Chapter 37: Liberty Firm
After his fruitless visit to the Atlas Corporation, Ain briskly made his way to Liberty Firm, another well-known name in the Dawnstar Federation. Although incomparable to the Atlas Corporation, Liberty Firm was an up-and-coming commercial giant, spreading its branches across the federation. Arriving before the extensive black and purple building, he paused to appreciate the pleasant color scheme, which was much to his liking.
“Unlike Atlas’ long history of thousands of years, Liberty Firm was established just a couple hundred years ago in Duskfield City, a peripheral city just like Everlite City,” Ain recounted what he had researched during the hoverbus ride. Liberty Firm relied purely on trade and commerce, overtaking numerous well-established businesses with its meteoric rise. It had a great reputation in the hearts of most spirit masters.
Upon entering Liberty Firm, Ain followed directions provided by a greeter in a purple uniform before arriving at the spirit beast department. Spirit beasts were only referred to as spirit pets upon forming a contract. Contrary to Atlas, where he couldn’t see the spirit beasts, the spirit beast department in Liberty Firm seemed like an endless zoo. Spirit beasts loitered about in various artificial habitats, some living in harmony, while others thoughtfully isolated. A few spirit cultivators, employed by Liberty Firm, wandered around the department, confirming the spirit beasts’ well-being.
Aside from the physical barriers, Ain sensed dense aether fluctuations in the region. These were partly from the congregation of spirit beasts, and partly from the various defensive spell arrays inscribed throughout. In total awe and wonderment, he postponed his business for a tiny adventure through the spirit beast department.
In a forest habitat, he spotted a few tiny tiger cubs, running about mischievously. In the canopies, various species of birds chirped and rested. In a winter habitat, a few bear cubs were sprawled above the snow, appearing lazy and lethargic. There were simulated plains, mountains, rivers, lakes, and even some exotic habitats such as hills with perpetual lightning storms, poisonous swamps, or a desert enshrouded in darkness.
“From the looks of it, the spirit beasts are usually kept in cages elsewhere but are rotated into their appropriate habitats for some leisure time,” Ain concluded after half an hour of exploration. In this time, he’d observed several ice-aspect spirit beasts but unfortunately hadn’t come across any time-aspect spirit beasts. Liberty Firm similarly had digital catalogs to be carried around as well. Following another strange conversation with a sales clerk, he disappointedly left the spirit beast department, heading towards the elixirs.
“It really isn’t easy to find time-aspect spirit beasts,” Ain sighed to himself. Arriving at the elixir department, he promptly chose a few elixirs using the digital catalog before approaching the sales counter. The enthusiastic sales clerk listed his purchases with a smile, “You have selected sixty Excellent-grade Rank-1 Aether Recovery Pills for 3000 starcoins each, twenty Excellent-grade Rank-1 Aether Condensing Pills for 4000 starcoins each, twenty Superior-grade Rank-1 Scarlet Healing Pills for 4000 starcoins each, and three Normal-grade Rank-2 Twilight Detoxification Pills for 500,000 starcoins each. Your total is 1.84 million starcoins.”
Ain nodded with a calm and collected façade, passing over two aether crystals. “Here’s the aether crystals. Transfer the change to my account,” he said, allowing the sales clerk to scan his hololink’s display. He had rehearsed the transaction beforehand, already aware of the total. Despite that, a stifling sensation couldn’t help but press down on his heart upon hearing the total.
“One of the four essentials – resources. These items are essential to spirit masters. It’s not a waste,” Ain reminded himself in an attempt to ease the discomfort from such a huge expenditure.
He fished out the storage ring from his pockets and stowed the items away. Next, with heavy footsteps, he arrived at the department for raw materials. These were unprocessed resources harvested outside such as mystical fruits, herbs, flowers, gems, minerals, spirit beast materials, and much more.
Ain had two objectives here. First, he wanted to choose a suitable resource to aid Nox’s training, and second, he wanted some resources to nurture the Rank-0 puppet. From earlier research, he knew some generic resources that could aid ghost pets. Reaching the section for the ghost aspect, he visually observed some of the Rank-1 resources displayed.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
“Ghost Stones, Grim Barks, Ectoplasm, Ghastly Pearls, Illusory Hydrangeas…” Ain listed the familiar names, glancing past them one at a time.
Ghost Stones and Grim Barks were regular stones and barks mutated through exposure to ghostly energies, reaching either Rank-0 or Rank-1. Ectoplasm, on the other hand, varied greatly in rank, capable of reaching as high as Rank-4. Ectoplasm could be gathered in most environments rich in ghost-aspect aether. Ghastly Pearls, harvested from Imprisoned Ghasts, could reach as high as Rank-2. Lastly, Illusory Hydrangeas were common ghost-aspect flowers near Heart City, reaching only Rank-1.
In fact, Liberty Firm had numerous other ghost resources, but Ain wasn’t too familiar with them. The information on Cyberspace was limited, probably due to his lacking access level. At least, from what he’d found, these resources could be used to aid any ghost pet in their training.
After some consideration, Ain’s decision, based on Nox’s pointing, was the Rank-1 Ghastly Pearl. It was a black pearl the size of a palm with a purple sheen. It resembled the Prismatic Void Stone faintly, albeit completely spherical.
“Are you sure?” Ain confirmed with Nox.
“Wooo…!” Nox transmitted its affirmation.
“Alright. Let’s head home after getting something for the puppet,” Ain decided.
Ten minutes later, they departed Liberty Firm, having spent another 50,000 starcoins. The Ghastly Pearl cost him 28,000 whereas the remaining sum afforded him two metal-aspect resources. It was his choice to nurture the puppet with the metal aspect. Inspired by the stealthy Rank-1 puppets from the puppet war, he planned to nurture a lethal assassin to strike when unexpected.
Upon leaving Liberty Firm, Ain didn’t immediately return home. He executed a preplanned route to explore the neighboring markets. However, much to his regret, it was all futile. He didn’t even gain a lead on time-aspect spirit beasts, much less find one. However, he did broaden his horizons with each visit.
As he returned to The Red Baron, an orange veil shrouded the evening sky, casting long shadows in Heart City. Ain didn’t return to his room but opted for a brief training session. While practicing his spells, he encountered Hugo once again. After a brief chat, they each continued their own training. An hour later, as night took over, he finally returned to his room.
After freshening up, he began reviewing his purchases.
In terms of elixirs, he was already familiar with the Scarlet Healing Pills and Twilight Detoxification Pills. He bought twenty Superior-grade Scarlet Healing Pills and three Normal-grade Twilight Detoxification pills. The latter was a Rank-2 elixir, so it was vastly more expensive.
The Aether Recovery Pills and Aether Condensing Pills were unfamiliar. These primarily served as training aids but could also contribute during battles. Both at Excellent-grade, he had purchased sixty Aether Recovery Pills and twenty Aether Condensing Pills.
As he’d found before, Aether Recovery Pills increased aether recovery rate for ten minutes. Excellent-grade pills provided a greater boost than the Normal-grade pills. With hastened recovery, he could practice spells for an extended duration.
The Aether Condensing Pills, on the other hand, boosted aether quality for thirty minutes. Increased aether quality directly strengthened various spells and techniques. However, their greatest beneficiary was actually meditation. Spirit masters used meditation techniques to circulate aether throughout their bodies, gradually consolidating their physiques and aethercores. With a higher quality of aether, the magnitude of this strengthening was naturally greater, which improved meditation efficiency.
With these effects, Aether Recovery Pills and Aether Condensing Pills were essential training aids. Rolling a couple Aether Recovery Pills onto his palm, Ain used Scan.
[Name: Aether Recovery Pill]
[Aspect: Aspectless]
[Rank: Rank-1]
[Grade: Excellent]
[Aspect Traces: Fire 6.2%, Water 6.4%, Wind 6.9%, Wood 6.4%, …]
[Description: A common elixir capable of increasing aether recovery rate for ten minutes.]
He repeated the process with the Aether Condensing Pills.
[Name: Aether Condensing Pill]
[Aspect: Aspectless]
[Rank: Rank-1]
[Grade: Excellent]
[Aspect Traces: Fire 6.1%, Water 6.6%, Wind 7.0%, Wood 6.1%, …]
[Description: A common elixir capable of increasing aether quality for thirty minutes.]
Scan didn’t offer any new insights. It was all within his expectations. Ain proceeded to use Scan on the Scarlet Healing Pills and Twilight Detoxification Pills. The results didn’t differ from the past.
“Wooo…” As he busied himself, Nox suddenly nudged him, drawing his attention.
“Hmm? You want the Ghastly Pearl?” He reiterated its thoughts.
“Wooo…!” Nox nodded with its eyes.
Ain readily passed over the Ghastly Pearl. “Here you go.”
“Wooo…” With a cheerful sound, Nox absorbed the black pearl into its body, commencing its slow digestion.
He had already used Scan on the Ghastly Pearl. Scan was monumental for the unknown but a little redundant for things he recognized. Only the aspect traces offered something unique, but he couldn’t do much with those.
Finally, Ain held what excited him the most – The Puppet Command Token. He eagerly summoned the Rank-0 puppet before retrieving the two metal-aspect resources. They were a Rank-0 Blackwing Jay’s Crown Feather and a Rank-1 Dark Iron Bamboo.
According to the knowledge he received from the Puppet Command Token, a Rank-0 resource was required to assign an aspect to the puppet. Next, a Rank-1 resource of the same aspect could be used to upgrade it to Rank-1.