Nightfall, at the Seaf Cafe.
"Why isn't Big Guy back yet, meow..." Kitty Girl lay on the bar, yawning lazily and muttering.
"Didn't he come back with you?" Evelyn walked over, a bit annoyed.
Today, she deliberately wore a white dress, intending to dazzle a certain someone later. But apart from a hurried greeting in the morning, she hadn't seen the big guy since.
But his cat had returned.
"No, he went to the welfare home," Chi-Chi yawned again.
"The welfare home..." Evelyn pondered for a moment, wondering if she had any missions related to a welfare home. She couldn't quite remember, but she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she looked at the sleepy Chi-Chi and said with a smile, "If you're tired, you can go to sleep first. It's the same room as before, I've... had someone tidy it up for you."
"Can't sleep without Big Guy here, meow..." Chi-Chi said straightforwardly.
Evelyn blinked, a mysterious glint in her eyes as she leaned closer and whispered, "How far have you and Big Guy... gone?"
Chi-Chi looked puzzled, "What do you mean, how far, meow?"
"Like... have you two slept together?" Evelyn bit her lip, then added, "I mean, literally."
Chi-Chi nodded immediately, "Yes, meow!"
Evelyn's eyes dimmed with a hint of disappointment, but she still wore a meaningful smile and teased, "Is it comfortable?"
Chi-Chi nodded again, "Yes, very comfortable, meow!"
"Big Guy is very warm, and I feel very safe sleeping on him, meow!"
Evelyn suddenly felt something was off and couldn't help but raise her eyebrows, "Wait a minute, when you say sleeping, you don't mean literally sleeping, do you?"
Chi-Chi: "???"
"Otherwise, meow?"
Evelyn suddenly felt excited, "You guys didn't do anything else at night?"
Chi-Chi tilted her head, then shook it, "No, meow."
"We're always tired when we come back, meow."
"And Big Guy always falls asleep faster than me, meow."
Evelyn's eyes lit up, a smile tugging at her lips, "Is... is that so? Mercenaries are like that, they can sleep like pigs as soon as they stick to their pillows."
"But Big Guy isn't like that," Chi-Chi said, "He's like a dragon, his breathing is loud, but he doesn't snore, meow."
"Really? Have you seen a dragon?" Evelyn asked curiously, striking up a conversation with Chi-Chi.
"I have, a sleeping dragon, but I only dared to look from afar and then ran away, meow," Chi-Chi recalled.
"Then you're really lucky. I heard dragons are quite fierce. A single dragon can easily destroy a city," Evelyn said.
"Yes, meow, they're really scary. Before the dragon goes to sleep, it burns everything around it, then lies down to sleep on the scorched land. I felt so hot even though I was far away, meow."
"I feel like one breath of fire from it could dry up a lake, meow."
"I wonder if Big Guy can beat a dragon, meow."
"You think highly of me, huh." Suddenly, a large hand landed on Chi-Chi's head, gently rubbing it.
"Big Guy, you're back, meow!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, turning around and jumping onto Philard's shoulder, naturally settling there.
She liked this position.
Seeing Philard, Evelyn also smiled and said, "You're quite efficient. With three more Gold-tier missions completed, you'll be promoted to Gold, right?"
She was asking knowingly, and as she spoke, she circled around, her off-white dress blooming like a flower before falling back down.
There was a hint of anticipation in her eyes.
But Philard just chuckled and said to himself, "Of course, I'm going to become a legendary mercenary. Can't slack off."
Evelyn paused for a moment, then found another topic, "By the way, Alec came to see me. He said you gave him a free Gold-tier mission."
As she spoke, she turned again while putting down a plate, her skirt swaying.
"Yeah, he helped out, so I have to give him some money back later. I'll cover the commission the tavern takes," Philard said, yawning.
Yawns are contagious. Seeing him yawn, Chi-Chi yawned too, then hugged Philard's neck, resting her small face against his head, saying, "Big Guy, I'm tired, meow..."
Philard nodded, "Then let's sleep. We have to go to Grela City early tomorrow."
With that, he turned to Evelyn, "Same room as before."
Evelyn looked helpless, "It's all prepared for you."
"Thanks. Give me Alec's mission tomorrow," Philard smiled, then took the sleepy kitten upstairs.
"Got it," the landlady replied lackadaisically.
Watching his back, Evelyn shook her head with a bitter smile, looking at her own dress.
"What am I doing? I really..."
"Oh, by the way." Suddenly, Philard stuck his head out from the stairway, making Evelyn look at him with confusion.
"Your dress looks beautiful, keep up the beauty!" Philard grinned, then quickly retracted, as if afraid the landlady would chase him with a frying pan.
But she didn't, and Evelyn stared at the empty stairway in bewilderment, then burst into laughter.
Afterward, she quickly covered her mouth, glanced around, relieved when no one noticed, but the smile at the corner of her mouth wouldn't fade.
Upstairs, Philard paused, not hearing the landlady's yelling, feeling somewhat surprised. But he didn't dwell on it, thinking it was just late, and she wouldn't want to make a fuss.
So he hummed a tune and returned to his room, tossing the little kitten onto the bed and laying down himself.
As his massive body sank into the soft mattress, the kitten bounced a couple of times before naturally climbing onto his stomach.
Philard looked up and saw her curled up into a ball, snuggling comfortably, soon followed by the sound of her purring.
It was routine.
So Philard simply closed his eyes and went to sleep!
...
Early morning.
Philard sat at the bar enjoying a breakfast of cornflakes and milk, a nutritious breakfast only available this season, which he quite liked.
Chi-Chi also enjoyed it, but she didn't like cereal or corn, so she ordered a cornflake breakfast without corn or cereal.
"Picky eater, no wonder you're so tiny," Philard remarked.
"I'm not picky, I just don't like eating plants, meow," Chi-Chi replied.
Philard chuckled.
Evelyn also chuckled, then brought her a glass of milk and a grilled fish fillet.
The morning sun streamed through the windows of the tavern, with one person, one cat, and a beautiful female landlady, the scene was quite harmonious—minus the mercenaries passed out drunk at the tables around them.
After eating and drinking their fill, Philard took the task list handed to him by Evelyn and glanced over it.
Alec's task was a materials collection mission, requiring the gathering of "Hops Grass" from the Numlin area, over 120 kilometers away.
Hops Grass was a rare herb used in the preparation of advanced potions and was quite difficult to find.
Moreover, the Numlin area was inhabited by Gold-tier monsters, making this task not so simple.
But not too difficult either.
Accepting the task, Philard bid farewell to Evelyn and set off.
Three Gold-tier promotion tasks: one was to hunt a Gold-tier monster, which could be found in the Numlin area, so it could be done along with Alec's task.
Another was a delivery task, where Philard had to pick up goods at the dock—a crate of valuable high-end wine—to be delivered to a famous tavern in Greela City.
The last task was a bit special, a debt collection task, requiring the retrieval of 4800 gold coins, principal and interest included, for the creditor. Philard would receive a quarter of that amount, which was 1200 gold.
The debtor was in Haidu, but in the inner city, and he was a Gold-tier two-star scoundrel.
The inner city was the rich district, requiring a pass to enter, or payment of a thousand gold as a deposit. And this deposit would not be refunded, but it guaranteed unhindered passage for ten days. After ten days, to enter again, another thousand would have to be paid.
Philard had already asked Evelyn to apply for a temporary pass for him. She was an official of the Mercenary Guild, so it would be much easier for her to apply for a pass than for Philard to go to the outer city government office himself.
So, for the debt collection task, he had to wait for the pass to come, which would probably take a few days.
In the meantime, Philard had to go to the dock to pick up the goods and take the opportunity to improve his strength.
Philard's promotion method is quite peculiar.
Where's the peculiarity?
First, let's talk about his cultivation method. Generally, warriors strengthen their bodies through exercise, enhancing their vitality, and combining with the circulation of magic to temper their physique. Meanwhile, mages use meditation to cultivate and strengthen their mental aspect, achieving an increase in magic reserves and intensity.
Philard's breathing technique, theoretically, falls into the category of a warrior's cultivation method. When powerful warriors train their bodies, they often use their own breathing techniques to enhance the effectiveness of their training.
Philard initially thought of himself as a warrior. However, during his cultivation, as he stimulated his vitality, mobilized magic, and tempered his physique, the surrounding magic would also be drawn into his body. Subsequently, these magic energies would be stored within him.
And here comes the strange part of Philard's promotion method.
The accumulated magic in Philard's body could only enter but not exit!
As long as Philard engaged in vigorous exercise, the magic within his body would accumulate more and more. When it reached a certain level of accumulation, this magic would precipitate.
The magic precipitated by Philard couldn't be manipulated; it could only remain stored within his body.
Initially, Philard worried that when the precipitated magic reached its limit and filled his magic reservoir, he might explode and perish. However, what happened was that once the magic reservoir was completely filled with the precipitated magic, a powerful surge of magic would erupt, and his cultivation would skyrocket, experiencing an explosive growth!
This kind of event had only occurred once since Philard officially began training at the age of fourteen. At that time, Philard was still a Silver-tier one-star. Through the breathing technique and natural training, he had reached this level within a year.
Then, when the magic reservoir was filled to capacity and the eruption of magical energy occurred, his rank instantly soared to Silver-tier five-star, skipping four small stages directly!
So Philard was very curious, could this be related to his giant physique?
Because this kind of promotion method seemed somewhat like "compression," "eruption," or "accumulation before eruption."
But the problem was, why did the accumulated magic fill his physique when it reached its limit?
Philard's understanding was that under the influence of vitality, magic could temper the body. Therefore, when the powerful surge of magic erupted, Philard's body also experienced significant tempering effects.
However, why couldn't he control the magic he absorbed, nor could he let it condense into starlight or release magic spells?
This was something Philard couldn't comprehend.
So the current situation was that Philard had to continuously precipitate magic through exercise and his breathing technique. Before his reservoir was filled with precipitated magic, his progress was very slow.
Moreover, as the magic reservoir was filled with "precipitated magic," the amount of "free magic" that could be mobilized would decrease.
In other words—if his magic reservoir was already filled with 99% of precipitated magic, then he would only have 1% of magic that could be freely manipulated.
During this period, he could only rely on his physique and vitality for combat. Only when the magic reservoir was filled and another eruption-like surge of magical energy occurred, clearing the precipitated magic within his magic reservoir, could he once again freely manipulate the magic within his body.
And the amount of manipulable magic would continue to decrease as the magic continued to precipitate, repeating the above steps.
Of course, every time a surge of magical energy erupted, the capacity of Philard's magic reservoir would be greater, and the intensity of the magic would be higher.
Nowadays, his magic intensity was as far beyond his tier as his physique. Philard estimated that his magic intensity could rival that of a high-level Gold-tier mage.
Unfortunately, to date, he hadn't been able to transform his magic into higher-damage magic spells. He only knew how to use the most basic applications of magic.
For example, attaching magic to his body to form a magical skin, achieving magical protection. Or attaching magic to his fists to make them harder.
At most, he could saturate his blood with magic, enhancing his body's functions slightly.
There was nothing else; no dazzling magic, not even a simple magic bolt he could gather.
Because once his magic left his body, it would dissipate, which was the reason he couldn't cast spells.
So despite having magic reserves and intensity far beyond his tier, he couldn't release magic spells. He couldn't even be considered a mage.
Philard could only console himself that this was a kind of indirect dual cultivation of magic and martial arts.
But Philard had a premonition that his current situation might be related to his giant physique.
Perhaps when he made further progress and gradually unlocked the giant inheritance in his mind, he would understand why. Maybe he could even learn magic.
For now, all he could do was passively accept it.
Currently, his magic reservoir was filled with 95% precipitated magic. Philard estimated that it would be full in about half a month.
If he engaged in a few high-intensity battles during this period, practicing his breathing technique during combat, his cultivation speed would be much faster.