Rainbow Kindergarten stood behind a colorful metal fence, its walls painted with cartoonish animals and cheerful slogans about friendship and learning.
At the gate, dozens of children clung to the bars, tears streaming down their faces as they watched their parents on the other side.
"Mama, don't leave me! Please!"
Sophia pressed her face against the fence, sobbing like the world was ending. Tears and snot covered her cheeks as she wailed with impressive volume.
Melissa crouched on the other side, trying to soothe her. "Sweetie, it's okay. Mama will pick you up this afternoon."
The crying continued unabated.
Melissa turned to Vyon, who stood calmly beside Sophia, completely dry-eyed. "Vyon, please watch over Sophia for Aunt Melissa. I'll come get you both later."
"I will," Vyon said simply.
Soon the gates closed completely, cutting off the children's view of their parents. The crying gradually diminished as the audience disappeared. Without parents to perform for, most kids lost motivation to continue the dramatics.
The kindergarten teachers swooped in, organizing games to distract everyone.
"Let's see who's the strongest!" the homeroom teacher announced. "We'll have arm wrestling matches!"
Vyon had zero interest in arm wrestling four-year-olds. He scanned the room for a quiet corner where he could do some exercises.
But Sophia latched onto his sleeve. "Vyon, let's play together!"
He sighed internally. "Fine."
After watching Sophia integrate into the activity and start chatting happily with a girl who had her hair in twin buns, Vyon quietly extracted himself from the group.
He found an empty corner and dropped into a plank position.
[You are holding a plank. Vital Aether +1, Core Muscle Strength +1, Endurance +1]
Much better.
"Teacher! Teacher!"
A commotion erupted from the bathroom area. The girl with twin buns stood in the hallway, pointing at Sophia with obvious disgust.
"She's wearing diapers! She's so big and still wearing diapers! That's so embarrassing!"
Sophia stood frozen in the bathroom doorway, her face crumbling.
"Don't play with her, everyone! She still wears diapers like a baby!"
Sophia's eyes filled with tears. She ran into the bathroom and emerged without the diaper, having removed it in a panic.
But the damage was done. The girl had given Sophia a nickname—"Diaper Princess"—and was actively encouraging the others to exclude her.
Children's cruelty was always swift and unreasonable.
Sophia wiped her eyes, trying not to cry, but her lower lip trembled. She turned and fled through the classroom, searching for the one person who'd never judge her.
"Vyon!"
Her voice cracked as she found him in the corner. Through hiccupping sobs, she explained the bathroom incident, the mocking, the nickname.
Vyon's expression remained calm, but something cold settled in his chest.
He took Sophia's hand. "Come on."
---
He led her back to where the other children were playing. The girl with twin buns was in the center, still spreading her gossip.
Vyon walked straight up to her. "Apologize to Sophia."
The girl blinked, surprised. "Why should I?"
"Because you're being cruel for no reason."
"But she wears diapers! That's weird!"
"Lots of kids have accidents. It doesn't matter." Vyon's voice was level, almost eerily calm for a four-year-old. "Apologize. Now."
The girl's face scrunched up. "I don't want to!"
Vyon stepped closer. He wasn't much taller than her, but something in his bearing made her take an involuntary step back.
"You have two choices. Apologize and be nice to Sophia from now on. Or deal with me."
"Deal with you? You can't do anything!"
"Want to test that?"
The girl's bravado cracked. There was something unsettling about how calm Vyon remained, how direct his gaze was.
"I... I'm sorry," she mumbled.
"Louder. So everyone can hear."
"I'm sorry, Sophia! I won't call you names anymore!"
Vyon looked around at the other children. "Anyone else want to bully Sophia?"
Heads shook vigorously.
"Good. If I hear about anyone being mean to her, we're going to have problems. Understand?"
More nodding.
He turned to Sophia, whose tears had stopped. "It's okay now. They won't bother you anymore."
"But what if—"
"They won't," he said with absolute certainty. "I promise."
Sophia threw her arms around him, hugging tight. "Thank you, Vyon."
---
During naptime, the teacher left the room to consult with another staff member. The moment she was gone, Sophia scrambled out of her designated cot and crawled into Vyon's.
"It's hot with two people," he protested.
"I don't care. I want to sleep next to you."
Vyon sighed but didn't push her away. "Fine."
Sophia curled up against him, her breathing evening out almost immediately.
About twenty minutes later, warmth spread across his side.
He lifted the blanket and looked down. The mattress was soaked. Sophia had wet the bed.
A nearby boy who hadn't fallen asleep noticed. His eyes widened, and he immediately pointed.
"He wet the bed!"
The shout woke several other children.
"Look! Vyon wet the bed!"
"And Sophia too! They both did!"
"That's so gross!"
The jeering started up again, this time directed at both of them.
Sophia woke to the mocking laughter. When she realized what had happened—that she'd wet the bed and now Vyon was being blamed too—her face turned crimson.
"Mama..." she whimpered. "I want to go home..."
Vyon looked around at the laughing children. The girl with twin buns was particularly vocal, clearly thrilled to have ammunition again.
He stood up on his cot.
Then, gathering his strength, he jumped.
His legs propelled him upward with far more force than should have been possible for a four-year-old. He cleared over a meter of height easily and landed on top of a nearby table with a resounding *thud*.
Every child stopped laughing. They stared up at him, shocked into silence.
Vyon looked down at them from his elevated position, his voice cutting through the quiet like a blade.
"Shut. Up."
The command carried weight. Authority. The unmistakable tone of someone used to being obeyed.
Several children started crying immediately, overwhelmed by the sudden shift in atmosphere.
"If any of you call Sophia names again," Vyon continued, his voice dropping even lower, "if any of you bully her, I will make you regret it. Do you understand?"
More crying.
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
He'd raised his volume just slightly on the last word, but it was enough.
Half the class burst into tears.
"Daddy, I'm scared!"
"I want my mama!"
"He's scary!"
The girl with twin buns was crying hardest of all, having been the primary target of Vyon's glare.
Footsteps pounded in the hallway. Multiple teachers rushed in to find chaos—children crying, Vyon standing on a table, Sophia sitting on a wet mattress looking bewildered.
"What happened here?!"
The teacher stared at Vyon. "Get down from there right now!"
Vyon ignored her. His attention was fixed on a new notification floating in his vision.
[You have exerted dominance over your peers. You have instilled genuine fear in your classmates. Title Unlocked: Kindergarten King]
[Achievement: Dominate Nine Years of Compulsory Education]
[Reward: Biometric Attribute—Adaptive Evolution]
[Titles: Kindergarten King (Unlocked), Elementary Sovereign (Locked), Middle School Tyrant (Locked)]
Another achievement had appeared alongside his reading achievement, confirming that multiple objectives could run simultaneously.
A smile crossed Vyon's face, completely at odds with the crying children around him.
Progress.
---
The next day, the kindergarten received complaints from several parents. They called demanding an explanation about the incident.
The kindergarten had no choice but to invite all relevant parents to mediate.
The complaining parents thought Vyon was to blame, directing their anger toward David and Rachel.
But Sophia's parents, Thomas Reed and Melissa Morgan, felt this was unreasonable. Both believed that their daughter was the one being bullied and that Vyon was merely standing up for her.
Both being teachers themselves, Thomas and Melissa were articulate and logical. They quickly silenced those seeking an explanation.
The principal eventually gave everyone a way out, saying it was all a misunderstanding.
Considering what was best for the children, the principal moved Vyon and Sophia to another class the next day.
In this new class, with Vyon's protection, Sophia was never ostracized again. She even made quite a few friends.
However, these were just ordinary friends. The only true friend Sophia recognized was Vyon.