Stepping out of the butcher shop and having purchased what she needed, Alicia held Theron as they turned to walk the direction home. Both mother and son though weren't aware they were secretly monitored.
Passing by stores and vendors' stands on the way, they don't realize that every now and then, a shop owner, a salesperson or a passerby is discreetly keeping an eye out for their surroundings. Their stealth skills while undercover were superb, not even an observant person with a sharp mind like Theron couldn't discover them. Clearly, Brice and Ulise were not the only ones stationed in the area watching out for their young miss's safety.
Oblivious to them like he was before, Theron had other things occupying his thoughts as he walked with his Alicia back.
Bringing the suspicious and possible threat of "mister Gren" - who was strongly hiding his inner thoughts under a false amiable mask - back for careful consideration, Theron was starting to feel a sense of urgency.
Although this world was completely different than his original one, the dangers existing in every corner of a life were about the same, ever-present, if not even more profound. If his instincts proved to be correct, "mister Gren" for instance was just one of the many.
He had a second chance in life now, with a caring and warm family keeping him company. He wouldn't be helpless again, watching his family die before his eyes unable to do anything to prevent their deaths.
Using his knowledge and expertise from his previous life and the amazing energy crystals of this world, starting from "mister Gren", he will ensure no dangers befall him or those he cared about.
But to do that, he first needed tools to start his experiments and try out the ideas he had come up with so far.
Thinking along those lines he continued walking along with Alicia under the watchful eyes of the disguised ones
After passing by an undercover salesperson swiping the floor in front of a pottery shop, a general goods store from across the street came into Theron's view. Something in it had coincidently caught his eye and he stopped abruptly.
The sudden change in her son's behavior didn't escape Alicia's notice, who stopped as well while wondering what happened to her son.
Looking down at him, she saw him staring at a general goods store on their left.
"What is it, little Teri?" She gently asked, not concerned at all by the otherwise weird behavior. This was just how her adorable son was.
After hearing Alicia, Theron quickly averted his eyes from what had caught his attention but didn't answer straight away nor brushed it off so they could continue walking.
Taking another glance towards the store he quickly thought of his options.
So far, he has only asked for books to enrich his knowledge of this world. Although it was weird for a four years old child to have already read so many books and keep requesting more, he made sure to pave the way beforehand to not seem as suspicious as he would have.
Now though, he didn't make any earlier preparations to request the item he saw, putting a considerable amount of risk if he went ahead and asked for it.
But, considering the dangers that had already started appearing before him, taking the risk in requesting for it outright more than worth it. If what he could see from this far was indeed suitable for his purposes, he couldn't pass up today's opportunity.
So, he went ahead and asked. "Mom, can we go closer over there?"
"Hm?" Alicia voiced out. "You mean over to that general goods store?" she asked after following the direction her son was pointing.
"Yes!"
"Little Teri, did you see something you liked?" Alicia asked. Theron finding something of interest would be the only reason why he would want to go over. Her brilliant son doesn't do or ask for pointless things.
"Yes!"
"Sure, little Teri, why not. We can spare a few minutes before we head home." of course, she wouldn't deny her son this little request.
After Alicia agreed, they walked together across the street to the general goods store.
When they stopped right outside of it, Theron could see the item on display through the store's glass in more detail and what he saw greatly pleased him.
Just past the store's display glass, on a low showcase, an unfolded leather tool case with its tools inside was displayed.
Its leather was of timber brown color, and it was without a doubt expertly processed with a shine on its surface that almost felt surreal.
There were six tools securely strapped inside in total. Their same steel alloy material and dark brown wood handles identified them to be of the same set, crafted together. But their shapes could not be more different.
Starting from the right, there was a sharp carving tool, its pointy end as thin as a flower's stem. One small knife with a long handle, a double-edged blade and curved like a hook was next to it, while right after there was a tool with a spherical bulbous end, perfect for pulverizing.
Next to that there was a tool fully made of the steel alloy without a handle, resembling laboratory or surgery tweezers. A scraping tool with a thick blade followed, while lastly a small double-headed hammer completed the set.
They were more or less a mixture of tools for different occupations, with each one of them having their own purpose, their own specialty of use. Honestly, Theron didn't know what the point of this set's existence was, as it seemed more like a jack of all trades no one would want to buy than a specialized product of the tools' broad family.
While not the preferred choice of purchase for a specialist artisan, the set was ideal for Theron. It was perfect with its tools' wide variety of usages; perfectly fitting his immediate needs.
He was already envisioning them in his hands, pulverizing the crystals to fine glittering dust and carving the linear and complex paths for their processed form to follow, or scraping the edges of the mekron crystals off to fit the specifications for the experiments he devised. Hammering away to form the frames and bases of his multitude ideas, while executing delicate and precise actions with the tweezers in hand and drops of sweat dripping from his forehead.
That was an engineer's perfect paradise; to innovate and create.