My Taboo Harem System

Chapter 142: Phase Two

Weeks had passed since the meeting with the village chief, and if anything, that conversation had lit a quiet fire beneath Denzel rather than dampening him.

Nevertheless, he had kept to his usuql routine. Every morning, every afternoon, every session the knight carved out for him. The rites, the repetitions, the drills — he had taken all of it and refused to quit early, refused to ease off when his lungs screamed and his legs threatened to go out from under him.

And slowly, in the way that real things always happened — not all at once, not in a single dramatic moment, but in increments small enough to miss if you weren’t watching — he had started to change.

He could see it when he caught his reflection in still water. The definition in his arms, sharper than before, the kind that came not from decoration but from actual use. His chest sat differently, fuller and more anchored. Even the way he moved had shifted — quieter footfalls, weight distributed with an ease he hadn’t had to think about, like his body had quietly renegotiated the terms of how it carried itself. He felt balanced. He felt, and he was almost embarrassed to admit this even privately, good.

***

The afternoon sun pressed through the canopy in thick golden columns, the forest floor dappled and warm. Denzel sat with his hands braced on his knees, head dropped low, pulling breath in rough and dragging it out slower. His shirt clung to him. The ache in his thighs was deep and earned.

A few metres away, the knight stood with her arms folded, weight on one leg, watching him with that expression she always wore, somewhere between patience and mild amusement.

"Go on," she said. "Take as much time as you need."

Denzel didn’t respond immediately. He let another breath go, then another. The forest was quiet around them save for the distant shift of leaves and the faint sound of something moving through the undergrowth far off.

"I don’t need long," he said finally.

"I know."

He looked up at her then. She was already looking back, and there was something in the quality of her silence that made him keep his eyes on her.

She let a beat pass, then: "You have done well, Denzel. Better than I expected, if I’m being fair about it."

He blinked. "Was that a compliment?"

"It was an observation."

"Right." He straightened slightly, rolling one shoulder. "Well. An observation from you is probably the closest thing to a compliment I’m going to get, so I’ll take it."

The corner of her mouth moved — barely, but it moved. "In three weeks you have kept pace with a training regimen I had not adjusted downward for you. Most do not manage that in twice the time."

"Most don’t have my motivation," Denzel said.

"And what is your motivation?"

He looked at her steadily. "That question has a long answer. But the short one is, I said I would do this. So I’m doing it." He paused. "I’m a man of my word."

"So I’ve gathered."

"Good." He pushed himself upright then, standing fully, the ache settling into something more manageable now that he was on his feet. He met her eyes. "Then since you’re in the business of acknowledging people for doing what they said they would, I’d like to remind you that there is still a matter of your end of the arrangement."

She did not look away.

"Sophia," he said simply.

A short silence. Then the knight nodded, and there was no deflection in it, no dismissal. Just — acknowledgement. "Duly noted."

Denzel studied her face for a moment. He had half-expected her to push back, to find some reason to delay it further, but there was nothing like that in her expression. She meant it.

"Good," he said again, quieter this time.

She unfolded her arms. "Speaking of going forward — from tomorrow we will be increasing the reps."

Denzel exhaled through his nose. ’Of course we are.’

"Additionally," she continued, "I will be bringing someone in. A magic instructor."

He went still. "A magic instructor."

"Yes. You have been building the physical foundation. That is necessary. But your ability is not a physical thing, Denzel, and raw instinct will only carry you to a certain point. You need someone who can help you learn to control it. To refine it."

He opened his mouth, then closed it again. Of all the things he had expected her to say, that had not been among them. He turned the idea over once, twice, watching it from different angles the way he might watch an opponent who had just changed their stance.

"You’re serious," he said.

"I don’t make suggestions I’m not serious about."

"Right." He rubbed the back of his neck. A magic instructor. Someone specifically brought in to help him work with what he had, not just push through it. ’That’s... actually not nothing.’ He let the surprise settle, let it become something steadier. "Sure. Alright. I’m in."

She gave him a single nod, as though she’d expected nothing else and had simply been waiting for him to catch up to the obvious conclusion.

He glanced up at the sky through the canopy, the light was deepening now, the gold of mid-afternoon starting its long lean toward dusk. He’d been out here longer than he’d realised.

"It’s getting late," he said.

"It is."

He gathered himself, shaking out his legs once. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Earlier, actually. If we’re increasing the reps, we’ll need the extra hours."

He looked at her. "You’re going to be the death of me."

"You’re still breathing."

"Barely." He almost smiled. "See you tomorrow then."

She inclined her head — not quite a bow, not quite a nod, something precise and in between that was entirely her. "Rest well, Denzel."

He raised a hand as he turned, already moving toward the treeline.

***

The path back was familiar now in a way it hadn’t been the first time he’d walked it. He knew where the roots reached up near the second bend, knew the place where the canopy thinned and the air shifted. His feet found the way without consulting him much.

He walked slowly, in no particular hurry. The ache was settling into him fully now, the comfortable kind, the kind that told you the day had been real.

’A magic instructor,’ he thought, turning it over again. ’She’s actually pulling in a magic instructor.’

He wasn’t sure what that meant for the pace of things, but he knew it wasn’t small. The knight didn’t move on things she considered premature. If she was bringing someone in, she had decided he was ready for that next step, which meant she thought more of where he currently was than she let on during the actual sessions.

He glanced down at his arm. Even just holding it out, the definition was visible. He could remember — not long ago, not in some distant past but actual weeks ago, thinking that if he could just manage to keep pace with her for a single full session, that would be enough. That would be something.

’And now she’s saying I’ve been doing it consistently. And increasing the reps.’

There was something almost absurd about it, when he held it against where he had started. He hadn’t known, at the beginning, whether he actually had what it took to build toward something like this, or whether he was simply stubborn enough to convince himself he did. He had never trained with this kind of intention before. Not like this.

He exhaled slowly.

’But this is still the beginning.’ That was the thing he kept having to remind himself. The ground he had covered was real, but the distance still ahead of him made this feel like the first few steps of something much larger. The academy. His ability. Everything Sofia was wrapped up in. Everything Tara had apparently seen in him that he still wasn’t entirely sure he agreed with.

’A lot waiting for me.’ He shook his head once, not unhappy, just, aware. ’A whole lot.’

The trees thinned ahead, the orange light of early evening spilling into the path. He could see the familiar rooflines of the settlement beginning to emerge through the gaps. Almost there.

He was still mid-thought, still turning over the shape of what tomorrow’s session might look like, what a magic instructor actually meant for someone with an ability like his, when his vision shifted.

Not physically. But something in the air around him changed, a kind of pressure that came from no direction and every direction at once. He stopped walking.

Then the display appeared.

[Taboo Harem System — Phase Assessment Initialising...]

He stared at it.

[10%...30%...60%...100%... Complete!]

A pause. Long enough that he started to wonder if it had stalled. Then:

[Phase One of the Taboo Harem System has been successfully completed.]

[Player has satisfied all foundational conditions.]

[Phase Two is now available.]

[Would you like to proceed?]

On seeing this, only a single thought could cross through Denzel’s mind.

’I’m sorry...what?’