Rey woke with a yawn, and true to his words, there were two demons from gens mindless were struggling to escape his gravity moat. But little did they know that his fly-trapper had them, and unless they were super strong, there was no leaving Rey's honey pot.

  The others were sleeping soundly still. Rey figured that since they were still on Earth's sleep cycle, they could, or Kassandra figured out how to keep time, and they're used to taking long naps. Speaking of Kassandra, she looked so peaceful sleeping. There was a strand of hair that was on her nose, and Rey's first thought was to tickle her with it. But she was asleep, and playing pranks on someone who was sleeping was a big no-no in Rey's books. He hated, no, absolutely abhorred, when someone disturbed his sleep because of some prank. He had killed demons for it. Sleep in Hell was a luxury, and whoever disturbed it for some stupid pranks deserved to have his eyeball ripped out and used as marbles.

  He moved the strand behind her ear and had the urge to kiss her forehead, but didn't. Kassandra's hand whipped out of the sleeping bag and grabbed his hand in an instant.

  "Shh, it's just me, Kassi," Rey whispered. "All is well. Go back to sleep."

  She nodded, shifted slightly, and went back to sleep while still holding his hand. He waited as long as he could in that awkward position until his back couldn't take it anymore. He slowly pulled his hand out. Thankfully, she didn't wake.

  He stood, stretched, and saw that the lovebirds were practically cuddling. He wished he had a camera so he could take a nice picture to rip on Ajay.

  He smiled as he was happy for them. It was nice seeing them together, since if Rey failed, they wouldn't have long until Filomena met her untimely demise.

  Three months at best. Demon Rey gave his input, and even he didn't sound happy about that.

  In those three months, Rey would make sure that not a scratch came to her. In the meantime, he had to do the Italian Job—saving Filomena from certain death.

  He walked to the demons, who got into action as he came close. They had been lying on the floor, as if they had accepted their fate, but now they got into action upon seeing fresh meat walking towards them.

  "Keep it down, my friends are sleeping," Rey tried, but they wouldn't listen. He sighed, took out his dagger, and put them out of their misery, but the damage was done.

  "R-Rey, what's going on?" Kassandra was up and rubbing her eyes.

  Hearing her voice, the other two stirred and were up in a heartbeat. At least, they had trained themselves to wake up at the first sign of trouble.

  Rey flourished his hands. "Like I promised, breakfast."

  They looked at each other, clearly bewildered at Rey's tremendous power of foresight. He had to shut off his Gravity's Domain as his Mana was running low, and he needed to let it recover.

  The following two hours were like clockwork. The trio moved like a well-oiled machine. They knew what to do without even saying a word to each other. Every so often, Kassandra would suggest something, and the other two would follow. He was okay with letting her make the shots for their smaller group when it came to these things; she was better suited for this kind of work. This way, he had more time to laze about. He decided he would only step in if the situation were dire.

  The two hours they spent cleaning up and eating their breakfast also helped his Mana recover, so it was perfect timing when Ajay asked.

  "What did you mean last night, about starting our training?"

  Rey grinned. "In your absence, I attained a new skill called Gravity's Domain, which helps me increase the Gravity in a given area by whatever amount I decide." He lifted a finger. "Here's a demonstration."

  He activated Gravity's Domain with only five percent gravity. It did not affect him, while the rest were doubled over as if the ground had suddenly developed teeth and a personal vendetta against their skulls.

  "Turn it off," Filomena ordered through gritted teeth.

  "Sure." He turned off Gravity's Domain to their immediate relief. They huffed as the not-so-intense pressure lifted off their currently feeble bodies. "My friends, you just experienced a very weak version of my fly trapper. That was only five percent. By the end of the week, I want you all to be able to walk around in at least twenty percent as if it's normal."

  Their eyes widened at that.

  "No way," Ajay exclaimed.

  "Now, that's the sort of negativity that will not be tolerated in Rey's gym of Gravity And Gains."

  "How much can you handle?" Kassandra asked.

  "Fifty percent." Their eyes widened. "Want a demonstration?"

  "No, no, we believe you," Ajay dribbled out.

  "My goal is to hit at least hundred percent, by the end of two weeks," Rey said, to more shocked Pikachu faces.

  "What's the point of this, Rey?" Kassandra asked.

  "Good question, pupil Kassi. The point is that once I unlocked this skill, I developed a strict training regime focused on increasing my stats. It's how I'm able to fight demons far above my Rank with ease. I very nearly killed the leaders of the Tigermen that attacked you because of all the stat boosts I got after this training, and he was Rank 8."

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  More shocked Pikachu faces. Hell should really invest in smartphones.

  "That's right. Even if we can't reach higher ranks through this training, we can easily drag the higher-ranked demons through the mud, as if they're our bitches, which I assure you, they will be. So, from now on, you'll be eating, sleeping, shitting, and of course, training in his high gravity for the foreseeable future. Any other questions?"

  Filomena spoke up this time. "And you can keep this up for that long?"

  "Excellent question, Miss Italy. I cannot keep it up forever. The more people that are in my Gravity's Domain, the faster my Mana drains. We will be taking regular breaks so I can recharge my battery. Of course, this will prolong our training sessions, but it's okay. We've been here, what, two and a half, three months?" He looked to Kassandra.

  "Just about three," she confirmed.

  "Great, and our train doesn't leave for another nine months. So, we can stay here for some time. So this is our temporary base until we hit apex predator energy, then we'll move out to curb-stomp any ugly motherfucker who looks us the wrong way. Now, let's clean up and start in five."

  It didn't take them long to clean up and set the tools away. These satchels really made things easy. While they were doing that, Rey checked out the stream. It wasn't deep enough that there could be any demons hiding in there. Besides, he hadn't caught anything throughout the night. His Gravity Domain had extended this far, though it might've deepened it a little, with the sudden increase in the weight of the water that passed through here.

  Once he was satisfied, he headed back to the others. He noticed Kassandra coming towards him.

  "Hey, beautiful, you just can't stay away from me, can you?" He said with a sly smile. "Don't worry, I'm not running away from you again."

  She snorted. "You try to and I will, what did you say once, shoot you with so many arrows that you'll look like you're trying to cosplay Sonic the Hedgehog."

  Rey raised an eyebrow. "Look who remembers everything I said. Don't let the others hear you say that or they might say you have a thing for me."

  "As if." She motioned to the water. "Anyways, what were you doing back there?"

  "Checking to see if the water was safe for skinny dipping. Turns out the water's all clear. We'll go play Marco Polo later."

  She rolled her eyes. "What's this new training regime?

  "Oh, always so hasty," Rey said, poking her side. She couldn't help giggling. "We're already halfway to our goal set by our overlord, and we're only three months in. We've got all the time in the world. Besides, if I told you first, the others would think the teacher is playing favorites." He leaned in and whispered. "Even though you are my favorite."

  She smiled, and a little color came to her cheeks. "Now that I think about it, what happened to the Rey who was always running away from me?"

  "I told him to take a fucking hike?" Then he activated Attraction, pulling Kassandra into his arms. "Oh my god, Kassi, a little space, please."

  "I'm sorry, that wasn't me…" It took her less than a moment to realize. "Oh, you're lucky I don't have my bow on me."

  But Rey was already running away, laughing his ass off, as she chased him, but stopped abruptly. "Wait, I almost forgot, I have a gift for you."

  That got her to stop. He reached into his satchel and pulled out the dagger that the Tigermen had so graciously delivered to him.

  Her eyes widened immediately. "That's my dagger. Where did you find it?"

  "The Baaghror that took it from you was kind enough to give it to me, before he decided that he didn't have any use for it or of his head."

  He held the dagger, hilt first, to her. She took it, and their fingers brushed against each other. She looked up into his eyes, and they stayed there for who knows how long. Rey felt like he could take a deep dive into her green eyes, but then Ajay interrupted the moment.

  He coughed. "Rey, we're ready if you are."

  "You're going straight to hundred percent gravity for that," Rey muttered, making Kassandra snicker.

  "Thanks, Rey. I really missed this. I'm guessing you still have its sister."

  "Always."

  They joined the other two, and together Rey took them out of the clearing, which, for the next two weeks—at the very least—would serve as their training grounds. His pupils stood in a neat line as Rey faced them.

  "As I showed you last night, I'm going to create a neat little circular area underneath your feet with ten percent increased gravity. With that increased gravity, I want you to do a hundred pushups, a hundred sit-ups, and a hundred squats each day. If the ladies want, they can swap fifty pushups for fifty squats. After all, I'm sure you would rather have better-looking butts than pecs. I'm sure the boys will appreciate that too. Right, Ajay?"

  The guy coughed to hide his smile as the girls turned on him, as if it were his fault.

  Then Ajay caught on to something. "Wait, isn't that the One Punch Man exercise regime?"

  Rey nodded. "Yep. Nothing wrong with that. Once you've completed this, you can move on to practicing your magical skills. Do them to the point of Mana Fatigue, recover, and then do that again. Once you all can move around in ten percent gravity without difficulty, I'll up the gravity."

  "And what're you going to be doing?" Ajay asked.

  "Same thing. Just over there." He hooked a thumb behind him. "I would invite you to join me once you can handle seventy percent gravity. Try to catch up, slackers. Oh, and I'm sure you must've gained a Talent point that you got from ranking up. Go look at your Talents…from the ground."

  Without warning, he activated Gravity's Domain at only ten percent gravity, and all three dropped to a knee but didn't fall face-first, which was good. Very good.

  Rey clapped his hands. "That's great. You didn't faceplant, that's more than what I can say for most."

  "How the hell are we supposed to do pushups in this much gravity?" Filomena spat through gritted teeth.

  "That's your problem, not mine. Now, ladies and gent, I'm off…" They all snapped their heads up at that. "Relax, I'm just going to the other side of the grove, as I don't want my higher gravity circle pulling one of you in and breaking your spine. Here's a tip—why don't you all sit on the ground and check your Talents while you get used to this gravity? But if you take too long, you may not have enough time to finish your daily tasks."

  Rey walked off to a considerable distance, but still kept them in sight. If there was an accident, then he could shut off their Gravity Domain and rush to their aid. He activated Gravity Domain under him, and true to his word, he kept the gravity at seventy percent. The downward pressure on him was immense, but if he didn't push himself, then he wouldn't gain anything from it.

  Vegeta, I'll make you proud this time.

  Then he opened up his Talents menu and went straight to the Skills sub-menu and cried out in excitement when he saw a new skill had opened up in the Gravity tree.

  [Gravity Orb – You can create a condensed sphere of gravitational force that bends reality itself. You can place the core anywhere—ground, air, or void—creating a localized gravity field that drags everything toward it. You can decide the strength of gravity of the orb. Enemies stumble, projectiles warp, and the terrain itself bows under its pull. You don't summon power, you rewrite the pull of existence.]

  Rey raised an eyebrow. This could be fun.

  He accepted the skill, and it landed in his active skill slot—the last one for his E-Tier.

  He rubbed his hands together. "Time to see what this baby does."