"How can you say something like that, kid? This was a consensual deal. How could you call it perverted?"
Ryuji stretched lazily. Chobung hadn't even really put her back into it. Sure, it hurt a bit, but the fact she didn't go full-on crazy on him already felt like a win.
"But indulging in women slows down your growth, you know,"
Rosh couldn't help but chime in again, her tone full of disdain.
"Your weapon may be strong, but your physical strength can't keep up, can it? Plus, learning magic is mentally draining, big bro."
She was small, but not blind. It was clear to her that Ryuji wasn't looking to marry Chobung—he just wanted her body, the same way those in the Demon Realm did.
The only difference was, back there, the exchange was food and water. Here in Arad, it was money. Not that it made much of a difference.
"Well... people need to let off steam sometimes, don't they?"
Ryuji spoke with certainty. He could sense it—Chobung was the kind of woman burdened with all sorts of thoughts, and she held some strange affection toward him.
He figured it was probably because he complimented her looks. Still, he couldn't be sure.
It was hard to believe a woman would fall for a guy just because he said she was pretty.
Granted, Chobong wasn't bad-looking—not that the other women he'd met were bad either. Galina, for instance, was also quite attractive.
The problem was Galina was way too toxic, literally and figuratively.
"But ten gold coins can buy a ton of stuff. I mean, even I don't know much about this, but in the Demon Realm, that kind of money could get you a whole group of pretty women. You got ripped off."
Rosh tilted her head. Sure, Chonbung had a nice figure, but her personality, scent, and even her physical condition left a lot to be desired. She was weak and poisonous. In the Demon Realm, she'd be the type of product no one would buy.
"There's no such thing as getting ripped off in matters like this. It's all about mutual consent."
Ryuji shook his head and opened his palms.
"In the end, I just don't feel like I lost anything."
Getting to his feet, he glanced at the two corpses Chonbung's men were dragging away and sighed.
He had hoped to sell those bodies for a bit of profit, but since she took them, he figured it wasn't worth arguing over.
"Alright, let's go study."
He rubbed Rosh's head and headed back toward the inn.
Along the way, following Rosh's suggestion, he picked up some notebooks and textbooks. Then the two of them returned to their room—though the innkeeper gave him a look that screamed "degenerate"—and got to work.
Since Ryuji genuinely wanted to learn the language, and thanks to the brooch giving him a cheat code of sorts, his learning speed was surprisingly fast. He quickly picked up the basics.
Though, being taught the language of Arad by someone from the Demon Realm still felt bizarre.
After dinner, Rosh returned to her quarters in the Mage Association, while Ryuji stayed behind reviewing the day's lessons.
But when he glanced at his near-empty coin pouch, he couldn't help but sigh.
"Money really is never enough."
He flicked the pouch with his finger and made up his mind to sell the iron ingots in his inventory first thing tomorrow morning. It was the only way he could keep Rosh from eating him into poverty.
She was easy to feed—nothing fancy—but her appetite was absurd.
"How can she eat that much and still be that short? And what's with this unscientific appetite anyway…"
Shaking his head to dispel the thought, he lost all interest in continuing his studies for the night.
His gaze shifted to the [Blood Qi Secret Art] skill book in his "7 Days to Die" system. After a moment's hesitation, he decided to use it immediately.
It would be safer to study it with Kiri, sure—but he didn't even know where she was right now. Besides, things were still awkward between them.
And honestly, the sooner he could grow stronger, the better, right?
He tapped the "Learn" button.
Just like last time, an overwhelming wave of pain surged through his body and brain—but this time, there was more.
He felt it.
All the times he'd pushed his body to its limits through harsh training, all the techniques he'd used to simulate the bloodlust that came naturally to those cursed by Kazan... It all surged into his mind.
Controlling his own blood, manipulating his enemies' bleeding wounds, how to make injuries gush more, how to accelerate blood flow to boost strength and reflexes, how to quicken circulation for rapid recovery.
The nameless swordsman had taken over a decade to master these techniques.
And in that instant, Ryuji inherited them all.
He could hear it—rivers and streams flowing through his veins, and the thunderous pounding of his own heart.
No idea how long it lasted, but eventually, he snapped his eyes open, dizziness crashing over him like waves. His whole body felt unbearably hot, his blood surging like a raging tide. He had to consciously slow his circulation, following the techniques from the memory, just to stabilize.
But the spinning in his head didn't stop.
Still, he couldn't help but mutter with a bitter laugh:
"No wonder Berserkers all need ghost arms. This thing is way too damn convenient."
He couldn't not complain.
From what he'd seen in the inherited memories and experience, the Blood Qi Secret Art was ridiculously hard to master—and honestly, not that practical.
How impractical, exactly?
That swordsman he blasted away with the buckshot gun? He spent over ten years learning it—and never got beyond third-rate.
Worse, the art caused him all kinds of side effects.
Numb hands and feet were just the start. One time, he tried to accelerate his blood too fast and lost most of his tongue's functionality. Couldn't taste anything after that.
The reason was simple: He often spiked his blood flow speed, then suddenly dropped it back to normal. The sudden shift ruptured his vessels.
But if he didn't do it that way, his capillaries couldn't handle the stress of sustained high-speed circulation—and he'd die from internal rupture.
And why did Ryuji mention the ghost arm?
Because ghost arms didn't need to worry about bursting blood vessels or clots! Berserkers could use them like a second heart, dumping all the strain onto the ghost arm!
Plus, due to the ghost god's power invading the brain, in some twisted way, it protected the user's mind from being destroyed by the rampaging blood qi.
Which meant—without a ghost arm, mastering this world's Blood Qi Secret Art was pretty much a pipe dream.
~~~~~~~
Bonus chapter every 200 PS.