Chapter 100: New Home

It was a rare, cloudy summer day, with the afternoon sun hiding behind the clouds. A gentle breeze rustled Ain's clothes as he thanked the realtor and bid farewell after receiving the keys to his new home.

Across from him stood a magnificent tiered mansion adorned with a black and white color scheme. The mansion boasted grand wooden accents, adding depth to its design. Wide stone stairs led the way into a large entrance surrounded by a neatly trimmed garden.

This particular property was Ain's favorite among the ones he had visited. The grand entrance was like icing on the cake, and the real allure lay in the conveniences offered by the facilities within.

All four of his potential homes featured a similar suite of facilities. The runner-up was even on a metrosphere, small levitating island-like structures above the central region. The elite communities on the metrospheres offered great security, which piqued Ain's interest. However, this security was simply a result of its isolated location.

The mansion before him emerged as the clear winner due to its spell arrays and property size. An isolation spell array and two defensive spell arrays covered the entire property. Some facilities within the mansion even supported the Spirit Gathering Array. The central region of Duskfield City was rich in ambient spirit energy, further enhancing the spell array's effects and significantly increasing the spirit energy within.

A green field extended behind the mansion, including a small forest that obscured the tall walls behind it. Before completing the purchase, Ain had already released the cat and pups onto the field, stowing the empty duffle bag away.

"Woof! Woof!"

"Woof! Woof!"

The two pups stepped onto the soft grass and chased each other playfully, while the cat leisurely followed from a distance.

Ain entered his new home, glanced at the little ones from the window, and began contemplating. This mansion included a dedicated training room, meditation room, laboratory, workshop, and a spirit pet nursery. Furthermore, the Spirit Gathering Array encompassed all these facilities, meeting all his requirements.

However, as he looked around, the emptiness seemed to drain the vitality from the mansion.

"I need to buy furniture... This mansion cost me 6200 energy crystals. I still have over 400 energy crystals."

Ain's cheap furniture was mostly no different from scrap. The only survivor, his bed, had seen better days despite their long history together. His remaining funds were more than sufficient for furnishing his new home. After a quick glance at his hololink, he bid farewell to the cat and pups before leaving the mansion.

After an hour-long commute, Ain arrived at his old apartment and stored all his belongings within his storage ring. Anything not destined for the new home, such as broken furniture, ruined utensils, food, and torn clothes, was prepared for disposal and recycling.

After completing the exit procedures and reaching the front entrance, Ain encountered a familiar face. It was the morning security guard, Mr. Rudy, who was also a resident in the apartment complex and could often be seen strolling around after his shifts.

"Oh, Ain. I hear you're moving out?" Mr. Rudy asked warmly.

"You're right. It's no longer convenient for me to stay here, so I decided to move," Ain replied with a smile. Before the Spirit Awakening Ceremony, aside from his mentor and Ms. Livia, Mr. Rudy was the only person he often chatted with. Chatting with him briefly had become a daily occurrence, just like this morning.

"This place is indeed unsuitable for a spirit tamer. It's good that you're progressing. Hmm... Also, I should apologize to you about yesterday. The theft likely happened during my shift, and I didn't even realize," Mr. Rudy explained apologetically as he prepared to bow. Ain hurriedly reached out and stopped him.

"You don't have to worry about that. The culprits were spirit tamers, and you couldn't have prevented it," Ain consoled.

"That's true, but I hear you've lost the cat and the wolf cubs..."

"I've already gotten them back, so don't worry about it."

Hearing this, Mr. Rudy appeared relieved, and he chatted for a while longer before Ain bid farewell. Mr. Rudy gazed at Ain's receding figure and mumbled, "I'll stay a while longer before leaving..."

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…

At the onset of evening, under the cloudy sky, Ain arrived at the familiar black and purple building—Liberty Firm.

"I'll buy the furniture after selling the loot," he decided and entered with practiced ease. After arriving at the sales counter, he requested, "I want to use a private room."

"Of course, follow me," the shop assistant smiled brightly and led the way.

After a short walk, the door closed behind them as they arrived at a large table.

"What would you like to sell?" the shop assistant inquired.

"Give me a moment. I have a large number of items," Ain answered calmly and began interacting with the storage ring's interface. The shop assistant's expression didn't change as she maintained her bright smile.

With a tap of his finger, a spirit beast hide appeared on the table, emitting faint Advanced Rank-1 spirit energy fluctuations. Ain's actions didn't stop as he continued to retrieve spirit beast materials.

The shop assistant's expression remained the same as Ain continued retrieving items.

After five minutes, Ain was still retrieving more items.

After ten minutes, Ain was still retrieving more items.

After fifteen minutes, a mountain of loot was piled atop the sturdy table.

After twenty minutes, under the shop assistant's increasingly anxious gaze, Ain finally breathed a sigh of relief. "That's all. Please take a look."

"Yes, please wait a moment," the shop assistant's heart was vexed, but her smile turned even more radiant as she replied.

Ain nodded and silently stood aside, watching the shop assistant complete her work.

It was easy to wonder where he obtained all this, and he could only remain silent if asked. This was his most recent loot—from the Viper Beast Provisions!

That's right! Before leaving the basement, Ain had swiped all the valuable resources in sight, stashing them in his storage ring!

Viper Beast Provisions was his enemy, and they awaited an unfortunate end after falling into the hands of the Law Enforcement Agency. He was unlikely to suffer any consequences for this theft. Furthermore, this served as payback!

Some of the rooms in the basement stored various spirit beast materials. Ain didn't believe it was their entire inventory, but it was still a hefty sum for him. His expectations were quite high.

The shop assistant regretted not examining the items as Ain retrieved them. With assistance from two colleagues, this grueling endeavor was completed within twenty minutes, and the shop assistant quoted a price, "It'll be 129 energy crystals for the few Rank-2 materials and 33 million star coins for the Rank-1 materials."

"That's fine," Ain expressed his agreement. He had already done a rough appraisal, and the quoted price was within his estimated range.

"That's great. The balance will be transferred to you promptly," the shop assistant concealed her exhaustion and smiled. After a brief pause, she continued, "Mr. Wiesman, as your sales volume has been excellent, Liberty Firm would like to extend an invitation to you for our secret auction."

Ain's ears perked up at this statement. He had already learned about the need to accumulate "friendship" with Liberty Firm from some of the shop assistants, and now, there seemed to be some results.

However, the hidden benefit also led to some confusion. He had already gained access to an internal auction upon becoming a partner. He often browsed it on Cyberspace for Essence Heart Pills, which he failed to obtain the one time they appeared. He occasionally saw some rarities, but his interest wasn't piqued.

The shop assistant's words seemed to refer to something else, so he asked, "Is the secret auction different from the internal auction?"

"Yes. The secret auction requires personal attendance, and the auction items are extraordinary, often sourced from all over the federation. Moreover, the main headquarters periodically sends special items for the secret auctions," the shop assistant explained patiently.

Ain's interest was roused upon hearing this. "What kind of extraordinary items appear in the secret auction?"

"There are a vast array of items such as rare resources, spirit beasts, spells, techniques, medicines, artifacts, equipment, and even craftsman profession knowledge. There was even an extraordinary sacred treasure recently."

Ain listened to the shop assistant's unhurried explanation as a parallel thought focused elsewhere. "Spells and techniques... Even the internal auction only features the ones already in the academy's spirit repository. This secret auction might be a good opportunity."

Initially, spells and techniques were prioritized over a new house, but plans often fail to keep up with the changes. Now that he had already moved, it was time to focus on obtaining more spells and techniques. Of course, he didn't wish to blindly acquire anything in sight; otherwise, he would have purchased the rare few available on Cyberspace or emptied the spell repository at the spirit academy.

After a brief discussion and pleasantries, Ain exited Liberty Firm knowing the time for the next secret auction, which was set to take place about two weeks later.

Without pause, he promptly discovered a good furniture store on Cyberspace and stepped through their doors. This furniture store offered a vast selection of items, some crafted from Rank-2 materials.

Ain wasn't one for extravagance, but he still fancied some pieces crafted from Rank-1 materials. These included a bed, a study desk, a comfortable chair, and multiple large tables for the laboratory and workshop.

Of course, he purchased much more than this. The mansion was too large to be furnished with just these few items. Ain wasn't one for decorations, so he only took the bare necessities for each room into consideration.

By the time he finished, the evening sun painted the clouds red, welcoming the bright moon.

As his storage ring was insufficient, everything would be delivered the following day.

Unknowingly, he had spent a total of 6.3 billion star coins today, which momentarily stunned Ain. Just a few months ago, this sum seemed unimaginable to him. Now, he didn't even bat an eye at spending it on a mansion and some furniture.

"I've changed…," Ain thought ruefully. However, this was just a serene moment of reflection.