Morning the next day…

“What do you think?” I was currently next to a tree that had a rock pierced through it. With the use of my imagination, I made the rock brown and had it curled a bit to look like a tree branch. This was one of many I had already created. Some just looked like rocks jutting out of the ground, while others went through trees. Each one had a stone micro-mesh covering the holes that allowed for air intake. The micro-mesh was more of a screen to keep insects and wild animals from entering the holes. It was thin yet strong since I took the idea of graphene and applied it to this using stone. Although I layered it a few times to make sure it would do the job properly. If I had to do this by hand, I would cry, but luckily, this was easy to do with my earth manipulation skill.

“I think it looks fine. You even made the bark on the stone branch so someone would actually need to climb the tree and touch it to realize it was not wood.” Jen seemed quite amazed.

“This system thing is quite the cheat. But because of this system, I will be able to protect those I love and care about.” I was really amazed at what I could do. With this alone, my base was basically done. Now, I just needed ten blast doors thirty inches thick. 

To get those…. “Looks like I will need to rob a few banks….” I was not sure of the thickness of a bank vault door, but I hoped it would be enough unless I could find a place that did blast doors locally, which I highly doubt. But…. Now that I was thinking about it, I could probably make my own with metal manipulation. 

“Ai! Please do not do that!” Jen yelled out. I turned and looked at her in surprise. Normally, this girl would not say so much, never mind yelling out loud, so this really shocked me. 

“Don’t worry; I won’t. I just thought of a better idea anyways.” If I made them myself, not only could I create a perfect door that fit my current setup, but I could also weaponize it. I was not worried about people finding this place at this time since I had the ability to seal up the entrance, but when it came down to it, and someone did discover it, it would be a good idea to have some acid sprayers and phase lasers installed on each door. 

Of course, the entire area would also have such weapons installed as well but that will take a bit more time. I first needed to create phase energy, which would not appear for another ten years. 

“I hope not….” Jen pursed her lips and looked at me with questioning eyes. It seemed she was a little wary of me actually doing it still.

“I plan to make my own doors, so it’s fine. My mother already texted me earlier and told me she and my dad would be gone for the week. So, let’s seal things up here and head back. I will grab the money she left, and we can go get a nice hot meal.” Canned food was good and all, but after living off it for twenty years, I would really like to have some real food while I can.

I sealed up the entrance to the base and marked it on the GPS on my phone. This way, we would not lose our way when we returned. This place was quite good. It was far from the roads and took a few hours to get to from the main road. 

We hiked back and headed to the bus stop just in time to catch the next bus. I had another reason for going back tonight, and that was because I needed metal. There was a junkyard not far from my house, so I planned to go and take everything I could tonight. 

By the time we got home, it was already dark. We had already stopped to get a pizza. We got the meat lovers special since I was craving meat. Jen was not picky with food, so she let me choose what we got. 

“Jen, I will be leaving for a few hours tonight.” I suddenly said as I bit into my pizza. Jen’s hand paused as she turned to look at me.

“I can’t go with you?” I could tell she was already getting depressed.

    “Not this time. I am sneaking into a junkyard tonight. While I know I can make it in myself since I have trained for this stuff and my system boosts my physical abilities. I can not say the same if I were to bring you along this time around. Once you have trained more, you will be following me everywhere, so do not think I am trying to be mean, please. I just do not want to endanger you until you are ready.” I really was not trying to be mean to her. The Jen, of now, was not ready for such tasks. 

“Okay….” Jen lowered her head and took a bite of her pizza. 

I sighed and scooted over next to her, and hugged her waist. “I do not want to leave you alone, but right now, I need you to be safe until you have trained enough. Later on, you will be doing these exact things with me almost every night when it is time to stock up on things. We will not only be breaking into stores but also many other places.”

“Okay…” Jen nodded and leaned against me. I knew Jen was most afraid of being left alone. I hated leaving her like this, but I had to get everything I needed. I hugged her tight and kissed her cheek and only then did I see her lips curl up slightly. One of these days, I might just go in for a real kiss. I do not think she will reject it but I was still worried that she would.