Xopil had been standing in front of a decrepit building built next to the inn. The inn was the only building in the entire town that received any maintenance at all, and that was only because they were using it. There was a stark contrast between the two buildings, the inn looked nearly pristine in comparison while the other looked ready to collapse at any moment.

Xopil locked his eyes on the old building, and activated his magic. At that moment, the building was removed from the flow of time, caught in a state of limbo. The building ceased to age, frozen within time itself. Xopil proceeded with the next step, attempting to reverse the flow of time on the affected building, despite the tiny voice in his head telling him not to. Xopil ignored the warning, and pushed on. Immense fatigue crushed Xopil, he fell to his knees as sweat poured from his pores. Moments later, his body collapsed as he lost consciousness.

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Xopil opened his eyes sometime later, he was in bed. Xiara was in a chair nearby glaring daggers at him.

"I am quite certain that I don't want to know, but what the hell were you thinking?" Xiara reproached.

"I didn't think I'd pass out from that, I mean pushing time forward wasn't so hard."

"...That's because time is already moving forward there's no resistance. You mean to tell me you didn't feel anything at all when you stopped time?" Xiara quipped, "For that matter, the size of the distortion plays a role too."

"Slightly?" Xopil rubbed his head as he tried to remember.

"I can tell you have something else you want to defend yourself with... let's hear it." Xiara guessed what it was.

"Well, I travel back in time so naturally when I'm sleeping, I figured it couldn't be that difficult." Xopil was grasping at straws though.

"You really are a fool. Did you never stop to think maybe the reason why you are capable of time travelling in your sleep is because you're asleep? Your body is recovering energy faster than you're expending it when you're asleep. There is more to it than that, but I don't want to fry that tiny brain of yours." Xiara scorned.

"...That does make sense." Xopil scratched his head.

"You're smarter than you're letting on; at least that's what I remember. I'll be the first to admit I find your naivety cute at times... but times like this..." Xiara left the room, her angry footsteps on the hardwood floor receeded swiftly.

Xopil looked out the window in time to see a mountain vanish in the distance. He swallowed hard; for at that moment, he knew he messed up.

"Just who are those two?" this single question posed by Calypso sparked a great debate among the five women.

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Xopil stepped outside the inn, and walked over to the hot tub area to check on the girl's progress.

"W-what the?" Xopil knew it didn't look like an exotic resort before, but that certainly doesn't change the fact that the place had an extreme makeover.

"Oh, finally awake?" Calypso asked. The five of them were still in the middle of their debate, lounging relaxedly in the extravagent pool without a care in the world.

"...Just how long was I out?" Xopil asked as he scratched his head.

"Oh right, you wouldn't know that would you?" Calypso started counting on her fingers, "Today is..."

"Don't sugar coat it." interrupted Xiara as she climbed into the pool, "It's been three years and forty-five days."

"A lot can certainly happen in that length of time." Xopil scratched his head.

"...You mean this?" Xiara laughed, "These girls surpassed their teacher in just under three years. They've been lounging here and tweaking this spot little by little ever since."

"So what you're saying is..." Xopil looked forlorn.

"Correct, you've fallen into that 'useless character' role, and I suspect you'll be killed off any day now." unable to refute the facts, Xopil ran off.

"That was a horrible lie!" the girls were about to run after him, Xiara simply waved them to relax.

"He needs the motivation, just leave him. Besides, you also need to realise, he's a genius. If he wholeheartedly put his mind to it, he could have solved all his problems already. He's just acting stupid...but why he is escapes me."

Scary. thought the girls simultaneously.

"If I had to guess, he's almost completely focused on physical training about now, made up his mind to completely master anything and everything he can, and he'll be running by here right about.... now."

Xopil did eventually pass by, but her prediction was way off and that was only because he was in his skunk form and his legs were much shorter.

Xiara looked on thoughtfully, "Indeed, that would make the physical training harder and more effective... honestly, I forgot he could turn into a skunk."

"...Wouldn't most people try to forget something like that?" murmered Calypso.

Xiara just got a sly smirk, "Do you girls want to help me out with something?"

"Why do I get the feeling it involves making Xopil's training harder?" Calypso asked.

"I got that vibe too," added Felicyta.

"Sounds fun," added Lexi.

"It's not like we have anything important to do," stated Winter.

"What are we doing?" Beda said while drying herself off.

"...I had initially thought you'd want to stop me, but I'll take this instead.  Ok, so the plan is we're going to use everything you've learned to make this town into an obstacle/training course... and throw in some death traps as well."

"Are you a sadist by chance?" Winter asked.

"What?  No!  This is for his benefit!  Fine, we'll forget the death traps." Xiara declared, "Throw everything you have at your disposal at him...within reason."

"You don't want us to hurt him or you do? I'm confused."

"If he gets hurt training I can help him get back on his feet, spoiling him in the process." Xiara clarified.

"So in the end this is all about you." Calypso stated coldly.

"That's also clever, asking us to do it so you can act innocent." Felicyta added.

"Let's see what he can do, if he really is a genius anything we throw at him won't be more than a bump in his path right?" Winter added, "Besides, let him prove his worth."

"Hasn't he already?  Just look how Xiara dotes over him." Beda replied.

Not too far away, Xopil was upping his pace running through town.  Little did he know his simple exercise was about to get a massive jump in difficulty.