A Truth I Want to Ignore!

◈

Let me clarify!

Luna used her technique while we were in the Rabbit and Shell Formation!

And I was riding on Luna’s back!

I had my legs wrapped around Luna’s waist and my hands firmly placed on her shoulders to secure myself!

But!

Luna’s speed when using her technique was too fast, and my body couldn’t withstand it!

When she changed direction, my legs came loose, and I flew sideways!

And after flying, I bounced off the ground like a skipping stone, hitting various parts of my body!

Ah, it hurts so bad.

“Oh, oooh! Urgh!”

My shoulder hurts!

My side hurts!

And my arms hurt too!

“H-he… Heal!”

Woooong!

Ah… comfort.

“J-Jin-saaaaaaang!”

While I was feeling the comfort from Heal.

Luna approached me from far away with tears welling up in her eyes.

“A-a-a-are you okay? I’m s-sorry! I-I… I…”

“No no, I’m fine, Luna!”

I quickly got up and tried my best to speak so Luna wouldn’t feel sorry.

“You saw me use Heal! I’m not hurt at all!”

“B-but. But be-because of me…”

“How could this be Luna’s fault! If anything… ah, it’s because my strength couldn’t withstand the speed and came loose… ah. I’m really weak, ahhh…”

I was trying to comfort Luna, but somehow my own mood turned gloomy.

I am… pathetic.

A weak, pathetic person…

“I’m… pathetic…”

“J-Jin-sang! It’s o-okay! I t-told you! You c-can train to get stronger!”

Luna, who had been on the verge of tears, was now comforting me instead.

“Ah! A-and! If you use b-body enhancement magic, it’ll be e-even better! Body enhancement magic has a fairly s-simple formula! I u-use it too, so Jin-sang can also…”

“I can’t use any magic except recovery magic. If I try, I get chills, headaches, nausea, and other symptoms because of my constitution. Ha, haha. I am… pa-pathetic…”

“Oh, oh, oh. Ah. Th-then! Let’s build lots of m-muscle! I’ll h-help you! I’ll help you a lot!”

“Thank you…”

Luna’s kindness makes tears drop from my eyes.

◈

Back at the Adventurer’s Guild, Luna and I submitted the remains to Celine, received our payment, and were having a simple meal at a guild table.

“Munch munch… Luna. I want to just do herb gathering tomorrow and finish early.”

“Huh? W-why? Did s-something happen, Jin-sang?”

“After finishing herb gathering…”

I clenched my fist and shared my strong determination with Luna.

“I want to focus on muscle training tomorrow! I’ve been doing it every day, but tomorrow I want to concentrate intensely on muscle training! For the Rabbit and Shell Formation!”

“R-really? Huh? R-rabbit and shell?”

“You’re the rabbit, I’m the shell.”

“Ah, that. You h-haven’t given up on it…”

“The more I think about it, that formation is amazing! I just need to hold on!”

And because I can cling to Luna and feel that soft sensation and fragrance!

Sniff sniff!

“So I think we should just do herb gathering tomorrow and finish. I’ll… be training at the guild training grounds. Luna, just help with the herb gathering and then rest. Even adventurers need rest, right?”

“Um, well. J-Jin-sang! I’ll t-train with you too!”

“What? You too, Luna? No, it’s okay. You don’t need to be considerate of me…”

“N-no! I s-said today that I’d h-help Jin-sang train. A-and… I also have l-low stamina, so I w-want to train my stamina too! I w-want to increase my stamina even a little with Jin-sang’s help!”

“L-Luna…!”

To train together with me, who is so weak…!

How could I refuse such a heartfelt offer!

Plus, training together with a beauty like Luna?

I recalled the yoga and exercise videos I watched on YouTube in my original world, featuring attractive women.

Gorgeous and beautiful women! Just watching them exercise was… satisfying.

Luna has an even better figure than those women.

And personally, I find her appearance very pretty.

To see Luna exercising…

Heh, hehe.

I can’t stop drooling mentally!

“Great! Then let’s train together tomorrow!”

“Y-yes!”

Feeling excited and happy about tomorrow, I raised my fist and shouted:

“For the development of our ultimate combo!”

“F-for it!”

Luna also raised her fist and joined in the shout with me.

I’m so looking forward to tomorrow!

“…Training? Heh heh.”

◈

The next day.

As promised, after completing the herb gathering quest, I came to the training grounds in the Adventurer’s Guild with Luna for muscle training.

The training grounds are just a large rectangular space with wooden practice weapons displayed at the end and dummy targets scattered throughout for testing attack magic.

Because of this, not many people use it regularly.

But occasionally some people do use it, so it would feel inconvenient if it didn’t exist.

That’s what the Adventurer’s Guild training grounds are like.

This kind of space was good for Luna and me to do muscle or stamina training.

“Let’s start, Luna!”

“O-okay!”

“Ah, since it’s dusty, let me lay this down first.”

I spread out a large leather cloth I bought yesterday from a general store to cover the floor.

I would have preferred to prepare something like a mat, but unfortunately, there wasn’t one.

After covering the floor with several leather cloths, I took off my shoes and stepped on them.

“Now, Luna, please come up too.”

“O-okay!”

Luna followed me, taking off her sandal-style shoes that covered up to her shins, and stepped onto the leather cloth.

Since we decided to do my muscle training first and then Luna’s stamina training, I said to Luna:

“First, I’ll start with push-ups!”

“O-okay!”

After that, Luna and I did intense muscle training.

Push-ups, squats, sit-ups, etc.

We did basic bodyweight exercises one after another.

When my strength faltered or my arms got tired, I immediately used Stamina Heal to recover, so I did muscle training without rest.

And during the muscle training, I realized.

Muscle training with someone else is better for the mind than doing it alone.

A sense of solidarity from doing it together?

That’s part of it. But the best part is…

“One… two…”

Being able to watch Luna exercise next to me.

Luna’s outfit was her usual casual clothes for quests.

A black high-leg knit that covered up to her neck, hot pants jeans with side slits, and because she’s right-handed, a tight cloth compression band covering from her right shoulder to above her elbow.

And thin belts that tighten around her thighs, two on the right thigh and one on the left.

Yes.

Luna’s outfit, which became even more accentuated during exercise, was objectively speaking, a very arousing outfit.

Watching her exercise in such an outfit?

It’s extremely satisfying as a man!

It’s a feast for the eyes.

When doing push-ups, her chest touches the floor as she bends her arms.

When doing sit-ups, her chest shakes.

When doing squats, the way her hips move backward and the flesh that peeks out through the side slits.

The moment when her thighs, slightly swollen and tightened by the belts, become more pronounced.

And add to that the sight of Luna slightly sweating and breathing “heu-heu” because of her low stamina.

It’s absolutely perfect!

My motivation rises tremendously!

Really… really!

Training is the best!

“Phew! Luna, let’s do stamina training next!”

“Heu heu, o-okay! Let’s do it!”

Luna and I put our shoes back on and moved to the edge of the training grounds.

Stamina training simply involves running around the training grounds.

“Let me know when your stamina is getting low. I’ll immediately cast Stamina Heal.”

“O-okay! Got it!”

“Then let’s go!”

“L-let’s go!”

Luna and I started running at a moderate pace.

Probably because she’s specialized in speed, Luna ran slightly ahead of me.

And I was following behind her.

At that moment, I made a new discovery.

Something I couldn’t focus on well during strength training.

Yes, Luna’s ears and tail.

As she ran, Luna’s long ears swayed gently in rhythm, and her round tail wiggled slightly near her tailbone.

Ah, cute.

Plus, watching Luna from behind as she ran—her slender waist, of course, and her firm buttocks and thighs—I could appreciate both cuteness and sexiness at the same time.

Really… training is the best!

Hehe.

With continued enthusiasm, I kept following Luna.

“Heuk! Heok! Heuk!”

Clearly, I was the one huffing and puffing before Luna, who should have less stamina.

Why?

“J-Jin-sang. Heu. A-are you okay?”

Luna was definitely panting slightly, but not as badly as I was.

Seeing this, I realized a truth I wanted to ignore.

Luna’s stamina is only “low” by C-rank standards.

And the reason she gets tired after using a technique once is.

Because that technique is a powerful finishing move that consumes that much stamina.

Of course, getting tired after using a finishing move once is still a problem.

But if I were told to perform that technique, I probably couldn’t do it at all and would get tired in the middle of trying.

…Huh?

Could it be that I…

I’m inferior to Luna not just in strength but in stamina too?