Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Tom Trembles in Fear

"... She had disheveled hair, pale complexion, dressed all in white, and seemed to always carry a whistling wind with her. Her eyes held endless resentment..."

Adrian intentionally turned off the lights above the bar counter, lit a candle, and imitated the tone of a teacher from a certain TV show as he told Tom a ghost story.

"Kukuku... kukukuku..." Tom's upper and lower teeth were constantly clashing, and he couldn't help but stuff one hand into his mouth, staring fixedly at Adrian, trembling uncontrollably.

Tom was like this from the moment Adrian started telling the story. Tom was very afraid of ghosts but enjoyed listening to ghost stories.

It seemed that many people had this quirk—despite being scared out of their wits, they still couldn't help but enjoy horror stories. They would listen with fear, ready to run at any moment, yet their feet felt glued to the spot.

Tom was currently in that state—so scared that he even wrapped himself in a small blanket, but the shivering wouldn't stop.

Adrian couldn't quite understand Tom's psychology. He was just responsible for telling the story, especially when there were no customers bothering him. He was amusing Tom to pass the time.

The dim candlelight flickered with Adrian's breath as he told the story, and eerie sounds like crackling came from nearby, adding to the horror.

The strange sounds were because Artoria was calmly eating a senbei next to him. She certainly wasn't afraid of ghosts or monsters. If you really wanted to categorize her, as a Heroic Spirit, she was essentially a type of ghost or monster, so encountering one wasn't a big deal for her.

"She crawled bit by bit toward the camera, getting closer and closer... first her arm, then her hair, and finally... she actually crawled out of the screen!"

"Yi-yi-yi—Ya-ah-ah-ah!!!" Tom's scream was piercing, seemingly shaking the entire tavern, but that wasn't the end—

"Ah!!!" Suddenly, around the candle, a dozen or so burly men appeared out of nowhere. Following Tom's scream, they too shouted at the top of their lungs.

Tom was startled by the sudden voices behind him. He swiftly darted behind Adrian, sticking out only half of his head to cautiously observe.

Adrian covered his ears and complained once the high-pitched voices quieted down, "I was telling a story to my cat, so what's with you guys joining in? Even if you want to join in, you don't have to be so jumpy. Your courage is even smaller than my cat's."

The group blushed at his words, stuttering, "W-what... what's that, we... we're not scared at all..."

Mainly, emotions were easily influenced by others. Tom screamed, and they couldn't help but shout too. Now that Adrian pointed it out, they felt quite embarrassed.

Adrian wore a crafty smile, "It's 500 Berries per person."

"Why should we pay? We didn't even hear the whole story!"

"That's right!"

"In that case, I'll go tell Mr. Goodman tomorrow. You guys got scared by a little story and nearly wet your pants. With his personality, I guarantee that within a day, the whole island will know..."

"Hey, it's 500 Berries, no need to be polite with me! I don't mean anything else; I just think your story is really good, worth this price!"

"That's right, that's right!"

"Thanks for your business!" After collecting the money for afternoon tea, Adrian was in a good mood. He voluntarily asked, "Do you want to continue listening? I've got even scarier ones~"

Everyone shook their heads in unison and went back to their seats with the alcohol they wanted. They were thinking, we'll listen to your stories as dogs from now on.

No one caused any trouble again until closing time at night, which left Adrian disappointed. He closed the shop door with a lingering sense of unfulfillment and began his evening practice.

As usual, he started with basic training like physical strength, followed by sparring with Artoria.

"Pish!" "Crack!"

"Kacha!" Artoria's bamboo sword suddenly shattered, bamboo splinters flying everywhere.

Adrian's body swayed, and he plopped onto the ground, panting heavily, "What just happened?"

"Adrian!" Artoria threw down the hilt of her sword and quickly went to help him.

"I'm fine. I just suddenly felt weak all over."

Artoria helped him sit down on a chair and explained, "That was magic."

"Magic?" Adrian had thought he awakened something like Haki, but it turned out to be magic.

"Yes, although it's weak, it's indeed the same kind of magic I possess."

"Is the training method you taught me for swordsmanship capable of developing magic?"

"No." Artoria negated, "I just taught you swordsmanship normally; there isn't any specific method to 'develop' magic. It's just that your body naturally produced a trace of magic, which was consumed when you delivered that powerful blow, shattering my bamboo sword."

"Ah..." So, I'm an extraordinary genius, right?

No, that doesn't make sense. At this moment, he should doubt his system first.

Adrian lifted his left hand and looked at the magic array on it, "Is it because of this?"

Artoria nodded, "There's a possibility. You once said that after coming to this world, you gained unusual regenerative abilities. Perhaps it should be attributed to when Tom was summoned."

"And my body can produce magic because of your presence." Adrian continued her line of thought, his tone gradually becoming more excited, "Are you saying that I can gain your abilities?"

"Perhaps it's abilities, or perhaps it's attributes. It'll need more observation, or maybe it will be confirmed when another friend from a different world responds to your summons."

"That's great! Actually, if I could have Tom's constitution, that would be enough. I'd be practically invulnerable." Adrian immediately thought of a way to test it. He only needed Artoria to chop him in half with her sword and see if he could put himself back together...

The problem was, he didn't dare. If he guessed wrong, someone would end up dead. Right now, in terms of regenerative ability, he was still far behind Tom. So, it was possible that he only gained a portion of Artoria's constitution or abilities.

Even if that were the case, it was already fantastic. Possessing part of their constitution meant he had the potential to surpass ordinary people. As long as he worked hard, he could become stronger. It was truly a very happy thing!

Artoria also thought of this possibility, "It's more likely that you've acquired a portion of our constitution. At least for now, it doesn't seem like you'll become stronger out of thin air."

"Yeah, I'll continue to work hard in my training."

Artoria nodded. She believed this; she saw Adrian's efforts every day—well, as she sipped her tea and watched.

As his excited emotions gradually calmed down, Adrian scratched Tom's fur and recalled the last move

, "Um, Artoria, why do I feel like magic isn't as practical as I imagined? Giving it my all only shattered the bamboo sword, and then I ran out of energy. It seems like brute strength might be more effective?"

"That's because you simply released magic crudely. If it were me using the same amount of magic, it would be enough to snap a tree trunk."

"..." So, I'm just inexperienced, huh...