Edited by: ASaltedFish
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After about 20 seconds of silence, Ellery turned to look at Marshal Caecius and Adjutant Ito. He had a smile on his face, that for some reason, gave off a sinister aura.
Ellery had to be like this until the contract was signed.
“Promise me that what you see in this room stays in this room. If not, we won’t be signing the contract, and you will never speak to us again, understood?”
Marshal Caecius and Adjutant Ito were surprised to hear Ellery speak so seriously about what was in the room. Even so, they could only agree to the promise because, without Ellery and Aster, they could die in just a few years’ time, especially Marshal Caecius, who could not get regularly guided like Adjutant Ito. That’s just how important guides were in this society.
Ellery and Aster felt a lot more comfortable after hearing their promises and finally opened the door.
Walking inside, they were greeted with equipment they had never seen before. It was an unspoken rule that sentinels had to stay away from a guide’s stabilizer lab because their presence could bother the guides who were working. It was the first time they had ever been in a guide’s private space like this.
They also saw Seth charging at his charging station in the room. Who knew that Seth would be there, protecting this lab if he had nothing to do?
Ellery squatted down to look at the boxes under the long table in the room where he kept all the stabilizers. Luckily, they only needed to be stored at room temperature.
There were four boxes with each side labeled according to its contents. Written on them was the name of the quantum beast that assisted in making the stabilizer and its grade: Sol S or SS and Lune S or SS. When Aster had labeled them, he specifically made sure to label every side so he did not make the same mistake of taking the wrong stabilizer again.
In each box, there were 30 stabilizer tubes. He was giving them the box as he could easily get more boxes for storing stabilizers and it was more convenient than repackaging them.
There were also the other boxes that were empty because he had just sent out the batches of stabilizers earlier today.
“Adjutant Ito, what is your sentinel rank?” Ellery asked while looking up. He was still squatting because he needed to decide if he could take out the ones he already had or if he should make new ones.
Adjutant Ito responded, a bit nervous for some reason, “I am S-rank right now.”
“Okay, that works out perfectly.”
Ellery grabbed the box with Sol’s name on it and the grade S and picked it up. He handed it to Adjutant Ito.
“There are 30 stabilizers in this box so it should last you quite a while. The grade is on both the box and stabilizers. You can try it out now if you want to see if you like it. If not, I don’t mind making you some A-grade stabilizers and sending them to you tomorrow.”
Ellery winked and then went to grab the SS-ranked box for Marshal Caecius.
Some sentinels had high compatibility with a guide, but the spiritual experience would make them uncomfortable if they didn’t like the taste of something. Sometimes, it was too sweet or even too spicy. Some sentinels would just deal with it while others would try to find other guide’s stabilizers that were more comfortable for them. It really depended on how desperate the sentinel was.
Guides generally wouldn’t care whether a sentinel liked their spiritual experience. They had other sentinels who liked it just fine.
“Alright, thank you so much.” Adjutant Ito smiled and then looked at the box.
Then he froze.
Sol Grade S? Does that mean these were Grade S stabilizers?! Weren’t Ellery and Aster A-rank?!
He looked at the box again and opened it up. He took out a tube and it read the same thing that was on the box.
Grade S.
“Ellery… I… This…”
“Yeah, I know you have questions. Just try one out already.”
Ellery grabbed the SS-grade box and then handed it to Marshal Caecius.
“You can also try them out and see if this grade is good enough for you. I also have some S grade ones if these SS grade ones are too much.”
Ellery had already told Aster that Marshal Caecius recently became SS rank. Sentinels, who recently advanced a rank, needed some time to adjust. Sometimes, stabilizers of the same grade as their rank were much more powerful than the sentinels themselves, so they had to temporarily downgrade so there were no adverse effects. Stabilizers that were stronger could potentially overstimulate a sentinel’s spiritual sea and cause a collapse.
To try a stabilizer, they only needed to tap on it with their spiritual powers and test out the spiritual experience. If they feel overwhelmed, they have to use a grade below the one they tried.
Aster put the maximum amount of spiritual energy he could into making the SS-grade stabilizers. He didn’t know if that was too much or not.
It was now Marshal Caecius’ turn to be shocked, confused, and amazed by the stabilizers in his hands.
“Now that you know our secret, hurry and try it. If it’s good, you can buy them from me at market price. Well, I will be giving Adjutant Ito a little discount, though.”
It looked like Ellery was trying to chase them away.
Because he was.
Even though Ellery didn’t mind being around strangers, he knew Aster wasn’t as comfortable. He didn’t have much time left to control their body, so the sooner Marshal Caecius and Adjutant Ito left, the better it would be for Aster when he returned to control the body again.
Marshal Caecius and Adjutant Ito placed their boxes on the long table and held on to a stabilizer. The name and grade of the stabilizers were the same as the ones on the box.
Adjutant Ito already had bulging eyes when he saw the grade of the box that Marshal Caecius was holding. He was so stunned he didn’t even remember putting the box down on the table.
The two lightly tapped the tube at the same time. Marshal Caecius already knew what to expect, but Adjutant Ito was blown away at the spiritual sea from the stabilizers.
It was the usual spiritual sea that Ellery was so proud of, but because the grade was higher, the senses were a lot more intense. It truly felt like Adjutant Ito was able to get his long-awaited vacation and was at the place he wanted to be the most- at the beach with the sun rays beaming down on him.
As for Marshal Caecius, the stabilizer was perfect, much better than the grade-A stabilizer he had taken earlier. It almost felt like all the chaotic energy plaguing his spiritual sea had disappeared for good.
Seeing Marshal Caecius and Adjutant Ito spacing out where they were standing, Ellery couldn’t help but chuckle. He would give them a few moments. His and Aster’s spiritual seas were superior not only in senses but in grade as well. To his pride, Ellery had never received a negative review about his spiritual experience, which was almost unheard of.
He was quite proud of himself, like a peacock showing off his feathers.
A few minutes later, the two sentinels snapped out of their trace and saw that Ellery was staring at them, waiting for them to finish.
“Finally back?” Ellery had a smile on his face, but, why did they feel he was a bit annoyed…
Ellery wasn’t like this before they tapped on the tubes, but he got a bit annoyed because Aster would be gaining control of the body soon, and these two still hadn’t left! Aster was getting a little nervous and it was making him anxious too, which in turn, was making him annoyed!
They really needed to get used to sharing emotions…
“Yes… We apologize for our rudeness.” Adjutant Ito was the first to apologize and then he looked at Marshal Caecius to signal him to do so as well.
“Please forgive us for our rudeness. We will buy the stabilizers and leave for the day.”
“It’s okay. Sorry for my rudeness as well. Aster is about to come back and he’s not comfortable with coming back to the two of you in the house. We share emotions so it’s a bit tough to control them right now. You can send me the payment now and be on your way.”
The market price for stabilizers depended on the grade and the rank of the person making it.
The currency used throughout the entire galaxy was called star coins.
Grade D stabilizers were the cheapest, but always in demand. They cost 1000 star coins for one. The average income for most D-ranked sentinels was 10,000 star coins per month. A lot of people bought a Grade-D stabilizer once or twice a month. If they were in the military, they bought it once a week and if they had extra money to spend, some bought in bulk.
Grade C stabilizers were 5000 star coins, Grade B stabilizers were 15,000 star coins, Grade A stabilizers were 30,000 star coins, and Grade S and above were 100,000 star coins and more. There hasn’t been an SS-ranked guide in hundreds of years, but to adjust for inflation, the price of the stabilizers would be 750,000 for one.
Even though it got significantly more expensive as the grade of the stabilizers increased, the sentinels’ average income increased as their rank increased.
For Marshal Caecius, the price was nothing to him. It was like tossing a pebble in a lake. He had enough star coins to fund the entire Empire to live like nobles for a year… There were more than 100 billion people in the Empire at the moment.
As for Adjutant Ito, though he didn’t have as much money as his boss, he still had enough money to buy stabilizers for 10 years right now.
With Ellery’s discount, Adjutant Ito spent 2,250,000 star coins, while Marshal Caecius, who bought at market price, spent 22.5 million star coins.
Ellery and Aster became rich in a matter of seconds.
With them paying Ellery, they said their goodbyes and took their stabilizers out with them. Finally leaving Ellery and Aster alone.
Once they were gone, Aster comfortably gained control of their body once again. He sighed in relief but he was exhausted. He had a slight headache from the mental attack, but overall, he was feeling alright.
Aster and Ellery decided it was best for Aster to rest up for the rest of the day.
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Grandpa Marky: Hey everyone! Sorry for not being able to update twice last week (like I planned). For people who didn’t see my announcement, I went to the ER Wednesday night (last week) because of my heart attack like symptoms. Thankfully, no heart attack. I just strained some muscles in my left arm (and later found out I also dislocated my shoulder). The pain in my left arm and shoulder gave me some chest pain, which then made me nauseated, constipated, and somehow had diarrhea. That triple combo made me severely dehydrated and the tingling and stiffness in my limbs happened while I was in the hospital…) It’s crazy how everything is connected right? I am not allowed to use my left arm that much so I’ve been learning to type with one hand 😀
I am okay now, and I will resume updates. Thank you for your understanding and for reading. I will see you all Friday/Saturday. Have a wonderful day/night my beautiful grandchildren <3Â
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