Lava Body

On the way back!

For once, Ul indulged himself and paid for a carriage ride back to the guild.

The main reason was that Granny Is's "gift" couldn't be kept for long in this weather. The only way to make sure it didn't spoil was to take a carriage straight back to the guild.

······

"System, come out!"

With some time to kill in the carriage, Ul hurriedly called up the system—one that actually existed in reality. He had to admit, now that he had money, he had a lot more confidence when calling for it!

"Ding-dong!"

[QQ: Create happiness with money...]

[Host, would you like to recharge?]

As soon as the system panel appeared, those lines automatically popped up on it.

Ul: "..."

"Recharge!"

Ul was genuinely speechless at this system. He'd never met a system so greedy for money in his life.

"System, why do you like money so much? There are clearly so many other wonderful things in this world..." This question had been on Ul's mind for a long time. After all, other systems liked things like all kinds of "Pokémon," while his system actually liked something as vulgar as "money." If word got out, it would bring shame upon the entire system community!

Hearing Ul say this, the system seemed to pause in surprise. After about two seconds, a line slowly appeared on the system panel.

[???]

"Is there anything in this world better than money?"

Ul: "..."

I'm speechless.

·······

"Ding-dong!"

[Host has recharged 15000 J and successfully upgraded to Level 2 Membership. One draw awarded.]

[Would you like to start the draw now?]

While Ul was momentarily distracted, the system completed the recharge.

The moment Ul saw the two lines of text appear on the system panel, his expression changed...

"Damn it, who told you to recharge all my money? What am I supposed to do for the next few days?" Seeing the entire reward from this mission disappear from his pocket in an instant, Ul couldn't help roaring.

Ul had already asked the system before: upgrading from Level 1 to Level 2 Membership only cost 10000 J.

He'd only planned to upgrade to Level 2 Membership and take his second draw. He hadn't expected this damn system to "pocket" his entire reward. He'd been counting on using the rest of the money to cover food and lodging for the next few days!

[The system defaults to recharging all of the host's assets. If the host wishes to set a recharge limit, please specify the amount in advance.]

Perhaps because the recharge was already complete, even though the system had no voice function, Ul could still sense a faint coldness from the line of text on the panel...

Hah!

So all systems were bastards after all.

·······

"System, start the draw right now!"

There was no choice!

For Ul, the system was still his lifeline. After all, if he lost the system now, he'd truly be nothing!

On that point,

Ul knew exactly where he stood...

Though that particular system was a rip-off, it was a diligent one. So as soon as it heard Ul, it immediately began the second draw.

The image on the system panel turned into a black hole, and soon a familiar light fell upon Ul's body...

Then!

Several lines of text slowly appeared on the system panel...

[Congratulations, host! You have obtained the passive ability "Lava Body" from the hero Magma Beast!]

[Lava Body: Greatly increases the host's affinity for earth- and rock-elemental magic power, and grants a certain degree of armor growth...]

·······

Compared to the description of Void Stomach, the description of Lava Body's passive ability was much more concise.

But although the description was shorter, the ability itself was no simple matter.

Ul looked at the lines on the system panel and pondered.

The first half of the description for Lava Body was easy to understand. "Increasing affinity for earth- and rock-elemental magic power" probably meant that Ul's aptitude for both elements had improved...

But the "armor growth" mentioned in the second half was a lot more intriguing!

After thinking it over,

Ul brought up his status panel. Just as he'd expected, it had changed again...

Invincible Passive System

Host: Wei Yi

Passive Abilities: Void Stomach, Lava Body

Health: 13

Magic Power: 13

Mental Power: 17

Magic Resistance: 0%

Armor: 1%

Every time he gained a passive ability, Ul's body was strengthened to some extent. But the improvement was so slight that he could barely feel it without checking the numbers on his status panel.

So he wasn't surprised by the increase in the first three base stats!

But the change in the final stat, "Armor," caught his attention.

There was no doubt about the power of "Armor" and "Magic Resistance." The reason the Dragon Race was so powerful in this world was that their dragon bodies had "magic immunity"—in other words, magic resistance—which gave them an overwhelming advantage against ordinary Mages.

But neither "Armor" nor "Magic Resistance" was something a human body could possess. Even if an ordinary person trained to their absolute limit, their body could have no more than 1%–2% magic resistance and armor. That was determined by innate factors, and it was very difficult to change—unless they transformed into another species.

But now, the "armor growth" granted by Lava Body opened up other possibilities for Ul.

·······

·······

A carriage was much faster than walking!

Earlier, it had taken Ul a full three hours to walk from the guild to Granny Is's house. Now, the trip back took him less than half an hour...

And then!

An awkward situation arose.

Because some rip-off system had just used all the money on him for the recharge, Ul patted his pockets when the carriage stopped and suddenly "discovered" that he didn't have enough money to pay the fare!

Fortunately, the carriage had stopped outside the Fairy Tail guild.

With a bang!

Ul hurriedly pushed open the guild doors and, under the gaze of countless people inside, rushed straight to Makarov...

When Makarov saw Ul, he froze for a moment. Then a bright smile spread across his face. "Hey, Ul, welcome home! Did the job go well—"

"There's no time to explain, Guild Master. Lend me some money, quick..."