Calm Wanderer
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(AKJ)Chapter 49 - Bryn's Rank breakthrough
🕑 Added 2024-03-06 15:55:26 +0000 UTCDamovotsk, Molkovia, Earth.
Demian's P.O.V.
As the words left his lips, his gaze was unconsciously attracted to the only person in the room, the woman uttering the grunts he heard while standing in the corridor, and his cousin: Brynhild. The redhead, who was usually stoic in every circumstance was sitting cross-legged on the floor with her face visibly distorted with what he could guess was great agony.
What stunned him was not her facial expression, however, but two other things.
The first was the growing pressure coming from the seated woman, the obvious origin of his sixth sense’s previous warning. Was it because the difference in strength between him and her was increasing quickly or because he became more sensitive as his own strength kept improving quickly? He was not sure and did not give it too much attention, to be honest.
At least, now that he knew that she was the cause of his uneasiness, his worry about the other two girls’ safety vanished completely. Instead, the one he was concerned about was Bryn. The reason for that was the current unstable state of her body. The flesh all over her body was rippling vigorously as if it was about to detach itself from her skeleton. As for her bones, they sounded like they were repeatedly broken over and over again, the hair-raising noise being so loud that the young man almost felt like it came from his own body.
The scene looked so awful that, if he did not feel the growing pressure coming from her direction, which assured him that she was ‘fine’, he would have lost himself to the feeling of terror. The fact that the cultivation books he read in the past mentioned that a cultivator could have his/her body rebuilt in special circumstances, such as a Rank Breakthrough, also had a part in helping calm his tense mind.
Nonetheless, he still pondered hard about what he could do to help the woman transition more easily to the Chi Gathering Rank. After a moment, and despite his unwillingness, the young man had to, unfortunately, admit that there was nothing he could do besides waiting idly on the side until her physical transformation ended.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Demian suddenly thought. ‘I might as well go back upstairs to tell the girls about what’s happening. That way, they won’t worry about the danger I warned them about earlier.’ As soon as he decided on what to do, his body turned back, and with a powerful push from his right leg, his body was propelled forward at a speed that would be almost indiscernible to an untrained human’s eyes.
With his speed, a few seconds were enough for him to go back to Adeliya’s room, where he found the two girls waiting silently for his news. The both of them wore uneasy looks on their faces, however, as soon as they noticed him arrive with no visible injury, their previously tense body visibly relaxed, especially after he purposefully turned the lights on. Before the two could ask anything, the young man swiftly explained the source of his uneasiness, surprising the two women.
“So it was just Big Sis’s breakthrough?” Nodding his head, Demian replied. “Yep. I think it’s because she can’t control her aura yet, which made it easier for me to sense her. Also, the fact that I’m close to the peak of the Body Strengthening Rank probably played a part in it. I think it should’ve increased my sensitivity to Spiritual Energy.” The two looked thoughtful at his words before Adeliya remarked. “That’d make sense. In any case, you’ve seen Bryn. How is she?” Her words elicited a slight frown on his face as he replied hesitantly. “It’s... Complicated...” Shaking his head, he added. “Let’s go downstairs and you’ll understand.” After he said his piece, the young man grabbed Sera’s hand and started walking toward his previous location with the middle-aged woman in tow.
A few moments later, the three arrived at the Gym’s entrance where his older cousin was still in the process of getting stronger. Unlike before, however, her physical changes were pretty obvious. The woman previously towered at around 1m80 but from where he was located, he could tell that her size seemed to have increased. Since she was still seated, nothing else was visible to him, unfortunately.
Unlike Seraphine whose lack of sight made her incapable of noticing her sister’s predicament, Adeliya instantly spotted the problem and instinctively started walking toward Bryn before she was stopped by Demian’s hand on her shoulder. “She’s in the process of breaking through and can’t be distracted. If you go there, she might end up getting hurt.” His words brought a reluctant look on her face as she protested. “But...” Cutting her off, he asked. “Even if you go there, what would you even do? The only thing we CAN do is wait here and pray for her success...”
After his words left his mouth, he let out a helpless sigh. Despite her reluctance, Adeliya was far from being stupid and easily understood the wisdom in his words. She thus stayed still, her worried gaze directed at her daughter. From his location, he could even see the mature redhead fiercely biting her lips while her fists were tightened to the point of almost turning completely white.
Before he could say anything, Sera asked. “What’s wrong with Big Sis?” Her words made him recall her situation, something he tended to forget with her recent physical changes. In an embarrassed voice, the young man explained what Bryn was currently going through, describing the changes occurring to her body.
The wait lasted for around an hour until everything ended, leaving the woman lying on the floor, completely exhausted and without a shred of clothes hiding her naked body. Indeed, the young woman was completely nude as the clothes she was previously wearing were completely ripped into small scraps scattered all around her. Her current frame was apparently too big for the poor fabric, the latter disintegrating after a vain bout of resistance.
As soon as Demian and Adeliya noticed the ordeal’s end, they dashed toward Bryn with Demian pulling his lover by her hand. When the three reached the powerful redhead, Adeliya kneeled down quickly while moving her hands around her daughter’s body to check if she could find any injury.
As she was examining her, the middle-aged woman asked with concern. “How are you, sweety? Are you hurt anywhere?” Opening her tired eyes, the young woman responded in a tired voice. “I’m fine, Mom. Just tired.” Her answer alleviated the worries plaguing their mind, helping Demian and his Aunt realize the implication of the redhead’s naked state.
Turning her face toward her nephew, Adeliya coughed purposefully while sending him a meaningful gaze, making him feel embarrassed and prompting him to stand up while moving his gaze away from Bryn’s nude form. Walking a few steps away, he heard Sera’s giggles a few moments later, right after he caught the middle-aged lady whispering to her.
Feeling a bit flustered at the situation, especially after he heard Bryn starting to panic slightly, the young man could not help but have the image of her body stuck in his mind, noting the obvious differences with her previous looks. First, it was the increase in size, which, at least from what he could tell, should have easily crossed 2m10 tall, although his guts told him that it should be more than that. Only with a tape measure would he be able to verify his conjecture, though.
The second glaring 'variation’ was her skin. From its previous white, it switched to a light golden color, and every scar previously marring her body vanished as if they were a simple figment of his imagination. Those burned marks that weighed on her mind finally disappeared and just that fact brought a warm smile on the young man’s face.
The last alteration was in her physical frame’s shape. Prior to her transformation, the woman was already incredibly muscular, especially for a woman. After all, it was a lot harder for women in general to build up muscles compared to men, with some exceptions, of course. Now, however, her body looked like the female version of a male Greek God, with rippling muscles all over, dwarfing even his own, which, in his opinion, were already of a respectable size.
Normally, it would destroy any womanly charm she might have had before. However, the reality was different as every part of her flesh became seemingly perfect, including her womanly assets which clearly grew in tandem with her body size. All those elements reminded one of a giant female barbarian oozing wild attractiveness.
Letting out a sigh, the young man inwardly remarked. ‘This family’s women are really...’ Before shoving that thought to the side and focusing on the three’s conversation. From his location, he could hear Adeliya complimenting her daughter’s new looks, while Sera sulked a bit since she could not see what her sister looked like.
As for Bryn, she was admiring herself in one of the mirrors hung on the wall. Thanks to his great hearing, he even caught her voice trembling slightly as she mumbled something under her breath. At one point, Demian commented out loud. “Big Sis, why don’t you go put something on so that I can join you girls?” His voice woke them up instantly, and Bryn instantly ordered him. “Close your eyes, Dem! And you better not peek!”
Her threat lacked substance as her voice quivered imperceptibly. However, he knew that she had just gone through something mentally exhausting and thus had no intention of pushing her buttons. Closing his eyes swiftly, he retorted. “They’re closed.” His ears caught a small snort and the sounds of footsteps moving toward him, then past him, and finally leaving the room.
Once he was sure that the coast was clear, Demian opened his eyes and let out a relieved sigh before turning toward the two remaining women to see the two having a similar playful grin on their faces, which puzzled him. “Why are you both looking at me like that?” Sera shook her head at his choice of words while Adeliya decided to ignore him and told her youngest daughter. “We’ll need to order some new clothes for your Big Sister. With her new size, there’s no way that her old clothes would fit her.”
The two then started walking toward the entrance while discussing Bryn’s new physical changes. Their attitude made him slightly frustrated, however, before the words of protest he had on the tip of his tongue could leave his mouth, Sera moved to his side and gestured him to lower his head. Feeling intrigued, he complied and listened to her soft voice tickling his ear.
“You’re on the right track.” She claimed while gesturing discreetly toward the entrance with her head while wearing a mysterious smile on her face. She then left with her mother, leaving him confused as to the meaning of her words. Nonetheless, he knew that the little succubus of his had a particular fondness for acting cryptically and thus shoved her words to a side of his mind before pondering. ‘Should I go back to sleep?’ He thought before his gaze caught the sight of a thin brown book on the ground a few meters away from his location. ‘I guess I could study the Basic Technique. After all, the faster I break through myself, the safer we’ll be. With my Love Bond, Sera might even be able to do the same quickly after... I’m wondering if there’d be any changes after I reach the Chi Gathering Rank?’
Shaking his head at the thought, he concluded. ‘There’s only one way to find out!’ Before walking toward the discarded book and picking it up from the floor. He then opened it and started perusing its content with great interest. After an unknown amount of time, the young man closed both the book and his eyes to review its content in his mind.
‘Cultivation techniques in their purest form have two components: Breathing Patterns and Special Movements. The former is self-explanatory, while the latter goes from physical movements when the cultivator is at the Body Strengthening Rank and Mental Movement when they reach higher Ranks. The difference is due to the capacity to sense and move Spiritual Energy at the Chi Gathering and higher, which is impossible before.’
After a while, Demian became certain that he could recall everything perfectly and thus set the book down on the floor before standing up swiftly. He then took a few deep breaths to empty his mind. Once he felt his thoughts disappear, his body started following the book’s instructions. His movements were a bit stiff and slow at first, however, his instincts swiftly took over the more he kept practicing, leaving him free to appreciate the incredibly enjoyable state he found himself in until all notion of time vanished from his mind.
