[Next morning]
"Ugh, why did you guys drag me out again this early in the morning?" Sara whined from behind me.
"Because you are out of shape, Sara," Selena said, running next to me.
"That's only your opinion, not according to 20 other people," Sara said, referring to her friend group.
"Our," Selena said, speaking for me, which caused me to raise an eyebrow at her.
'She isn't really out of shape. Then again, she has never been in this good of a condition in her life.' Looking at the shut-up glare Selena was giving me, I thought,
"You are so mean, Selena," Sara whined, though never slowing down.
"Don't worry. This will be the last lap we do around the house," I said, trying to cheer her up.
"It's already been over 200 laps!" Saar groaned in complaint.
"Yeah, and we'd do 300 if there aren't any visitors on their way." I countered, getting a confused yelp.
"Visitors?" Selena inquired, staring up at me.
"Yeah, Duke White should be arriving soon," I said, totally forgetting to tell them about it.
"Why are they coming?" Selena inquired, but I suspect she already knew the answer.
"Because of what Leah did to me," I said, laughing.
"I see you are still not going to tell me what she actually did to you," Selena asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nope, that is something I will not be telling you," I said, shaking my head.
"Fine," Selena said, stopping in front of the entrance to the house.
"Remember, the hot water still doesn't work," I added just before she went inside.
"I like cold baths anyway," she said, not even waiting for Sara.
"Ugh, when are you going to make the geysers?" Sara complained, catching her breath.
"When I have time to design them," I explained, shrugging.
"But Reprep already knows how to create them."
"Yeah, but there are way too many flaws in it for me to use that," I explained, opening the door and letting her in first.
"Flaws? How are there flaws in it?" She inquired, grabbing a bottle of water from the entrance fridge.
"It only holds its heat without power for 36 hours," I explained, putting on a strange expression for Sara.
"36 hours is a long time," she exclaimed, annoyed.
"It's not. It's only been a day and a half. With the amount of metal we have left, I can at least keep it hot for a week. All I need is some time."
"Why do you need that?" Sara exclaimed, glancing at me inquisitively. Sara exclaimed, looking at me weirdly.
"Because I can do it, and I will do it." I firmly said. I did not want to take a shortcut.
"Ugh, there is no point in arguing with you when it comes to creating things," Sara said, sighing in defeat.
"I always listen to advice."
"Then?" Sara asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Useful advice."
"Ugh, there is no point." She grunted in defeat once more.
"Haha, let's go shower before they come," I said, still chuckling at her dismay.
"Yes, yes."
"Well, see you in a few," I said, teleporting to my room.
"Should I tell them I already made a heater for myself?" I mutter, walking into my bathroom.
Looking sideways, I hummed, seeing myself in the full-body mirror.
"I have grown up well, haha," I said, laughing. I already have my well-toned muscles back from before that transformation, with almost my original height. I still haven't stopped growing. Leah said I should stop growing in a week or so.
Taking off my sports bra, I turned around to look at all the scales on my back. Despite my long-standing aversion to the idea of having my entire back covered in scales, I began to lose interest in it. It is what it is. I can't wear revealing clothes.
"Even though I am wearing a sports bra while running," I said, laughing again. Shaking my head, I undressed completely, only to discover something new on my knees.
"Ugh, for fuck's sake, on my knees as well now," I exclaimed, noticing small scales beginning to appear on my kneecaps. Despite their initial minuscule size, they were already visible.
Taking my pants off, I looked through the skin that had hidden it from me until now to see how many scales I actually have. Something I figured out when this happened to my back. The more skin comes off, the bigger the area that will have scales.
"Sigh. It will be my inner calf." Well, I will see how it looks in a few days." I said this, shaking my head and walking into the shower.
[10 minutes later]
Coming out of the waking room, I looked in the mirror to make sure the black coat didn't look too bad on me.
"Sara has some of the best fashion sense I have ever seen. Selena, on the other hand, is not good." I said, smiling at the memory. Sara even managed to make my cargo pants work with the comfortable coat.
As I made my way to the weapon wall in my room, I grabbed my sword sheath. I designed it to comfortably hold all three of my swords. I strapped it to the back of my waist, adjusted it slightly, and then flapped the coat a bit more. I nodded to myself and took it away.
"Shit, are you going to war or something?" Selena looked at me, her eyes darting up and down.
"No? We are going out to the city, though."
"Then, are you like a bodyguard or something?" Selena spoke, sighing.
"What's wrong with what I am wearing?" I said, annoyed, looking down.
"Why do you have your swords with you?" Selena inquired, noticing the swords at the rear.
"I want to experience the sensation of the new sword sheath," I excused myself.
"Right, you did make that," Selena said, looking at the sword sheath again.
"Did they contact you yet?" I asked, looking at Sara.
"Why would they?" Sara said this, looking back at me strangely.
"Because we need to let them up," I said, looking back at her, confused.
"They will come with their Pegasus, so we don't need them," Sara frowned.
"Hmm, that helps," I said, shrugging.
"You built a barn for all three of our pegasus up here. There is even space for more." Selena said she was baffled for some reason.
"Well, it can take eight hours, but yes. Are we going to enter the city with the Pegasus?" I asked, looking at Sara.
"No, we will walk," Selena said before Sara could say anything.
"I can teleport us there," I said, countering her offer.
"No, thank you. You know how that makes me feel." Sara expressed her confusion by shaking her head at me.
"If you do it more, you won't get so sick," I said, shrugging at her.
"As if." Sara and Selena grumbled, annoyed.
"Hey guys, they are here. Hmm, are you all ready to go?" I walked up to the main door, Sara and Selena following me.
"Of course, it was hard enough to make you go out again for a few hours," Sara said, looking me up and down and then nodding.
"What, you still think I am going to war?" I replied, having teleported my sword back to my room.
"Yeah, but that's the point. It fits well with your character." Sara said it with a grin.
"I see," I said, looking at the six pegasus as they landed in my garden, making my eyebrows twitch in annoyance.
"They didn't use the landing pad?" I muttered, a bit annoyed, "And why did they land in my garden?" I continued, growing increasingly irritated by their actions.
"Well, it's just mostly ground at the moment," Sara said, shrugging, ignoring my narrowed eyes.
"Because I am still growing my plants. It takes time, and now it will take even longer. Ugh, fucking hell." I cursed, trying my best not to hit Leah again.
"Did you tell them where to land?" Sara asked, looking at me.
"First of all, I didn't genuinely believe they were approaching from Pegasus, and secondly, the landing pad features a large walkway towards the house, painted in white, yellow, and red. How could I possibly know that they wouldn't notice?" I said, defending myself.
"It's okay; we will tell them next time, okay?" Sara said, tapping my shoulder to make me feel better.
"You better help me replant all of that," I said, narrowing my eyes at her again.
"Good morning, you three. Did you sleep well?" Lina said, coming up to us first.
"Good morning, we did," Selena said, waving her hand.
Looking behind Lina, I saw Leah and Uwe talking to a big, bulky man whom I presume was Duke White. He was the same height as Uwe but didn't have blue skin, though he had white hair, making him seem quite old.
Gazing behind the Duke, I noticed the chief white standing, prim and proper as always, beside her.
"Holy sh*t, she is hot," I said without thinking, getting a well-deserved slap on the back of my head.
Smack
"Hey, don't say something like that about a general. Even if she might be weaker than you, generals get respect no matter what." Lina whispered, making me nod.
Selena explained to me last night that there are a few ways to become a general. One is strength. Secondly, you have made a name for yourself in wars or battles. And the third one is if you have saved a lot of people, like Nyx White, who did all three of them at a young age. She was stronger than her older sister, and they thought she might become one of the top 50 in the demon world in the next year.
"Sorry, it just came out. Though it's true." I said, looking at how similar Artemis and Nyx looked.
"Hahaha, it's fine. Just don't say something like that in front of her. I heard she had crippled a few guys that called her some names or flirted with her."
"Only guys?" I said I was very interested, not caring about her warning.
"Don't even think about it."
"I am just playing. I'm not moving on so quickly. However, I believe Selena has the potential to succeed. I looked at Selena, who gave me a dagger-like glare.