"Good morning, ugly pig!"
A fist came down on top of Nataly's head, the same Nataly who greeted Luke the moment they arrived.
It was another day. Luke hadn't even gone out to hunt goblins due to the side effects of the Alchemical Energy Drink, so he just stayed home and slept.
Last night, a WhatsApp group popped up on his phone called "Lesss Traaiinn!," and the first message come from Vivian:
[That's my address: XXXXXXXX
Come early tomorrow, we're training here!]
A few angry cat stickers from Nataly later, and the training spot was set: the home of the exotic and somewhat eccentric Vivian.
Luke his eyes widened in the entrance, he never saw a house like that, especially because no one ever built anything in an oriental style in the country.
Plus, the place was in an upscale neighborhood, which made it even more valuable.
Luckily, being very early, the buses were nearly empty, and the drivers seemed motivated to flip the vehicle, so the trip became quick and wildly successful.
The moment he entered through the front gate, he received that lovely greeting and witnessed Nataly getting chewed out by Vivian right away.
"Do you have crap in your head, girl?! Show some respect to your new teammate, you garden gnome!"
Apparently, physical punishment was also included in the job description of a tutor. Vivian gave Luke a wide smile and waved him over, completely ignoring the earlier drama.
"Glad to see you here, Luluke! You're quite a find. Now come, we've got a few things to go over."
Luke nodded and followed her through the beautiful garden. He could only envy all that wealth, being the broke guy he was.
Before entering, he took off his shoes and sat on his knees in the middle of the room.
It was almost an instinct to mimic a culture that had nothing to do with them, probably his long-lost Japanese ancestor jumped with joy in the afterlife.
Vivian served some tea. Luke didn't even touch it, knowing he'd burn his tongue if he tried.
"All riiight! Let's get to the point!"
She placed a contract on a super low wooden table.
"I won't waste much time explaining, but I need someone to motivate and support that girl. I chose you because I think you're the best model for her to look up to. 'This guy's getting ahead of me? No way!', that's the kind of reaction we're aiming for."
"In other words, you picked me because I seem pathetic?"
"Ehhh, no. It's just that she kept saying you'd give up sooner or later, but a whole week went by and you were still there."
"And the pay?"
Vivian pointed to a tiny spot on the sheet. It was a huge amount of money.
Luke looked up, stared her straight in the eyes, and without a second thought, shook her hand and signed without even glancing at the fine print.
One month here would earn him as much as a whole year unclogging toilets, needless to say which deal is better. Taking the opportunity, Luke called his boss and said:
"Good morning. I'm out. Get someone else."
And hung up.
"Yayyy, now we can do tons of fun stuff! I just need to explain a few things first, alright?"
He nodded, and Vivi proceeded to explain the plan more clearly. The goal was to train Nataly, the daughter of a successful Raider. However, the girl looked like a cavewoman
She didn't know normal social conventions, was so "good" at history that all her scores were big fat zeros, and on top of that, a terrible self-control turned bad situations even worse.
Vivian's job was to fix all of that and reintroduce her into society as a functional human being, preferably following in her father's footsteps, if possible.
That's when Luke realized what he'd just gotten himself into.
'I don't know any of this stuff either!'
The world around him was completely different, but he'd never taken the time to look into it deeply or learn what actually mattered.
All he had in his head were the most basic ideas of social rules from his previous world, along with a few scraps from this one, like the concept of Raiders and powers.
Beyond that, he was as clueless as a blind bull.
"You got it? Super simple job, right?"
"Y-Yeah… it is…"
"Let's take advantage and start with the first part, physical training! We only go to that square a few times a week so the girl can have at least some social interaction. Today will just be a more intense workout. If you can't handle it, just let me know!"
Bouncing happily with a huge smile on her face, Vivian left the room toward the outside.
Luke took a deep breath, wanting to bury his face. On one hand, he was totally unfit for the job — maybe he'd embarrass himself even worse than Nataly.
On the other hand, this job could be extremely beneficial for his body and a certain attribute.
"System, what are the ways to level up intellect?"
The Intellect attribute defines the player's knowledge and understanding, increasing through study or by gaining insights while completing tasks independently.
It also increases passively by listening to information that adds to your current knowledge from other people.
"Shit... but I should've known I'd have to grind the boring part sooner or later. This is the chance. One more thing, is it possible to adapt a mission to my situation?"
Missions can change according to current needs, but these changes must always increase the original difficulty, improving the rewards.
"Improving the rewards…?"
The only reward from training missions was the supplement vial and a 2% evolution for each successful session.
If something changed, it would mean either that the percentage increased or there'd be an additional reward.
"Alright, do it! I'm training with Vivian from now on, adapt the thing!"
Analyzing environment and conditions…
Mission updated!
Advanced Mission: Painful Training Regime
Survive the first day.
"Huh? That's… simple?"
A rustling sound echoed from outside. Luke gulped and decided to go out and see what was happening.
Vivian held treats to a group of German shepherds that looked extremely well-behaved.
Not far from them, Nataly stretched her legs.
Luke frowned, trying to understand when those dogs had shown up. He put his sneakers back on and approached Vivian.
"Hey, weren't we gonna start training?"
"What? Oh, of course, you wouldn't know! Well, being chased by a beast is the best way to improve endurance and speed, even Raiders use these methods. I'm just using my little buddies for that."
The "little buddies" she referred to were the beasts staring at Luke, their open mouths very eager to chew on some fresh meat.
"By the way, start running now, or else they'll catch you, right, my babies?"
"Woof!"
The boy's eyes widened, his legs froze as he tried to step back.
"You're kidding, right?"
"What? Why would I be kidding, LuLuke?"
Vivian's confused expression only made his fear worse. He was properly screwed.
"Alright, let's stop wasting time, or we'll never get started!"
Luke didn't waste another second and picked up the pace, running to save his skin. He heard a finger snap, then the distant sound of running.
He only had a moment to glance over his shoulder — the German shepherds were already chasing him, eager to sink their teeth into his butt!
"Hey, ugly pig!" shouted Nataly, practically keeping up with him effortlessly. "Good luck trying to shake them off! Master's dogs were trained to chase professional athletes! Hope your fat doesn't satisfy them! Mwahahahaha!"
And with that, the thick-browed girl pushed off the ground and launched herself forward much faster than Luke, leaving him in the dust. Veins pulsed on his face.
He even thought about turning and facing the animals head-on, but quickly discarded the idea for two reasons: it would be awful to hit an animal, and it would look really bad to his current boss.
Given that, the best alternative was to keep running, taking advantage of the square track around the property to maintain his pace.
Your stamina increased!
"It's not a good time, asshole!"
Luke was much slower than Nataly, so obviously the dogs would go after him, and it was clear they could reach his ass easily.
Before he realized it, they almost bit his foot, forcing him to make a graceful leap to avoid losing his feet.
Running from those things was impossible in his current condition, and then, just ahead, he saw a tree.
Under normal conditions, someone with his weight and strength would never be able to climb that alone, but that would be assuming a voluntary attempt.
The human brain responds to external stimuli with various hormones, one of them being adrenaline and its sibling noradrenaline.
Both act as ignition for the body, and when put to the test, they make the body kind of… crazy.
Luke jumped and threw himself against the tree, his feet pushing him upward until he reached one of the high branches of the cherry tree.
By some miracle, it didn't snap and send him crashing to the ground.
From up there, the dogs clawed at the trunk before giving up on trying to reach him and shifting their hunt to Nataly.
He took a deep breath, hand over his chest and legs trembling. He had no idea how he got up there, it just happened.
At least he had a good view of the residence and the city.
And of course, he watched from the best seat in the house as Vivian's pupil was dragged to the ground by a well-coordinated dog strategy, like they had rehearsed it before.
The girl took a bite to the shin, another on her shoulder, and even on her arm, finally falling under the weight of all those dogs piling on top.
Her master, seeing she'd been caught, put her hands on her hips and gave a mischievous smile.
"Well, well, well. And here I thought you were finally going to win one. I was wrong."
"I want to understand this, I'm sure I passed that fatass!"
Vivian clapped her hands, and her pets got off Nataly and sat on the ground beside her, tongues out and wearing dumb grins.
"Now... where's Luke?"
The woman looked around, only to find someone clinging to a tree trunk several meters off the ground.
Nataly followed her gaze, and immediately veins began to pop all over her face when she spotted him.
"You damn cheater!"
She even kicked the trunk, which shook from side to side and nearly made him fall. Vivian rolled her eyes and pulled her by the sleeve, cracking her knuckles.
"That was a good call, LuLuke! You finally showed Nataly some sense! You fled instead of just running!"
Vivian's right arm began to physically transform, growing in size and sprouting fur.
She extended the mutated arm as a platform for Luke, who promptly placed his legs on it and waited to be safely lowered to the ground.
He felt like hugging the grass. He'd never been good with heights, which is why he felt like kissing Mother Nature herself for creating the ground.
"My heart still hurts after that…" said, cold sweat still running down his face. "But what did you mean earlier?"
"Huh? It was supposed to be obvious. I tell people to escape my dogs, not run. This crazy girl has spent weeks just running from them instead of finding other solutions, and you did something really simple."
"But-But…!" Nataly tried to interrupt, only to be silenced by her master's hand.
"Stay quiet and listen. Use your head, girl. Luke just got here and already did better than you in all the previous times. He simply went to a spot they couldn't reach! Is that so hard to understand?"
Luke only felt sorry for the two of them, thinking they were made for each other.
First: who in their right mind would send their own dogs to chase people?
Second: who the hell would keep running from them if you always got caught in the end?!
It made zero sense, to the point where he felt like he was going crazy. He let out a sigh, noticing Vivian calling them back to the front of the house.