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The events of the other day were still fresh on John's mind, starting another round of exercises, this time doing one-handed push-ups using only his thumb, sweat dripping like rivulets, seeking to escape the heated pores of his skin.

Dressed in only a navy blue jogging pants and black and blue shoes, the cold wind caressed his bare upper body, feeling the cold deep in his bones as he continued to do reps even at night, in the clearing behind his house.

Taking smooth deep breaths, his muscles tense and eager to just slump on the soft, loamy floor. Body trembling due to the superhuman effort required to carry his entire body on one arm.

He slowly felt a sensation of a slow-burning fire. Surroundings turning into a hazy reddish illusion.

"Wow partner, you're really sticking to your workouts." 

"Yeah, I have to so that I won't feel sluggish and weak when we're going to fight."

"Today's the right day to begin teaching you on how to use the Lust Gear. Joker's advice was right, this is a good place to train."

The clearing was a forest of trees, clumps of shrubbery, with a nearby lake, stone outcroppings, different types of flowers, soft grass, and a wooden cabin filled with basic necessities.

A good place to spend hours camping withing nature's embrace. 

"How exactly are we going to train your power, Lu? We need an enemy to spar against to get a feel for your abilities."

John noticed that it was a bit difficult splitting his focus into two when conversing with Lu.

"Do you know anything about shadow boxing? It's one of the techniques one of my previous wielders did to keep his fighting skills sharp."

"I know what shadow boxing is. It's when you spar with an imaginary opponent."

"Nice. I asked you because what we're going to do is a different type of shadowboxing."

"How different? Me sparring against a real opponent using my imagination?"

"Exactly."

"What do you mean?"

"You can use one of my powers to summon a copy of any person you've fought before. However, you're only limited to the person you actually fought in real-life so historical characters and fictional characters don't count."

"Good enough for me, Lu. So, how do I use it?"

Going down from the one-hand stand positions, he rotated, flexed, and stretched his upper body muscles, twisting his neck and doing quick hops to prepare himself for the next step.

"Focus some magic energy on your right hand. Next, form an image of the opponent you want to fight. Finally, it will summon your opponent in front of you, ready to battle. It's simple, really. All my wielders managed to get fighting experience using this method although it will consume a lot of lust energy."

"At most, how many times can I use it?"

"For now, you can use it once. As you keep practicing and get stronger, you can use it twice a day, or more if you're diligent enough, partner."

"It's a cheat sheet, that's for sure."

"Right on, partner. And it looks like you're eager to get started so follow the instructions I gave you."

"Understood."

As he closed his eyes, a hazy image starting coalescing inside his mind, a man in his 40's, with wisps of grey hair and brown eyes dressed in a martial arts uniform and, snaring the image with his focus, he brought his existence to the real world, manifesting as a bright light in front of him.

"Oh...you got it down quickly, partner."

The light died down and quickly made his move, catching John off-guard.

John managed to parry the man's attack by deflecting his arm and launching an attack of his own, launching multiple punches at the man which he barely blocked.

John's attacks were so fast that the man left several openings in attempting to stop them, allowing him to land a few blows on his body.

"He's one of those martial arts instructors I had during 3rd grade."

The man leapt backward in an attempt to keep their distance but John didn't let him as he flashed in front of him and launched a round kick, knocking the wind out of the enemy, that blew him away towards a cluster of trees, toppling two of them.

John paused his attack as he observed his enemy, knocked unconscious but still breathing.

"He ain't that much partner. Your fight just lasted for a few minutes but you've already knocked him down."

The enemy shook its head and slowly rose, using his arm to clutch the tree trunk behind him and use it as a crutch to stand, wobbling. Bleeding from his mouth and his clothes in tatters, his empty eyes still gazed at him, getting into a fighting position.

"Not quite. He's quite durable despite the beating I gave him."

Without waiting for the man to react, John took the initiative and executed several zigzagging steps, confusing the man, and threw a combination of punches and kicks to beat the man to the ground.

The man fell down on his back, now unconscious, eyes still empty with no signs of breathing. He disappeared in particles of light, body dissolving like dust.

"And that's how you end your shadowboxing session. How does it feel?"

Flexing his muscles and cracking his joints, he felt a sense of satisfaction.

"It's great Lu. With this, I can spar once more against my martial arts instructors keeping my skills in peak condition."

"That's great, partner. As you grow stronger and encounter more enemies, you can manifest them again and spar with them not only to improve your skills and study their techniques and tactics but to also gain fighting experience, which gives a large boost when fighting."

"Oh...amazing. I'll keep that in mind then."

A wave of fatigue and dizziness assaulted him after a few minutes, forcing him to squat cross-legged on the grass, rubbing his temples and taking deep breaths.

"I forgot to tell you that it takes a lot of lust energy to use it partner so you have to make sure that your lust energy is full before doing it."

"...You could've told me that first, Lu. Damn, I'm tired right now..."

"It's a pleasant evening today. Right, Sir John?"

Both John and Lu were shocked that that familiar eerie voice of both male and female would follow them even in this clearing where they practiced.

Joker appeared from a vertical slash in the air emitting white light that disappeared as soon as it started walking towards them, still wearing the same uniform and the same mask, making him even more unnerving than their first encounter.

"What are you doing here Joker?"

"Why, I've come to continue my explanation as well as give you answers, Sir John. Isn't that what you want?"

It stopped a few paces from him and sat on the ground cross-legged, hands placed on top of its lap.

"Before I answer, I want to explain the mark on your right hand. Can you please show me, Sir John?"

It asked him in a strange mix of a question, demand, and request, delivered by an ambiguous...thing.

"Lu, how do I show that marking on my right hand?"

"Use a little lust energy to make it appear. You never noticed it after you were marked because of your subconscious desire to not stand out but since I've awakened, you can consciously or unconsciously make the marking appear and disappear at will."

Following Lu's instructions, the symbol of the letter H, glowing red and intertwined with lines, manifested on the top of his right hand, glowing.

"That mark, Sir John, signifies your authority as a harem king. With this mark, you are free to create a harem by picking your own candidates. However, there are some harem kings like you who have already marked some of the future members of your harem so they've already been chosen for you."

He nodded his head and started to understand little by little the role of a Harem King.

"So this gives me some form of authority and power?"

"Yes, and it's important to also learn about harem management for a harem's antics will reflect a harem king's attitude towards other people."

"What exactly is harem management?"

"It's a term referring to a Harem King's duty and responsibility to control his harem's actions both inside and outside the harem. I don't mean restricting their freedom or granting them free reign but in knowing when and when not to stop their actions and counter their decisions if necessary."

"So managing people then?"

"Correct, Sir John."

He just hummed in silence, digesting the information he's learned for today's session.

"Understood."

"Wonderful, Sir John! Tomorrow I'm going to pay you another visit to help you even further."

Joker stood up, dusting its pants and, bowing with its top-hat, disappeared the same way it entered, leaving him alone.

He returned to his house, taking a quick shower before falling asleep.

[][][][][]

While the Arbiter met up with John and the others, Cara was fighting two figures clad in black wielding two daggers on each hand, the same ones that attacked the former a few minutes ago.

She wore dark green jogging pants, a sleeveless dark green shirt and dark green rubber shoes, doing another round of running near her neighborhood when she was ambushed by the two unknown beings.

The two black-clad figures circled her, eyeing her warily, creating some distance from her.

She turned her head from one figure to the next, getting into a fighting stance with no openings the two beings could not exploit.

Seeing that it would take too much time to wait for her to lower her guard down, the first figure attacked first, attacking her from the front while its partner waited behind her, ready to exploit any opening in her form.

Letting nature energy flow around her body, she used her fist to smash one of the figures to the ground, dropping the two daggers, creating a medium-sized crater and incapacitating her enemy.

"So this is what my power is. It's awesome!"

She muttered, her attack creating several thin cracks all over the opponent's body. Her remaining opponent used that opening to flash behind her, both daggers raised in a scissor position.

Using her sharp senses, she ducked low to the ground and launched an upper-cut on its solar plexus, hitting with such force that the enemy's center body broke into several pieces, forcing it to drop the two daggers.

"This is not what I expected tonight while going on a walk."

As she dusted her clothes off, she observed their bodies closely, a mysterious black pool that smelled of emptiness that burst into black flames.

"They're not creatures at all...or are they? The gray dog I sent to the park is now gone. Oh well, I can't maintain focus on controlling an animal while fighting at the same time."

Now on the alert, she was now cautious of her surroundings, having stopped running and instead walked back towards her home, a large house on the other side of the street where she was about to turn while running.

[][][][][]

During the time when Cara was fighting two of the black clad figures, Alice was at home doing her homework, ignoring her parents when she entered the house and proceeded directly to her room. While doing some calculations on paper, she heard a humming sound inside the room, straining her ears to identify the source of the sound.

Looking towards her zipped travelling bag, she stood up, opened it, and saw an ordinary looking katana emitting a surging and crackling golden energy,  slowly running her hand on the length of the scabbard, eyes tracing its dull looking appearance.

"John gave me this as a parting gift before he left France. I never thought I would find this, hidden inside my travel bag..."

Unsheathing the katana from its scabbard, it was an ordinary looking katana, the one you can find being sold in stores, the only difference being a golden light humming and glowing inside its edge.

She stood up and went towards the center of her room to practice swinging the strange sword in her hands.

"Is this magic...or a simple magic trick? "

She gripped the handle with ease, having been taught the art of the sword since she was two years old by her mother, and took sharp, blurred swings, doing all the stances she knew by heart. 

Returning to a defensive stance, she took a deep long breath and exhaled, doing another round of exercises without moving from the center.

After 20 minutes of executing several rounds of exercises, she stopped, gasping for breath, sweat forming on her eyebrows, her white shift dress now soaking wet. She took careful steps since she was barefoot and the puddles of sweat forming on the floor offered a risk of banging one's head on the surface leading to injury.

She wiped some sweat from her eyebrows, sheathing the katana back into its scabbard, placed it on top of her bed, changed her clothes, and sat on the floor cross-legged, fingers set in a meditative position.

As she meditated, she sensed five presences inside the house's perimeter, eyes snapping open in alarm. She quickly stood up, grabbed the katana on her bed, and made her way outside, where she saw five figures dressed in black waiting for her at the entrance, wielding two daggers.

All the years she spent training with the sword now took over her senses, counting their numbers and identifying who to attack first. 

"There' s five of them, two on my left and right, one on the center. Their only target is me and they didn't attack me inside my home, instead choosing to wait for me outside. So..."

She unsheathed the katana gleaming with golden energy, tossing the sheath on the ground, getting into a defensive stance.

The five figures now surrounded her in a circle, blocking the entrance to her house, sealing off her escape.

"Let's see if I remember everything from that time..."

The moment the five figures struck together, she disappeared in a flash of golden light, cutting one of them down in half and, without stopping, with barely a flicker, sliced the head of another.

With the threat to her left and right clear, she focused on the remaining three opponents, who stood packed together in front of the entrance.

Raising her katana above her head in an attacking posture, another flicker of golden light led to two of the figures being cut down as well, the last one barely dodging her attack. Taking advantage of the figure's hesitation, she reversed her grip on the katana, stabbing the last remaining enemy on its stomach, golden energy crackling with glee.

As the corpses of the five enemies disappeared in black flames, she surveyed the now empty grounds, a feeling of unease in her heart.

Unknown to her, John and the others were attacked by the same enemy during the meeting at the park, summoned by the being known only as the Joker.

[][][][][]

Sylvia was surprised that five black-clad figures surrounded her outside Davos Hospital, her first living puppet Rio standing protectively in front of her.

Wearing a white blouse, light blue short pants, and light blue shoes, she was not prepared to fight against such numbers, her attire unsuited for fighting, yet she still bought out her baton, cackling with electricity, choosing to instead take them down so that she could go home.

"Enemy Spotted. Commencing Counter-Operations. Take Them Out."

Rio proceeded to charge against the one on the center, crashing into the figure like a rampaging bull, while the four other figures spread out and surrounded her on all sides.

As he pounded and smashed he black-clad figure with its powerful blows, she observed him, crimson eyes observing the performance of her living puppet. 

Seeing her distracted, the remaining four attacked her together from all sides, reacting by using her baton to counter their strikes.

She weaved in and out of their attacks, stunning them with her baton, incapacitating them and leaving them to her living puppet who proceeded to take out the two of them with crushing blows and devastating kicks that sent them sprawling on the ground.

One of the figures managed to nick her cheek, a thin line of blood forming on her pale skin, forcing her to pay more attention to her enemy rather than her living puppet, who was now attacking the other remaining enemy.

A series of quick strikes on both the head and the heart was enough to cripple her opponent, leaving it vulnerable to Rio who, after caving-in the chest of the other figure, proceeded to punch out the last one, blowing a wide-open hole on its chest.

After all five were defeated, they also disappeared in black flames, leaving no trace of their presence.

"Interesting. Mysterious Ability. Must Research. Come."

Silver hair fluttering in the wind, she and her bodyguard walked back to their home, only a few minutes walk from the hospital, not knowing that her future companions also fought the same enemy on this night.

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