Side Story: Everyday Life of Tamer Elsa (4)
After receiving the weapons we brought for repair and the reward for monsters we had dismantled, we joined Senior Lily and headed to the restaurant.
The target restaurant has been a long-time rival of my Father’s.
If my Father’s shop was for the masses, this place was more high-end, meaning it was not accessible to regular Black-ranked adventurers.
However, since I’m acquainted with the owner, and today we have Senior Lily, a Copper-ranked merchant with us, we were allowed in.
I don’t usually earn enough to dine at this place.
We were guided to a private room equipped with eavesdropping prevention magic, and we ordered a course meal.
This course meal costs a whopping 3000 Rubies per person.
It included a variety of imported fish and rare meats, but the price was a bit… Senior Lily’s portion, I decided firmly to pay for, but for the guards, I asked her to take care of it.
I don’t have that much money…
Also, Ulla and Shellche will have to cover their own expenses.
They tagged along because they wanted to hear about the principles of Body Strengthening, so I hope they can endure this expense.
It should be within today’s earnings.
As the dishes were brought in, the meal began.
Senior Lily demonstrated impeccable table manners and graceful gestures.
She mentioned having received etiquette lessons from a Knight and maid dispatched by the Marquis.
Being a Copper-ranked merchant involves dealing with wealthy merchants and nobles, so proper manners are essential.
Shellche was also doing beautifully, but why did it feel different?
Ulla, despite receiving guidance from Shellche, was still working hard to remember.
After the meal, the dishes were cleared, and the staff left the room.
It was finally time to discuss the main topic: the explanation of the Body Strengthening magic.
However, Senior Lily looked a bit troubled.
“Well, you treated me to dinner, but the principle of Body Strengthening is really simple, you know? Everyone just forgot about it.”
“I don’t mind. Please, Senior Lily, teach us.”
“Alright. So, with Body Strengthening, you don’t release magic power outside your body; you accumulate it inside your body. That’s all it takes to activate it.”
Huh?
Just that?
Ulla and Shellche also had astonished expressions.
Was it really that simple?
“However, consciously doing it is difficult. If there’s irregularity in how you infuse magic power, there’ll be irregularities in Body Strengthening, and the effects won’t work well. People who succeed in Body Strengthening in modern times might be those who can unconsciously accumulate magic power.”
… I see, saying that makes sense.
I can’t try it out in the restaurant, but unlike a magic that releases magic power for just a moment, Body Strengthening requires using magic power continuously as long as you want the effect.
Using more magic power increases the degree of enhancement, but it also puts a strain on the body, so you have to consider that.
Additionally, the effect of Body Strengthening varies depending on the attribute of magic power used.
Fire attribute strengthens muscle strength noticeably, water attribute strengthens recovery power, earth attribute strengthens the robustness of bones and muscles, and wind attribute strengthens the ability to see moving things.
There were apparently also other effects for other attributes, but Senior Lily didn’t teach us those.
Apparently, if you can’t balance the use of these four attributes, training with the remaining attributes will just harm your own body.
Specifically, if you use only muscle strengthening to wield a weapon and hit something, the muscles and bones in your hands and arms will be damaged.
To avoid this, you have to use the earth attribute enhancement at the same time.
However, even with earth attribute enhancement, damage accumulates, so if you don’t increase self-healing ability with water attribute, your hands may become numb, and cracks may appear on the bones.
So, what is wind attribute used for? It seems to be for situations where the opponent’s speed is too fast, and you can’t follow with your eyes, or to enhance your own speed so you can keep up with the opponent.
It’s already quite complex up to this point.
To do something like blocking an Ogre’s blow, you need more than one attribute, but I wonder how many attributes you need to stack.
Anyway, I learned more than enough for the amount I paid for the meal.
Whether I can apply it in real combat is another question, but I’ll practice diligently so I won’t have any regrets in case of an emergency.