Shun and Erza returned to the guild after collecting the reward from the client.
On the way, Shun happily counted the reward in his hand. This was his first huge sum of money, a full 150,000 Jewels.
Working part-time at Fairy Tail for three months, his total earnings were just a little more than this.
But after becoming a Mage, he earned this much in just three days—how could Shun not be happy?
After receiving the reward, he wanted to give half to Erza, but she resolutely refused.
She claimed she was just helping Shun get familiar with missions and that comrades helping each other shouldn't involve payment.
If she took payment for helping, wouldn't she have to pay Shun if she asked for his help in the future?
Hearing Erza say this, Shun didn't insist anymore.
Erza was right. Although they did the mission together, it didn't mean the two of them would form a team from now on.
She didn't request to form a team either.
After all, in order to absorb Magic Beast souls in the future, he might have to go to dangerous places. Being with Erza might restrict him.
Also, he was afraid of accidentally injuring Erza, like what almost happened today.
At least until he became strong enough to easily protect his comrades, he probably wouldn't team up with anyone.
After returning to the guild, Erza reported the situation of this mission to Makarov.
Hearing that there were over 100 Vulcans in this mission, Makarov felt a lingering fear.
The mission description was vague about the number of Vulcans, which was normal. After all, the person posting the request was an ordinary civilian and couldn't possibly know the exact number of monsters.
Because of this, Makarov had been worried and had Erza go with Shun.
But over 100 Vulcans was too many. A mission of this difficulty should have a reward of at least 500,000 Jewels.
Then, hearing that Shun had slaughtered over 100 Vulcans alone, his jaw dropped to the ground in surprise.
What was going on? Was this kid godlike?
Just became a Mage and wiped out over 100 Vulcans?
Those were vicious Magic Beasts, Vulcans. One of them was almost equivalent to an average Mage.
And you're telling me Shun, a kid who just became a Mage, killed over 100 Vulcans alone?
Doesn't that mean Shun is equivalent to wiping out a Mage guild of 100 people single-handedly?
If anyone else, including Shun himself, had said this, Makarov wouldn't have believed it.
But these words came from Erza.
Makarov knew Erza's character best. Lying? Anyone in the world might lie, but Erza absolutely wouldn't.
Finally, when he heard that Shun's battle triggered an avalanche, Makarov's heart rose to his throat.
But then Shun fired a magic blast, evaporating the terrifying avalanche and destroying the peak of Mt. Hakobe.
Makarov's eyes were about to pop out.
This kid, is he a monster?!!
Causing such a big commotion on his first mission—that's too abnormal.
He felt Shun was very strong during his duel with Mirajane, but after hearing Erza's account, he realized he had underestimated this brat.
Shun's strength should be among the top in the guild, aside from the S-Class Mage Gildarts.
Perhaps only Laxus could compete with Shun.
Just joining Fairy Tail and already becoming one of the top Mages in the guild—this kid really is a little monster.
With this brat having such strength, it seems there's no need to restrict him too much on missions in the future.
"Hehe!"
Suddenly, Makarov chuckled again. Now he could boast about his child to those old friends at the local guild masters' meeting.
Time flew by, and half a year passed in a flash.
In the mountains behind Magnolia.
A young boy was sweating profusely doing push-ups.
Unlike others, on this boy's back was a huge rock weighing over a thousand kilograms.
"…97, 98, 99, 100!!"
[Ding! Daily Quest: 100 Push-ups (Completed), 100 Sit-ups (Completed), 100 Squats (Completed), 10km Run (Completed)]
[Reward: Evolution Progress +1%]
After finishing one hundred reps, the boy pushed hard with both hands, throwing the huge rock off his back onto the ground beside him.
Boom—!
The rock landed with a dull thud, shaking the ground, making one feel just how heavy that rock was.
"Hmm, this rock is getting a bit light again. Next time, I'll switch to a bigger one for training."
"Time to go to the guild."
In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed since Shun formally joined the Fairy Tail Guild.
It had been almost a full year since he transmigrated to this world.
For the past half year, Shun spent most of his time doing missions, so he had accumulated quite a bit of wealth.
He certainly had to complete the daily quests, and Shun constantly increased the difficulty for himself.
To facilitate his training, he even moved his home here.
Like with that giant rock just now—when squatting, he held that giant rock with both hands to exercise.
When doing push-ups, he put that giant rock on his back.
For sit-ups, he hung upside down on a custom-made iron frame, pulling the giant rock with a rope while doing sit-ups.
For the long run, besides running fast, he had custom-made weighted gear, making the daily quests that could originally be easily completed take up quite a bit of time again.
But Shun enjoyed it tirelessly. Whenever he felt it getting easy, he would increase the weight.
Otherwise, completing the daily quests too easily made him feel a bit uneasy.
Only in this way could he truly feel the sensation of becoming stronger.