Saying master Giles was pissed at master Wang is an understatement. He chewed him out for an hour, talking about risks and stupidity. I got bored and tuned out the argument while catching up on some light reading with my [Lexicon].

"He is both our disciple, you may have reign over how you train him martially, but you have no right to subject him to that without my permission."

"I understand, old friend."

"Don't old friend me. Why push him to prestige now? It's incredibly deadly, and he hasn't even attuned energy yet."

"It was the only way to improve him enough to manage to attune in the first place."

"Maybe the only way you know how to improve things. You are lucky that our disciple is resilient enough to handle you. You break everything you touch, especially people."

"..."

"You better wait for me to handle my business before even attempting an attunement. I'll need to oversee to ensure you don't do anything stupid, Wang. If my friend wasn't dead and I wasn't on a mission to bury him, I'd do more than scold."

Giles leaves with Duchess and Rob after checking to make sure I'm alright. Once he's long gone, I ask master Wang a question.

"What did he mean when he said you break people?"

"I'm a great fighter."

"...Master."

"It's personal history between fogeys past their prime. Don't concern yourself."

"..."

"There is a reason I live alone, and the only person willing to remain with me is my daughter. There is a reason why I don't have any students that bothered to stay. My wife loves me but can't bare to live with me for longer than a few days at a time."

"I might not be the best person to talk to, but I'm willing to listen."

"This isn't therapy, boy. My lifestyle is too brutal for today's society, even with monsters, fractures, and gods running around. I had more fun running with orcs than living among my people. Dragons respected me more than my fellow masters. A small part of me hoped that society never recovered from the collision, but here we are."

"Can't you still do all those things? Orcs and dragons haven't gone extinct, and most of the planet hasn't been tamed."

Master Wang waves dismissively.

"...I'm done speaking for today."

~

I'm still confused about what happened. When I first met master Wang, I looked him up on the internet and only found archived reviews for his dojo. He is a master of martial arts and should have something about him on the internet. Well... He was active when all modern infrastructure was down, so maybe not.

I called Rain and master Giles to ask them, but they both said it wasn't their place to talk about his business behind his back. I decided to call my assistant to ask her to look into it.

*Ring Ring* *Ring Ring* *Ring Click*

"Hello, Mr. Vincere."

"Hey. Can you look into the history of my master, master Wang?"

"...I can. I'm not terribly busy since there isn't much I can do since you've been out of the public eye. Your friend, the lawyer, has informed me of the lawsuit. If you want, I can publicize this, but the backlash from the 'Ken' family might be harsh."

"Fuck them, do it. But isn't it a bit too late to capitalize on this?"

"No, the victim has recently been identified, and their family has been notified. A husband and father of three. They've been soliciting donations online for enough money for a funeral. Apparently, they've been barely scraping by even before the incident."

"Just the funeral?"

"They claim they don't want to impose too much. Just enough to properly bury the man. It's foolhardy since donations have to be given in person. Hiring someone to do it on another person's behalf requires buying a magic contract."

"Inconveniences kill the charitable spirit. With how the man was, a shovel and a bucket would be enough."

"Donating a large sum would be a good start. Get the people to notice, and we can slide the fact you are suing the perpatrators. Depending on your stance with the enforcers, we can drag them into it."

"I want to hire you full-time."

"That would be an issue. Mr. Palmer is still my employer, and I'm happy with the current situation. Perhaps if Mr. Palmer doesn't require my assistance in the future, I'll accept a position with you. I don't think Mr. Palmer would rescind my services with you until you are suitably famous."

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"More like infamous, but alright."

Palmer has issues and has bet on me to resolve them. At least I don't have to do anything but be myself, according to him.

~

It took a week before my stats were back to normal. Leaks form in my lifeforce if I exert myself too much. I shouldn't be in danger unless I'm in a situation where having a healthy life force would change little. During that time, I donated one thousand credits ninety-nine times to the family. It's a weird way to say 99,000 credits, but my assistant says it's better this way. Speaking of...

The assistant did her job a little too well, and it became a big thing. She first caused rumors of the enforcers, who predominantly worship the goddess of justice, letting murderers go free because of "connections." Not unheard of, but it still grabs attention.

People randomly dying isn't uncommon. Getting caught in the collateral damage of a fight against high-level people is worryingly common. More people die in the crossfire than in fractures. I think that's a testament to modern-day rankers not venturing into fractures unless it's safe for them to do so more than anything.

But this was wanton murder. A clan or family member decided to murk a commoner just because they could and won't even get a slap on the wrist. It got people mad, but before the anger faded and was redirected to the newest scandal that came out, the assistant used my account to announce that I would be donating to the family and suing the family responsible since I was a victim.

They won't be punished for attempting to murder a representative of the humans in the criminal court. However, I am willing to fight them in the civil one. Since the enforcers failed me, I will take it into my own hands.

She then linked the videos. They didn't get all the phones. Free Chains ensured everything couldn't be used against us, so we couldn't put the family's name on blast. Drama makes money, so the media ate this up. In just a few days, I was trending.

People would flood posts, mostly curious or outraged netizens. My assistant answered on my behalf and purposely slipped information.

It was a famous family, not some random two brothers. They attempted to settle, but the terms weren't standard. I had to stay at the station longer than they did, and they got there before me.

Vague but revealing. We are unsure who started it, but someone propagated that the perpetrators must be from the Ken family. They are the only family in the capital that equally loves foxes as much as they love swords. Free Chains had to double-check that nobody on our side did anything since it would be cantankerous if it got traced back to us.

It was just an eagle-eye internet sleuth. The assistant's only issue is keeping the flames fanned until the court date. Since Free Chains used his authority as a [Lawspeaker], a month is the longest Ken's family lawyer can stall.

The first thing I should do is get ready for the grind. The fastest way to grind would be utilizing master Wang's zerg fracture. I should ask him about it. Why he has it, why it's self-containing, why he has it... Normal questions. Instead, I fill my bag with emergency rations, potions, and... that's pretty much all I need.

The things I have in my armory aren't any better than what's already on my person. There is a magic revolver with similar firepower to my firearm, the [Rust Eater] I picked up from the institute a while ago, the various nicknacks from the dwarf spirit... I decide to take the pogo stick with me. Why not.

I enter the dust-jammed zerg with the broken sun. Sounds of combat ring constantly, and the kicked-up earth drowns out the smell of war. The hyena people with recycled armor and plundered arms are in a constant bid. For what? Who knows. But I do know one thing. My group of under-leveled beasts will ruin some unlucky warriors' day.

~

Getting more than five feet off the ground is nearly impossible. And thanks to the ritual resetting my beast's level to fifty, death is a real worry. Everyone but Rob has to stay within range of my [Martr] skill no matter what.

Rob can use his stealth to steal some higher-level creature's experience. Even if he gets caught out, he's practically immortal. His infinite ammo glitch of an item can also lay enough 'cover fire' to escape. Even if he gets spawn camped and can't recover in time, I'll whistle and get him out of there. The only problem would be noticing his predicament.

Duchess can snipe from this position or blanket an area with radiation to farm experience, but I don't let her. These things don't notice us when we are on this cliff, and I'd like to keep it that way.

My tamed beasts and I share the experience any of us gains, even if we can't receive it. Whatever experience Rob gains will be split six ways even though Prometheus and I are stuck at our current levels. It is an appropriate tradeoff for the fact that one tamer is equivalent to a team of their own. It's also why battle tamers require an insane amount of resources, and only the big guilds invest in them. Imagine explaining to your guild leader that one man deserves a team's worth of anything; you'd be hard-pressed unless it was clearly worth it. Usually, they only have tamers for mounts, tracking things, or other utility purposes. Tamers are a utility class, after all.

I find it weird that you are only considered a 'battle tamer' if all your beasts are for battle purposes. That doesn't mean your beasts can't also have utility purposes, but anything can fight. Anything with basic instincts or a drive will fight to survive unless they are sick, one way or another. I guess the intent is measured rather than ability.

Flash Gordon breaks skulls with a 25% increase in efficiency, but he's also a source of energy stones and mental health. Rob can stalk and steal, but he can also rip flesh with shovels to uncover your bones, I mean his bones. They are now his since you won't be needing them. Prometheus is still a child, so he won't be considered anything yet, and Duchess has magic. Magic can do practically anything. The only creature bred for fighting in my party is Khan.

My favorite swarm of murder machines.

The only saving grace for Rob having to farm for five dead weights is my experience multiplier. However much that bonus affects the exp pool before it gets equally distributed. At least I'm helping. I'm ignoring that if these creatures were too low-level, we would get nothing, thanks to another 'experience multiplier.'

Rob must have gotten a kill since my beasts leveled up a few times in a row. After Rob gained another few successful assassinations, I figured that having him do all the work was mean, not that he seemed to mind. I signal Duchess, and she starts blasting the battlefield with rays and zones of death.

~

How long did it take for my beasts to reach level one hundred from level fifty? Because we redid it in two days. Once I figured it was time for us to touch the ground and let Khan loose, it was carnage. I tanked all the hits for my beasts, allowing them to have free reign... as long as they were within thirty feet.

Once my beast reached the appropriate level, their evolutions happened naturally, as they met the requirements and had done it before. Caked in dust and blood that isn't their own, the process of their evolutions had an entirely different feel to them... Maybe not Khan.

I checked and rechecked, but nothing was different from before the ritual. I breathed a sigh of relief as I fixed an error that would've screwed my beast's future. Next time my beasts evolve, they need to turn into rank A beasts, or all this was for nothing.