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It has been four days since I came out of the hospital, and we’ve spent these days resting while at the same time helping Baihe familiarize herself with our home. My brother has been slightly paranoid about our safety, so while he was out going into dungeons and danger zones to level up, he always left a Fenrir’s Doppelganger to watch over the two of us.
I’ve spent these four days mostly meditating and cultivating my physique, spending my Ki and Mana every day to refine my physical body and strengthen it further. I also taught Dan Baihe to do the same, and through a potion I made for her using the materials of high-ranked frost-type monsters, she awakened her own physique, which ended up being named [Eight Layered Frost Heart Physique].
It was a mysterious power she never possessed in her previous life, and this was thanks to her cultivating and utilizing her Yin energy to forge a physique in her body. It was also thanks to my sponsorship, which enhanced her growth and development amazingly well.
Her physique was already Tier 1 Rank 2 after just two days of meditation, showing her talent, which was further boosted by my sponsorship. Also, I’ve made sure to feed her some more Magic Crystals compatible with her, and her stats have steadily increased, though I decided to stop for now.
If Hunters absorb too many Magic Crystals of the same type or monsters, the effects will be lost after a few; the stronger they are, the faster the effects vanish. Even giving her a Yeti King Magic Crystal barely increased her stats.
She’ll have to absorb different monsters' magic crystals now or drink potions, which she does every day. Overdoing it with this special physique and stat-boosting potions specifically made for her own strength and affinities might hinder her growth by making her body break due to having too much power flowing through her.
Nonetheless, sitting around is not everything we do. We went to register her as a hunter, and due to the many reported acts of kindness that we did in that dungeon break, including saving the lives of many people, we earned enough contributions to become E-Rank Hunters right away!
F-Rank hunters barely have any benefit, but from E-Rank, we’re finally getting something nicer. For starters, by showing our medals in the Hunter Market or in the physical shops around the city, we can receive a discount of 10% off on anything we buy.
Additionally, we can gain access to buying equipment right away instead of having to make it ourselves. Lastly, we can access guarded Danger Zones or Dungeons that have yet to be closed on the outskirts of the city or any city within the territory of North America.
We are still restricted to D-Rank Danger Zones at most, but that’ll suffice to be allowed to enter the Newbie Hunter Drills that are happening at the end of this week.
Oh right, and today, we were having a little spar because I wanted Dan Baihe to practice her magic and grow more accustomed to fighting, something I also need to learn better.
“{Glacial Wolf Claws}!”
CLASH!
Baihe attacked by imbuing Frost Mana into her hands and growing large claws resembling those of glacial wolves, which released powerful shockwaves whenever they hit the floor.
“Not bad!” I praised her. “However!”
I stepped forward as I imbued Yang energy into my body, making it flow into hundreds of golden rivers through each of my veins. My muscles strengthened rapidly as I unleashed several consecutive punches, each one unleashing a bright sunlight blast.
Dan Baihe was unable to defend herself as her Frost Claws shattered into pieces, and she was forced to step back, gritting her teeth as my aura easily melted away the ice she had created around our surroundings.
“Come on! You’re not this weak! Go all out!”
I stepped forward, leaping towards her and swinging my right leg with enough strength to shatter a boulder. However, what I ended up hitting was a large mass of frost, which quickly spread across my leg to the rest of my body. In a second, I was completely frozen.
“Hahhh… A-Ah! No! Anna!”
Baihe panicked, as she seemed slightly agitated. It seemed that using her frost magic in her totality scared her; she was afraid of her own strength. I have to make sure to show her that I am not someone weak enough to die from mere magic.
Crack… crack… CRASH!
A shockwave of sunlight and flames surged from my body, and as I unleashed the power of my advanced physique, the frost covering me instantly shattered.
“I told you to not lower your guard!”
I rushed forward and pointed my fist into her stomach, mercilessly punching her into the room’s walls.
BAAAM!
“Agh…!”
Baihe hit the wall as she groaned in pain, falling to her knees.
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“I-I give up! Please don’t hit me again!" She looked at me, tired.
However, I noticed how the ice was spreading around her body, and her wounds instantly began to heal. This is most likely her physique’s effect: self-regeneration.
“You were the one that asked me to spar with you.” I said. “I know you’re afraid of overusing your powers because you think I’ll die, but I won’t. Stop looking down on me.”
“I-I’m not looking down on you!” Baihe said this while feeling desperate. “I-I just…”
Hah… Maybe I was too harsh on her?
“Sorry, okay, let’s just end it for today.” I sighed. “I’ll cook you something yummy.”
Baihe sighed, seemingly conflicted with herself.
"Am I really good enough?” She wondered.
“What?” I asked.
“I… I’ve been thinking that maybe I am not good enough.” She sighed. “Seeing all these amazing hunters, compared to them, I’m just trash. I can’t even concentrate enough to conjure stronger magic."
“But what happened when you were in the dungeon?” I asked. “You were rather confident.”
“I know, but…” Dan Baihe sighed, feeling slightly sad.
“Hmm…” My eyes suddenly started shining brightly.
[The [Angelic Eyes (D Rank Privilege)] Effect has been activated.]
[Your Eyes have analyzed [Character: Dan Baihe]!]
[Current Mood: Frustrated, Depressive.]
[Description: Even though Dan Baihe underwent Character Development in the Dungeon, now that she has killed her own stepfather and begun living as a hunter, she feels many doubts about the future that has yet to come. Aside from that, she feels like she’s good for nothing and merely a troublesome bother to you and your brother. She realizes how strong she is, but she’s also afraid to hurt you by using these powers and is too shy to ask you to teach her how to better control Mana.]
Huh, this Privilege is really good. I’ve never really been someone THAT good at analyzing other people’s mental states through just a glance at their faces, so this helps me get things a bit clearer.
“Your Skills mostly allow you to be an amazing magician, but I’ve given you enough physical strength and a physique so you can also fight hand in hand and defend yourself when you can’t resolve everything through magic,” I said. “But maybe I’ve been approaching this the wrong way. Sorry about that, honestly.”
“E-Eh?” Baihe suddenly blushed a bit as I helped her stand back up. “Anna… No, don’t worry about that! I-It is all my fault…”
“Nah, I was being a dumbass,” I laughed. “How about we start with something simpler? Let’s train our Mana Auras. How about we practice Magic Manipulation?”
“T-That can be done here?” She wondered.
“Of course, this whole room was specially designed for battles between Hunters,” I said.
We were currently inside a specially designed room in my brother’s apartment. By the way, we didn’t just live on a little floor; the whole building was my brother’s. He just rented it to other people; in the underground, there’s a large area where he trains, and he gave me the keys to it.
"I wanted to ask you that, but I felt a bit…” She sighed.
“Nah, don’t worry about it,” I said, making her feel accepted. “I think you’re really talented, and you’re not useless either, if you ever think that. You’re someone really strong and useful; in fact, the reason why I’m letting you have it easy with us is because I know you’ll make sure to repay us.”
“I’ll make sure to do so!” She nodded. “And sorry again, I thought I was just taking advantage of your good heart, but I guess you’re just confident I’ll be useful; I’ll make sure to not disappoint you.”
“Of course you won't; I’ve invested a bit too much in you.” I sighed.
“A-Ahahah…” Baihe laughed slightly nervously.
“Anyways! Let’s practice some more. I also want to spar physically again, but this time I’ll go easier.” I acted slightly cockily.
“Thanks!” She said. “For now, let’s begin!”
She suddenly gave me a big mood swing; these privileges are real life savers for me!
[The Cosmic Throne {Giantess Queen of the Frost Throne} is happy to see Dan Baihe feeling more motivated.]
[She has gifted her a part of her strength.]
“Huh?!” Baihe suddenly began glowing with a bright blue light coming from her chest as she once again acquired some sort of new power. “W-What is this? Ah! Is Lady Skadi gifting me another thing now? She’s so generous."
“She’s really simping for you." I sighed. “So what does it do?”
“Hmmm… Is it something more, like an instinct? And experience…” She said, her eyes beginning to glow bright blue as she suddenly created a spear made of ice in her left hand. “Can we spar physically? I think I’ve got it!”
“Oh? It seems she really gave you something nice." I smiled.
When I looked at her status, I quickly noticed what it was.
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[Innate Skills (6)]
[Brave Heart (B)] [Exhaustion Resistance (D)] [Frost Queen (S)] [Great Sorceress (S)] [Frost Wyvern’s Breath (B)] [Glacial Wolf’s Claws (C)] [Frost Ruler’s Intimidation (A)] [Hardened Battle Instinct (B)]
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Hardened Battle Instinct? Oh, that’s certainly useful! Maybe I should also sponsor her some new skills using my Privileges… I'm being stingy and saving points for now.
“Alright, come at me!”
“Okay!”
We resumed our fight out of nowhere, as Baihe rushed forward much faster than before. It felt as if she had gained experience in battles she never truly had.
I attacked her with several fists and kicks, but she intercepted a few and evaded others, although I still managed to land several of them, and I was going easy on her.
She jumped off the ground when she evaded one of my fists to her face and then descended with her spear like a falling star.
The ground shook as cracks appeared in the floor; however, I barely managed to evade and unleash a beam of sunlight from my fists.
“Uwaah!”
BOOOM!
She was blown away just like that.
“A-Ahhh… I feel dizzy.” She sighed, sitting on the floor. “T-That was awesome; that new skill she gifted me… Maybe if I use that, I could grow more accustomed to fighting.”
"It seems like your sponsor is hellbent on making you her incarnation.” I laughed. “Alright, Mana Manipulation Training it is! After that, let’s go eat out somewhere you choose.”
“S-Sure!” Baihe was much more motivated.
For the next two hours, we practiced mana control spell conjuration and creation. I also taught her how to imbue Mana and Ki into her body properly, and thanks to her new skills, this became rather easy for her to learn. It felt a bit unfair, but whatever.
In the end, we sparred again, and thanks to her better manipulation, she was able to land more hits on me before I blew her away with a blast of sunlight.
“Hahh~ This restaurant's gyozas are much tastier than the ones from my own…” She sighed, happily eating a pork gyoza.
“I wouldn’t mind eating one you could prepare one day,” I said with a smile.
“S-Sure! If I can, I’ll make sure to make you some.” Baihe smiled.
[The Cosmic Throne {Drama Loving King of Wine} desperately wants this story to turn into GL Genre!]
[He begs you, offering you his riches.]
“Stop it, pervert.”
[The Cosmic Throne {Drama Loving King of Wine} cries, heartbroken you’ve called him a pervert!]
[He states he’s only a man of culture.]
“Yeah, yeah, ignored.”
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