Senior woke up first and took control of the body without hesitation, since it was his turn.
He felt the familiar tingling in his right arm, which he had broken yesterday. However, to his surprise, he barely felt any pain in the rest of his body.
His wounds had almost completely healed overnight. Only the huge gash on his back still caused him sharp pain, but even it had already scabbed over and no longer hindered his movements.
Grey raised his eyebrows in surprise.
It seemed he had greatly underestimated his body's ability to recover.
"If my wounds had healed this quickly in my previous life, maybe I wouldn't have died at all. Damn, I'm almost embarrassed that my life ended with a single shot to the stomach." Grey shook his head with a scornful grin.
He knew exactly how serious the injuries he had sustained yesterday were. He also knew that Junior hadn't used a large or medium healing potion, settling for a small one instead. Therefore, his surprise at his body's capabilities was entirely justified.
In any case, this was good news, and he had no intention of continuing to complain.
Grey quickly washed up and hid the remaining signs of the previous day's battle under his clothes. He paid no attention to the clean water, since he always prepared it in advance before going to bed. Then he headed out for the training session he had no intention of skipping.
As a modern Earthling, he had never been a big fan of physical exercise or close combat. However, after arriving in this new world, he had been forced to adapt.
It seemed that even grass could turn into a ferocious monster under the influence of mana, but not him. To avoid ending up at the bottom of the food chain, Grey continued to toughen his body as if his life depended on it.
Over time, waking up early and training intensely had become a habit. Even the slightest sense of progress brought him considerable satisfaction.
He couldn't help recalling the famous phrase that hung above the school's entrance:
"Make the difficult a habit. The habitual will become easy, and the easy will become enjoyable."
Grey knew that if he wanted to improve his life, he had to work hard, but he had never expected that the simple fear of death would make him so motivated. It was as if doing just one more push-up than the day before would guarantee him another day of survival.
Unfortunately, because of the fracture in his arm the previous day, Grey couldn't do push-ups at all, nor could he perform his usual set of exercises.
Even so, he refused to let himself slack off.
It was easy to find reasons to be lazy, reasons that seemed perfectly logical and justified. But give in just once, and it would become a habit. There could always be new circumstances, new excuses.
But as soon as Grey remembered how helpless and vulnerable he had felt in this world, all his reluctance went out the window.
"If I stop taking care of my body, where the hell am I supposed to live? Can't put any strain on my arms? Then it's time to train my legs!" he growled like a man possessed.
Sprinting, long jumps, squats...
Grey performed every exercise as if an overseer stood over him with a whip.
The pain in his muscles cleared his head. It was so intense that the pain from his wounds took a back seat.
The human brain could only process a limited number of signals, and Grey was exploiting this "bug" to the fullest.
Senior would never admit it, but he was deeply jealous of Junior's composure and decisiveness in battle. He understood that if he had been in Junior's place yesterday, he would have been killed even with an AK-47.
And it had nothing to do with differences in physical strength. It was about mentality, that inner resolve he lacked so badly.
That was why Grey was trying so hard to change his mindset.
He trained until he could barely stand, until his body grew so hot that he could have fried an omelet on his skin, using sweat instead of oil.
When he finished his fourth set, the girls entered the courtyard. They were Lily, Cheryl, and Hope.
They had woken up quite some time ago and had even helped out in the kitchen, but they looked rather sleepy, as if they hadn't slept all night.
The girls gathered around him and watched his training like spectators who had come to enjoy a show. It irritated Grey to the point of gritting his teeth.
Why was everyone around him so carefree, yet they kept steadily growing stronger? Meanwhile, he had been cut off from that opportunity even before he moved into his new body.
It pissed him off.
Grey took a deep breath and shoved his irritation as far away as possible.
There was no point in blaming everyone around him, and he understood that. But controlling sudden bursts of emotion was so damn difficult. It didn't help that those outbursts were exclusively negative...
After taking a deep breath in and out, Grey managed to regain his composure and plaster a friendly smile on his face.
"Did you come to watch, or are you actually going to join the morning training?" he asked, gasping for air that felt like it was burning his lungs.
Lily yawned tiredly and waved a hand dismissively.
"I'm out. If those two hadn't dragged me along, I'd have happily stayed in bed a little longer. Who knew they could be so impatient..."
Grey knew Lily was deliberately leaving out details to pique his interest, so he decided to play along.
"And why are they so impatient?"
Lily narrowed her eyes with satisfaction and slowly crossed her arms over her chest. She was clearly enjoying the moment.
"Because we came to show off," she drawled with a lazy smile.
Grey's lip twitched. His patience was rapidly running out.
"Show off?..." he repeated, feeling a mixture of irritation and anticipation.
Lily took another pause, deliberately long and almost taunting. Then she let out a theatrical sigh.
"You know, you've been very busy lately. So I had to take these two's development into my own hands. I was the one looking after them. Practically their nanny." She pointed a slender finger at her own head. "It's hard work, mind you. But as you can see, it has paid off."
Grey snorted, unable to hold it in any longer.
"A nanny? You? I wouldn't trust you with a boiled piglet, let alone a child. I'm sure it'd run away from you within a day and file for emancipation. Just spill it already. What are you trying to tell me?"
"Ungrateful," Lily grumbled at once, sounding offended, though there was more playfulness than genuine hurt in her voice. "Here I am, working so hard, and he..."
She nodded toward the girls.
"Cheryl and Hope have awakened their abilities. Cheryl awakened her race's innate ability, while Hope awakened her witch's gift." Lily gave a theatrical hop and clapped her little hands together. "Ta-da... Well? Are you happy now? They can help you with your crazy schemes from now on... So, how are you going to reward me?"
For a moment, silence fell over the courtyard.
"What exactly am I supposed to reward you for?" Grey blurted out, nearly jumping in surprise.
He stopped paying attention to Lily's antics and turned his attention to the two little girls. They stood with their heads lowered, smiling shyly yet proudly.
Lily wasn't about to let him off so easily.
"Hey, hey! You can't just downplay my contribution like that. I worked really hard... I watched over them, guided them, gave them advice..."
But no matter how much she complained, Grey completely ignored her.
His heart was pounding like crazy, either from excitement or from the intense workout he had just finished.
Grey was thrilled to hear this news. A greedy gleam appeared in his eyes.
He had been waiting a long time for these two to awaken their abilities. Unique abilities were considered remarkable even in this world, which was filled with talented individuals from different races and the wonders brought by mana.
Cheryl was fine. After absorbing the essence of a magical beast, it had only been a matter of time before her ability awakened. Sooner or later, her blood was bound to respond.
But Hope...
Things had gone wrong with this poor soul.
Ever since Grey had personally pulled her off the square, he had been absolutely certain that she had awakened.
He had sensed it immediately. The response was too clear to mistake. Her body's reaction was far too unnatural for a little girl. Besides, Grey knew perfectly well what genetic predisposition meant. He was absolutely certain that his logic held true even in this magical world.
Witches usually didn't need to learn. They simply knew. Their gifts awakened alongside understanding, and their instincts guided them better than any teacher could.
And yet, a long time had passed since then, but Hope still hadn't managed to learn how to use her magical gift.
This left Grey completely baffled. Even Junior, with all his extensive knowledge, couldn't figure out what the problem was.
They were worried. Because of this simple delay in her development and her inability to release the accumulated mana through her magical gift, Hope was in danger. At any moment, she could fall victim to the Devil's Bite, a curse that plagued all "wild" witches.
But no matter how much they racked their brains, they couldn't find a way to help her. There was no point in frightening Hope even more or putting pressure on her. In fact, doing so would only make things worse.
These news had excited Grey so much that he completely forgot about Lily. Trading barbs with the succubus had long since become a habit. His mouth reacted automatically, barely involving his brain. Right now, however, 100% of his attention was focused on Cheryl and Hope.
He tilted his head slightly and watched them closely.
"Will you show me?" he asked calmly, though there was a barely noticeable edge of firmness in his voice.
"Hey, hey... Don't put so much pressure on them." Lily firmly pushed him away. "They're already nervous enough. Why are you scaring my girls even more? It's not that easy to concentrate when everyone's watching."
Grey coughed awkwardly. She was right. He should have kept himself under better control.
"Sorry, I got a little too excited..." he apologized and took another step back.
"It's alright," Cheryl finally spoke up. "We wanted to show you ourselves. But should we find somewhere more secluded?"
"Yes, I'd feel more comfortable if we went into the forest or returned to the ruined estate," Hope added.
Although she knew this place was safe, she couldn't bring herself to demonstrate her witch's abilities inside the city. Even though all the girls at the Embraces of Venus were kind and friendly toward her, she couldn't trust them the way she trusted Grey, Cheryl, and Lily, who knew her true origins.
In the Magical Empire, witches were constantly persecuted and regarded as servants of the devil and heretics. Such prejudices were difficult to overcome, and Hope couldn't be sure that the girls working at the Embraces of Venus wouldn't report her to the city authorities.
Grey realized his mistake and slapped his forehead.
"You're right. Let's return to the others. It's been a long time since I've seen them, and I really hope they haven't been slacking off on their training without me keeping an eye on them."
...
P.S.
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