“Come on! Get it! Get it! Do it for your motherland!” Eron yelled at the teenage girl. “Do it!”

  It was okay for him to yell because Katyusha had way tougher training back home under her mother’s orders.

  He had checked to make sure he wasn’t going to traumatize her or any of the others.

  Plus, she was benching ten tons for reps.

  She grunted the last rep out and racked the barbell.

  “Seven! One more than last time! Great job!”

  “I can go again.” She took a handful of soil from the bucket on the ground and shoveled it into her mouth. “One moment,” she said around a mouthful of Russian soil.

  Apparently she maximized her strength when in direct contact with the soil.

  Couldn’t get more direct than in her stomach, he supposed.

  Naive him thought that she could just put some in her shoes or sprinkle them on the ground.

  At least eating the soil wouldn’t cost her digestion problems since she absorbed it completely to fuel her superhuman strength.

  He shrugged.

  “Okay, but only one more try. You’re on a break next before hitting the squat rack.” He gestured at the raised platforms casting a large shadow.

  He had made them himself with help from a few earth control-type classes.

  They were instrumental in packing the normally loose sand and dirt tight as stone and reinforcing it to handle the tons of weight.

  It was a good gig for them.

  He had paid them in Universal Points and random chunks of precious metals and gems he had pulled out of the ground all over the world.

  Even the spires had pitched in, giving them Quests for completing the project.

  It was challenging and since it was for him, the most powerful Earthian on the planet, the rewards were pretty great.

  His one regret was that he couldn’t sincerely threaten their lives for failure.

  That would’ve really upped the rewards, but sadly the spires somehow knew that there was no way he would’ve really broken their legs if they had displeased him.

  “More weight,” Katyusha grunted.

  He regarded the tablet in his hand with her profile and exercise plan.

  The Tsarina had been most annoying and exacting that her plan was to be followed without deviation.

  He was tempted to deviate out of sheer principles.

  His.

  “Nope. Ten tons until you can hit ten reps. Then you can add a bit more.”

  She pouted for a moment then got back on the bench.

  Ten tons, ten reps.

  He tapped in the numbers and shooed her off to one of the rest and recovery stations.

  The sounds of grunts and roars mixed with the thuds of impossibly heavy weights hitting the reinforced desert ground.

  Truth be told, it hadn’t been necessary for him to micromanage his trainees.

  Almost all of them knew what they were doing, which was good.

  At least their people back home knew proper training techniques.

  He floated into the sky to take them all in while he had a moment.

  Lera was at one of the towering squat racks.

  Lifting a huge stone with a barbell-harness hooked up to a ship’s anchor chain.

  The stone dangling on the end of the chain swayed slightly, which made it more difficult than a traditional barbell with plates on the ends.

  Fifty tons according to the number he had burned into the sides of the stone.

  Granite, if he remembered correctly.

  His eye twitched at his daughter’s tight workout clothing.

  Or rather at the darting gazes the boys were giving her.

  Hypocrisy?

  Yes.

  He had been just like them in his youth.

  Checking out girls in the gym.

  Then again, if they had time to look, they had time to lift more, harder.

  “Gryphy!”

  “Yessir!” The winged Gryphon Prince snapped a wide-eyed salute.

  Totally caught checking out Lera.

  “What? Why are you saluting? Never mind! Quit standing around. You don’t look like you need a rest. Get back on it!”

  “Yessi— Eron!”

  Off he went back to his deadlift.

  Eagle-like vision let the kid check out girls wherever they were in the training compound.

  And there were a lot of physical specimens clad in workout attire.

  Eron sighed and went to go yell at the elephant hybrid Captain Patriot had brought.

  The kid was lucky that he hadn’t developed a trunk or big floppy ears. He had a little bit of tusk situation, but the thick, rough gray skin and weird elephant-ish feet weren’t too bad a downside to the benefits of superhuman strength and toughness.

  The kid’s main problem was that he wasn’t pushing himself past his limits.

  And Eron’s theory was that they needed to do that to get stronger.

  …

  Hiroki put up eight-hundred pounds on the bench.

  Eron’s glasses gave him the number in kilograms, but he ignored that.

  He was a man of principles after all.

  It was an outstanding number for an average-sized, athletic, young Japanese man.

  “Why am I doing this in my human form, Eron-san?”

  “I told you, dude. We’re testing out a brilliant theory. Those oni spirit-things in you said that you’ll get stronger from fighting and defeating greater challenges, right?”

  “Yes. That is what they said… say.”

  “Well, I think it’s worth seeing if getting stronger in your normal form translates to your oni forms. Kind of like maybe there’s an exponential growth?”

  Plus, it’d be good for the young man to grab the metaphorical reins of control from the oni spirit-things.

  Cal had given Hiroki a quick scan before his brother had left the world and said that he was safe and in control, but that could always change.

  “But I’m looking weak compared to everyone else.”

  “Don’t worry about that. Remember what I told you all?”

  “That the numbers don’t really matter. That we’re not competing against each other right now. We’re competing against the us of yesterday.”

  “You lift as a normal human. Then we test your oni forms out this weekend and see what happens.”

  He finished spotting Hiroki’s set before moving on to another trainee.

  It was tough trying to channel the douchebagness of every coach he had ever had from the age of four or five all the way through high school.

  For one, it had been some time.

  Secondly, being douche-y wasn’t something that came naturally to him when it came to dealing with people he wasn’t predisposed to dislike.

  Hiroki had crapped out at eight reps, so he sent the kid off to one of the rest and recovery tents.

  Superhumans had higher limits and quicker recovery times than usual humans, but they still had them.

  It was a perfect time to bother Tiger over at one of the overhead press stations.

  Thirty tons of ultradense plates on a Threnium bar that handled it with only a nearly imperceptible bend.

  The Korean kid still hadn’t coughed up his actual name.

  Eron let it go because Tiger was genuinely scared shitless that witches would do something with his name no matter how many times he had explained how that would only happened if Tiger decided to be evil one day.

  Tiger was pretty beefy.

  It looked like his handlers were bulking him up while he was still young.

  Thick arms shook with the strain, getting about halfway up on his second rep before giving out.

  Eron grabbed the barbell with one hand in a flash, saving Tiger from the indignity of having to bail out of the way.

  Not that he had to.

  The power rack had advanced safety measures.

  An automated spotter in the form of robot arms and what not.

  “Not bad. I can’t say anything bad about your technique. Your trainers haven’t been messing you up on that.” Eron tapped Tiger’s numbers into his ever-present tablet. “How you feeling overall, kid?”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Tiger looked more like a wide-eyed kitten with his metaphorical fur standing on end.

  “Uh, good?”

  “Alright. Keep at it. If you want any advice, I’ll give it for free. No debts or anything like that. I’ve got a pretty good eye for how us strong-types move our bodies.”

  Eron ambled over a short distance to the next station where Kelci and Olive were lifting together.

  They had been shooting gazes like lasers over at Captain Patriot’s kids ever since they had laid eyes on each other.

  “Uh oh, he’s got the look,” Kelci said.

  “What look?”

  “The disappointed old man dad look.”

  “Does he?” Olive said with wide eyes.

  “Yeah, do I? And what for?”

  Kelci sighed.

  The hybrid had the power of a hippopotamus and unlike Captain Patriot’s kids, she had been forced to undergo the process under a twisted eidolon’s hands to get it.

  “I get it, but I checked and those kids— younger than you, by the way— were volunteers in every definition and sense of the word. They weren’t forced like you. And, maybe, consider that they shouldn’t be the targets of your anger?”

  “Why you even letting them join this?” Kelci snapped.

  “I don’t know. Maybe, they’d get to talking with someone they share a common bond with and maybe that someone can get in their ears about how much better that someone’s situation is compared to theirs.” He shrugged.

  “Wait? Why didn’t you say so?”

  “Ah, well, I thought it’d be obvious.” He patted her on her boulder-like shoulder. “Hey, I’m not saying make friends right away. If anything it’s a good opportunity for gathering intel straight from the source. Plus, you’re like a senior hybrid.”

  “That does make sense, Kels.” Olive smiled.

  The younger woman had skin the color of an olive.

  Not the codename he would’ve have chosen had he been in her shoes, but she seemed to enjoy it, so who was he to judge?

  “So, how has the training arc been for you guys so far. I haven’t had the chance to talk to you much. I was surprised Hayden allowed you guys to attend.”

  Kelci’s eyes darted to the ground.

  “She… uh… might’ve told us to spy…”

  “Yup!” Olive grinned. “On everyone else! It’s hard though. I’ve been trying to talk to everyone when I have the chance, but…” she shrugged.

  “Hmmm… what if I assign mixed seating arrangements for the meals? Force you all to interact?”

  “That’d probably work. Or it’d start fights.” Kelci nodded. “I like it, Eron!”

  “Oh! I know! Mix the lifting groups too!” Olive chimed.

  “I’m already planning to do that. Didn’t want to push you guys too much on the first full day of work.”

  “Nah. This isn’t so bad. Training’s harder back home. Especially, now that Hayden’s in charge,” Kelci said. “Say, uh, how’s Cal and Nila doing? Hayden shares the messages, but they’re… you know…”

  “Lacking in detail while simultaneously filling your head with so many questions?” He laughed. “That’s about the same with the messages I’ve gotten. It sucks, but it’s part of the plan. Can’t risk the possibility that the messages can be read by the wrong people.”

  “Well, at least they’re still okay,” Olive said.

  “It’s Cal and Nila, they’ll be fine.” Eron clapped like thunder. “Alright! That’s enough break for you two!” he snapped out suddenly like the douchiest of coaches. “You think this isn’t hard enough? Five more tons on the next overhead press!” He pointed at Kelci. “I can tell you’ve got more in you! And as for you,” he jabbed a finger at Olive, “good job so far! Keep it up!”

  “Hey!”

  “Thanks! I will!”

  …

  “I can’t call you ‘Red Glare’.”

  Eron regarded the glaring teenager.

  She reminded him of his daughter at that age.

  All knees and elbows with limbs too long for the rest of her.

  His glasses scanned her as having higher density in terms of bones, muscles and everything else.

  “Why not?” she scowled up at him. “You call that one Asian kid ‘Tiger’ and that kid with the wings ‘Gryphy’.”

  “Okay, fair. In that case… I shall call you ‘Glarey’!”

  Her scowl deepened.

  “I’m glad that’s settled. So, you wanted to talk to me about something?” He tapped the tablet.

  He appreciated her use of the system rather than yelling at the top of her lungs like Lera.

  Glarey crossed her arms and raised her chin.

  “Why can’t I use my power?”

  She was mid set, deadlifting a single plate on each side of the barbell.

  They weren’t even special weights. Nope, simple ancient equipment he had taken from an abandoned gym in the nearest city.

  Now, that was quite impressive for a teenage girl, but he could understand why she felt self-conscious when surrounded by people pushing weights in the tons.

  “I believe I included the reasoning in the training arc plan I sent to you.” He nodded at her tablet tossed carelessly on the ground.

  “Yeah, but why?”

  Ah!

  Nostalgia!

  Just like his daughter a handful of years ago!

  “How long ago did you activate your power?”

  Her mouth thinned.

  “I’m not supposed to tell you that.”

  “Fair. When did you start lifting?”

  “A month,” she said through clenched teeth.

  “Okay, so you’ve got the basics, but I can see plenty to tweak with your form to maximize your lifts. Now, that goes the same with your power. I’m pretty sure whomever is training you is taking this into account and if they aren’t then they’re idiots, so you should definitely repeat this to them. You need to strengthen your base to strengthen your powered self. Has Captain Patriot not talked to you about this?”

  “No,” she muttered.

  “Alright. That’s okay. I’ll have a word with her later.” He sighed. Last thing he wanted to do was get involved on a personal level with what looked like some kind of messy drama-thing. “You’re only fourteen or fifteen. That means you’ve got, like, ten years before you’re fully grown in a physical sense. So, no point in rushing things. Slow and steady wins the race.”

  “So, what am I supposed to do?”

  “The basics. Always the basics. Best way to build a firm, unearthquakable foundation. So, that means proper nutrition, the lifting and rest. Your trainers are focusing on those things, right?”

  She neither nodded nor shook her head, determined to reveal nothing.

  “I’m sure they’re trying their best for your sake. Alright, so, if you’d like, I’ll show you how you can maximize your lifts with just good technique.”

  He kept his distance and showed her by his example as well as sharing little tricks and cues to keep her technique on point.

  Like which muscles to tighten, how to breath and he even drew a line in the dirt for her eyes to focus on to keep her head and neck in line with the rest of her spine.

  He glanced out of the corner of one eye to catch Captain Patriot watching like a hawk from her perch atop a small hill on the other side of the training compound.

  …

  Many of his trainees and their assorted bodyguards and handlers didn’t like his dinner announcement that starting tomorrow they were going to mingle.

  The latter group was already unhappy about his policy forcing them to eat in a separate dining tent. Not that he cared. They could always leave.

  “What? You’re lucky I’m not making you play icebreakers.”

  The youths blinked at him like they had no idea what that was.

  Captain Patriot snorted from where she sat sentry near one of the exits.

  “You know what… let’s do it. I’ll give you something legit to complain about.”

  It took him a few minutes to think back to the worst icebreaker from his pre-spires working days.

  …

  “Daddy, that was dumb, like, really dumb,” Lera said.

  She had her own magic tent like everyone else.

  And he was only visiting briefly… very briefly.

  She had been insistent on the point that he was to not be obviously her dad around all the cool kids.

  The tent was essentially a one bedroom apartment inside a one person tent thanks to dimensional magic that only one being on the planet was capable of creating.

  “And it’s supposed to make everyone get to know each other? I just felt embarrassed.”

  “Shared suffering. It can work in some spaces and situations, but never in a corporate sense.”

  “Ugh, some stuff about pre-spires times sucked.”

  “Yeah, well, you know,” he shrugged, “on one hand you’ve got cubicles, on the other you’ve got monsters.”

  She looked him dead in the eyes.

  “I’d take monsters.”

  “Okay, maybe I’m not the best source of how work life was like back then. It’s a damn shame that zero CEO’s survived to this day to tell tales of how they made value for the shareholders.”

  “Old times were so weird and stupid.” Lera flopped into her chair and snatched her tablet of the side table. “Okay, Daddy. What’s the plan?”

  “Huh?”

  “The spying and secret recruiting? I think there’s a few targets I can get to and manipulate to give me info and one day defect… maybe?”

  “No. No witchy manipulating. You’re here to training arc. And only training arc. Nothing more.”

  “Mom said—”

  “Okay, fine, but subtle and only as a very, very far away from you side project.”

  “Great! I’m going to need you to be harder on me. It’ll look better.”

  “What? I’ve been yelling at you no less or more than anyone else.”

  “Yeah, but you have to yell even more. Do it like you were yelling at Gryph. You were spitting on his face and everything! It was crazy! Everyone was, like, so scared! Their eyes were like this!” She used her fingers to spread her own as open as possible.

  He cleared his throat.

  “Gryphy was slacking. It was merely a stern correction. I’ve seen him undergo harsher training.”

  “Yeah, I guess you didn’t hit him with sticks…” Her eyes lit up. “Maybe you should? I mean, I can take stick strikes easy.”

  “Okay, okay. Sounds like it’s bed time for my little Solar Tyrant.”

  “Dad.” She gave him a flat stare. “I’m almost twenty.”

  And yet, she acted at least a few years younger when she was excited.

  Not that he’d point that out.

  As far as he was concerned, the longer it took for her to grow up the better.

  “So, you’re not the Solar Tyrant anymore?”

  “I didn’t say that.” She wagged a finger. “Not the way you say it. And I’m not tired.”

  He raised a brow.

  “Okay, maybe a little tired.”

  Her solar powers presented special challenges in the gains department.

  She had to be drained to her base physical before the muscles could be forced to really work hard.

  Thus, she had to work even harder throughout the day while the sun was up to drain her cellular batteries and continue for a few hours more into the night.

  She hadn’t been force to do it alone.

  Gryphy and a few other boys stuck around for obvious reasons that Eron tried not to be weird and overprotective about, which wasn’t a problem because Kelci and Olive also struck around.

  He would have to send them an extra gift at the end of the training arc for their effective cockblocking efforts.

  “Well, there you go. Remember—”

  “Yes, Dad,” she rolled her eyes, “I know. Gains happen in bed and the kitchen.”

  One last embrace and he stepped out into the near-freezing Atacama desert night.

  And his silent, lone watch.

  …

  The witching hour.

  His pocket beeped.

  “Phone, tablet or glasses?” he muttered.

  He picked up his phone.

  “Hey, Relentless, sup,” Dayana said.

  “Work thing? What’s the threat?”

  “Clean up in Calama. Cal’s little psycho took care of the problem, but left him posed in the city square. We’ve set up a perimeter around the body just in case, but…”

  “Is it definitely coming back to life? Or only a maybe?”

  “According to the psycho with a knife? The former. The only maybe is how long it’ll take and where. So…”

  “How bad is it?”

  “He. And really bad, slasher-type over Level 50. She said he could randomly travel to within a few hundred kilometers of prime hunting grounds. She said his preferred targets where youth and great potential. You can probably guess why he showed up here. I’d melt or ash the body, but she said that might not take. Needs someone a lot stronger than him to make it stick. And maybe do it off planet just to be extra sure.”

  He thought quickly.

  Level 50 was too strong for Cal’s prison of dubious ethical nature and too close to people.

  The orbiting asteroid where the eidolon’s had been kept for a time was currently empty and would’ve been too annoying to upkeep in a logistical sense for just one psycho murderer after the kids.

  Dead was dead.

  Until it wasn’t.

  No chance he was going to leave a potential threat to his daughter and the others.

  “I’ll be there in a sec.”