Chapter 13 Stronger

~Thud~

"What's this?"

Rose looked at the duffle bag Mordred had set on the counter.

"I'm here to sell the stuff I got in the dungeon".

Mordred had just returned from the dungeon. She had spent a few hours in there and only limited herself to the first four floors. She got into every fight she could against the monsters that the dungeon spawned, while also not using her mana burst. Needless to say, it was a bit tough for her. Her body was stronger than the average adult without the use of mana burst, but with the way she fights, she relies on mana burst too much, especially when dealing with multiple opponents. It would have been easy had she been using guns instead of a sword since she has more experienced and skilled with them.

But she had a plan to deal with her shoddy swordsmanship.

Rose opened the bag and saw it filled with magic stones and a few drop items. Rose was surprised that a rookie adventurer would bring so much from their first time in the dungeon.

Rose picked up the bag and guided Mordred to a private room within the guild.

"Please wait here while we process your items".

Mordred studied the room for a second before sitting on one of the couches. It was a simple room with no decorations and two couches facing each other with a table in between.

Rose had done this for Mordred's safety. With the current state of Orario if someone got news that a rookie adventurer made a fortune, then they would be targeted. While the guild reception area was currently empty when Mordred arrived with her items as there were no over adventurers present and the guards the guild hired were patrolling around the building, Rose didn't want to take the chance. 

After about 10 minutes of waiting, Rose entered the room with a bag filled with coins and an empty duffle bag. She sat on the couch in front of Mordred and set both bags down on the table.

"Thank you for waiting. Your grand total is 5,000 Valis".

Mordred picked up the bag and shook it a bit.

"Thanks".

"Now if you have no questions then I shall return to my work".

Mordred had a quick thought then asked.

"Do you know any inns around that are reliable".

Answering the question, Rose gave Mordred a few recommendations and with that Mordred bid farewell to Rose and left the guild. She looked up at the sky, it was still about an hour till sundown, so she used this time to secure a place to stay.

She had already placed her money in the inventory, leaving only a handful in her pocket. She also put on her cloak so that she could avoid attention since everyone was wearing cloaks nowadays. 

After a while she found an inn that Rose had recommended. It was a bit expensive with the price being 3,000 Valis a night but the rooms were decent, had a shower that used magic stones, they provided breakfast, and the owner was a retired level 2 adventurer, so it was safer than most inns. 

Mordred laid on her bed after removing her gear.

"Not as good as my bed back in Remnant but it will do".

Mordred pulled up the system shop. She had a total of 350 points. She hoped that she could get another mission that she could do quickly while she was here.

There were two things that she wanted the most right now. Something that would enhance the strength of her body and...

[Standard Swordsmanship Training (Rank E) 100 points]

She would look for the body enhancement later for now she bought the training.

[Would you like to activate Standard Swordsmanship Training? On activation, your mind will be moved to an imaginary space]

"yes". 

Mordred closed her eyes, and her body had a faint glow for a split second.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in what looked like a training ground in a castle. In front of her was a plain humanoid wooden figure holding a wooden sword.

[Beginning aptitude test]

"Eh?"

A wooden sword materialized in Mordred hand.

The wooden doll lunged forth, doing an overhead attack.

Mordred quickly raised her sword and blocked it. But this move left her open to receive a powerful kick to the stomach sending her back a few meters.

She slowly got up.

'I'm gonna kick this doll's ass!'

...

-10 Minutes Later-

Mordred was lying face first into the ground, her body covered in bruises.

[Aptitude test complete]

Her only response was a muffled groan. Eventually she turned herself over onto her back.

"How'd I do?"

[Terrible]

"Should have known. Was getting my ass kicked really necessary?"

[Report: The test was to determine your strengths and flaws so that an accurate training plan can be created and within those 10 minutes you have demonstrated numerous flaws]

Mordred could only sigh.

[We will now begin the training plan]

"Wait! Right now! I don't think my body can handle anymore."

[Report: There is no need to worry, as we are in an imaginary space your wounds are not real and can be removed instantly. And a day here would be 10 minutes outside so there is no need to worry about time as well]

In the next second Mordred recovered. She no longer felt pain, her body was healed, and she wasn't tired anymore.

"I see."

[Now let's begin the training, please follow all instructions]

Mordred got back up and the wooden doll appeared once more.

...

...

Morning had arrived to Orario. It was a bright sunny day, but the atmosphere remained the same as in the night numerous crimes and battles had taken place, an almost daily occurrence. 

Mordred had awoken from her slumber, her body was well rested but the same could not be said for her mind. The nonstop drills and mock battles with little rest for what she felt was weeks on end was certainly not healthy for the mind.

The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was the familiar transparent blue panel.

[Congratulations for completing Standard Swordsmanship Training (Rank E). Would you like to leave a review of your experience?]

"No."

[Affirmative]

The panel disappeared. 

"Question, is there any training for magic?"

[No]

"Why not?"

[Because there is none, it was a design decision my creator had made]

"Tch, a pretty stupid decision..." Mordred muttered under her breath. 

Having her question answered, Mordred decided to sleep for another hour or two before doing anything else.

...

After she had rested, she began to perform a quick maintenance on her gear. Then remembering her plan she made yesterday she opened the system shop again.

"Ava, can you recommend any body enhancements that I can afford and doesn't have any side effects."

Then Mordred watched as the shop panel displayed itself with items being constantly changed as various filters were activated. Within minutes Ava had reduced all the options down to a single one. While Mordred only asked for a cheap body enhancement with zero side effects, Ava decided to also narrow down search for the very best option for Mordred.

[Core Capsule (Rank D) 250 points]

[This pill enhances muscles making them stronger and efficient, enhances stamina, speeds up recovery time whether it be stamina or healing a wound, enhances metabolic efficiency and boost the body's immune system. Has no negative side effects and doesn't affect future growth]

[Warning: After consuming the pill it will take an hour for the changes to happen] 

Mordred bought it though it would consume her remaining points, that didn't bother her that much. She could always earn more.

A small golden pill materialized in her hand, she brought it to her mouth and swallowed it, then laid back down. She slowly started to feel the effects kicking in as she felt her body changing. Her muscles became increasingly defined and sculpted, her skin becoming smooth like silk and free of blemishes and imperfections. 

It was an odd feeling but not terribly uncomfortable. 

After an hour had passed the changes were finished. Mordred got up from the bed and started stretching her muscles, feeling a noticeable difference from before. She did a little jump or was supposed to do a little jump but due to her new strength she jumped to high and hit her head on the ceiling, damaging it.

"Ow".

Fortunately, it didn't hurt as much as it should have, just a small sting. Unfortunately, her upstairs neighbor was not happy and soon the inn owner.

...

...

Mordred was now making her way to the dungeon after being scolded by the inn owner and forced to pay a few hundred valis to repair the damages which she felt was a bullshit amount. But her inner complaining was cut short by what she saw on the path towards babel. 

'More buildings are damaged, the stone path is torn up and there is dried blood scattered around'.

A battle had taken place here last night. Unknown to Mordred who was training in her sleep a battle between the famed Loki Familia and members of Evilus had fought here. 

She kept her guard up until she finally entered the dungeon.

Entering the first floor, she went to a secluded spot away from the main path that descends down to the lower floors so that she doesn't run into adventurers or worse. She wished to test her new strength and skill against easy opponents. 

Needless to say, the results were satisfying. She didn't need to rely on mana burst when she fought large groups. She didn't even need to fight the goblins with a sword as with her strength she could easily beat them to death with her bare fists.

She wondered how she would fare against other adventurers and how strong she was based on the falna leveling system.

So, she continues downward. On the fourth floor she encountered more goblins and kobolds as well as a brown lizard monster that would attack her by jumping off the walls or ceiling. They posed little threat to her.

She stopped at the sixth floor that spawned the infamous "newbie killers". The war shadow, a dark humanoid monster with sharp claws and long arms that gave it better reach and the killer ant, a large red ant that possessed a hard shell and could spread a pheromone that attracts other monsters.

Mordred decided that the sixth floor will be her farming spot for today as the magic stones from these monsters as well as drop items were more valuable. She needed money and lots of it. Her inn was incredibly expensive just for one night and she wanted to buy a better sword and armor, preferably armor that was also able to withstand high caliber bullets and was easy to move in.

She wished to get this done before she returned to Remnant in the one-month time she set for herself. Of course, she would come back to this world, but it would be a while. She knew that she would have a lot of business to take care of back in Remnant as well as needing to expand upon her plans.

And so, she continued to farm the dungeon until the sun was starting to set.