I think … I’ve gotten a bit too freakishly strong.

“Lucia?” Snow stared at the broken bowl by my feet. “Is there something wrong?”

I can’t control my strength! I grabbed the bowl and it shattered. My poor stew, stolen by the ground. “Can we buy sturdier bowls?” Ever since completing the Steady Mountain footwork’s qi circulation method and reaching a level that even Durandal found satisfactory, my strength’s been out of control. I could wield mini-DalDal earlier even if it weighed over two tons before without breaking anything, but now, everything’s so fragile.

Bouncykins tilted his head. “Can you be more gentle?” If I could, I wouldn’t have asked for sturdier bowls! Stupid hare. “Do something about your new master, Durandal.”

Durandal’s gaze traversed my body. “She does seem to be a bit stronger. Her qi is overflowing. Why is this?” He frowned and rubbed his beardless chin. “Perhaps it’s a side-effect of being a beastman.”

“I don’t care why it happened! Just fix it.” My food’s on the floor, and it breaks to pieces when I try to pick it up. Do you know how frustrating it is to have food in front of you that you can’t eat? And the ground cracks when I walk! How ridiculous is this? If I knew this would happen, then I wouldn’t have trained so hard. I never even got my happy ending.

“Your body needs an adjustment period.” Durandal nodded. “Your strength’s grown too fast for your mind to follow. You’re still acting like you’re the same weak person you were when I first met you.”

You could’ve just said same person. There was no need to emphasize weak. “So if I leave the problem alone, it’ll go away by itself?” Will I starve to death before that happens? “How long will that take?”

“How long did it take you to get used to your previous body?” Durandal had a strange expression on his face. I feel like this is a trap…

Ah! “Didn’t I tell you not to ask for a woman’s age!?” He was trying to trick me. Why did he even want to know? I don’t have many secrets, so let me have this one, alright? “But seriously. How long will it take?”

“Maybe a week to a few months or years.”

“A week!?” I’ll definitely starve to death! “Wait. Years?”

“Don’t panic, Lucia. There’s a simple way to solve all of this.” Durandal had his perverted smile on his face, the one that said, ‘I’m going to hurt you under the guise of teaching you for your own good.’

“I think I’ll wait a year.” Yup. Waiting’s fine too. If anything, I can make Snow feed me. Or I can even have Durandal feed me. Wouldn’t that be heaven? Yeah, this is definitely the way to go.

“Pick up your sword, Lucia.”

Please, no. “D-do I have to?”

“It’s for your own good.”

I knew you were going to say that! “Is this going to be painful?”

“Would I ever hurt you, Lucia?”

Yes! You definitely would, you sadistic spirit. “Was that a rhetorical question? Because I really don’t want to answer it.”

Durandal’s eyes narrowed. Thankfully, he didn’t unleash the aura that threatened my bladder. “Just pick up your sword.”

“What am I doing?” I picked up mini-DalDal and sighed. The ground looked so broken because I stepped on it. Does this qualify as me being fat? The earth shatters when I walk upon it.

“You’re going to spar with me.” Durandal picked up his spear and pointed it at me.

“Uh. Can you repeat that?” Maybe I heard him incorrectly. The fire’s really loud and a fierce breeze is blowing. The insects are awfully loud too.

“You didn’t hear wrong the first time, Lucia. Prepare yourself.” He lunged at me, thrusting his spear towards my face.

I’m not ready for this! “Breaking Blade!” Somehow, I managed to save myself by knocking away his strike. How can he resist my sword? Don’t tell me he’s stronger than me even though he’s just a spirit…

“I’m using your qi. Don’t be too surprised.” Durandal readjusted his stance and tightened his grip on his spear. It flew forward like lightning, and I barely managed to deflect it again. And again. And again.

“This is cheating!”

“You never know when an enemy will sap your qi to fight against you.” Durandal’s blows came faster and faster despite his speech. “There’s at least thirteen branches of martial arts that will do this. It’s better for you to become accustomed to the feeling now instead of during a real fight.”

I’ll die before I manage to meet any of them at this rate! Durandal’s seriously trying to stab me!

“Hey, Durandal. Those schools that practiced those kinds of arts were destroyed a few decades ago.” Bouncykins munched on a biscuit while sitting up on Snow’s head. Don’t look so relaxed when I’m dying! And stop eating my biscuits, please.

“That’s irrelevant,” Durandal said, continuing to steal my qi. “What if a weapon spirit lived on and passes the techniques down to someone who finds them?”

“Only a freak like you would be able to survive that long without an owner.”

You’re also a freak for lasting so long, you damned hare! Don’t poke at Durandal’s soft spots! He’ll become more aggressive towards the person he’s fighting—me. “T-time out.”

“No timeouts.”

“Please?”

“No.” Durandal punctuated his word with a spear thrust that caused the wind to swirl and roar. I raised mini-DalDal to block it, and I was sent flying away from the force. Just how strong is Durandal to blow away a two-ton sword? Don’t tell me he reduces the weight whenever he strikes me because that really would be cheating. “Take a five minute break. We’ll spar until it’s time for dinner.”

“But it’s breakfast time! I still haven’t eaten anything.”

Durandal sighed and walked over to Snow. He snatched a biscuit out of Bouncykins stash and sat next to me. “Here. I’ll feed you.”

…I always thought life was bleak. But now I realize, it’s good. It’s really, really good. Even better than this biscuit.