Chapter 100: The idiot.

Chapter 100

Below the deck, Adan was wearing weights on his arms, legs, and waist, moving through a set of exercises designed to engage every muscle in his body.

He seemed focused, refraining from using mana to reinforce his body in any way.

His strength was at the peak of the G+ rank, and he felt that continuing this regimen would soon allow him to break through.

Even though Adan primarily focused on long-range shooting, he understood the importance of physical strength. In battle, there was always the possibility of an enemy closing the distance. This realization led him to practice hand-to-hand martial arts.

His instructor was none other than Mike, who had just entered the training area below the deck holding a plate of food.

Mike prided himself on not using his hands in combat, a matter of personal principle as a chef.

Observing Adan practicing a martial art Mike had stored in his inventory, he mused, "I specialize in using kicks, so teaching someone to mix things up shouldn't be too difficult."

Mike sat down, watching Adan as he went through his fifth cycle of the martial art.

The sweat and pained expression on Adan's face clearly showed the intensity of his effort.

After some time, Adan finished his daily workout, a routine he had maintained for the past week while aboard the ship.

"You've improved a lot, Adan," Mike commented. "You're nearly at the peak of G+ rank."

Adan, drinking water to recover, smirked and Mike said, "Even so, I was able to do that in just a matter of days."

"Is that when you got stupid?" Adan teased.

"Well, yes, that's when I became—" Mike began but stopped abruptly when he noticed Adan holding a recording device shaped like a watch. "Cut that out!" he exclaimed.

"But I almost got you!" Adan laughed.

"Yeah, yeah," Mike retorted. "Anyway, let's move on to your mana control training. Since you don't have an elemental affinity, we'll skip that part and focus solely on mana. As for your shooting, you should ask Julia how to improve it—I know nothing about that."

With that, Mike began explaining the basics of mana control.

Meanwhile, above deck, Elijah was steering the ship in the direction Julia had indicated. Julia, relaxing on top of Tank, was multitasking.

She was training the large white bear for its laziness while reading a book on runes. Tank, burdened by weights on its limbs and Julia's added strength pressing down on it, struggled to move around the ship.

Julia focused intently on her book, attempting to comprehend more advanced runes for better utility. Suddenly, Stella approached, looking exhausted and calling for help. "Help me, Stella!" Tank groaned.

Stella chuckled and then turned to Julia. "Hey, can you help me too?" she asked.

"With what?" Julia replied without looking up.

"With becoming stronger. I hate being the weakest one on this ship, and my empire needs me to improve," Stella said with a smile, fully expecting Julia to agree.

"No," Julia replied bluntly, not even pausing her reading.

"Why?" Stella asked, visibly annoyed.

"First, you have no drive to train or become stronger. Second, teaching you that drive would be too much work, and I'm already at my limit with Tank here," she said, kicking Tank, who groaned in response.

"Lastly, you're not going to reach a level strong enough to face Emperor-tier opponents anytime soon. All of us here started training at eight years old to get where we are now."

Julia finally looked up from her book, meeting Stella's gaze. "Frankly, I doubt you'd achieve much because most people on this planet are utterly talentless."

Kai entered the conversation at that moment. "That's not true," he interjected.

Julia raised an eyebrow. "Why isn't it?"

"It's never about talent," Kai said.

Slightly dejected, Stella asked, "What is it about then?"

"If you say 'hard work,' I'll blow you away," Julia warned.

Kai smirked. "A little bit of hard work, sure, but mostly finding a way that you can truly understand and make your own."

Both Julia and Stella looked confused as Kai elaborated while lying on the wooden floor, eyes closed. "Take our leader, for example."

They turned to look at Elijah, who appeared lost in thought as he gazed at the ocean.

"Elijah has his own way of approaching battle. He focuses on understanding himself. His workouts are tailored to his unique strengths, his sensing abilities improve daily, and even when he spaces out, he's signaling Emperor-tier sea monsters deep beneath the ocean."

"What?!" Julia and Stella shouted in unison.

Julia was about to rush to stop Elijah, remembering how they barely escaped from an Emperor-tier sea monster the day before. "That idiot!" she fumed.

Kai stopped her. "It's useless, Julia. Just let him do his thing. Elijah may be reckless, but he wouldn't endanger his crew unless he had a reason."

Julia glared at Kai. "The food's run out, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it has," Kai admitted as Julia punched him in the head and struck Elijah with a bolt of lightning.

"What was that for?" Elijah exclaimed.

"You know what you did!" Julia yelled. "Now, continue your explanation!"

Kai stood and stretched. "It's not about talent; it's about finding the best way to train that suits you, not others. Take Julia, for example. She excels at long-range attacks, rune mastery, and being annoying.

The way she trains in those areas makes her the best at them. But in physical strength, she wouldn't match us even if we were at the same rank. That's just how it works."

Julia nodded but added, "First, I'm going to kill you after we eat. Second, what do you mean by 'the same rank in power'? Third, Stella, get to the safe room now."

Before long, a massive explosion erupted below the ship as Elijah's voice rang out. "It's coming! Hahaha, let's make these calm waters rage a little!"

Julia, using her water element, propelled the ship away just as a colossal, serpent-like Emperor-tier sea monster emerged. The ocean erupted into chaos as mana surged and waters raged.