This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Of course the Kain's new 'assistants' couldn't possibly stay in his usual laboratory.

For one, he had too many secrets there, including the notes and research results based off of those stolen from that evil organization created in their efforts to help Gabriel.

However, after Kain had notified the university about his latest research achievement, the FMT pill, it immediately took the top brass by storm and they readily agreed to any of his requests—including an additional research space.

Of course they were also much more willing to grant him an additional lab once he clarified that it didn't need to be equipped with any expensive equipment, he just needed it to essentially convert it into a shared office space for his research assistants.

After some simple furnishing, the office space Kain prepared seemed luxurious at first glance—especially since it would just be used by unpaid assistants.

Each desk and chair was custom-fitted with sleek, ergonomic designs meant to optimize comfort, while the chairs were plush and adjustable with memory foam cushions.

The assistants looked around in awe, their eyes misty with gratitude. The air even carried a faint scent of lavender, thanks to a discreet spiritual plant Kain had brought in to enhance focus and ease mental exhaustion.

"This… this is incredible," murmured Rivian, running a hand along the smooth surface of the desk assigned to him.

"I've never seen a setup this good, even in the graduate faculty lounge," Dravis added, his already calming voice, now practically a gentle whisper.

Elera sighed contentedly, sinking into her seat. "He's… surprisingly thoughtful."

The fourth-years, likely intimidated by the presence of more senior students didn't express their thoughts, but their twitching lips as the felt around their new desks also clearly showed that they were pleased by their new workspace.

It seems like their new boss was much more thoughtful than they'd expected.

But their sentimental moment was short-lived.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Kain smiled gently before stepping forward. With a casual motion, he placed a massive stack of thick, ancient-looking textbooks on Rivian's desk that he took from his space ring.

Then another stack on Elera's. And another for Dravis. And the fourth-years. The piles towered over the assistants, teetering slightly unsteadily due to their significant height.

Each assistant's initial gratitude morphed into horror as the stacks kept coming.

"These are handpicked for each of you," Kain said, his kind tone utterly incompatible with the sinister glint in his eye. "I made sure to match them to your specialties. These books represent hundreds of years of recorded knowledge, carefully preserved and a great boost to your current knowledge reserves. Isn't it wonderful?"

The assistants exchanged uneasy glances, their earlier happiness evaporating.

Dravis cleared his throat. "Uh, Kain, these… seem a bit excessive."

Elera nodded, her fingers gripping the edge of her desk. "Is… is all of this necessary?"

They could tell that many of the documents Kain pulled out, god knows where he got them from, started to exceed the scope of what the college's records even contained. Kain had used his newfound access to the knowledge reserves of the Eclipse Order to create a reading list for each assistant.

"Of course!" Kain's gentle smile widened, his expression terrifyingly serene. "You never know what may come in handy. A book skipped could result in death so I trust you'll give these your full attention. After all, a solid foundation is crucial for any great scholar."

'In death?! Isn't that being melodramatic!'

Of course, they didn't know that Kain, as a new member of the Pathfinders was being quite literal. After all, a missed important chapter may mean unnecessary danger or greater time spent in solving a relic.

Knowing that his request was a bit excessive—especially since he even wanted to give them a time limit but figured he'd ease into that topic later on lest they revolt—Kain just tried to make his smile as gentle and welcoming as possible.

However, to the assistants, his smile now looked less like that of a caring mentor and more like a demon relishing their impending suffering.

"Now then," Kain continued cheerfully, clapping his hands together. "Make yourselves at home. If you need anything, let me know. Especially if you need any more books!"

And with that, he left, leaving his assistants staring at the intimidating towers of books as if they were staring down a death sentence.

Dravis leaned back in his chair with a resigned sigh. "Well… at least the chairs are nice."

The assistants exchanged one last glance of shared despair before reluctantly opening their first books. Meanwhile, Kain was already on his way back to his primary laboratory, completely unconcerned with the chaos he'd left behind.

The enthusiasm expressed by the higher-ups for the FMT pill had been much greater than anticipated, and rumours that the 'genius planner student' came up with a new ground-breaking contribution to the field of Evolutionary Planning were already circling around.

Therefore, Kain was having to move up some of his plans.

The concept of these pills has never been seen before, therefore many would likely doubt their effects, therefore he had planned to use the buzz produced from a new widely applicable evolutionary form to publicize the FMT pills.

If at the time of the launch of the pills their creator had an even greater 'genius' aura and they managed to get official backing, it would increase their credibility greatly and he likely wouldn't even need to spend much on advertising, they'd probably sell out within seconds.

The droppings collected by Ferrin were kept within a special extremely cold container to preserve their special qualities and Kain would only need to pick them up to make the pills once a week.

Also, so far Kain already had thousands of pills prepared and wasn't in a rush to prepare more.

Therefore, he turned his attention to the most important part of their launch plan—a new evolutionary form.

And it just so happened that one of the requests he needed to fulfill for his new assistants perfectly met these conditions.