Erza seemed to have something to do and left the tavern right away.
Then... Natsu was back in full form: "Let's have a showdown, Roddy!"
"It's Rhode," Rhode corrected, then added, "You saw it just now, right? I'm very weak, knocked down with one punch."
The blue cat quickly said, "It's okay, Natsu used to challenge Erza and got taken out with one punch too."
"You talk too much, Hapi! I'm different from before now, this time I can definitely..."
Hapi covered his mouth and mumbled quietly, "Definitely withstand a few more punches."
"What did you say!?" Natsu glared, as if he was going to start a fight with Hapi first.
Hapi flew behind Mira, poking his head out: "Aye!"
Mira said nothing, continuing to wipe the freshly cleaned glass with a dry cloth.
"Anyway, come fight me, your crab looks quite strong!"
"Hmm..." Rhode thought for a moment, "Let's do it tomorrow, I need to rest a bit."
He mainly didn't want to endure a second or third beating today, his body was still sore.
"It's settled then!" Natsu stormed off.
However, Hapi didn't rush to leave and stood on the counter, asking Rhode: "Are you a mage using Summoning Magic?"
Rhode nodded: "Yeah."
Hapi started drooling: "Can you summon fish?"
Rhode silently went through the list of wild creatures: "Probably not, at most a toad."
"Disappointing..." Hapi slumped into the corner, completely shrouded in shadow.
"...Is fish that important?" Rhode was amused, even if he could summon fish, it would be for battle, not for eating.
Hapi raised a fist: "Fish is the most supreme delicacy!"
"Yes, yes." Rhode didn't want to argue with a cat about whether fish was tasty.
Warm seemed to quite like the similarly-sized Hapi, nudging him, and the two cute creatures quickly started playing together.
...
In the evening, Reby came to the guild, selected a task from the bulletin board with Jet and Troy, and then came to Rhode to learn some Chinese characters.
"Today, I'll teach you two slightly more complex characters, the character for 'fist' and the character for 'pain'."
Rhode borrowed Reby's light pen and wrote the two characters stroke by stroke, not forgetting to explain their meanings.
"Why suddenly teach me these characters?"
"...Out of emotion and experience."
"Oh, by the way, I heard you dueled with Erza today."
Reby showed a look of admiration, her lips curving upwards uncontrollably but trying hard to press them down, looking quite strained.
"It's a long story... just laugh if you want to."
"Haha... no, I'm not laughing at you... haha, I'm just happy to learn new characters."
Because there was no malice in the laughter, Rhode couldn't get angry. He sighed:
"By the way, here's your Wind's Glasses back."
Reby shook her head: "Keep it for now, I still have a spare pair, and I won't need them while working tomorrow."
"You've only been back two or three days? So diligent?"
"Because the pay from the last job wasn't high, and we played for a few days in the target city..."
Actually, Reby's team's strength is fairly average in the guild, so the tasks they receive are often not very difficult.
Accordingly, the pay isn't high either.
Then the pay for one task has to be divided among three people, so naturally, they have to be a bit more diligent compared to other partners.
But even so, it was enough to make Rhode envious: "I still don't know when I can take on tasks with higher pay."
Reby suggested: "If you want to take on tasks, why not join our Lane Engine Squad? This time the reward is pretty good."
Rhode was tempted but quickly shook his head: "No, even if I join you, I'd just hold you back because of my strength."
"It's okay, this time it's a mission to solve puzzles and find treasures with an expedition team in the mountains, relying more on intellect than strength."
Reby closed one eye, raised two fingers temptingly, "The reward is 200,000 J."
Rhode swallowed hard, not because Reby's actions were too cute, but because the reward was too tempting.
200,000 J divided among four people would be 50,000 J each, which is half a month's salary for him.
But going into the mountains...
"I guess I'll pass, thank you, I don't think I'm ready yet."
"Is that so?" Reby tilted her head, not pressing further, "What a pity."
Rhode smiled wryly, recalling the shadow of being attacked by a beast when he first arrived, plus Erza's punch today...
Until he had a certain level of strength, he absolutely wouldn't dare step beyond the city limits of Magnolia.
Makarov, who was resting his eyes, glanced at Rhode, thinking this kid was quite a 'troubled' child too.
-----------------
After work, Rhode didn't head straight home but instead jogged along the main road in front of the guild, gradually picking up speed after a simple warm-up.
'Better to exercise a bit, or you'll suffer.' The president's words still echoed in his ears, and Rhode felt it was too perfunctory to just do push-ups before bed, so adding a running routine seemed like a good idea too.
The large box of medicine and medical supplies Erza gave was sent back home by Rhode using the Swift Crab.
The box might have been custom-made by Erza, with the Fairy Tail emblem painted on it, making it unlikely for anyone to casually touch it if left at the door.
Rhode ran through the residential area near the guild, leaping down the nearly two-meter-high stone steps two at a time, entering another residential area.
Running further along the main road, he reached the banks of a canal running through Magnolia City.
Looking from afar, he could see the tallest building on the opposite bank—the Kardia Cathedral.
The streets surrounding the cathedral were considered downtown, meaning the guild was actually built on the outskirts of the city.
The relatively low rent for Rhode's place might be due to this reason, being a bit further from the city center.
Upon reaching the riverbank, Rhode didn't continue towards the city center but kept running along the canal until he was panting heavily, with sweat starting to roll down his cheeks.
He wasn't sure how far he had run, just that he had counted over three thousand steps.
Rhode was surprised to find his physique might have improved since crossing over; previously, he would feel like this after running three laps around the track, but now he was clearly a bit stronger.
Previously, this almost lung-bursting feeling would have made him stop, but now Rhode knew it was just the beginning.
Genuine exercise is not only about the body but also a test of willpower. Every time you feel you can't go on, just persist a bit longer; even an additional hundred meters is progress.
Of course, someone with his weak physical fitness might be laughed at for talking about willpower—such a short distance was merely a warm-up for others, yet here he was, contemplating willpower?
There was nothing he could do; his physical condition was like this now. Rhode barely had the energy to move one leg after another, relying on the power from his core to drive his legs forward.
Warm, the traitor, initially moved his short legs to run with him for a few steps but soon ended up on Rhode's shoulder as a weight.
Rhode decisively decided to send him back.
He felt he wasn't ready for added weight yet.
The weather today wasn't particularly clear, so at sunset, only a blurry spot of light was visible.
"Keep going, young man!" someone on a boat rowing upstream in the canal called out as they saw Rhode drenched in sweat, encouraging him.
Rhode laboriously raised his sore arms in response before continuing his 'willpower training.'
The residents here were quite friendly.