Become Stronger!

Huali had always felt that he and Fu You were about the same height. Fu You wore height-increasing shoes, which made him look a little taller.

But once they started fighting, Huali always felt that everything about Fu You was longer than his. Fu You's arms were longer, his legs were longer. There clearly should not have been more than a few centimeters' difference between them, yet Huali could never touch Fu You while Fu You could always hit him.

He calmed down and carefully observed Fu You's techniques, but he truly could not spot anything unusual.

Gradually, he realized that Fu You was not using any particularly complicated moves at all. Blocking, deflecting, parrying—everything was utterly ordinary, yet those very techniques rendered all of Huali's attacks ineffective.

Many times, he genuinely could not figure out whether he was attacking Fu You or charging forward on his own to make it easier for Fu You to beat him up.

After getting beaten up enough times, he found some ways to avoid being hit. Even if he had not learned Fu You's techniques, he had at least discovered that he was becoming increasingly familiar with the feeling of combat.

How his body should move to evade attacks, what details he should watch during a fight to analyze an opponent's movements and predict where they would attack—there was simply no chance to calmly observe such details in actual combat. Now was the perfect opportunity.

The training continued for nearly an hour, and by then, he was so exhausted that he could barely stand.

A Magical Girl's stamina was far greater than an ordinary person's. His magic had not run out, and the fight with Fu You had not been especially intense, but it had been incredibly physically demanding. He could feel his legs beginning to ache.

A Magical Girl's stamina was not limitless either.

It was not that he could not endure it, but the soreness had severely distorted his movements.

"Let's stop training for today," Fu You said.

Huali sat down on the ground, and his Magical Girl form instantly dissolved, returning him to his original appearance.

But reverting to his original form did not restore much of his stamina. The hardship his Magical Girl form had endured had already carried over to his human body.

He wanted to stand up, but his legs felt weak.

"Can you still get back?" Fu You asked.

"...Probably?" Though he said that, Huali remained seated on the ground without moving.

He tried to sit up, but the aching pain in his waist and back instantly ruined his effort, and he plopped back onto the ground.

Fu You looked around.

This was by the river. Since it was secluded enough, it was also a good place to kill someone and dump the body. If someone died here and was buried beneath a pile of rocks or thrown into the river, it could be days before anyone found them.

Liu Rui looked far too much like a pretty boy. In Fu You's view, someone like him was the easiest target for robbery.

Jiangyang City's public safety was indeed quite good, but that did not mean there were no desperate criminals.

"I'll take you back," Fu You said.

"Really?" Huali sounded a little happy.

Fu You nodded, then bent down and hoisted Huali over his shoulder.

Fu You's Magical Girl form looked petite beside Huali's human form. Yet his strength was astonishing. Carrying Huali, he easily leaped into the air and headed toward Magical Girls' Apartment.

Huali rarely had the chance to touch Fu You from so close. During their fight just now, aside from being struck again and again by Fu You, he had barely managed to truly touch him. But now, when his arm felt the softness of Fu You's body, some amorous thoughts suddenly surfaced in his heart.

This is nice. Senior looks a little fierce when he becomes a Magical Girl, but he's actually soft too.

When they reached the alley across from Magical Girls' Apartment, Fu You tossed Huali onto the ground and left without looking back, only tossing out one sentence: "Walk the rest of the way yourself."

"Okay, Senior!" Huali did not feel discouraged in the slightest and happily waved at Fu You.

This was a rare display of kindness from Senior! He had never acted like this before!

So even Senior, who was usually so cold, had a gentle side.

Senior's face did not actually look stern at all. Even though he always tried to look fierce, his round cheeks made it difficult for anyone to find him truly dangerous. At most, he merely looked a little unhappy.

How could a senior who trained with him and brought him back to Magical Girls' Apartment possibly be a bad person?

Thinking that, he supported himself against the wall and made his way toward Magical Girls' Apartment step by step.

But the moment he left the alley, he saw Huang Xing running toward him.

He was startled.

"Huali? Why are you here?" Huang Xing asked.

"I went out to train a little," Huali said.

"Perfect, there's news of a Fierce Beast. Let's go together!" Huang Xing grabbed Huali and tried to pull him away.

Huali hurriedly waved his hands. "No, I can't. I really can't do it anymore."

Huang Xing looked at him in surprise. "What's wrong with you? As a Magical Girl, you should get excited the moment you hear a Fierce Beast has appeared. How can you back down?"

"It's not that," Huali said. "I don't have any strength left."

Huang Xing smiled. "Then transform into a Magical Girl! Magical Girls never get tired!"

As Huang Xing spoke, she transformed before Huali's eyes, taking on her Magical Girl form.

"Come on, let's go together!" Huang Xing held out her hand to him.

Huali really wanted to refuse, but Huang Xing's expression was simply too warm. That confident, resolute face made it hard for anyone to reject her request.

In that case... maybe I should give it a try?

Huali immediately transformed as well.

Pink hair fell across his face, and his pink skirt swayed and fluttered.

"Let's go!"

Huang Xing grabbed his hand and sprinted toward where the Fierce Beast had appeared.

Perhaps because he had reverted to an ordinary human just now, his Magical Girl body had actually recovered some strength.

Enduring the soreness in his legs, he followed Huang Xing and arrived at the place where the Fierce Beast was rampaging.

He cast Healing Spell on himself. Healing Spell greatly eased the exhaustion from his training earlier.

But Healing Spell consumed a considerable amount of magic, and it could not last very long. Once its duration ended, the accumulated exhaustion would return.

Unless they encountered a Fierce Beast, such a magic-consuming method of recovery should never be wasted like this.

At the moment, Green Yi was aiming an arrow at the Fierce Beast.

"You're here!" Green Yi greeted them with a smile.

"Awoo!!!" The Fierce Beast roared. Its three-story-tall body wildly slammed at the area where Green Yi stood.

Green Yi continuously flipped and leaped, avoiding every blow.

Huali held his wand and stared intently at the Fierce Beast.

The purpose of training was to fight Fierce Beasts. Even though he was already tired, since he had encountered one, he had to fight it with everything he had.

Fighting Fierce Beasts to protect everyone was precisely a Magical Girl's mission.

"Huali, you protect everyone. Green Yi and I will fight the Fierce Beast with all we've got!" Huang Xing said.

"Yeah!"

Huali noticed that two children were trapped in a corner by a wall, trembling in fear.

He no longer hesitated and rushed over.

The Fierce Beast had no time to pay attention to this side, but children's bodies were far too fragile. Even a slightly more violent movement from the Fierce Beast could easily kill them.

He wrapped both children in his arms.

"Don't be afraid. I'm here to save you," Huali said.

"Thank you, Pink Big Sister!" one of the children said.

The two children nestled against him.

Children who understood nothing had lightly entrusted their lives to his embrace.

Feeling their trembling arms and hearing their crying suddenly stop because they had seen him, warmth rose faintly in his heart.

This was the meaning of a Magical Girl's existence!

He had become a Magical Girl precisely to save children like these!

With a push of his feet, he carried the two children away from the Fierce Beast.

It was not just the children. There were also other people trapped inside collapsed buildings after the Fierce Beast's sudden appearance.

—He might not be able to hurt the Fierce Beast, but at the very least, he could keep more people from being attacked by it.