MUSCLE MANIAC

When Morsan finished reading about the three monsters, he was confused. "Wait! Something is not right here! This is the first time I've heard about these types of monsters. There's no way I extracted these high-level monster bloodlines in that forest, even with the help of your [Life Exchange] skill! I saw all the monster corpses in my inventory, and there were no magical beasts or high-level monsters in there. All I did was hunt many low-level common monsters around the forest. It's impossible," Morsan said with an absurd expression on his face.

"Exactly! That's what I was wondering too. Despite appearing normal, the world you live in is anything but peaceful. Those weak, low-level monsters were suppressing their primitive bloodline instinctively as if they were forced to degenerate their bloodline talents and the capability of using Mana. The only conclusion I could think of is that 'something' in your world is maintaining a certain balance of Mana and souls. Perhaps your world couldn't contain a lot of soul energy and Mana at the same time. For the sake of survival, monsters with high-level bloodlines were adopted and became weaker than they should be. Generations and generations of suppression made them evolve into these low-level monsters you were talking about. But in fact, their real strength was far more dangerous than you could think. What's even more dangerous is the thing that forced them into this. I could guess more or less how 'that thing' maintains that balance. Whatever it is, there is nothing we can do about it for now. Boy, you're lucky since you can collect a lot of high-level bloodlines with ease, considering your world's current condition. It's an ideal world for us. You need to get a lot stronger if you want to live in this world," Tizona casually dropped another bomb.

Morsan's mind went completely blank in an instant. He was so certain that nothing like that had been mentioned in the anime he had watched. This was completely new to him. Morsan could only think of one way that "that thing" could maintain balance... by mass murdering whenever the balance started to break. Since humans had higher Mana than monsters, he assumed that "that thing" not only killed monsters but also humans. But he had never heard of anything like that before. As he pondered on it, he couldn't help but frown. These past three days had been a wild ride for him. He had learned things that weren't even mentioned in season 1 of The Rising of the Shield Hero. Despite gaining immense power, he still felt like a tiny worm crawling under the feet of elephants. All he wanted was to avenge his father, buy a big house, become stronger, and fulfill his dream of having a slave harem as he wished in his past life. Now, he was starting to question what kind of mess he had gotten himself into. All he wanted was a simple and erotic life with his slave harem. The knowledge of these things weighed heavily on him, and he wished he could forget it all.

"Boy... Don't lose your mind just for something like this, I was faced with even more absurd situations than this when I was alive. It's not something as dangerous as you may think, instead of that, let's focus on the things we could do right now."

"Right now.. you mean level up more?"

"Not quite right, I meant learning about how to fight properly, even though you don't need a lot of practice against monsters, your fighting style won't work against humans. Since I was pleased with your recent sacrifice, I decided to teach you all the fighting techniques I knew from my battle experiences. Which would you like to learn first, I know some ancient sword techniques that are suitable for training young warriors, and I also know some powerful enhancement magic that could boost your strength."

Morsan's eyes sparkled as he heard Tizona. 

"You were a barbarian king when you were alive right? Do you know any techniques that could strengthen and improve my body growth?"

"Oh, you're looking for ways to strengthen your body, huh? Well, I do know a few techniques, but honestly, they're not the most effective. They can only slightly enhance your bone and muscle density, along with your overall strength. Plus, they become more challenging the more you practice. I know some people who practiced their bodies like crazy for all of their lives only to improve their body size and muscle mass. Personally, I found that focusing on sword techniques and mastering Mana control was a much better way to improve your strength over all. Hmm?! boy? What happened to you?"

Tizona asked in concern as it noticed the trembling body of Morsan. His breathing gets haggard as he listens more, he takes a deep breath to calm himself. His eyes became more determined.

"Tizona, let's start with the body-strengthening techniques that you spoke of."

"Heh?! Boy were you listened what I said? They are not that eff-"

"Let's start with the body-strengthening techniques."

Morsan cut Tizona's speech in half. This was the first time he did something disrespectful to Tizona like that.

"...Boy, let's think about it calmly, okay? Liste-"

"Let's start with the body-strengthening techniques."

"..But, they are no-"

"Let's start with the body-strengthening techniques."

"....."

"Let's start with the body-strengthening techniques."

"STOP IT!!. I get it... I get it... okay? I will teach you those techniques... Tsk... I didn't think you would be one of those crazy people... I shouldn't have said about those techniques..."

"Mm? Those crazy people?"

"MUSCLE MANIAC.."

Tizona's voice mixed in visible anger and frustration. Despite its unwillingness to teach those techniques, Tizona promised to train him.

After they sorted out their training plan, Tizona gave more details about [Bloodline Infusion] and why he didn't get any other skill from an ancestral bloodline.

He realized as listened to Tizona that acquiring a skill from Bloodline Fusion is more likely related to compatibility than quality. Excessive traits that hadn't yet been fused into Morsan's body were converted into shop points.