Jon had to admit; he did wonder what life would have been like if he was not chosen for the System Introduction. Schwarz Eis and Song Lian Yu had both informed him that one percent of a sapient population would be chosen to participate in the System Introduction.

  Which, when equated to the eight billion humans that resided on Earth was approximately eighty million human beings. An extraordinary figure, larger than the populations of most countries around the world.

  The System Introduction was not designed to be kind or forgiving to its participants. Some were dropped in the centre of vast desert wastelands, devoid of protection from the searing heat or sources of fresh drinking water. Others were placed within swamps filled with poisonous insects and carnivorous plants.

  While others within various Wonders and Dungeons, surrounded by dangerous mutated beasts and strange creatures with a variety of horrifying mutations.

  If he was never chosen for the System Introduction, Jon never would have encountered that fire-breathing duck. He never would have encountered Avahni in the events following that battle, and he never would have fought alongside Wilheim against the white-furred bear creature either.

  Never encountered Shamael Or Sariel.

  Never fought against the Malum Hobgoblin.

  Never ascended to Knighthood or fought against Theodore and Itsumade.

  Never formed his Merchant Guild and never-.

  “Oi Jon! I need another batch of rib eyes from the fridge! And another bag of potatoes while you’re at it!” A voice called out to from across the kitchen, through the sounds of sizzling meats and knives banging against chopping boards.

  Jon, who had been scrubbing plates, pans and pots for the better part of the last three hours, nodded his head, swiftly moving to towards the walk-in fridge just behind him.

  “Yes chef!” Came his reply, although was mostly ignored as the sounds of more dockets came through the machine. Orders for additional steaks and pastas were shouted out to the half-dozen or so chefs around him, each moving to prepare their additional ingredients.

  Jon entered the walk-in fridge, moving to grab two trays of rib eyes and another enormous box of pre-washed potatoes. Although others might have struggled to carry so many things all at once, the combined effects of his Fragment Of Marrow and Fragment Of Heart made the task trivial, at least in comparison to what he was used to.

  Stacking all the items on top of one another, Jon stretched one arm forward, yelling “behind” and “corner” every time he passed one of the other chefs. Although most were too busy to lift their heads and respond to his words, Damien, the head-chef and Lenora, his sous-chef shared a glance with one another, seeing Jon place the trays and box softly on the bench behind them.

  Golden-green eyes observing the expressions on the head chef, nodding slightly before tapping the side of said box.

  “Anything else chef?”

  Damien paused for several seconds before shaking his head, returning the gesture.

  “… Why don’t you take your break now Jon? Service will be over in thirty minutes, so why don’t you have some food before the end of your shift?”

  The offer of dinner might have seemed appealing to most, but Jon just shook his head, gesturing towards the growing pile of plates and pans that laid scattered in his corner of the kitchen. It was a response that Damien had gotten used to, knowing exactly how Jon would respond.

  “I’ll just take my break now and see if there are any leftovers left at the end of service. If I’m being honest, I don’t really feel all that hungry right this moment.”

  Truth-Scales tipping further and further away from ‘truth’, watching as Damien merely nodded his head. The head chef at the Albion Hotel returning to his regular duties, hearing the sound of additional dockets coming through the machine.

  Leaving Jon alone, surrounded by the sounds of humming machines and vigorous chopping. His figure swiftly moving back through the kitchen towards his station, placing his heavy apron on the rack near the powdered spices, and walking out onto the floor of his place of work.

  The sounds of drunken-laughter echoing out all around him.

  The scrapping of chair legs causing his brows to furrow in discomfort.

  The clattering of cutlery against plates causing his fingers to twitch, ears sensitive to raging noise all around him.

  [Bestial Intuition] and [Eyes Through The Looking Glass] were forcibly suppressed within his Knowledge Mana Core. Although Knighthood had strengthened his five senses to a degree beyond that of an uninitiated human, the combined effects of both his Fragment Of Instinct and Fragment Of Eyes had boosted his Knight-level senses to a degree that found this environment almost… damaging.

  Jon sighed, pausing his stride and allowing one of the front of house workers to walk right past him. A slightly, younger-looking woman, perhaps eighteen-or-nineteen years of age brushed past him, raising an eyebrow as she carried half-a-dozen plates in both hands.

  One of the plates that she had stacked at the top of her pile slipping out of her grasp, falling towards the ground and-.

  Allowing Jon to catch it mid-air. His hand placed softly underneath the plate in question, allowing it to merely ‘fall’ into his hand. The sudden burst of speed and dexterity causing several half-drunken customers to cheer in response to his actions, watching as he placed the plate back on top of her hastily formed pile.

  “Thanks!” The younger woman said, smiling at him.

  “You’re Jon right? The new kitchen hand?!”

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Yeah, that’s me. You’re… Kate right?” Jon responded, gesturing for Kate to place her pile of plates and cutlery on one of the benches directly beside his station. Her eyes taking note of the cleanliness of his workbench, alongside the lack of any half-washed dishes still lingering at the bottom of his sink.

  “Yeah, that’s me!” Kate replied, lifting her head. Two-years within the System Introduction had caused Jon to grow taller, the lingering effects of puberty in addition to the Mortal Ranked effects of his Fragment Of Regeneration.

  He was six-feet tall before arriving within the System Introduction. And now stood at a stalwart six-foot-three, practically towering over all the other employees present. Since he had started working at the Albion Hotel, Jon had given off the impression of tall but quiet young man.

  Despite having just finished school himself, Damien had said that he sometimes gave off a somewhat older vibe, referring to both his appearance and mannerisms. Kate, who had also just finished high-school a mere two months ago, thought that Jon was also older than her and was surprised to hear that the two of them were the same age.

  “I know it’s only been about a week, but do you enjoy working here Jon?”

  “… I could think of worse things to do with myself,” he replied, gesturing towards the lines of customers gathered around the bar. Three different bar staff were each manning the various taps and registers, swiftly moving to pour pint after pint and wine into wine glasses.

  Groups of half-drunken men rambunctiously laughed, slapping each other on the shoulders while gesturing towards the tap that poured their drink of choice. Some attempted to flirt with the female staff members while their friends behind them laughed, shaking their heads and shouting derogatory curses towards their engaging mates.

  The bar staff replying with a courteous smile, placing their drink on the counter before gesturing towards the digital payment machine directly beside their glass. Debit cards and phones tapping against said machine, the constant sound of electronic dinging echoing from one side of the bar to the other.

  Kate giggled, shrugging her shoulders, leaning up against the bench behind her.

  “It’s not all that bad. Some people become quite liberal with their money after having a few drinks. Some guys can be kind of… forward, with their compliments but tips can be quite generous at times.”

  “You’ve been here long enough to know that?” Jon leaned up against the bench beside Kate, watching as the corners of her mouth curled upwards, nodding her head at his words.

  “Since I turned eighteen, yeah.” Kate said, not noticing the slightly perturbed expression on Jon’s face. “I start university soon; Melbourne College in just under two months. I was hoping to live on campus or at some sort of university lodging after the semester begins so…”

  Her voice trailed off towards the end, tilting her head back to stare up at Jon.

  “What about you? Have any big plans? University or something else in mind?”

  The mention of ‘Melbourne College’ caused Jon to smirk, revealing older fragments of his personality. Despite opening his mouth, intending on replying with something flirtatious but somewhat snarky, Jon instead found himself remembering pieces of himself that he thought had been long forgotten.

  Trevor, whose face and voice he had not heard from in over six-hundred days flashed through his mind. The words that he had last spoken whispered back to him from the depths of his Sea Of Hadal.

  “I could say the same thing to you. You have a habit of asking to get punched whenever you open your mouth.”

  “Well, if it is Melbourne College that you plan on attending then perhaps we might see-.”

  [Bestial Intuition].

  “Jon watch out!”

  Fragment Of Instinct shifting within his Knowledge Mana Core. Minerva-Infiltration Eyes observing a scorching hot wave of sizzling oil haphazardly thrown in his direction and the sight of Tobias, one of the older line chefs clutching onto his hand, wincing as boils started to appear across his palm.

  Whether it was fate, or just another coincidence, the pot of boiling oil was thrown in Jon’s direction. Towards him and towards-.

  Jon glancing towards Kate beside him, seeing that her uninitiated musculature was incapable of processing the external stimuli around her fast enough to formulate a defensive posture or proper response.

  Hades-Draconian Shadow flickering beneath him, begging to be manifested into two-dimensional space.

  Carcosa-Form Horrors churning above the waters of his Fragment Of Mind, creating illusory fears that haunted specific memories and experiences.

  Ashvattha Rana Devi watching on impassively, knowing that regardless of whether Jon decided to act or not, he would be in any significant danger.

  Song Lian Yu watching over the rest of his family, while Schwarz Eis Seir gathered information. Specifically, on various policy changes and dangerous rumours that had begun to spread since his arrival back on Earth.

  ‘Five days is more than enough time for sighting or two to appear. I know Technology Mana Cores exist as well as Gun Mana Cores and Vehicle Mana Cores, but something will pop up eventually and then-.’

  Jon sighed, raising his gloved right-hand to protectively shroud Kate. The action might have seemed slow to anyone with a Fragment Of Perception or a Fragment Of Eyes but seemed impossibly quick in the eyes of an uninitiated human.

  The wave of scorching hot oil splashing against his rubber boots and the hem of his pants. Most of the oil avoided with a single sidestep away from Kate, extending the length of his Tabitha-Cedarspear Arm ever-so-slightly, in an effort to protect her from the boiling oil.

  His wood-mutated arm enduring the burning hot oil, causing Jon to nothing more than softly wince as the sound of Damien’s voice boomed from across the kitchen.

  “Lenora call an ambulance! Tell them that we have someone with second, possibly third-degree burns! Tommy, tell the front of house that we aren’t accepting any more orders for the night!”

  Two chefs attending to Tobias and his burnt palm, running it under cold water while rushing to reach the first aid kit. Damien nodded towards Lenora, who alongside two other chefs, Leslie and Grant swiftly moved to take over their workstations and duties within the kitchen.

  The head chef practically running over towards Jon and Kate, taking careful steps to tread around the puddle of boiling oil that laid scattered across the kitchen floor. His eyes first glancing towards Kate, looking across her dark-coloured clothes in an effort to spot any obvious burns.

  “Jon! What the hell did you think you’re doing!? Run your hand under lukewarm water! We need to prevent any possible infections before the ambulance-.”

  “That’s… not necessary Damien.”

  Damien looked at him, obviously befuddled at his words, while Kate peered towards him an expression of shock and blatant fight clearly evident on her face. She still had not quite realized what had happened, not feeling a single drop of oil fall onto her skin or clothes.

  “I don’t care if you want to play the tough guy act Jon! Run your hand under water until the ambulance gets-.”

  Jon sighed, interrupting him as he removed the glove placed around his right hand. Where both Damien and Kate expected to see burnt, bright-red skin the two were almost horrified to see a wooden prosthetic, one with bright-green veins running down the length of his forearm and nails carved into his fingers, ones that matched the nails on his left hand.

  “I… quite recently lost my arm. Got quite a good prosthetic out of it though.”

  Tabitha-Cedarspear Arm still mostly concealed beneath his long-sleeve, allowing him to extend its length by a few inches, while holding onto said mutation with his other hand.

  Giving the illusion that he had momentarily detached his ‘prosthetic.’

  “I… didn’t feel anything. I mean, I didn’t at least. Did you get anything on you Kate?” Jon asked, trying to deflect some of the attention onto the slightly younger girl.

  Kate was not quite capable of producing the response that she might have wanted to, vision blurring and all the strength in her arms and legs vanishing, causing the eighteen-year-old woman to almost collapse onto the ground.

  Caught, once again by Jon, who just smiled at her, shaking his head from side-to-side.

  “I hope this isn’t a common occurrence.”

  “I won’t be here to catch you every time.”