After leaving Fairy Tail, Ul hoisted the wild boar onto his shoulder, climbed into a carriage, and headed back to Granny Is's house.
As the carriage rolled along, Ul thought back to what Wakaba had just told him and couldn't help muttering to himself, "Laxus, Erza, Mirajane... That's quite a lineup. I didn't expect the guild master to be so bold! He actually sent all three of them on a job together. Isn't he worried they'll team up and tear another guild apart?"
Remembering how the original story had described the three of them, Ul could almost hear Makarov's regretful wails echoing in his ears!!!
When Ul returned to Granny Is's house, the first problem he faced was Granny Is's nagging.
The reason for it was the injuries on Ul's body.
Neither Ul nor the people at the guild thought much of such minor injuries, but to Granny Is, they were practically a "huge deal"!
Ul sat there and listened obediently to Granny Is's "lecture," not daring to argue.
It went on for over an hour!
Ul even felt the wound on his leg starting to heal before Granny Is finally finished lecturing him.
And then!
Ul went right back to his usual "pig's life"—eating and drinking to his heart's content!
As Wakaba had said, guild wars were still a little too far removed from Ul. Satisfying his curiosity was enough. If he really got involved, Ul was certain he'd meet a very ugly end...
Ever since moving in with Granny Is, Ul hadn't eaten a single bland meal, not even once in any of his four meals a day.
But since breakfast was unusually late today, Granny Is only made something simple.
A whole roasted pig!
That was Ul's breakfast for the day.
The roast pig was made from the "monster" wild boar he'd brought back himself. After all, he'd brought the "monster's" corpse home for the express purpose of eating it...
Ul ate the entire pig until he was sweating all over and burning up. He felt an inexplicable force spreading out from his stomach through his body.
It was an experience he'd never had before!
It felt strange, but... amazing.
The moment Ul noticed something unusual happening inside him, he brought up his status panel.
--
Invincible Passive System
Host: Wei Yi
Passive Abilities: Void Stomach, Lava Body, Evil Equilibrium
Health: 16
Magic Power: 16
Mental Power: 19
Magic Resistance: 0%
Armor: 1%
--
"Just as I thought!" Ul murmured as he looked at the status panel.
Compared to yesterday, most of Ul's attributes hadn't changed much, but his Health had increased by a full two points.
The reason was the "monster" wild boar he'd just eaten.
Void Stomach could increase Ul's Health by devouring the life essence of other creatures. The increase was closely linked to the level of the creature devoured. Compared to ordinary creatures, "monsters" clearly contained much more life essence. Even all the "fish and meat" Ul had eaten over the past few days probably didn't add up to a single "monster."
After all, the food in Ul's stomach hadn't been fully digested yet. Once everything he'd eaten was digested, his Health would probably rise again.
"What a terrifying ability!" Ul exclaimed. At that moment, he once again understood just how frightening it was to be a cheat.
Although most Mages in this world didn't deliberately train their bodies, having their bodies regularly tempered by magic still made them far stronger than ordinary people. They might not have exceptional strength or speed, but they were certainly very durable.
However, it took these Mages a long time to "temper" their bodies enough to achieve such results. Yet in less than a month, Ul had already surpassed most low-ranking Mages in this world. How could that not make him feel... incredible!
Once Void Stomach had devoured all the remaining "monster" meat in his stomach, Ul's Health increased by another point, reaching seventeen.
Seventeen Health was already quite high. It meant Ul's physical abilities were approaching twice those of an average adult.
Even among Mages, such physical abilities were quite impressive!
However, Ul was still very thin, so it was hard to tell just by looking at him.
After breakfast!
Ul took a carriage back to the guild.
The mishap during his last job had made Ul realize that he still had a lot of weaknesses, so he needed to address them as quickly as possible.
Ul entered the guild and headed straight for the library...
The library was busier than usual today. Besides Levy, the resident bookworm, there were several other people, all of whom Ul knew...
The two white-haired girls, one older and one younger, were none other than the sisters Mirajane and Lisanna.
Besides them, there was a boy wearing a suit and bow tie. He was sturdy and was reading with a serious expression. He was Mirajane's younger brother and Lisanna's older brother—Elfman Strauss.
Like Mirajane, Elfman hadn't yet become the chūnibyō musclehead of the future who shouted "manly" all day. For now, he was a polite, scholarly "big guy."
Of the four people in the library, only three were actually reading. Mirajane, who was still a delinquent girl at this point, was swinging her legs while sitting on a table and watching her younger siblings study. She looked every bit the delinquent.
"Ah... Mirajane was so much cuter later on!"
Whenever Ul saw Mirajane these days, he couldn't help letting out a sigh like that.
How had such a proper young lady gone so crooked?
Hmm?
Something seemed off!
"Ah... Ul, you're here! What book do you want to read today?" Levy was the first to notice Ul's arrival. Since Ul had spent so much time in the library lately, he and Levy had grown fairly familiar with each other. At least, Levy spoke much louder when talking to him now.
As soon as Levy spoke, she drew the attention of the Strauss siblings!
Mirajane in particular. The moment she heard Levy say "Ul," she abruptly turned to look...
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