Lord Ordelian left immediately, saying he was busy. He had to interrogate the captured Ash, and he truly was busy, but he also sensed that there were things that would be difficult to discuss with a noble present. The Adventurer's Guild was essentially an independent organization. The lord, while providing financial support, preferred not to interfere too much. Ordelian was a kind lord who paid attention to detail.

Nerina, Ryujeen, and Iraira moved to the guildmaster's office. For some reason, trainees Anastasia and Leonora were also called in.

"So, about the future training strategies...since Wairago's difficulty has decreased, we're going to lift the entry restrictions, I've already spoken to the lord. But we'll send out adventurers to investigate and check for areas that need adjustment.

We need to make significant changes to the training content as well.

The biggest problem right now is the overemphasis on physical strength. Bymark's adventurers are mostly warriors and physical attackers, but magic users should be able to work in Bymark from now on."

"I'm done. Nerina can handle the training. We can recruit talented magic users, but I don't know any better than Nerina. She can teach them."

"Are you quitting? We don't need you to stop teaching swordsmanship."

"I think I'm not cut out to be a leader. I'm not liked. What happened with Ash aside, my training methods were problematic."

"Excuse me, Iraira, you didn't hate magic users and healers, did you?"

"I don't hate them. I was in a party with Nerina, an exceptional magic user. I know how useful magic is. But...magic is useless against Catochrists. I fought Catochrists many times, and I concluded that overwhelming physical strength is more effective."

"But wouldn't it be a disadvantage in a long fight without a healer?"

"To be blunt, potions can handle healing. We were planning on providing large capacity magic bags for the Wairago expedition.

I wanted to have as many warrior-type people as possible to increase physical attack power. Against Catochrists, the best strategy is to strike first and aim for a quick victory, defeating them before they can breathe their petrifying gas."

"Know yourself, know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles.

...That's what...

...Someone said."

"Who?"

Ryu remembered the Earth proverb, but he couldn't remember who had said it. He had no way of finding out now that he was in another world.

"...If you understand the Catochrists well, support classes like magic users and healers should be helpful. For example, they could use support magic to increase the speed and power of the attackers, or use wind magic to blow away the petrifying gas."

"Don't you think you should've tried that? I think it would work if there were fewer Catochrists...But support classes didn't have the agility to dodge the petrifying gas. And the petrifying breath wasn't something that could be easily stopped with a simple wind spell. They couldn't even change its direction. They could blow away the gas with a magic wind spell, but that has its limits if there's gas constantly being released. And in a tight space, it's useless."

"Will Catochrists still appear in the deepest level? If adventurers try again in the future, we need to issue a warning."

"Well, that many Catochrists won't appear again...

...Silver Mask said so."

...

"Um...why are we here?"

"Oh, right. You two were magic users and healers, and you didn't have much stamina. But then you suddenly gained remarkable physical strength...I'm curious why."

Anastasia and Leonora looked at each other, then glanced at Ryu. They had received Ryu's advice about using mana for physical enhancement and had figured out how to do it on their own.

But even the guildmaster didn't have the right to force an adventurer to reveal their secrets to success.

"According to Iraira, Ryujeen gave you some hints, right?"

"I only gave them a hint. The rest is their hard work."

"I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me the hint..."

"I'm fine with revealing it...but what do you two think? You worked hard to become stronger, and you might want to keep it a secret."

"I understand that asking about an adventurer's secrets is bad manners. But if you tell me even just the hint, it will contribute greatly to the guild and the adventurers. We'll record it as a contribution to the guild. You'll get a better ranking and other benefits, so it's a good deal for you both!"

Leonora and Anastasia looked at each other, then nodded.

"It's fine if you reveal it. Ryujeen taught us, so if he teaches others, it will eventually spread anyway."

"We used our mana to enhance our bodies. We didn't use mana for magic, we used it for physical enhancement."

Ryu then gave additional explanations about his theory on why there were such huge differences in physical abilities among the people of this world. Humans in this world unconsciously use mana to enhance their bodies. There are those who are good at it and those who aren't, and this creates differences in physical ability.

Warriors and swordsmen, those with extremely high physical abilities, unconsciously use mana for body enhancement. Conversely, magic users and healers excel at activating magic externally, but they might not focus on using mana for physical enhancement.

But since magic users and healers are good at handling mana, wouldn't it be possible to channel mana into physical enhancement with practice?

Anastasia and Leonora were proof that it was possible.

Nerina said this information could revolutionize adventurers. Those who had been considered weak despite their magical abilities could now enhance their bodies by skillfully using mana. Conversely, those who had been unconsciously enhancing their bodies could learn to use mana externally instead, potentially becoming powerful magic users.

Of course, it wasn't something that could be learned overnight. Those with high physical abilities probably couldn't easily decrease their athletic ability and suddenly use magic, and conversely, magic users and healers might lose their ability to use magic if they focus on physical enhancement.

In the end, it might come down to personal preference how mana was allocated, but Nerina requested their help to research this, and that after graduating, they would be given the position of assistant instructors. If this technique were perfected, they would have the opportunity to become official instructors.

They readily agreed and left.

But Nerina and Iraira had one more question for Ryu. It was about his petrification reversal magic.

Next Episode

Why Iraira targeted Ryujeen.

Stay tuned!