After the initial nervousness, things calmed down as Jake sat down and had something to eat and drink with Caleb and company. This included the extremely tasty raisin cookies, of course. During it all, Adam kept asking a lot of questions, but luckily, they weren’t the dangerous sort. At least most of them weren’t.
Jake gladly answered most as doing so mainly involved telling tales of his exploits and the many fights he’d been in. He did try to keep things relatively kid-friendly, but he came to learn that Adam was far from ignorant of a lot of things. In that sense, he was a lot like Jake and Caleb themselves, who definitely saw a lot of movies they probably shouldn’t have when his age. Adam was also clearly a big fan of fighting, if his beatdown of Caleb wasn’t a clue to that, and his brother gladly shared more about some of the recordings he’d seen of Jake’s fights.
The number of recordings they had were naturally limited, but they did have a few, including the one where he fought the Prima Guardian. Jake also came to learn that recording things like that was considered standard practice, as besides doing assassination work, the Court of Shadows was also one of the premier information brokers of the multiverse.
Caleb assured Jake that the Court barely had any actionable information on him, though. If one wanted solid data on Jake and how powerful he was, Nevermore was the place to go, assuming the Wyrmgod was willing to sell. Besides that, what the Court was in possession of didn’t give away anything that wasn’t already common knowledge.
Jake was a bit surprised when he learned that the Court of Shadows had some recordings originally taken by Ell’Hakan or the people loyal to him, including the one where he’d actively shown off Fang of Man. These recordings had been copied and sold by people who wanted some quick cash, and the Court had gladly accepted.
Apparently, this recording was Adam’s favorite, as Jake looked really cool in it. Jake wouldn’t argue against that, of course, though he would say he always looked cool. In fact, he had a lot of fights where he’d been way cooler, many of which he gladly shared with Adam.
He kept it to the times he fought monsters, though, and Adam was very engrossed as Jake spoke of the time he fought a space magic panther to kill his very first C-grade.
Like that, the day rapidly passed, with Jake even sneaking in some mana training by summoning arcane projections to show Adam visual representations of some of his battles, which somehow ended up with Jake summoning an Adam-sized arcane construct for him to fight against.
Jake said fight, but it was mostly Adam just whacking away at the thing as Jake tried to properly control it. He learned that fine-motion controls were pretty freaking difficult, especially when he had to be careful not to hurt Adam. Not that he had to be overly careful, as Jake wasn’t even sure his arcane construct could injure Adam unless he purposefully made it blow up or something. And even then, it was doubtful that would be enough.
Caleb had acquired several defensive items for their entire family to help keep them safe. Most of them were auto-activated barriers and shields that would activate should an attack deal a certain percentage of their heal in damage, and from what Jake knew, those items definitely weren’t cheap. It wasn’t easy to make something that could provide power without relying on the person using it, though there was way more leeway for defensive items compared to offensive ones. In fact, having a non-self-made item capable of dealing more damage than your best skill was borderline impossible. Even if Jake gave Maja one of his poisons to put on a kitchen knife, it would barely do anything, while that very same bottle and knife combo in Jake’s hands could kill high-tier C-grades.Anyhow, the afternoon passed with them playing until dinnertime approached. Jake felt like it had been a good decision to stop by and only spend the day with Caleb, Maja, and Adam before also going to see his parents. It allowed them to have some good quality time without Jake also having to think about his old folks.
Alas, it was time to finally pay them a visit, as when evening approached, Maja and Caleb began preparing to head next door, making Jake ask:
“You still eat dinner with Mom and Dad every night?”
“Not every night, but pretty often,” Maja answered. “Though it is nearly every night when Caleb is gone.”
“Understandable,” Jake nodded in understanding as he could see why Maja would get a bit lonely with his brother not around. Also, seeing as they were leaving soon, he also got ready to head over. His preparations were mainly of the mental variant, though.
Jake also didn’t question why they were even eating dinner or having these afternoon snacks in the first place, even if it could easily be viewed as wasteful in the context of the wider multiverse.
All the adults involved didn’t have to eat anymore. Even Maja and his parents had reached D-grade by now, making eating entirely unnecessary. The only one who still had to eat was Adam, but even he didn’t need to eat as much as before, though from what Jake knew, even humans benefitted from food when trying to reach their “natural” grade while growing up.
To clarify, seeing as Maja had been pregnant when the system arrived, Adam didn’t have a higher natural grade. Without training, he would naturally max out his race in F-grade, more accurately, around level 10 in F-grade, which also happened to be when Jake and everyone else had evolved to F-grade from G way back then – a grade Adam had entirely skipped.
Humans like Adam would naturally grow to level 10 around the teenage age, though there were instances it could get higher. Around the teenage age was then when one could get classes and professions, and from there, they would level just like Jake and everyone who had done the Tutorials. Naturally, without any race levels gained until their profession and class had some growth first.
Jake hadn’t done a lot of research on how human children tended to grow naturally, and truthfully, he knew a lot more about monsters in that regard, but he was at least aware of these basic things. He was sure Maja and Caleb knew a lot more, but it didn’t really seem appropriate to discuss.
Anyhow, with all their preparations done, the four of them left the house to make the long trek all the way next door. Through his sphere, Jake saw his mom and dad already inside, with his mom setting the table as his Dad was busy at the grill. As mentioned, eating wasn’t something any of them needed, but it was still considered an extremely popular social activity.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
It was even considered pretty normal to go out to eat within the Order of the Malefic Viper. Of course, with nutrients no longer being the goal of food, the focus had entirely shifted to taste and texture. Food was all about enjoyment, and that was it. In many ways, it was no different from any other form of entertainment, and the more long-lived many people became, especially when they didn’t pursue progress anymore, the more they sought entertainment. The entertainment industry was massive everywhere, and in many ways, Earth was behind as they’d been so busy handling system events, yet even they had plenty if one bothered to look, and Jake was sure the general culinary field had developed plenty over the last few years.
With all this in mind, Jake was looking forward to his dad’s grill work, as he had no doubt only gotten better since the last time Jake had any of his food, and as he didn’t need to consider calories or making anything healthy, he could go as ham with the barbecue sauce as he wanted.
So, with great expectations, they arrived at their door. Maja knocked, and with his sphere, Jake saw his mom rush to the door.
“You’re a bit early; Robert is still—“ Jake’s mom began as she opened the door but quickly stopped when she spotted both Jake and Caleb there. According to Maja, Caleb was also not supposed to be home today, meaning his mom had gotten a double surprise.
Jake was about to say something as his mom turned her head and yelled: “Robert! Jake and Caleb are also here!”
Only a second later, Jake’s dad yelled back: “Do they want sausages or ribs? I think the roast is big enough even with two more, but I can throw on a second one...”
His mom turned to Jake and Caleb, the Judge answering first. “I’ll have whatever.”
“Ribs, for sure,” Jake said as he was already looking forward to the meal.
“Caleb wants those chili sausages, and Jake wants ribs!” his mom yelled back before she finally properly turned to address Jake. “You’re lucky we got extra from the butcher just yesterday. You could have given us a ring and said you’d come!”
Jake scratched the back of his head as he smiled. “I wanted it to be a surprise?”
“He probably just decided impulsively to visit, not leaving him any time to call ahead,” Caleb took a dig at Jake, being entirely accurate with his assessment.
“Doesn’t matter,” Jake’s mom smiled as she walked over to Jake. “Now come here!”
She pulled him into a hug and gave him a good squeeze as Jake just smiled and returned it. “Sorry that it’s been so long.”
“It’s fine,” she said in a comforting voice. “Your father and I both know that you’re busy. We’re both adults; we can take care of ourselves.”
“Still,” Jake protested, but his mom gave him a look that made it clear she didn’t wanna hear anything more about it. Obliging, Jake shut up as he instead accepted her invitation to enter the nice little house.
Walking in, he inspected the place a bit while his mom was busy doting on Adam, who’d run up to his grandma after Jake and she had spoken. The house was pretty simple and looked very modern, and it was definitely an upgrade to where they lived before.
It was also built extremely well, and Jake even saw that beneath the house was a bunker of sorts. The main structure itself was also heavily reinforced to the level Jake doubted a single arcane arrow barrage would be enough to destroy it... assuming he’d even gotten past all the barriers defending the entire property, of course. Overall, Jake was definitely satisfied with the level of security. It was thorough and powerful, yet not intrusive or disruptive to his parent’s lives.
Looking around, Jake spotted something. On the wall, he noticed objects he hadn’t expected to see. His eyes opened wide as he walked closer to properly inspect a few pictures hanging there. He saw how they were slightly damaged at their edges, and he couldn’t help but wonder if they were real. He didn’t have to wonder long as his dad walked into the room to greet the newly arrived guests and saw what Jake was looking at.
“Caleb had some people scour an area that resembled where we used to live, and they found those as well as a few other small things,” Robert, Jake’s father, spoke.
What Jake was looking at was a set of pictures on the wall. One of them showed Jake and the rest of his family at a Christmas gathering a few years before the system, while another was one of their dad chasing Jake and Caleb with a water gun when they were both kids. The final picture was one from Maja and Caleb’s wedding day, depicting his parents with the bride and groom.
Jake couldn’t help but smile as he saw these pictures, and a flood of emotions washed over him. “I’m glad they found them.”
“Me too,” his dad said as he walked over and stood beside Jake. “How have you been recently? I heard a lot of things happened with that other World Leader who also attacked the planet those years ago.”
“It’s all been dealt with,” Jake said in a firm tone, his dad looking at him with some concern as Jake shook his head.
“Dad, It’s all fine. Better now than it has been for a long time. There’s no competition left in the galaxy worth mentioning, and things are rapidly stabilizing. I believe that the people I have entrusted to handle everything actually have the situation under control, and trust me, they’re way more competent than I am at what they’re doing. Even if they run into a snag anyway, I’ll figure it out.”
“As long as you don’t overwhelm yourself,” his Dad said with a sigh.
“I’m pretty good at delegating,” Jake smiled in response. “Perhaps a bit too good at times.”
The two of them spoke a bit more as they looked at the pictures. Meanwhile, his mom ushered Caleb and company into the house and toward the backyard, where the food was cooking.
As the four of them went out there, Jake heard his mom yell again. “Weren’t you gonna bring more out for the grill? Also, you are keeping an eye on it, right?”
“Oh, right,” Robert was reminded as he threw Jake a look. “Meet you outside in a bit.”
Jake just chuckled and went out the back door. However, he hadn’t even gotten fully outside before his mom stopped him. “Jake, could you bring plates and utensils for you and your brother?”
“Sure,” Jake responded, turning on his heel and heading to the kitchen. His dad saw him walk in, having heard what his wife said as he spoke up.
“The plates are in the-“
Jake had already opened the cabinet with the plates by the time he said it, and with a flick of his hand, a drawer also opened as two pairs of knives and forks floated up from it.
“I have a lot of Perception,” Jake just said, his dad not even questioning anything as Jake headed outside and set the table. As he placed things down, he couldn’t help but notice Caleb staring at him and shaking his head.
“What?” Jake asked.
“I’m just wondering who else in the multiverse could just tell you to do something mundane like setting a table. Who would even dare at this point, much less who could actually make you just do it without question,” his little brother said.
“Just because he’s the World Leader doesn’t mean he stops having manners,” their mom shot back.
“Touché,” Caleb said while raising his hands in surrender, not daring to argue with their mother either.
Jake just smiled as his dad soon joined them with way more meat than what was probably necessary. It didn’t take long before dinner was served, and Jake had the damn best spareribs of his life. The fact Jake’s diet usually consisted of plants or mushrooms, having actual food was so good in comparison.
As Jake sat there eating, surrounded by his family, he couldn’t help but realize how... normal it felt. It had been years since he’d seen many of them, yet after only a few minutes, it felt natural for him to be there. It was as if he’d just returned after a semester at university.
He smiled as he sank his teeth into yet another rack of spareribs, feeling truly relaxed for the first time in a long while.
Yeah... this was a good idea.