They could be upgraded but not changed out unless they broke. It even served as a form of ID.

Terminals also had the function of checking a stabilizer's compatibility rates both online and in person. It only had vague categories for it though. The three categories were low, medium, and high compatibility. 

If they wanted more specific results, the guide and sentinel would have to get tested together. 

When Marshal Caecius checked the stabilizer tube with his terminal, he froze at the results. Then he took out the other two and did the same, but he got the same results. 

High compatibility. 

This was something he had never seen before. He almost wanted to pinch his cheek to make sure he wasn't dreaming. 

"Marshal? Is everything okay?" 

"Check your compatibility with this stabilizer." 

"Okay…" He was a little skeptical, but he did what he was told. He had medium compatibility with them.

"Urgh. Medium once again." He then handed them back to Marshal Caecius in disappointment.

"So these aren't broken…"

"What? Wait, did you seriously get high compatibility with them?! I was just joking earlier!" 

"Yeah… There's no way though." 

"No way my ass! The terminals are never wrong! Hmm, so the person who made these is named Ellery Aster. These tubes are A-ranked. Oh, from what I remember, he has S-ranked potential and the higher-ups are hoping for his smooth development. There are already quite a few military officers who buy from his online store." 

Akimitsu was not only a gossiper, but he had a lot of information from god knows where. 

"From what I remember, his stabilizers have a spiritual experience like you are standing at the beach, drinking a mango-passionfruit smoothie while listening to the waves. I've heard that it's quite the experience, but I haven't tried it yet. He's always sold out too." 

After listening to Akimitsu's explanation, he decided to give the stabilizer a try. He drank it and felt the complete opposite of what Akimitsu just explained. 

He could see he was in a cabin in a snowy wonderland. There were only trees and snow surrounding the cabin, but he was warm. He was sitting in front of a fireplace, snuggled in thick blankets with a cup of hot chocolate in his hands. He felt like he was sitting on the fluffiest rug, one that kept his legs warm and toasty. He even felt there was someone next to him, sharing the warmth. This person seemed to fit perfectly next to him, a comforting presence that he wanted to hug in his arms.

When he took a deep breath, he could see his breath, but it wasn't all that cold. The smell and taste of chocolate seemed to distract him from how cold it really was in the cabin. Actually, he felt a warm feeling in his own spiritual sea, something he had never felt before. 

When he finally opened his eyes, the chaotic energy that plagued his spiritual sea seemed to calm down. His mind was clear, and his emotions were calm. He didn't feel as irritable as before. 

Also, the scales on his face were a few inches lower than before, showing more of his normal face.

"Marshal… How was it? Did you have a good time at the beach?" 

When Marshal Caecius snapped out of his trace, he realized there was something wrong. This wasn't the beach. It was the complete opposite of the beach. 

He looked at the label once more and saw it was Ellery Aster's stabilizer tube. Was it possible to have two different spiritual experiences? Or did he steal this from someone else and put his name on the stabilizer?

"Marshal? Everything okay?" 

"It's nothing. Let's make some time to contact Mr. Aster. I would like to ask him about getting more stabilizers and possibly having him as a contracted guide." 

"Understood! Leave it to me!" 

Marshal Caecius decided not to say anything about the stabilizers for the time being. 

He didn't know Ellery Aster's circumstances. He didn't seem like a person who would steal someone else's stabilizers, especially because he was an A-ranked guide with S-rank potential… 

Hopefully, he will be able to find out what's going on when they officially meet.