Chris had spent most of the morning gathering supplies. He had finally figured out how human currency worked which was fortunate because local grocery suppliers were starting to take notice of a strange man allegedly stealing cupcake supplies.
Chris didn't feel right just taking money from the strange machines called ATMs on the sidewalks. To solve this moral dilemma, he fetched a jeweled egg from his vault and found a jewelry luxury store to sell it too.
The lady who ran the store had been slack jawed when she examined the egg. It was the most valuable thing that had ever passed through the jewelry store doors.
Made of solid gold and ringed with diamonds, she had been curious about where Chris had gotten it from. In her line of work though discretion was sometimes the better route.
Chris had walked away with a couple million dollars that he deposited into a bank account. It took nearly an hour for the nice bank lady to explain how checking accounts and debit cards worked.
With several bags full of supplies and a fresh new debit card, Chris felt unstoppable.
"Morning sir!"
John Leveling stood in front of his (illegally gotten) bakery, waving cheerfully at him.
"Oh, hey you're the guy from the dungeon the other day." Chris gave him a warm smile before pushing past him to drop off his latest alchemical supplies.
John wasted no time in following him inside, excited energy practically radiated out from him in waves.
"So after the other day, I got to thinking, your title must be legit. I mean, you basically cleared the dungeon without any trouble." John wasn't exaggerating, even though he had fought the dungeon boss, Chris had paved the way for that to happen.
John felt like Chris was the perfect person to serve as his mentor. John knew that Chris must actually be a god or at least a being of incredible power. Afterall, the system labeled Chris as, 'God of the Temple'.
Chris paid very little attention to what John was saying. He was too busy prepping his ingredients which included a rare exotic red flower with flame like patterns on its petals.
John wasn't dismayed though, he figured that someone like Chris must have incredibly important things on his mind.
"God of the Temple, I humbly ask that you teach me your ways. My goal is to become an SS-ranked hunter, under your tutelage I'm certain this can happen."
Chris, still not paying attention, was now mixing flour while thinking of how to incorporate the fiery looking flowers.
"Mhm, sure thing John. Good job."
John nearly fainted from the acceptance. Not only that but his new teacher had even praised his deductive skills in figuring out Chris's identity. John felt like his story was heading in the right direction, every bad ass protagonist needed a good teacher.
"What should I call you?" John wanted to make sure that he remained respectful, he wondered if sensei, master, or teacher were appropriate choices.
"You can call me Chris," his new teacher replied while snapping his fingers.
John watched as a blue book covered in weird red symbols appeared with a popping noise. It hovered in front of Chris, its pages turning with invisible fingers.
John was becoming more curious about what his master was up to. Was baking a stress relief for him or was there a different answer?
"Chris, why are you making so many cupcakes?"
Chris finally looked away from his mixing and prepping, "sorry John, I wasn't paying much attention. What did you ask?"
"Why make so many cupcakes? Are you planning to sell them?"
Chris frowned at that, he had little interest in selling his creations, in fact, the idea didn't appeal to him at all.
"No, they're not for sale. I'm working on discovering a powerful secret, one that I will gladly share with humanity when I'm done."
John scratched his head before asking, "what secret are you trying to find from baking cupcakes?"
Chris smiled at him before pointing to a cooking magazine on the other side of the metal counter.
John's eyes landed on the magazine with its cover full of happy people and a man holding a tray of cupcakes. He was more confused now than he had been before.
"I don't understand, what does the magazine have to do with this?"
Chris didn't hold it against him, until recently he hadn't been aware of the cupcakes incredible secret either.
"I'm doing divine alchemical research in an attempt to find the secret to true happiness. The smiling people on the cover gave me the clue when I arrived here."
"Oh, okay,"John replied.
Most people would have laughed when Chris told them his primary goal however, John could tell that he wasn't joking around.
In fact, John was beyond impressed. Such genius and passion was confirmation that Chris was indeed the right person to help him grow stronger.
"How can I help you with your research?"
"You can help me frost when these are done."
***
Two hours later, Chris looked with pride upon his latest experiment. The cupcakes had come out of the oven with an orange glow to them. The frosting was red, smoke curling up towards the top of the kitchen.
"Okay John, you can try one now. Let me know immediately if you experience true happiness."
John was torn. On the one hand he desperately wanted to appease his mentor, prove his worthiness. On the other hand though, something felt off about those cupcakes.
"Warning, toxic substance detected. Player is advised to avoid it."
The system dinged in his head as he stared with nervous anticipation at the baked goods.
"Uh… Master, I mean Chris, I don't think these are safe to eat."
"Nonsense! They look delicious, plus I baked them with great care." Chris seemed oblivious to John's concern.
"Right…" John replied.
He slowly reached out and took a single cupcake. It felt warm, warmer than what should be normal.
Hands shaking, John brought the cupcake closer to his mouth. He couldn't tell if it was his imagination or not, but he could have sworn that the smoke emanating from the frosting was getting thicker.
Just as he was about take a bite the door to the bakery flew open as a handsome man walked in.
"Behold, I am a level 0 with unlimited cheat codes and I'm here to challenge—"
John saw that the stranger was pointing a thin rapier sword at Chris as he introduced himself.
Out of pure reflex (and a desire to protect his new mentor) Chris flung the cupcake with deadly precision at the newcomer.
The explosion was instantaneous. As soon as the cupcake hit the strange man in the chest he was blown backwards with a huge bang. He went flying back out of the bakery and across the street where he crashed through a solid brick wall.
"Oh." Chris rubbed his chin thoughtfully, trying to understand where he went wrong. Maybe the fire plants of Zaal were a poor choice for an ingredient.
"Holy crap!" John exclaimed as he jumped over the bakery counter and ran to the doors. The doors had been blown off their hinges, hanging on for dear life while the stranger was moaning from the giant hole in the wall.
"I've changed my mind," the stranger groaned out as his arm appeared waving in surrender.
"You have leveled up," the system chimed at John. Sweet! He was level 5 now and he hadn't even been trying.
John felt like his story was gaining traction, with his mentor in a supporting role, he was going to be the greatest hunter in all of human history.
"He doesn't look so good," Chris pointed out from behind John.
"He tried to attack you, I had no other choice." John was sincere in his explanation even though he had gone a bit overboard in his reaction.
"That's what he was trying to do? Strange guy." Chris frowned at the stranger with unlimited cheat codes who had finally stumbled his way out of the hole John had put him in.
Seeing the incredible (and unintentional) power of Chris's alchemy was enough to convince John that his new teacher wasn't human.
This realization was further cemented by the fact that Chris was now eating one of the explosive cupcakes without being knocked off of his feet.
"Hmm… yeah, the flavor is kinda bitter," Chris remarked thoughtfully.