Nick and I walk to the main building to buy supplies for the job. I think it is ridiculous that members of the guild have to buy supplies from the guild they work for. I get it, nothing in life is free, but we don’t even get discounts. I think it is because the guild master is an Avatar of Chaos, so we the employees get screwed over like the customers. 

Complaining about work aside, walking in Utopia summer afternoon is pure torture. The walk to the main building is about twenty minutes away from Blue Ink. Due to the overwhelming heat, it feels like an hour. 

Each step feels like the building is moving away from us instead of getting closer. It’s an illusion created by a mixture of heatwaves, mana, and Chaos Energy that hangs around in the air. Chaos Energy is a natural energy that is found in the Chaos Dimension and can be controlled and used by Chaos Acolytes. Every member of Millennium is Chaos Acolytes, minus Frankie and his older sister.

Since Nick and I are both Chaos Acolytes, we have some immunity to the illusions. It’s not one hundred percent immunity, but we’re not seeing purple dinosaurs in the middle of the parking lot.

Millennium is not just a guild, but some sort of weird mixture of a guild and a supermall. It has a bookstore ( I buy manga and American graphic novels there), a grocery store, a pretzel restaurant (I like it), a cinnamon restaurant (their food is too sweet for my tastebuds), and some ethnic restaurants that I have never been to. There’s a bar too, but that’s only for employees. Even though it’s a bar, most of the teenagers that work for Millennium hang around there. It’s a fun place to chill and talk to friends and watch a fight or two. 

Most of the stores here cater to adventurers, they have five weapon stores, three magic stores, four armor stores, a specialty clothing store, and an item store. Why do items get only one store? I couldn't tell you, If I would have to guess, it’s because the master wants to drive up the prices of the good items. You have the basic potions that heal physical injuries. Potions that replenish energy (some call it ki) and mana and potions that do both. The latter is popular among the pro adventurers, leaving the amateurs to buy different potions individually.

But as an amateur, you can’t carry all of those potions in a normal bag. So you are forced to buy a magical bag with a larger inventory. I hope you are picking up what I am putting down. It’s just a scheme so the guild can squeeze more money out of their members.

Nick and I manage to make it to the main building in under five minutes. We didn’t run there, but we did walk a bit faster than usual. 

“Do you think that chick back there was telling the truth?” Nick asks me.

“You’re talking about the Phoenix Crystals?”

“Yeah, this is the first time I heard about them. Do you think she’s telling the truth?”

“She is. I read about them while I was studying magic.”

I don’t mention that one of my past lives had searched for them because she needed to save her village from a drought that lasted for months. Her name was Aya and she was able to find them with the help of the Infinity and was able to save her village at the cost of her life. 

I don’t care about any of my past lives any more than a person doesn’t care about their random ancestors. 

“You think Frankie will let us get a wish once we find them all?”

I shake my head.

“We would have a better chance at playing and winning the lottery.”

“I can dream right.” Nick falls silent as he ponders what to say next.

We take the escalator to the second floor where the item shop is located. I hope they still have Elixirs, the potions that heal wounds and energy. 

“Maybe we can use them without Frankie knowing we did it.” Nick spits out.

“You’re delusional if you think Frankie won’t know about it?”

“How Yugi? It’s not like he has eyes everywhere. He’s not going to find out.”

“Were you sleeping for the past eight years or something, Nick? Frankie always finds out, we shouldn’t even attempt.”

Nick scoffs and shakes his head. It’s not like I don’t want to use the Phoenix crystals, I just know that we will be stopped the instant we collect all of them. I don’t know how Frankie will know, but he will and we would get in trouble. If I was allowed to use three wishes, I would wish for: every video game that was ever created,  unlimited cash, and probably a big mansion to put all of the new stuff I will buy.

“What would you wish for if you got the chance?” I asked Nick as we reached the item store.

“Cash, cars, and a mansion.” 

“We both have the same wish, minus one thing.”

“Great men think alike.”

Frankie gave us a five hundred dollers budget to work with. That may look low, but you can get a lot of items with that amount. Unfortunately, they were out of elixirs so I had to buy normal potions and ether (potions that replenish energy), twenty each.

This is mostly for Gwen anyways, as Nick and I possess Ultimate Force. We can heal from any wounds, but it doesn't replenish lost energy. We have to rely on the old fashion way to do that, which isn’t hard to do at all. Just rest after doing any physical activity and eat some food and you’re good to go. 

With the remaining money, we bought some Emergency Food Rations, also known as EFRs. EFRs are food rations that adventurers use when they are in the field. They come with a complete meal consisting of a main dish, side dish, dessert, bread or crackers, cheese spread, peanut butter or jelly, powdered beverage drink (sports drink is the worst), utensils, and a heating pad that uses alchemy.

It comes with accessories as well, but I won’t dwell on those. It comes with 24 varieties of meals, but they are all gross in my opinion. The best of the worst is the spaghetti and meat sauce followed by the pizza. 

I reach out to grab a few packs but Nick stops me with his voice.

“Don’t grab that kind! Get the spicy beef!”

I don’t want to argue so I did what he suggested. But I was able to sneak some spaghetti packs when Nick was not looking.