Erza seemed to have something to do and left the tavern directly.
Then... Natsu sprang back to life at full health. "Let's settle this, Roddy!"
"It's Rhode," Rhode corrected, then added, "You saw it just now, right? I'm weak. I got knocked down with one punch."
The blue cat rushed to say, "It's okay. Natsu used to get taken out with one punch whenever he challenged Erza too."
"You talk too much, Happy! I'm not the same as before. Now I can definitely..."
Happy covered his mouth and muttered softly, "Definitely last a few more punches."
"What did you say!?" Natsu glared at him, looking ready to fight Happy first.
Happy flew behind Mira and poked his head out. "Aye!"
Mira said nothing, simply using a dry cloth to wipe the glasses she had just washed.
"Anyway, fight me! That crab of yours looks pretty strong!"
"Um..." Rhode considered it. "Tomorrow. I need to rest."
Mostly because he did not want to take a second or third beating today. He was still hurting all over.
"Then it's a deal!" Natsu stormed off energetically.
Happy, however, was in no hurry to leave. Standing on the counter, he asked Rhode, "Are you a wizard who uses Summoning Magic?"
Rhode nodded. "Yep."
Drool began to trickle from the corner of Happy's mouth. "Then can you summon fish?"
Rhode silently reviewed the types of wild monsters. "Probably not. At most, I could summon a toad."
"Despair..." Happy immediately crouched in a corner, his whole feline body swallowed by shadow.
"...Is fish really that important?" Rhode did not know whether to laugh or cry. Besides, even if he could summon fish, they would be for battle. There was no way he could let Happy eat them.
Happy raised his fist. "Fish is the supreme delicacy!"
"Yes, yes." Rhode did not want to argue with a cat about whether fish tasted good.
Worm rather liked Happy, who was about the same size as him. He scooted over and nuzzled against him, and the two cute creatures soon began playing together.
Toward evening, Levy came to the guild. She picked out a job from the request board with Jet and Troy before coming to Rhode to learn Chinese characters.
"Today, I'll teach you two slightly more complicated Chinese characters: 'fist' and 'pain.'"
Borrowing Levy's Light Pen, Rhode carefully wrote out the two characters stroke by stroke, while explaining their meanings.
"Why are you suddenly teaching me these two characters?"
"...Just feeling inspired."
"Ah, right. I heard you dueled Erza today."
Levy looked at him as if to say, You're so brave. The corners of her mouth could not help rising, though she tried hard to press them back down. It looked rather difficult.
"It's hard to put into words... Go ahead and laugh if you want."
"Ha ha... No, I'm not laughing at you... Ha ha, um, I'm just happy to have learned new characters."
Because there was no malice in her laughter, Rhode could not even get angry. He sighed.
"Oh, right. Here, take this back. The Wind Chant Glasses."
Levy shook her head. "Keep them for now. I have a spare pair, and I'm going out for work tomorrow, so I probably won't need them."
"You only got back two or three days ago, right? You're already working again?"
"That's because the reward from our last job wasn't very high, and we spent a few days having fun in the target city..."
In truth, Levy's team was fairly average in strength within the guild, so the jobs they took were usually not very difficult.
Accordingly, the rewards were not especially high either.
And the reward for each job had to be split three ways. Compared to the other guild members, they naturally had to work a little harder.
Even so, Rhode still envied them. "I don't even know how long it'll be before I can take jobs with decent rewards."
Levy suggested, "If you want to take a job, how about joining our Chariot Engine Squad? The reward for this one is pretty good."
Rhode was tempted, but he immediately shook his head. "No. Even if I joined you, my strength would only hold you back."
"It's fine. This time, we're going into the mountains with an expedition team for a puzzle-solving and treasure-hunting job. More than strength, it depends on brains."
Levy closed one eye and held up two fingers enticingly. "The reward is 200,000 Jewels."
Rhode swallowed. Not because Levy's gesture was too cute, but because the reward was too tempting.
If 200,000 Jewels were split among four people, that would be 50,000 Jewels. It was nearly half a month's wages for him.
But going into the mountains...
"On second thought, I'd better pass. Thank you, but I don't think I'm ready yet."
"Is that so?" Levy tilted her head but did not press him for a reason. "What a shame."
Rhode gave a bitter smile. The shadow of being attacked by beasts when he had first crossed over, combined with Erza's punch today...
Until he possessed a certain amount of strength, he absolutely would not dare step even a single foot beyond Magnolia City's town limits.
Makarov, who had been resting with his eyes closed, glanced at Rhode. This child was another troublesome one.
--
After getting off work, Rhode did not head straight home. Instead, he jogged along the main road in front of the guild. After a simple warm-up, he gradually picked up speed.
Train your body a little, or you'll suffer for it. The Master's words still rang in his ears. Rhode felt that doing only push-ups before bed was too half-hearted, so adding running seemed like a good idea.
Rhode had Swift Crab carry the large box of medicine and medical supplies Erza had given him back home.
That box might have been custom-made by Erza. It bore the Fairy Tail emblem, so presumably no one would casually touch it even if it was left outside his door.
Rhode ran through the residential area near the guild, then lightly leaped down the nearly two-meter-high stone steps two at a time, arriving in another residential district.
Continuing down the main road brought him to the bank of a canal that ran through Magnolia City.
In the distance, he could see the tallest building on the other bank—Cardia Cathedral.
The few streets around the cathedral were the true city center. In other words, the guild had actually been built on the very edge of the city.
That might also be why Rhode's rent was relatively cheap. It was just a little farther from the city center.
After reaching the riverbank, Rhode did not continue toward downtown. Instead, he kept running along the canal until his heart raced, his breathing turned ragged, and sweat began streaming down his cheeks.
He was not sure how far he had run. He had only counted more than three thousand steps.
Rhode was surprised to discover that his constitution might be better than before he crossed over. In the past, three laps around a track would leave him like this. Now, he was clearly a little stronger.
Before, the feeling that his lungs were about to burst would definitely have driven him to stop. But now, Rhode knew he had only just begun.
Real training was not only training for the body, but also training for the will. Whenever he felt he could not keep going, if he just persisted a little longer—even if he ran only another hundred meters—it was still progress.
Of course, for someone with his pathetic stamina, talking about willpower might make people laugh. At this distance, others would only just be warming up, while he was already training his will?
But there was nothing to be done about that. His constitution was what it was. Rhode could barely move his legs now. To keep advancing, he even had to rely on the twisting force of his waist and hips to drive his legs forward.
That disloyal Worm had originally toddled along on his short legs for a few steps, but before long, he decided to climb onto Rhode's shoulder and act as extra weight.
Rhode decisively sent him back.
He did not think he had reached the stage where he needed weighted training yet.
The weather today could not be called clear, so when the sun set, only a hazy point of light could be seen.
"Keep it up, young man!" Someone was steering a boat upstream through the canal. Seeing Rhode drenched in sweat, he casually cheered him on.
Rhode struggled to raise his aching arm in response, then continued his willpower training.
The residents here were rather friendly.
Before you continue