Chapter 76: Do As I Do
Tera spent the next few seconds thoroughly explaining the same thing she had told Xavi to Ermin.
Even though he grudgingly accepted, he still looked unconvinced by what she was doing.
Ermin remained there, and when he showed no signs of leaving, Tera continued her stretches.
She started with simple arm movements, and within minutes, her body started protesting.
’This useless body, OMG!’
She paused.
Ermin frowned. "It does not look good. It looks like you are in pain."
"That is what exercise feels like, Ermin."
His face suggested he did not believe this for a single second. He set down the fruits and took a step toward her, clearly planning to physically remove her from the situation.
Tera pointed at him. "If you pick me up, I will not speak to you for seven days!"
He stopped mid-stride. His expression shifted between wanting to protect his mate and desperately wanting his mate to keep talking to him.
"Why are you torturing yourself?"
"It is exercise. It makes me stronger."
"You don’t look stronger. You look like you’re struggling."
"That is how it works! You struggle, and then you get stronger!"
His tail flicked. "That sounds silly."
Tera huffed, turning away from him.
He sighed and picked up the fruits, retreating. Though he positioned himself at an angle where he could watch her at all times.
Tera took brief pauses and continued.
Slowly, the burn started to feel good.
It made her realise just how much she missed working out.
It was roughly twenty minutes later when the first female appeared.
Bembe, the young female whose pregnancy was still very early, wandered over with the aimless curiosity of someone who had finished their tasks and had nothing better to do.
"What are you doing?"
"Exercising," Tera said. "It makes the body stronger and healthier. Especially good for pregnant females."
Her eyes widened. "It is good for the cub?"
"It strengthens the mother, which helps the cub grow well."
She dropped to the ground beside Tera without hesitation. "Can I try?"
Tera blinked. "You want to exercise with me?"
"If it is good for the cub, I want to do it."
Before Tera could say anything, Bembe immediately attempted a squat.
’WTF?!’
Her knees buckled inward, her tail shot straight out for balance, and she wobbled violently. She grabbed Tera’s arm and nearly took both of them down.
Just like that, Tera found herself teaching the first-ever pregnant beast-woman exercise class.
Despite not being much of a trainer, she showed Bembe how to do simple arm stretches first, then gentle torso twists. The female followed along with such intense concentration that her tongue poked out slightly from the corner of her mouth.
Every movement was executed with the careful precision of someone who believed this was a sacred ritual that would determine the fate of her unborn child.
Tera was immediately second-guessing why she had given that explanation.
"Am I doing it right?" Bembe asked anxiously. "Is the cub getting stronger?"
"The cub is... definitely benefiting from this," Tera said, not entirely sure but unwilling to shatter the young female’s enthusiasm.
Another female wandered over. Then another. Then one of the older females who had been watching from a distance with a sceptical expression.
"What is this movement?" the older female asked, trying to mimic Tera’s arm stretch and nearly smacking herself in the face.
"It is for the health of the cub," Bembe quickly answered with too much excitement.
The older female’s scepticism vanished immediately. "Show me."
’OMG...’
[( ˘•ω•˘ )]
[Host’s eagerness for movement has been outshined by the beast females]
[Who knew they were so crazy about their cubs’ well-being]
Within ten minutes, three more females had gathered.
Yara arrived next, her deer ears perked with interest. She watched Bembe’s enthusiastic wobbling and Tera’s patient corrections, then positioned herself at the end of the line and attempted a lunge with the careful movement of someone defusing a trap.
Another female jogged over and immediately tried to do everything twice as fast as everyone else, nearly kicking a cub who had wandered too close.
One who had even approached them had shaken her head and claimed, "this is foolishness" before joining them anyway.
Tera stood at the front, leading them through basic stretches. She was very confused, and she was sure everyone else would find it confusing.
All the females were now exercising with Tera—except Kiri. And the sight that greeted anyone passing by was so strange that several beast men stopped in their tracks to stare.
Kiri watched from afar like she was suffering from second-hand embarrassment.
A shiftless, pregnant female was leading all the other pregnant females through synchronised bending and squatting while five increasingly concerned beast men watched from the sidelines.
"Why are they hurting themselves?" one of the males whispered to another.
"I don’t know. But they seem to enjoy it."
"Should we stop them?"
"The shiftless one threatened to stop talking to one of the males if he interfered. I am not risking that."
The cubs had gathered to watch, treating the whole thing like a spectacle. Two of them had started imitating the squats, their tiny legs bending and straightening like they were playing a new game.
Another cub fell over. He got back up and did it again, apparently deciding that falling was part of the exercise.
[This system is observing the birth of a new cultural practice]
[The Great Pregnant Beast-Woman Exercise Movement]
[Historians will speak of this day]
[(◕‿◕✿)]
’Please don’t call it that!’
[Too late]
[This system has already begun documenting]
"The heck?!"
Tera had yelled at the system, but to her horror, the females had chanted the same thing.
Her mouth dropped, and she had to stop what she was doing to stare at the females. If she hadn’t been embarrassed before, she was embarrassed now.
’This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen.’
They all stopped and looked at Tera innocently, their faces flushed and gleaming with sweat.
Tera could not help but laugh. It felt nice to see that they liked exercising so much, even more than her.
Meanwhile, more beast males came to watch, their emotions ranging from confusion to deep concern. Several of them were trying to understand what had possessed their mates.
The cub who wasn’t doing anything watched with a disapproving look.
"Why did you stop the mating dance?"
Tera had apparently not had enough surprises today.
’Mating Dance?!’
This was the second time. How do these cubs know of this word?!