Both Ken and Daichi looked excited at the news. Yuki had already been told beforehand so she merely smiled in response and continued to take the dishes into the kitchen to be washed.
“Will you be taking up your old job?” Ken asked curiously.
Chris’s last job was as a scout for Yokohama Warriors. So while it still did involve some travel, it wasn’t as exaggerated as his current position which required him to stay in America for months at a time.
His father paused for a moment before nodding, “Only if they’ll have me back.”
Ken went silent. He hadn’t thought this far ahead, thinking that the Yokohama Warriors would give his father his old job right away might have been wishful thinking on his part.
Seeing the mood dampen a little, Chris shook his head.
“Well, no use stressing about it now. We’ll find out the details tomorrow after I hand in my resignation.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Ken replied before standing up and stretching.
“I didn’t get a chance to go for a run this morning, so I might go now.” He turned to Daichi with a grin, wordlessly asking if he wanted to come.
“Ah good idea. We only had a light practice this morning anyway.”
With that, the two left shortly after, heading out to work off some of the succulent dinner they’d had.
After the two left, Chris was silent for a while as he stared out the window at the setting sun.
“Are you worried?”
Yuki’s concerned tone reached him from the kitchen, causing him to turn around and flash her a smile.
“About them? Of course not.” Chris replied, though the smile did not reach his eyes.
Yuki sighed softly, “You know that’s not what I meant.”
She knew her husband enough to know when he was anxious. After all, they’d been married for almost 18 years by now.
As much as Chris tried to put up a front or act like everything was okay, she was always able to peak through the facade, getting right through to the matter.
Chris chuckled. It was times like this that he truly remembered just how much he loved this woman.
Without a word he got up from his seat and embraced his wife, hugging her tight.
With his tall frame and her petite body it looked a little funny, but by the way they held each other, it was clear that they had hugged each other like this many times.
“It’ll all work out somehow, we just need to have faith.” He said softly, kissing the top of her head gently.
In that moment, he knew he had made the right decision. As long as he had his wife and family at home, he would find a way to keep a roof over their heads, no matter what.
Around an hour later, both Ken and Daichi returned home with sweat pouring down their features. It was clear at a glance that the two had turned the workout into somewhat of a competition.
Chris and Yuki smiled in amusement at the two teens.
“Can you grab me a water Ken?” Daichi asked between gulps of air.
Ken let out a small chuckle and began walking towards the kitchen, “Heh, you have much to learn little brother. You can’t just come back and expect to win aga—”
As he was letting out his victory speech, Daichi seemingly recovered out of nowhere and sprinted into the bathroom before shutting the door and locking it.
“I’ll be showering first~” He said behind the door laughingly.
“Damn it!”
Ken knew in that instant he had been tricked.
“HAHAHA” Chris couldn’t help but let out a deep belly laugh, seeing the antics of his sons. All of the anxiety he was feeling before suddenly disappeared after looking at Ken’s miffed expression.
“It looks like you have much to learn Kenny.”
Yuki added fuel to the flames as she handed Ken a glass of water. Her smile was warm yet there was a hint of amusement in her eyes.
Not knowing how to deal with Daichi’s shamelessness, all he could do was drink his water and wait for the guy to finish in the bathroom.
Ken suddenly wished he’d kept his focus on Daichi with his new mental capacity, yet it was too late now.
Soon enough, the night passed and everyone went to bed.
Despite having already suffered from the last Elixir he’d taken, Ken made the decision to take the Physicality Elixir anyway. The sooner he used it, the better benefits he would receive.
Once again, Ken was put into a catatonic state by the system while his body was tortured. It was as if every muscle fiber in his body was stretched and twisted until it broke, only to be healed moments later.
If there was one person on Earth who knew what it felt like to be stretched and kneaded like pasta dough, it was Ken.
Thankfully, the warm sensation of the healing brought some sense of relief. However, by the end of it he was covered in sweat and a black filth which almost brought a tear to his eye with its smell.
If it wasn’t for this, Ken would have likely passed out after the excruciating process. Yet he was able to force his tired muscles back down the stairs and into the shower.
Luckily everyone was asleep and could not notice the stench coming off his body.
While in the shower, Ken felt invigorated. This was especially the case when he saw the notifications from the System.
[You have consumed: SS-grade Physicality Elixir.]
[Balance and Coordination grade has been increased by 3!]
[Agility grade has been increased by 1!]
[Strength grade has been increased by 2!]
[Stamina has been increased by 3!]
PHYSICAL FITNESS: (Avg. SS)
Balance and Coordination: SS+
Agility: SS-
Strength: SS
Stamina: SS+
With a single Elixir he had skyrocketed all of his physical grades into the SS range. After a night of recovery, he would be able to truly put them all to the test.
However, right now he just wanted to sleep.
I’m sure some of you oldies know how it feels trying to make ends meet without wanting to worry your kids/family. This hit pretty close to home for me who recently lost a high paying job to transition into a full time Author.
Let’s all do our best!
Volume 2 will be ending tomorrow. I’ll be releasing the first 10 chaps of volume 3 on Monday so look forward to it 🙂
Come join us on discord for polls and announcements! – https://discord.gg/BmwTWXq9FK
