The potion worked wonders on the demihuman girl. Within minutes, her wounds had closed, and she was already standing on her feet. Jay approached her with a calm smile.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Lina," she replied softly, eyes cast downward. "Sorry for making you fight those people."
"No, it's fine," Jay said. "They were bad guys anyway. I just did what felt right. But…what will you do now?"
Lina hesitated, thoughtful, her tail swaying faintly. "I don't know…"
"If you want," Jay offered, "you can stay with us for the time being."
Her ears perked up. "Really?"
"Yeah. This world's dangerous. The more people we have, the better," Jay said.
"It's also true that her kind are naturally strong," the driver casually interrupted.
Jay glanced at him, still not fully over the revelation that their quiet carriage driver was a hidden master all along.
"What do you mean?" Yumina asked, curious.
"Demihumans," Mozar said, "are notable for their innate strength and speed, often far superior to humans. Their abilities focus mainly on the body rather than external forces."
Jay narrowed his eyes. "Wait…who are you really? And what do you want from us?"
The man smiled faintly. "My name is Mozar. I used to be a common adventurer, one who worked for the Empire."
"The Empire?" Jay repeated.
"Yes. However, at some point, I saw the Empire for what it truly is. It disgusted me, so I rebelled against it. Me and all of my followers tried to assasinate the King with the knowledge we had about the Empire's weakness, but we ultimately lost. As a result, only a few survivors managed to flee, and that includes me. Quite a cliche story, isnt?" He gave a hollow laugh.
Yumina listened to the story in silence with interest.
Jay tilted his head. "What did you see?"
Mozar's eyes darkened. "That's a story for another day. For now, just know this, the Empire cannot be trusted."
Jay crossed his arms. "Then why did you help us?"
Mozar looked at him for a long moment before answering. "Because today, I witnessed something I've only seen once before in my hundred years of life." He raised a finger and pointed directly at Jay. "You."
Jay blinked, confused. "Me? What about me?"
"Your body," Mozar said simply. "You might not realize it, but your body possesses immaculate potential. Its natural strength is impressive, but that's not what makes it unique."
He continued. "Your body is what we call the Perfect Weapon. It is born to be the perfect fighting machine. It would be a waste to not make use of all that potential."
Jay's brows furrowed. "I don't understand. If I were truly 'perfect,' I wouldn't have struggled against that monster earlier. I could barely scratch it."
Mozar chuckled. "Perfection means nothing without mastery. You're untrained. Yet your body already grows stronger each time you fight. You broke through the bottleneck of strength without even realizing it, even if only for a moment."
"Bottleneck?" Jay repeated.
"When someone trains their body, they get stronger or faster with time. It's only natural. However, at some point, that growth stops. You can't get stronger no matter how much you keep training. At that point, training only becomes a matter of keeping your body in good shape so that its power doesn't diminish it. This limitation or ceiling is what we call a bottleneck. You could count on your fingers the amount of people in this world who have surpassed a bottleneck and reached their "prowess", which is what makes your body special. When you were fighting that monster at the end, you broke past the bottleneck of strength for a moment, taking it down with one hit."
Jay listens to the teachings with great interest.
"But how?", Jay asks.
Mozar points at Jay's bracellet. "Whatever that thing is, it injected your body with a lot of adrenaline. Combining that with your miraculous body, it allowed you to temporarily breach the bottleneck of strength. If you train consistently, you'll be able to breach the limit permanently."
Jay looks at his fist, imagining the possibilties.
Then Mozar turned to Yumina. "But you, lady, is something that I've never seen before. In fact, I have no idea what you are", Mozar says while looking at Yumina.
"Is that supposed to be a problem?", she says unimpressed.
"Earlier, you were able to detect Grand Oscuras, weren't you?", Mozar asks her.
"I have no dea what you are talking about", she says.
"The girl that attacked you in the carriage", Mozar elaborates. "Her spell, Grand Oscuras, is the most advanced concealing spell. The user doesnt emit any presence, sound, smell, and is utterly invisible."
"Ah, that...Well, it's complicated. I guess the easiest way to explain it, is that I can tell when someone has the intention of harming me. That woman tried to kill me, so I retaliated", Yumina said.
"How mysterious...", Mozar says while holding his chin in thought.
Jay stepped forward again. "How can I do it? How can I become stronger?"
Mozar's expression turned amused. "Bahahaha. I knew you'd ask that. Sadly, I'm too old to train anyone, but I know someone who can. I can give you his location."
Jay turned to Yumina. She met his gaze with a neutral expression.
"I know what you're going to say," she said evenly. "I won't stop you. But if that's your choice…we part ways here."
Jay fell silent. In his heart, the answer was already clear. He needed to grow stronger, to protect those who deserved protection, and to destroy those that deserved to be destroyed. His strong sense of justice couldn't allow this opportunity to pass by.
"Give me his location," he said to Mozar with determination.
Mozar smiled faintly. "Good. Then your path begins now."
Yumina sighs at his decision.