I was honestly a bit surprised Rose appeared out of nowhere, but we’ve been meeting her almost every day this week, so it was quite rude of me. But I never thought she would just come to the gym, seeing she’s a super powered Dhampir and all…

But maybe this is a nice opportunity so we can talk about other topics too, like what’s going on at SWORD, the gate problem in New York, and more.

“A-Ah, sorry about that, I was a bit surprised, but I shouldn’t had said that…” I sighed, apologizing to her.

“Nah, it’s alright, I guess its normal you would be a bit surprised.” Rose sighed. “Despite being what I am, I’ve also started going to the gym. Being a Dhampir doesn’t exactly mean my muscles will stay the same forever, exercising is necessary to keep up this good figure of mine.”

“I see…” I nodded. “You couldn’t bring the other two guys?”

“Albert and Josuke? Nah, they’re on their own things.” Rose shrugged. “Maybe I could try to convince them eventually. But anyways, let’s get inside already!”

Once we were all together, we walked inside the gym and quickly started doing some warmups before going to the heavy stuff. Some of my usual friends in the gym felt slightly intimidated when I brought so many friends at once.

But still, due to their friendliness, they got along just fine. Rose was surprisingly good at… everything, and her small build made it even more impressive, so everyone was flocking around her.

“Woah, she looks so young! Is she really lifting 500kg?!”

“Insane, she’s like 17…”

“She has the same age as my nephew, I bet.”

“Hey! I’m not a kid!” Rose angrily said. “I may look young and small but I’m over 30!” Rose said angrily. Of course, she didn’t revealed her true age.

“O-Oh, my bad…”

“You look so young though!”

“Do you have a boyfriend?”

“H-Huh? Thanks, and no I don’t have a boyfriend…” Rose blushed a bit. “Why are you asking me that?!”

She wasn’t really good at interacting with so many people, so I came to her rescue and did exercises at her side so the vultures would leave her alone.

Of course, they wouldn’t give up so easily. With so many young men in the gym, it was obvious Rita and Lily would quickly get swarmed by them as well, especially when we were taking a break.

“You were pretty good in the bicycle, Rita! Do you have some free time after the gym?”

“We were thinking on going to some bar after this.”

“Would be nice if you joined.”

“Ufufu, is that so~?” Rita giggled. “Maybe I could go and get some free drinks out of you boys~”

“Rita you’re married!” I said.

“Geh…” I completely broke Rita’s illusion, as the boys were quickly surprised with the news.

Rose wasn’t particularly interested in boys either, but Lily was. She didn’t had any partner, in fact she once told me she hasn’t even lost her virginity, as she never had a boyfriend before.

So she was particularly happy when many young men flocked around her. After the physique she acquired, she looked even more gorgeous, so they naturally thought she was much younger than… well, over 50.

“Hey Lily, look how much I can lift!”

“Hehehe… Wow, you’re so strong!” She said while giggling.

“Your movements were a bit clunky but we can help you out improve.”

“I would gladly learn from you!” She smiled.

“Will you become a regular around here?”

“And yes, I will be coming almost everyday boys!” Lily looked like she was in heaven. “A-And I’m single by the way!”

Rita was getting jealous of her now.

“Grrhhh… How come she gets all the boys now? She’s an old hag!” She said angrily.

“Are you seriously jealous of her for not being married?” I facepalmed.

“Hahaha, I’m glad for her if she’s happy with that.” Mark sighed, drinking some water.

Like that, the minutes continued as we spent a nice time together as a big group of friends. With everyone here, we were motivated to work harder than ever.

“Anyways, we’ve recently received some reports about those materials that we got from the gate.” Said Rose while we exercised, the noise of our surroundings making it easy for our conversation to not be overheard.

“Is that so?” I wondered. “What did you found out?”

“That big skeleton hand was a really valuable material. It was a bit greedy of the boss to take it away when it clearly belonged to you guys, because you ended helping us escape from that giant skeleton…” Rose sighed.

“Oh, ahaha, it doesn’t really matter.” I shrugged. “What did you found from that?”

“Well, it is a really resistant material, imbued with tons of Mana and what we call Nether.” Said Rose. “Some new weapons and armor had begun production using that big skeleton’s fingers, they’re specifically designed for me and the two boys that accompany me around. Josuke needs armor that doesn’t burn away with his fire, and Albert is similar with his demon flames and powers. And the bones are pretty compatible with my own magic.”

“Oh, that’s amazing.” I nodded. “Though, I wonder how the whole hunter thing is going on?”

“We’ve gathered a few already, they’re strong and willing to fight, but the government is still setting things up… It has only been a month since the awakening after all.” Sighed Rose. “But the entire world has begun mobilizing all around over it. Its going to get even more complicated from now on… Other countries have already set up their own Hunter Guilds.”

“Interesting…” I said.

“Phew, we’ve been here almost three hours. Should we go back home?” Mark said.

“Yeah! Let’s everyone go to my house, let’s cook something to eat together. My daughter invited Anna and Elise too.” I nodded.

“Sounds like a plan then!” Rita nodded happily.

“Should we pass into a market to get some ingredients then?” Mark wondered.

“Alright, sure!” I nodded.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Suddenly, I looked into my phone, as a notification over the magic items I was selling popped up…

[Your auctioned items have been sold to the highest bidders.]