Chapter 28: Stay-at-home Mom and Arena
"Congrats, Mary. You are now a woman," Katherine murmured as she carried her out of the bed.
"I don't want to be a woman anymore. I don't like this at all." Mary complained that she could feel her leg cramps.
"Shush, don't say that... You two, talk with Mary for a bit, okay? I need to go clean up the bed."
As Katherine gently put Mary onto the sofa, Sophia and Alex sat down next to her.
"Mary, the pain is going to disappear away after a few minutes." Sophia comforted.
"Really?"
"Yes, really. It's just your body hasn't gotten used to it yet. Trust me, I already have experience with this."
Mary's face looked much better after hearing Sophia's reassurance, but she could still feel the pain after sitting there for a few minutes.
"Ha, look like someone was a crybaby when they got their first period,"
Alex smirked as he suddenly remembered how Mary had been laughing at him a few weeks before.
"Hmph! I'm not a crybaby. It doesn't even hurt that much." Mary replied as she crossed her arms.
"Oh really? How about this: If you can read this book and tell me what's inside, then I won't call you a crybaby."
"Bet!"
Mary quickly snatched the book out of Alex's hand, putting all her focus on reading it as the two sat in silence.
Sophia puts a thumb up for Alex on the back, who also returns a thumbs up as they successfully distract Mary from the pain.
By the time Katherine returned to the living room, most of the pain had subsided, except for a small cramp that made walking awkward.
However, with Mary having her period, the weekend plan to go outside was in ruin.
Except for Alex, who silently read the textbook to finish up the last few chapters of the book.
By the time weekend's end, Mary was back to normal, albeit still needing to wear her pad in case it wasn't finished yet.
---
"Wake up! Time for school!"
Katherine yelled as she flipped the blanket over to wake all three of them up from the bed forcefully.
To her surprise, both of the girls were hugging Alex's arm, with his morning wood pointing clearly visible, making a tent in his pants.
"Maybe it's time for me to give each of them a private room."
Katherine murmured as she realized it was starting to seem inappropriate that they were still sleeping together.
But with no space in the house, she scraped the idea as the three slowly opened their eyes.
"Already? Can I sleep just for another minute?" Mary pleaded as she tried to drag the blanket back.
"Too bad. Now get up and go wash your face."
As the three of them got up from the bed and slowly headed toward the bathroom, Katherine suddenly lay down on the bed.
"Their warmth and smell... It's so nice!" Katherine thought to herself as she spread her arms and legs around like a child.
After lying for a bit, she reluctantly got up from the bed before heading over to the kitchen.
The breakfast was already in place: a plate of eggs and ham next to a cup of fresh milk that she had made this morning.
As the three kids exited the bathroom and sat down in their seats, she watched them eat the breakfast she had made.
The three of them started chatting with each other, with Katherine occasionally chiming in.
"Mom, why don't you make a cup of milk for yourself?" Alex suddenly asked.
"Only kids drink milk. I don't need to drink it."
"Okay..."
After the short conversation, the three headed back to their room to change before coming out with their backpack.
"Bye, mom!"
"Bye!"
As Katherine watched the three leave the house together, she headed back inside after they disappeared from her sight.
"I have the house all to myself..." Katherine murmured as she took out a mop and bucket and started wiping the floor.
After cleaning the entire house, she checked the time, and it was just about to be lunch.
"It's Monday... I need to do laundry."
Katherine went to the bathroom, carried the laundry basket in her arm, and went to the storage room.
There, she started taking out their dirty laundry one by one into a machine before stopping at one of the underwear.
It was Alex's underwear, with a slight cum stain that remained at the front.
"Why do I want to smell this? When did I become such a pervert? I need to control myself."
Despite trying to stop herself in her head, her hand was slowly moving the underwear closer and closer to her face.
But just before underwear could touch her face, she immediately threw it into the machine.
"Why am I like this? When did I become so desperate?" Katherine thought to herself in disgust.
After throwing all the laundry into the machine, she quickly turned it on before she could regret her choice.
With the machine running, she headed back into the living room and thought about what she had just done.
"Stop being such a thirsty woman... Maybe I need to do something else to distract myself a little."
Katherine closed her eyes and entered into a meditation state as she started trying to increase her mana level.
Unfortunately, she made little progress by the time she exited her meditation.
"Is it already afternoon?" Katherine murmured as she noticed the sun beginning to set on the horizon.
---
Meanwhile, back in school.
As the three kids stepped inside the classroom, a new teacher was already sitting in her seat.
It was a middle-aged woman, wearing almost the same uniform as Amelia except with a long skirt all the way to her shoe.
With her glasses, hair bun, and warm smile, the three felt a little welcomed.
"You three are the new kids, right?" The teacher asked as she waved at the three.
"Yes, Miss Amy." The three replied as they all stopped.
"Thank you. You may go back into your seat..."
Slowly, Miss Amy got up from her seat before walking over to the blackboard.
"Good morning everyone. How was your time with Miss Amelia?"
"Good!"
"That's great to hear. Ahem, since I just came back today, I'm going to do a small roll call first."
After calling everyone's name, she formally started her lesson.
"Today, I'm going to bring all of you to the School Arena. I want everyone in a single file line."
"Yes, ma'am!"
The entire class burst into excitement. Sophia and Mary were excited as well, as they had already heard stories about it.
Alex was the only exception, as he knew the challenge that was coming up soon.
The class soon formed a single-file line and began following Miss Amy around the school before stopping at a massive building.
Without even entering inside yet, tons of people were already standing in front of it, talking to each other.
Almost everyone was wearing a robe except other young students who other teachers led.
As Miss Amy led the class inside the building, everyone was in awe, as if a giant tree were right in the middle.
It was so tall that it pierced through the cloud above, unable to see the ending of it.
"Class 204... Room 24."
"Thank you."
After Miss Amy accepts a keycard from the receptionist, she leads the class into a giant door before scanning the keycard.
The door slowly slid to the side, revealing a pitch-black room that had nothing inside.
"Okay, time for you guys to go inside... Except Justin, please come over here and wait with me."
As the class goes in one by one, the person ahead of them disappears as soon as they step foot into the dark room.
Alex didn't hesitate to step inside, and a bright light blinded him until it disappeared on its own.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in a flat plain, with a few trees in the distance and a hot sun in the middle of the sky.
"Welcome to the test arena. You're going to come here often for the upcoming week.
Anyway, you are currently in a separate dimension. There will be a few challenges ahead of you.
And don't worry, you won't be harmed. Just complete all the tasks, and you'll be transported back."
As Miss Amy's voice disappeared, Alex began walking forward as instructed.
After walking on the dirt path for a while, he finally sees the challenge ahead of him.
It was just a straw dummy with the word 'fireball me' written on its body.
"Focus on your mana and think of a flame element..."
As the mana in the air began to be absorbed into Alex's body, it quickly traveled up to his head.
A flame suddenly appeared above Alex's head, condensing itself until it couldn't become any smaller.
It soon began to expand in size from a marble ball to a fist-sized, expanding until it reached a basketball size.
Alex uses the last few bits of mana to redirect the fireball right at the dummy.