134 The Approaching Danger

Three hours later, Aldrin saw Janet out of his room. The latter's worn-out expression was replaced with a refreshed one. She seemed to have undergone a relaxing treatment inside the room.

If someone saw her before and after leaving Aldrin's room, that someone would definitely take it as the two having an indecent relationship and they had just shared an intimate moment.

But the truth of the matter was far from it. Aldrin administered an Allcure Elixir to Janet when she fell unconscious after telling him of her discoveries as well as her list of worries.

She confided in him without barring any information. Perhaps she saw his brother in him or she had just started to trust Aldrin. Either of the two, Aldrin didn't mind it too much as his mind geared towards what his elder sister revealed.

After sitting back down on his bed, Aldrin recalled what Janet said, "The situation is familiar to what happened to the maintained-type Dimensional Rift her brother got trapped in…"

The sudden changes in the Dimension which consists of the creatures existing in it going berserk. Following that, the Rift that should've been maintained and protected would gradually shrink until it closed completely, trapping whoever was left behind in this Dimension.

According to Janet, her brother and a squad of Energy Refiners that were working under him were tasked to investigate.

They're veteran Energy Refiners that were even operating high-end models of Metadomes. However, the speed at which the Dimensional Rift closed suddenly accelerated, trapping them inside. Five years later, there's still no news about the whereabouts.

"There's a possibility that Janet was just being paranoid about the closing of the Rift. But the IDLE Database agreed that this Dimension became abnormal. The rewards were tripled after all."

Without any clue to start with, Aldrin could only conclude it at that. He then turned his attention back towards his Dimensional Clones and commanded them for a more efficient hunt and investigation.

At this point, although the 'controls' looked like it was limited yet at the same time possessed a lot of freedom, he couldn't help but recall those RTS games he played before.

RTS stands for Real-Time Strategy. Basically, it's a strategy game that puts the players' decision-making skills as well as the flexibility to manage time.

Most of those start with base-building. However, Campaign mode exists wherein the game tells a story. In there, players would usually start with one hero, special unit or a group of units traveling the map with a specific objective.

That's the one closest to Aldrin's current situation. Through his commands, the Dimensional Clones began moving in an organized manner.

With the minimap brought out at the upper left side of his phone's screen, he first directed them to start moving away from their camp and into the region that hadn't been explored by any other Energy Refiners yet.

-

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"I'm back!" Althea energetically shouted upon entering their front door.

Following his older brother's advice, the girl began using the money to enroll herself in a Dojo that's fairly popular located in the Central District.

It's only been a few days but her previously fragile-looking body had started to become firm. Her eyes were also filled with the brilliance of unyielding determination.

Apart from the training she's undergoing, that change could also be attributed to the Terrorhawk eggs that her brother bought for her.

Besides, those eggs had also started to show their benefits concerning her sensitivity to the everpresent Dimensional Energy. Even though it's supposed to be still foreign for her, she could already vaguely feel its existence through her improved senses.

And because of that, at every passing day, she's hoping to awaken naturally to surprise her brother. More than the surprise, she didn't want to burden him further by having him pay for the Awakening Procedure that would cost him a fortune.

At least, in her own way, she's trying to influence herself with an optimistic mindset.

"Oh. Welcome home, Althea. We already prepared your egg, eat it before taking a shower."

Replying to her was their mother. At the moment, she and her husband were sitting in the living room, watching the late-night news.

"Thank you, mom. Have you eaten yet?"

"No. We're waiting for you. Call on us after you're done with the egg, alright?"

"I understand."

After saying that, she dropped her bag on the side and moved to their dining room and found the huge egg placed upon a big bowl. When she started eating it, Althea noticed the boxes already occupying most of the spaces inside their living room. Most of the decorations, be it the wall clock, the picture frames and other such things couldn't be seen anymore.

"So, it's finally time, huh?" Althea murmured.

Tomorrow, they're going to move to the Central District. Towards their new house that was granted to Aldrin upon signing to the Refiner's Association.

It's been a week and the couple had already resigned from their jobs. Some other matters concerning their neighbors as well as informing their relatives that were living in the same district as them were already informed about their move.

Everyone who heard about Aldrin's awakening was envious of their luck. That's obvious. Having an Energy Refiner in a family was like winning a lottery ticket that could elevate anyone's status in the current modern society.

Nonetheless, they paid it no heed and treated it as a natural reaction. They believed that if they were in the same shoes, they would be acting the same to that family.

There was still around a month until Althea's graduation in high school but her parents already talked to the school to let her not attend the remaining days.

She also had to say goodbye to some of her friends. Although she promised them that she would visit, with her mind already set upon getting stronger and awakening as an Energy Refiner, she doubted she would be able to be as carefree as before.

Ten minutes later, Althea finally finished the egg and felt her body improving further.

When she was about to call on her parents to start their dinner, she suddenly stopped and stared at what her parents were watching.

There, she could see a huge red headline that said, 'Breaking News!'. And the scene that's playing out was the opening of multiple Rifts right next to a city's outer wall.

"That's the city next to us, right?" Her mother worriedly asked her father for confirmation.