"Seriously, how are you this unathletic?" Amelia asked as she stared down at me, both arms folded. "Seriously, I’m the one who’s supposed to be pregnant."

"You’re only a week along; it shouldn’t make that much of a difference in your physical strength," I countered as I gasped for air.

"Well then, I’m a girl."

"That’s sexist."

"Well you should be happy to have a pretty girl sit on your back."

"You’re also a narcissist."

Amelia continued to stare down at me as I crouched on the ground on all fours, trying to catch my breath. I hadn’t exercised in ages, but still, I didn’t think I was this unathletic. I don’t even have the excuse of me being a centipede; I just wasn’t one to exercise.

I would spend my time either writing or playing games. Just then, as I contemplated my weak physical strength, I felt something soft yet heavy press down onto my back. My hands wobbled and threatened to give out, but I fought through it and managed to keep myself up.

"Hey, get off; you can’t sit on my back while I’m trying to catch my breath."

"Don’t you think it’s time you take responsibility for what you did?" Amelia immediately cut me off, asking a vague question.

Take responsibility? What’s that supposed to mean?

"I will. After I enter my first dungeon, I’ll be able to fight beasts that can produce beast cores. With the income from that..."

Suddenly, it felt as if she had gotten heavier, and my arms once again threatened to give out.

"So you don’t plan on taking responsibility," she sighed. "I don’t care about money. If I did, then I wouldn’t have left my family behind."

"Why did you leave your family, by the way? The last time I saw you, you were working hard to someday surpass your sister and take over your family’s guild. You were even preparing to have the microchip implanted in your brain so you could enter Vesperia. It was your dream."

She went completely quiet, and for a moment, I thought she wasn’t going to speak, but then she said something.

"I realized there was something else more important, and that is why I did something I can’t take back. I made it impossible for me to enter Vesperia."

Impossible? Her words left me with even more questions.

"Why would you do something like that?"

"Weren’t you listening? I told you I found something more important."

Something more important than inheriting her family’s multimillion-dollar guild. I couldn’t think of anything that could be more important than that.

"Maybe... maybe when you finally take responsibility, I’ll tell you."

She finally stood up and flashed me a teasing smile.

"Come on, we still have 3 more miles to run," she said, extending her hand forward.

Taking hold of her hand, I climbed to my feet, and the two of us continued our run. It wasn’t only the run that was affecting me, but being outside was too. It was hard not to feel nervous knowing that a meteorite could hit at any moment.

In the sky, as far as the eyes could see, was a full transparent barrier that formed a dome over the entire city. This barrier had several layers, but the layers covering our part of the city were cheap to the point where a meteorite could possibly make its way through or we could be affected by other natural disasters.

Still, there were people who didn’t seem to mind this at all as they went through their everyday lives. I, on the other hand, didn’t like that type of risk weighing over me.

After Amelia and I were done with our run, we settled into a park and began some more exercises. We started with pushups, then moved on to sit-ups, and finished up with a 5-minute plank.

"That should be enough for the day. It’s not good to overexert yourself," she said as I collapsed onto a park bench.

"You did well."

"Did I really?" I asked.

"Yes, you did. If you continue training your body like this, then your body will be more than able to withstand the physical changes that comes from having your strength transferred. But since you’re a common mage, the changes to your body won’t be that significant."

She still thinks I’m a mage. Lying to her might not be the right way to go about things, but I’ll finally tell her the truth after I’ve gained enough strength. Amelia sat beside me, gazing at the sky; her gaze seemed to drift past the barrier and onto the clouds floating far above it.

Seeing that her guard was down, I seized the moment to do something that had been on my mind for a while. I rested my hand against her stomach.

"Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!"

"Does it hurt?"

She looked at me incredulously, as if I had just asked the dumbest question she had ever heard in her life.

"Of course not!"

I then lowered my head so my ear was resting at the base of her belly. I concentrated all my senses to see if I could sense something. Anything at all...

The sensation was similar to how antennae would sense the environment in centipede form. There was definitely something there. I could feel a connection. A strong instinct welled up inside me at that moment.

I had to protect both of them, no matter what. For that, I needed power; nothing else mattered.

The sensation caused a smile to appear on my face, and in my giddiness, I swept Amelia off the park bench and carried her in my arms.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she clung to my neck from the surprise.

"More exercise. You said you would help me, didn’t you?"

"Yes, but I didn’t say you could carry me. This is embarrassing; there are people staring at us."

Looking down at Amelia, she had a bashful look on her bright red face, and her lips were quivering slightly. Seeing this, I couldn’t help myself. She was just too cute. Before she could escape, I took off running with her in my arms back to our small apartment.

Arriving back, I didn’t waste a second before jumping back into Vesperia. I had stalled entering that dungeon long enough, and it was now time for me to finally make my move.