Haruto waved his hands dismissively, flashing a confident grin.
"Come on, do I really need time for this? Besides, I'm doing fine anyway—I don't really need any intense training."
Daisy narrowed her eyes, her expression turning serious.
"Philo already saw you. She knows what your power looks like, and if she decides to come back for you, you won't stand a chance without knowing how to control it properly. Trust me, you need this training."
Haruto sighed, raising his hands in surrender.
"Alright, fine, fine. Let's see what happens. How tough could her training possibly be anyway?"
Daisy smirked, stepping back toward her pink bike and tapping the seat.
"Get on the bike. I need to check on the rest of the recruits in the lower sector. Your official training starts tomorrow bright and early—so enjoy your last peaceful night while you still can."
The pink bike hummed smoothly as Daisy brought it to a halt outside her private apartment in Gampid City. Inside the safety of the rooms, Haruto stepped into the kitchen, whipping up a fresh batch of food to satisfy her appetite after the long trip.
Daisy sat at the counter, taking a bite of the meal Haruto had prepared. As she chewed, a look of genuine satisfaction crossed her face.
From the corner of the room, Retro's optical sensor blinked as it hovered closer to Haruto, whispering in a low digital tone.
"Just so you know, Master... she secretly loves your cooking more than anything."
Haruto raised an eyebrow with a sly grin, thinking, Oh really? Looks like I've got some good leverage to make sure she doesn't bully me too much during this training.
Daisy quickly caught wind of the whispering, her cheeks flushing a light shade of pink. She immediately straightened up, clearing her throat and putting on a stern, unbothered expression to maintain her composure.
"What are you two whispering about? Eat up and get some rest. Tomorrow is Day One."
The dark hours of the night dragged on, and the apartment grew completely still.
Suddenly, the harsh, blaring sound of an emergency klaxon shattered the silence. The digital clock on the wall glowed bright red, reading 3:00 AM.
Before Haruto even had a chance to process where he was, the mattress beneath him violently flipped over, pitching him straight onto the cold floor.
Standing over him with a stopwatch in one hand and a freezing bucket of water in the other was Daisy, her eyes gleaming with absolute, military-grade ruthlessness.
"Wake up, sleepypants!" Daisy shouted, her voice echoing sharply through the room.
"Training starts now!"
Haruto groaned, rubbing his eyes as he stared at the glowing red clock on the wall. He threw his hands up in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind?! It's not morning, it's the middle of the night!"
"Shut up and get up," Daisy snapped, her voice leaving zero room for argument.
When Haruto made a move to pull the blankets back over his head and ignore her, Daisy didn't hesitate. She tipped the entire freezing bucket of water right over his head.
Haruto jolted up with a sharp gasp, soaked to the bone and shivering violently as water dripped off his nose.
"Now that you're awake," Daisy said smoothly, tossing a sleek bundle of clothes right into his chest, "put these on and get outside. Five minutes."
Haruto dragged himself to the bathroom, dripping wet and muttering complaints under his breath. When he unfolded the clothes, he found a high-tech, form-fitting athletic tracksuit designed like a professional athlete's gear, made of high-stretch, lightweight material.
A few minutes later, he stepped out of the bathroom, fully changed.
Waiting for him outside, Daisy had already suited up in matching gear. She wore the exact same slim-fit pattern—sleek black with striking pink accents that fit her frame perfectly.
Haruto looked down at his own outfit and then over at hers, raising an eyebrow. His tracksuit had the identical high-tech design and pattern, except instead of pink, his accents were a vibrant, electric blue.
Daisy reached into her kit, pulling out a sleek black tactical face mask and sliding it securely over her face. Turning back to Haruto, she gave her final instructions. "Put yours on too. From here on, you stay right by my side and follow every single order I give. Understood?"
Haruto blinked, pulling his own matching mask up. "Wait, why the mask?"
Daisy crossed her arms, her tone deadpan. "Because I am not going to be seen walking around in public matching outfits with some random guy. My popularity in this city is insane—if people see this, the rumor mills will catch fire in seconds."
Haruto rolled his eyes under his mask, muttering to himself, Talk about singing your own praises... uff.
Before he could finish his thought, Daisy pinched his arm sharply as punishment for slacking. "Move it."
They headed down to the street level of Gampid City. The midnight air was cool and dead silent, illuminated only by the faint glow of the streetlights overhead. Looking up, the night sky presented a breathtaking, otherworldly view—three distinct moons suspended in the cosmos, glowing in brilliant shades of red, golden, and pure white.
Haruto took a brief moment to admire the scenery, thinking, Not gonna lie, a run in the middle of the night under three moons actually looks kind of nice—
Click.
Daisy stepped up and snapped a heavy, high-tech tracking bracelet securely around his wrist.
Haruto looked down at it, raising an eyebrow. "Is this just to track my stats?"
Daisy smirked, tapping her own control console. "It's to keep you honest. If you try to stop or slow down before hitting the 10 kilometers mark, the bracelet will deliver a direct electric shock straight to your nervous system."
"Oh, come on, you've gotta be kidd—"
BZZZZT!
A sharp, painful jolt of electricity surged through Haruto's arm, making him yelp aloud.
"Start running, its 10 kilometers" Daisy ordered coolly, breaking into a steady, lightning-fast jog.
Haruto cursed under his breath, breaking into a sprint right behind her as the brutal midnight training session officially began.
"Ten kilometers?!" Haruto gasped out between ragged breaths, bracing for another potential jolt. Realizing arguing was entirely useless, he bit back his complaints and broke into a desperate, driving jog right behind her.
Time bled away as they pushed through the silent, neon-lit corridors of the city. By the time the clock ticked past 4:00 AM, the faint, pale glow of dawn began bleeding over the horizon, casting long shadows across the pavement.
Daisy finally came to a halt, turning around to check her wrist console. "Stop. That's ten kilometers."
Haruto collapsed forward, planting his hands on his knees as he wheezed heavily, sucking in great lungfuls of air. Thanks to his creation-tier physical boosts, his raw muscles weren't completely destroyed, but his stamina gauge was flashing absolute zero.
Without missing a beat, Daisy stood there looking as fresh as she had at the start, her breathing completely steady. She tossed her hair back and smirked. "Good. Now get down. Push-up challenge—let's see who can pump out more before dropping."
Haruto looked up, wiping sweat from his forehead, and stared at her in sheer disbelief. He was drenched in sweat from head to toe, while Daisy hadn't even broken a proper sweat.
They moved over to a nearby shaded park area within the sector. Dropping onto the ground, Daisy hit a plank position. "Alright, side-by-side push-ups. Let's go."
Haruto groaned, forcing his arms to cooperate. "Can we... take a breather first...?"
Hearing that, Daisy stopped mid-rep, turning her head with a sharp, mocking challenge in her eyes. "What's wrong? Aren't you a guy? Aren't you ashamed of getting beaten in a physical contest by a girl?"
Haruto shot her a completely deadpan look, dropping flat onto his chest. "If the girl is you? Absolutely not. Zero shame whatsoever."
Haruto's arms trembled under the strain as a sudden thought crossed his mind. He looked up, panting heavily. "Hey... can we head home now? I can make you something really good to eat if we go back..."
Daisy paused, her arms locked in a plank. She actually was hungry, but she stubbornly refused to show any sign of weakness or let up on him. She stood up, brushing her hands off with a cool, collected expression.
"Alright, take a break from the push-ups for today," Daisy conceded, crossing her arms. "Look at me and pay attention. Starting tomorrow, we're scaling it up: 100 push-ups, then 200, then 300, then 400, adding more day by day."
Haruto stared at her in absolute horror, his soul practically leaving his body. There is no way she's actually serious...
Seeing the doubt on his face, Daisy's smirk widened. "Oh, you think I'm just showing off? Let me show you what real training looks like."
Without missing a beat, Daisy dropped back down to the ground and began moving with terrifying speed and rhythm.
"One hundred and five... five hundred... one thousand... ten thousand... twenty thousand..." Daisy chanted effortlessly, her pace never dropping, her breathing completely calm.
By the time the digital clocks across the street blinked to read 7:00 AM, the morning sun was fully up, and Haruto was sitting on the pavement, counting her reps with wide, terrified eyes. Just hearing the absurd, impossible numbers rolling off her tongue was enough to give him nightmares for a week.
Haruto collapsed onto his back, completely spent after watching her insane display. He raised his hands in absolute surrender. "Okay, okay, I get it! I completely understand what kind of training this is now. I'm sorry, I'm nowhere near your league!"
Daisy stopped, finally letting out a light breath as she stood up. She shook her head, a hint of a smile touching her lips. "Not yet, anyway. But that's exactly why we're doing this."
Haruto groaned, rubbing his sore muscles. "Man, I'm starving..."
Hearing that, Daisy tapped her tracking bracelet and sent a quick local ping. "Retro, bring the pack."
With a soft hum of spatial distortion, Retro materialized right beside them, carrying a high-tech tactical supply bag. Daisy reached inside, pulled out a clean towel, and wiped away the light sheen of sweat from her neck. She then grabbed a bottle of cold water, unscrewed the cap, and poured half of it straight over her head to cool down her heated body from the thousands of reps.
Once refreshed, she slid her tactical face mask back into place, covering her features once more.
Right as they were about to pack up and head out, heavy footsteps echoed from the alleyway entrance. Four rough-looking local thugs stepped out from the shadows, eyeing them with predatory grins.
"Oh, wow... look what we have here," the first thug sneered, licking his lips as he stared at Daisy.
"Damn, she's drop-dead hot and totally stacked," the second one chimed in, stepping closer. "Too bad she's wearing that mask—ruins the view of her pretty face, but her body makes up for it."
Daisy didn't flinch. She slowly turned her head, looking past the thugs as if she hadn't quite caught what they said. Then, pointing a finger toward an empty stretch of the alley, she blinked innocently and called out, "Excuse me... were you guys talking to me?"
The four thugs exchanged smug, amused grins and shook their heads, stepping closer.
Daisy's expression instantly shifted. In a split second, she grabbed Haruto's arm, yanked him close, and threw on a brilliantly theatrical act of pure terror. Clinging tightly to his sleeve, she whimpered, "Oh no... please save me!"
One of the thugs burst out laughing. "Oh, wow. So this is your boyfriend?"
Haruto blinked behind his mask, pointing to himself in utter bewilderment. "Uh—me? No, I'm—"
"Look at him!" another thug mocked, pointing a finger. "Your boyfriend is such a coward he's practically trying to melt into the pavement and run away! Look at his wrist shaking!"
The lead thug grinned hungrily, stepping right up to Daisy. "Honestly, even with that mask hiding your face, your hair is gorgeous, your style is killer, and those matching couple outfits make it pretty obvious you two are an item. But your boyfriend's totally useless." He cracked his knuckles, sneering at Haruto. "Here's what's going to happen: we'll wipe the floor with this loser, and then we're taking you with us."
Haruto sighed behind his mask, raising an eyebrow. "Hah? Okay, but why her?"
The lead thug smirked, pointing a finger directly at Haruto's head. "Oye, look at his hair! That color scheme is totally unique—half of his hair is pure white and the other half is pitch black. And look at those eyes, red and black! That's going to make a fantastic slave in the underground market! You are also coming with us."
Daisy quickly put her hands up, pretending to panic. "Oh no, please don't do that!"
The thug laughed mockingly. "Sorry sweetheart, but as for you, you're gonna fulfill our physical needs and keep us happy first. Then maybe we'll think about whether we want to make you a slave too."
Grossed out by their remarks, one of the thugs stepped forward and rudely reached out, grabbing a handful of Daisy's hair. "Let's start with—"
Flash.
In a single, terrifyingly fluid motion, Daisy's theatrical act vanished. With blinding speed, she drew her concealed combat blade and slashed upward.
Splat.
A clean spray of blood painted the pavement as the thug's hand was severed entirely at the wrist, dropping heavily to the ground along with his twitching fingers.
The remaining three thugs froze in absolute horror, staring down at the severed hand before snapping their eyes back to Daisy. Their faces drained of all color as panic set in.
"Oh... oh shit!"
The thug stumbled backward in sheer terror, clutching their bleeding wrists. One of them stared at Daisy in disbelief, his voice shaking. "What... what the hell just happened?!"
Haruto stood off to the side, crossing his arms behind his head with a mild, unimpressed expression. Honestly... why did it take her so long to finally snap?
Daisy twirled her blade effortlessly, her eyes narrowing as she stared down the trembling men. "Slave traders, huh? You scum really thought you could pick the wrong target."
Panicking, one of the injured thugs frantically reached into his jacket, pulling out a concealed energy pistol and aiming it straight at her. But before his finger could even graze the trigger, Daisy moved like a phantom. A single, lightning-fast slash sliced through the air—and his hand fell clean off, sending the gun clattering uselessly to the pavement.
Before the last two thugs could even blink, Daisy closed the distance. Two quick, surgical strikes later, their hands were severed as well, dropping to the ground as they howled in agonizing pain.
Without breaking a sweat, Daisy tapped her tracking bracelet. "Retro. Send an automated transport unit to my coordinates right now."
Within seconds, a sleek, unmanned black security car materialized with a soft spatial hum right beside them. With brutal efficiency, Daisy grabbed the screaming thugs by their collars and tossed them unceremoniously into the back of the vehicle like bags of trash.
"Thats why I hate men, they want to get physical with me? Anyway let's go," Daisy said coldly, gesturing for Haruto to follow as she hopped into the front seat.
The security transport sped away through the subterranean transit grid, heading straight down toward Daisy's heavily restricted official base. When the vehicle finally slid to a halt, the doors hissed open, and the thugs were dragged inside and shoved roughly into a cold, dimly lit chamber.
The room was lined from floor to ceiling with horrifying high-tech torture devices, electrified restraint chairs, and specialized interrogation gear.
As the heavy steel doors locked shut behind them, Daisy calmly walked over to a nearby control console, taking a seat beside Haruto to watch the upcoming show.