After reaching the downstairs of the inn, Serenity, Layla, and Leprechaun came upon a very unexpected scene.
“Haha, come on!” Teddy shouted and beckoned a person in front of him with his hands.
“Hmph.” Ambrose grinned and slammed his fist deep into the muscular torso. The sheer strength of the punch was witnessed by the eerie smack sound, which sent shivers down everyone’s spine.
However, Teddy only laughed. “Is that all?”
“What is going on…” Serenity looked at the scene with a baffled expression. She looked around the inn, and most of the Silver Heart members were present. They were simply watching the scene with amused expressions.
“Fuck…” Ambrose shook his hand, which he used to throw the punch. ‘My strength stats are at 100, yet I am still weaker than him. I guess having a powerful real life body is worth more than a mere 100 stats.’
“Well, if you don’t plan on punching, don’t mind if I do!” Teddy grinned and smashed his brick-sized fist deep into Ambrose’s gut. Everyone watching the scene flinched, as that looked like it would hurt.
“Ugh…” Ambrose gasped greedily for air as he doubled over. He barely managed to keep standing, but the punch sent shockwaves across his entire body.
“Teddy, what are you doing?”
“Uh?” Teddy looked to the side and flushed in embarrassment. “Miss Serenity, good morning!”
All the Silver Heart members turned to the silver-haired girl who walked from the stairs.
“What are you two doing?” Serenity asked with narrowed eyes. To her, it looked like they were bullying Ambrose.
“We were… uhh…” Teddy stumbled over his words.
“A team bonding exercise.” Ambrose suddenly said from the side while trying to catch his breath. He wiped the drool off his lips and let out a laugh. “I asked for him to punch me.”
“Eh, why?” Serenity looked at Ambrose with a confused expression on her beautiful face. She had a hard time understanding his mindset.
“For experiment.” Ambrose said, without explaining any further. He wanted to see the difference in pure strength between him and Teddy. There was an immense difference, but now he had a goal in mind.
‘Strength training, swordsmanship training, and footwork training. I have to train those.’
Last night, Ambrose didn’t sleep for even a second.
Instead, he began thinking about his training schedule for the following weeks. He wanted to increase his real-life body’s strength and stamina and continue learning the use of his left hand.
Then he also wanted to improve his swordsmanship. He knew his swordsmanship wasn’t any better than the average person’s. He only had a few skills, but there was a limit to how far those would take him.
He needed to learn swordsmanship from scratch.
“Yes, he asked me!” Teddy said with a gleeful expression and put his arm around Ambrose’s shoulders. “I also wanted to test the power of his MUSCLES.”
‘What is with him and his muscles?’ Ambrose looked weirdly at the muscular man.
“Oh, that is good then.” Serenity sighed with relief after seeing everyone getting along.
But then Leprechaun beside her shouted. “Teddy and you!”
Ambrose and Teddy turned to the curly, blond-haired man, who was screaming in rage.
“Here we go…” Teddy rolled his eyes.
“You broke that!” Leprechaun pointed towards the dining hall’s broken window. “You shall also pay for it!”
“Fineeee,” Teddy said with a bored tone.
“No need; we will pay for it.” Serenity suddenly spoke and showed a sweet smile. “Leprechaun, we can use my personal funds for it.”
“E-eh, but.” Leprechaun was speechless.
Clap, clap.
Serenity clapped her hands, attracting everyone’s attention.
“Wagons should be waiting for us. Let’s get going. We should arrive at Yatagarasu near noon.”
The Silver Heart members nodded and departed the inn with excited expressions. They were wanting to see what kind of city Yatagarasu was.
There was a sunny morning sky, but the roads were still muddy with puddles everywhere. However, the wagon drivers had already decided on an alternative path to avoid the muddy roads so they wouldn’t get stuck again.
As Serenity followed behind them, a black-haired young man suddenly appeared beside her and said.
“I will pay half.”
“Eh?” Serenity looked at Ambrose and puckered her lips. “No. Layla told me what happened, and I don’t blame you for punching him, as he kind of deserved that.”
“Miss Serenity…” Teddy walked behind them with tears in his eyes.
“Therefore, on behalf of Silver Heart, I will pay for the damages.”
“Fine.” Ambrose sighed and stepped out of the inn with her. They came across a bright blue sky with a scorching sun. Then they turned to the wagons, which were waiting beside the inn with horses neighing.
After getting on the wagons, the drivers used the reins to control the horses. Soon, the wagons carrying the party of the incoming quest started wheeling out of the town, continuing their journey to the famous city of Yatagarasu.
Inside the wagon, Ambrose whispered. “Music Interface.”
Without further ado, he put the music on and increased the volume to maximum.
As the booming sound of the music entered his ears, Ambrose closed his eyes and enjoyed it. This time, he was sitting at the corner nearest the entrance of the wagon, where he could see the passing forest, dirt road, and far-away town.
Because of yesterday’s rain, the air was still moist, and the wind was very strong. Yet Ambrose enjoyed the wind brushing past his hair, even though it was getting quite chilly inside the wagon.
Serenity touched her ears and took off her silver earrings. They were special earrings that gave her enhanced reflexes. It was one of her rewards for the World Quest.
She placed them back inside the inventory and took another pair of earrings from there. These earrings were different. They were black with a red gemstone in the middle, which was shaped like a heart.
After putting them on her ears, she felt her body temperature rise. Those earrings would increase her body temperature since they were, so far, only level 1 earrings.
She didn’t know how to level them up yet. 𝑶𝓋𝐥xt.𝗇t
She then turned to Ambrose, wondering whether he was also feeling chilly like she was. He was closer to the outside; therefore, it would make sense for him to be shaking in the cold.
“Jesse, are you cold?”
She asked but didn’t receive an answer. The black-haired young man sat with his eyes closed, as if he were sleeping.
“Jesse?” She asked again, yet received no answer.
She moved closer to the closed-eyed young man and gently touched his shoulder. At that moment, the young man flinched and opened his eyes. He turned to the side, and sw her sitting beside him, their noses almost touching.
“Oh.” Ambrose opened the interface and paused the music. “You said something?”
“Oh, you were listening for music? Sorry…”
“No problem. Was there something…?”
“Oh, yeah. Are you cold?” She asked with concern in her face.
“Not really.”
“Just in case, take this.” Serenity handed him another of the same black-colored earring. She only put one of them to her ear while giving the second to Ambrose.
“What is this?” Ambrose looked at the earring with a raised eyebrow.
“If you put it on, it will increase your body temperature.” She said. “There are some special relics, which give special abilities to the players. None are very strong yet, as no one has any idea how to level up those relics, but this should help you.”
“Oh, thanks…” Ambrose looked at the earring and then looked back at her. He looked slightly ashamed. “How do you put this on?”
“Hehe, let me put it on for you.” She giggled and took the earring. Then touched gently Ambrose’s earlobe and used the sharp end of the earring to stab a small hole in it.
After helping Ambrose put on the earring, she looked at him and smiled. “There.”
“Thank you.” Ambrose whispered and felt a slight numb sensation on his left ear, but it wasn’t bad. Instead, he soon felt a wave of warmth wash over him, getting rid of the previous cold, even though it didn’t bother him much.
“You’re welcome,” she said, smiling again.
