Chapter 14
Further Growth
—Raust—
In one of the deserted vacant land, I, alone, quietly stood there with my eyes closed .
In my mind was yesterday’s phoenix subjugation .
Thanks to that quest, my and Zieg-san’s party earned a lot of money .
However, I couldn’t honestly rejoice with that .
The reason was the presence of the mutated phoenix .
Now that I’ve calmed down, I don’t think the phoenix had reached the stage where it could be called a mutation .
Even I could clearly assert that, its inability to take different action and just fully focusing to heal itself despite under attack and the intimidating air I could feel from it was clearly inferior compared to the mutated hydra .
…Nevertheless, the phoenix was definitely trying to mutate .
Rapid regeneration from dying state .
The sight at that time was the best proof .
Also, now that two super-high difficulty monsters mutated at an abnormal speed, the possibility of the hydra’s mutation being a coincidence has disappeared .
Obvious anomalies are taking place in this labyrinth city .
According to Zieg-san, apparently, the news of the mutation will also be reported to the adventurer guild headquarter in the royal capital .
Within a few days, masters will visit labyrinth city again to investigate .
However, I don’t think the labyrinth city guild, which is hostile toward the capital’s guild, will quietly let the investigation proceed .
…Probably, the labyrinth city will be turbulent from now on .
With that in mind, I unintentionally let out a wry smile .
I could only imagine the future where I would be used when Master came .
「Ahaha would be great if Ronaldo-san can come along to become Master’s stopper……」
Also, I whispered such words .
But, I thought about these only for a short time .
「Fuhh…」
The next moment, I switched gear .
After phoenix subjugation, various troubles occurred .
It was cumbersome, and some of them plagued my mind .
But that wasn’t the most memorable thing about phoenix subjugation .
Immediately after closing my eyes, I recalled the moment I cut the phoenix’s head with my dagger .
No, not exactly .
What I remembered wasn’t the appearance of the phoenix, but my state as I did that .
I could picture my state at that time in my head just by simply closing my eyes .
The extraordinary lightness of my body, the power that overflowed from it .
—— And the feeling of crossing the wall .
To reproduce that image, I combined magic power and ki and reinforced my body .
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「…Just as I thought…… . 」
The next moment, while moving my body to test the body strengthening, I muttered those words .
It was just a whisper to suppress my inevitably rising emotions .
However, there was joy and excitement that couldn’t be hidden in my voice .
「I’m finally over the wall…」
A large wall that had hindered my growth for one year .
With that mutter, the feeling of getting over the wall seeped into my mind again .
The smile that floated on my mouth represented my delight .
It was about a year ago that I realized the limit of body strengthening by magic power and ki .
By nature, body strengthening with magic power and ki imposed a heavy burden on the body .
For example, the first time I successfully strengthened my body, I broke my ribs in exchange for dozens of seconds of strengthening .
If I didn’t remember about strengthening of healing magic stone, I might have stopped trying the reinforcing method .
However, despite it being a double-edged sword, the feeling I had was hope .
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That was why I was willing to hurt myself, desperately training it over and over again .
In the early days, I was full of injury even before fighting the monsters, even after gradually getting used to the strengthening, I was still getting injured by it .
Nevertheless, I continued to practice every day .
…But one day, by dying, I finally knew the limit of magic power and ki body strengthening .
I was able to cover for the injuries from the body strengthening with my healing magic, and by continuing to use the strengthening, the injuries were reduced to an extent .
However, it was impossible to fully eliminate the injuries .
The stronger the strengthening, the greater the injuries .
In other words, considering the injuries it caused, body strengthening with magic power and ki was just a makeshift technique for the desperate .
I could no longer train body strengthening by magic power and ki beyond a certain range .
More precisely, beyond a certain range, the injuries would be too much it could kill .
That was the limit of body strengthening by magic power and ki .
A big wall I knew I couldn’t get over .
But now I was over that big wall .
This is the type that I learned from Ronaldo-san, I was convinced of that as I strengthened my body .
The difficulty of performing precise movement while strengthened was not different from before .
Even so, the pain like my body creaking just by strengthening it was gone, I got the urge to laugh despite myself .
The pain wasn’t gone completely .
The pain would hit my body immediately if I relaxed my concentration .
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However, it was a world difference compared to before .
That wasn’t the only change .
Until now, my movement after strengthening was considerably stiff .
But now, my body was clearly easy to move .
In this case, it might even possible to fight with body strengthening from the beginning .
Perhaps the trigger of this change was the defeat of the mutated hydra .
And then, it was completely awakened in the fight against the phoenix .
I thought the emergence of super-high difficulty monsters would only bring disaster, but apparently, it gave me this power .
Considering this, the smile on my face became wider .
This will make me stronger .
Then………
Driven by that emotion, I got the urge to continue training, but I stopped myself and shook my head .
I lost my mind and about to train, but I now needed to go to the city .
If possible, even only for a short time, I want to see my growth, but I really need to meet the city folks already .
As I thought so, I walked toward the city while glancing at the vacant lot with regret .
「Finally, found you . 」
…But the next moment, I stopped myself at the figure that appeared before me with those words .
「Defect bastard, today is the last time you can make that face . 」
He stared at me while baring his hostility, the speaker was the first-class party that clicked his tongue at me and Narsena before .