Welcome Home

Luca picked a part of the barrier that was closest to the lake. Then, he was questioned by D-29 when he started dragging a small tub and several cups.

"Host, why are you bringing out containers?"

Luca was initially scooping water from the lake when D-29 asked him a question.

"I'm not sure how much energy the barrier will need or if I can stagger it. So, in case I can't, I planned to open it while leaving part of my body submerged in spiritual water."

"That is a wise idea, host!"

Luca hoped D-29 was right, but he'd much prefer not to use his backup methods.

With his tub and cups filled, Luca rolled his left pant leg up after removing his shoes to be in direct contact with the spiritual water. 

"Here goes nothing!"

With a lot of reluctance in his heart, Luca pressed his trembling hands against the surface of the barrier.

Then, to his surprise, a hologram with a bar appeared before him.

"D-29, I'm suddenly seeing a progress bar. Is this normal?"

"This would be the first time I am seeing that too, Host. But what remains of my manual says that should be okay."

Rather than shooting out his energy in a burst, Luca tried controlling the flow of his spiritual energy. He needed to ensure that the replenishing rate was at least on par with the rate at which he was using it.

His process wasn't elegant because he soon felt like he was being emptied out of his dismal reserves, only for the energy from the water to rush in when it happened. 

Luca felt like a sponge.

He didn't have the heart or energy to count the time, but by the time the progress bar was almost completed, Luca had only two more cups left and about an inch of water in the tub.

His knees felt wobbly, and he was partially dizzy, but he held on, seeing how close he was to completing the bar.

"Just a few more, Host! Please hang in there!"

Luca had no plans to quit; he just hoped his body wouldn't have its own set of plans.

*DING!*

[INPUT THRESHOLD REACHED]

[ACCESS GRANTED]

Then Luca witnessed the barrier crackling, finally dissolving with a satisfying *whoosh!*

"Congratulations, host! You've done it." D-29 celebrated excitedly before telling Luca that it had to look into any new developments.

Luca had no energy to stop D-29 and had to rest on the grass before checking on the newly opened space.

In reality, his space was more like his home. Luca actually spent most of his time here, albeit just with his consciousness towards the end of his first life. 

So, whilst he was tired and panting, he still couldn't stop grinning like a fool.

Because he could already smell it, even from here, he was being assaulted with the scent of fresh crops and livestock.

Luca staggered forward with a renewed sense of purpose, giddy, when he finally saw the familiar vast open fields dotted by different fruit trees.

Oranges, peaches, persimmons, mangoes, and pears. These were some of the fruit-bearing trees that lined his immediate vision.

These were the products of years and years of squirreling away the meager food provisions he got over time. When possible, Luca would plant the seeds or parts of the crops so he could have more of them later. 

Hunger would've been a constant issue if not for Luca's space. Because when he tried leaving out the food for later, the other kids would normally come to steal it.

But soon, they started wondering if he had been burying his things and food somewhere, as they could never find any traces of them.

Of course, that was because Luca would immediately hide them in his space.

Even his animals were obtained like this. The orphanage once was sponsored to go to a newly opened carnival, and some of the children luckily won painted chicks or little fish. 

They were the apple of the children's eyes for a time, but only briefly. Most children forgot about their new pets, with some just escaping from their enclosures unnoticed.

When Luca realized some would perish from being abandoned, he took them into his space and allotted a small area for them to graze on. 

He was hoarding everything he could get his hands on, not that there were many to begin with. 

This was especially true when he received a small amount of government aid after leaving the orphanage. Luca spent most of it buying things he could use or replant in his space.

That sounded fancy, but Luca only managed to get his hands on spices, condiments, and a few construction and gardening tools. 

His little cabin was even made with the tools he bought and the wood from his space. He built it slowly after reading a few books, so it looked lopsided and a bit crooked, but this had been his actual home for a long time.

Finally!

There were many things to check, so he went around inspecting his meager belongings; in particular, he wanted to see if his pill materials were still there.

If there was one thing he learned as a slave pill maker and the only one who could do it manually, it was asking for more raw materials than necessary.

The higher-ups only cared about guiding pills, forcing everyone to focus on producing that product.

His first attempt at following the instructions was clumsy, but he realized it was because the others added materials instead of using concentrated spiritual energy.

That would work, but the effect would be muddled. That was the secret to Luca's top-grade Guiding pills. 

He would never admit to that, though, so he imitated everyone else and ordered the same or more materials. After seeing his products, the higher-ups were more than happy to allow it.

So Luca used these materials to learn about the ancient art of pill making. 

His only solace from being too different was that the higher-ups didn't want to have monitoring equipment in his cell in case they were hacked. All they wanted to monitor was the number of pills he made and graded.

No one wanted the other countries to get wind of their money-making trade secret. So, for a time, Luca enjoyed his alone time with the books in a small lab.

His small workstation proved worth it. He's got a stock of pills in different grades as well as the compact equipment he managed to hide after pretending that it burned when the lab next to his cell was engulfed in a fire. 

In fact, he braved the fire to squander away everything he could from the other cell. 

Luca felt like things were now looking up for him. He wasn't an expert at making other pills, save for the Guiding pill, but in his current state, these were just perfect.