The mood was a bit stunted after my sudden display of strength, but once most of them realised that maybe they could do the same if they just listened to what I had to say, their mood shifted. They all formed an orderly line so I could determine their future training regime and what they would need to focus on.
One by one, I laid my hand on their shoulders and checked how far they had progressed on their own. With my healing magic, I could see inside their bodies. I saw the muscles they had built over months and years of backbreaking training and deadly fights. The mana pathways in their bodies have widened, allowing for more mana to reach their extremities faster, decreasing loss and increasing their overall efficiency, but most importantly, their total output, although it would drain their mana reserves quicker.
So far, most looked like what I had learned from the passing souls in God's realm, but not all. Some even had more mana pathways than most, allowing their mana to spread more evenly. This would make it easier to apply body-strengthening magic over a wider area! Or to form a denser mana armor around their body! But another realisation dampened my sudden influx of excitement.
...
As soon as I figure out how to do it, of course. I still have a bit of trouble making my own without major blind spots or gaps. Not to mention the issue of making it strong but also flexible enough to move.
Sigh.
Maybe if I imitate them and also form more mana pathways, I could do the same, but easier said than done. I could try to make a few more with shape shifting, though I will try that after the babies are born. If that won't work… I will have to endure the same gruelling training they went through to form more… eurgh.
Most of the men I examined showed ordinary traits. They possessed talent and determination, yet nothing stood out significantly. It was only when I reached Sir Titus and the Yuwen family that I encountered something truly surprising.
I had already gotten a look at Sir Titus ' inner workings when I was regrowing his leg. But back then, I had only looked at his body and especially his leg, so I didn't really pay attention to the rest. But I should have.
His body had so many pathways intertwined with his muscles that it almost felt like a flash grenade exploding right in front of my face. I couldn't even count them all. Not only did he have biceps the size of my pre-pregnancy waist, but he also had the perfect body to learn body strengthening magic, maybe even the perfect body to learn my idea of magic armor. He could be like a tank, like a walking battering ram!
But that wasn't where the surprises ended; he not only looked like a giant, he was! There were almost no genes left inside his body that resembled a standard human, yet still enough that titans would still be a human tribe with the ability to produce fertile offspring. I mean, of course, they could make fertile offspring with humans; how else could Titus have been born by human parents and have a human daughter?
He was a perfect example of atavism, a phenomenon in which a gene or physical trait from a past ancestor resurfaces. Did that mean Rika is a titan as well? No, most definitely not. Rika was tall for a woman, but not that tall. But perhaps if she ever had children or grandchildren, they could be a titan just like her father.
I did my best to hide my excitement and went on to Janus. We had touched each other a lot recently, but apart from the time when I saved his life, I had never tried to look deeper. It felt a bit rude to do it without asking, so I didn't. But now that I had a look, I realised what they meant by the term awakening. Janus mana, though there was no stone, was circulating in steady pulses, constantly in flux. But that wasn't the only thing. His reserves were slowly but still constantly drained. Thankfully, it refilled even faster than it was drained, but it was still weird. Why was he constantly using mana? I looked all over his body to make sense of why this would be necessary and how it happened until I noticed a small irregularity… in his heart.
For a moment, I wondered how I never noticed this shared trait between Janus and his mother. Of course, his own body made sure it remained a secret, invisible even to him. But pondering over its discovery wasn't vital; helping him was. As I discreetly used a bit of healing magic to remove the scar tissue in his heart, Janus gave me a curious look. He leaned closer and whispered, "What did you just do?" I met his gaze and whispered back softly, "Just taking care of something, I will tell you later." Then, I continued healing, ensuring his body could finally stop reinforcing his blood flow and heart function. There were too many ears nearby, and I didn't want this to spread and eventually get to his mother's ears. She would undoubtedly blame herself for no reason.
I gave him a reassuring smile and went on with Joel.
Joel was similar to Janus, except there was no constant drainage of mana. I tried to find an explanation for his uncanny aim, but found none. No highly developed region in his brain, no special reflexes or exceptional eyesight. He had twenty-twenty vision, and that's it. So the fact that he never missed is all just pure skill. No magic needed.
Now there was only Wilhelm Yuwen left.
I thought after Titus and Benjamin nothing could surprise me anymore, but I was wrong. When I got here, I thought I was the only one with a mana stone, but I was wrong. Without even realizing it, Wilhelm Yuwen has formed his own mana stone. ALL BY HIMSELF!!! WITHOUT ANY HELP!!!
I never thought that I would ever meet someone more talented than Benjamin, but here he is, totally unaware of what he did.