'Must get stronger' was an old mantra I remembered muttering under my breath while doing pushups as a kid. I didn't want to be a football player; I wanted to be an anime protagonist. Everyone had silly dreams like that growing up. I imagined a race against time as some shadowy enemies gathered to attack everyone I cared about.
People thought I was weird growing up. But I was proud of my ability to do 10 chin-ups in less than 10 seconds.
Early in the morning, when the ground was wet with morning dew and the half sun had yet to rise, embarrassed with its chronic ailment. Crows cawed from low-hanging branches and dragged to their breaking point with soaked leaves from last night's shower. A murder of twelve sat on a branch, turning their heads and reflecting me in their beady black eyes. More congregated to an old oak, long dead, rotted, and petrified, a long split ran down its center, burned on the sides where a bolt of lightning struck it dead. With enough feathers to give it as many leaves as it once had. It was my destination. I had cut a line to measure my height a few days ago when I left in the morning to hunt.
Days later, I was back again.
This was the time when wild game was the easiest to hunt. Frost covered the ground, and patches of ice covered the limbs of many trees, dripping slowly as dawn approached.
I made a series of handprints, footprints, and cut lines in trees to measure myself at the lake near the village. Five days into my new regiment, I felt like I had gotten somewhere. Four days ago, my handprint was smaller than my new one by an inch. There were lines on my hands that weren't present, my shirt sleeves were higher, and my boots felt too snug. My gut had hardened, and my chest stretched from the muscle I packed on. This resembled a growth spurt more than an increase in physical power. The mark on the tree I left was eye level. My physical strength and, with it, my size had increased by leaps and bounds.
Jean helped with her cooking skills. Anything she cooked gave bonuses to attribute gains, which carried over to my physical adaption ability.
Despite the occasional demonic mutant, plenty of game was still in the woods. The most adaptive often survived in nature, and even deer had jobs. The deer with jobs like breeder bred their genes, and more breeders were born, so those genetics carried on quite well.
Lirael gave me a wonderful explanation.
I watched a deer drink from downwind and slowly snaked my chain out of its shadow. With a single powerful stab, the deer's feet kicked out before its body figured out it was dead. I grabbed its hind legs and whistled while dragging it back to the town.
There were only 19 of us, so we ate a lot but not as much as I expected. Attributes in the right places lowered the amount of food people needed to survive when they weren't growing or pregnant.
In some ways, this world was far more peaceful than my first earth; in others, it was far more miserable. For instance, technology never reached the industrial stage. The factory line wasn't even a dream. Everything was custom-made, driving the prices of good equipment to ludicrous numbers.
That, of all things, nearly broke me. It was another item in the demon invasion's favor.
There were races that constantly fought each other. I planned to learn more about that.
I hung the deer for the yawning teenager in charge of butchering animals. "Sir, is it true that you killed a hundred demons?"
My gaze turned on him, and his breath caught in his throat. Maybe I was that I was taller or wider. "I stopped counting, but you could count the number of demons I killed by hundreds if you wish. I'm running late for a meeting." I sighed. "What can I do for you?"
"Nothing I just wanted to say you're a hero."
"Thank you." I didn't know what else to say to that.
It was essential to be polite to people I couldn't know who might get angry and wipe their butt with my food. Still, 'must get stronger,' I felt it. I lived it. The mantra felt more real to me with my new ability.
My boot pounded the wet ground on my way to the clearing, where I had built a dedicated squat machine with my chains and a few boulders.
Today was leg day, and I couldn't miss it, especially when I convinced Lirael to join me.
I saw her when I arrived at the clearing sitting on the very rock I planned to lift. It was taller and wider than the common pine.
The boulder sat on two rocks with just enough room between them for me to slide into Lirael's DMs. Seeing Lirael's phat elf ass on my boulder gave me the feeling.
We were only going to be separated by a bit of rock, and it was almost like she was parking her sweet elf booty on my shoulders. I sucked on my lips and smacked them at the thought of her sweet elf pussy. It was so close.
It's just around 20 feet of rock away.
Her ear twitched. "I can practically hear you salivating from here with my elf ears."
I found her grumbles and gripes adorable.
"I'm thankful you took time out of your busy schedule to teach me more about," a manic grin spread across my face. "Elf culture," I said.
"What did you want to learn, and why am I sitting on this rock? Is it a custom from where you lived before hell?"
"Today is leg day. And I wanted to give you a ride."
"That's ok I can get off."
"Damn right, you will." I coughed. "I mean, no, that's unnecessary. Just stay there while I lift that rock."
"Right," Lirael smirked at me. "You're joking, but there is no way you can lift this boulder. It's impossible without a T2 combat class focused on strength and constitution." Lirael said.
"Let me show you how wrong you are."
Chains were needed. They wrapped around my legs, rooting me in place and keeping my feet from digging down to my knees in the mud. When I was certain the chains were in place, I pressed my shoulders against the boulder.
A grunt escaped me as I pressed and fought against an incredible weight. Like an atlas lifting the heavens, I fought against the crushing forces keeping me from what I desired. Jagged rock pressed hard, rubbing through my shirt and tearing against my skin. Sweat poured down my back, freezing as a harsh wind blew from the north.
I needed this. A rock would not stop me. My doubts fell away, abandoned first in the triage of the battle between my will and the boulder. I was like Sisyphus; instead of rolling a boulder uphill, I would squat it.
Blood fell between my lips as I bit my cheek and demanded every ounce of power from my body. All of it was needed if I wanted to move the rock and impress Lirael.
The rock shifted. Pain lanced through my limbs as I pushed with my whole body. No matter how seemingly useless, every muscle was devoted to the task. My heart hammered in my chest with my struggle, the rock had to move.
The boulder shifted as gravel crunched around the small pebbles between the enormous boulder and the stones it rested upon.
My training arc had yet to end. While I had time, I would push my boundaries and reach new heights. I could do it; there was nothing I couldn't do.
I started yelling. As dumb as it was, it helped. Pain shot through my body as the regeneration potion helped my ability to build my body back in the strongest way possible. Even as I destroyed myself against a rock too heavy with a sexy phat elf ass sitting on top of it, I reached out for a new limit.
Time ticked away as beads of sweat fell off my face, and the boulder fully rose from its pedestal. My legs spread out for a better stance, and I pushed. Then I dropped.
My body fell into the mud, and the boulder crashed two inches. The boulder landed on the rocks and held it up. I dragged in a ragged breath, and my lungs and muscles were on fire. I pulled in more air, and hot steam poured out of me instead of sweat.
I turned my head to the side when mud threatened to cut off my airway. Chains slinked back into the shadows or vanished in green sparks.
Lirael climbed down from the top of the stone before dragging me out by my feet. I didn't put up a fight. Each breath was a struggle. The health regen potion was working, healing the damage I had done to myself.
I knew my limit, at least. A few thousand pounds of rock and one sexy elf. That wasn't bad.
"I wish I had done more than two inches."
Lirael smirked and tossed back a blond strand. "You did your best. It's not your fault you underperformed."
My eyes widened. "Did you just make a dick joke?" I asked.
Her ears drooped. "Was it too crass?"
I sat up. "No, absolutely not. It was classy. You should make more of them, no; dick jokes should be your thing. You talk to the sexy elf Lirael you expect a dick joke because she knows how to have fun."
"I'll never make one again, then."
I reached out like I could take my words back. Somehow, I closed the door to something that could have been beautiful when I intended to slam my foot in the door and rip it off its hinges.
"Don't worry if you repeat something embarrassing and we're alone, I'll take advantage of it," Lirael said.
She sat down, ignoring the dirt clinging to her robe. "We're going to be attacked again, aren't we."
"Without a doubt," I said.
"It wasn't the attack that killed Daren. We attempted to make use of demonic resources."
"There is a lot I didn't think about because I never dealt with demon lords. When I was around that level, I met my teacher, and afterward, they were beneath my notice. He taught me more about demonic energy in one decade than I learned in nine. How could I have known they didn't care about losing mounts because the mounts killed anything that didn't have demonic power?"
"You took time to dig Daren's grave and ensured no animals got to his body. Did you feel guilty is that why you did it?"
Guilt wasn't what I was supposed to feel when I made a mistake. I screwed up and got some poor guy killed. He was someone's son, brother, and possibly father. He didn't die as a casualty from battle doing what he had to. It was my negligence. I should have known that the demonic horses weren't safe. After I rode one without trouble, I needed a volunteer to teach the others how to ride. So, he died.
"Burying him gave that girl closure."
"It also kept his corpse from rising from a restless spirit. You did a good thing. I'm proud to be a member of our party." Lirael said.
I didn't believe her.
I raised an eyebrow. "Your alchemy job ranked up."
"Yes, and it's amazing Combat Alchemist, and it increases all my physical attributes by two at every level. I can make potions that can increase attributes a limited number of times. Oh, and I can make combat stimulants. There is so much I can do now." A smirk spread across her face.
"Siegfried said you can also increase your attributes with exercise."
Her eyes sparkled. "I didn't know that. How is that possible? Surely, it would have been written down somewhere." Lirael said.
I smirked. I had those robes she wore that held loose around her chest but tight around her hips and ass gave me a delightful idea. She already made the potions and had a system. Why not encourage her to drastically increase her physical attributes alongside me so I could watch her squat and show off that sexy elf booty?
"Jean's chef job exclusively gives buffs for training physical attributes. We're a team just like how you help with your potions she helps with her cooking."
"There is a potion I can make that increases the effects of consumables, but I thought it was meant to make poisons more effective," Lirael said.
"Make it," I said.
'Must get stronger,' We needed it.
Jean looked over the boulder that had beaten me. "I can't imagine lifting something like that."
The elf looked me up and down with her eyes like blue sapphires and turned away.
I gripped the side of my torn shirt and ripped it away. Another wave of chilling wind swept in from the north, freezing the sweat coating my body.
"Start small, then increase your strength, and then every level you gain from killing demons will add to it."
"How are we going to get these people out? Siegfried won't tell me, and Jean doesn't know either. Charlotte had me add a ritual to a forge. I don't get the plan."
"There is one, don't worry. If the demons don't attack in the next 3 days, we can get everyone out of here." I said.
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