Chapter 38: The Halo Effect

When we reached the workout area, my attention immediately shifted to the pull-up bar. I had managed five repetitions yesterday, then increased my Strength by one point during my workout at home.

It was time to discover my new limit.

I rubbed my palms together and stepped beneath the bar.

"I’m going first."

My angel raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Don’t you want to rest after running for an hour?"

"I want to see how many I can do today."

"All right." She took a step back and folded her arms beneath her chest. "I’ll stop you if your form breaks."

"You’re not going to slap my butt this time, are you?"

An exceptionally innocent expression appeared on her face.

"Of course not."

"Oiii, that smile doesn’t inspire confidence."

Instead of answering, she made a small gesture toward the bar.

After taking a deep breath, I jumped and wrapped my fingers around the metal. As my body stretched downward, I adjusted my shoulders and pulled myself up for the first repetition.

It was easier than expected.

Once my chin rose above the bar, I lowered myself under control.

"One."

The second and third repetitions went just as smoothly.

I felt the first burn in my arms during the fourth, but it wasn’t nearly as intense as yesterday. By the time I completed the fifth, I had reached my previous limit and still had enough strength to continue.

"Six."

The corners of my lips rose as my chin cleared the bar.

I had completed the repetition I had failed yesterday.

And no one had slapped my butt.

The burning in my arms became more noticeable as I rose for the seventh. My movement slowed, but I managed to finish without breaking my form.

"Seven..."

My breathing had quickened by the time I lowered myself again.

Halfway through the eighth pull-up, I stopped moving for a moment. I gritted my teeth and forced all the strength in my shoulders into the movement until my body began rising again.

"Eight!"

The calm expression on my angel’s face had been replaced by genuine surprise.

That gave me all the motivation I needed to attempt the ninth.

After fully extending my arms, I began pulling myself up one last time. My elbows trembled, and my fingers threatened to slip from the metal.

The bar reached my eyes, then my nose.

Just a little more...

Using every bit of strength I had left, I forced my chin over the bar.

"Nine!"

I smiled victoriously as I lowered myself.

Stopping there would have been sensible, but I wanted to show her more. I tried to pull myself up for a tenth repetition.

My body rose a few inches before stopping.

"Hng..."

I tried to bend my arms farther, but my muscles refused to carry me. Even though I fought to continue without swinging my legs, I slowly began sinking instead of rising.

As my fingers slipped from the bar, I felt movement behind me.

My angel placed both hands around my waist and slowed my fall.

When my feet touched the ground, my back rested lightly against her chest.

The softness and warmth pressing against my back...

Yes.

Those were breasts.

MY ANGEL’S BREASTS!

My heart started pounding as though it were about to tear through my rib cage.

What should I do? Should I move away immediately?!

NO.

No, no, no!

I wanted to stay like this a little longer.

"Noctis?"

Hearing my name snapped me out of my thoughts. I hurriedly stepped forward and regained my composure.

"Are you okay?"

"I’M PERFECTLY FINE! IN FACT, I’M AMAZING!"

My angel stared innocently at my face for several seconds before lowering her gaze toward my arms.

"Five yesterday, nine today."

"Are you impressed?"

"I’m a little surprised," she admitted. "People don’t improve this quickly in a single day."

"I’m not an ordinary person."

The words sounded embarrassingly dramatic once they left my mouth, and I tensed slightly.

My angel merely interpreted them as another boast and smiled.

"I’m starting to notice."

As though checking my arms, she gently pressed her fingers against my upper arm. The moment she touched me, I straightened my back far more than necessary.

"You really do look a little stronger."

"I’ll do even more tomorrow."

"At this rate, you might reach forty before the week is over."

"Then you can tell me your name now."

She tilted her head adorably.

"Nine isn’t forty."

After a short break, we continued training. She showed me negative repetitions, small movements using only my shoulder blades, and exercises that would strengthen my grip.

While explaining how to engage the correct muscles, she occasionally touched my back and shoulders. Every time she did, I had to work especially hard to focus on the movement.

I already knew more or less how to train, but telling her that would have been stupid...

My phone vibrated several times in my pocket.

After finishing a set, I took it out and held the screen at an angle only I could see.

[Eris: Good morning, traitor.]

More messages were waiting beneath it.

[Eris: The sandwich was good.]

[Eris: The "Great Noctis" part at the end of the note was awful.]

[Eris: You left me asleep and ran off to your angel, didn’t you?]

My right eye twitched as I read the last message.

She had definitely done that on purpose. She must have suspected my angel was beside me and written it that way specifically.

I locked my phone and returned it to my pocket.

My angel hadn’t seen the messages, but she must have noticed the expression on my face because she asked curiously, "Who was that?"

"Eris. My childhood friend."

"The one who stayed at your apartment last night?"

"Yes. I left her a sandwich and a short note for when she woke up."

"You made the sandwich?"

"I can cook."

Her blue eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"I wasn’t expecting that."

"Was it good?"

"Eris said it was. I ate the same thing, and it really was good."

She studied my face thoughtfully for several seconds.

"Then you can make one for me someday."

I suddenly forgot all about the pain in my exhausted arms.

"Of course."

"I’ll eat almost anything, but don’t make it too spicy."

"I’ll remember."

My phone vibrated again, but this time I didn’t look. Eris could wait a few hours. I had no intention of interrupting my training with my angel.

We continued working out for the next few hours, taking short breaks between sets. In addition to pull-ups, I did push-ups, planks, and dead hangs using different grips.

My angel carefully watched every repetition and warned me the moment my form began to break. Her strict supervision was sometimes irritating, but it helped me correct mistakes I never would have noticed while training alone.

During my final set of push-ups, my arms began trembling uncontrollably again.

I gritted my teeth and lowered my chest toward the ground. My arms didn’t want to lift my body, but I used every bit of strength I had to slowly straighten my elbows.

The moment I completed the repetition, a blue light flashed before my eyes.

[Natural growth threshold exceeded.]

Breathing heavily, I waited for the rest of the message.

[Strength: 12 → 13]

A wide smile spread across my face.

I had managed to increase both my Endurance and Strength on the same day. If my angel hadn’t been there, I probably would have gone for another run after an hour of rest and only exhausted my legs again.

Thanks to her, I had pushed the muscles I had trained at home with the correct movements and broken through another limit.

"Why are you smiling again?" she asked.

"I broke two personal records today."

My angel held out her hand.

"Uh... okay."

She clearly hadn’t understood what I meant.

I took her hand and let her pull me to my feet. By now, I was no longer surprised by how easily she lifted me.

After several hours of training, it was finally time to leave. The sun had fully risen, and the park was much more crowded than it had been early that morning.

We gathered our things and walked toward the exit together.

"Same time tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yes, but get at least eight hours of sleep tonight."

"I’ll do my best."

"And don’t forget the sandwich."

"I definitely won’t."

After walking a few steps away, she turned around and raised her hand.

"See you tomorrow, Noctis."

"See you tomorrow, my angel."

A faint blush returned to her cheeks. She smiled before walking toward her apartment.

After watching until she disappeared from view, I started heading back to my own apartment.

My Endurance and Strength had each increased by one point, I had completed nine pull-ups, and I had promised to make breakfast for my angel the next morning.

Today’s workout couldn’t have gone any better.

Now I only had to survive the crimson-haired traitor waiting for me at home.