Chapter 31: A Little Gossip

After quickly flipping through two magazines, Rhodes took off his glasses, ready to begin today's physical training.

"I told you not to crawl under the bed."

Rhodes lifted Worm by the scruff of its neck. Worm's four legs dangled naturally, its tongue sticking out a bit, and its little horns drooped—a pitiful look that seemed to say, "Please don't scold me."

"Just as well." Rhodes put down Worm, went to the laundry room to fetch a basin of water and a rag.

Worm obediently sat on the floor, waiting for Rhodes to wipe its fur.

However, Rhodes tossed the rag to it. "Since you're already dirty, you might as well help me clean under the bed. It's hard for me to reach."

Worm: ???

"If you finish cleaning before I get back, I'll buy you some cookies tomorrow. See you later!"

Worm hesitantly held up the rag with its little paws.

With a click, Rhodes closed the door and went downstairs for a run.

He slightly adjusted his route from yesterday. Now that he knew his limits, Rhodes controlled his turnaround point, estimating that he'd be exhausted by the time he ran back home.

At the beginning of the run, he could still think about his future training plans, pondering whether to get a sandbag to practice punches at home.

By the second half, all he could think was, "Just one more step, one more step."

This kind of training was effective—at least Rhodes was getting more and more skilled at applying cold compresses and ointment to himself.

By the time he dragged his leaden legs up the stairs, clinging to the handrail, he saw a "little gray dog" squatting at the door.

"You actually cleaned it? That's commendable."

Rhodes moved to the bedside and threw himself onto the bed. His first thought was: "Great, I'm covered in sweat; now I'll have to change the sheets too."

Worm stuck out his tongue, looked at Rhodes thoughtfully for a moment, then jumped onto the chair, then onto the table, grabbed the bottle of medicine Rhodes had used yesterday, and jumped onto the bed.

"Thanks." Rhodes propped himself up with effort, took the medicine bottle, and immediately noticed the dusty footprints Worm had left on the sheets.

"..."

Feeling guilty under his gaze, Worm backed up a few steps, jumped off the bed, leaving a few more footprints.

"Alright, let's give you a bath first."

Summer dawns always came especially early. When Rhodes opened his eyes, daylight had already filled the room.

Worm, who had been sleeping next to his pillow, had disappeared again, just like before.

Rhodes hadn't figured out whether it was because his magic supply stopped when he fell into deep sleep, or if there was a time limit on how long summoned creatures could stay.

He got out of bed, put on his slippers, and stretched lazily. The soreness in his legs and the noticeable increase in his magic power made him feel very grounded.

Perhaps because his base level was so low, as long as he worked hard, he could easily see results.

"Ding, MP limit +10!"

Rhodes provided sound effects for his own silent cheat ability.

An increase in magic power was good news, but what made him even happier was what he discovered last night when, after meditating, he tried to sense the river crab's status through the pendant.

Not only did Rhodes "see" the river crab submerged in the water, he also saw an entire river channel, and... another river crab.

The other one was leisurely walking back and forth downstream, as if patrolling.

Rhodes had a feeling that as long as he wanted, he could summon this crab at any time.

When the injured crab recovered, he should be able to summon both at the same time.

He sensed his magic power—well, he'd need to train for a few more days.

Rhodes washed up and went out, greeted Goodman as usual, and casually summoned Worm.

On the way, he didn't forget to buy a packet of cookies for Worm.

Funds decreased by 500J.

Watching Worm happily swallow a cookie with a flick of its tongue, Rhodes began considering a feeding plan.

In the game, Poros needed to eat Poro-Snax to grow... Although they looked like cookies, what ingredients were they made from?

Should he gather various ingredients and let Worm figure it out?

That might be a way.

While pondering, he had arrived at the guild.

Rhodes did his usual cleaning tasks, and when Marcus, whom he had arranged to meet yesterday, arrived, they went to the backyard together.

He had already inquired about Marcus's situation: he used Sand Magic, was good at defense but weaker in offense.

As for overall strength...

Mira tactfully gave an evaluation: "Not very noticeable compared to Erza," which was giving Marcus some face.

Rhodes thought about it and felt that what she probably meant was that, in the entire guild, his strength wasn't very outstanding.

Then, Rhodes lost again.

Although Marcus couldn't take down the Canyon Swift Crab as cleanly as Natsu did, he could still block the crab's charge.

When the crab slammed into the Sand Wall with a thud, several sand ropes wrapped around its legs, restricting its movement.

"Seems it really can only be a utility-type neutral monster," Rhodes finally recognized the crab's role.

Marcus walked around the crab towards Rhodes. "Want to continue?"

Rhodes got into a stance. "Let's fight."

...

He couldn't win. With just two fights' worth of experience, how could he compare to someone who brawled every few days?

Even for someone not particularly strong like Marcus, dealing with Rhodes was easy.

But Marcus was more about "stopping at the right point," so he didn't leave Rhodes with bruises or other injuries.

In Marcus's words: "I don't want a new friend to not want to talk to me the next day."

For someone like him who loved talking to people, listeners were very important.

Since Marcus liked it, Rhodes decided to chat with him a bit before work.

Anyway, whether to get more information or to correct his Common language, Rhodes needed to communicate with people.

"A quick way to increase magic power? There's no such thing; magic power grows through diligent training, of course.

"Oh, by the way, as you get older, your magic power will naturally increase a bit. Take me, for example—I'm 16 now, and in another seven or eight years, I'll definitely become strong.

"Hey, Rhodes, how old are you?"

"Almost 19..." Rhodes was stunned. How should he calculate his age and birthday in the future?

"18 years old, then you're the same age as Erza, Mira, Bisca, Alzack..."

Marcus thought for a moment, patting Rhodes's shoulder consolingly. "You need to work hard."

"..." Rhodes didn't feel comforted at all.

"Speaking of which, Bisca hasn't been learning magic for very long either, and now she can handle things on her own. So you don't need to worry. Just work hard..."

As Marcus kept talking, Rhodes's gaze fell on the green-haired girl chatting with Erza.

That was Bisca. Although he hadn't officially greeted her, Laki had introduced her to Rhodes.

Bisca had a good relationship with Erza and also used Requip Magic, but she requipped various firearms.

In addition, there was Mira's enthusiastic explanation (gossip):

Bisca learned Requip Magic because she admired Erza, and she also liked Alzack, who specialized in Bullet Magic.

According to Mira's observations, Alzack would occasionally stare dazedly at Bisca's back, and she thought those two would end up together sooner or later.

Alzack... Rhodes looked around and indeed found a handsome guy dressed like a cowboy not far from Bisca.

Rhodes realized that his guild not only had many eccentrics but also quite a few handsome men and beautiful women.