That caught her off guard, but she understood what he meant. He was a young man, they were all obsessed with their "bench press" and all of that nonsense.
She nodded, then got up with Vasili and placed her chairs back inside her ring. She sighed slightly when she looked around the room. They'd have to revisit this, but she supposed the boy did need to see his own power. He was damn strong-maybe the strongest non-high Alpha she had ever seen.
Maranda brought him toward the back wall, pressed on the key bricks, and watched it unravel before her eyes. They may have copied that from somewhere but it wasn't like she'd sue, because of the implication.
Walking out, they passed servants who were looking and whispering at Vasili's form. She noted that the boy didn't seem to mind, or notice their admiration, he still had his honeymoon goggles on.
She shook her head at the thoughts as she cracked open the modern see-through door and noticed a few servants working out.
Maranda waved him inside and quickly shut the door, trying not to disturb the servants too much, they worked hard and earned their keep.
She leaned in and asked, "What machine are you looking for?"
Vasili shrugged and walked over to the wall, where rack upon rack of dumbbells were lying.
He read the sign, [Tungsten Weights: Please use the label as weights are denser! Return after use!] and then shrugged.
Vasili looked for his normal dumbbells, the 40s, and gave them a curl. They felt the same, but he had a higher end of strength. He felt like he could curl them forever.
Setting them back in their spot, he looked for 100s-something he'd only joked about picking up before-and he lifted them with no issue.
He quickly banged out 20 reps and felt no fatigue whatsoever.
After setting them back in their place, he noticed the metal rack shaking slightly, which confirmed they were real.
He shook his head and skipped most of the "baby" weights. This was a gym for supernatural beings, so of course, they had a huge hunk of metal in the corner that was too big to set on a rack.
He approached it cautiously, aware that he could still pull something in his back-wait, would he heal it? He did when his hamstrings were cut, right?
Turning to Maranda, he asked, "What happens if I tear a muscle or tendon?"
She shrugged, "Most creatures would need a while, but you heal FAST, so just go for it."
He was relaxed by her casual tone, but he noticed a couple of rubberneckers looking nonchalantly at his 'teacher'.
Anyways, he bent down and felt the grip. It felt brand new-like this thing was never used-and judging by the dust ring around it, it wasn't.
Vasili stretched really quick, feeling the strength in his body solidify for the attempt.
He reached down and squeezed the handle with one hand, ready to fight for his life, when he...just picked it up?
'Huh.' He stood there confused, he thought it'd be much harder, but it felt pretty light to carry at least.
Then he got his hand lined up with his shoulder and braced his elbow against his body, just in case it was about to hurt him. Pulling, he felt a definite resistance as the bicep bulged and strained for the first time.
It was a heavy bastard, but it was doable. He dug deep, squeezing every part of his bicep, doing a controlled ascent as he squeezed until the peak of his bicep started to burn.
He wasn't tired, just trying to make absolutely sure his form was correct with such a big weight. Once you went over a certain weight, most of the battle was trying to keep steady, but he managed it.
Slowly releasing, he let the weight fall slowly. This was his favorite part of lifting, the controlled negative, it is so helpful for beginners and experts alike.
Returning to a full hang, he felt his bicep fatigue and judged that he had at least 5 more in him. He shook his head, he'd just take it one at a time and try not to hurt himself because it is impossible to know how many you have left until you hit the wall.
Squeezing, he let the weight come up a bit faster, feeling the handle wobble slightly under the weight. But there was no weakness in his wrist or fingers, which is something you had to prepare for with a single-handed weight like this.
He did rep after rep, not slowing down until he hit 20. His speed had increased until he nearly had an accident, and then he returned to the controlled and methodical approach to lifting, with full CNS activation.
Vasili sat the weight down and felt his pump, it was insane, and somewhere in his reps, the Dragon, Ram, and Lion had all joined him.
They were watching the oddity at hand, but he could feel the Ram trying to explain the methodology of 'stressing the muscles' to the two predators. The Lion recognized it as a form of purring, which smaller species of cats did.
Vasili tuned them out and focused on his other hand. His eyes were closed as he went through the steps and felt out his left hand. It was non-dominate, but it seemed much more in line with his right hand than before.
Feeling the weight, he rotated it so he could begin. His first rep was super slow and controlled. There was no rush-he didn't need to injure himself by 'ego-lifting.'
He got his first rep, then his second, and then by the time he opened his eyes, he had 20 controlled reps.
Vasili looked in the mirror and noticed phones pointed at him. Maranda was standing there dumbfounded for the 87th time today, she really thought she might get used to it, but she didn't
He sat down the weight too quickly and accidentally cracked the floor.
Phones immediately pointed down to the ground, Vasili was obviously furious, or embarrassed. Either way, they weren't interested in finding out.
Maranda turned around and spoke with a booming voice, "Those photos and videos do not leave the Dragos Family. Am I understood?"
The few people in the room nodded robotically and then shuffled out quickly.
"Good job, kid. You're a monster!" She smacked his arm as hard as she could and broke her hand in multiple places. Looking down, she smiled as her bones quickly righted themselves with a few cracks and pops.
Vasili shrugged, "It is just 500 lbs, I am sure there are a lot of creatures that can lift it."
Maranda turned her head in confusion and smirked before answering, "Yeah, 500 lbs isn't that much. I can bench 900 lbs." She looked down at the weight and pointed out, "But that isn't 500 lbs."
Vasili was confused before she added, "Our Family is from Europe."
"Oh." Was the only thing to be said.