Kaelen took a trolley from the lot and looked up towards the signs in the supermarket
The Supermarket itself was quite large but it was currently empty; the people in the surrounding area were either looking at the corpses of the nightmare creature or are still hiding in their homes, unsure if it was safe
In fact, the supermarket gate had only been opened once the sounds of battle had stopped and Kaelen was 90% sure there was an underground bunker room behind the cash register but he could not prove it
He took the trolley and started to move—' What should i spend the credits on?'
He could use quite a bit of the credits on the card, and even if he went over what he had given enough for, he could pay Jim with the dormant soul shards he had, and he had A LOT.
And right now alone he had 5000 credits, which was the equivalent of 500 loaves of bread—but of course he was not going to spend it all on bread
The first aisle he walked to was the aisle with all the spices
There were large packets and small ones as well—he naturally took the largest ones
First was fine salt—1 kg was worth 8 credits and he took 24 bags of it—roughly, if used daily, a single kg of salt was enough to season food for 4 people for an entire month given the quantity of food being seasoned
So - he took enough for a year and more
The next was pepper, turmeric powder, chili powder and some other spices in the same quantity for roughly the same price
'Damn... 960 credits on spices alone... well, it's better than eating unseasoned food.'
He did not regret the purchase.
He walked over to the vegetable aisle and saw a bunch of vegetables that looked similar but also odd and the reason was not difficult to understand
They would have needed to genetically alter the vegetables and fruits to grow in the harsher conditions—but he was not here for the vegetables; rather, he was here for the seeds
Kaelen grabbed a few packets of various fruit and vegetable seeds, placing it into the trolley—there was something he knew would work, and he couldn't wait to get it done
Carrots, potatoes, mint, apples, bananas, lemons, oranges, and a whole lot of other seeds. 25 different kinds in total
The total price coming to 625 credits
He turned and saw the place where the meat was kept but he ignored it—they would have plenty of nightmare creature meat to eat on the forgotten shore
Next he walked over to where cutlery was located
He threw 4 large flasks into the trolley that had a cup-like lid, then he placed 4 plates and saucers and bowls along with the cheapest pot and pan he could find—he also placed spoons, forks and knives into it too
That ate up 910 credits
'Still a little over 2500 credits left.'
He smiled and walked over to the next aisle—this aisle had the teabags, coffee, sugar, and such
Looking back at his trolley he saw that it was completely full so he moved it and left it next to the cashier and quickly moved to take another and moved back
He placed 5 10kg bags of sugar into the trolley worth 300 credits, as well as several boxes of tea and several containers of coffee totaling another 300
He moved and left this trolley back as well since both the top and bottom compartments were fill too
'1900 Credits left ...'
He walked over to where the loaves of bread were and threw all 50 loaves on the shelf onto another trolley, and moved it back in order to not smush them.
Now there was 3 trolleys at the counter, and he still had 1400 credits left
He continued the process and eventually had 5 trolleys there and was now on his last one
He moved with another trolley and got a few bottles of dilutable juice and placed it in his trolley, and then he was walking around when he saw the snacks aisle
'...Well, I bought everything I wanted, and i still have a 1200 credits left.'
He moved through the aisle placing various things into it—gummies, hard candies, bubblegum, biscuits, chips—he placed large quantities of it into his trolley till it was poring over
He got to a specific part of the aisle and saw something that made him undergo a realization.
An answer to a question he had
Picking up several packets of marshmallows, he kept it in the trolley and moved to leave it back with the rest
"Are you trying to buy my store?" The cashier who had already begun scanning the items chuckled
Kaelen returned it and began to leave things on his table—"Sorry, but I assure you these are all important."
The man looked at the marshmallows and raised an eyebrow—"You planning a party or something?"
Kaelen shook his head
"More like going on vacation."
The man looked at Kaelen properly and underwent a realization—"You're awakened?"
Kaelen did not want to explain anything again so he just nodded and went along with it
The man smiled kindly and reached under his desk, pulling out a bunch of packets to put the items in
"Ah no, it's okay; I'll take care of it." Kaelen stopped the man and brought out the satchel
The man whistled—"You awakened some nifty memories, huh?"
"Yeah, it takes a lot to get them, though."
The man nodded, helping Kaelen place everything into the seafarer's satchel he left on the table. once they were done, Kaelen's eyes widened as he saw the amount it totaled to
7500 credits
'Damn, I'm going to have to pay that guy more shards.'
Those extra trolleys he took were definitely taking their toll.
He handed the man the card and it was paid for—the man handed it back and waved him bye
Kaelen returned the gesture and walked out
...
Making his way back to the group Kaelen saw them waiting in the vehicle—the corpses were all gone as were the transport trucks
"I hope you didn't clear out my card." Jim chuckled
Kaelen returned it nervously and opened the satchel, flipping it around and willed for 50 dormant soul shards to fall into the car, filling up his lap along with the other 50 awakened shards
"Well, never mind then."
Malisa turned around from the front seat. "Did you get everything you wanted?"
"Yeah, most of it at least."
"Most? She asked curiously
"Yeah, I wanted an outfit, but there were no clothes in there."
She looked at him and smiled, reaching out and touching his arm
[You have received a memory: Scale Hide]
"Huh?" Kaelen said, surprised.
"I got it from the dormant monsters; it's too weak and isn't armor. You can keep it, a token for your help." She smiled
He had paid for the credits he used so technically this could count for the credits that he was supposed to get for helping
"Thank you," Kaelen bowed slightly
She laughed—"No problem, and good luck with your trip to the dream realm—not that you seem to need it."
Kaelen smiled and waved goodbye, waiting and watching as they drove away in the PTV
Once they were out of sight he turned and began to walk back to the station
It was quite late now and in about 30 or so minutes the sun would set
If Kaelen were to run, he would make it back to the police station within minutes but he had no reason to do so, nor did he have any reason to take the alleys or house hop
So his walk was slow and gave him enough time to plan out his course of action for the next few hours as well as the next day and even a little bit regarding what would come in the future
A strand of his hair fell on his face blocking his eyes and he placed it behind his hair.
'Should I have bought a hair band?'
He felt he should have but sighed and continued to walk—he had bought almost everything he wanted and a hairband was not something he thought about at the time
As he walked, the sun began to set, and the streetlights kicked on, illuminating the sides of the roads, including where he was walking.
He placed his hands into his pocket and walked down the street and, after about 35 minutes, reached the police station—it was as quiet as when he left
Walking into the doors he took the stairs going down to the basement level and looked around. Sunny was still strapped to the chair and Jet was sitting on her own—her eyes were fixated on the communicator
'Do those things have games?' Kaelen thought. It looked similar to a cellphone but he doubted that any awakened were going to be playing a game
"How was your little excursion?" Jet asked, seemingly sensing his presence not even turning around
'Right, Ascended senses.' He realized
"It was pretty nice; I went shopping, actually," He said with a smile
Jet paused, her hands lowering—"Huh?"
Kaelen summoned the satchel and placed his hand inside, pulling out a bag of chips, and threw it at her—"Do you want something to eat?"
Jet grabbed the chips and smiled—"No, this is good—thanks." She popped open the packet and smelt the spicy sweet aroma
Kaelen smiled and turned away—"I'm going to go get some rest."
Jet had already thrown a chip into her mouth, just nodding as she turned to her communicator
'Well, it's good she is enjoying her little break.'
Kaelen smiled walking back up the stairs to the second floor and threw himself onto the bed, instantly closing his eyes but he did not go to sleep just yet
But for now he was in his soul sea.
Kaelen walked over to the beast that was lying down on the soft grass. He walked over quickly before it woke up and charged at him again
"Hey, pup." He said, lying down on the tree beside it
The beast woke up and moved towards him, lying down in the same direction his legs were pointing with its head on his lap; it began to emit a sound that Kaelen assumed was satisfaction
"I picked out a name for you." He said, patting its head slowly.
Its fur was soft and the spikes that he had seen on its body seemed to have been either retracted or made not hard anymore.
It opened its eyes and angled its head to look at his eyes, tilting it in curiosity
"I wanted to go with something threatening like Reaper or Striker..." He stroked its head gently and placed a kiss on its forehead
"But even if you look scary, you're still cute—so I thought about calling you Marshmallow."
Silence
The abomination looked at him and then licked his face before lying back on his lap and nuzzling into it—"Well, I guess that settles it."
He was unsure if the beast was content with the name or simply did not care enough.
But it had already been decided
Kaelen had just named the first existence created by the first breath, a being that shared his incredibly disasterous abilities, a horrifying abomination.
Marshmallow