I was laying on my new bed in my new room.
It was ― of course ― the one I had woken up in.
'I can finally take a break.'
Even though I had slept not too long ago and for a long time at that, the exhaustion from the past two days was still not gone. Which wasn't really surprising.
After all, I had almost died back there, and multiple times at that.
So I was resting right now. I was just laying in my bed, doing quite literally nothing.
'...Like hell I am.'
I wasn't resting at all. I was thinking about... pretty much everything.
I mean, I was gonna have to live in a completely new world, with completely new people, and with nothing to rely on except myself.
Sure, you could make a point that I could rely on Jagon and Angelica, but relying on them any more would hurt my conscience quite a bit. The only reason I'm alive and will be alive for the next six months is because of their generosity. Just thinking about asking them for help was making my stomach turn.
Anyway, I was getting of topic. Case in point, I needed stability, and fast.
In reality, I didn't mind just learning some kind of skill ― like wood chopping ― and using it to live the rest of my life.
I didn't want to fight demon lords or gods, all I want is a life with no worries. Which is why a mundane life is fine for me.
This makes it easier for me compared to most people who have a lot of greed.
All I had to do, was find one skill that would be useful in this village, train it, and I'd be set for life.
'Yep, there's no need to worry. I can easily see myself spending my entire life in this village.'
...Is what I would've said if I picked option one back then. Instead, I picked option three. Trying to find ways to my old world was a prerequisite.
'So not only do I need stability, I also need flexibility.'
I doubted that dimensional travel was something I could easily learn about. I would probably have to travel to different parts of the world, study magic and maybe even traverse ancient ruins.
And for all of that... I needed a lot of skills. Survival in the wild, combat, magic and cooking are the ones that come to mind first.
I already knew how to cook, but this world probably had completely different ingridients, so I'd need to learn all of their characteristics.
Everything else on the other hand... I had zero knowledge on them. The horrible... tent, I built back then showed just how little I knew about survival. My combat capabilities consisted of punch and kick, and magic was something that didn't even exist in my old world, so there's no way I could know anything about it.
'And there are boundless more skills I'll need to learn.'
Thinking about them was making my head hurt.
"The next six months will be quite busy, huh?"
Even though I was laying on my bed, I felt like I became even more exhausted.
"Haaa, whatever."
I shook my head. Thinking on a grand scale where years are taken into account was not my forte. Right now, I had to focus on just one or two things.
'Stability first.'
I could learn all other skills later down the line, but first I had to learn something that would allow me to stay alive.
I wasn't quite sure what skill I should learn to keep me alive... so I was planning to figure that part out in the next week.
'It'd be best if my job ended up being something useful for my future needs, though.'
Like a hunter, for example. That would allow me to both be stable and flexible at the same time.
'I'll take whatever I can get though. I'm not picky.'
As long as I have no worries, I'll be satisfied.
'...I will always have at least one worry though. That's just my nature.'
With a thought like that, I scratched my head, lazily got up and headed to the kitchen.
The reason? It was simple.
I really fricking wanted to eat.
It was actually surprising for how long my body had lasted without food. Without any signs of wanting it, I mean.
'Who knows. Maybe the ingridients in this world are not too different and I will be able to cook something up myself.'
I frown.
'...Actually, there's no way that's happening. I need modern tools to cook, like a stove and other stuff.'
Now that I thought about it, a lot of stuff I knew how to do in my old world would be useless here due to the lacking technology.
Which meant that I had to learn a lot more skills than I first thought.
'Oh dear. I feel like the to-do list is just going to keep getting bigger.'
With a non-existent headache, I entered the kitchen and noticed that Angelica was already cooking something up.
I opened my mouth to ask a question, but a big hand covered it before I could utter a single word.
"Shh. Don't say anything. If you ask her something, her concentration will break, and this whole house might go up in flames."
After I nodded, Jagon slowly lowered his hand.
I turned around to look at him.
"Is she the type of person to only be able to concentrate on one thing?"
"That's right. The moment she tries to do two things at the same time, fire appears."
I was a bit confused at the expression fire appears, but it was probably just an idiom of this world. It most likely just meant trouble or a disaster of some sort.
We both sat down at the table, making sure to not distract Angelica in any possible way.
Since I had nothing to do, I decided to talk with Jagon. In whispers, of course.
"Could you please tell me what I could do in this village to earn a living?"
He looked at me, curious.
"You're already thinking about that? It hasn't even been two hours since you woke up."
"So what? The earlier the better."
"And you don't want to rest...?"
"I can rest after I have stability. What if you die tomorrow? I will have no one to protect me and I will have no way to live on. The sooner I can get a stable life, the better."
He grinned.
"I like the way you think. So you want a job, huh? Well, I can think of a couple..."
***
"Come on! Put more spirit into it!"
"Even if you tell me that, I won't just suddenly get stronger, you bastard!"
I was running laps around the village, almost completely out of breath and really, really pissed.
Jagon just kept making me run more and more, no matter how exhausted I was.
'For pancakes' sake, just let me rest!'
My mind was working slowly and I could barely think. This was a very annoying situation.
So... how exactly did this happen again?
Ah, right. I asked Jagon for a job, after which he mentioned a bunch of them and... I was somehow persuaded into choosing hunter?
How did I get persuaded? I remember him telling me something about muscles... right, my muscles were abnormally strong. What else was it? He also... liked my spirit and tenacity? There was also a talk about my personality... he liked how cautious and thorough I was, right?
It was because of all of this that he decided I should be a hunter. I was kinda happy about that job, but I was also scared. I mean, wasn't it dangerous?
With that thought, I was forced to run laps to test my physical capabilities and endurance.
Running like this was already making me regret my choice. Why did I choose this job? What happened to make me choose this job?
So... how exactly did this happen again?
***
"Water. I want water."
My voice was hoarse from the lack of hydration.
In the end, that bastard Jagon made me do a bunch more exercises. The worst of all of them was the plank.
Due to the fact that I got stronger, my suffering lasted much longer than I expected it to. I mean, I held out for seven minutes! Seven minutes of a plank! Do you know how torturous that was?!
It's not like I could spare effort either. That bastard somehow perfectly knew when I wasn't giving it my all, no matter how good I acted!
Due to all that exercise, the moment Angelica gave me a cup of water, I gulped it down in less than a second.
I banged the cup on the table.
"Goddammit! I wanna be mad, but I can't because I know Jagon is doing this for my sake. And that fact is making me even more mad!"
In fact, it was actually surprising how much he was doing in order for me to become a hunter... or not. I mean, he probably wants to live alone with Angelica. The sooner I become independent, the better it will be for him.
'Now that I think about it, maybe I should actually rest.'
I mean, not even half a day has gone by and I was already getting tested for a job.
This seemed way too fast for normal standards.
'But then again, I need for it to be fast.'
The faster I got a job the faster I would be able to do... basically everything. From starting to get money, all the way to learning dimensional travel.
But then again again, speeding through everything wasn't good either. I needed to make sure I was properly rested, and if I focused too much on the end goal, I wouldn't be able to enjoy the journey, which went completely against the way of life that I chose.
'After all, I have to balance both this world and my world carefully. That is what option three entails.'
Now that my thoughts went back to thinking about my future, my anger had ceased to exist, and I could look at my situation with a bit more clarity.
I would be a hunter ― that was practically set in stone. Jagon said that my physical capabilities were better than even some adults, so after learning for about a week, he expected me to be in one of the important positions.
Being a hunter would allow me to learn combat, so that skill was taken care of.
Cooking I could learn from Angelica... or maybe not. If she tried to teach me and cook at the same time, it would probably be a disaster. I should ask whether Jagon can cook, and then go from there.
Survival... that one was a bit tricky. I wasn't sure if anyone in this village had knowledge of survival, but even if there was no one, I could probably train that skill on my own.
Magic though... that was the worst part. I wasn't sure how rare magic was in this world, but I was almost certain it was not easy.
The only good news were that there was someone in this village who definitely knew magic. Otherwise, I wouldn't be clean right now. Well, as clean as I could be after working out.
Angelica also knew healing magic, but the problem was that healing magic and normal magic seemed to be different in this world. When I asked her whether she could use magic, she answered―
"I can only use wind magic and very weakly at that."
It seemed like healing wasn't considered magic in this world. Which was a bit problematic, but manageable.
'Well, at least she can teach me wind magic.'
For everything else, I'd probably need to find the person who washed my clothes and have him...her?... teach me.
But that's for later. I was once again focusing on too many things. I'm the type of person who eliminates my worries one by one, not all at once.
I finish drinking my second cup of water and lean on the chair.
I was still exhausted, but my muscles weren't screaming as loud as I expected them to, and I wasn't out of breath either. It seemed like the boost I got when coming to this world made my stamina recover faster in addition to making me stronger.
Actually, now that I thought about it, how did the boost work exactly? Did my muscles get stronger? Was it some outside force? Maybe this world had a weaker gravitational pull, so I was only proportionally stronger, not actually stronger?
I sighed.
'Too little damn information.'
But then again, you don't have to know something to use it. Even if I didn't know how the boost worked, it was still immensely helpful. There was no need to waste thoughts on unnescessary things, especially in my situation.
I finish my third cup just as Jagon enters the room.
"Haha! You were really impressive back there, Faun!"
The sound of his voice makes my irritation come back.
"No matter how impressive I looked, why did you make me do all that stuff?! And in a row, at that! I didn't get a single break between all those exercises!"
"The wilderness won't give you any breaks, will it? So I'm not giving you any either!"
He laughed heartily. I got even angrier at that.
"Shut up! Don't you say such important things like they are jokes!"
I grumble.
'This bastard...'
Jagon seemed to have a bad quirk of saying important things in passing. I mean, who phrases real life lessons as jokes?!
'Why is the first person I met in this world so weird?'
I sigh and scratch my head.
"Whatever. Just tell me how well I did."
His smile became even bigger, somehow.
"You know, from the start I thought that you'd be strong, but you exceeded all of my expectations! You're officially the strongest person in this village!"
...Eh?
I study Jagon's body once again. He was ― quite literally ― a walking mass of muscle. Not only that, but he towered over everyone else I had ever seen in my entire life.
'No, no. That must be a joke, right?'
I couldn't accept the fact that Jagon ― the massive beheamoth of muscle that he was ― was weaker than me. It made no sense!
"I'm... stronger than you?"
"That's right! You're really impressive! I think you're the second strongest person in the world, actually!"
The second strongest...? That made no sense. Were people that weak in this world?
'This is something to celebrate, but I don't feel happy at all.'
Instead, I was confused. I was summoned to a parallel world with magic, but people were that weak here? Wouldn't that make magic a bit too overpowered?
"Ah, but don't get your hopes up. You may be strong, but only in terms of muscle. And I'm not talking about weight differences, either."
'There it is. There's the caveat. My luck isn't good enough to out of nowhere be the second strongest.'
My luck was so bad that I almost died on my first two days here. There's no way it'd just turn around like that.
"What exactly do you mean by that? Aren't muscles and weight the only things that matter in strength?"
"Heh, you really are an ignorant kid, aren't you?"
'Why'd he have to say it like that...?'
Jagon coughs and puts on a serious look.
"Yes, weight and muscles are very important to strength, but there's one thing that's even more important ― Body-Strengthening."
'Ah, the classic of Isekai.'
I weakly smile. All the Isekai webnovels I read were surprisingly useful now.
"Let me guess. Body-Strengthening uses mana to reinforce one's body and make it stronger, right?"
"That's right. Now, let me ask you a question. Have you ever used Body-Strengthening before?"
I couldn't understand the purpose of that question. I didn't even know what Body-Strengthening was, how could I use it without knowing it?
"Of course no."
He smirks.
"Trick question. Every living being in the world uses Body-Strengthening, even if they don't know about it."
...Okay. That's some unexpected information.
"Um... excuse me, but how does that make sense?"
"It's simple. You see, our bodies naturally use Body-Strengthening. It is what we call Natural Body-Strengthening. This process is on the same level as breathing for us, the only difference is that it takes mana."
This talk was going in a good direction. I was learning quite an important piece of info right now.
'Let's not stop here.'
"If it's a natural body process, then doesn't everyone have the same level of it?"
"You can control your breathing, can't you? Not only that, the more you train your breathing, the better it will become, won't it? Body-Strengthening works in the same way."
Okay, more good information. I processed it as fast as I could and got a depressing conclusion from it.
'Ah, but if it takes time to get better, how does that affect me? Does that mean that―'
it's not like time stopped when I thought, and as such, Jagon wasn't stopped either. He wasn't quite done talking yet, so I was forced to put that thought on the back burner for now.
"There are differences, of course. For example, you can't take in more air when you filled your lungs, but Body-Strengthening doesn't have that limitation. The only limitations it has is how much mana you have and how fast you can use that mana."
That made sense. Otherwise, exploding feats of strength wouldn't be possible. And an Isekai isn't an Isekai without things like that.
'This is... a lot to take in though.'
Honestly, with this new information, I had a lot to think about. There were some especially worrying things that I derived from Jagon's explanation of Body-Strengthening.
I wasn't sure if I was going to have time to sleep today.
Before I could frown, a bowl of soup was placed in front of me.
"You worked hard, right? Here, eat until you're full."
Once again, Angelica was displaying perfect angel behavior.
'She seems more saint-like the more time passes. Why can't Jagon be like that?'
Crying inwardly at the difference between the pair, I graciously start eating the soup.
***
"Come on! Run faster! Run like your life depends on it!"
'Shut up! I'm trying! For pancakes' sake, my legs are not gonna let me hear the end of their complaints tomorrow!'
I didn't have the stamina left to shout, so I had no choice but to curse inwardly.
Right after I finished eating the soup, it was back to testing my physical limits.
While last time I was tested on how long I could run for, this time I was being tested on how fast I could run for, and how long I could keep going at full speed.
It was not fun at all, especially since Jagon was right behind my back with an axe, ready to take a swing the moment I get in range.
How do I know he would swing it? He already did! I even ended up with a scar on my arm!
'This guy is crazy! Crazy I say! What kind of spartan bullcrap is this?!'
I knew that Angelica could heal me back up, but still! Wasn't this a bit too much?!
"Come on! Even faster!"
He sped up even more, and I could hear him getting closer. I tried to up my pace too, but I couldn't, I was already running at full speed.
Each time I took a stride, I could hear the loud footsteps growing louder behind me.
'You...! I'm gonna get back at you, bastard!'
I think back to my interactions with Jagon, especially the way he moved around with the axe.
If I remembered correctly, when he ran, he had the axe perched atop his right shoulder, so the most logical way for him to attack was to swing it down or to swing diagonally.
Considering that he didn't want to kill me ― probably ― he would swing it downward for the least amount of area covered.
'And that's where I'll get him!'
I start slowing down, making it look like exhaustion was taking over me. He ― of course ― easily saw through my bluff, but that's what I wanted.
"Speed up, boy!"
Right before the moment I entered his attack range, I fully stopped and turned around.
Just like I thought, an axe was descending to my left. If I didn't do anything, it would graze my arm.
So I did the logical thing and stepped left.
"Hk?!"
I could practically hear every muscle in Jagon's body scream as he used all of his power to stop the swing that was already in motion.
While he was doing that, I calmly took a step forward, raised my leg and kicked him in the stomach.
He didn't even flinch, but the kick was more for stress relief than anything else.
After that turn of events, he slowly lowered his axe to the ground and looked at me.
"You... have a nasty personality."
"You could say so."
He frowned while I smugly shrugged. Nasty felt like a compliment to me, anyway.
"I mean, the way that you took advantage of me... I think that's the first time anybody has gambled their entire attack on the fact that I wouldn't kill them."
"There's a first time for everything."
He looked at his stomach, looked at the scar on my arm and sighed.
"Alright, I got the message. I'll tone down it down a bit."
'Thank god.'
Even though I didn't risk my life, the fear I felt when that axe was right above me was real. This was a very scary move to pull off.
But on the flip side, future days won't be as grueling as this one was, so I'd say that this was a win.
Before I could grin though, Jagon opened his mouth again.
"Only a bit though."
I blankly stare at Jagon as he turns around and starts walking away.
'...On second though, maybe this wasn't worth it.'
***
"Haa... finally. Some nice quality rest."
The bed beneath my body felt so cozy and soft that every other bed in two worlds couldn't compare.
Of course, it wasn't that the bed was that good, it was that I was in a very bad state.
'That bastard. He didn't go through with his word!'
Jagon's test didn't go down in intensity at all! It didn't get any worse, sure, but only because it couldn't get worse! It was already squeezing everything possible out of me!
'What a pain it was, and what a pain it will be!'
Just thinking about how much my muscles will scream tomorrow was making my face twist into a grimace.
I had a lot to think about, but honestly? I was way too tired for all that.
I just... wanted to sleep right now.