Why Do I Do This To Myself?!

Thanks to the more skilled Gauss, and his generosity, I got more monster corpses over the course of the week than I could've even dreamed of getting while working on my own. This increased efficiency and profit let me move my schedule up a little more and even loosened by budget. After all, money is power.

Furthermore, Gauss would give me more tips that would suit me more. While Leo was classically trained and was teaching me by the book, Gauss was an expert swordsman for his age as well, and was entirely self-taught.

Leo's structured technique supplemented with Gauss' more personal advice as he noticed details about my habits and fighting style, allowed my skills to rapidly improve.

Unfortunately, my abilities didn't grow noticeably over the course of the last few weeks.

However, the problem was how to find the Artifact I was looking for now.

Artifacts were precious items imbued with strange, unpredictable magic that had anomalous effects on the environment around them. Due to the dense mana required for an Artifact to appear, they could only appear in Gates until after the Apocalypse.

In some of the later chapters, Gauss busts a human trafficking ring in the black market. The Artifact I was looking for was included in the loot that he had recovered from that organization, which he had scrapped with the System to use the materials for reinforcing his weapon.

However, this item, which had mostly been written for flavor, would be crucial if I wanted to intervene in the fight against the Grass Blade Assassin.

And the most direct way to acquire it was to enter the black market.

This… this could be really dangerous.

I sank some funds into some supplies, knowing that I needed the rest soon.

***

I walked purposefully through the crowds, cutting through the wash of people on the main street. As I slipped down smaller and smaller side roads, I agilely dodged trash and puddles, before slipping inside Dr. Wang's clinic.

"Hey, Lillian," I waved as I stepped into the waiting room.

The dark haired girl impassively stared at me over her book. "Oh. It's you again."

"Excellent customer service," I chuckled. "I'm here for a second A.N.I."

"Sure, sure. Just sign these extra forms, accepting the risk of permanent damage." She rustled around in a file cabinet before sliding a thick paper packet over the counter.

I signed them, knowing that it wouldn't matter much anyways as long as I acquired the Artifact I was looking for. Besides, there was no chance I'd be able to pull off what I needed to do without the additional strengthening of the A.N.I. 

As long as I circulated my mana through my body, which was much higher than the first time I did the procedure, I should be able to power through the pain and continue moving after the procedure without needing the physical therapy.

Theoretically. That's what first generation soldiers did when the Gates first appeared, according to the original Mav's extensive historical knowledge.

Hopefully, I'd be good enough to do the same.

This would either pay off or it wouldn't.

I couldn't help my fidgeting as the elderly doctor and his daughter strapped me into the injection pod for the second time. The old man looked worried for me; he was probably wondering why a kid would do this dangerous procedure not once, but twice.

But I knew he needed the money. Despite his expression, he asked no questions and dutifully strapped me into the machine.

When the blue fluid began pouring in, I breathed heavily through the glass face mask and felt my body being pumped with anaesthesia.

***

Everything hurts… even more than last time.

I gasped as I awoke, my body awash with prickling needles of pain.

The shock crackled through my newly strengthened bones as I slid off the medical cot I had woken up in. Cerulean lines began tracing my body as I reinforced both of my legs to support my weight more easily.

After tentatively setting more weight onto my legs, I began moving around. 

My arms were too weak to use meaningfully, but…

I channeled magic through my right arm, faint lines glowing through the loose, thin sleeves of my medical shift.

Finally! I was wondering when I'd finally be able to do triple enhancement. I clenched my fists excitedly, before swiftly regretting that as my arm ached from the sudden exertion. Tears formed at the corners of my eyes.

After some careful flexing while I reinforced my arms, I estimated that I could express strength that was about the level I was at before the procedure… if not a little stronger.

When Lillian walked in, her eyes widened. "You're already up?"

"Yeah. Everything kind of hurts, though." 

"You've had your muscles and bones repeatedly damaged and repaired with microscopic stabby machines. 'Kind of hurts' is a very large understatement of how you should be feeling," she snorted, guiding me back to the cot. Her palms glowed with a soft green light as she began supplementing my natural healing process with her magic.

"It's more bearable the second time around," I shrug.

"Why are you doing this, anyways?" she asked offhandedly. "Normally, only weak gang thugs use A.N.I. procedures to get stronger quickly. I've never actually seen anyone who's done two of them."

She squinted at me before dismissively turning her head away. "You look a little too soft to be a gang member."

I chuckled. "It's hard to explain."

"Try me," she poked at my arm, and I winced as a spike of pain arced from my elbow to shoulder.

"Sure," I laughed, before going silent for a few seconds.

"I'm terrified that I'm not strong enough," I said. It was part of the truth, at least. "Not strong enough to keep up with my friends, to support them when they need it, or to help them when they're in danger."

It resonated with me as I spoke. I might've only been supplying Lillian with a partial truth, but it only struck me then that those were all real concerns.

It didn't really hit me until I said it out loud, but I cared a lot about Lucia and Perseus. Leo and Gauss were growing on me too.

I had no idea what I'd do if one of them got seriously hurt.

Lillian seemed to pick up on some of what I was feeling, which wasn't surprising; I wasn't making an effort to hide it. She softly patted me on the back, her healing magic soothing some of the aches. "I think you'll be fine. Your efforts will definitely pay off."

I smiled tiredly at her. "I hope so."