A Fine Day Today

Chapter 31: The Weather Is So Nice Today

"Haa—"

Linton rested his head on a pillow made of straw and turned his head to look out the window.

The sky was not yet bright, and the stars were scattered across it.

In the courtyard, Miss Knight was diligently swinging her knight sword, her expression serious. If she hadn't been transformed into a puppet and couldn't sweat, it might have had a different kind of charm.

Since the closed beta testing stopped, they had moved, but they were still living in Blackwater Village.

Iris seemed to prefer these peaceful days with little conflict. Although Linton was in a hurry to save money and break away from the Truth Society, his traits were too troublesome. If he were to go into business, he'd definitely be arrested as a black marketeer. And to travel across the continent, he'd need to use the teleportation arrays in major cities. Someone like him, who looked suspicious at first glance, would certainly not be allowed to freely enter these precious spatial arrays that were invaluable to everyone.

So, he went along with Miss Knight's wishes and stayed here temporarily.

However, while Iris liked a peaceful life, it didn't mean she was lazy. Every day, as soon as dawn broke, she would wake up early and begin honing her swordsmanship.

It's just that...

"While diligence is important, isn't this a bit excessive?"

Linton calculated the time. It was currently around two in the morning. Even with his modified body and superhuman energy, shouldn't he be getting more rest?

"Is she encountering some kind of problem?"

Myriad thoughts flowed through his mind as Linton tried to find the truth among them.

Initially, Iris's training time was normal. But in recent days, she had started training earlier and earlier. Moreover, she was no longer satisfied with practicing without a physical opponent; she now wanted Linton to be her sparring partner.

Not to mention that the majority of a Necromancer's combat power came from their puppets. Even in hand-to-hand combat, how could a scholar like him possibly defeat someone who had been practicing swordplay since childhood?

So, Linton repeatedly refused. Then, Iris proposed going out to clear out some minor monsters.

The result was that, for the past few days, the villagers had been discussing which patrolling Flower Knight was so formidable that they had cleared out all the surrounding monsters.

Iris's actions had far exceeded the standard of simply maintaining her skills.

After thinking for a long time, Linton felt that instead of finding clues among countless possibilities and piecing them together to form a result, it would be better to directly ask the person involved.

Of course, based on his understanding of the young lady during these past few days, if he asked directly, she would absolutely not reveal the specific reason.

"Iris!"

Miss Knight's movements paused, then she continued to swing her sword, asking without turning her head.

"What is it? Why aren't you resting yet?"

"You aren't resting either."

"I can't sleep."

Linton dragged a broken chair from the courtyard to a spot a little further from Iris and sat down. Leaning back against the chair, he squinted and observed the girl's practice.

Iris forced herself to swing her sword a few times under his gaze. However, the man's gaze was too sharp, and she inexplicably felt the same sense of shame as performing on stage for the first time.

"Hey! Can you go back to your room! Don't disturb my practice, okay!"

Linton spread his hands innocently. "I'm not speaking, and I'm not doing anything. How am I disturbing you?"

"Your presence here is the biggest disturbance to me!"

"Alright, alright." Linton got up helplessly, waving his hand. "Regardless, thank you."

"Thank me?" Iris asked, confused. "Why are you suddenly thanking me?"

"Aren't you practicing so diligently just to improve your strength? But what are you improving your strength for? Isn't it to protect me? I haven't forgotten what you said back then."

Iris froze, and then the moonlight quietly cast a veil over her fair cheeks as if to conceal them.

She exclaimed urgently, "Who said I wanted to protect you! Good heavens, how can there be such a self-important person in the world!!"

"Then why are you suddenly working so hard? Like before, wouldn't it be enough to spend a small amount of time ensuring your skills don't get rusty?"

"That's not enough!" Iris said angrily. "I want to become strong, very, very strong, stronger than everyone else!"

"Even so, shouldn't you balance work and rest? Even a horse-drawn cart will fall apart if its wheels keep turning without stopping," Linton said softly. "A person's spirit has a threshold. Although your body is special and won't complain about your overexertion, at a certain point, even a small spark can become the starting point for an explosion. That immense pressure will instantly break through the dam, causing you to collapse."

"But..." Iris suddenly seemed disheartened. "Everything was fine before. I could feel my strength growing, but in the past few days, this progress has stagnated."

"And I've been fighting even more..."

The troubled girl sighed repeatedly.

"Is it really like you said, because I'm putting too much pressure on myself, and the overload is causing my body to be unable to bear it, which is why my strength can't improve further?"

Her strength stagnated, unable to improve?

So that's how it is?

Listening to Iris's murmuring, Linton seemed to recall something, and his eyes gradually became unfocused.

He vaguely remembered that puppets needed materials to upgrade...

While Iris wasn't paying attention, Linton quickly opened his status panel.

It was then that he discovered that the puppet's attributes had already changed.

[Name: Iris Lizer]

[Level: Lv.10 (5700/5700)]

[Level Cap Reached, Breakthrough Possible]

[Required Materials: Ever-burning Grass Wick x10, Sturdy Bone Shard x10, Pure Spirit x1]

[Attributes: Strength 4, Constitution 2, Intelligence 8, Charm 9, Luck 1]

If he remembered correctly, Iris's starting level should have been 8, with Strength and Intelligence at 3 and 7 respectively.

Puppets' attributes grew with level progression and couldn't be controlled by free attribute points like players. However, they could be specifically trained to improve certain stats.

As for experience points, puppets shared them with their masters. So, while Linton gained a large amount of experience and leveled up, Iris also benefited from it, possibly even having some to spare.

Seeing this, one might think puppets weren't much different from players. However, at every ten levels, puppets required materials for a breakthrough, a so-called bottleneck. Players, on the other hand, didn't have such restrictions, only needing to complete specific quests when changing professions at most.

"So it was my fault?"

Linton's face immediately turned a little awkward.

He couldn't help it; it was his first time as a Necromancer, and he was a bit rusty. Forgive, forgive.

Secretly glancing at the puppet girl who was still troubled by herself, Linton quickly started searching for the materials the puppet needed to break through to the next level.

Ever-burning Grass was a unique plant in the Kingdom of Blossoms, characterized by its faint white glow. It was said that even in eternal night, it wouldn't dim before wilting. Sturdy Bone Shards, on the other hand, were silver-grade materials that could be harvested from various skeletal monsters.

The latter two were quite common, so Linton had plenty in his inventory and didn't need to look for more.

It was normal for the materials to be simple for the first breakthrough.

But the last item, Pure Spirit, was a material that only dropped from boss-class monsters.

As for how to find this boss...

In the Kingdom of Blossoms, were there any bosses that even top players couldn't find or hadn't defeated?

"Iris." Linton clapped his hands, pulling the girl out of her deep thoughts. "Since you want to improve your strength so much... let's go. I'll take you to fight something big. Battling it will definitely help you improve."

"Oh."

Iris responded blankly, then immediately realized something was wrong.

"Wait a minute, didn't you just tell me to rest?"

"Did I?"

"...You jerk! My strength can't improve because of you, can it!!"

"Ah! The weather's really nice today."

"It absolutely is!!"