It was a vacant lot with few people in it.
I was alone in the middle of it, with my eyes closed, standing there quietly.
Yesterday's defeat of the Phoenix had come to my mind.

As a result of defeating the phoenix, Sieg and the others had earned a considerable amount of money.
However, we couldn't be honestly happy about that.
The reason for that was the existence of the mutated Phoenix.

Thinking about it now that I've calmed down, I think that Phoenix hadn't yet reached a stage where it could be called a mutation.
Even if I can say for sure, the lack of judgement, the intimidation, etc. that was focused on recovery while being attacked was clearly inferior to the mutated Hydra.

...... but still, the Phoenix was definitely trying to mutate.

A rapid enhancement from a dying state.
The scene at that time was the best proof.

And now that the two super-difficult demonic beasts had also mutated at an abnormal rate, the possibility that Hydra's mutation was a coincidence had disappeared.
An obvious anomaly is happening in this labyrinth city.

According to Zeke, as far as the news of the mutation was concerned, it apparently went to the Adventurer's Guild headquarters in the royal capital.
In a few days, it seems that the masters will come to the labyrinth city again to investigate.
However, it is unlikely that the guilds in the labyrinth city, which are hostile to the guild headquarters in the royal capital, will be investigated quietly.
...... Perhaps the labyrinth city will become noisy from now on.

As that thought crosses my mind, I can't help but let out a wry smile.
It's easy to imagine a future where I will be rubbed in the face when Master comes.

"Haha, I wish I could follow my master's stopper, even Ronaldo: ......

Besides, I'd let those words slip out in a whisper.
But it was only for a moment that I was thinking about it.

"Huh,

In that next moment, my mind had switched.

The various messes that came up after the defeat of the Phoenix.
It was troublesome, and it often bothered me.

But that wasn't the thing that remained in my mind the most after the defeat of the Phoenix.

As soon as I closed my eyes, I remembered the image of the Phoenix before I sliced its head open with the dagger.
To be precise, that's not what I remember.
What I remember is not the figure of the Phoenix, but the state I was in when I saw that figure.

The state I was in at that time could be envisioned in my mind just by closing my eyes.
The extraordinary lightness of my body and the power that flooded my body.

That and the feeling of transcending the walls.

"Huh!

With the image of recreating that sensation, I combine magic and qi to strengthen my body.

...... yarika.

In the next moment, as I moved my body to test my physical strength, I blurted out a few words.
It was a small voice, a desperate attempt to stifle the emotions that were bubbling up.

But it's filled with a joy and excitement that can't be hidden.

'I've finally gotten over the wall: ......

The big wall that has been standing in the way of my growth for a year.
As I muttered to myself, I realized once again that I had finally crossed that wall.

The smile on my mouth expresses my joy.



◇◆◇



It was exactly one year ago that I realized the limits of strengthening my body with magic and chi.

Strengthening your body with magic and chi, it's something that puts a heavy burden on the body by nature.
For example, the first time I succeeded in strengthening, I broke my ribs instead of strengthening for a few dozen seconds.
If I hadn't remembered to use the recovery magic stone to enhance my recovery magic, I might have stopped trying that enhancement method the first time around.

But even with the power of such a double-edged sword, it was finally a hope for me.
That's why I didn't mind getting hurt myself, and I desperately trained myself repeatedly.
In the beginning, I was covered in scars before I fought the monster, and even after I got used to strengthening my body, the raw scars never stopped.
Still, I continued to train every day.

...... But one day, I finally learned the limits of my magic power and qi body strengthening by almost dying.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for when you're in the market.
But even so, the injuries can't be eliminated.
The more you strengthen it, the greater the injuries will become.
In other words, the physical strengthening of magic power and qi was only a discarded subterfuge that was conditional on physical injuries.

Beyond a certain range, the physical strengthening through magic power and qi could no longer be trained.
No, to be more precise, if you crossed a certain range, your injuries would cross the limit and you would die.
That's the limit of magic and chi physical enhancement.
A major barrier that I was reminded of that I couldn't cross no matter what I did.

''Ha!''

But now I had crossed that big wall.

The kata Ronald taught me, and I am convinced of this when I perform them in a strengthened state.
The difficulty of performing the precise movements of the kata with a strengthened body is the same as before.
Even so, the pain that makes the body creak that I remember just by strengthening it has disappeared, and I can't help but feel the urge to start laughing.

The pain isn't completely gone.
If you loosen your focus even a little bit or strengthen it, it will immediately attack your body.
But compared to the past, it was a difference of a cloud.

That's not the only change.
It's not only that, but it's also that my movements after strengthening my body have become quite awkward.
But now, it was clear that my body was able to move more easily.
If this is the case, I may be able to fight with body strengthening from the start.

Perhaps this change was triggered by the defeat of the mutated Hydra.
And the fight with the Phoenix would have to be a full awakening.
It was the appearance of a super-difficult demonic beast that I thought was only unfortunate, but apparently it brought this kind of power to me.
Thinking of this, the smile on my face deepens.

With this, I can become even stronger.
If I do so, I'll be able to go to .........

The urge to continue working out even more, driven by that emotion, was driving me to continue, but I shook my head and quit the kata.

I lost myself and trained, but now I had to go to town and do something.
I wanted to see how I had grown, if possible, for a little while, but I would have to head towards the city now.
With that thought in mind, I start walking towards the city, glancing towards the vacant lot forlornly.

'I finally found you,'

...... but the next thing I know, I'm stopped in my tracks by a figure that appears in front of me with those words.

'Flawed bastard, this is the last day you can put a big face on it.'

The one who stared at me with eyes that didn't even try to hide their hostility and spat those words out was that first-class party that had previously licked its tongue at me and Narsena.