By the time Aldrin regained consciousness, the first thing that assaulted his mind was loads of information about something he never heard before.
'Concept Book: Shadow Clone? Huh? What is this?'
Even before opening his eyes to see his surroundings or remembering what happened before he lost consciousness, the content of the Concept Book named Shadow Clone was the first thing that flashed in his head.
Although the information was seemingly etched into a part of his memory which he could flip open its pages like a physical book if he focused his mind, most of the words written inside that book were incomprehensible for him.
Aldrin skimmed through its contents just for the heck it and gradually, he began to remember what happened before his vision went dark.
However, as soon as he opened his eyes, he was met with the gorgeous face of Alisa along with the soft sensation at the back of his head.
'Wait? Did I die and I am currently experiencing paradise?' Another thought entered his mind.
He was aware where his head was currently resting and judging from that worried face of his former classmate, it's not wrong to think that he was in paradise given that this situation was normally impossible.
"You're awake! Thank God!"
Aldrin clearly heard the joy in Alisa's voice upon seeing him awake.
And at this point, his eyes suddenly widened.
Before he could respond to Alisa's joyful exclamation, he finally remembered what happened and why he lost consciousness.
'I successfully awakened… I endured the pain and…' Once he reached this line of thought, he focused his senses to the inside of his body, Or more specifically, to the location of the sphere that formed from the gathering of the Dimensional Energy to that spot as well as the refinement of the gathered energy.
While focusing on that spot, Aldrin remembered what the public populace knew about Energy Refiners.
Apart from sensing the everpresent Dimensional Energy, Energy Refiners had the ability to harness, refine and use the Dimensional Energy for themselves.
Obviously, Energy Refining was the primary ability of every Energy Refiner.
And to Aldrin's understanding of the Awakening process that he had undergone, the sphere that formed inside his body was his first craft as an Energy Refiner.
The Energy Quintessence.
If at first, the Dimensional Energy that was being injected or absorbed by his body was spreading, this time, as an awakened Energy Refiner, Aldrin could feel that the energy was gathered at the Energy Quintessence.
From there, it was meticulously refined turning the raw Dimensional Energy into something unique to him before being distributed to every part of his body.
This was the state of being an Energy Refiner. The Refined Energy was solely his to dispatch or use. Moreover, if he wanted to, he could now harness the everpresent Dimensional Energy in his surroundings.
Even if he stopped converting IDLE Points to Dimensional Energy, Aldrin could tap into the seemingly endless Dimensional Energy, albeit slowly. And it all depended on his future development.
For this new lease in his life, this was just the start.
"Aldrin, stop staring at Alisa and get up. We have to hide in the shelter."
This time, another voice reached Aldrin's ears. His friend's
Bert was currently shaking his head while also smilingly watching Aldrin, 'He finally got his bout of luck. Good for him… But when will it be my turn?!'
Contrary to the expression he was displaying, Bert was lamenting about his luck. Despite that, he would be lying if he didn't say he's envious but more than that, he's happy for the windfall that happened for his friend.
As for the trigger of Aldrin's awakening, he's not sure. All they saw was Aldrin standing frozen and the next second, he awakened.
It didn't cross his mind that the phone of his friend was suspicious. In the first place, he saw nothing unordinary from that phone.
When Aldrin heard Bert's voice, he realized that he's right. Instead of standing up after Alisa's exclamation, he ended up remembering what happened and got lost in his thoughts.
Now that his wandering mind returned, he noticed how Alisa was now shyly embarrassing her face.
By deducing the whole situation, Alisa picked him up and made him comfortable when he lost consciousness but instead of thanking her, he ended up embarrassing her this time.
He was unconscious for only a few minutes, otherwise, he would've been brought inside by Bert.
"I apologize, Alisa." Aldrin hurriedly stood up from her lap and apologized.
"It's fine. I am aware you're in deep thought and not staring at me… I just can't help it." Alisa replied as slowly got up.
Upon seeing that Aldrin helped her while uttering his gratitude towards her.
He was truly thankful to the woman for letting him use her lap and understanding the situation by not turning it awkward.
Following that, he guided Alisa towards the entrance of the Emergency Shelter and let her climb down first. Before disappearing inside, Alisa raised her head to look at him, wordlessly asking why he's not climbing down after her.
To answer that, Aldrin gently shook his head and nodded soon afterward.
He had no idea if Alisa understood it. However, seeing her nod and continuing her descent, she probably did.
Soon afterward, Aldrin faced his friend. By just looking at how his arms were crossed, he's waiting for him to climb down.
However, Aldrin had other plans… He was aware that he was probably making a stupid decision this time. Yet, he couldn't help but remember Renissa's figure that was gracefully fighting against a Rift Monster.
If another Ruin Monster arrived, their classmate, who helped them escape and was now risking her life to defend the normal citizens, would be in grave danger.
He's now an Energy Refiner. And he has the IDLE Database.
It's not like he would just throw away his life. If he found out that he would just become easy prey, he wouldn't hesitate to run.
But even if there's only a slim possibility that he could stand on par against the Rift Monsters, he chose to gamble on it.
"Bert, you go first."
The six lady guards had already entered before Alisa. Bert only remained here because he was the one who would be closing the shelter doors.
Upon hearing Aldrin's words, Bert immediately frowned. "What? Do you plan on going back aboveground? Just because you awakened as an Energy Refiner? Do you think you're invincible now? Please, don't act like a hero, dude."
He's from an Energy Refiner family. He knew that even if Aldrin awakened this time, he would still be a far cry from Renissa's display of prowess. In his mind, this friend of his probably developed a hero complex. Before it developed, he wanted to wake him up.
If Aldrin was gratified with his continuous friendship despite falling to the lowest depths, Bert also had a reason why he's still friends with him. Perhaps Aldrin had already forgotten it but he's the one who encouraged him to change himself from the fatty who had no direction in life to the business-driven guy of today.
"No. I knew you would think that. I'm not invincible. I'm aware of that. And I'm not a hero. But Bert, Renissa shielded us even if that's not her duty. She didn't hesitate to jump up and block the Ruin Monster to let us escape. Now that I might be able to help her, even if only to escape, I will do it. This isn't heroism, this is me wanting to help a former classmate and repay what she did for us."
Bert took a while to digest Aldrin's answer and upon focusing on his resolute expression, he could only sigh and accept that he wouldn't be able to change Aldrin's decision.
"Alright. I don't want to look like an ingrate. Just don't die out there, man. You finally got your chance to change your life. Don't waste it." Upon saying that, Bert began descending the ladder.
"Don't worry. You still have to give me fees for a hotel where I can sleep. I will be back with all my limbs intact." Aldrin answered as he waited for Bert to fully descend before closing the door to the Emergency Shelter.
And as soon as he did, Aldrin raised the phone that remained clutched in his hand.
As soon as the screen lit up and the IDLE Database's interface once again appeared before him, he quickly read the things missed earlier before tapping the shopping cart icon.
After converting the 170 IDLE Points to Dimensional Energy, he still has 300 IDLE Points to spend with.
And without hesitation, he used all 300 points to buy two Weapons and one piece of Armor.
The delivery time estimate was one second to one day. However, after being exposed to the bizarre things that the IDLE Database could do, Aldrin had built a certain trust that even if he's in a place ridden with Rift Monsters, what he bought would be successfully delivered to him.
He decided to wait for it upstairs so he began ascending while at the same time, reading the Concept Book that he received from the depths of his mind.
He put it at the back of his mind earlier. However, with the 'Summon Dimensional Clone' presented to him as a new feature to bring his Dimensional Clone out to the real world, it was not a coincidence that the IDLE Database granted the Concept to him…
After his awakening, he was supposed to become enlightened in the Shadow Clone concept.