"You will never lose weight like that," Claudius remarked, as he watched Leander do his second walking in place exercise session for the day. They were waiting for the army to bring in the new settlers, and scouting the place for anything of value.

Not that they needed more treasure, but the families of the fallen fifty could use the extra money. So, Leander had given the order for the entire settlement to be scoured clean.

At Claudius's words, Leander's head bowed, and he sighed.

"I lost 12 kilograms this way, but," Leander sighed again. He had not lost anything for a while now. And it irked him.

"Sure, it was probably good, in the start," Claudius remarked, at which Leander could only nod. "But, now, you have to step up your game. Build some muscle and lower your overall fat percentage."

"How?" Leander was not going to question how a berserker knew something about building muscles. That would be a silly thing to do.

"One word: kettlebell," then, Claudius dug into his bottomless bag and took out a weird heavy looking lead ball with a handle. "Watch."

The berserker spread his legs, placed the ball in the middle, then he took it and began to swing it back and forth. Rising it over his head each time, then bringing it through between his legs. He repeated a couple of times, and then extended the kettlebell to Leander.

"Is this how you keep in shape?" Leander took the kettlebell and noticed that it was heavy. But, not by much.

"No, I started with this when I was about ten. This is the lightest kettlebell I have. Four kilograms. Antonia gifted it to me as a birthday present," Claudius grew silent after that. Remembering his sister still hurt him.

"I can give it a try," Leander said, and he spread his legs, making sure his back was as straight as Claudius's had been. Then, he bent down and took the kettlebell and began swinging it.

Leander felt like he had done not just a single session of his walking in place exercise, but hours of it. Yet, his knees did not hurt, and he felt his stomach tightening pleasantly.

"This is..." Leander had no words. He was sweaty all over after just 100 repeats. He wanted to continue, but Claudius gripped the kettlebell. 

"Don't overdo it, guild master. You will get muscle fever if you do. I suggest you stick to 100 for the time being. But, space them out, maybe? Fifty in the mornings and fifty in the evenings? Before breakfast and before dinner," Leander nodded, and he let go of the kettlebell.

Claudius looked at the bright baby blue kettlebell, and handed it back to Leander.

"Keep it. I swing with thirty kilograms, these days. Antonia would have liked for her gift to be used," and, without another word, Claudius left to go and train with the other berserkers.

Leander watched the albino go. Claudius kept beating himself up for what had happened in the temple. Surely, Leander could do something to ease his mind? Invite the Slime Demise Party to a joined scouting? The spiders were gone, so, it would be a nice time to speak.

The heaver placed the kettlebell inside his bottomless bag and stretched. Now, that he had twenty minutes free, and felt light as a feather, he could tackle Puebleque.

The settlers were coming, but there were no houses for them. Leander used his hourglass to call the golems he had created to himself, and they came. After they lined up, Leander began to give his orders.

"Demolish everything that is still standing in this town, bar the temple and the memorial stone slab," he began, not trusting that the golems would have thought to spare these two landmarks. "Then, I need you to build house foundations. Get stone from the abandoned quarry and make stone houses and pave the roads. Go, now."

The golems rushed to do as they were bid. Leander then went to the healer corner, and went straight to Valerie. When he reached her, he bowed low to her, hands in fists by his sides.

"Valerie, please teach me how to handle a plague," Valerie blinked at him. With her here, what was the need for Leander to learn, too?

"Guild master..." Leander looked at her, eyes blazing.

"Please, Valerie. I know you mean to retire after you get married. Your knowledge is priceless. Please, if you won't pass it onto me, then, pass it onto one of them," Leander made a wide motion, showing the rest of the healers who had stopped practicing the quick heal spell to look at the duo.

"If you want to learn how to handle a plague, you must first pass a test. I passed mine, when I was about your age," Valerie replied and Leander nodded. Not only was he going to pass the test, he was going to ace it.

"What is the test?" Leander asked, and Valerie nodded in approval.

"Simple. A dark mage is going to infect you with a sickness, one that is deadly, and you will have to find a way to heal yourself," Valerie saw that Leander's eyes widened, but he did not show any other forms of wavering.

"Just a dark mage? We are speaking of the guild master here. He needs to prove his mettle against a necromancer," Asmodeos chimed in, from his spot under a tree, a book in his hands.

"And, where are we going to find a necromancer, Soed? We haven't admitted one to the guild since Asmodeos," Valerie was confused. And, she felt that it would be too dangerous to infect Leander with something that came from necromantic mana.

"Al wanted to keep it a secret, but I find that secrets poison the soul. Now, before you all freak out, I have to say that, I am not the Father of Monsters, so, get that silly idea out of your heads. My real name is Asmodeos, and I will help any way I can," Valerie stiffened, but Leander went to the receptionist turned SSS ranked necromancer.

"Go ahead, then," Leander extended his hand, and he saw Asmodeos building up mana in his own.

"Leander, no! Something created by him will be too much for even me to cure," Valerie called, but Asmodeos injected Leander with his mana before the guild master could have second thoughts. Leander felt faint, immediately after, but he could recognize the symptoms of what Asmodeos had just done. Now, he just needed to cure the hidden cause.