Ronan, after arriving in his room, slumped once again on his bed. He had slept for more than three hours and he knew that tonight sleep was far too distant from him. His mind kept returning to the other world he had visited today. And towards the cube.

He wished and the cube appeared in his hand.

TIME: 11:00 PM | 11:00 AM

TRAVEL

Energy [12%] [Not sufficient]

No Solar Energy Detected

No External Energy Detected

He sighed and the cube returned back inside his hand. He was still contemplating when he remembered about the five crystals he had received from Elicia. He took them out and tried to study them. There was nothing he could spot.

It was obvious that these crystals were used as currency in that world. But did it have any other uses? Some practical use?

Lost in his thoughts, he was fondling with the crystals when out of nowhere he felt a warm current flowing through his entire body starting from his palm.

He was shocked and he instinctively opened his palms to throw away the crystal but to his even greater shock the crystal had already disappeared from his hands.

His mind went into another overdrive and haywire. What had just happened? The crystal had disappeared from his hand. And the only thing he could think of was that it had been absorbed by his body or maybe by the cube. To clear his doubts, Ronan summoned the cube.

TIME: 11:02 PM | 11:02 AM

TRAVEL

Energy [12%] [Not sufficient]

No Solar Energy Detected

No External Energy Detected

Nothing had changed in the text. The cube was the same as before. Had his body absorbed the crystal and whatever was inside it?

Ronan tried to inspect his body but he was not really able to find anything. He stayed silent and motionless and waited if there was any kind of reaction from his body. But nothing happened.

There was an inkling, a guess in his mind, but he was not sure. He was afraid about whatever was happening but there was also a faint excitement in his heart.

And for whatever reasons, he decided to take the risk. If this was the chance he was thinking it was, he was willing to take the risk.

He took out the remaining crystals and clenched in his fist. And this time, he did not have to even wait for a second as the previous feeling returned. The warm current flowed through his hands to his body. A few seconds later the four crystals disappeared.

But this time he felt a difference in his body. His exhaustion and tiredness had vanished. He was feeling refreshed and if he was not wrong, a very little bit stronger than his previous self. He would have wanted to experience more of this but he did not have any crystals left. And there was only one way to get more crystals.

If there had been an earlier doubt in his mind about him returning to the apocalyptic world, it was gone.

He was not sure about how much he could strengthen himself or whatever benefits he could get from that world, but right now he was standing in a tunnel with a bit of light visible at the other end. And he fully intended to find what lay at the end of the tunnel. He was willing to take the risk. He might come as greedy to a lot of people but this was a chance that Ronan could not let go.

.

.

.

Ronan barely had any sleep at night. His mind had been constantly wandering to the adventure that awaited him. He had only been able to sleep a couple of hours just before the sunrise.

Given the lack of sleep, he should have been feeling sleepy, exhausted and drained. But no. Instead, he was completely refreshed and energised. He wondered if it was because of the energy he had absorbed from the crystals. Though not a lot, he could not ignore the subtle differences in his body.

Ronan still had the entire day before his scheduled meeting with Elicia. 12:00 PM in that world would mean 12:00 AM on his own.

He planned to reach there by 10:00 only. It might be entirely possible that Elicia reached there an hour or even half an hour earlier and he did not want to give away his secret by suddenly appearing in front of her out of nowhere. Therefore, to be on the safer side, he was planning to reach there two hours earlier.

There was this other thought running at the back of his mind. What if the cube did not bring him to the same location that he had been the previous time? He had no answers for it.

If it happened, then it happened. He would improvise according to the situation. He was almost nonchalant and relaxed about this situation because his instinct was telling him that the cube would take him to the exact same place from where he had left that world.

He had more than enough time to go to college and even to his work but he did not. He called in sick at his work and since he has had a great record over the past year with barely any leaves, his supervisor did not make things any difficult from it.

After waking up, Ronan had a nice relaxing bath. He cooked himself a splendid meal. Well, splendid compared to what he was used to eating.

While eating, he could not help but remember the few moments of intimacy he had shared with his landlady. He wondered if something like that could ever happen again and could he push things a bit further? Or maybe it was just her being vulnerable and now after realisation struck her, she would not be letting things to repeat again.

It was around 4:00 PM in the evening when Ronan decided to go to the supermarket. Elicia had tasted the fried chicken rice but that was not really a viable option to sell in the other world. He needed something that could last a few days. It was a far more suitable option. And he decided on two things that he would be bringing along with him.

He was about to exit the house when a Voice interrupted him from behind.

"You did not go to college today," Illyia remarked.

"Yeah!" Ramon responded, turning to face her, with a smile on his face. "I was feeling a bit exhausted and hence decided to take a rest today." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Oh!" she remarked.

"Shopping?" She questioned.

"Yes," he responded.

The two of them exchanged a nod before Ronan left the house for the supermarket.

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.

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