Chapter 39: Payday
Chapter 39: Payday
As August rolled in, the weather seemed to grow even hotter.
Magnolia's city planners had done a commendable job with urban greening, ensuring trees were abundant, which in turn brought the constant chirping of cicadas. While the sound could be pleasant and evoke the essence of summer when one was in a good mood, it could also become incredibly irritating when one's spirits were low.
The guild hall's ceiling fans creaked and groaned as they rotated, offering a meager breeze that barely made a difference in the sweltering heat. In such conditions, Rod felt that even the noise of the guild's rowdy members seemed to carry a wave of heat with it.
Many in the guild shared Rod's discomfort, feeling irritable and lethargic. Some spoke with barely any energy, only finding relief by gulping down a few icy cold beers.
At times like these, Gray became one of the most popular people in the guild. Despite being drenched in sweat himself, he couldn't resist the constant pleas and requests, turning into an efficient ice-making machine. This had a silver lining for him, as those he helped were too grateful to remind him to put his clothes back on.
Of course, this didn't apply to Natsu, who remained unaffected by the heat. He still had the energy to run around and even break into strange dances occasionally.
Mira placed an empty glass on the bar, adding a few ice cubes, and poured a refreshing drink, pushing it towards Rod. "You look a bit off today."
"Thanks," Rod said with a grimace. "I didn't sleep well last night. It was too hot, and the mosquitoes were relentless."
The mosquito repellent potion left behind by Goodman had run out, and Rod reminded himself to buy a new bottle after work.
Mira's eyes showed sympathy. "That must have been tough... By the way, where's Worm? I haven't seen him around for a couple of days."
"He's avoiding the heat. The ungrateful guy is hiding in the Howling Abyss to cool off."
Rod picked up the glass and pressed it to his forehead, the cool sensation providing some relief. "I suspect that nothing is going well for me lately. Even my magic growth seems to have slowed down."
"Of course, that's only natural. Your magic level is already quite advanced. The same rate of improvement won't feel as significant as it did at the beginning."
"Do you really think I'm that good?"
"At the very least, Jett and Marcus can't keep up with you anymore..." Mira covered her mouth, feeling that her words might be a bit unkind to Jett and the others.
Even when Rod first obtained the Stone Beetle, it had given Jett a hard time. Now, with his increased magic and the addition of the 'Three Wolves,' the gap had only widened.
The 'Three Wolves' were a common name for the trio of monsters, which included two Shadow Wolves and one Large Shadow Wolf.
The Shadow Wolves were about the size of tigers, much larger than ordinary wolves, and had a more formidable appearance, reminiscent of saber-toothed tigers.
The Large Shadow Wolf was even bigger and had two heads.
When the three massive wolves bared their teeth and snarled, their ferocity was undeniable, and they were clearly not to be trifled with.
After multiple tests and practice sessions with his guildmates, Rod confirmed that the Shadow Wolves were more agile and better at offensive maneuvers compared to the Stone Beetle. In addition to their basic pounce and bite attacks, the Shadow Wolves had a keen sense of smell for tracking and were adept at ambushing from the shadows, living up to their name.
While they might seem weak in the game, they were quite formidable in this world—Kana couldn't easily hit them with her cards as she could with the Stone Beetle.
The magic cost to summon them was roughly equivalent to summoning three River Crabs, similar to the Stone Beetle.
Currently, Rod could command both the Stone Beetle and the Shadow Wolves in battle. Once the fight started, a one-on-one duel quickly turned into a group assault, giving him a significant advantage.
However, this also made Rod himself a more vulnerable target for his opponents to focus on.
There were two effective solutions to this problem: one was to ride a River Crab and flee to a safe distance, and the other was to follow the Stone Beetle underground and run as far as possible within the limited time he could hold his breath.
Tactics may be cowardly, but they work.
However, these are just temporary solutions. To truly become powerful, one needs to strengthen oneself.
Continuously training the body and practicing combat skills is one method, but it requires long-term dedication.
Another method is to learn one or two elemental magic spells, but this method...
Rod asked, "Everyone seems to specialize in just one type of magic. Why not learn more to better handle different situations?"
"Because there isn't enough time and energy," Mira replied. "Whether it's learning magic or increasing magical power, it requires a lot of time and effort. Learning multiple types of magic at once might lead to a long period of no progress. It's better to focus on mastering one type of magic. Imagine adding another magic practice to your current schedule. Can you find the time?"
Rod thought about it. Meditation and physical training are the foundation of becoming stronger and cannot be neglected. The proficiency in summoning magic, which reduces incantation time, also requires significant practice. Then there's work time...
He couldn't just sit around and wait for the guild to support him—Nab, who rarely takes missions, still does occasional odd jobs to earn some food money.
Besides these, there's reading time.
Once his general knowledge is more complete, he could use this time to learn other magic. For now...
"Could I cut back on sleep a little?"
"No way!" Mira immediately rejected the idea, raising her index finger to emphasize her point. "Sleep is essential for restoring mental energy. You mentioned your schedule before, and that's already quite intense. Reducing sleep to practice magic could risk you developing magic deficiency syndrome!"
Magic deficiency syndrome, which Rod had read about in books, is usually triggered by overusing magic. Once it sets in, the consequences range from fainting to sudden death, making it a very dangerous condition for mages.
Practicing magic out of fear of death only to die from over-practice... that would be incredibly stupid.
Rod responded seriously, "I understand."
Not having time now doesn't mean he won't have it in the future. Priorities must be set.
Once he achieves his current goals—expanding his general knowledge and shortening incantation times—he will naturally have time to practice other skills.
He has only been training for less than a month and can't rush things.
"Don't look so glum. I have some good news for you."
Mira seemed relieved and placed a stack of bills on the counter, "Ta-da... payday!"
"Already?" Rod picked up the bills, surprised. It was exactly 120,000 J, and he asked, "But I haven't worked a full month yet."
Mira thought for a moment, "The day we went shopping counts as overtime."
"Thank you then."
He was grateful for the guild's support and Mira's thoughtful reasoning.
Rod realized this wasn't like his summer job at a hotel; he was in the guild, in Fairy Tail.
Mira waved to Laki, who was chatting with her friends nearby, "Laki, come get your share!"
"Coming!" Laki took her salary, which was a thicker stack of bills than Rod's. "Finally, I've received my time and labor value measurement..."
Time and labor value measurement... Laki's peculiar phrasing.
Rod decided to remove this phrase from his vocabulary. Correcting common language was already challenging enough; he didn't want to learn these quirks.
Laki affectionately rubbed her face against the bills, "I can get a few more 'little cuties' now."
Little cuties...
Alright then.
(End of Chapter)
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