Damovotsk, Molkovia, Earth.

Demian's P.O.V.

Five days later, Demian was sitting in the bathroom with his upper torso naked. The three girls were around him, with the two sisters silently gazing at their mother's actions while the latter was carefully removing the bandages from his body. Once done, she commented with some surprise on her face.

“I still can't believe it only took you a week to heal from that kind of injury. There's still some scarring, true, but they don't look like you've gotten them a week ago. More like a month ago or even further than that. I wonder if your perk can completely get rid of them too...” That last sentence was muttered absentmindedly, as the woman was focused on studying his current physical state.

“I'm sure it does affect scaring in general. Didn't you notice?” He asked her while feeling slightly doubtful. “What're you talking about?” She questioned back, clearly confused. “The scars all over my body...” He responded while showing his unblemished arms. Following his gaze, the woman's eyes suddenly had a hint of realization in them as her gaze examined his upper limbs.

Once she was done with those locations, her gaze moved all over his upper body, scrutinizing every inch, before she exclaimed in a disbelieving tone. “There's nothing... All your scars... They're gone...” Moving her eyes back to his face's direction, she questioned seriously.

“How long?” The young man understood her excitement as his physiology Perk was truly incredible. It could improve every aspect of himself, whether physical, mental, etc. He thus responded.

“They've started to fade as soon as I started to work out. But it took around two weeks to get rid of them completely. You truly didn't notice?” Hesitating, she responded. “I... I didn't. With the whole Petrovich situation and with the fact that you received two much more serious wounds, I admit that I wasn't paying attention to your old scars.”

Waving away her explanation, he retorted. “Don't worry about it. They were a bit faded beforehand anyway. So, it's no wonder you didn't notice earlier.” Her relieved smile turned happy when her gaze started roaming his upper body again as her excited voice resounded. “If your physiology keeps improving, it shouldn't be impossible for you to be able to regrow organs and even limbs in the future.”

Her voice turned slightly wistful at those words before she gazed briefly at Seraphine on the side. Nodding his head, the young man replied. “I'm sure it should be possible. But it'll probably take some more time to get there. Before that, I need to get stronger.” His words drew a small sigh from the mature woman before she seemed to regain her inner strength.

With a determined tone, the woman declared. “You're right. If you become strong enough, everything will become much easier.” Pausing for a second, she added. “You can spar with Bryn now but try to avoid heavy hits. Although you look fine, I don't want to have to deal with some internal hemorrhage or broken bones because of a bad blow.”

Gazing at the three younger people present with her, she claimed. “I'll keep training myself. My hips may be weaker because of my old injury, but if I'm careful enough I can still grow stronger. I don't think I'll be able to reach the Elite Rank though...” The last sentence was said in a low voice, but Demian caught it.

'A hug a day keeps the sadness away!' He thought half-jokingly as he stood up and embraced the mature redhead before saying. “Don't worry, Aunty. Like Big Sis told me a few days ago, everything will be fine. After all, you're the doctor of the family, not the fighter. Leave that to Bryn and me.” “What about me?” Sera asked with some worry in her voice.

“You're the smart one, Sera. The cute one too.” The first sentence drew a satisfied smile on her face before it turned into a sweet one, with her cheeks reddening slightly. “Mmhh...” She responded with a small embarrassed noise. After a few seconds, Bryn interrupted the moment with her following words.

“Let's go spar a bit, Mr. Fighter. You've got a test this afternoon, so we won't have time to do it then.” Chuckling at the recent change in her personality, the young man let his Aunt go and turned toward his oldest cousin. “Try to avoid hitting my face though. I need to be at least somewhat presentable for the test.”

“Sure.” She answered with a smile that, from Demian's point of view, was not trustworthy at all. 'I think I'll suffer again today...' He thought helplessly, before exclaiming. “Let's do it now.” For a few hours afterward, Bryn was the young man's opponent. Unlike the previous week though, this time she went heavy on the counterattack every time he made a mistake. This apparently happened all the time since he kept being hit without being able to retaliate effectively.

While keeping his body low, the young man threw a few quick feints from his left fist before throwing a heavy right to her seemingly unguarded left side. However, before he understood anything he suddenly found himself on the floor. His breathing seemed stuck as if his lungs stopped functioning and the floating ribs on the right side of his torso almost felt like they were broken.

The fact that it was not the first time that this particular situation happened during the last month helped Demian calm his instinctive panic. Once he could breathe again, his mind completely relaxed and some curiosity surfaced in his mind. After all, he knew where he was hit, but not how. As if she could read his thoughts, the tall redhead explained what happened.

“I used my left side as bait so when you threw a rear hook aiming at that area, I threw a right kick to your own left side. Since your left guard was too high, I easily hit you.” Letting out a helpless sigh, Demian replied. “I know you keep insisting on my guard, but when I get too much into the fight, I always forget to pay attention to it. It's... So frustrating!”

He rubbed his face helplessly as he talked, but stopped when he heard the woman's next words. “That's why practice is key. There's no shortcut to learning how to fight, even if you're talented. It takes hours of repetition, sparring, etc. In any case, you're getting better and better. 'You only need to keep a strong will to train and improve and you'll eventually succeed.' That's what my coach always told me.”

As she said those words, a reminiscing look surfaced on her face, softening the sharp contour of her visage. Shaking her head to remove those thoughts, she instructed. “Get up!” Nodding tiredly, he stood up and the two resumed their spar. It went on until lunch. This time the reason they stopped was also because the young man was physically exhausted. With a quick visual assessment, Demian knew that his body was covered with bruises. Except for his face.

It was not that he was always successful at protecting it, but it was simply because the muscular woman agreed with the fact that the young man needed to be at least presentable for the test and thus only aimed at his body. Wiping the sweat that covered him, the brown-haired man commented.

“Weirdly, I think I missed this feeling.” “Getting hit?” She asked as she mirrored his action, wiping the sweat from her toned body. Rolling his eyes, he retorted. “Of course not! I meant sparring with you. I'd gotten used to spars after doing it every day for a month, so it felt strangely... Wrong when I wasn't allowed to do it for a week.”

Nodding her head with a small smile on her face, she replied. “It's good. That means you've started to enjoy it. You've even made me sweat a little. It's a great improvement.” Her tone was half-playful, half-serious. After all, compared to when he started to learn how to fight, it was true that being able to make her exert herself enough for her to sweat a little WAS an achievement.

“I'll be the bigger person and ignore the sarcasm in your voice. I'll also take the compliment.” He responded in a mock serious voice before the two chuckled for a few seconds. After they calmed down, Demian finished drying himself and said. “I'll go take a shower upstairs before lunch is ready.”

Nodding her head, the other woman replied. “I'll go in the one downstairs then.” Before the two left together, the young man grabbed Sera's hand on the way. Looking at her charming oval face, he could not help but tease her. “How about you, Love? Do you wanna join me in the shower?”

His teasing question made her blush, while the other woman froze for a second before acting like he did not say anything. However, Demian noticed her walking pace accelerating slightly, which brought an amused smile to his face. 'I'm glad she finally got used to our relationship. Not only does it make it easier for Sera and me to flirt, but I can also tease Bryn... You're beating me up every day Big Sis, so you have to take responsibility!' He thought while laughing inwardly.

Looking at the beauty beside him, he whispered in her ears. “I'm just joking, Love. I don't want our first time to be in a shower...” When his words reached the woman's ears, they came along a gust of his warm breath softly tickling her ears. The petite woman shivered in response and the red color on her cheeks seemed to deepen.

Hitting him softly on his shoulder, she exclaimed in a half-bashful, half-reproachful tone. “Stop teasing me in front of Bryn! I feel so awkward every time...” Chuckling at her words, he replied. “But it's fun!” Shaking her head with a disbelieving expression on her face. “You're aware that it's the reason why she beat you up more than she's supposed to, right?”

Nodding his head despite knowing that she could not see it, he replied in an amused tone. “I know. But seeing her reaction makes it totally worth it. And I get stronger faster. Two birds with one stone!” Letting out a helpless sigh, she retorted while facepalming. “Why do I feel like men are strange creatures that women can't possibly understand?”

Bursting into laughter, the man replied. “That's because we probably are. Men think the same about women, you know? In the end, I just accepted the fact that we're all weird and we can't possibly understand each other completely. I've been feeling much better since then now that I think about it...” An expression of realization appeared on his face at his own words.

Shaking her head, she replied with an 'I give up' expression. “Forget it. It sounds dumb, but I guess I'll do the same.” With a happy smile on his face, he stated. “Speaking of men and women. I've been thinking about the fact that the two of us haven't had time to go on a date yet.”

As his words left his mouth, he felt her delicate hand squeezing his tighter while a look of anticipation surfaced on her face. The grin on his face grew at her reaction, but his voice stayed calm. “Since I'll be able to get my license in at most a few days, and my injuries are completely healed, I thought that we could go on a date then. I mean after I get the driving license. What do you say?”

Despite his apparent calmness, the young man still felt some nervousness. After all, they were only at the beginning of their relationship, so it would be stupid of him to take it for granted, simply because of the Soul Bond. To be fair, even if they were lucky enough to live for hundreds of years together, he should not do that. That was what his previous life mother always told him. That was also the reason why she left his previous life's father. And repeating that man's mistake was not on his to-do list at all.

Before he had too much time to reminisce about his past, however, the excited voice of the woman he loved dearly resounded in his ears. “YES!” *Cough* *Cough* “I mean yes, I would like that.” Her apparent calm tone could not completely cover her inner excitement.

Feeling amused, he added. “You know, I don't mind if you let your emotions out. It won't bother me.” Hesitating for a few seconds, she asked. “Wouldn't that make me seem too clingy?” Chuckling at the adorable naivety of her question, he retorted while softly cupping her face. “We've already got our very own Souls bonded. Don't you think that we're past hiding our feelings from each other? Plus, we're both clingy, so who cares?”

As the last words fell into her ears, he bent down and kissed her dainty lips, lightly at first before deepening the kiss. He only stopped after a few dozen seconds since lunch would be ready quickly, which meant that he had to wash himself quickly.

Before leaving, however, he stared at the dazed look on the beauty's face in front of him. 'I'm really lucky to have her as my soulmate...' His train of thought was broken, however, when Sera finally seemed to regain her mind and, with a blissful smile that turned amused, stated. “Go take a shower, you stink!”

With a mock bow, he retorted. “As you wish, My Lady!” Before dashing toward the upstairs shower with the sound of his laughter still resounding after his departure.