Jason’s teacher, Yerick, wore velvet pants, a red shirt and a black vest. His presence made Tenner’s skin crawl. Not because of the mechanical arms protruding from his back that were stacking an empty bookshelf to the brim with books. Not because of the gut that made one question how much food could a single person handle.

No, it was the memories of school -- teachers of any kind were an evil Tenner couldn’t ever get behind.

“Today as you know, dear Jason, is the beginning of your new program!” Yerick spoke, eyes fixed on the chairs hiding the kid. “By my approximation, your skills should rise at least fifty percent and you should get a level up once every month or two! Of course, for that, you will have to work like a hench.”

Now, the teacher’s gaze flicked to Tenner.

“Caretaker, you shall be assisting me in my job -- you will teach Jason everything in those books. I will examine his knowledge and the quality of your work. If Jason fails a single test, you will be punished. After all, it is the future of Realm 676 we’re working for.”

Tenner nodded, rolling his eyes. Yerick’s mechanical arms finished stocking the bookshelf and retracted with a creak, freezing along his back. The teacher handed Tenner a chip and raised an eyebrow.

Tenner turned it on. It was the program. All the things Jason would have to learn. An absurd amount of things, to be correct.

Yerick left and Tenner fell into a seat in silence, sighing. Why does the life of a kid of one of the world’s most powerful masterminds have to be so complicated? Jason emerged from under the table, sighing as well.

“I think you understand why I hid,” Jason said, looking with contempt at the bookshelf.

Someone knocked on the door.

“Again?” Tenner snapped.

“It’s seven thirty. That means it’s the chef. He’s better than Yerick -- he’s bringing recipes. As the caretaker, you’re gonna have to cook for me.”

A terrible migraine split Tenner’s head open. He slumbered over to the door and opened it. A skinny man--built like a stick with a conscience--strode in, holding a crate as big as half of him. He turned in one direction, he turned in another, his hair--white as his suit--flailing around. As he turned, the crate swung towards a vase.

Tenner’s body reacted before him: he jumped, grabbed it and placed it a meter away. The chef turned again, the crate swung once more and now the overcrowded bookshelf was at risk.

The crate bumped in, but Tenner held the shelf in place.

“Where is everyone? Who opened the damn door for me?” The chef said, apparently blinded by his crate.

Tenner stopped behind him and pushed him into the middle of the penthouse, where he could no longer hurt furniture.

Oh aces, I wouldn’t let this lunarist anywhere near a kitchen with knives and boiling pots and pans.

Tenner pushed the crate to the side, appearing in the chef’s field of view.

“Hello, hello, new caretaker, why were you hiding from me! I bring no horrors, just the joys of good food.” The chef dropped the crate. The room rocked and he opened the lid. First out was a humongous blob of pink dough. “I learned in my stay in the most of cultured Realm in the land--66, of course--that the most important ingredient for a youngling’s level ups is Shimara. It is, at heart, like the dough of any land, but once you get to know it better, you find an incredible character, bites that give young Jason 10 EXP, 5 HP, and most importantly, regeneration for an hour.”

If I was born a fortunate son and had all these servants and advantages… What level would I be now? What Extensions, weapons and contracts would I have? Would Blackglove even be a problem?

As the thoughts unraveled, Tenner’s gaze lost focus. Blackglove has all these advantages too. I’m not safe here. I can’t rest for a single second--

“Caretaker, caretaker, is everything okay?” The chef crouched in front of Tenner, waving in front of his face. “No normal person with a soul and a heart chooses to look at the floor instead of this… this… masterpiece!”

“Just had a crushing realization,” Tenner muttered.

“Ah.” The skinny chef jumped to his feet, bending over into the crate. He emerged with, by the looks of it, three sticks of red chocolate. “Here, caretaker. Life is hard. And so is this Chocolate Pine. But with every bite, every drop of saliva, the crystals inside explode, flooding your mouth with sweetness. To compensate for the pain!”

Tenner took the Chocolate Pine and licked it. Damn. It was really good. The chef smirked. Tenner’s muscles eased and he could forget worries of a feud with the most powerful bounty hunter in existence for a second. He liked this chef. Way too skinny, though, considering his adoration of food.

The chef explained each and every ingredient in Jason’s diet. Tenner listened closely, noting which meals the kid had on what day. With even more attention, he memorized what food was the best for HP and EXP.

Plants and greenery -- that’s the ultimate source of HP. The dominating plants of the flora world--the trees that swallow entire forests, the flowers that glow in the night, the mushrooms that withstand laserpistol blasts--have an immense lifeforce, ready to be released with every bite. And EXP came from… Well, the chef didn’t really know. The meals that gave EXP were random and one had to memorize a list of them.

At last, the chef took out a knife. It glimmered. And reflected Tenner’s face, whose jaw parted. It was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful feats of craftsmanship Tenner had witnessed.

[Weapon: Foodmaster’s Knife

Damage: 50 - 250]

Tenner sat down and gaped at the beautiful weapon. The chef was grinning from eye to eye.

“Yes, yes, caretaker, this is now yours.” He held the blade and pointed it at Tenner. “I’ve put together many a fine meal with the help of this metal, but I give this too you anyway. Many better cleavers await in my kitchen.”

Tenner reached for it, snatched and… The chains around his wrists jangled and strained, and held his hands in place. The Foodmaster’s Knife was a weapon, after all. And Tenner couldn’t trust himself with a weapon.

The chef looked sideways at Tenner. He put the knife on the table.

“I’ll leave this here for when you’re ready to cook. And I must leave myself now. But these are not bad circumstances to be left alone: at the pinnacle of The Sky’s Eye with a pile of fine food.” The chef patted Jason’s head and shook Tenner’s hand.

Tenner turned to the kid.

“Any more?”

“What sort of a question is that? Until midday, there will be another servant every half an hour: maids, stylists, doctors and anyone you can imagine.”

“Do you even like dealing with them?”

“Well, I like the chef. The others shouldn’t even bother knocking.”

For once, Tenner wholeheartedly agreed. Half the day passed in an instant with meeting after meeting with servant after servant. In the afternoon, knowing the kid’s whole schedule and every facet of life, he slumbered over to the bookshelf that Yerick had filled at the beginning of the day. And took the first textbook.

Tenner groaned. Squiggles, odd letters and long, complicated numbers. He understood none of it. Why was the kid learning math? He should be taught… bounty hunter theory! And how to fire a laserpistol -- Tenner could certainly teach that.

Jason sat on a chair around the table and Tenner sat opposite him. He put the book down, trying to understand the otherworldliness. Then, an idea shot to his head.

[Predator has succeeded! Manipulating being’s perception…]

Time crawled to a halt and the world disappeared. Only the void, the table and the book remained. He delved into the pages, starting to read. The pages flipped and the hours passed. Tenner started wrapping his head around the theories. More time flew by and he understood them in and out.

[Congratulations! Gained perk: The Physics’ Brain I ]

[Congratulations! Gained perk: Your New Teacher I ]

A roar from the depths of the surrounding void shattered his concentration.

“How much longer are you gonna be staring into the book?” It was Jason. A minute had passed in the real world. “Do you even understand anything there? Your Intelligence is not that high…”

Tenner’s eyes widened. He pushed the textbook off the table and cleared his throat.

“What’s the Realm Structural Support Formula and how can it be inverted to apply to levita physics?” Tenner snapped, activating [The Physics’ Brain] and [Your New Teacher].

Jason’s face was blank. The ghost of a smirk appeared. And he repeated the three-line-long headache of a formula. This kid’s not only hungry for bounty hunter adventures… He’s a genius!

“Wrong.” Tenner shook his head. “X squared.”

And thus, they learned. Four or five hours passed, after which, the kid slumbered over to his giant bedroom, hopped in his double bed and went out cold in an instant. Tenner’s brain was fried. So cooked, to the very core, that he couldn’t even fall asleep as he tossed and turned for an hour.

I’ve gotta try something else, he thought, getting out of bed. He stopped at the window overlooking Realm 676. He remembered the heinous crimes going down on the streets. All the innocent dying for no reason. And, no matter how safe he felt, Blackglove was on his trail, lurking behind any corner. He couldn’t waste his precious time sleeping.

He looked at the chains around his wrists. And at his fists.

I can do enough damage with these.