Arlo finally let himself fall onto his bed when he arrived home.
"Well, there's nothing to be done, I guess. No need to worry about the past now. If something happens, I'll deal with the situation then."
After accepting the situation, Arlo forced himself to calm down. After all, even if that woman was crazy, she wouldn't attack him for no reason. Moreover, she would probably forget a small apprentice mage like him in two days. Therefore, constantly worrying about it was unnecessary.
"Now, there's something else I need to do."
Arlo finally regained his excitement and opened his inventory.
A glowing book lay there.
---
Do you want to learn the Ancient Blacksmith King's Body Ability?
---
Arlo was momentarily surprised by the window in front of him, then he became excited.
Could he learn it in one go?
Upon immediately accepting, various pieces of information suddenly began to flow into his brain. Arlo remained in a trance for a few seconds as he grasped the entire technique.
---
Name: Arlo Klser
Level: 7th-Level Mage Apprentice
Abilities: Fireball (Medium) , Fire Wall (Medium), Line Movement Technique (High), Ancient Blacksmith King's Body (Basic)
EXP: 147/500
---
Arlo couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Even though he somehow received all the information, his learning remained only at the Basic level. This meant that while he theoretically knew all the information, he was practically still a novice.
"But this ability is genuinely powerful."
The strength of the ability could be seen from this fact alone.
It could be used even at the True Mage level and beyond.
Arlo couldn't even grasp the limits of the ability despite learning everything because everything beyond a certain point was like an incomprehensible language. So, Arlo decided to focus only on what was in front of him for now.
He sat up in bed and circulated his magic according to the information in his mind. Since he had reached the Basic level, he achieved this without much difficulty. After circulating the magic, he enthusiastically looked up, but...
"Why did nothing happen?"
Arlo looked at his hands and feet, but there was no change. Then, he hesitantly hit his other arm with one hand.
"Ouch."
Arlo silently rubbed his aching arm.
"Was I scammed?"
---
A quest has been defined.
Quest Description: The Ancient Blacksmith King's Body is an ability meant to be forged with pure perseverance. A person can only achieve success on this path by reaching this awareness.
Quest: Raise the ability to Medium mastery.
Quest Reward: 60 EXP
---
Arlo's eyes twitched as he looked at this quest.
"System, you want me to get beaten up, don't you?"
System '…'
Since all the information about the ability had flooded his mind, Arlo naturally knew that there was only one way to reach Medium mastery and beyond in this ability.
Getting beaten up.
Yes, the Blacksmith King who created this ability believed that people could only ascend by being forged and suffering pain, just like iron. Therefore, the only way to advance in this ability was to get beaten up.
Arlo sighed and lay back down on the bed he had just sat up from. Even if the system hadn't given him this quest, he would have had to do it anyway. It wouldn't be logical to simply abandon such a powerful ability.
"But I don't want to get beaten up. I'm not a hero who endures all kinds of pain, like in movies and stories, after all."
Arlo sighed again.
"How can I get beaten up without feeling pain? This body is mine, after all."
"Huh!"
"Is this body mine?"
Arlo slowly sat up again, and thoughts flashed through his mind.
"I've had times when my body felt like it wasn't mine, haven't I?"
Arlo smiled, and a word flashed in his mind.
"Anesthesia."
Getting beaten up and not feeling it? You wouldn't feel it even if they cut your body under anesthesia.
But of course, this had to be properly controlled. After all, he didn't want to be beaten to death just because he felt nothing under anesthesia.
Arlo lay down for good with these thoughts in mind. The long fight and chase had tired him out. Although leveling up took away some of the fatigue, he was not completely healed.
…
"So, you're telling me that even if you gave this to a pig, it would smile while dying? Is that right, bro?"
"That's right. I'm a famous shop around here. I don't sell defective goods. Moreover, it's a material frequently used for hunting, so you can buy it with peace of mind."
The middle-aged shop owner was confident as he praised his product.
"Are you planning to go hunting, young man? I have many hunting materials; I can offer you a discount on a bulk purchase if you want."
"No, bro, I'm going to use it on myself."
"What?"
…
Arlo left the shop, leaving a surprised shop owner behind him.
'I got the anesthetic material. I was worried at first that they wouldn't have it, but this world is advanced, even if in a different sense.'
After getting the basic material, Arlo headed out to find the rest of the things.
"First, I need to find myself a safeguard."
The most problematic aspect of getting beaten up under anesthesia was not knowing how much of a beating he was taking. After all, pain was a kind of self-defense mechanism of the body. If a person shut it off, they could continue to smile even if they were on the verge of death.
"I can't afford a treasure that activates in case of mortal danger. Things like that are too expensive. Putting aside my current lack of money, the same would be true even if I hadn't bought the recovery potions."
Arlo also knew a way to solve this problem.
"Training Combat Potion."
This pill was one that prevented a person from taking fatal damage during training duels.
Its function?
It caused the damaged area to change color. Yes, that's all. No protection, nothing else, it just changed the color of the body according to the extent of the damage.
But even though it was just that, it was very useful. After all, it was cheap, and it allowed the referees to understand the condition of both parties during a training duel and intervene when necessary.
This was exactly what Arlo needed.
After taking care of this need, only one thing remained.
Healing potion.
After all, he was doing all these things to avoid pain. What would be the point if all the pain came at once after the numbness wore off?
So, if he got beaten up during the numbness and then drank this potion, everything would be solved.
Since he would also be careful to ensure that his wounds were only external injuries, healing with a healing potion would also be easy. But there was another problem.
Healing potions were not cheap.
Even though they were one of the frequently used potions like recovery potions, that still didn't mean they were cheap. They were even more expensive than recovery potions.
'I need to make money.'
Arlo sighed as he thought this.
'Why do such things keep popping up in front of me when all I want is to develop smoothly?'
…
The outer students of Koltare Magic School encountered something strange in the training area today.
"The Pain Gamble."
"Inflict pain on me without using an ability. Win the gamble."
This sign was hung behind a table, and a handsome young man was sitting in front of the sign.
This young man was, of course, Arlo.
Life in Koltare Magic School was usually calm. Students spent every day trying to improve themselves, and it went on like that.
Therefore, when something this strange happened, it attracted everyone's attention.
"Brother, what is this?"
Finally, someone approached and asked, while everyone else listened closely.
"It's a simple gamble. You set a stake. You punch me on the shoulder once without using an ability. If I show an expression of pain, I give you money equal to that stake. If not, you give me the same amount of money."
This simple explanation astonished everyone there, and one girl approached with a gentle expression and spoke.
"Brother, whatever trouble you have, we can solve it if you tell us. There's no need to hurt yourself like this."
Arlo looked at the girl who spoke, and a soft smile appeared on his face as well.
"You seem like a very kind person. Thank you. My problem is simple. I am poor, and I need 100 low-grade magic stones. Can you give it to me?"
Girl "…"
"I just remembered I had something to do. We'll talk about this later."
Arlo merely smiled as the girl fled at the same speed she had approached.
With the wisdom of two lives, if he were suffering from heartbreak or something, no one but himself could solve it anyway. In that case, what was the point of using others for something like this?
While this attracted the attention of many more people, someone finally approached.
The man was short but had a muscular body. Although he was a 6th-Level Apprentice Mage, it was clear that he was skilled in bodybuilding abilities.
He smirked as he approached him with an arrogant expression.
"I get to beat someone up and earn money? What could be better than that?"
Then he took out one low-grade magic stone and placed it on the table.
"Let's start."
But Arlo hadn't moved.
"First, sign the contract."
"Huh, a contract?"
The man finally noticed a pile of papers on the table and picked one up.
"What is this?"
"A contract showing that both of us will pay our debt resulting from the gamble and that you will face a certain penalty if you use an ability."
The man frowned as he looked from Arlo to the contract.
"What's the penalty for using an ability?"
"500 low-grade magic stones."
"…"
This amount made everyone there hold their breath but Arlo shrugged.
"There's no problem as long as you don't use an ability. After all, I can't claim that someone who didn't use an ability among so many people actually used one, right?"
The breaths that were held slowly went back out, and those present found this logical. This way, Arlo was both protecting himself and preventing possible fraud through them.
"Are you doing it? Or not?"
After examining the contract and seeing no issues, the man's smirk returned to his face, and he spoke.
"I'm signing it, of course. Let's get this over with quickly so I can return to my training with an extra magic stone."
Arlo looked at the man as he shrugged.
'I'm not sure you will escape with just one magic stone.'