SCIAW: Chapter 471/472

Chapter 471: Some Slight Changes

Passing through the dimensional gate, one foot stepped into the room.

The light filtering through the not-fully blackout curtains allowed the situation inside to be seen.

Hayasaka looked left and right, then noticed Ren still resting quietly on the bed.

While sleeping, Ren wasn't wearing his thick glasses, which also made her notice something different.

Had Ren changed a little?

Hayasaka was sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. She could confirm that Ren's face had undergone some changes.

But in the brief moment of her thought, her eyes had already met Ren's gaze.

"You're up so early even on a weekend holiday, Hayasaka."

In response, Hayasaka still politely bowed slightly, then explained,

"Even during weekend rest, it's still time for maid work."

"Taking care of the master's daily life is also a necessary duty as a maid. Especially during weekend time like this."

Ren had no doubts about Hayasaka's statement. She was indeed a professional maid who had undergone very rigorous training.

"Actually, you don't need to be so professional during weekend rest."

As he spoke, Ren also propped himself up and sat up from the bed.

His sensitivity was quite strong. He had already woken up when he felt the spatial fluctuation.

He just didn't quite understand why Hayasaka would come to his room so early in the morning.

"So, Hayasaka, aren't you going to Kaguya's room? Why did you come here first?"

"Kaguya still has quite a bad morning temper, so usually on weekend mornings, there's no need to wake her up."

As Kaguya's exclusive maid, Hayasaka was almost entirely aware of her daily situation.

On weekend rest days, when there were no extra classes to attend, Kaguya would experience a certain degree of morning grumpiness.

And this grumpiness would delay her wake-up time in the morning.

"Approximately one hour and thirty minutes later, Kaguya will naturally wake up."

"You truly understand Kaguya's situation well enough."

"Naturally, I've been her maid for a long time."

Hayasaka had a certain grasp and confidence when it came to Kaguya, whom she frequently took care of.

After her confidence, Hayasaka once again turned her gaze to Ren.

Indeed, her feeling that Ren had changed earlier wasn't an illusion.

There were also some changes in his body, but the pajamas Ren was wearing made it almost impossible for her to see them.

To be honest, Hayasaka also thought his pajamas were a bit too thick.

According to the common trope in idol dramas she watched, if a male protagonist had a good physique, it would inevitably be subtly revealed during some sleep-related routines.

However, Ren was quite an exception in this regard. As a male, he wore such thick, highly concealing pajamas to sleep. Usually, wasn't this kind of situation only found with girls?

After complaining in her heart, Hayasaka knew that at this time, she needed to get straight to the point, especially when talking with Ren.

"Ren, have you undergone some changes?"

"...Hayasaka, your eyes are indeed very sharp."

Although it wasn't intentional concealment, Hayasaka's observational skills were indeed quite keen.

Due to the Brood Hive's feedback, Ren had come into contact with the authority of life, which allowed him to progress towards a better state of life. The direct manifestations of this were his appearance, temperament, physical condition, and attractiveness.

Therefore, the moment he touched the Brood Hive, Ren received a life-based feedback, allowing him to begin progressing toward perfection in terms of life.

Of course, it was only a preliminary change and only affected the most basic aspects, such as his temperament and a slight change in his external appearance.

Ren had always thought that since even Chika hadn't noticed, others probably wouldn't either, as the extent of the change was indeed not significant.

He hadn't expected Hayasaka to notice.

Sure enough, there was something.

Actually, Hayasaka wasn't very sure before, but now she could confirm it. She felt a little proud.

"Since I started eating sea king meat, not only has my physical fitness become much stronger, but my five senses have also increased somewhat."

"So, can Ren's changes be discussed?"

"It's not something that needs to be kept particularly secret. I didn't mention it simply because there was no need to publicize it."

Ren also didn't feel that the changes in him needed to be explained in detail, so he didn't emphasize them.

Of course, if Hayasaka discovered it, then there was nothing to keep secret.

"I just advanced a step further on the Path of Sequence. I gained some things through the diary, which allowed me to come into contact with the authority of some powers, thus causing some slight changes."

Hayasaka nodded understandingly.

As she spent more time in contact with power, she gradually understood that the so-called power had a significant impact on the body.

Just as her and Kaguya's weight, which had always been controllable, began to become uncontrollable after they started consuming sea king meat.

However, as their weight increased, their physical fitness also gradually strengthened.

This was the most basic change in physical ability.

Whether it was her or Kaguya, the basic conditions for using power were stamina and energy. Because they used the shortcut ability of the fruit, which, after giving them a large upper limit restriction, still allowed them to consume less stamina and energy when using their abilities.

Perhaps, this was a kind of equivalent exchange.

Power is often reciprocal. Accepting a certain power means the body is easily affected by that power, which is also a normal state of mastering power.

Clearly, the changes in Ren were exactly this situation.

It's just that compared to her and Kaguya, the changes in Ren were not particularly significant.

"So, is the impact positive or negative?"

"It's not negative, but entirely positive."

"It's just that I personally don't care much about such an impact, and it's not a very significant impact, so I didn't explain it in detail."

Hayasaka nodded slightly.

"So do you need to tell Kaguya and the others?"

"...Let's not. I'll tell them when they discover it. If they don't discover it, there's no need to tell them."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 472: Slightly Superior

At 7:32 a.m., two people, both radiating heat, stood at the entrance of the villa.

"Ha... ha..."

Katsura Hinagiku and Sanzenin Nagi still had strong fighting intent in their eyes.

However, at this moment, both of their breaths carried heat, and their bodies were already showing slight signs of dehydration. Their physical conditions had reached their limits. No matter how strong their fighting intent, they could not continue.

"Nagi, your Element Power has reached its limit, hasn't it?"

Hinagiku could feel that her whole body's exhaustion had reached its limit, but her physical fitness, having just advanced to Barbarian, had also been honed to the maximum.

Competing purely on physical ability throughout, her condition had reached its limit, but the same was true for Nagi.

"You yourself are."

Nagi already felt completely exhausted, and her Element Power output had reached its limit. The Element Power converted by the Vision, an external magic organ, had also reached its limit, and she could no longer maintain her previous state.

But she still refused to admit defeat verbally.

"Your body has been running with me the whole time, your pure physical ability must have reached its limit long ago."

"Heh."

Hinagiku did not refute this point.

Before her advancement, her physical ability definitely would not have been able to keep up with Nagi, who was using Element Power. After all, Sequence 9 Lawyer did not provide any enhancement to her body.

It was only after she had just advanced to Sequence 8 Barbarian, which greatly enhanced her physical fitness, that she was able to keep up with Nagi's state of using Element Power and even exhaust Nagi purely through physical fitness.

"Although my condition isn't great either, my physical fitness is still superior to yours."

The soreness throughout Hinagiku's body also began to ease.

In addition to strengthening physical fitness, Barbarian also enhanced the body's resistance and recovery.

Even when stamina was almost depleted, through simple breathing and a small amount of rest, the body's stamina began to recover.

"Tsk..."

Nagi naturally saw that Hinagiku's condition was gradually improving, but her Element Power was truly depleted.

As an external magic organ, the Vision had a limit to the energy it could convert into Element Power.

Even though using Element Power could accelerate the strengthening of physical fitness, there was a limit to this strengthening. It was gradual growth, not immediate.

Therefore, at this moment, her physical condition, even with Element Power, still had a certain gap compared to Hinagiku.

"I'm still stronger now."

Seeing Nagi not refute, Hinagiku was unusually proud for a moment.

"Only for now..."

These words carried a hint of unwillingness, but Nagi did not deny this fact.

After putting away this unwillingness, she also began to reap the rewards of her efforts.

Three months, she was already close to surpassing Hinagiku.

Also, Hinagiku's stamina is somewhat abnormal. Even though I'm using Element Power, I still can't gain an advantage.

This person is truly a stamina monster.

She felt the Element Power she controlled, and that almost depleted feeling was truly unpleasant.

The speed at which the Vision converted energy into Element Power also slowed down significantly. That feeling of her body not being able to keep up made Nagi feel strained for the first time.

Just as their fighting spirits were still high, the sudden arrival of Maria broke this unusually intense situation.

"You two can rein in your emotions now."

Maria carefully observed their physical conditions.

Both Hinagiku and Nagi had reached their physical limits.

Is morning exercise really this intense first thing in the morning?

Maria could feel that Nagi had a great thirst for power and a very strong drive, but this level of morning exercise was still a great burden on the body.

"Nagi, I should have told you. Your body hasn't finished growing yet. A 13-year-old body still has many years of growth potential. At this age, you need to control your exercise intensity, otherwise it will harm your body."

"Also, the same goes for Miss Katsura. You are only a few years older than Nagi, and your body is still in the growth stage. Don't damage your growth through excessive exercise."

Maria could fully understand that the collision of their unyielding personalities would create some sparks, but some things that shouldn't be done still couldn't be done impulsively.

"Yes..."

After the heat of their blood slightly subsided, both of them realized that their morning exercise had been a little over the top.

Seeing their body heat finally drop a bit, Maria sighed helplessly.

"Let's not talk about anything else for now."

"Nagi, Miss Katsura, go and adjust your state. You need to replenish lost water. There are some sports drinks reserved in the villa. Go replenish your water first, then change your clothes. Everyone is already waiting for you for breakfast."

"Yes."

The two quickly agreed, exchanged glances, and couldn't help but smile when they saw the expression of being dominated by Maria on each other's faces.

"We really can't do this next time."

"Mm, I was a bit over the top today too."

They went to the bathroom, and inside the refrigerator outside the bathroom, there were sports drinks of different flavors.

The two took out a bottle and chugged it down.

The cool, slightly sweet-and-sour drink poured into their mouths, and their parched bodies received a large amount of water. That uncomfortable feeling instantly improved a lot.

"Speaking of which, Hinagiku, how exactly do you train?"

During their rest, Nagi still couldn't help but ask this question.

"Recently, I've been continuously consuming the sea king meat sent from Shinomiya's side, and with the cooperation of Element Power, my physical fitness has greatly improved. How did I still lose so badly today?"

Even if Hinagiku only had a slight advantage, that slight advantage already explained a lot.

"Ah, you don't know about this yet. Actually, yesterday I just completed my advancement, from Sequence 9 Lawyer to Sequence 8 Barbarian."

"Barbarian..."

Nagi's face twitched a few times. Her brain instantly understood the meaning of Barbarian, and she also understood from the literal meaning why she had slightly lost to Hinagiku.

(To be continued.)