After finishing the last grain of rice, Arthur leaned back against the rough wooden support of the tent.
His entire body ached.
Every muscle scread.
A dull throbbing lingered beneath his skin, a constant reminder of the brutal training he had endured since morning. Even lifting his arms felt like a chore, as if invisible weights were dragging him down.
But for the first ti that day—
He wasn’t being punched.
Silence surrounded him.
A rare, almost unfamiliar kind of peace settled in the air.
Arthur exhaled slowly and looked at the ceiling of the tent.
"...Alright," he muttered. "Give my rewards now. At least one good thing should happen today."
A brief pause.
Then—
[On it, Host.]
A faint hum filled his vision.
Suddenly—
A translucent screen appeared in front of him.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Quest Completed]
-Choice A — Show the Pride of a Warrior, Even if You Are a Fraud.
✔ Objective Completed
✔ Acknowledgnt Earned
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Arthur’s eyes widened slightly.
"...Oh."
Another screen appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
-Reward Available-
Legendary Constitution — Infinite Harmony Constitution
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Arthur leaned forward slightly, his exhaustion montarily forgotten.
"I like what I’m seeing," he said with a grin.
The interface expanded further.
Arthur’s eyes locked onto the reward.
"...Infinite Harmony Constitution..."
A slow smile spread across his face.
"Yeah... that’s definitely worth it."
A faint excitent stirred within him, cutting through the fatigue like a spark in the dark.
[Reward ready to be claid.]
Arthur didn’t hesitate.
"...Claim."
The mont the word left his mouth—
Everything changed.
A sudden pressure exploded inside his body.
"—!"
Arthur’s eyes widened.
Then—
PAIN.
It ca instantly.
From within.
Like sothing deep inside him was being forced open.
"GHH—!!"
His body jerked violently as he collapsed forward, his hands slamming into the ground.
A burning sensation spread through his chest—
Then deeper—
Into places he had never even felt before.
His spiritual veins—
were opening.
One—
Then another—
Then another—
Each one tearing open as if sothing was carving pathways inside him.
"AAAGHH—!!"
Arthur’s body trembled violently.
His muscles tightened.
His spine arched.
His breathing shattered.
A faint white glow began leaking from his skin.
Dim at first—
Then brighter—
Stronger.
His entire body began to shine.
Inside—
Everything was changing.
His internal structure shifted.
Veins expanded.
New channels ford.
Energy pathways aligned.
rged.
Connected.
One by one—
All one hundred and ninety-one spiritual veins—
Awakened.
Each one bringing another wave of unbearable pain.
Arthur’s fingers dug into the ground, clawing at the dirt.
"GHH—...!!"
His voice cracked.
It felt like his body was being reforged.
Rebuilt.
Rewritten.
From the inside.
Then—
Slowly—
The pain began to fade.
Not instantly.
But gradually.
The tearing dulled.
The burning softened.
His breathing—
Still rough—
Began to stabilize.
The white glow dimd.
His body felt...
Different.
Heavier.
Denser.
Connected.
Whole.
A strange sense of balance settled within him, as if every part of his being had finally fallen into place.
Arthur’s fingers loosened.
His vision blurred.
"...finally... it’s over."
His body gave out.
He collapsed inside the tent.
And darkness consud him.
----------
Inside the mansion—
A massive training hall echoed with heavy impacts.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
The sound reverberated off the walls, filling the vast space with a relentless rhythm.
Julia stood in the center of the room, her fists striking a thick punching bag repeatedly.
Her knuckles were red.
Bruised.
Yet she didn’t stop.
Sweat glistened across her toned, curvy body, tracing down her arms and abdon. She wore a tight sports bra and fitted training shorts, both damp from intense exertion. Her blonde hair clung to her face, strands falling over her eyes before she brushed them back impatiently.
Her breathing was controlled.
Steady.
Focused.
THUD.
Another punch.
THUD.
Another.
Then—
CRACK.
The punching bag burst open under the force of her strike, stuffing tearing out as the entire thing split apart.
Fragnts scattered across the floor.
Julia didn’t even react.
She casually grabbed another bag, hooked it up, and imdiately resud—
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
Each strike carried monstrous power.
Each movent was precise.
Controlled.
Deadly.
Then—
A voice echoed through the room.
"You seem to be working hard."
Julia froze.
Her body stiffened slightly.
She turned her head—
And saw Yuna standing there.
Her eyes widened just a little.
’I didn’t even sense her presence... hell, I didn’t even realize when she entered.’
Julia quickly composed herself and smiled as she said, "Master..."
She rolled her shoulders slightly before adding with a faint smirk, "So... how is your favorite student doing?"
Yuna raised an eyebrow slightly and replied, "Do I sense a hint of jealousy here?"
Julia imdiately looked away and said, "No. I’m not jealous of that weakling at all."
Yuna chuckled lightly and said, "Alright, alright... no need to get so defensive."
She stepped closer.
Then said calmly, "I have a question for you, Julia."
Julia nodded and replied, "You can ask anything, Master."
Yuna’s gaze sharpened slightly.
"How much ti did it take you to learn Iron Breathing... when I taught you?"
Julia puffed her chest slightly and said proudly, "It only took one day."
She smirked faintly and added, "And you said I was the second fastest after you."
Yuna smiled faintly.
"Exactly," she said. "I myself took fifteen hours to learn it properly... which made the fastest."
Julia frowned slightly.
"...What do you an by ’was’?"
Then—
Realization hit her.
Her expression froze.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"Don’t tell ..." she muttered.
She didn’t finish the sentence.
Yuna’s smile widened.
"Exactly," she said.
She stepped closer.
"The person you’re calling a weakling... broke both of our records."
Julia’s breath hitched.
Yuna continued calmly, "He learned it in twenty-five minutes and forty-seven seconds."
Silence.
Then—
"And his body adapted to it in just two hours," Yuna added. "Can you believe that?"
A jolt ran through Julia’s body.
Her mouth slowly fell open.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
For a mont—
She couldn’t say anything.
Her pride wavered, just for a second.
Seeing her reaction—
Yuna burst out laughing.
"Looks like that ’weakling’ isn’t so weak after all," she said, clearly amused.
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