After taking the amber into his hand, Leo went through Dinna's tool on this table and picked an Array drawing pen. Afterward, he began drawing on one side of the ember stone. He quickly did so on both sides while energy undulations appeared around him. However, the interference didn't spread out, staying confined in a region around Leo.

While Dinna couldn't take her eyes off the show from Leo's right hand, some tiny amount of energy flowed from his left hand's fingertip into the ember without obstruction. The flow was so inconspicuous that Dinna didn't notice it.

One minute or so later, Leo finished. And he then offered the small object to her.

Accepting it, Dinna observed it. She tried to figure it out, and the first thing she noticed was a glaring difference. While one side had a very smooth-looking drawing, the other was crude and ragged.

"Which side?" Even while in a trance, she heard Leo's question.

Moving her eyes, Dinna looked at the elderly. He was calm and composed again.

"I'll leave you at that and go outside and take in some air." He continued.

"I can lead yo..."

"No need. I can find my way out and ask people around for some tea. You were already bored enough, so spend some time with your toys. First, look around. Well, once you figure the amber out. That will be self-explanatory, so no need to be hurried."

"I'll see you later," Leo added, bowed, and left the lab.

Left alone, Dinna frowned at the ember.

She noticed both sides had a few similarities, like the initial reactions to trying to trigger the Array. Also, both webs of circuits went through the surface while going inside the ember-like roots in the ground.

On the other hand, she noticed a few differences. Besides their appearance, the way her energy flowed was radically different. Likewise, so were the techniques used to build the Arrays.

What Leo made puzzled her. It seemed to try to do a bit of everything.

The arrays also had multi-outcomes and multipurpose. So, things like transmutation were just the first few details identified.

What puzzled her was how easily she could activate them through multiple paths. So, she instead chose to hold back to avoid destroying the amber.

After spending some time, she moved her attention to the surrounding projects. Dinna questioned why did she decide to work on those? What could she have done differently? However, since such questions were too big, she sat and looked back at the ember stone.

There she stayed for quite a while.

---

By asking some people around, Leo found his way outside.

The place was a tea table on a veranda. This place wasn't as wide open as most others recreation areas in this house. But around him, Leo saw a gorgeous and colorful assortment of flowers. And, above his head, he saw a beautiful vine-netted roof.

On this open veranda, the wind flew, carrying the enchanting smell of the surroundings. And some sun rays found their way through the roof, creating a relaxing atmosphere.

After being served tea, Leo asked to be left alone.

Leo stayed sitting there, enjoying the afternoon sun. While he was peaceful on the outside, his brain was contentiously working.

First, Leo cleared the confusion of his mind by situating himself well inside his timeline of memories.

Second, Leo reviewed where he came from and where he was going with his life.

Third, he focused on his muddled emotions, remembering what he felt after getting out of the trance and what may have triggered it.

At last, he pinpointed his loss.

Regarding his memories, Leo was clear on how feeble they had become for him. So he didn't spend his time despairing. His priority was to identify what crumbled accurately. And use that to fix this agonizing anxiety that wanted to take over him.

It took him some time, but he eventually discovered where the hole was in his timelines of memories. And he, therefore, worked on remembering things around it to fill the gap. While this is an imperfect solution, that's the best he could do.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Since a significant event was missing this time, it didn't take him too long to ascertain which one it was.

'Fellow monster, you are gone.' Leo felt the gap between the excitement before the forgotten chunk and the disappointment after the encounter.

Then, he readily filled the gap with whatever he could muster. After that, the meeting became only a fable in his mind, making Leo feel like an outsider in his life a bit more.

The best and worse arose when it was an important event. While Leo could quickly pinpoint and fill the gap with detailed information, the alienation was much more powerful.

But, when it was a trivial memory, the hole was much harder to spot. And, even when Leo found it, often he couldn't even fill in the gap, leaving only the anxiety behind.

'I didn't expect memory loss right now. Is my consciousness becoming fragile? But I saw no signs. Another answer could be that those random events might become closer as time goes on. But that would be worse. So much damage caused by a mundane wolf skull.'

While drinking the tea, Leo's mood slowly became colder, and he lost the excitement toward socializing with the kids.

Although he identified his mood swing, he let it be since too much stuff had been happening around him lately. Once compared to his daily life in the last few hundred years, this had been too overwhelming.

'Maybe I should've fixed the clock some other time... No, I wouldn't be able to hold back once everything was ready. Then, what do I do next? Receiving the payment comes first, but I should ultimately leave after solidifying a good relationship. I'm too old for this.'

Once dealing with the essential details, Leo forcibly controlled his emotions by fine-commanding his body conditions.

However, even with the chemical shower and precise muscle control, the annoyance deep inside Leo's head didn't disappear.

Despite everything, he continued to eat his afternoon snack. Besides, since he must do a detailed screening of his mind later, he would make the big resolutions when wholly focused.

Eventually, Leo cleaned the table, and the afternoon came closer to an end. After the night approached, Ginn finally appeared and joined Leo at the table after shaking hands.

"Hello, Leo Moon. The affair related to your old and new identity has been solved. We made sure to leave no trace behind. Ah, it has been quite some time. Have you recovered? Do you need anything else? I'm very grateful for the help provided by extracting the poison from Eloise. Sorry for the harsh welcomed you encountered that day. Of course, we solved that problem, and you can comfortably stay here for as much as you want. My wife also expressed her gratitude, but unfortunately, you two will not be able to meet for a while. She entered a deep body recovery process that will take at least two more months. But before she was submerged in medicine, she asked me to pass on this message: I will never forget the second chance you gave me."

After the urgent treatment, they began to plan how to proceed so Eloise could begin cultivating afresh. Since she was healthy again, they could finally focus on moving forward.

Looking at Ginn Aravyz before him, Leo noticed small changes. While he always seemed like a bright young man, now he carried a hopeful and ambitious atmosphere, like he felt much lighter.

After thinking for a moment, Leo nodded and answered: "I'm good, thank you for asking. Also, you should tell your wife not to worry too much, as we already agreed on the payment."

While a smile appeared on his face, Ginn said: "She may not agree with it."

To that, Leo only responded with a hopeless shrug of his shoulder.

"Anyway, here is another part of the payment," Ginn said as he took a ring from his finger and gave it to Leo.

He continued: "If you're okay with it, the biweekly auction happens in two days. You already have a reserved place. But if you have something else in mind, I can reserve you a place in the next one."

"Two days, it is," Leo said as he inspected the ring.

"Also, thank you for sharing some of your insight with Dinna. While we can trade with people, getting knowledge is particularly difficult. However, that can't even compare to how difficult it's to receive guidance from someone experienced, that carries even more chains."

"No worries, that isn't much."

"I don't think she would agree with that either," Ginn mentioned.

"Alright, I also came here to invite you to dinner with us. I would like you to meet this big family of mine. Since they are around, you'll be meeting all my sworn brothers and sisters. Sadly, Eloise can't join us, but I hope we can repeat such an event once she's back walking around. Then, the gang would be all together."

"I felt like you would act more < young-master-ish >."

< "I ain't employing them, and there is no old master." >

< "That wouldn't stop some from role-playing." >

< "I was never really into fantasy." >

< "Imagine if you were." >

< "Maybe it wouldn't change much?" >

< "I think the difference between an experienced business person and a wannabe is pretty clear. Although, some do have it naturally." >

< "Is your English not native?" >

< "Are you making fun of how unnatural I sound?" >

< "It does sound slightly off." >

< "The issue is with muscle memory. Since I don't have someone to talk with, it has slowly deteriorated, even with me practicing alone." >

< "Oh, maybe, I'll suffer from that in a few hundred years." >

< "Maybe, young so young master, but you'll likely be young forever!" > Leo said in a humorous tone.

< "Oh, so funny." > Ginn added in a flat tone.

But he then changed the subject: < "We'll be moving bases next year." >

< "Oh, where?" > 'Is he telling me in advance because I may run away?'

< "If nothing goes too wrong, west of the Kingdom of Latwelia." >

< "Quite far away, and not at Volcano." >

< "We'll stay independent." >

< "Such ambition. And your name choice is Dragons. So imagine if you loved fantasy." >

< "Dragons is a well-known word, and my ambition comes from somewhere else. Anyway, it's almost time for dinner, so would you like to refresh and change clothes? We did prepare some based on the simple style we saw you using before, so check inside the ring." >

< "Sure. This set is too martial-arts-ish, and I find those quite suffocating." >

< "Alright, someone will show you the way to your room. They'll also wait to show you to the dining hall." >

Leaving the veranda, a young man guided Leo to his room.