"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.
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.