Training regime and Lies

Dylan helped Max change from the wet clothes as he couldn't do it all by himself. Max was barely conscious so he wasn't able to understand what was happening but Dylan felt extremely awkward, the only reason he did it was because he didn't want Max to catch a cold.

Albeit not a normal human, shapeshifters still have their common colds. Even though they are healthier than humans, the colds they developed were also more severe.

'The is only one thing that worked out in the end' Dylan thought while looking at Max who was already asleep in his room.

'His physique surely improved by a lot' He admitted, thinking of the harsh pain Max had to endure at once. Normally a werewolf would only happen to experience such pain during their rank breakthroughs but Max overwhelmed his body with moonlight element particles, experiencing the same levels of pain as a beta breaking through to omega.

***

'Mhm?' Max woke up with a mild headache as his body felt extremely sore.

"Are you finally up?" Dylan asked after seeing Max get up.

"What was that…? Last night? Isn't physique improvement meant to feel good? It felt like hell!" Max yelled at Dylan feeling betrayed.

"Are you going to pin blame on me without hearing me out?" Dylan asked in a doubtful expression. It looked like Max was already over the pain he suffered last night which was something commendable, most would just lose their minds to it.

"Alright then, if you want to then fine. Tell me the reason."

Dylan looked at the stubborn man in front of him. One should not forget that Max was eighteen and looked like a young adult at least but he still seemed to throw tantrums like this. Dylan used his right hand to massage his temple before explaining to Max what happened and what the cause was.

"I gathered particles too fast? Is there even such a thing?" Max asked feeling ashamed for what happened last night after his body stopped evolving.

"Normally, no. You might be part of a really small circle of people that have to be advised not to hurry during meditation." Dylan honestly said, someone with such talent is rarely seen even if he included all the shapeshifter races and the basic human race.

"How do I know the number of particles my body takes until the same thing happens?" Max then asked, feeling satisfied with the answer that gave him some face.

"I recommend gathering at a slow pace while counting all the particles your body absorbs. Once your body feels so hot that you can't take it anymore you stop immediately. It should take about an hour until you can bear the heat without any water at that point but it should give an idea of your maximum capacity each night." Dylan thought about a regime for Max and the other seemed to agree.

"After the first night you will increase the amount you gather by two times, let say you are able to gather fifty on the first night, then you gather one hundred on the next, and so on." Dylan gave an example to Max but the latter already understood what he meant.

"Let me guess, I can't meditate during the day, can I?" Max asked, testing an idea out.

"You can try but you won't be able to find the moonlight element during the day, it's called MOONLIGHT after all" Dylan replied, emphasizing the word moonlight to an extraordinary degree.

'Guessed so, they can't do it during the day' Max thought, feeling fortunate.

Max was still able to meditate during the day after all; yes, at a much slower pace but that didn't really matter. During the night he would be a monster while meditating so during the day it felt refreshing to feel the struggle in calling particles from around him.

Max turned around after being answered all of his questions, he stood on his bed before he crossed his legs, sitting in a meditating position.

"Are you not listening to me?" Dylan felt slightly annoyed seeing how Max was disobedient.

"No, but it's true; I also want to see if I can gather the moonlight element during the day but mostly I am trying to find something to do" Max retorted, he was locked in his room for two more days after all.

"Alright, I won't disturb you anymore" Dylan gave in, sitting on the floor with his eyes closed, entering a state of concentration.

'Now that he left me alone' Feeling relieved Max said before concentrating around his body, managing to feel any moonlight element particles in an area five meters around him.

'My concentration is a lot better' Max praised himself while acknowledging the changes to his power level.

In the next room sat Mark who just woke up as well; he gasped, launching himself forward while holding his neck. His expression was one of fear, his eyes wide and his body shivering at the memories of him being attacked by Ernie.

'Max!' He remembered before bolting towards the bathroom door, going straight into Max's room.

He reached the doorknob with his hand shivering while remembering the inhuman screams Max produced. He turned the door to see it was unlocked and while breaking in the first person he saw was Dylan, standing on the floor while meditating.

"WHO ARE YOU! WHERE IS MAX?!" Mark felt his blood boil as he summoned the power of the earth element, a rock two times as big as an adult fist immediately gathering in front of his fist.

"I recommend you don't ask a lot of questions; Max is in his bed if you cared to look," Dylan responded while slowly opening his eyes; looking at Mark threatening him he wanted to break down into laughter. The past few days he felt like not being able to hold back while fighting so engaging with Mark in a battle might end up in gruesome scenery.

Mark shifted his eyes on Max who stood on his bed, noticing that the latter also locked his gaze with him.

"Max what happened last night?! You were screaming and I got really scared! I couldn't open the door but when it did open someone knocked me out and stuff. Please tell me what happened as I am freaking out!" Mark implored, he saw that Max didn't have even a bruise on him but the sound of him screaming was etched into Mark's mind, and he knew that it was all real.

"I…" Max hesitated; he knew that in order to hide what happened to him last night he had to conceive a huge lie. Then he looked at Dylan, smiling whirly.

Knowing that he wouldn't decline anything he said Max continued his sentence "That idiot on the floor broke my hand last night which is why I screamed. I had it broken several times before as well so when it came to it I felt immeasurable pain" He lied, pointing at his hand which he swung around from left to right, up and down.

"Though it was all sorted, he bought me a high-tier medicine as an apology and brought it as soon as he woke up. It already made its effects and it's a lot better than before though." Max continued spewing lies as he concocted them on the spot.

"Also, don't ask why he will be staying around me from today onwards, he is my bodyguard as per an agreement." Max also covered for Dylan's appearance from today onwards. He thought that it was a pretty good lie as he had no time to think about it.

"Oh… I wanted to talk with you in private but now I don't think we need to. I won't move you around and stuff. I hope you a fast recovery Max!" Mark said before heading back. He closed the door to the bathroom before his body began trembling once again, this time in an even more chaotic manner.

Beads of sweat formed on his wrinkled forehead as only two words echoed in his mind 'He's lying'