Dawn painted the sky pink and gold as I woke to birdsong outside the window, Nozue already lacing his boots across the room.
"Morning," I said, stretching the last of the sleep out of my limbs.
"Ready for the run?"
"Always."
We jogged the quiet streets as the city stirred around us — shopkeepers unlatching their stalls, the first sunlight catching the colorful rooftops of Druzka — and came home to the same routine we'd settled into over the past weeks: push-ups on the dewy grass out back, counted out together until our arms shook, then breakfast at Rosalia's table before the Guild.
"Good work this morning, you two," she said, sliding heaping plates in front of us. "Getting stronger by the day, I can see it."
"Thanks, Nay. Construction quest again today."
"Stay safe out there, and look after each other."
The pattern held for weeks after that — a new heavy-labor quest every couple of days, hauling logs one morning, clearing stone rubble the next, my Exploration and Nozue's Water and Light magic making short work of whatever the site demanded. Each evening we came home worn through and satisfied in the particular way that only real, physical effort seems to earn, and each night the younger children gathered around the table for whatever story we had to tell, however mundane it actually was.
Two months went by like that, one identical, hard-won day folding into the next.
Two months later, I sat down to breakfast one morning and realized, somewhat sheepishly, that I hadn't actually checked my status in weeks. I excused myself to a quiet corner of the hallway once the plate was clean and pulled the window up properly for the first time in a while.
[STATUS] Level: 80
Unique Skills: Exploration (Level 95), Assassin (Level 94), Cooking (Level 10), Mining (Level 3), Smithing (Level 2), Strength (Level 48)
I stared at the numbers longer than I probably needed to. Forty-eight. I hadn't realized we'd come this far.
"What's got you so pumped?" Nozue asked, wandering past.
"My Strength's at forty-eight," I said, still a little stunned by it myself. "Two levels from unlocking Rage."
"That's incredible. All that hauling's finally paying off." He grinned, genuinely pleased for me.
"I'm curious what I get once it actually hits fifty," I admitted. "Something big always seems to happen at these milestones."
"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it'll suit you," he said. "Ready for the Guild?"
"After you store the water and lunch — my hands are full." I opened the Item Space and dropped the supplies in, and we set off into a city already thick with morning traffic.
Missy caught sight of us the moment we walked in, her eyes lingering a beat longer than usual as she took in the changes two months of labor had put on my frame — broader shoulders, a steadier stance, muscle where there hadn't been much before.
"You're looking quite fit these days, Kazu," she said, something genuine in the surprise of it. "It really shows."
"Thanks, Missy. Nozue keeps me honest about the routine."
Her gaze softened into something warmer, and Nozue caught it too, shooting me a knowing look I chose to ignore entirely.
We spent the day at the new site the way we'd spent every other one that summer — steady, practiced work, our bodies well past the point of struggling with what had once left us collapsed on the grass. Toward evening, I leaned back against a wooden pillar to catch my breath, and the familiar buzz of a notification pulled me up short.
[Mining Skill reached Level 11]
[Congratulations! Your Strength stat has reached Level 50.]
[New Active Skill Unlocked: Fist Authority]
A devastating punch, scaling with Strength. Enough to shatter armor outright.
"Nozue!" I couldn't keep the grin off my face. "I hit fifty — got a new skill. Fist Authority. Some kind of punch that can break through armor."
He wiped his hands on his pants, curious. "Tried it yet?"
"Not yet." I looked down at my own knuckles, already itching to test it on something that could take the hit. "Soon, though."