"Don't think about running away, Laxus~"
"You're in this condition and still thinking about Laxus?"
Rhodes patted Natsu's head, "How about challenging instead? Watch beat you up."
"Aye! I'll bet on Rhodes winning!"
Now that they knew Natsu was alright, Happy showed no rcy in making fun of him.
Natsu weakly began to argue with Happy.
The more Happy argued, the more enthusiastic he beca. With Natsu like this, he felt like a fight would be no problem.
Rhodes opened the cloth pouch, finding several bags of powdered dicine inside along with a note detailing usage instructions.
"How did she figure it out?"
He had been training hard recently, but he always used the Red buff to recover. He also applied so ointnts and didn't feel discomfort.
"Rhodes, the sll of dicine on you is so strong, it's making want to throw up."
"Sll?" Rhodes sniffed his arm, then held it to Happy. "Does it sll?"
Happy sniffed, "No fish sll."
"I'm not asking about fish!"
It must have been a very faint scent, only noticeable up close—and Natsu had noticed. Could Granny Porlyusica have slled it too? Or did she see sothing about my complexion or stiff muscles?
Looks like the life recovery power of the red buff isn't perfect—I shouldn't push myself too much.
When they returned to the guild, the floor and furniture were all back to normal—likely thanks to Laki.
Natsu followed Rhodes and Happy into the guild, looking listless like a zombie.
"Are you alright, Natsu?"
As soon as they entered, soone asked about Natsu's condition, but Natsu ignored them.
Happy answered in his place, "Aye! Granny Porlyusica said a few days of rest would do the trick."
Seeing that Natsu had no particular direction and was simply following him, Rhodes thoughtfully brought him to Erza's table.
"Erza, I need to get back to work. I'll leave Natsu with you."
"Leave it to !" Erza pulled Natsu over.
Rhodes heard a "clang" sound.
He touched his forehead. That familiar sound of a head hitting armor...
Hahaha... Rhodes resisted laughing.
When he returned to the counter, Mira greeted him, then asked, "Is Natsu alright?"
Rhodes nodded. "Yeah, he'll just be weak for a while. So rest should do him good."
"That's a relief. What's that?" Mira noticed the cloth pouch in Rhodes's hand.
"Granny Porlyusica suddenly gave so dicine."
Mira's work paused. "Are you pushing yourself again?"
Rhodes felt slightly guilty. "Not really, just tried a bit of regular extre training."
Mira looked at him. "How do 'regular' and 'extre' even go together?"
"I'm just trying to find the fastest way to get stronger. I've been easing up lately; I'll figure out the right training intensity soon."
Hopefully, I can find a balance before the dicine runs out.
Seeing Granny Porlyusica's attitude today, Rhodes felt a bit scared—if I accidentally overdo it and ruin myself, I wouldn't even know where to cry.
But thinking back to how casually Laxus beat Natsu today, if I stop working hard, it'll be forever impossible to beat him and Mystogan.
Rhodes looked at the dicine pouch—there's enough here for a while; might as well keep training.
Mira fell silent, and Rhodes felt uneasy. "Uh... aren't you going to say sothing?"
"Like what?" Mira kept her head down, writing in the register. "You're right—everything you said makes sense, and you have plans for the future, which is good."
"Oh."
Rhodes felt the atmosphere wasn't right—he should say sothing.
Reason with her? But she just said I'm right.
Apologize? Out of nowhere, how would that make sense?
Joke around? I was already told to stop earlier.
Coax her? No, we're not at that stage yet.
Ignoring it would be the worst option.
Just then, Cook's voice rang out, "Table 6, grilled lamb ribs, four seasons pizza."
"Got it." Rhodes placed the pouch on the counter and went to the kitchen to pick up the dishes.
As he passed by Mira with the tray, he paused, hesitated for a mont, and quietly said, "Thank you."
Mira's pen paused, and she looked up, her gaze softening as she watched Rhodes walk away.
After a busy day, it was finally ti to clock out.
Rhodes helped Mira and the others clean up the guild tavern.
Once the chores were done, they bid each other goodbye, and Rhodes headed for the backyard.
Laki asked, "Going to practice again?"
"Yeah, I've been so busy these past few days that I haven't had ti to practice magic during the day," Rhodes replied. "Lock the doors; I'll head out through the backyard later."
"Takeover!" Rhodes transford into his Scuttle Crab form, practicing the associated skills for a few rounds before canceling the magic.
"Takeover: Murk Wolf!"
Light flickered across Rhodes's body, his figure becoming taller, covered in wolf fur, transforming completely into a werewolf.
Although he had taken on the form of a twin-headed wolf, he didn't grow a second head; instead, a shadowy wolf figure circled him.
Rhodes could control the shadow wolf to lunge and bite as easily as moving his own hands and feet.
While in this form, not only did his strength and coordination improve, but he could also sneak around silently in the shadows, with his sense of sll greatly enhanced—especially sensitive to the scent of blood.
After training in Murk Wolf form for a while, Rhodes canceled the magic, ensuring he saved enough magic power for the next summoning.
He then started high-intensity training using the equipnt in the yard.
Rhodes trained until he was almost out of stamina, eventually lying on the ground to catch his breath, summoning the Brambleback to apply the Red Buff to himself.
"So tired. Why do I do this to myself?"
Determination is determination, but complaining is still complaining.
Rhodes closed his eyes, silently waiting for the effect of the Red Buff.
The sensation of his strength slowly recovering and the fatigue ebbing away felt very comfortable.
Comfortable enough that it felt like soone was gently wiping the sweat from his face with a warm towel.
Rhodes opened his eyes. "Mira? You haven't gone ho yet?"
Mira was squatting beside him, gently tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Since I had to do inventory on the alcohol and make a list for tomorrow's supplies, it took a bit longer. I heard your voice in the yard, so I ca to check."
Rhodes believed her—just coming to check, with a prepared towel and even mixing the dicine. Very normal.
Mira's hand gradually tightened. "What—are—you—smiling—about?"
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Rhodes hurriedly wiped off his smile. "I was just thinking, aren't you going to tell to stop for a bit?"
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