After entering August, the weather seemed to get even hotter.
Magnolia's greenery was well-maintained, with trees everywhere, leading to the incessant sound of cicadas.
When calm, listening to it might seem pleasant, feeling this is how summer should be.
But when not in a good mood, it just feels annoying.
The ceiling fan in the guild creaked as it turned, bringing a barely-there breeze to the noisy tavern.
In this sweltering weather, Rhode felt that even the noise of everyone quarreling carried heat.
In reality, many people in the tavern felt hot and lazy like Rhode, some even speaking weakly, only relieved slightly by gulping down a few sips of cold beer.
At this time, Gray became one of the most popular people.
Despite being drenched in sweat himself, he couldn't resist everyone's pleas and became an unfeeling ice-making machine.
But there was a benefit for him; those who received his favor were too embarrassed to remind him to put on clothes.
Of course, this didn't include Natsu.
This guy was completely unaffected, still energetic despite the heat, occasionally even breaking into strange dances.
Mira brought an empty cup, put in some ice, poured a drink, and pushed it to Rhode: "You don't look too well."
"Thanks." Rhode grimaced, "I didn't sleep well last night, it was too hot, and the mosquitoes were making a racket."
The mosquito repellent left behind by Goodman after moving had just run out, and Rhode reminded himself to buy a new bottle after work.
Mira showed a sympathetic look: "That's tough... Why haven't we seen Warm these two days?"
"Because it's too hot to come out, that unfaithful guy is hiding in the Wailing Abyss to escape the heat."
Rhode picked up the cup and pressed it to his forehead, the icy touch making him feel a bit more comfortable,
"I suspect that perhaps nothing is going smoothly recently; even my magic power growth isn't as obvious as before."
"Of course, because your magic power level is already quite good, the same growth won't feel as obvious as in the beginning."
"Can this be considered good?"
"At least Jet and Marcus can't compare to you at all now..." Mira lightly covered her mouth, feeling that saying this seemed a bit rude to Jet and the others.
When Rhode first obtained the Stone Beetle, it was already enough to give Jet a headache, not to mention his magic power growth has increased a lot since then, and he also has the 'Three Wolves.'
The Three Wolves is the common name for this wild monster combination, including two Shadow Wolves and one large Shadow Wolf.
The Shadow Wolves are similar in size to tigers, much larger than ordinary wolves, and look much more ferocious, somewhat resembling saber-toothed tigers.
The large Shadow Wolf is even bigger and has two heads.
When the three giant wolves crouch and bare their teeth, their ferocity is evident, and it's clear from their appearance that they're not to be messed with.
After multiple tests and sparring with companions, Rhode determined that they are more agile than the Stone Beetles and better at attacking.
Besides basic pounce and bite attacks, the Shadow Wolves have a keen sense of smell for tracking and are adept at stealth assaults in the shadows, living up to their name.
Though they seem weak in games, their strength here is not bad — at least Kana cannot hit them as easily with cards as she did with Stone Beetles.
As for the magic power consumed to summon them, it's roughly equivalent to three River Crabs, similar to the Stone Beetles.
Now, Rhode can command both Stone Beetles and Shadow Wolves in battle simultaneously, turning one-on-one fights into group brawls, providing a significant advantage.
The accompanying issue is that Rhode himself becomes more of a target as a breakthrough point.
The two most effective solutions at the moment are, one, riding a River Crab to run far away.
Two, burrowing underground with the Stone Beetle and running as far as possible within the limited breath-holding time.
The tactic is cowardly but effective.
However, these can only treat the symptoms, not the root; ultimately, personal strength is necessary.
Constantly exercising the body and practicing combat techniques is one method, but it requires long-term persistence.
Another method is learning one or two Ability Element magics, but this method...
Rhode asked: "It seems everyone only specializes in one magic, why not learn a few more to deal with different situations?"
"Because there isn't enough time and energy," Mira said, "Whether learning magic or enhancing magic power, it requires a lot of time and energy.
If you learn multiple magics at the same time, you might accomplish nothing for quite a long time, so it's better to concentrate on one magic.
Imagine adding another magic practice session to your current schedule, is there a way to squeeze in the time?"
Rhode thought about it, meditation and physical training are the basics of getting stronger and cannot be neglected.
Proficiency in Summoning Magic is crucial for shortening chanting words, which also requires practice time.
Then there's work time...
One can't just do nothing and rely on the guild for support — even Nabu, who rarely takes on tasks, sometimes does part-time work to earn some pocket money.
Apart from these, there's time for reading.
This should be converted to learning other magics once his basic knowledge is complete.
As for now...
"Cut a bit from sleep time?"
"No way!" Mira immediately objected, holding up her index finger to indicate the importance of what she was about to say,
"Sleep is a crucial way to restore spiritual power, remember your previous mention of your schedule?
It's already quite intense, reducing sleep time further to practice magic risks developing magic deficiency syndrome!"
Magic deficiency syndrome, Rhode had read about it in books, generally easily induced under magic power overuse conditions.
Once it sets in, it could lead to mild unconsciousness or severe sudden death, a very dangerous condition for mages.
If you end up practicing magic out of fear of death and end up practicing yourself to death... that's just too foolish.
Rhode seriously responded, "I understand."
Not having time now doesn't mean never, prioritizing matters is important.
Once the current stage's goals — completing basic knowledge and shortening chants — are met, there will naturally be time for practicing other things later.
He has only been learning for less than a month, and there's no need to rush.
"Don't look so worried, I have good news to share."
Mira seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief, placing a stack of cash on the counter, "Ta-da... payday!"
"So early!" Rhode excitedly picked up and counted the money, exactly 120,000 J, he asked,
"Isn't it too soon, I don't think I've completed a full month."
Mira thought for a moment: "The day of procurement counted as overtime."
"Then... thank you."
He had to thank the guild's care and Mira for coming up with an excuse.
Rhode realized this wasn't the hotel where he used to work summer jobs; this was the guild, Fairy Tail.
Mira waved at Laki, who was chatting with her companions not far away, "Laki, come over and get your share!"
"Coming!" Laki received her salary, as a full-time worker, her stack was thicker than Rhode's,
"Finally received the object measuring my time and labor value..."
Time and labor value... Laki's peculiar expression.
Rhode decided to remove this phrase from his vocabulary list, correcting common languages was tiring enough, he didn't want to learn these.
Laki affectionately rubbed the bills against her face: "Now I can get a few more 'little cuties.'"
Little cuties...
Alright then.