Bella had been observing the battle outside the villa and developed a good impression of Sophia, who had kept their presence hidden.
During dinner, Bella, worried that Sophia might feel neglected, had her sit nearby and inquired about her brother's injuries, which reassured Sophia a lot.
After the meal, Bella arranged for Sophia to stay in the room next to Lily's and instructed Lily to keep an eye on her, ensuring that Sophia wouldn't run away.
After dinner, Elijah went alone to the spirit plants cultivation room to check on the Crystal Grass and zombie grass.
The first leaf of the zombie grass had already grown, and the second bud was beginning to sprout.
In a couple of days, it could potentially awaken another person.
However, this time Elijah didn't plan to harvest it early, despite promising Grace and Katherine that one of them would awaken soon.
He hadn't specified a time.
Elijah intended to let the zombie grass mature so Bella could use it to try advancing to a second-tier ability user.
If she succeeded, he would feel confident in harvesting the Crystal Grass.
With both of their second-tier healing abilities, they might revive the Crystal Grass, allowing it to regrow from its old roots.
Elijah checked the Crystal Grass.
The second-tier corpse core had been effective; within just a day, the Crystal Grass had sprouted a third holes.
At this rate, it might reach seven holes in about four days.
However, one second-tier corpse core might not sustain it for that long.
Thinking it through, Elijah took out the premium second-tier corpse core from the Telekinesis zombie and buried it at the root of the Crystal Grass for faster and more secure growth.
After inspecting the spirit plants, Elijah left the cultivation room and locked the door.
Currently, only he and Bella had keys to this room, and no one else was allowed entry.
When Elijah returned to the living room, the women had scattered to their various tasks.
Even Sophia had been taken by Lily to help unload supplies from the vehicles parked by the warehouse.
Only Charlotte remained in the living room, leisurely sipping tea as if waiting for him.
"You didn't come back for our sparring yesterday. Had a great time sparring with Fiona instead?" Charlotte asked with a half-smile.
"Uh, we've been training continuously, haven't missed any progress," Elijah defended himself.
"Really? Then let's see how much you've improved. If you can't beat me today, Fiona won't be leaving the house tomorrow; I'll train her thoroughly."
"Uh, that sounds kind of off. You're not a guy," Elijah muttered.
The two went to their familiar beach for another sparring session.
As soon as they arrived, Charlotte attacked without hesitation.
Elijah reacted quickly, blocking with his arm and counterattacking.
Charlotte also blocked, mirroring Elijah's moves since he had learned them from her.
However, Elijah's strength was significantly greater, nearly overpowering Charlotte's defense.
Elijah's fist hit her arm, causing it to hurt.
She made a mistake in dealing with Elijah's next punch, and was hit in the chest.
The strong force made her retreat two steps.
"Are you using your strength ability?" Charlotte questioned.
"No?" Elijah responded, puzzled. He only had Abigail's defense ability active as a precaution.
"Really?" Charlotte was incredulous. "Two days ago, I could handle your strength, but now I can't even block one punch?"
"Have I gotten stronger? I didn't notice," Elijah said, swinging his fist and generating a noticeable whoosh of air. "Hmm, seems like my strength has increased a lot."
"What have you done these past two days for your strength to grow so fast?" Charlotte asked, surprised.
"Nothing much, just moving supplies and killing zombies," Elijah replied, with a slight slip.
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "That doesn't explain such a significant increase in strength without you noticing."
"Maybe it's because I frequently use my strength ability while moving things, so when I deactivate it, my strength feels reduced…" Elijah speculated.
"Maybe," Charlotte pondered. "Switch to my introspection ability and examine your body closely."
"Okay," Elijah agreed, switching to Charlotte's introspection ability.
He closed his eyes and mentally scanned every inch of his body.
Indeed, he discovered his strength had significantly increased, almost reaching the limit of a second-tier ability user.
His skin had also become extraordinarily tough.
Although it wasn't as impervious as when he used Abigail's ability, it wasn't as vulnerable as a normal person's, which would tear easily under a zombie's claw.
"What's going on?"
Elijah was initially stunned but soon filled with joy.
He explained what he had sensed to Charlotte.
Charlotte pondered for a moment. "I have a hypothesis."
"What hypothesis?" Elijah asked, intrigued.
"Abilities like strength and defense fundamentally alter the body's physical attributes. You mentioned that when you use your strength ability, the energy within your body nourishes your muscles and bones, enabling you to unleash powerful strength. But when you deactivate the ability, do your muscles and bones revert to their original state? I don't think so, at least not completely.
Your muscles and bones would retain some of the benefits, making you stronger. If you maintain this ability over a long period, your muscles and bones will gain more, making you stronger even when the ability is not active."
"That's an interesting hypothesis, and I think it's pretty close to the truth," Elijah nodded. "A strength ability user essentially has two skills: an active skill for power bursts and a passive skill for strength enhancement. Since my ability is mimicked, I can't use the active power burst skill when I'm not mimicking, but the passive skill doesn't require activation—it stacks passively.
Does that analogy work?"
"Perfect analogy! It seems you've not only stacked the strength enhancement but also the defense enhancement. Since that's the case, let's spar again without you using any abilities!" Charlotte said, excitedly.
"You won't be able to handle my strength," Elijah chuckled.
"Just hold back a bit!" she retorted.
"Alright," Elijah shrugged, and they began sparring again.
This time, Elijah felt the difference even more clearly. Charlotte's movements seemed significantly slower.
In the past, he had to rely on instinct and experience to defend himself, but now he could clearly see her movements and predict her actions, blocking them effortlessly and counterattacking swiftly.
"It seems my strength and defense have been greatly enhanced, almost reaching the limit of a second-tier physical strength, and even my reaction speed has significantly improved," Elijah observed as he effortlessly countered Charlotte's moves, who was now struggling to defend herself, resorting to blocking with difficulty.
"Looks like I can definitely win against Charlotte tonight. I can finally experience what it's like to dominate with these long legs. This is truly a double joy…" Elijah thought, feeling a sense of triumph.