Aberdeen City, 5 years ago
"That is 32,000 Eden dollars, sir." The friendly saleswoman said as she handed over the velvet-covered jewelry box.
She couldn't help but stare at the handsome man in admiration, though the latter only had his sexy cerulean eyes on the box and nothing else.
"Thank you," He said with that velvety baritone voice that softened the knees of all the women around. It was just that the cold atmosphere around him stopped anyone—even the most forward women—from approaching.
Helpless, the women could only swoon as he walked away, wondering who the lucky woman was to receive such heartfelt gift.
The clerk was especially aware of the sincerity of this gift because she knew that the payment was just for the chain—made of iridium, mind you. According to her boss, the man obtained the diamond himself.
Ah, how romantic~!
As he entered his car, Garan couldn't help but take another look at the bespoke pink bracelet on his palm.
It had a very delicate chain with intricate designs, the diamonds lined the strap every few millimeters, but not equidistant, adding a natural quaintness to its appearance.
He was already thinking how it'd look on her slender and graceful wrist.
He held the paper bag with a bit of anticipation in his otherwise apathetic eyes. He felt it was a great coming-home gift after nearly a month of absence.
Garan's job was incredibly risky and difficult, but the price was fair.
Whenever they took down criminal gangs, they actually received a lot of shares from the wealth they confiscated.
It was just that Althea had an independent personality and didn't want his money, especially since they were not married (yet).
So Garan could only save up for their married life and spend the rest just buying her gifts. If he could find rare seeds and plants, that was the best, but unfortunately that best friend of hers had better access in that area than he did.
In any case, due to the unfortunate nature of his job, he was often away from home. Him covering her up with (ideally wearable) gifts from him was his way of making her remember him everywhere. And also, they would serve as a declaration to other men.
His soldiers told him women liked jewellery. And through the years, he had given her almost all of the the rare varieties.
This one was particularly special as this was a rare pink diamond he found on a target mine, and there was nothing like it. Combined with the very rare platinum-metal iridium ore, this was his best one yet.
Hopefully, this particular accessory would fit her well.
His Althea was so wonderful, so beautiful, so smart, and so kind. It was very difficult to find a worthy gemstone for her.
But alas, when he finally gave it to her in a special dinner he arranged, he noticed that the pink gem paled when she wore it.
He frowned. Pity.
"Thank you." Althea said with an amused tilt to her voice, kissing his chin. "Why the long face?"
"Too expensive?"
He shook his head, retaining a serious expression on his face, eyes on the bracelet on her pretty arm.
"Nothing is too expensive for you, my love."
Instead of saying any more, he just wrapped his arms around her, feeling her warmth.
To be honest, even this rare gem didn't do her justice.
_____________________
10 Kilometers from Guia Village
The trio looked at the three stones blankly. Wordlessly, Garan took it and handed the other two each one.
Eagle looked bright while Gill was surprised. The former didn't think much and he just excitedly placed the beautiful stone inside his space.
[Level 3 Space Stone detected! Would you like to merge with your space?
Note: Capacity will halve upon merging.
Yes| No]
The capacity of the stone halves when merged with the personal space, but it was more secure. As a fighter, Eagle naturally chose the latter.
The moment he clicked 'yes', a change happened on the smoky holographic image in front of him.
The image of floating box, the pitiful 1 cubic meter that was his space, appeared in front of him. Then, a larger transparent box floated and superimposed against the image of the old box.
This transparent box had manoeuvrable arrows on each dimension. This meant that he could decide whether to enlarge the space horizontally, vertically, or both.
After a bit of manipulation, he saw that his space expanded from a pitiful 1 cubic meter to over 25, with dimensions of a bit over 3 meters by 4 meters, and a height of 2 meters, making it look like the size of a normal bedroom.
He grinned and looked at his two companions who, to his surprise, were just staring at the stones. He was a bit confused.
"Boss, you're not merging?" He paused, concluding an answer himself, "Oh, you're not planning to merge."
This was understandable. After all, unmerged level 3 stones should give about 50 cubic meters of space.
"It's not for me." Garan just said in that baritone voice of his.
Eagle, on the other hand, looked at him wondering who it was and if the captain would consider telling him.
Seeing this, Gill shook his head. Don't look at this guy's mature menacing face, he was more innocent than Luis.
Instead of enlightening this guy, Gill just gave his space stone the captain. "Take it. I didn't do anything more than the others. It would be unfair to the team."
Unlike Eagle, who had been the primary force of this rescue, he really didn't do more than the rest of them. Having such a precious item on him would definitely rouse a bit of jealousy to some of the others.
Garan raised an eyebrow and looked at him. Gill sighed, and forcefully placed the stone on the other man's palm.
"How many times you saved my life, boss, I couldn't count anymore. Please take it, it will keep me from feeling useless."
Garan looked at the two stones at hand, feeling complicated, but he accepted the kindness in the end.
His eyes brightened at the two stones in his hand.
Had he finally found it? He wondered.
'The perfect gift.'