Zachary was sitting behind a stand that had a ‘Magical Items Research Club’ banner hanging above it. He was talking to another student and both look bored. Victor looked around and noticed that there were no guest around. It was still early and most of the guests were still at the superpower area of the open house. Both students looked up in surprise when Victor stepped up to their stall. Victor was at a loss. He can’t just say ‘hey kid, I’m your grandfather’ right? What do you say at a time like this? No good suggestion came to mind, so Victor took the coward’s way out. He picked up one of the gadgets at the stall and pretended to examine it. It was a bar of metal with some sort of runes running through it. Zachary noticed this and immediately jumped up to explain the item.

“Sir, you have a good eye. This is the latest prototype our club made. We are researching a spell that increase the endurance and durability of metals.”

Everything came out in a rush, and Victor couldn’t help but chuckle at the kid’s nervousness. “You have a good eye? Kid, you’re not trying to sell me this, are you?”

Zachary looked embarrassed while his friend was trying his best not to laugh. Victor realized he had just embarrassed his grandchild in front of his friend. Not a great start to their relationship. He put down the bar of metal and gave the two students his best smile. Both stepped back in fear. Victor had been told he looked like a crazed madman when he smile. He quickly wiped the smile off his face and went for a stoic look.

“Not bad for your age, but spell items that has increased durability aren’t rare. I admit they are not common, but they are hardly unheard of. You kids should look into spells that have rarer function.”

“What do you mean sir?” Zachary’s friend asked and Victor had to think for a moment before answering.

“I once used a…an item that had a ‘heavy’ spell on it. When I hit something with it, the item deals more damage than normal. The only problem is that the spell didn’t last very long and it wasn’t…economical for the mage to keep casting the spell. If you guys can enchant items with a ‘heavy’ spell that could last for a while, you may be on to something.”

Zachary and his friend look at each other and Victor could see their minds were swirling with possibilities. Zachary recovered first.

“Thanks you for the advice sir. Are you a construction worker?”

No, I’m a villain, and the item I told you about was a hammer I used to break down the safe room of a family who own some bad people a lot of money. Victor wasn’t going to tell his grandchild any of that. The kid obviously didn’t know who Victor was and maybe that was for the best.

“I destroy things. Good luck kids.”

Victor turned to go and immediately saw a couple walking towards the stall. The woman was carrying a baby, and another message appeared to Victor.

Name: Jennifer Martinez-Woo

Relation: Daughter

Occupation: Cook/Waitress

Power: None

Attribute: None

Recommendation: Jennifer has no combat ability to speak of, but she is a decent cook. It is the System’s advice that this descendant focus on cooking as a career.

It was his daughter and from the look on her face, she knows who he is.

***

She had dreamt of this day. When she was young, Jennifer often wondered who her father was. She would often ask, but her mother would never tell her. One day, after a little too much to drink, she did, and Jennifer understood why her mother didn’t want to tell her.

Her father was a villain.

Worse, he was a joke of a villain. He wasn’t one of those supervillains who had great superpowers and tried to take over the world. No. He was nothing about a low-level henchman of a villainous group. The only notable thing about him was that his group had a candy theme going. He didn’t even have a superpower! He was merely a guy in a stupid costume; an all-white costume with a picture of a chocolate bar on his chest. He would say stupid things like 'Sweet Dreams' when he was fighting and goes by the villainous name of Sweet Fist. Sweet Fist? What a stupid name. He might as well be known as Henchman A or Henchman B. He was nothing but a cannon fodder for the heroes. He was an embarrassment! And now he was right in front of her.

“Hey kid, how’s it going?”

Jason’s greeting shook Jennifer out of her paralysis. She could only look on as her husband moved towards the stall Zachary was manning. Her legs refused to move. Her father walked towards her. He leaned close and asked softly.

“You know who I am?” Jennifer did not trust herself to talk. She could only nod at her father’s question.

“You know how we are related?” Another question from the villain, and another nod. Her father looked at the baby in her hand and he had a sad look in his eyes. “This is Xavier, right? He’s six months old?”

“You knew?” The question came to her lips before she could process it. After a moment of hesitation, her father nod and she knew. He knew who she was, and their relationship. Her mother told Jennifer she had never told her father about Jennifer as she was fearful of what he might do. Now it seems that he had always known and had chosen to stay away. That was good. That made things easier. She gathered what little courage she had, and for the first time in her life, spoke to her father.

“My husband doesn’t know. No one does. Everyone believes my father is dead. No one knows I am related to a … villain, and I don’t intend to tell them. Please leave. I … I don’t want to see you ever again.”

Her father stood still as a statue. His face was impassive, and Jennifer couldn’t read anything from it. She saw Zachary waving at her, wanting her to go towards his stall. She put on a fake smile and did so. Zachary immediately began talking about the various magical items his club has made, and after a minute of listening to the excited nonsense, Jennifer looked back.

Her father was gone.