At this stage, our bodies couldn’t handle constant skill usage. Mine was the exception with its recovery ability. Until Alex gained a regeneration skill of his own, he would be limited. Most night waifu users eventually gain a recovery skill vampire that drained their opponent’s life to recover their own. Unfortunately, the vampire skill clashed with the day version of regenerate grace and often killed the user. The neutral regenerate skill, on the other hand, flipped the table on convention.

So even if I was weakened from regeneration already, I still had the advantage of constant dragon power.

We got into the ring, and Alex was already hopping on his feet, so I copied him feeling my muscles stretch. Blue frost covered his fist before he hit me in a flash. He combed it with a knee to my gut and a snap kick to my head. I raised my hands like I saw him and tried to shrink his target. His blows hurt because he could use his jotun power right before the point of impact. I shot forward-moving dragon power into my fists and punched. He vanished to the side, powering up his feet before delivering two jabs to my face before shifting to an elbow to my jaw. I tasted blood for a second before the wound healed. The pain hadn’t faded, and I felt weaker with every hit. I needed food soon; the longer I went without it, the fewer people around me remained people. When he hit, my dragon power felt sluggish.

I remembered too late that dragon was weak to jotun. While I could remember things with perfect recall, I didn’t see the need to look that fact up before. Attributes weren’t my main priority when picking this world. It was mainly the color and freedom that appealed to me. Early in the timeline, Waifu Wonderland was practically lawless.

Alex threw a jab, and I stepped to the side just as he had earlier. I jabbed forward in a feint, then shot at him with a knee. Instead of knocking him off his feet like I envisioned, he swayed a little before countering with an elbow to the side of my head.

“You should keep your guard up. Moves like yours will get you killed.” His hand glowed impossibly bright before he hit me with an uppercut. I felt my body fly into the air until I landed heavily on my back. Someone was counting while I replayed the fight repeatedly before rolling over and standing back up.

“If you don’t tap out now, I won’t hold back anymore,” Alex said.

My injuries had already healed, and my body no longer felt sluggish in places. Regeneration was completely overpowered. I hopped on my toes like Alex continued to do before shooting forward. Alex moved faster than before, but I had learned a lot already. I countered his elbow with one of my own and jabbed him. Flames practically leaped off my fist as it shot through the air to impact Alex’s face.

A jab from him caught me in the face as our knees hit each other. We pushed against each other, trying to force the other down. In my emaciated state, I couldn’t put up as much strength. He slowly pushed me back, surprising me with how well he already controlled jotun power.

I headbutted him and tried for an uppercut. Instead, he slashed at my chest with icy, ethereal claws, and I felt my skin split open. Flames lit around my fist, only to be caught by his cold hand. Ice climbed down to my elbow as he held my fist.

“I’m calling the match. Alex is the winner.” Alex smirked and let go of my arm.

I punched with my other hand, but Alex kicked my legs out from under me. “Give up, loser. You aren’t even a challenge.” That pissed me the hell off. I shot up and swung with all my might, but he only stepped to the side. He smirked and leaped out of the ring. His waifu quickly wrapped him in a hug as other tamers crowded around him.

Alice grabbed my frozen arm, opened her mouth, and breathed a slow stream of flames. After a few seconds, I could feel my hand again. Unfortunately, the dragon power was slow to fill it back in. Looking at my arms filled me with depression. While they weren’t massive before, they looked like twigs after the fight.

“I smell food; let's fill you up. And don’t worry about the loss; you’ll beat him next time. After all, I know something he doesn’t.” She smiled big at me. “You didn’t know how to fight before you entered the ring, and now you do,” Alice said.

“How do you know that?” I asked her.

“You’re a part of me just like I’m a part of you. That’s how it works, partner. Now let’s go try all the tasty dishes. I can’t wait to see what’s available.” 

I piled a mountain of wings on my plate. They were from a domesticated kind of monster called a pigmy phoenix slathered in various sauces and grilled over charcoal. I tossed a minotaur steak in my mouth, chewed it rapidly before swallowing, and took a long drink of rank 3 Blitzberrifu wine from my cup. Long stalks of greens cut from rampaging plant attribute monsters mutated beyond identification made up most of the salad on the table. I drenched some in wing sauce and ate heartily while Alice did the same crushing bones with her teeth. She sat beside me at the table while other tamers had their waifus at their own table with a less extravagant fair.

Only the white variant waifus were given such an honor normally. They stared daggers at Alice while she chomped down on everything in front of her. I did the same, matching her pace dish by dish. The dragon power burned faster within me as I ate everything I could to restore my body. This was what I needed to recover.

Professor Cacao didn’t seem bothered by the situation in the least. He only eyed his grandson, staring daggers at me while talking to the rest of the tamers who had white variant waifus.

“You know something tells me your mother hasn’t spent much of the child support your father sends on you.” The professor said.

“What gave it away?” I asked.

The man smiled genially. “It's common, especially when one of the older generations has no power in a city. I’m afraid all the gangs in town answer to me.” Professor Cacao said. “That seems to have stunted your development. However, I have a way to balance the scales a bit. Why don’t I hire you for a year as a manager of the various gangs around the city? You’ll receive a cut of the profits and some practice wielding authority.” Professor Cacao said.

It sounded like a setup to become a fall guy. I looked at the forums to come up blank. I’ve never looked into this scenario. A year wasn’t too much of a loss, and I would make some money. I would also have time to develop a stronger foundation with my skills. All in exchange for putting myself under Professor Cacao’s power.

“Gramps, you can’t do that. He’s an untalented nobody; this is too much of an honor.” Alex said.

I blinked and couldn’t help but sense this was a trap. “Alex is right. I’m a nobody; you should find someone better for the job like one of Alex’s friends.” I said.

“You say that, but you’re the only one who managed to tame a black dinofu. So think about it and get back to me before you leave.”

I glanced over at Alice. “Who would want to be tied down in a city? Let’s explore the world and go on an adventure.” Alice said.

That settled it then and there. Why would I bother staying in the city under Professor Cacao’s power? He led the gang Tyrone was a part of and knew my mother used all my child support on herself. The professor was the ruler of this city and held absolute power. Because of that, I couldn’t say no outright. I needed to get my supplies and leave the city before morning. There was only enough time to kill Tyrone.

“Alright, Professor, I’ll think about it and get back to you,” I said and made a game plan.