— Meanwhile – Maximilian House —
On the second floor, a group of men lay on their backs on the wooden floor, panting heavily, their bodies drenched in sweat. Their training clothes were soaked through and wet to teh point that if they were to squeeze it, their sweat would have squeezed out.
The group was Ricardo and his gang members, who had come to Maximilian's house for training.
"Haaaaahh! Hufff! God… I've never been this tired before," one of the gang members panted.
Maximilian glanced at the clock on the wall; it was already noon. He clapped his hands to get their attention.
"Alright, it's lunchtime boyz. Come downstairs, I've prepared food for you guys."
"Ah! Finally! I'm starving. I feel like I could eat a whole f*cking lamb right now!" one of Ricardo's men exclaimed, rubbing his stomach. The other agreed with light laughter and nodded in agreement.
Maximilian smiled and led the group to the first floor. There, they saw rows of food full of healthy meals awaited them. While Ricardo and his gang were doing self-training; practicing repeated air kicks and punches to learn the basics and correct posture. Maximilian had taken that time to prepare food for them.
The gang was stunned by the spread laid out on the table.
Rows of plates were filled with healthy meals ideal for post-workout recovery. Each plate had grilled chicken breast, brown rice, avocado, broccoli, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Except for Ricardo, the gang immediately turned toward Maximilian with faces that clearly said, "Are you serious?"
"Your bodies are still fit, but years of alcohol and smoking have weakened you. And you're no use to me if you're weak. So stop whining and eat already. We've got a full afternoon of training scheduled after a short rest," Maximilian said with a hint of irritation.
Ricardo didn't say a word, he simply began eating the food Maximilian had prepared. Seeing their leader eat without complaint, the rest of the gang followed suit. Then… after their first bite, their eyes sparkled, and they began devouring the food.
"Mm! The chicken is so juicy! I never thought healthy chicken could taste this good!" one of them said.
"I thought avocado would be bland and mushy, but this is just right! And the light seasoning is amazing!" another chimed in.
Ricardo didn't say anything, but the faint smile on his lips said it all, he was thoroughly satisfied with this unexpected treat. He knew the food was good for them and healthy, but in his experience, most healthy meals on the market were bland. Only a rare few came close to the quality of this homemade cooking.
As for Maximilian, who had been cooking for his family for over ten years, this was something he was confident in. Beyond cooking, he was also well-versed in brewing coffee and tea, and even excelled at latte art. He had once dreamed of opening a small, cozy café. But… that dream went up in smoke after he died in his previous life.
No, it wasn't all lost. He had a second chance now… and maybe, once things calmed down, he would open that café, the cozy café he had always dreamed of.
"Ricardo," Maximilian called out in the midst of the feast.
"Yes, boss?" Ricardo paused, his hand still in mid-air while his mouth continued chewing on the chicken.
"If I want to find someone, and they don't appear in the public database, where should I look?" Maximilian asked.
Ricardo thought about it for a few seconds, and after swallowing all the food in his mouth, he answered.
"Hmm… there are two places you should check, boss. The first one is the information brokers in the Fringe. Over there, a lot of black market dealings, smuggling rings, and all kinds of shady secrets are circulated." He paused briefly.
"As for the second place… you should look into the IHB database. That one has a lot of hero and villain data that doesn't make it into the Fringe information broker circles," said Ricardo.
After hearing Ricardo's answer, Maximilian thanked him. He planned to look into it after the training session.
In the afternoon, after a one-and-a-half-hour break following the meal, the training continued at moderate intensity. However, it was still focused on the basics, such as posture, air punching, and air kicking, so the gang could memorize the techniques with their bodies.
After the training ended and Ricardo's group went home, Maximilian sat on the couch on the first floor, watching them walk away with a complicated expression on his face.
"This is no use…" Maximilian muttered.
[Huh? What's wrong? (´･ω･`)] the system asked.
"You see…" He gestured toward Ricardo's group. "They're going back home, and without me interfering in their lifestyle, they're just going to drink and smoke again… that will ruin all my efforts. If this keeps up, instead of taking half a year to prepare them for real training, it'll never end. I don't have that kind of time to waste on them," Maximilian ranted.
[Why don't you just tell them to stay here for a year or two then? (´-ω-`)]
"No, I'm not going to tolerate a bunch of sweaty machos living in my house for that long. Besides, they're subordinates—not family. There needs to be a boundary between us that they recognize. This building doesn't even have a separate area for them to stay in, which would help reinforce that boundary," Maximilian explained.
[Hmm… all that explanation, but I still get the feeling those aren't the real reasons. (ー_ー゛)]
"How do you know?" Maximilian asked, surprised.
[Call it a woman's intuition… so… did I get it right? (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ]
Maximilian was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Yeah… you're right. There's no point hiding it from you anyway… after all, you're stuck in my head." He paused.
"The real reason is… I've only known them for three days. I don't trust them enough to let them find out about me going out and doing shady, villainous things… I don't trust them enough to be sure they won't rat me out to the cops… or to those pompous heroes.
If it were just a few people, I think I could hide my activities well enough until I could evaluate their loyalty. After all, a loyalty value of around 48 to 50 doesn't guarantee they won't betray me," Maximilian said.
[Hm? But with a loyalty value of 48–50, the chance of betrayal is very low, you know? About 5%, I think. (;⌣̀_⌣́)]
"For me… 5% is still too much of a risk. I won't take it," Maximilian said firmly.
[You're not the type to trust people easily, huh?]
"The last time I trusted someone wholeheartedly… I was betrayed mercilessly and treated like a fool. I don't plan to make that mistake again," Maximilian replied, a hint of bitterness in his tone.
[I'm sorry…]
Maximilian paused, looking at the system dialogue displayed on the UI, before letting out a faint smile.
"You don't need to… It's already in the past."
[.....]
Seeing that the system seemed unusually down, Maximilian quickly shifted the topic.
"By the way, since this world has alien tech, wouldn't it be great if it had some kind of technology that could compress time? Like… training for a year in here, but only a day passes outside. Do you know anything that could do that? Maybe something in your shop?" Maximilian asked, trying to divert the conversation without really expecting an answer.
[Hmm… I don't know if this world has that kind of technology… but if you just want to compress time like you said—make one year inside this house equal to one day outside—that's actually easy for me. I just need a bit of energy to manifest it into the world. (´～｀)]
"Huh? You can really do that!?" Maximilian asked, a clear surprise written on his face.
[Of course! I don't want to brag, but It's actually pretty simple for me, you know... I just need some energy, that's all! ╰(°▽°)╯] said the system.
"How much do you need?" He asks.
[Hmm… about 10 blocks.]
Hearing the cost, Maximilian went silent. The energy required for such a thing was a little bit steep, but it's reasonable. He understood how miraculous it is to manipulate the time could be. And thinking about time-altering technology… if it did exist in this world, he doubted he'd be able to get his hands on it any time soon.
"Ten energy blocks for time compression, huh? I'll look into it," said Maximilian.
While the System and Maximilian were chatting with each other, a prompt suddenly popped up with a highlighted UI.
[Ding! The cooldown time for the second trial has completed! (^o^)/] the System announced in an upbeat tone.
"The second trial? Can I get the details about it?" Maximilian asked.
[Of course! Since the Trial Master of the second trial didn't request any special rules like the first one did, I'm free to share the information with you,] the System replied. Then, the UI changed to display the data for the second trial.
-The Second round of the Trial of Soul -
Type: Trial by Combat
Trial Master Special Rule: -
Status: First round - Awaiting participant
–Trial Master–
Name: Sean Brown
Villain Name: Shadow Thief
EF (Evolution Factor): Shadow Sphere
Skills/Abilities:
Expert in Security SystemsMastery in Security System BypassingMaster LockpickingAdvanced Hacking SkillsMastery in StealthWildwalker's Wildland KnowledgeWildwalker's Bestiary Knowledge
[The reward for passing the first round of the trial will be randomly selected from half of the Trial Master's skills and abilities, rounded down.]