38 Plans going forward

At every drop of Dimensional Energy being refined in Aldrin's Energy Quintessence, the familiar soothing sensation gradually filled his body.

And consequently, the small sphere of Energy Quintessence that was continuously being battered by the flood of Dimensional Energy grew ever so slightly, creating more space to accommodate his refined Energy.

Just like the previous times, his body reeked of sweat and a pungent smell as soon as the flood of Dimensional Energy ended.

"It finally showed some difference," Aldrin muttered as he stared at his body that was being reflected by the mirror inside his bathroom. His somewhat haggard face due to his accumulated eyebags and somewhat poor personal hygiene experienced a change. His sharp features that were covered by those were now more prominent.

Although he couldn't be called a handsome guy, he's way above the average man. Moreover, his droopy and lazy eyes due to years of slacking had returned to their previous state, bearing a brighter and more confident outlook.

Apart from his face, Aldrin also found his body or rather his muscles that were too soft before were now defining his physical capabilities. Gone were the fats he accumulated from eating unhealthy food. Gone were the body pains he would often feel because of his irregular sitting positions and habits.

Because his family last saw him close to his current state, they never found it weird after seeing him last night. If he appeared with his previous state before encountering IDLE Database, he's certain that it would become one of the key points of their sermon.

"Girlfriend..." As he muttered this word, he remembered his family's comment about it. He's already at the right age to even make his own family but as things stand, he would now lack the time to focus on that part.

Moreover... a certain woman's face flashed in his mind. "That's right. It's about time for her departure."

As he returned to his room, Aldrin dialed Renissa's number, part-nervous and part-excited.

"Is my 'boy'friend missing me already?" Emphasizing the 'boy' part, Renissa's playful voice reached Aldrin's ears as soon as she picked up the call.

Ignoring the slightly noisy background of people walking around and the announcements being uttered at the platform, Aldrin's sense of hearing focused on listening to Renissa's sweet voice.

Unaware that a smile crept upon his lips, Aldrin replied, "Mhm. I remembered that it's about the time of your departure. I can't see you off personally but... I can at least bid you take care here... 'girl'friend'." Copying Renissa, he emphasized the 'girl' part.

Soon afterward, he heard the woman on the other end laughing heartily. "Thank you, Aldrin. I'm still having cold feet about all this but hearing your voice this time calmed my nerves down."

As the volume of her laughs and giggles went down, Renissa's sigh of relief as if a heavy burden was lifted off her chest reached Aldrin's ears. Following that, Aldrin faintly heard the announcement about the arriving High-speed Plasma Train.

A Secondary City like Lonewind City didn't have its own airport for public travel. The small airport and hangar were only for the Metadomes owned by the City Hall, the three Energy Refiner corporations and the Refiner's Association. There's also a small strip of land for private aircraft or spacecraft.

The only way to move from this city to another was by taking that underground railway transit located at the Central District. Compared to the Plasma Train that was used to travel from district to district, the High-speed Plasma Train only had one destination, another Secondary City linked to Lonewind City via that railway.

It's possible to travel from aboveground but given there's no public transport from it, it's not advisable. Moreover, more often than not, Rift Monsters that escaped or separated from their pack would start settling in the empty lands. Those traveling aboveground would need to be wary of running into them. If they're normal civilians without any Energy Refiner or even weapons to protect themselves, it was a sure death path.

"My train is here, Aldrin. If you ever do well here and hopefully get sent here to attend the same Academy... Let's hang out again."

"Sure. If that really happened, you'll be the only person I know there. I'll have my 'girl'friend to be my guide."

"You're getting the hang of saying that, huh? Anyway, See you, 'boy'friend."

"Take care. It's not like we'll lose contact, right? I'll call you regularly."

"Mhm... Remind me that."

With that, their conversation ended as Renissa began to board the train.

By tomorrow, she would be in a faraway Primary City and would be facing a new chapter in her life away from the place she grew up with. Being an Energy Refiner opened up a new world for her, for them.

Renissa is a friend Aldrin didn't expect he will have.

Just the other day, Bert informed him of their former classmate becoming an Energy Refiner.

Yesterday, disaster struck and they saved each other's lives and worked together to survive.

Today, they got to talk normally and ended up becoming genuine friends with each other.

Through Renissa, he learned things and was reminded of what he needed to do. Without her guidance, perhaps he would make the mistake of using his Concept during the Combat Assessment and gather unnecessary eyes over him.

His method to grow stronger could be said as one-of-a-kind if he's the only one possessing the IDLE Database in the wide universe. He must not draw too much attention to him or they would notice the irregularity in his person.

Without sufficient strength to protect those he wanted to protect, he decided to silently climb his way up with the help of the IDLE Database.

After a while, Aldrin put down his phone and put his focus back on his PC or rather on the mysterious software.

'Should I invest the remaining points in Small Merchants? Considering the change in scaling price that was multiplied by five, similar to the equipment level-ups in Idle Adventure, it will now cost me quite a sum to reach the next bonus threshold. Moreover, even if I convert my current IDLE Points to Federation Credits, it won't be enough,' Aldrin contemplated after calculating the cost to buy 25 additional Small Merchants.

[Hire Small Merchants to buy extraordinary stones

Current Number of Small Merchants: 25

Cost: 2450 Federation Credits

Production: 3 IDLE Points/hour

Failure Chance: 10%

Duration: 24 hours

Price scale: Additional 250 credits/purchase

Current Bonus: x3 Income

[Next Bonus: x2 Income at 50 Small Merchants]

Apart from the price scale, the Failure Chance also doubled. At the current rate, he could earn 75 IDLE Points per hour or 1800 IDLE Points per day. 1620 if he factored that failure chance…

Although it still appeared smaller than his income through Idle Adventure, that's still pure profit even if he didn't realign their expiration times.

Originally, it should only cost him 40000 Federation Credits to buy 25 Small Merchants if he started from 0. But he already spent more than that today by buying 7 Small Merchants twice for the total costs of 42,900 just to return to 25.

And with that data, that's still more than 1200 IDLE Points in pure profit by the end of the day.

Spending a few minutes in contemplation, Aldrin suddenly straightened his back as he reached a decision. "I better realign their expiration dates. Starting tomorrow or the next day… I will only purchase from the Production Tab right after midnight. The loss is still negligible for now but it will be visible soon because of that price scaling. I better hold onto my points in the meantime as well. For now, let's start this fifth run…"

Slapping his cheeks to calm his mind, Aldrin prepared himself to dive into the Lower Dimension by manually controlling his Dimensional Clone for the 2nd time.

"I'll use this as another training ground. I suck at combat. I only survived that long during the assessment because of how I kept on rolling around and keeping my distance. They misunderstood it as just me strategizing my moves. In truth, I was just helplessly dodging and waiting for my chance." Aldrin wryly smiled as he remembered his combat assessment at the Refiner's Association.

Following that, he decisively clicked yes on the Manual prompt and closed his eyes.

He knew that it would be different than his first time controlling his Dimensional Clone. Back then, there were only the helpless Worker Ants as prey. This time, his opponent would be the weapon-wielding Soldier Ants and more.

However, compared to the first time where he was scared of what could possibly happen, Aldrin was feeling some kind of excitement racing through his chest at the prospect of seeing the Lower Dimension once more.

"Fight!" He screamed to himself right before his consciousness dimmed.