I landed in front of the overgrown monkey just as it shot a fist the size of a manhole cover at me. I brought both arms up in a block only for it to feel like I had gotten hit by a train. It felt like the bones in my arms were about to snap like twigs. I used the force of the blow to escape outside of the monkey's reach. The Orangutan must have felt its advantage because it chased after me.

I barely had enough time to conjure a blade before the beast was on me. Barely formed psychic blades shot forward like arrows as I did my best to dodge. Each near miss caused my heart to pump faster and faster. Adrenaline mixed with excitement until nothing mattered. I activated Realm of Consciousness. Grey mist flooded the battlefield and transformed it to meet my needs. It felt like the entire world was mine.

I stopped retreating and lowered my shoulder. The Orangutan missed a punch and the Tao of compression flooded the space just in front of my right hand. I launched a punch with every ounce of strength my new body could manage. All of it focused on a point no bigger than a nail. I felt the burn turn to dust as the monkey was launched into and through the massive oak tree.

"That was wrong," I muttered out loud. I held up my hand as if it would explain my failure. I was trying to make something akin to a knife. Where the force of the punch would pierce through the chest. Before I came up with an answer the monster unleashed a howl and dark brown energy formed between its hands. I cocked my head to the side and pushed energy into Psychic Aegis. The wall appeared a full second before the attack was ready.

It slammed into my shield with the force of a meteor. My barrier held for less than a second, just enough time for me to avoid it. The ball of stone slammed into the earth less than a foot away from Romulus. Who was doing battle with a pair of dog creatures? Once I verified he was alive he turned toward my enemy. "Not sure if you can understand me or not. My spell is a bit unclear on what counts as language in that regard. Either way, if you have something more interesting than that to show me then I suggest you do."

I flexed my fingers and pushed energy into the sigil for Psychic Blast. Twin beams of psychic energy shot forward like lasers. The first one barely missed while the second caught the beast in the center of its chest. I grinned as the monkey's body turned a deep shade of brown and the familiar spiritual fluctuations filled the area. The beast had a Tao. Despite its newfound resilience, I could tell it wouldn't last for long. Not unless it could avoid the attack.

The beast slammed both of its fists into the ground and in the next moment a pillar of stone rose from beneath it. The stone lifted just fast enough to leave the area of my spell. As soon as it was free it grabbed the stone from beneath its feet and launched it at me. I was forced to abandon my attack and dodge.

The stone slammed into the ground with the force of a bomb. A portion of the forest floor was destroyed. Three blades of psychic energy shot at the orangutan just as it crashed into the ground. Two were avoided while the third caught it in the leg. The Orangutan's movements started to slow. By the time it had recovered, I had prepared and unleashed a spear of compressed space. The silvery attack crossed the distance between us in an instant. It pierced straight through its head. A surge of spiritual energy flooded into my dantian a second later.

The energy was around five percent of what I needed at this point which wasn't bad. It just wasn't enough, especially when a portion of it was being drained away. I turned my attention to the rest of the battlefield but there was no need. The other had eliminated most of them and the few that were still standing decided to leave once their boss was dead.

"What was that? The thing you did at the end. It felt like a Tao but none that I've even heard of." Romulus asked as he cleaned the tip of his spear.

"Compression. Specifically, I compressed space and launched it at the beast." I said with a bit of disinterest. I still itched for a proper fight. Something that would let me go all out.

"How is that even possible?" Amahle asked but held up her hand before I could offer an answer. "Never mind don't tell me. Thank you for the help." She then reached into the bag on her hip, removed a smaller sack, and tossed it to me.

My eyes widened when I saw what was in it. "Spirit Stones? 2nd Realm spirit stones?"

"The handful on the top are. The majority on the first realm. I am not sure about you but we have been using them as currency. Something outside the direct control of the System."

"How do you—" The question died on my lips when I saw the look on her face. There was zero chance she was going to answer that question. I made a mental note to get a move on with the water we had before I stowed away the bag. "Just to be clear you don't have to pay for the help. I came here of my own accord."

"It's better to not have any debts whether real or imagined. It makes me feel better as well."

"Your help was greatly appreciated," Romulus added. "Are the monsters here all that strong?"

"No, I've dealt with a lot of the heaviest hitters especially north of the temple. There should be a large snake running around so I would be careful of that. Why did you guys try to battle with such a strong group?"

They looked at each other for a moment and I could almost see the invisible conversation between them. I had already made a few assumptions but it was better to let them decide how they would respond.

It was Romulus who decided to speak up. "We got a quest. The System offered different rewards for clearing out the den. Based on performance."

I chuckled and nodded. "I hope I didn't ruin your reward. Don't worry whatever it is belongs to you. The fight was pretty good and I got to try out a few different things. I am going to head back in an hour or so. You are welcome to stay with me and head back when I do or you can head back without me."

We went over a few more details from the fight. It was quickly decided that they would get the majority of the corpses while I got to keep the three strongest beasts including the big boss. I was a bit tired of carrying all these corpses in my ring to begin with so it wasn't a big deal to me. I also had little interest in cooking the meat. I spent the hour cultivating but made little progress. Especially once the others sat down to join me. It was a bit like sharing the water from a single hose.

Once I had enough I activated Apportation. It took us three jumps before we were back at the temple. A process that would have taken us nearly an hour and that would have required us to sprint the whole way.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Are you able to share that teleportation ability with other people?" Amahle asked. "Specifically a crystal?"

I shook my head. "Got it from the System and I don't know how to make those. If I get the chance I might be willing to part with it. For the right price." I laughed at the annoyance on her face. "Feel free to use the teleporter to get back or join me in Amara. There are a few things that I need to take care of."

We spent a few more moments saying goodbye before everyone went their own way. I decided to head back to Amara and dump the beast carcasses. With my ring empty and my credits full, I decided to make a couple of stops. The first of which was the market. Azariah had taken up an old department store. She had used arrays to make the inside bigger than what the outside would indicate which was rather impressive. I still wasn't sure how that was supposed to work.

I walked through the aisle for a moment just exploring the new items. It was almost night and day when compared to when she first arrived. It is the only store we had outside of the System's exorbitant prices only helped more. Unfortunately for me, the display items were useless for me. I could get basic gear like armor and weapons but none of them fit me. Or rather I didn't want to wear armor.

The robes I had were defensive and Psychic Aegis was enough to protect me. Of course, that might not always be true. I was saved from my indecisiveness when Azariah and her attendant arrived. "Hello Young Master. If I had known you were on your way I would have prepared better."

I grinned. "I will do better with advance notice in the future. Have you found anything special for me?"

She nodded and gestured for me to follow. "I've managed to form a tentative trade agreement with a few forces in this galaxy. One of which deals with battle beasts. I managed to purchase one of their blood purity crystals."

"Oh? I assume that's something that will make a beast companion stronger?"

She nodded. "It will help purify their bloodline. I am not sure if you are aware but beasts have slightly different requirements than cultivators. First and foremost they do not need to form a core. They are born with those. They also do not receive classes. As a result or I suppose as a cosmic balancing act they get more attributes per level. These attributes make them on average stronger than a cultivator of the same level."

"So their bloodlines must work as an additional requirement? On top of an energy for each level."

"Exactly. The purer the bloodline the more powerful they are. This power can range from a variety of things including new talents, and more attributes. Effectively their bloodlines were their talent and potential."

My smile slowly faded as I reached the inevitable conclusion of this conversation. "Let me guess. The crystals along with other resources will cost me an arm and a leg."

She blinked in confusion before glancing at me, then her attendant, and then back at me. "Uh, I do not believe they would take your limbs as payment."

"No, it's a saying. It means that it will cost a very high amount. I think it comes from a time when the black market would buy body parts though. Anyway please continue."

"Ah right well it's as you say. The cost of raising creatures can be immense. Either way, I was able to get this crystal for you." We entered a back office. There was a large desk in the middle and two windows behind the chair. There was even a skylight above that made the room seem much fancier. Azariah knelt beneath the desk and pulled out a small treasure box.

Once it opened the medicinal smell was enough to make my stomach hurt. It wasn't that my body wanted it, the feeling was a bit more like tasting something too sweet. It made my jaws ache. The stone itself reminded of me something you would see in Pokemon. It was jagged to the point I wondered if it was poorly cut. There was a slight red hue in the middle like someone had dripped blood into it. "This one is on the smaller side and doesn't offer as much benefit. Since your companion will be a fresh hatchling it should serve as a good start."

I nodded and summoned a box from my ring. "How much do I owe?"

She flashed me a smile that made the hair on my neck stand up. "Well, I have a few more items that a distinguished Young Master like you would appreciate."

I chuckled and took a seat. "Alright, bring it on." The following hour was filled with a variety of "Extremely necessary items" items that no enterprising young person would want to be without. The highlights were two rings that were defensive treasures. One was mental and one was physical and once you took a certain amount of damage it would shatter and create a bubble around you. I wasn't sure how it worked since it would trigger just before you got hit. So it somehow detected the level of danger you were in. Either way, they were both pretty vital.

There was a handful of attribute fruits as well. One of every type except for All attributes and Luck. Both of those were incredibly rare. There was enough here to give each attribute three fruits. Last but not least I bought a set of 2nd Realm Spirit Stones and another set of robes. These were a gunmetal grey but were similar to the ones I got from the System earlier. The defensive array was slightly stronger.

"What can you tell me about making Arrays? Specifically, if I wanted to get involved in that line of work? I know the academy could teach me of course but what would I spend say a beginners kit?"

"Hmm, it would depend on what you wanted to purchase. Array flags and discs could be very expensive. If you wanted to invest in a relic then the price would go even higher. If you are looking to learn and practice the Academy would be the safer best. Would you like me to try and get some information slips on the subject?"

"Hold off on it for now. I am not sure if I want to purchase anything before I attend a lesson."

"As you wish. I did as you asked and attempted to learn more about the Divine Fruit. It is as I suspected. A basic information slip costs nearly five 2nd realm Credits."

I grimaced and slowly nodded. "What is the conversion rate on those? The Status screen recently converted my first realm to second but I didn't see what the last number was."

"It's roughly one thousand of the tier realm before."

"Great great" I pulled up my screen and confirmed the payment. "I think I should have asked that question after confirming the payment." I slipped my rings on. One on each hand. I placed the robe into my rings along with everything else. "For the crystal, should I wait until it hatches or use place it with the egg in my cultivation chamber?"

"After the hatching. From what I understand the only way to use it now would be to crush it and rub the dust over the egg and you would lose a lot of energy that way."

"Alright, thank you." I left the shop after that and made my way to the System hub. It was time for a second round of purchases. The Town shop was much more kind in terms of cost. Not that it was cheap. The first thing I did was upgrade the Town defense array. I didn't think we would get attacked anytime soon but it was better safe than sorry. Next came a 1st-realm Crystallization Array. Despite its price, the benefit was a little lackluster. It would provide us with molds that when powered would let us turn the liquid into Spirit Stones.

It wasn't a permanent fix to the situation but it was pretty good. The last of my purchases was the most interesting. It was a 1st-Realm Basic Wall. According to the description, it would make a wall around the target area out of whatever the most common material was. The wall was an array that would slowly repair itself over time. Unfortunately, it only worked on what the System considered "basic" materials. Which made me curious. Would it be terrible things like scrap metal or would it be things like steel?

Earth's Steel was nothing in the grand scheme of things. It lacked energy or spirituality but on Earth, it was very nice. Outside of the people in the top half of the Standings, the majority of people couldn't punch through steel yet. I made the purchase only to be greeted by a video game-like screen. Specifically, the entire world became monochrome except for a squarish red area. It didn't take long for me to get it. I needed to mark the area for the wall.

"Son of a Bitch." It turned out the wall wouldn't be big enough to protect the entire city. I could do an area maybe five yards wider than the main building. Which would be just enough to get to the barracks area and some houses. "Guess that's just going to be something else I need to work toward." I quickly walked the perimeter of the wall and confirmed the purchase.

The world shook for a moment and then a wall made out of solid steel slowly rose. It was a bit freaky to watch and reminded me of those liquid metal robots. A few yelps of surprise reminded me that I hadn't warned anyone of what I was about to do. I apologized to everyone I could and watched the wall finish up. Once it was done I made my way into the building. I had some fruit to eat.