Chapter 44 | The Midnight Foxes Train Hard, But My "Private Session" Will Be Harder

Of course she’d stick with me. The devil always tortures his favorite victims personally.

For the next thirty minutes, Misato ran me through every circle of hell she could design on a field. Burpees until my arms stopped cooperating. Sprints that made my lungs feel like they were trying to quit their jobs. Squat jumps while she circled me like a very aggressive, lime-green-haired shark, watching for any excuse to add reps.

Every time I genuinely thought my body was about to stage a full revolt, she’d plant herself directly in front of me, close enough that I could see the complete lack of sympathy in those bright green eyes.

"That it? You’re already done?" Her voice carried the kind of casual contempt that made it worse than yelling. "Gates don’t care that your legs hurt. Monsters don’t check in to see if you need a water break."

She stepped aside just long enough for me to attempt another rep, then was back in my space before I’d finished it.

"You collapse in a gate, you die. Simple math. So get up and do it again."

The weird part? I kind of liked it. Each burn, each struggle, each moment my muscles screamed meant I was getting stronger. The system occasionally pinged with progress notifications as my Endurance and Strength stats ticked upward.

By the time we rotated to the agility ladder, I was moving better than I had since waking up in this fat body. Silver-tier essence was definitely helping my recovery between stations.

"Faster footwork," Misato barked, standing over the ladder. "In-in-out-out. Don’t touch the rungs."

I fumbled through the pattern, nowhere near the speed she wanted.

"Again!" she shouted. "You move like an elderly turtle. My grandmother has better footwork!"

Across the field, I noticed Belle doing modified jumping jacks, with Misato’s clone gently correcting her form. Another clone was helping Naomi perfect her running stride. Meanwhile, Jordan was doing half-hearted medicine ball throws while a third clone watched with visible disappointment.

"I see your clones are way nicer to the girls," I panted between ladder runs.

"Because they’re actually trying," Misato retorted. "And they don’t stare at my ass when I demonstrate exercises."

"That happened once! And in my defense, you were literally showing us proper squat form."

"Sixty seconds of mountain climbers," she replied sweetly. "Now."

By the end of the first hour, I was drenched in sweat but feeling strangely accomplished. The burn in my muscles felt good, like my body was finally catching up to what my brain wanted it to do.

Misato called everyone to gather around. "Water break. Five minutes. Then we start ability-specific training."

We collapsed in a rough circle, gulping from water bottles. Jordan looked like he’d been hit by a truck. Belle had somehow managed to look adorably flushed rather than disgusting. Naomi sat cross-legged, studying a notebook where she’d been sketching Wave Motion trajectory patterns.

"I’m going to die," Jordan moaned. "This is actual torture."

"You need this more than anyone," Misato replied. "Your ability is insanely powerful, but useless if you get winded climbing stairs."

"She’s so much nicer to you two," Jordan accused, looking at Belle and Naomi. "It’s not fair."

Belle batted her eyelashes. "I’m just a fragile flower trying my best." She clasped her hands under her chin, making her cleavage more prominent. "It’s so hard being a girl in such a tough academy."

Jordan’s mouth fell open. "Are you serious right now? You literally bench pressed more than me yesterday!"

"Tee-hee?" Belle offered with a shrug and a wink.

Even Misato laughed at that one. "Fox, you’re dangerous. I like it."

For the next hour, we focused on ability training. Misato split us up into pairs – Belle with Jordan for strategy (since neither had combat-focused abilities), and me with Naomi for "support training."

Naomi and I found a quiet corner of the field. She glanced around nervously before speaking.

"So, um... what exactly are we supposed to practice? I can’t exactly shoot Wave Motion blasts around campus."

"And I can’t exactly demonstrate my real ability," I replied quietly. "So how about this – you work on your form and control without actually releasing energy, and I’ll... spot you."

"Spot me? Like with weights?"

"Sure. Make sure your stance is good, your balance is centered."

She nodded, positioning herself in what I assumed was her combat stance – legs slightly spread, one foot forward, arms extended. I moved behind her, placing my hands lightly on her hips.

"Rotate slightly," I murmured, guiding her hips to a better angle. "You want your weight centered."

Naomi’s breath caught slightly as my fingers pressed against her waist. "Like this?"

"Perfect." My voice came out huskier than intended.

We continued like this for several minutes, my hands occasionally guiding her arms or correcting her stance. To anyone watching, it would look like legitimate training. But the way Naomi leaned into my touch told me she was thinking about last night too.

"Eight o’clock," she whispered when we were sure no one could hear. "Your room. I won’t be late."

I leaned in close to her ear. "Don’t keep me waiting."

The rest of practice passed in a blur of sweat and pain. By the end, even Belle had abandoned her "fragile flower" act and was sprawled on the grass, blue hair splayed around her head like a halo.

"Same time tomorrow," Misato announced, not even looking winded. "Plus morning runs starting at six AM."

Jordan made a sound like a dying walrus.

"You’ll thank me when you’re not dead last in the next assessment," Misato told him unsympathetically.

As we gathered our things to leave, Misato pulled me aside.

"You did better than I expected, Monroe."

"Thanks? I think?"

"Your form is garbage and your endurance is trash, but you didn’t quit." She nodded like she was bestowing a great compliment. "That’s something."

"High praise from the taskmaster herself."

Misato smirked. "Keep it up and maybe you’ll break into the top two hundred."

"Dream big, huh?"

She walked away without responding.

I glanced at my watch. Two hours until my private session with Naomi. Two hours until I could extract more Silver-tier essence and strengthen my stats even further.

The Divine Milking System timer showed six days, three hours remaining. Plenty of time to build my extraction network, improve my physical stats, and climb the rankings.

The quest to push Midnight Foxes into the top five squads was just beginning, but for the first time since waking up in this body, I felt like I had a real chance.

All I had to do was survive Misato’s training from hell.

And not get caught staring at her tits again.