Before Alwin could enact his revenge, he first needed to see who had the audacity to steal Cooper Trooper along with his passing grades.

  He poked his head through the foliage, careful not to let the tower of gear make an unexpected entrance as well. Crawling his way into a hidden space between two shrubs, Alwin caught a glimpse of something that shocked him beyond belief.

  On the other side of the shrubbery, hidden under the shade of the trees, stood a man that Alwin had sworn his revenge on—probably. Truth be told, Alwin kind of forgot, but seeing him again instantly brought the fire of vengeance that had nearly been extinguished by the tides of time and forgetfulness.

  It was Gary Stew. The man who tried to turn his two friends into dinner and him into dessert. What was he doing here?

  A belt of spice bottles was wrapped around his waist and in his hand was Cooper Trooper. He was smelling it, even going so far as to take a lick at its hard glossy shell.

  That was it! Alwin was going to teach him a lesson about kidnapping and being a pervert.

  Before Alwin could pounce on him, a leaf forced him down onto his behind. Uchronia had stopped him. What a meanie. She probably wanted to steal all of the glory for herself.

  "If you're done being weird, let's go," a voice came from the other side of the bushes.

  Alwin poked his head through once more to discover an additional guest. Or guests—plural, because there was another person alongside Gary. One man was in a deep crimson robe, while another was in a gleaming golden robe.

  It was Hong Jian and Huang Jian, the two young masters of the Crimson Gold Sect. Alwin vaguely remembered them as being incompetent, but that's not the point. What were they doing here?

  "Relax," Gary Stew said. "I'm just making sure that this is the real deal."

  He pulled out a knife and began tapping on the egg with the handle. Every few taps, he pressed his ear against the surface and listened as if waiting for some sort of signal.

  "Hurry it up! That's an order," Hong Jian, the young master, barked out.

  "Exactly!" Huang Jian, the yellow-robed young master, echoed.

  "Just relax, man. I don't see you guys doing any work," said Gary Stew.

  "We are the young masters of the glorious Crimson Gold Sect. How dare you ask us to dirty ourselves with such trivial tasks?" Huang Jian said.

  "Right you are, brother. Gary Stew, we saved you from those wretched Monster Army. Now you have to serve our sect as our Daoist Chef," said Hong Jian.

  "For the millionth time, no, I don't. I saved you just as much as you saved me. The only reason I'm even here is to repay your elder for healing my injuries."

  "Impudent fool, you won't be able to survive without the backing of a sect. Choose wisely," Hong Jian said.

  "Dudes. You two keep repeating the same thing every five minutes; just knock it off. Once I'm done making this dish for you, I'm out of here."

  "Foolish choice," Huang Jian said.

  "Just shut up."

  Were they going to cook Cooper Trooper? Oh, the horror! Alwin wasn't going to stand for this!

  Once more, he tried to jump out and attack. Only to be yanked back down to the ground again. Alwin wasn’t going to stand for this because he literally couldn’t, no thanks to Uchronia.

  Seriously? What was she thinking? This wasn't the time for hesitation but for action!

  "What are you doing?" Alwin whispered to her.

  "Not yet. The Crimson Gold Sect is probably the Sect that's trying to expand into this region. If we can get some information out of them, we might be able to stop their plans."

  "But Cooper Trooper..."

  "The moment anything's about to happen to him, we'll swoop in, okay?"

  "Fine," Alwin sighed.

  "At least this way we'll have contributed to the operation. We might even score some extra credit."

  "Extra credit?" Alwin perked up. "I'm in."

  And with that, Alwin leaned forward and stared intently at the scene unfolding before him.

  Gary Stew, unbothered by the arrogant bickering around him, had finished whatever bizarre tests he had been running on Cooper Trooper. He held him in one hand to show to the two young masters.

  "With this, I'll be able to make you a dish that'll help you during your tribulation."

  "Finally," Hong Jian said.

  "Good, good. Soon, we will ascend to the third stage," Huang Jian said.

  "Are all the other ingredients prepared?" Gary Stew asked.

  "Of course," Huang Jian said.

  "Come, let us go back. After we overcome the tribulation, we'll have more than enough power to carry out Father's plans," Hong Jian said.

  "Awesome.” Gary Stew grinned. “This is going to be my best dish yet."

  The trio began their way back to wherever they came from while Alwin and the squad tailed them. They stuck to the underbrush, trying to be as silent as possible.

  Uchronia was trying her hardest to remember the way, creating a mental map of their path, while Alwin had his focus on Cooper Trooper. If Gary Stew even thought of harming him, Alwin was going to deliver a seven-course meal of pain. Gus was just being Gus. Unbothered by the tension, he sampled nature's buffet that was around him. In other words, every bush or plant that he passed by got a polite nibble.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Eventually, they came to a clearing within the forest. A cabin lay in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by a patchwork of tents staked along the edges of the clearing. The tents came in only two colors: yellow or red.

  With the area exposed, Alwin and gang couldn't follow after them without being seen. Thus, they took to the trees.

  Gus used his two large front paws to dig into the bark and scale his way to the top. Uchronia leapt from branch to branch, performing flips until she reached the top. Alwin was sad when he was forced to Silent Cast a pair of Spirit Hands to carry him up to the top of the tree, pouting the whole time.

  Leaping up the branches while balancing a bunch of items was just too much for the current Alwin to handle. One day he'd surpass his limits and achieve what normal people called impossible, but that was a story for another day.

  At the top of the tree, the trio looked down at the clearing, trying to figure out what Gary Stew and the two young masters were doing.

  Hong Jian and Huang Joan were busy barking orders to those beneath them. Even attempting the same to Gary Stew, who still held Cooper Trooper in one hand. He was in no mood to deal with such people, so he gave them a rude gesture that involved flipping and birds.

  The sect disciples of the two young masters were busy bringing in various items, setting them right in front of the hut.

  Logs of wood were arranged in a neat circle before another disciple took out a dagger and aimed it at the pile.

  "Crimson Gold Sect Basic Technique: Crimson Fire Starter!"

  A small flame lit up on the tip of the dagger, no larger than a spark. The follower plunged the blade into the center of the pile and waited. Soon enough, the wood caught fire. More and more of the pile ignited until a raging fire was blazing right in front of the young masters’ wooden abode. Now, if only it could catch fire. That'd be a sight to see.

  Other disciples brought in a thick, sturdy oak table. One by one, the remaining disciples delivered various ingredients and piled them high up on the table. Lastly, Gary Stew placed down Cooper Trooper at the very center. Surrounded by vegetables, meats, and all sorts of other ingredients.

  A disciple carried in a large cast iron wok that had been seasoned by many arduous duels against the raging blaze of deliciousness. He knelt down on one knee and presented the relic to Gary Stew.

  He grabbed hold of the handle and slammed the wok down atop the flames.

  From a sheath strapped on his belt along with the various spice bottles, he whipped out his chef’s knife and twirled it around his fingers in a flourish.

  "He's starting..."Gus whispered.

  "We need to go down there before he does something to Cooper Trooper," said Uchronia, already tensing her root legs to leap from the apex of the tree.

  "Hold up!" Gus shouted, stopping her in her tracks.

  "What for?" Uchronia cried back, her face flipping between anger and confusion.

  "Let him cook," Gus replied in his straightest, most serious face possible.

  "I agree," Alwin chimed in.

  "No. We've already found out the location of their camp. That’s plenty of information already. We can't risk the egg anymore."

  "Sorry, Uchronia. It's two against one. Democracy rules!" Alwin shouted.

  Uchronia sighed, "That egg isn't the only thing being scrambled."

  "You're right," said Gus. "Cooper Trooper is too far along in its incubation period to be used in scrambled eggs. Instead, you see that over there." He pointed at a pallet of eggs half the size of Cooper Trooper. Their shells were a splash of swirling colors, similar to an abstract painting.

  "He's using eggs from a Faber Chicken. It's said that their yolks are as radiant as the sun and with whites so pure; it’s because they're made from a combination of every single color in the world. They haven't been classified as Monsters under the System yet, so they're still counted as Animals, which makes it okay for us to eat."

  Both Uchronia and Alwin stared at Gus after hearing such a detailed explanation. It was the most coherent thing that Gus had ever said. Possibly in his entire life.

  "How do you know all of that?" Uchronia asked.

  "What? Did you think that I was just slacking off this whole time?" Gus said with bravado.

  Silence filled the air as Alwin and Uchronia processed what Gus had just said.

  "Yes," Uchronia replied.

  "No," Alwin said at the same time.

  She glared at him again, but Alwin used a skill that would hopefully not get him killed: ignoring. He looked into the distance and hummed a tune, focusing on absolutely nothing.

  Before Uchronia could chastise Alwin further, Gus spoke up again.

  "Gary Stew's starting now. Based on the color and smell, he's adding Herbal Soloil. It's a type of oil that's extracted from the leaves of the Herbal Sol plant. It adds a light smoky flavor when cooked at high heat."

  Gary Stew rotated the work with a flick of his wrist, spreading the light yellow liquid. A spatula joined the dance, stirring the oil until the wok darkened, with wisps of delicious smoke curling up into the air.

  "That's not just any spatula, Alwin. That's a special spatula made specifically for a wok. It's a wok spatula. I'm not sure what materials it's made out of, but I bet it’s expensive," Gus said.

  "How'd you know that I just called it a regular spatula when I was narrating in my head?" Alwin asked.

  "You had a look on your face that said so. But stop distracting me. I need to analyze his technique."

  Gary Stew grabbed eight Faber Chicken eggs, slotting them between his fingers with his arms crossed. In one outward motion, he cracked them open against the wok’s rim before tossing the contents into the air, and while the shells fell to the ground.

  As the eggs dropped, Gary slammed his knife and wok spatula into the airborne contents in a blur of motion. The golden fluffy mixture hit the wok, sizzling.

  "Incredible," Gus said.

  "What are you talking about?" Uchronia asked.

  "Most people would beat their eggs in a bowl, but Gary Stew did it in midair. With his knife and wok spatula, he mixed the yolks and whites together at high speed, all while integrating the right amount of air to ensure maximum fluffiness. All of that in a fraction of a second. He doesn’t need a bowl because the world is his bowl."

  The next ingredient was a pot filled with some sort of strange white substance. He dumped its contents into the wok, flattening it using the wok spatula.

  "That's R-ice. A type of rice that can only be grown in the most frigid of climates. When exposed to high heat, the outer ice coating melts, releasing a delicious saltiness and letting each individual grain shine without even the need of oil. That man is sparing no expense with this fried rice dish."

  "How do you know it's fried rice?" Alwin asked.

  "Not now," Gus shut him up.

  Gary Stew then looked toward some of the followers that were stationed at the ingredients table. He gave them a nod. The disciples began throwing various vegetables towards him: carrots, cabbages, and spring onions.

  "Oh, Cor," Gus muttered.

  "Why? What did he do now?" Uchronia asked.

  "Those aren't just any vegetables. They've been handpicked both by Commander Cooper and those horrible humans from the Crimson Gold Sect. Those are the members of the Caesar Salads, mutilated to the extent that not even their family members can recognize them. Now, Gary Stew is about to desecrate their bodies even further."

  Gary Stew swept his hand across the bottles on his belt, the caps spinning open. He dipped his fingers into them and flicked spices into the air, salting and peppering the vegetables coming his way.

  Then, with his knife, he sliced and diced the ingredients, transforming them into tiny pieces of colorful confetti that sprinkled down into the wok, sizzling upon contact and releasing an aroma of horrifying delicious smells.

  "Himalayan Kosher Pepper and Cherrytelli Salt. Two high-quality spices. And he pinched his fingers in such a way that there was no cross contamination between the spice bottles. What amazing skills. But the vegetables... I love food, but even I have my limits," Gus said.

  Then, there was only one ingredient left on the table, Cooper Trooper. And Gary Stew was making his way toward it.

  "And that's his meat component," Gus muttered.

  "Quick, we need to stop him!" yelled Uchronia.

  "For my grades!" shouted Alwin.