"Horizontal Slash! Step and Thrust!"
The heavy wooden sword sliced through the humid air of the training hall with a sharp whoosh.
Alex stepped forward, his hips twisting fluidly as he drove the blunt tip of the blade straight ahead.
Sweat beaded on his flawless, pale forehead and rolled down his neck, soaking into the loose, dark gray training shirt that he bought a few days back.
Compared to wearing a bra, this one feels way more comfortable.
He was currently inside the private training hall, practicing swordsmanship with the rest of the girls' class.
It had been exactly three days since his feminization reached Phase 2.
Thinking back to that chaotic night, a heavy sigh escaped his lips.
After he woke up from the medical pod covered in those beautiful, terrifying silver scales, Mira had sat him down for a long talk.
She admitted that she didn't have a single clue how to reverse his mutation or even slow down the feminization process.
The progenitor-class bloodline was simply too ancient, too aggressive.
Before he left the Gene Association that night, she did draw a few vials of his blood, promising to run more tests and find something that could help him keep his male identity intact.
But since then? Nothing.
Alex had tried calling her secure line multiple times over the past three days, but he couldn't reach her.
She was nowhere to be found.
When he finally gathered the courage to ask the front desk receptionists, they simply told him that Senior Researcher Mira had abruptly left Iron Creek City that very same night.
'Did she leave to find a cure for me? Or did she have another urgent matter to attend to?' Alex thought, his spine coiling effortlessly as he transitioned into a low defensive guard.
He just wasn't sure, and the waiting was eating him alive.
Of all the terrifying changes, one surprisingly good thing happened.
He wasn't entirely sure if he should celebrate it, but since entering Phase 2, he finally gained a baseline control over his own body, his body's hypersensitivity also decreased in the last two days.
According to the system, Phase 2 unlocked the ability to toggle his pheromones on and off, like he was born with such control.
He no longer walked around like a ticking biological time bomb.
He could manually control the Yin-Serpent mana inside his body, locking the heavy, intoxicating scent beneath his skin.
He finally smelled like a normal, sweating person.
However, it wasn't a perfect fix. If his heart raced too fast, or if he got too nervous, scared, or sexually excited, the "seal" would slip.
A sudden waft of that intensely sweet, aphrodisiac scent would leak out before he could forcefully suppress it again.
There was another strange relief, too: The Empress had gone completely silent.
For three whole days, he hadn't heard a single dark whisper, malicious giggle, or teasing threat echoing in his mind.
His life finally returned to a fragile, peaceful routine.
Yet, this silence made him worry even more.
Knowing full well about the ancient ghost's sadistic personality, how could she stay quiet for so long? It felt like the calm before a massive, terrifying storm.
Unless she was plotting something huge, her silence made zero sense.
"Keep your body tight! Don't let your arms do all the work!" Instructor Sylvia's sharp voice snapped across the room, pulling Alex out of his thoughts.
As for his training, it was proceeding without any breaks. Every single day, he attended Sylvia's afternoon session.
Unfortunately, he hadn't seen Lily since the incident in the washroom.
He never got the chance to apologize for accidentally mutating her body.
All he knew from overhearing the other girls was that Lily had been sent home by the Association's medical staff due to a "sudden, severe hormonal fever."
"Pivot and Deflect!" Sylvia commanded.
Alex planted his leading foot. Thanks to his Cultivation Aptitude upgrading to "Good" and his Serpentine Musculature reaching Level 2, the sword forms felt incredibly natural.
In fact, the basic physics requirements for unlocking the Sword Apprentice profession were already met even before he started practicing any breathing techniques.
His spine bended at angles that made the other girls gasp. He moved like flowing water, darting and striking with a terrifying, smooth grace.
As he pivoted, the loose gray shirt shifted against his chest.
"Nnngh…" Alex bit his lower lip, swallowing a soft, high-pitched gasp.
His chest was incredibly sore.
Phase 2 had officially jump-started his body's secondary growth.
The small, tender buds beneath his puffy pink nipples were slowly expanding, aching with a deep, warm sensitivity with every movement he made.
They are still very small and can be well hidden..
He squeezed his thighs together slightly, desperately forcing the distracting heat down, trying to keep his pheromones in control.
Suddenly, a soft hand grabbed his waist from behind.
Alex flinched, his breath catching in his throat.
"Your footwork is already good, but you're holding too much tension in your lower back," Sylvia murmured, stepping right up behind him.
Her tall, athletic body pressed lightly against his back. Through the thin fabric of his pants, he could feel the heat radiating from the werewolf bloodline.
Sylvia's strong fingers dug into the soft, widening flare of Alex's hips, physically adjusting his stance.
"Relax your pelvis. Let your hips guide the blade," Sylvia instructed, her warm breath brushing against his delicate neck.
Panic and a sudden, shameful thrill spiked in Alex's chest. His heart hammered rapidly.
Because of the sudden physical contact and his skyrocketing heart rate, his mental control slipped.
Just for a fraction of a second, the invisible seal broke. A concentrated, intensely sweet wisp of scent leaked from his pores, wafting directly into Sylvia's face.
Sylvia's instructions stopped dead.
Her fingers, which were firmly gripping his waist, suddenly twitched.
Her bright eyes widened, the pupils rapidly dilating into dark pools. She took a deep, involuntary breath, inhaling the potent scent.
A heavy, flushed heat instantly crept up Sylvia's neck.
Her grip on his soft hips tightened possessively, her thumbs brushing against the waistband of his spandex shorts.
"You..." Sylvia whispered, her strict, commanding voice suddenly dropping into a low, husky, and incredibly wet growl. "You smell... so..."
Shit! Alex panicked.
He violently clamped down on his Yin-Serpent Mana Circuit, forcefully shutting off the pheromones.
He quickly stepped forward, breaking out of Sylvia's grip under the excuse of practicing the next sword stance.
"S-Sorry, Instructor! Like this?" Alex squeaked out, his voice undeniably girlish as he swung the wooden sword to create some distance.
Sylvia blinked rapidly, shaking her head as if waking up from a deep, hazy dream.
She rubbed her forehead, looking deeply confused and slightly flushed.
The intoxicating scent was already gone, replaced by the normal smell of sweat in the training hall.
"Y-Yes," Sylvia cleared her throat, crossing her arms to hide the sudden, heavy heaving of her chest.
She looked at Alex with a strange, lingering hunger she didn't quite understand. "Keep practicing. Don't slack off."
She turned and quickly walked away to inspect the other girls, her face burning red.
Alex let out a long, shaky exhale, leaning heavily on his wooden sword.
Refocusing himself back again, he started swinging the sword according to the sword moving while performing the breathing exercises.
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