Thump.
Now dressed in casual clothes with a towel draped over his shoulders, Ron closed the wooden bathroom door behind him.
He rubbed his damp hair dry as he made his way toward the bed.
“Whew…”
He jumped onto the mattress and landed flat on his back, staring at the ceiling as he released a long, heavy breath.
Once it was out, Ron let himself sink into the soft bed and enjoyed the quiet embrace of the mattress.
After spending the past two days running all over Magnolia, the tension that had been hanging over him had finally begun to ease.
He might have looked as though he was enjoying himself while roleplaying Reigen, but constantly wearing a mask and putting on an act was surprisingly exhausting.
Fortunately, the debt problem had been resolved without any major complications.
With the Pure White Theatre Troupe now operating under Fairy Tail’s protection and most of his inherited assets soon to be liquidated, he no longer had to worry about outsiders targeting him.
Of course, solving one problem only made room for the next.
With a thought, Ron summoned his system interface.
[Multiversal Roleplay System]
[Ron White]
[Magic: Requip Magic (E), Basic Visual Effects Magic (E)]
[Skills: Acting (B), Basic Magic Control (D), Local Languages (A)]
[Talents: Magic Power Capacity (E), Charm (A)]
[Overall Evaluation: Third-Rate Actor, F-Class Mage]
[Current Roles: 1/1]
[Current Roleplay Completion: 100%.]
“Requip Magic and Visual Effects Magic are both essential for stage performances, so I need to get better at using them.”
Ron had visited Wes earlier that day.
After hearing what little Ron currently knew about the stage, Wes had quickly identified the areas where he was lacking.
Unfortunately, becoming proficient with either spell required regular use of magic power.
Ron’s reserves were still pitifully small.
He had tried practicing Requip Magic at Wes’s house, only to nearly drain himself after using it a handful of times.
Part of the problem was his lack of proper magical training.
Before awakening the memories of his previous life, Ron had never spent much time developing his magic pathways or practicing basic control.
Instead, he had focused entirely on whatever happened to interest him.
That was why his Acting skill had already reached B-rank at only ten years old, while Local Languages had somehow reached A-rank.
Wes had also explained that a Mage’s physical condition affected the size of their magic reserves.
A healthier, stronger body could support a stronger mind, which in turn allowed a person to develop more magic power.
That was probably why the strongest Mages in Fairy Tail possessed physical abilities far beyond those of ordinary people.
It also appeared that the Basic Martial Arts granted by a character card did not permanently strengthen his real body.
Ron should have realized that the moment no martial arts skill appeared on his status screen.
A character card was borrowed power.
No matter how useful it might be, it did not truly belong to him.
For now, Ron’s goal was to train his magic power, improve his physical condition, and gradually build genuine strength of his own.
“There aren’t any books on basic magic theory at home, but I’m technically a part-time Fairy Tail Mage now.
I should be able to borrow a few from the guild library.
“As for physical training…
am I supposed to copy Saitama’s workout?”
His equipped A-rank [Arataka Reigen] card had reached one hundred percent completion, and there was still roughly a day left before it expired.
Ron could settle the card and claim his reward whenever he wished, but he saw no reason to do so yet.
Reigen’s abilities were all useful, and the summoning pool would not refresh for another day and a half anyway.
Since he could continue using the card for free until then, ending it early would be a waste.
After lying there for a while longer, Ron finally sat up and drew a deep breath.
“I’m not doing anything else right now.
I might as well head to Fairy Tail’s library and borrow those books.”
…
A day and a half later, early in the morning, at Ron’s home in central Magnolia.
Ron held a piece of toast in one hand while flipping through a book titled The Application of Magic Power with the other.
“Human magic power originates from the mind.
A stronger body supports a healthier mind, which in turn encourages the growth of magic power.
All three aspects complement one another, and none can be neglected.”
Snap!
Ron closed the thick theoretical volume, stuffed the remaining half of his toast into his mouth, and looked up at the skill section of his interface while chewing.
[Skills: …, Basic Magic Theory (E)]
He wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin and swallowed.
“My talent was terrible.
I finished that entire stack of books, and I only reached E-rank?”
Apparently, a skill needed to reach at least E-rank before the system would display it.
Anything he had only half-learned would not appear on the interface at all.
Ron rose from his chair and began warming up and stretching.
Once he was ready, he lowered himself to the floor and assumed a push-up position.
He had begun each morning this way for the past two days, hoping to improve his stamina as quickly as possible and indirectly increase his magic power.
Unfortunately, after barely more than a dozen push-ups, his arms were already trembling uncontrollably.
“Nineteen…
twenty!”
The moment he completed the twentieth repetition, his arms gave out and he collapsed flat against the floor.
Ron gasped for breath while staring at his status screen, waiting for something to change.
“This is bullsh—…
It still hasn’t appeared…”
In his previous life, being able to perform twenty proper push-ups had probably put him ahead of at least half the population.
“What kind of freakish bodies…
do Mages in this world have…?”
No wonder the system rated him as an F-Class Mage!
He could not judge this world by the standards of his old one.
Just then, several lines of text appeared before his eyes.
[The character card’s duration has expired.
Beginning final evaluation…]
[Final Result: Roleplay Completion 100%.]
[Perfect Roleplay achieved.
All abilities from the current character card are available for selection.]
[Please choose one ability to retain.]
Without the slightest hesitation, Ron selected Learning Aptitude.
[Learning Aptitude (A) selected.
Integrating talent into the host’s status…]
A gentle warmth flowed into his mind.
The moment it entered, his thoughts became remarkably clear, as though a layer of fog had been swept away.
Ron unconsciously closed his eyes.
Memories that had once felt distant or blurry sharpened all at once, every detail settling neatly into place.
The warmth also steadied his breathing.
His heaving chest gradually slowed until he was calm again.
Once the sensation faded, Ron slowly opened his eyes, his gaze clearer than before.
He checked his interface and found that the talent section had changed.
[Talents: Magic Power Capacity (E), Charm (A), Learning Aptitude (A)]
Ron nodded in satisfaction.
An A-rank talent truly was impressive.
He had only just acquired it, yet he could already feel how dramatically it affected his mind.
More importantly, he sensed that he could now revisit anything stored in his memories whenever he wished.
That meant some of the knowledge from his previous life might eventually appear as skills on the system interface.
Its usefulness in this world might be limited, but limited was still better than nothing.
Now it was time for another summon.
Ron switched the interface to the [Multiversal Character Summoning Pool] and activated the draw with a thought.
Whoosh—
The familiar summoning animation appeared in the center of the screen.
The first card he had drawn possessed a red border.
This time, the card was framed in blue, with a large C printed across its back.
The character’s image gradually became visible.
[Naruto — Rock Lee]
The Rock Lee shown on the card was still a child, clearly based on his appearance near the beginning of Naruto.
He wore his familiar green jumpsuit, with white bandages wrapped around his hands and legs.
His bowl cut and enormous eyebrows completed the unmistakable look.
Ron’s eyes lit up.
He had only just decided that he needed to strengthen his physical foundation.
Wasn’t this perfect timing?
He sat upright and turned the card over to inspect its abilities.
[Character Card: Rock Lee]
[World: Naruto]
[Character Ability Rank: C]
[Ability One: Drunken Fist (D)]
[Effect: Grants a degree of physical recovery.
Activates automatically after consuming alcohol, surrendering control of the body entirely to instinct.
Provides exceptional evasive intuition and an erratic, unpredictable attack pattern capable of disrupting an opponent’s ability to anticipate movements.]
[Ability Two: Basic Taijutsu (C)]
[Effect: Grants a solid foundation in close-quarters combat, physical stamina and endurance far beyond that of an ordinary person, and deeply ingrained muscle memory.
Allows the user to produce tremendous physical force without relying on magic power.]
[Ability Three: Eight Gates (B)]
[Effect: A single-use active skill.
Forcefully releases the body’s internal energy restrictions, instantly doubling the user’s current total magic power.]
[Note: Selecting a single-use ability will convert it into a Skill Card.
The card will disappear after activation.]
After reading through the abilities, Ron fell into thought.
It seemed character cards were ranked according to the number and quality of the abilities they provided.
Reigen’s A-rank card had contained five abilities, while Rock Lee’s C-rank card offered only three.
Following that pattern, the lowest D-rank cards probably granted two abilities, while an S-rank card might contain six.
Ron soon found himself torn between the second and third abilities.
Basic Taijutsu was exactly what he needed right now and would save him an enormous amount of training time.
On the other hand, the explosive power of the Eight Gates would make an excellent emergency trump card.
“Why am I worrying about this now?
I can decide after the three days are over.”
Ron shook his head and prepared to equip the card.
Then he froze.
“Wait…
hold on!”
Just as he was about to activate it, Ron finally noticed the terrible problem before him.
His eyes widened as he stared at Rock Lee’s green jumpsuit and perfectly round bowl cut.
He swallowed hard.
‘System, you bastard…
don’t tell me I have to dress like that for the entire roleplay!’