After a night filled with embarrassment, Riya didn't even take a look at Alex and avoided Alex's gaze every time she saw him and blushed a little, making the atmosphere quite awkward.
And things got more awakened in the training session where Alex was sparring with Riya and Christina whereas Catherine was forced to lift heavy weights.
"Alex, should Riya continue her training regime? Will she not give birth soon?"
Cough…Cough
Alex coughed violently on hearing Christina's words and almost choked himself while Riya covered her face with shame.
Even Catherine, who was doing her weight lift session, almost lost her balance and looked at Alex and Riya with a weird gaze.
Although she found it surprising on finding out about Alex's advancement in the case of Riya, she was shocked to hear about babies.
"No…No.."
"Doing it does not always end up with a baby," Alex spoke hurriedly while making up his mind to educate her properly about this.
It was good that his sister Alice hadn't heard it otherwise he couldn't show his face to her.
Alex, who noticed Christina's curious gaze and was frightened that she might ask more questions, hurriedly interjected"Christina and Riya, I think today's training is enough. You can leave now. I need to oversee Catherine's training.''
Before Christina could mutter anything else Riya hurriedly pulled her away like a swift wind.
Alex breathed in relief and looked at Catherine and ordered her to continue her training quickly.
Unlike her general long skirt clothes, she wore a shirt made for women designed by Alex with leather armor binding to her body, she was taking each step with trembling legs while a huge rod with two big weights at the end of it.
Alex stared at Catherine and sighed. Catherine didn't like to train. She seriously hates physical labor.
When Alex tried to pull her into training she tried to make various excuses that she will handle the administration and other things so there was no need for her to train as she wouldn't be at the front.
Alex expected her to be Disciple rank before but he was quite saddened after seeing her at squire rank. She had just stopped everything once she awakened mana as she thought that this was enough.
On top of that, she had an upper level of average potential, unlike his other wives who had been born genius and fed with a golden spoon in terms of potential.
Riya had reached the peak of Epic rank and just needed a stimulus to break through to Transcendent rank whereas Christina had stepped into Master rank and her soul injuries under Alex's constant care had been healed up greatly.
Alex himself had reached the peak of Master rank and if he wished, he could step into Epic rank quite easily but he refrained from taking the step for now.
When he forcefully raised his strength, Alex's strength should have regressed and his rank should have fallen out of the Master rank due to the repercussions.
Fortunately, he didn't fall out of the Master rank but in place of that, his foundation had been damaged a little bit.
And foundation matters a lot and many people who neglect to set a good foundation regret it later when they reach the upper level.
A good foundation is like the base of a tower which decides how many floors you can build in a tower. If it is weak, your tower may fall, unable to bear the burden.
So, Alex was consolidating his damaged foundation before jumping into Epic rank now.
Stepping into Epic rank now may damage his foundation again causing separable damage.
With the system's help, he doesn't need to make haste unless necessary as he uses stat points to increase his strength.
Catherine who was struggling to keep up with the training regime set by Alex suddenly felt weakness washing all over her body and felt her vision become blurry.
Alex didn't show her an ounce of mercy when it came to training and treated her harshly as if she was a stranger.
She stumbled to her feet and was about to fall but she felt a shoulder supporting her while a hand wrapped over her waist holding her from falling, acting as support.
"Haaahh" She grasped heavily as she felt her throat becoming dry while her heart was beating fast due to the workout.
"Can't I skip training?" Catherine grumbled with a dissatisfied expression.
"Do you want to get kidnapped again and rot in prison?"
Catherine heard a harsh rough voice and her body started to shudder for a moment.
She looked up to see Alex's eyes filled with disappointment.
She could feel that Alex was greatly disappointed with her when it comes to training as she never gave her best.
Although Alex hears all her nagging and nods his head like an obedient child but when it comes to training he becomes a demon without any shred of mercy or compassion.
"Is there a need for me to get stronger? You also know I don't have much potential unlike others so instead of wasting time here can't I spend it somewhere else where it would be useful." Catherine muttered in a nervous tone.
Alex sighed with an unpleasant look and let go of Catherine who stared at Alex with a dazed expression.
Alex turned his back and started to walk away leaving Catherine with a bewildered expression.
"Alex!?" Catherine was baffled for a moment and shouted Alex's name, ran behind him as she was about to reach for Alex, within a span of a second, a sword appeared before her that was aimed at her head.
And it wasn't a wooden sword but rather a real one.
"Arghhhh!" She shrieked in panic and jumped back in fright and fell back to the ground as her legs gave way while closing her eyes due to fear but as she felt that nothing happened after that, she raised her chin to see the sword stopping before her neck while Alex stared at her like a beast who wanted to kill her.
Her face became pale as she saw Alex's expression and thought that Alex might have been so upset with her that he wanted to throw her out.
Seeing the fear and despair in Catherine's eyes, Alex shook his head and pulled back his sword.
His violent angered expression became calm again, surprising Catherine.
"Catherine, I understand your mindset. Instead of becoming stronger, you want to groom strong people who stay by your side and guard you."
Alex understood Catherine's train of thoughts, it was quite similar to the weak protagonist. who uses all sorts of tricks to gather talented people close to him who always protect him but that may be true only for fantasy.
"I know you are thinking that the kidnapping happened because you are careless and your guards and others were on the weaker sides and if you cultivate people to reach a greater level you can prevent that accident from happening again."
"That mindset of yours is wrong, in this world there is no absolute loyalty."
"Even if you cultivate people and treat them with utmost care and respect there are bound to be some wolves and hyenas in the group who will bare their fangs as soon as they see the opportunity."
