Chapter 14: Second Function Unlocked!
Garion tightened his stance and poured mana into his legs and eyes, making it easier for him to see the snake’s movement.
The snake then moved, lunging its massive jaw at Garion.
Garion dodged it by a hair, feeling its hot breath across his face. It then brought its head twice more to test Garion.
Garion slipped between strikes, moving wildly to avoid, as his opponent was a snake, not a human.
But still, it was quite hard to fight it as this snake was not only heavier but also smarter than any normal human.
It then coiled and wrapped Garion’s left leg, squeezing it, making Garion grunt in pain.
Around him, cultivators began to shout in excitement.
"Crush him!"
"Yeah, squeeze him until his bones snap!"
One overeager fool lunged in with a spear, trying to stab Garion while he was held down.
But the snake’s tail suddenly whipped wildly, and the man nearly impaled himself instead.
Garion quickly took the chance, forcing himself free from the coils.
He hopped back a few steps away, breathing slowly, letting the mana flow into his leg, healing it.
"Damn it! This snake isn’t just heavy, but also smart. It fights better than the clowns here."
Then an outrageous idea struck him, returning his grin.
"Alright then. Let’s do it the fun way."
He sprinted toward the beast’s tail, confusing the snake with this sudden move.
Garion bent his knees, drew mana from every cell in his body, and channeled it into his legs, back, hips, and shoulders.
To everyone’s shock, including the snake’s, Garion roared and lifted it from the ground.
"What the hell?!"
"He picked it up?!"
"That’s impossible!"
Garion’s grin widened, turning back to those cultivators.
"Time for a little teamwork, my little friends."
With a final twist, he hurled the snake’s big body straight into the group of cultivators who had been cursing him.
They screamed in pain as the snake slammed into them, crushing them under its weight.
The snake trashed in rage, but Garion didn’t wait at all.
He had little time left before his weakness set in, so he quickly rushed forward, his eyes locked on the glowing flower.
In a short time, he reached it. He crouched low and picked the Dragon Tooth Flower before putting it into his space storage.
The cultivators finally realized what was happening.
"Stop him!"
"Don’t let him get away!"
Dozens of them surged toward him, but Garion wasn’t scared at all. Instead, he smirked, standing tall.
Finally, a glow appeared in front of him.
[Objective Complete: Dragon Tooth Flower Secured]
[Reward: Second System Function Unlocked]
[Auto-Exit: Activating...]
Garion raised one middle finger with a smirk, mocking them all.
"Goodbye, little friends. Thank you for the gift."
Instantly, Garion was swallowed by light and vanished instantly from the realm, leaving the furious snake and countless furious cultivators.
---
After arriving back at his own room, he collapsed face-first onto the bed. His body felt like it had been wrung dry.
Throwing a giant snake across a crowd was indeed cool and mighty, but still, it had drained everything out of him to do that once.
Within seconds, he was knocked out.
---
By morning, Garion sat up, hair sticking out in every direction. He rubbed his eyes for a moment before grinning.
"Finally did it. Time to unlock that second function. System, show me what it is. I’m so excited."
The glowing screen appeared immediately.
[First Effect: Every workout performed inside the God Gym will directly strengthen the owner.]
[Second Effect: Every material in the storage space can be used to create God Gym’s equipment or supplements]
Garion blinked, checking if it was true. After a while, he closed his eyes briefly before bursting out laughing in triumph.
"This... this is perfect! I can finally build my own gym equipment! Barbells, dumbbells, squat racks, anything!"
He paced the room, thinking of numerous designs.
"I have just too many things I wanted to make, but still, the system gives me another surprise."
He looked back at the other words at the end.
"To think that I can even make my own supplements. Protein milk, pre-workout, creatine... There are just too many things I want to create. This is just the best!"
Garion’s laughter was so loud that it woke Dahlia up, and she marched straight into his room.
"Master! How are you already here? I didn’t even hear or see you even once after you left!"
Garion realized that he was actually directly teleported here by the system.
He quickly stopped his laugh and quickly made up something to hide his system.
"Ah, I slipped last night while you were still drooling on your pillow. Just forget about it."
Dahlia’s cheeks reddened, quickly looking away.
"I don’t drool."
Garion only laughed hard, changing the topic instantly.
"By the way? How’s your cultivation process? Did you manage to turn it into a passive one?"
Dahlia’s eyes quickly gleamed proudly.
"Of course, Master. The mana circulates on its own now. It’s slow, but it works."
Garion tapped his chin, smirking.
"Good. You already have the foundation, and now it’s time for you to move on toward the real training."
Dahlia was surprised to hear that.
"Real training? Isn’t cultivation the training?"
Garion only snorted, waving her off.
"You wish. That’s just a warm-up. A prerequisite for what’s to come later."
Dahlia frowned instantly, not knowing what these real training were.
"Then... what is the real training?"
Garion’s grin only widened as he walked toward the door.
"Don’t be too worried. You’ll see soon enough, and this is just training. It won’t kill you, but it will strengthen you."
That last part didn’t sound comforting at all. Dahlia could only sigh as she followed him out the room.
---
Meanwhile, a group of shady-looking men snooped around the area not that far from the God Gym.
"From what I heard, their last work was around here. Think they’re dead?"
"Maybe. Plenty of cultivators roam around this area. If they crossed the wrong one, they’re probably dead now."
Another one scratched his head.
"But it’s strange. They went missing months ago, but the roaming cultivators only started about a month ago."
The first man shrugged.
"Doesn’t matter. Let’s look around first. At least, we need to get what they got from their robbing."