Tiffany got out of bed and headed to the bathroom for a long, hot shower. After cleaning herself thoroughly, she looked around the kitchen area while getting dressed. It didn’t take her time to come to the conclusion that the place was clearly a rental. The fridge was bare, no ingredients, minimal cooking supplies as far as ingredients went, basically nothing she could do, except to boil and drink hot water of course. She had considered making breakfast for him, but quickly realized it wasn’t practical.

’Next time,’ she thought, already missing the feeling of his thick cock inside her. ’I’ll make sure to cook something nice for him.’

With one last look around the luxurious room, Tiffany gathered her things and left, pulling the door shut behind her after making sure she wasn’t forgetting anything.

...

Meanwhile, Edward who had left the house early that morning, was walking alone at the moment. He didn’t want to draw attention by going to a regular gym, so he took a taxi to the outskirts of the city and hiked up a nearby mountain trail, looking for a cool spot away from the eyes of anybody.

Once he reached a secluded rocky area with several large loose boulders, and a clean stream running just a few metres downhill, he began testing his new ability, Titan’s Strength.

..

[Titan’s Strength]

Grants the user the raw physical strength of ten adult men, increased durability and stamina.

..

Coming up the mountain, he already tested his speed, sprinting through the path. But of course, the result was nothing short of disappointing. While he could outrun any ordinary man, he was at best close to Olympian levels. Anyway, his speed hadn’t improved at all. It was still the same as before the ability.

Perhaps, what made things a little more bearable was his increased endurance. He found that he could run at full sprint for a longer duration of time before needing to stop and catch his breath while his legs rest. He could hold a full sprint for around 15 seconds, which after verifying with his phone by searching the internet for what was normal, was quite impressive.

With that result, he could guess that he would also perform well in a jog.

In the end, he could only come to the conclusion that the improvement was only modest and nothing game-changing.

As for durability, it was harder to test safely, but he suspected it had received a similar minor boost based on the results so far, especially since the ability’s description suggested that the bulk of it was focused on strength, and the other qualities were only additions.

With that in mind, he was a little expectant of how much he would perform in the department of strength, and he couldn’t wait to try.

While having sex, lifting Tiffany felt like lifting a basic wooden chair, and holding her up for long minutes felt like nothing. Thinking of it now, he couldn’t even say whether or not his endurance was put to the test there, since one wouldn’t need to endure holding easy weight up.

He smiled in anticipation as he approached a large boulder that looked like it weighed several hundred kilograms. Examining it, he nodded, ’this should be at least 200kg or more.’

He gripped it firmly and, with a grunt, tried to lift it cleanly off the ground. The rock felt surprisingly manageable in his grip. He pushed, pulled, and finally managed to carry it across the rocky ground with relative ease once it was on him.

After a few seconds, he dropped the rock, clearly satisfied. The results were excellent, and though not far beyond human limits, it was still very satisfactory.

Encouraged, he moved on to striking power. He faced the same boulder, and after getting into a basic stance, punched it with good force.

Pain exploded through his knuckles and forearm immediately.

"Fuck!" he hissed, shaking his hand in pain while trying not to jump in pain. The rock appeared to retain its natural luster, not even a single crack, but his hand throbbed badly. He realized quickly why the ability had been relatively cheap immediately.

Raw strength without proper reinforcement or pain tolerance was dangerous and almost useless. His bones hadn’t shattered, which suggested the minor durability boost had helped, but the pain still stung badly. Everything still hurt as usual, and he wouldn’t even be surprised if he could break a bone or three in his wrist or dislocate some joints if he struck any harder.

’Note to self,’ he thought. ’I’m going to need weapons. Something for blunt force at least, and maybe an easy-to-use blade like a machete. The store should have that.’

He was so relieved he hadn’t broken his spine when he lifted the boulder, that would have been terrible.

With that, he continued testing for another hour, carefully measuring his limits so he wouldn’t surprise himself in the future. By the time he finished, he had a much clearer understanding of what his new strength could and couldn’t do.

For one, his only real use was picking up, pushing, and pulling heavy things. He would be a great laborer for sure. Top quality slave if he was in the old days.

Just then, his phone buzzed with a text from Tiffany.

--Leaving now. Was gonna make you breakfast but your kitchen is completely bare lol. Expect something nice next time. Call me later, ok? Byeee, have a wonderful day!!! (togue out emoji)--

Reading the text, Edward chuckled, remembering the system notification confirming that Tiffany had been fully conquered. She really was turning into his most reliable "cash cow." A night of sex with her had yielded so much in return. He would definitely be calling her again soon.

He put the phone away and looked out over the city from his vantage point on the mountain. The week ahead would be critical. With Sasha’s help, they would attempt to rescue Maya and raid the vault.

But for now, he still had time to prepare, and that included hitting a proper gym to test his lifting limits more. He couldn’t risk picking up another boulder here in the wild.

’Midnight gym should be empty, right?’