Weeks passed by, Azrael continues to live like this, spending his time in the classroom as simple as possible, refusing to participate in events held by the school, taking all of his free time practicing in the woods, the proficiency of his combat techniques getting better and better as time passed by, the terrifying progress going even further if his progress in the old scroll is also taken into account.
"I can last for more than ten hours now…" he said to himself as he wheezes, gasping air while walking limply towards his villa, the improvements clearly being displayed as he just finished the ten hour long strenuous activity, yet he doesn't even need to lie down on the ground like the first time he did it, already walking back to his residence despite the pitiful state he's currently in, his appearance making every person he encounters on the way to take a second look at him in wonder while their gaze follows the unfamiliar young man.
'Doesn't this mean that this nameless scroll can somehow improve my talent as well?' wondering to himself as he lets his tired mind explore such possibilities, Azrael continues his tired march back to his villa, unknowingly reaching the door and heading to the kitchen directly to prepare his meal.
After eating, he then starts cleaning everything in the house, including himself. Finishing the task, he lay down on the bed, enjoying its softness until his phone rang, opening it as if he already expected what was about to happen.
"It's that time of the month already?" he asked, holding the phone close to his ears as he couldn't wait for the voice to speak, a voice that he could only hear once a month due to the peculiar rules of the Star Academy.
"Mhm, we miss you so much…" A gentle, warm, and caring voice comes out of the phone, the concern from the feminine voice clear as it trembles while speaking, as if hearing his voice causes whoever talks from the other side to cry.
"I miss all of you too mom, don't worry, soon, we'll meet soon" hearing the voice, Azrael's heart starts to beat harder and faster in his chest, his palpitation hastening his breathing as it is only now that finally sinks in to him his return back in time, one among the very few reasons of him pushing himself for the past few weeks talking to him, one of the most important people in his life.
"Yeah, summer is approaching, so I take it that my dear son will spend his vacation with us, right?" the feminine voice asked with some teasing clear in her voice, said emotion almost completely covered by her anticipation as she waits for his answer.
"Of course! Who wouldn't want to spend time with their loved ones, not to mention ones as beautiful as all of you?" With an enthusiastic voice, he answered teasingly as well, his words completely catching the lady on the other side of the phone off guard, as his previous self was never one to express himself like that.
"Oh my, looks like my lovely baby starts coming out of his shell already, look at you even teasing your old mother, what a player!!" smiling as she heard his compliments, Azrael's mother couldn't help but start speaking quickly, the panic and joy obvious from her tone.
"Am I? I'm just stating the truth, though…" enjoying her reaction, he could already see the gorgeous face of the mature lady blushing from joy while showing a brilliant and doting motherly smile, just the sight alone bringing him bliss, causing him to long for them even more.
"Okay okay, mother already had enough of your glib-tongue for now, how's school for my dear son?" getting to the point of her call, the woman starts relishing as her boy starts telling her about the happenings in his life during the whole month they are out of contact with each other, surprised at most of the things he told her.
"So you started working out?" his mother asked with surprise on her face, as it is becoming more and more clear to her that her dear son really starts changing now.
"Yeah, a bit here and there, so don't be too surprised when you all see me again, alright? Tell this to the others as well, Mom," Azrael replied while smiling as he stared at the ceiling of his bedroom.
"Fine, dear, mother will tell everyone about everything we've talked about." The womanly voice of his mother was heard again before pausing for a while, Azrael hearing a sigh of pity and disappointment before she continued again.
"I just wish we had more time to speak," she complained, her son already imagining her pouting face while she does so.
"You know it's not possible, right?" Azrael replies with a wry smile on his face while shaking his head, worried that the woman talking from the other side will do something about her complaints.
"I know, I'm just annoyed that your school doesn't even consider my wishes of extending our time of contact despite me holding quite the authority in it," his mother replied with a bit of frustration in her tone.
"Don't worry, Mom, soon, soon," he comforted as he laughed at her continuous complaints.
"Okay, I believe you, take good care of yourself dear, bye~~!" as the last word came out of her mouth, the connection between their devices were cut off, looking at his phone, Azrael found out that the time limit for the call this month is already spent, the length of the call displayed along with her contact information, her number, her name, as well as the nickname she personally edited for her contact in his device.
Mommy (Andromeda Dragomir)
While looking at the contact, Azrael couldn't help but smile as he imagined her gorgeous face with an annoyed expression when she found out that the school rules cut her communication with him.
'She's probably quite angry at those people in the management of the academy now, well, we're really about to meet each other soon, though, sooner than they expected,' he thought to himself as he stood up from the bed, looking at the mirror to check the effects of his entire month of hard work.
'That old scroll really worked quite the magic on me' while moving around to inspect his body, Azrael marvels at the wonders of the exercises from the old scroll, as he already reaches an unprecedented level of physique just from practicing it for almost a month.
'Though that breakthrough might really be what made me like this, my body is spewing out impurities non-stop the moment I broke past the ten hour line after all' he thought to himself while flexing his body, the previously fat figure now chiseled into a divine state, his physique as if that of the gods itself, his muscles streamlined and perfect, appearing neither too thin nor too bulk, the broad shoulders, perfect muscular structure partnered with his tall figure giving him an extremely masculine appeal.
Not only that, his face also improves drastically now, with his once near circular face now sporting a sharp, chiseled jawline, making him look like some kind of world-famous model, the bright, piercing looks from his eyes enough to make a lady melt, the straight nose connected to his sword-like eyebrows increasing his appeal more.
"Now that I look at it, isn't this too absurd of a change?" Amidst his appreciation for his current looks, his mind starts to go into overthinking as he starts coming up with reasons for the huge change in his appearance, reasons that he will use once his loved ones ask him about his changes.
As for the people around him currently, the instructors, the teachers, the other employees of the school, as well as the students here, they are of small consequence whether they saw him like this or not, whether they think he's hiding a secret for achieving such a thing or not; all of it is of no significance at all. The reason?
"Tomorrow, everything will change," Azrael muttered to himself as he looked up at the moon, particularly bright tonight, its red hue as if telling the people of the world about the impending doom they are about to face.