Silas stood calmly behind a tree as he waited for Amelia to finish bathing.
He wore a white top with a black, unzipped hoodie jacket, dark grey trousers, and black sneakers to pair.
On his neck was a silver chain he had collected from Amelia earlier.
His hands were in his pockets as he savored the quiet of the secret realm.
'The secret realm is not as dangerous as people say,' he thought.
If people were to hear his thoughts, they would probably chase him through the stars.
Soon, Amelia reached him, her expression stoic and unreadable.
"Here, consider this my gift for saving my life," she said, extending a crimson earring to him.
It was just one, not even a complete pair. Moreover, it was a normal accessory created with gemstones.
But Silas collected it nonetheless.
"Thank you," he said with a smile, fixing it on his ear.
"It looks good on you," she said with a smile.
To her, complimenting Silas's beauty was nothing. She had done it countless times since they were young.
"Thank you," Silas smiled, picking his bag.
Amelia also took her bag, which was now lighter with only clothes she needed, alongside some potions and nutrient bars.
Silas had come prepared, buying 500 nutrient bars from the Virtual Server. Each one cost about a thousand credits, which was by no means cheap.
But there were cheaper ones in the market, with some going as low as 10 credits.
"What do we do now?" Amelia asked.
Silas looked at her for a moment, then stroked his chin before looking forward again.
"You focus on your cultivation," he said.
In his hand, a manual materialized. It was the fully deduced mortal realm manual, which got him to tier 3 citizen.
Amelia collected it slowly, reading the first part about breaking through to the Expert rank.
"Wait, isn't this the same manual that aided my cultivation?" she asked with a shocked tone.
"Yeah, it was the one I also used and sent to you when I was done," Silas admitted. "I saved a little to buy the complete version," he added, although a lie.
"Thank you," she said for the umpteenth time today.
Silas nodded. "You should be able to break through to the Master stage with the purity of the aether here."
"But, what about you?" she asked.
"Don't worry about me," he grinned.
Before they even entered the secret realm, Silas had already made up his mind to kill as many void beasts as he could.
Void cores were very expensive, especially the cost of materializing them from the Virtual Server too.
Since it is the natural opposite of reality, the edicts and laws of the Virtual Server found it harder to materialize it.
"Well, you can advance to the Master stage and spar with me before we leave here as compensation," Silas added.
She looked at him strangely before nodding.
Soon, they reached their make-shift home.
Silas brought the bed out for Amelia.
Then, from his AI space, he brought two things out.
First was a camera, the same one used in all Sovereign Garden stores.
He placed it in one corner of the cave. It covered a full 360-degree view in 5 km.
"I wonder how long the aether batteries I have can power this thing at full mode," he whimpered, tears almost falling from his eyes.
Next was the special barrier that could withstand the blow of a tier 3 powerhouse for 3 minutes.
This one cost a fortune of over 5 million credits in the Virtual Server.
The only upside was its reusability, and once fully charged, it did not require aether to remain functional.
"Rion, which weapons are in the space?" he asked after setting everything up.
Amelia looked at everything he had done with mild surprise. Unlike before, she was already growing accustomed to such sights.
"A katana, your dual daggers, a bow and a quiver of 200 arrows, your rifle, a great sword, a spear, some explosives, and gauntlets."
"Which ones have special attributes?" he asked.
This was his main concern.
Seeing how much he lacked against a void beast at a comparable stage made him scared. If anything, he wanted to use only epic and above weapons.
"The katana has flame attribute, the gauntlets have lightning, and the spear has wind."
"You were able to buy so many?" he asked Rion.
Although he had asked Rion to buy the weapons some days back, even he did not know what Rion had bought.
"My job will be easier now," he muttered.
He felt a sudden stir in the aether around. On instinct, his eyes turned to look at Amelia, who had started forming her core with the ambient aether.
"Has she grabbed the technique so fast?" he wondered.
"Rion, let me know if the camera catches any threat."
"Yes, master Silas."
He had linked Rion to the camera from the start. Although the range was not unlimited, it was still wide enough to cover the entire secret realm.
"Now, Rion, let's head to that beast cave we saw yesterday."
Silas thought of the cave he had seen yesterday, the one he had come back to call Amelia to tackle with him before seeing her in danger.
"I should be able to do it with my weapons," he tried to convince himself.
"I also want to know why all of them are gathered there."
"Rion, katana."
A sheathed katana flickered into his palm. Without sparing it a glance, Silas drew it from the black sheath. The katana was sleek, crimson, with strange symbols forged into its blade.
Channelling aether through it, flame rose like an inferno, engulfing the blade in searing heat that did not affect Silas.
He nodded before returning it to its sheath.
He gave Amelia one final look before he exploded forward. The floor he stood on cracked into a small crater.
"Why does it feel like he knows I am here?" Alfred asked himself from the tree.
He did not know if it was just him overreacting, but Silas seemed to have signalled for him to wait behind.
"Well, Silas can defend himself while she cannot. Even that barrier can't last long against a horde."