[squeak]

“Come, little fella, we need to remove the smell entirely.”

[squeak, squeak]

“Shh…”

With much effort, Ben is thoughtfully cleaning the little squirrel. The small animal is inside a large bucket, filled with water, and while washing it, Ben uses a few products and a fancy sponge.

Around them, four pieces of Array Tablets form a protective shield and privacy veil. The isolation includes the area of the table and a part of the river.

After finally cleaning any leftover traces, Ben finally let the squirrel go. The little animal jumps off to about two meters away, stops, and looks back towards the creature who acted so clingy suddenly.

[sigh]

“It is done, you can do your thing… Are you leaving or something? Or did you get addicted to the food?”

[squeak, squeak, SQUEAK]

“Being angry solves nothing. Besides, the vestige of blood and the ritual is finally gone. Don't you feel better?”

The squirrel only angrily looks at him.

“If you stay, I will name you. How about Syd? It is a good name, isn't? Syd!”

Half talking alone, Ben let the words flow.

“Syd, how about we prepare a firework's show? Wouldn't it be great at scaring you? Hopefully, you don't mind traveling around too much. But if you stick around, I can find you a good place to live later. How about that? I have the perfect place in my mind. A home with some good food. Indeed, it should be harvest time soon, so it wouldn't take long for me to pass by and drop you off. Hey, Syd, do you want some more bribe?”

Ben takes another golden nut and places it in the empty cup above the table. Although Ben has a whole one-meter cubic box filled with those, the little guy ate non-stop for three days, causing quite a dent on the stock. As a result, he began controlling the squirrel's diet as soon as the little body recovered fully.

Seeing the fruit he hadn't seen in more than one day, the squirrel jumped back to the table and went directly to the food.

“See, it isn't that hard,” Ben says as he puts his elbow on the table and slumps over.

“You are essentially healed, so I wonder if you will stick around. Unfortunately, your diet is quite expensive. Perhaps, can you eat more moderately?”

After talking, Ben takes a few more necessities out for Syd: Some comfortable pillow, a water bowl, and other sorts of foods.

Once he places everything on the table, Ben sits back straight up and closes his eyes, resting.

—

Ben stayed the whole night resting, and so did the little squirrel. In the following morning, they are still in the same place surrounded by the protective shielding. First thing in the morning, while Ben is inside the river section bathing, the squirrel is nowhere to be seen. Around him, the array forms a fuzzy mist, blocking the incredible morning view.

'Having a body of water to sink in feels that much better.' Ben thinks, as he stands up and stretches his arms.

He might have lived for thousands of years, but a few feelings were never forgotten. For instance, something feels very special when sitting down and letting the water flow that activating a spirit stone or array can't replace.

After getting out of the river, Ben wears some loose comfy shorts and sits down. Following, he takes all his new possessions. One after another, he sorts them up in a few groups.

The first one he separates is some evidence. He chooses five tablets arrays and a few materials and stores them away in a separate area of the ring. Those he will give to the Hghpeaks when and if he confirms his suspicions.

Next, he puts away all the regular valuables together with the generic stuff in his storage. Finally, he is left with the precious loot.

Looking around, Ben does an inventory check before taking a few more materials out. Next, he takes the valuable horn from his chest. Ben chose to pre-refine the animal remain to avoid further complications. So, having decided his subsequent move, he begins to use the materials selected to create an isolation cover around the horn.

Lord of Space isn't a species specifically, instead it is a title given to a creature that achieved an unprecedented level of space manipulation mastery. So no one knows which form such remains takes if they don't test it. With such a fact in his mind, Ben begins to camouflage the treasure by making it look like an artifact. Besides, since he plans to use it to influence space and not as a precise transportation core, he doesn't mind the loss of purity.

While Ben was working, the squirrel appears from outside the mist.

[running sounds]

[squeak]

“You are back. Were you taking notes of the surroundings?”

Syd jumps to the table and begins to observe the horn. In his hand, he has more food. He puts some down, and while he scratches his ears, he begins to eat.

“We will be leaving tomorrow. We shall buy extra paint for your home and mine some sulfur too for the new year… Whenever it may be. It should be around the middle of the year right now considering the sun's position.”

While talking, Ben's hands don't stop, and neither does Syd's curious eyes.

“Ah… I should prepare a few protective measures for you, right? Even some simple stuff should assist you if a troublesome time comes.”

The whole morning passes quickly. Ben kept talking while working, enjoying having something at his side to avoid the boredom. Surprisingly, despite his usual extensive periods alone, he immediately finds himself attached to anything alive. Moreover, Ben finds dealing with animals much easier after growing increasingly distrustful of fellow humans. However, despite every bit of worry he carries, Ben never chooses solitude if he has another choice.

The day was uneventful and peaceful. By the end, he finished the initial treatment of the horn and built a few accessories for Syd.

Now, after having received his gift, Syd sits around with a small bracelet in each fore-paw, and around his whole body, he feels a sort of blessing constructed by a spell-array hybrid. The three accessories work together and will remain active as long as Syd stays around Ben. However, if the squirrel does decide to leave for some reason, the three protective measures will decay after a few days.

“How is it?” Ben asks.

Above the table, Syd is poking at the bracelets. He finds it amusing and smells and lick it, curious. Fortunately, the two items are as non-intrusive as Ben could build them, so the squirrel easily gets used to them since they both have some aura he likes.

While looking at Syd exploring the bracelets, a big pure smile appears on Ben's face.

“Let's sleep peacefully once again before venturing into the jungle that is society.”

—

{ Thursday, May 27th, 1803. Planet Spirit, Kingdom of Latwelia, Keatha Fort. }

Keatha, Mooneshell, and Latwel are three cities located around Latwel Lake.

Keatha is a Fort City and one of the two pillars of the Kingdom Capital, Latwel. The three cities form an enormous formation that makes uses of the spirit vein below the lake to protect the heart of the kingdom, King Latwel VI.

While Mooneshell is known as a center of tourism, Keatha is much smaller and without a critical specialization. The Fort is most well known for having the central hub for the mining facilities around the lake.

Ben arrives at a cliff overseeing the town as the afternoon was starting. The sun is high, but the clouds cover the sky, warning about the rain to come. It is close 0 degrees Celsius, so the wind pricks at Ben's skins with a sense of freezing.

Distantly, he sees the fort. The high walls filled with weapons of war could scare anyone. However, the surroundings create a big contrast. The beautiful and colorful temperate deciduous forest creates a gradient around the region. Southwest, Ben notices the extensive farmlands. He also sees the Bretry River cutting through the east side of the outer city. And lastly, there is no way to hide the immense lake, up north, and the many ferries floating around as far as the horizon.

“The gradients of Latwelia are truly the most stunning.”

[rustling]

[squeak?]

“Let's go!”

Ben walks down around the mountain cliff overview, wearing a side bag with Syd on it. He is in a more formal long-sleeved black jacket with a white undershirt and is wearing formal pants, lacking the bagginess he is so fond of.

Walking at high speeds, Ben arrives at the fort not long after. As he walks in the north road, he sees the happy and busy people going around. Despite its modest size, Keatha is far from a quiet place, as most of its occupied land is used for business and administration matters.

The duo walks to the North entrance and line up, paying the toll for the entrance.

Inside, Ben walks around, searching for the mining ticket emitter department. The city has a modern feel to it and is super clean and organized. Around, everywhere one looks, they can see smooth architectures that blend well together despite its overall differences.

After asking around, Ben soon arrives at the department he was seeking. He ignores the busy ground floor and goes upstairs, lining up in the less crowded sector.

“Good afternoon Sir. What would you like to reserve?” A young man asks.

“I would like a low B level ticket for one day,” Ben says. Now, he has a booklet in his hand showing the classification and available areas.

“If it is only for one day I can get you a token for tomorrow, is that alright?”

“Yes.”

“That would be 50 Spirits, Sir.”

The young employee readily receives the payment and begins Ben's registration.

[…]

“Here is your receipt, Sir, and the contract with the rules. Tomorrow morning pass by the reception below to collect your token that will be valid for one day. Anything else I can help with?”

“No, thank you. That is all.” Ben says as he holds the documents.

Following, he quickly leaves the building searching for a trading hall and an inn or hotel.

First, he finds a big hotel and checks in for the night. He chooses to Spoil himself with a level of luxury he doesn't encounter frequently. Next, he looks around for the auction house, and it doesn't take long before Ben finds himself before a golden looking large building.

'Clearsky, why so ugly?' Ben thinks as he looks at the tacky architecture. In his eyes, the building is trying too hard to look expensive that it lost its charm.

Entering, Ben quickly finds his way around since most auction houses have a very similar setup. Soon, he meets an employee behind a stand.

“Sir, where would you like to go?” The middle-aged woman asks.

“Direct buying section, highest level material,” Ben says as he points the back of his hand towards her.

“Alright, Sir. Have a good stay.” She says as she cast a small mark on Ben's hand.

“I hope for swiftly business.” Having received the authorization, Ben walks upstairs.

In a long corridor, Ben sees all kinds of seals above the many doors. He walks ahead until he finds the symbol matching with his hand. The seal is not only the authorization for entering but also the code indicating where and what business Ben wants.

After entering and sitting in the room that has a few tables, Ben finds himself alone for a few minutes.

[…]

“Good afternoon. Sorry for the wait, Sir.” A young woman with short hair greets Ben. She has a notebook in her hands and readily sits down for business.

“Good afternoon.”

[squeak]

“Good afternoon, Sir squirrel.” She says and smiles once she looks at Syd.

She then continues, “What business would you like to take on?”

“Buying. Do you have some high-grade Array mixture in stock? The 10 liters grade, I would like one.”

“We do, anything else?” She asks as she writes the order down.

“Three liquid cores of the highest quality available.”

“The best ranks we have are from Srok and Shieldia, which one would you prefer?”

“Shieldia. Also, do you have some Spirit Silver Essence?”

“You are lucky, Sir. We got our first batch of this year yesterday. We have seven essences available right now.”

“Two, please. Since you have those, I would like to exchange this with a coin of fortune.” Ben says as he puts a token down. The object is something he found after doing the inventory of his ring, a personal trade token from Clearsky Clan. This little thing allows someone to trade with the auction on a level generally available only for high-level costumers.

“Oh, alright. Anything else, Sir?” She asks, after being surprised for a short moment.

“No, only that, thank you.”

She readily makes the calculations and says: “The total cost is 2840 Spirits. How would you like to pay?”

“Cards,” Ben says as a total of 2840 Spirits worth in high-level cards appears on the table. While the value is high, the volume is quite small in comparison.

'Take that, bang! It never gets old, but it is quite sad how people always get so space-efficient.' Ben thinks, but he stays focused and serene outwardly.