After hours of intense gruelling drills from Richelle, both Drew and Sean lay almost passed out in the training room, their chests rising and falling in quiet synchrony, before Drew burst into laughter.
Sean turned his head to his direction, and he too, could not help but chuckle... His voice airy and breathless.
"I... I can't believe you did it," Drew muttered in between breaths.
Sean smiled. "She held back... That was just luck," he replied.
"Luck?!" Drew sneered. "Even she, was surprised!" He pointed out, not letting Sean sell his achievement short.
Sean smiled, but did not respond. To him, he had only managed to catch her off guard, to land an attack... After an entire week of repeated sparring and drills. Perhaps Drew was right, and he shouldn't sell his achievement short... yet, the small victory felt hollow.
In the grand scheme of things, for both his long and short term goals, this one was nothing. But he wasn't exactly lying when he said Richelle was holding back... Well, she had been holding back through out the sparring session either way.
The problem was that, nobody held back when it came to the real thing. Just like with the genetic enhancement, if he had to risk his life to grow stronger, then he would.
He knew without a doubt, that he would make a lot of enemies, plus there was also the threats that murdered the original Sean. He couldn't be sure how strong they were, but given his strange origins, they were at least very powerful.
It could as well also be a coincidence, since from what he learnt from Drew, the previous Sean was a bit reckless, and power hungry... a detail that Drew had used to manipulate him a few times.
He could have entangled with the wrong group in the slums, that thus put him in danger to be killed, but Sean was more ready to believe the former.
Even if he wasn't truly murdered by a higher power, just the thought that there was such possibility, was enough to nail a bit of desperation into him. It never hurt to be too cautious... It did sometimes, but not in this case.
Both teenagers remained on the floor, letting their sore bodies recover, after the relentless pummeling they had received.
Richelle had left them a while ago, saying she needed to work, after receiving a call. But from the faint curl of her lips, to the faint light that shimmered in her eyes when she saw the caller, Sean knew it wasn't work.
No one was that excited about work. If he had to guess, then it would be that bastard vampire.
'Huh?' Sean hurriedly caught himself. 'Since when did I become so defensive?'
He frowned, not quite liking his reaction. It seemed he getting a little too complacent. That couldn't happen. He had a goal and it was one he couldn't let himself drift away from, by growing attached.
Attachment was not a bad thing, he knew that... But it felt like he would be betraying his father and brother, if he let himself get attached to the people of this world... At least, until he got closure.
He sighed audibly.
Moreover, they might not even be together forever. When he finally became strong enough to go back, to his old life, he would do it without hesitation, even if it meant giving up on everything he built here, his power, identity, everything.
Everything he achieved and would achieve, all his struggles were for his family in the first place, and he would happily give it all up, to be with them again. Before he was Sean Storme, he was first and foremost, Ellis Jonathan.
He sighed again, as he stood up. He needed to get back to training.
"Don't tell me you're already good," Drew voiced in suspicion, the moment he noticed Sean rising to his feet.
Sean smirked, "what do you think?"
"Tsk," Drew clicked his tongue. "Cocky bastard."
Sean only chuckled.
"Hey Morti!" He called out.
"Yes, young master," the artificial intelligence that controlled the training room, replied.
"Run a gate simulation for me." He said.
"At your command," the A.I responded.
"No matter how many times I see this, I can't help but be jealous," Drew said, his eyes shining, as the ordinary training room transformed into a forest, with what looked like a crudely made portal in the center.
It was shaped like an oval, but its edges were jagged and flickering with silver lightning flashes. Otherwise, it was pitch black, and released and energy that corrupted the surrounding greenery.
"You rich vampire folks are really living the life," Drew sighed.
"Vampire?" Sean asked amusedly with a raise of his brow. "As far as I know, I'm human."
"Yeah right," Drew rolled his eyes. "If only humans could recover as quickly as you do." He snickered, but there was a quiet undertone of envy in his voice which he tried to hide, but Sean picked up on anyways.
He chose however, to ignore it. He couldn't blame the guy. Living in the slums, certainly made one envious of those in the outer sector, much more, those who resided in the inner sector.
Plus, the slums was a constant struggle for survival, and in their eyes, the rich had it easy. In a way they were not wrong, but they were not entirely right. The rich had their own struggles, it just wasn't one of desperately trying to survive. The struggle of the rich was more.... Vain.
Drew pushed himself up, "I'm joining you."
Sean frowned. "You're not well rested."
"Nor are you." Drew replied, his eyes saying they wouldn't take no for an answer.
Sean shrugged. "Suit yourself."
They had certainly grown familiar with each other, and had become close... well, as close as Sean could let himself be to anybody... since Richelle decided to take Drew in, after seeing his potential, and learning that he was an orphan.
By now, he knew Drew well enough to know what kind of person he was.
Just like the original Sean, he was also power hungry, but more survival driven, and certainly not as stupidly reckless as the former. While he was human, empathetic and ethical, he was also manipulative.
Sean had been able to deduce all these from just a week of time spent mostly training with each other, and a few stories Drew had shared.
Infact, his genetic enhancement on that same morning he was transmigrated to this world and injured, was Drew's attempt at manipulating him, so he had an anchor, when he too underwent the process.
Sean shook his head lightly, as the both of them entered the gate.