Expansion

After the integration of the heart of the world tree into Puppet, Aura checked on the status of their potion sales.

"Ariel, I told you the potions would sell out fast."

Ariel looked at the screen and quickly did some math, shocked by the results. "That's a thousand kilograms of spirit jade!"

Aura nodded, "We need to expand our operations to meet the demand, just you making potions isn't enough."

"Who should we hire then?"

"I've already contacted him, he should accept my offer."

Elsewhere, a white haired man was examining a green liquid, trying to figure out the inner workings of it. He heard a knock outside his door, breaking his concentration. He looked over, and seeing it was his assistant, unhappily said, "Matthew, what is it? I told you I was in the middle of an important experiment."

"Dr. Benedict, a letter came that you might be interested in. It says it's from Starlight Pharmaceuticals."

The doctor quickly stood up. The name Starlight Pharmaceuticals was a big question mark. It had released a groundbreaking potion that day, in fact the same one currently sitting on his desk, but no one had heard of it prior. The company had seemingly emerged from no where.

"Hand it to me!" Dr. Benedict opened up the unassuming envelope and read the document inside. The message was simple, if the doctor was interested in working for Starlight Pharmaceuticals, he should follow the included instructions, followed by steps that seemed like gibberish and some alien looking pictures.

He felt that the instructions were insulting his intelligence, but he was interested in the company, so he did the nonsense in the letter. His disdain turned to shock when he felt the changes. Part of his energy felt drained, and a shining blue figure, looking like the figure drawn in the letter, appeared in his head.

He followed the last step written in the instructions and sank his conciousness into the rune. His shock turned even deeper when he felt messages appearing in his mind. The two great mysteries that scientists were stumped on currently were mana, the new energy that appeared on Earth, and the mental feedback that appeared in people's heads that could reveal information when urged. Somehow, Starlight Pharmaceuticals had managed to replicate the effects of this mental feedback. Dr. Benedict calmed himself and read through the text transmitted through the rune.

Before inviting the doctor, Aura had already made preparations for expansion. As the soul network grew, the energy needed to sustain it would likewise increase. To prepare for that eventuality, he exported the parent rune from his soul to an external core he had made, powered by spirit jade instead of his soul force. He also created the basic framework for the network. In his previous life, he hadn't studied the construction of soul networks much, so he could only create the most basic framework. In essence, it was like a building with floors. Each floor held information, but one could only access it if they had sufficient permissions. Before being added to the network, the strictest soul contract would have to be signed, preventing one from divulging confidential information unless they wanted to face death. If their soul was strong enough, the backlash would cause permanent damage.

Aura smiled as he saw the doctor had created the rune and was reading through the soul contract. Dr. Benedict had been a famous alchemist and researcher in his previous life, making many significant discoveries. After enough time had passed for the doctor to read it, he sent a message to the the doctor through his thoughts.

"Hello, Doctor Benedict. You should have read through the contracts. One is a soul contract to ensure you don't disclose any information and one is your employment contract. Do you have any questions?"

Hearing the voice transmitted to his head, the doctor was startled, then replied mentally, "Aren't the terms too harsh? Death if I reveal information to unrelated parties?"

"These are security measures. I'm sure you can understand."

The doctor paused, thinking. He would be lying if he wasn't tempted. The employment benefits were too attractive to him. The good pay was secondary. He wanted to explore this new world, to uncover the secrets of monster training. By joining

he was sure he would have access to things he couldn't get elsewhere, just looking at the potion and the soul network.

He took a deep breath and signed the contracts. He had a slight feeling of being constricted before it faded away.

"I'll leave you to look through the information you currently have access to. You can start working tommorow."

In his backyard, next to the two members of his team hard at work training, Aura smiled, then joined them. The next few days were uneventful for them, and Ariel gradually got used to directing her Cleansing Bubblefish. Aura was also satisfied with the skyrocketing experience count of Puppet.

He directed the doctor to build a laboratory in a small town in the middle of nowhere and hire some workers to help produce potions. Seeing the increasing supply of experience booster potions, the monster trainer community was happy and the potions soon became a must have for many wealthy trainers.