*Day 15

The sun welcomed the Hero and his retainers with a bright and sunny morning.

Vincent was the first to wake up. He slept instead of waking up in the middle of the night to train, unlike Ester and Lupa. He slowly pulled himself up with one arm as the other was numb for being used as a pillow.

[Ester and Lupa trained last night. It would be best to let them sleep a bit longer, but the sun might soon wake them up.]

Vincent became surprised how the two girls wanted to train while he slept like a log. 'I'm not Hero material, am I?' Echoed in his mind.

Vincent pulled the cart close to provide the two sleeping beauties shade from the sunlight. Then he decided to train a few exercises from Earth. He felt the urge to train from hearing how Ester and Lupa wanted to grow stronger.

[Why don't you train like real Heroes do? Push-ups, situps, and squats for one hundred times. You could run, but pulling the cart for a whole day is hardcore training as well.]

-A hundred times each?-

After Vincent responded, he raised his hands. His wavering green eyes said it all. He wasn't sure of completing a quarter of each training, yet he wanted to know his ever-changing body's limits.

In two weeks, his body had undergown an unnatural change. Starting from a skinny short haired Vincent, to a long-haired Vincent and a body becoming toned each day.

Vincent gulped, mustering the courage to try the suggested training regimen. He laid on the ground and decided to try a push-up first.

'One, two, three, four, five... Huh? I don't feel tired or feel my muscles cry to stop.' Vincent thought while stopping after five push-ups. Then he continued doing push-ups until his arms couldn't lift his body from the ground anymore.

"How much... did I make... *Pant. " Vincent said while heavily breathing. He became too exhausted to concentrate on a telepathic message. His heart raced like an engine, and his arms trembled from exhaustion.

[Not bad, not bad. You surprisingly did eighty push-ups. Now do sit-ups and squats.]

Vincent laid on his stomach for quite a while until his breathing returned. He felt exhausted, yet he wished to see the limits his body could reach as now, a clear image of a healthy athletic body that could do an amount of push-ups he never dreamed of doing in a whole week.

Later, Vincent fell on the ground gasping for air. He finished the third workout after giving it his all.

[Nicly done. Eighty push-ups, seventy squats, and. Ohh, so close eighty-eight sit-ups. The road of training like a hero is still a bit far.]

"A bit far? *Pant... I never thought I became so...*Pant... strong." Vincent felt like his heart was about to stop after he overworked his body up to the last fiber. He fainted after uttering these words.

[Hey, wake up. Heh, too much training in one go. Nevertheless, I'm quite surprised he could do all this training while taking barely any timeouts. Just what is happening to his body?]

Kazumi didn't want to wake Vincent after she observed he wasn't in danger and later heard him snoring his tiredness away. She decided to leave the three asleep under the shade and let them wake up at their own pace.

Two hours quickly passed, Ester and Lupa woke up at the same time. Both raised a smile at each other as Vincent made them hold hands once again.

The two girls approached Vincent. A puzzled frown appeared on their face after seeing him covered in sweat. His long-sleeved shirt was wet.

"I can feel Vincent is warm. Did he train while we were sleeping?" Lupa asked. Then she swiftly grabbed his shirt and pulled it off.

"Lupa! What are you doing?" Ester flustered in surprise. Her crimson eyes scanned all of his body as it seemed different than the last time she saw him shirtless. It was after the lake incident that she saw his bare chest last.

"Helping my mate is my job. Do you want to help or look at him?" Lupa said while she pulled down his pants.

[My my, these girls are quite daring if I say so myself. I wonder if they will remove his underwear, hehe.]

However, what Kazumi thought didn't happen. Lupa relit the fire with a pinch of Mutated Ash, then made a rack with the sicks to dry his clothes.

Lupa learned to make a rack after the sight of pork jerkies getting smoked engraved in her mind. She even dreamt of living in a house with walls of cooked meat ready for a bite.

Meanwhile, Ester cleaned Vincent with a red face. She wanted to repay him for taking care of her when she was sick, but his body didn't feel skinny anymore. Instead, his arms felt more muscular, and she could feel a few bumps on his belly; they were the fast forming ABS.

[Vincent would flip if I could show him this memory, haha.]

Half of the day quickly flew by, and noon soon arrived.

Vincent opened his eyes. He felt a cool breeze around him. As he pulled himself up, he noticed Ester channeling her Frost Sigils to keep the temperature cool around them. Her mastery in controlling the output drastically increased every time.

Vincent looked down. He only noticed skin and underwear below his neck; his shirt and pants were gone. He swiftly turned his head from left to right. Soon the missing clothes entered his sight. They were drying on a rack near the lit campfire.

Ester stopped her Frost Sigils and averted her eyes. On the other hand, Lupa rushed to his side while her tail didn't stop waving. Then she asked, "I cleaned and dried your clothes. Will you reward me?"

Kazumi slyly said nothing to help. Vincent felt embarrassed, standing in front of a beauty like Lupa with only his underwear.

Vincent quickly petted Lupa's head and rushed to grab the clothes. The long-sleeved shirt was dry and the pants as well, but they had an annoying smell of smoke.

Vincent wore his pants. Then decided to remove the sleeves. The farther they walked, the warmer it felt. It could be summer in this new world, but it was impossible to tell because of the mountains with snow.

"Why are you cutting the sleeves?" Lupa asked with intrigue.

"It's getting hotter the farter we walk, so I decided to turn this shirt into a sleeveless shirt." Vincent cut off the two sleeves, then wore the sleeveless shirt.

"You look good." Lupa turned around and went behind Ester. Then she continued while tossing him her shirt, "Here do mine."

Ester frowned at the moment the pair of plum chest touched her back. Her chest inferiority complex triggered and said, "Hide somewhere else next time."

"But sisters should protect one another. Don't you like me, sister?" Lupa played the sister card. Her voice sounded like an innocent wolf wanting help from her sister.

Ester sighed but didn't reply. Lupa won over the annoyed Ester.

[You better hurry, or are you happy touching her warm shirt you pervert, hehe. Did you become a furry all of a sudden?]

Kazumi giggled at the unfolding drama. She teased Vincent as she couldn't resist anymore.

-Say what you want. I don't want to give you the pleasure of teasing me.-

[You don't need to say anything. Your bright red face is telling me your answer.]

Vincent quickly removed the sleeves and threw the shirt at the girls. However, he saw a sight that made him let out a light gasp.

Ester had a pair of white fluffy wolf ears on her redhead and a tail happily wagging because Lupa stood behind her. 'She looks quite cute as a beastman,' he thought.

Lupa swiftly wore her new sleeveless shirt. She jumped with joy like a little child receiving a gift they wished for. She circled Ester while peeking at her sleeves with a grin.

Lupa wore a shirt similar to Vincent, unlike Ester, giving her a sense of triumph. But it didn't last long as Vincent asked a question making her frown.

"Ester, do you want to remove your sleeves as well?" Vincent asked.

Ester gently nodded. She felt embarrassed to remove her shirt, but the idea of being the odd one out made her accept. She slowly removed her shirt, revealing a small chest wrap hiding her chest.

[Are you sad for not getting a glimpse? I would show you mine if I had a pair...]

Kazumi suddenly stopped. She became a bit sad that she didn't have a body to enjoy such a simple activity as modifying clothes.

-I need you, not your body. Having a person know about Earth and the difficulty of my predicament is enough. I don't feel that lonely anymore with you around.-

Kazumi became happy by these words. Vincent never said anything about hating her or being disgusted for knowing all of his past.

Vincent soon made the third sleeveless shirt. The warm temperature wasn't going to hinder their journey as they wore the same looking shirts.

"Shall we get going?" Vincent prepared to start pulling the cart. Surprisingly, his body wasn't tired anymore. As if he never trained in the first place.

[Want me to continue on the Dimensional Storage?]

Vincent closed his eyes. He imagined to continue learning the Dimensional Storage. Soon, a window of ability development appeared.

[Will you spend 20sp to learn an ability from the host memories?]

[Host has one hour to think, imagine, and understand for an ability to form.]

[No refund. No discount.]

[Accept -20sp] [Decline]

"Accept. " Vincent confirmed for the third run at upgrading the ability.

[-20sp used to form an ability or spell. 20sp remaining.]

[59:59 time remaining.]

After packing their things, the group left continuing the journey to Laurel Village. A few hours later, Lupa felt a familiar cool breeze rubbing against her face.

Lupa took a whiff with her heightened wolf nose and said, "I think there is water nearby. This smell is familiar to the river we camped at."

"That's fantastic. We can fill our barrels with water and maybe catch fish if we get lucky." Vincent increased his pace to arrive before the sun sets and lose a day of finding fish.

Ester wanted to help him pull the cart, but Vincent refused every time. He didn't seem tired like in the morning. As if his body recovered at an astounding rate.

Soon, the group arrived at their destination. A refreshing breeze welcomed them as an open area with a small river path and a calming view graced them with a magnificent view.

Vincent noticed how this river path was like the others. The length seemed to have no end, and the water gently swayed to one side. He parked the cart to the nearest tree and took out the four frames for some sunshine.

Vincent felt the pelts had dried unusually fast. 'The mana in the air could have quickened this progress. Well, magic can't be explained.' He thought.

[The girls look happy setting the campfire. Ohh, I was done a few hours ago but decided to leave you pulling without disrupting you. How generous am I, right?]