Chapter 9

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Soon, Captain Flocke and the others returned to Danafu City-State.

When the group had just entered the Danafu City-State, they were in a sorry state. However, the pedestrians on the road could not help but sigh.

“My goodness, what kind of mission did they receive to be injured so badly?”

“It’s too tragic!”

Many of the residents living at the city gate saw the group of knights-errant set off in high spirits in the morning. The residents didn’t expect that the knights-errant would turn out like this when they returned in the afternoon. It seemed that there were still quite a few people left.

At this moment, Billy, who was at the market, saw this scene and immediately recognized Flocke. As the son of the guild leader of the knights-errant, he was not only a little sad upon seeing this scene even if it was common knowledge that knights-errant would suffer casualties during missions. Thus, he could not help but ask, “Captain Flocke, are you okay? Is your condition serious? Remember to quickly go and treat it.”

Hearing Billy’s concern, Flocke nodded.

The few of them headed to the church where the City-State Priest Association was located. The healing power of the priests could quickly heal them.

Given that the mission failed, it meant that they had wasted their efforts and used expensive potions. It could be said that the loss of this operation was greatly substantial.

It was expensive to go to the priest association, but it would take too long for the knights-errant to recover slowly by themselves. Serving as knights-errant was a job that offered gold coins by taking on missions. The longer they delayed, the greater the loss.

Hence, after exchanging greetings with Billy, Flocke led his teammates to the church.

The cost of getting healed was indeed very high.

When Flocke’s team paid after getting healed, they couldn’t help but feel the heartache when they heard the cost of 10 silver coins on the bill.

However, they still paid for the entire team.

Not only was it Flocke’s responsibility as the team leader, but he was also the one who took the initiative to form a team to find someone to take on the subjugation of the slime. He didn’t expect the difficulty of this mission to be beyond his imagination.

It could be said that Flocke felt greatly responsible for this failure.

“Could it be that I’m too arrogant? Am I actually not that strong?”

When Flocke thought of this, he could not help but clench his fists. He was slightly unwilling to accept this.

Therefore, the thought of becoming stronger filled Flocke’s entire mind.

After this mission, the other teammates also understood how limited their strengths were. Even if the mission was slightly beyond their ability, this mere difference could very likely lead to their deaths.

However, life had to continue. Since their injuries had been healed, they had to return to the guild of knights-errant.

Every time the knights-errant went out on a mission, regardless of whether they had succeeded or failed, they had to report it. They had to count the number of casualties, as well as record the appearance and condition of the monster. It was convenient for them to brief the other knight-errant of the situation the next time they sent out a mission.

Soon, a group of people arrived at the hall.

In the middle of the hall, there was a sea of people. This was the place where the guild of knights-errant issued missions every day. Because there were many missions, the flow of people was also relatively dense. Many people would immediately form teams on the spot after they snatched the mission.

This was the case for Flocke.

When he arrived at the dispatch area, the staff member asked him as usual. After recounting the situation, Flocke immediately asked if there were any other missions.

He had lost so much and needed to make up for it immediately.

However, when the staff member looked at Flocke’s record of accepting missions, he was surprised to find that there was a failure rate of up to 10 times a month. After being shocked, the staff advised Flocke.

“Oh, Flocke, I understand your feelings, but your failure rate is too high. I don’t dare to give you any more missions. This is good for you. Why don’t you improve your strength before accepting missions? This will be good for the guild.”

Hearing this, Flocke was very disappointed. He began to wonder if he was getting old and not strong enough. Hence, he sighed and left the dispatch area.

A person silently came to the square.

The people who came to accept the missions were all talking.

“Have you heard?”

“What? Don’t be so mysterious.”

“Sigh, it’s just a rumor about a shop called the gym. Have you heard about it?”

“You mean the shop where you can instantly become stronger by training there?”

“Right, right, right. I don’t know if it’s true, but a friend of mine came back from training there and actually told me that he had really become much stronger. These few days, he had consecutively accepted several big missions, and none of them had made any failures! I’ve known him for so long, but I’ve never seen him possess such strong strength.”

Unexpectedly, their conversation was overheard by Flocke without a word, and he wondered in his heart.

“What? A gym? I’ve never heard of it. Could it be that something extraordinary happened in Danafu City-State while I was out?”

However, Flocke immediately grasped the keyword, which was that he could become stronger immediately.

His first reaction was disdain as he muttered in his heart.

“How is this possible? I went out on an adventure and risked my life for so many years to obtain the strength that I could only acquire after a long time. How is it possible for me to obtain exceptional strength just by casually training in a gym?”

If it was in the past, Flocke would definitely jump out and curse that they were all liars when he heard such rumors!

However, time had changed. It was too tempting to be able to become stronger immediately! He really needed it. After a moment of doubt, he immediately wavered.

Thus, Flocke instantly grabbed the people who were talking and asked, “Quickly tell me, where is this shop called the gym!”

This action of Flocke was too abrupt. The people who were chatting in the square were shocked by him. However, when they saw his very serious expression, they could not help but be intimidated, so they replied, “It’s… It’s in the center of the city! 369th Street.”

After hearing the answer, Flocke immediately let go of the person. He did not care about his reaction and immediately headed to the center of the city.

The rest of the people remained in the square and looked at each other.

“Is this person crazy?”

On the other side, Flocke followed the address, and as expected, he found the gym.

This exceptionally special building was particularly eye-catching among the properties around. It was difficult not to notice it.

And the pitch-black equipment at the door was something he had never seen before. Flocke couldn’t help but sigh.

“Wow, what is this thing!”

“Even if I had been to the imperial palace that had various treasures, I’m afraid that this is something I’ve never seen before.”

However, after the shock, Flocke was at a loss. He saw someone trying to pull the handle of the machine.

Flocke stood at the side and observed silently. The person seemed to be relaxed as he easily pulled the low-end handle with one hand and pulled it all the way to the bottom.

“It’s actually used like this!”

Flocke was shocked, and he sighed in his heart. At the same time, he also understood the usage.

However, the process of pulling the machine was effortless, and the man looked relaxed. Flocke was a little confused.

He saw the pulldown machine hanging below, but the man was pulling it so easily. Was it very light?

Therefore, Flocke went forward after the man who was pulling in the gym was finished. In a curious mood, he held the handle and tried to pull it.

However, this pulldown machine was like a huge mountain. It was extremely difficult to pull, and it even numbed his hands.

He looked at the dial and saw that it was only at 2 centimeters.

“How is this possible? Didn’t that person pull it very easily just now?”

Flocke was shocked. He was a little angry at the fact in front of him.

However, the powerful reaction force told him that this thing was indeed very difficult to pull.

That person could actually pull it up so easily. How powerful must he be to be able to do that?

He suddenly remembered something. That person should have just entered the gym just now, right?

“Could it be that he became so strong because of the gym?”

If it was in the past, if Flocke saw such a powerful brother, he would definitely chase after him and ask who he was.

However, when Flocke saw such a result, he could not wait to enter the gym immediately.

“Although this person is powerful, I can find him another day. I want to see what secrets the gym has that can make a person so powerful!”

Thus, Flocke put down the pulldown machine and entered the shop without much hassle..