"Watch your words, kid. That was a mutually agreed transaction. How can you call that perverted?"
Leo stretched lazily. Tangie hadn't used much force. It hurt a little, sure, but the fact that she didn't follow up with anything nastier already counted as a win.
"But people who indulge too much in lust improve their strength very slowly," Rosh commented again.
"Your weapons are strong, but your stamina clearly can't keep up, right? And learning magic is exhausting and mentally draining too, big brother."
She might be small, but she could tell that Leo had no intention of marrying Tangie. Just like many in the demon world, he simply wanted her body.
The only difference was that in the demon world, people traded food and water, while here it was money. Fundamentally, there wasn't much difference.
"Well… people need an outlet," Leo replied firmly.
He could tell that Tangie was the type of woman with a lot going on inside, and that she held some inexplicable feelings toward him.
He suspected it might be because he had called her beautiful—but he wasn't entirely sure.
After all, someone falling for you just because you praised their looks was a bit too unbelievable.
Tangie really was good-looking. Then again, the other women weren't bad either—Galina was attractive as well.
The problem was that Galina's toxicity was simply too extreme.
"But ten gold coins can buy a lot of things. Even though I don't really understand this stuff, food worth ten gold coins could be exchanged for several beautiful women in the demon world. You're taking a loss," Rosh said, tilting her head.
Tangie might have a decent figure, but her personality, scent, and the poison in her body made her undesirable. In the demon world, she would be completely unsellable.
"There's no such thing as profit or loss here. Just mutual consent," Leo said, shaking his head and spreading his hands.
"All in all, I don't think I lost out."
He stood up, stretched again, and glanced at the two corpses that Tangie's subordinates had already dragged away, letting out a sigh.
He had planned to use them to run a dungeon later, but since Tangie had taken care of it, there was no point dwelling on it.
"Come on, let's go study."
Leo rubbed Rosh's head and headed toward the inn.
On the way, he followed Rosh's advice and bought some notebooks and books. Only then did they return to the room together, entering under the innkeeper's look of pure contempt. Once inside, they began their lessons.
Since Leo genuinely wanted to learn the language—and had a brooch to help him cheat—his progress was quite fast. He quickly grasped the basics.
Still, being taught the local language by someone from the demon world was undeniably strange.
After dinner, Rosh returned to the Mage Guild's residence, while Leo stayed behind, reviewing what he had learned that day.
But when he looked at his nearly empty money pouch, he sighed.
"Money really disappears fast."
He flicked the pouch lightly and decided that first thing tomorrow morning, he would sell the iron ingots in his inventory. That was the only way to ensure Rosh wouldn't eat him into poverty.
Her food was cheap and she was easy to feed—but the quantity was honestly terrifying.
"Still… how can she eat that much and stay so short? That appetite really makes no sense."
Shaking his head, Leo pushed those thoughts aside. But the interruption had killed his motivation to keep studying the written language.
His gaze fell on the Blood Energy Secret Art skill book in his Seven Days to Die system. After a moment of thought, he decided to use it immediately.
Finding Kelly would have been safer, but he had no idea where she was right now—and things between them were still awkward. Naturally, learning it himself was the best option.
Power was something you wanted sooner rather than later.
Leo lightly tapped the Learn option. In the next instant, the same agonizing pain as last time surged through his brain and body—but this time, he felt something else as well.
He sensed the blood energy that those bearing the Kazan Curse could naturally perceive—something he had only ever touched by pushing his body to its limits through relentless training.
How to control his own blood.
How to manipulate the blood spilled by enemies.
How to make wounds bleed more severely.
How to accelerate blood flow to boost strength and reaction speed.
How to circulate blood rapidly to recover stamina.
The nameless swordsman's decade-plus worth of experience with blood energy flooded directly into Leo's mind—and became his.
At the same time, Leo heard the roaring rivers and streams surging through his veins, accompanied by the thunderous pounding of his heart.
He didn't know how long it took before he suddenly opened his eyes.
Waves of dizziness washed over him. His entire body felt unbearably hot, his blood rushing faster and faster—until he followed the methods that had surfaced in his memory and gradually slowed the flow. Only then did his body return to normal.
His head still spun violently.
Yet he couldn't help but complain.
"No wonder berserkers all need a demon arm. This stuff is way too convenient!"
Leo really had to vent. From the knowledge and memories he'd just gained, the Blood Energy Secret Art was incredibly difficult to master—and extremely impractical.
How impractical?
The swordsman he'd killed with the shotgun had practiced this art for over ten years and was still only third-rate. Worse, he'd suffered countless side effects from it.
Numb hands and feet were one thing. His tongue had lost most of its function after accelerating his blood flow once, leaving him unable to taste anything.
The reason was simple.
He frequently sped up his blood flow and then abruptly slowed it back down, causing vascular damage and ruptured blood vessels.
But he couldn't not do it. His capillaries couldn't withstand prolonged high-speed blood flow. Maintaining that state for too long would have killed him outright.
As for why Leo complained about the demon arm—
It was because the demon arm didn't need to worry about ruptured blood vessels or blood clots. Berserkers could treat it as a second heart, dumping all the strain onto it.
And because demonic power invaded the brain, it paradoxically protected it from being damaged by rampaging blood energy.
In short, without a demon arm, trying to truly master the Blood Energy Secret Art in this world was practically impossible.