Chapter 242

Growing Pains (1)

The sudden pain began around dawn.

At first, I assumed it was merely a muscle cramp and tried to loosen my muscles.

However, the pain refused to subside and gradually grew worse.

I somehow endured it and closed my eyes, but even that proved difficult, so I attempted to circulate my cultivation technique.

"Oww..."

Even that was impossible.

The pain pierced straight through every ounce of concentration I could muster.

In the end, I had no choice but to remain bedridden. I could feel cold sweat pouring down my body.

[Where did you say it hurts?]

"My entire body. My whole body hurts."

I gave Cain a rough answer.

My tone was somewhat sharp, but I was in terrible condition.

I didn’t have a fever or anything like that. My whole body simply ached.

My arms and legs hurt the most—more precisely, my joints.

It felt as though someone were pulling on all four of my limbs, like I was being subjected to dismemberment.

’I suppose it was only a matter of time before I got sick, but this wasn’t what I had in mind.’

I had been thorough about hygiene and had done everything possible to avoid insect bites, but this was still the wilderness.

I could have contracted some disease I didn’t know about, so it wasn’t strange for me to fall ill like this.

However, illnesses normally came with a fever, and I didn’t have one.

It just physically hurt, for lack of a better way to describe it.

It sounded strange, but there was no other suitable explanation.

"Kyuu..."

"Piiik..."

When I became bedridden, Wonmo and Tyrano looked at me with sorrowful eyes.

Seeing those adorable, lovable children seemed to ease the pain slightly.

"..."

[It looks as though they are asking for food.]

"Shut up."

That made me even sadder because he seemed to be right.

In the end, I left breakfast to Ludwig.

Ludwig had lost his feet, not his hands. He could still prepare breakfast without much difficulty.

"Sir, may I ask you an extremely embarrassing favor?"

"What is it?"

"Could you feed me?"

"..."

"Don’t look at me like that. I’m serious."

My entire body hurt so badly that I couldn’t even lift a spoon.

Once Ludwig realized I wasn’t joking, he began feeding me little by little.

Breakfast was fish porridge.

It reminded me of when I had fed Ludwig while he was ill.

Now our positions had been reversed.

You truly never knew what life had in store for you.

"I suppose I’ll have to remain at the shelter today."

"Hmm."

I had originally planned to visit the squirrel’s shelter and then train with Ludwig.

But in my current state, I had no choice but to remain cooped up in the shelter all day.

"Ugh..."

I took a sip of elixir to use as a painkiller.

Thanks to it, the pain eased slightly.

However, that didn’t mean I was completely better. It still felt as though my muscles were being torn apart.

’There are no signs of insect bites. Is it because I fought yesterday?’

Even as I groaned in pain, I tried my best to determine the cause.

I had fought a raptor yesterday, but that alone shouldn’t have left me suffering this badly.

The same applied to the living-chainsaw armadillo. I hadn’t strained myself too much.

’Then is it because of the acorn jelly I ate two days ago?’

That was the only possibility that immediately came to mind.

Hadn’t my body actually expelled something that appeared to be waste matter?

But it would be strange for the pain to start only now instead of the following day.

I couldn’t identify any plausible cause.

After blinking several times, I stared into empty space.

Ludwig said he didn’t know the cause either, which left me with only the gallery.

’Fortunately, I can use the gallery without my hands.’

My mind was somewhat hazy, but I could still use the gallery.

I rolled my eyes around and composed a post.

Lick—

Then something licked my cheek.

I was in so much pain that I hadn’t even noticed anyone approaching.

When I turned my head, Tyrano was looking at me worriedly.

His usually charismatic expression was nowhere to be seen.

He gazed at me with such wide, innocent eyes that I couldn’t help smiling despite the pain.

"I’m fine. You don’t need to worry."

"Piiiii..."

Despite my reassurance, Tyrano continued to look worried.

I was beginning to understand why people kept pets when—

"Kyuu!"

Wonmo toddled over to Tyrano’s side.

Something was desperately wriggling in his sharp beak.

It was a snake.

"...I don’t need to eat that. You can have it."

"Kyuu!"

Plop!

No! You need to eat plenty!

...As if saying that, Wonmo dropped the snake onto my face.

The snake was apparently still alive, because it continued writhing across my face.

Normally, I would have screamed, but I was in too much pain even for that.

[Oh dear. You shouldn’t do that.]

"Kyuu! Kyuu!"

[You should at least roast it over a fire first. This man cannot eat it raw like you can.]

Fortunately, Cain had been watching and brought the situation to an end by removing the snake.

"Kyuu?"

"Piiik! Piii!"

"Hey. Hey, hey! No! Don’t do that."

Correction.

I barely managed to stop Tyrano from breathing fire.

When Cain said that the snake needed to be roasted, Tyrano prepared to fire his breath at it.

The situation was finally resolved when Ludwig somehow escorted them outside.

"Piiiii! Piiiii!!!"

"Good grief."

Only Wonmo went outside.

Tyrano stubbornly insisted on remaining by my side until the end.

He had always clung to me like glue, and he still rejected Ludwig’s touch.

Ludwig might feel hurt, but what could I do?

The kid liked me.

"...Tyrano?"

"Piiik?"

"...Never mind. Just stay there."

That aside, he was a little heavy.

I chuckled as Tyrano lay on my stomach as though it were a mat.

It was fortunate that he was still a baby. If he had grown even slightly larger, his weight would have been difficult to bear.

’I wonder if I’ve received any comments.’

The kids had arrived immediately after I posted on the gallery, so I hadn’t been able to check it.

Hoping someone had posted the answer I needed, I opened the gallery.

Title: I’m Sick

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the cave ceiling)

I’ve been in pain since dawn, and now it feels like my arms and legs are being torn off;;

I don’t have a fever or anything. It feels like someone is pulling on them.

The only unusual thing I’ve eaten was acorn jelly two days ago. Does anyone know why this is happening?

└ Heavenly Demon: Pain that feels as though your limbs are being torn off? Could you describe it in greater detail?

└ SwordMaster: From the description alone, it sounds like ordinary muscle pain.

└ Couldn’t he have caught some disease? Even if it isn’t an ordinary illness, there could be a condition that affects only the muscles.

└ What kind of disease does that?

└ Isn’t the condition Starlight Princess suffers from similar? She doesn’t have a fever, but her body hurts like hell.

└ Starlight Princess: It is an illness, but it is closer to an innate constitution. Moreover, it almost never manifests later in life.

└ So it can manifest later in life?

└ Starlight Princess: Yes. It can happen when someone consumes so many medicinal treasures that their body cannot withstand the accumulated energy. However, such cases are usually accompanied by a fever.

└ Didn’t Grylls eat an inner core once a day?

└ Not once a day. I think he said he ate one with every meal.

└ No wonder something went wrong;;

└ He said it doesn’t feel like an upset stomach. He said it feels like he’s being pulled apart.

└ Oh. So is he going to lose one of his limbs like Ludwig?

└ What the fuck is wrong with you?

└ That’s a level of innocent cruelty beyond imagination;;

As expected, the comments were filled with concern.

Since I normally appeared perfectly healthy, everyone seemed startled to hear that I was sick.

After considering whose comment I should reply to, I chose the Heavenly Demon.

In a situation like this, she was the most trustworthy person.

SwordMaster excelled at swordsmanship and aura control, not cultivation techniques.

[Heavenly Demon: You have opened both the Conception and Governing Vessels and broken through the Gateway of Life and Death. Do you remember?]

[Wild Grylls: No?]

It had happened a long time ago, and the terminology was too complicated for me to remember.

I had probably just thought, If it’s good, it’s good, and moved on.

└ Wild Grylls: It’s mainly the joints in my arms and legs that hurt. It feels like someone is pulling on them.

└ Heavenly Demon: What happens when you circulate your internal energy cultivation technique? Does it feel obstructed anywhere?

└ Wild Grylls: No. That’s working perfectly well.

└ Heavenly Demon: Then the problem likely lies outside rather than within. Do your bones feel as though they are throbbing?

└ Wild Grylls: Yes. It feels like someone’s pounding my bones with a meat tenderizer.

└ Heavenly Demon: I shall take that to mean the pain is severe. I will message you privately.

[Heavenly Demon: It matters not. In that case, have you heard of Body Reformation?]

[Wild Grylls: I’ve heard of that plenty of times.]

[Heavenly Demon: There is a high probability that you are currently undergoing Body Reformation.]

[Wild Grylls: Me?]

The Heavenly Demon seemed to have realized something.

SwordMaster left another comment in the meantime, but I decided to check it later.

To think I was suddenly undergoing Body Reformation.

More than surprised, I was confused.

Wasn’t Body Reformation something that only happened to supreme martial artists in martial arts novels?

Even if I possessed a strange constitution akin to an invasive species, Body Reformation still seemed absurd.

[Heavenly Demon: Indeed. Has anything unusual happened to your body before now? Has your skin peeled away, or have impurities been expelled from your body?]

[Wild Grylls: Uh... Both have happened.]

One of them had even happened two days ago.

That made her explanation increasingly credible.

The pain remained unchanged, though.

I frowned before focusing on her messages again.

[Heavenly Demon: You had already satisfied the conditions for Body Reformation. However, your lack of enlightenment has brought about your present condition. What I feared has occurred.]

[Wild Grylls: There’s nothing I can do about lacking enlightenment. Then why am I in pain?]

[Heavenly Demon: Just as a lizard will suffer if it cannot shed its skin, you have reached the point where you must shed yours, yet you are unable to do so.]

As expected of the Heavenly Demon, the finest instructor around.

It was such a perfect analogy that even a complete novice like me could easily understand it.

That meant the only thing left to do was shed my skin—in other words, undergo Body Reformation.

’But can Body Reformation really happen that easily?’

I certainly didn’t think so.

Protagonists in martial arts novels underwent Body Reformation at the drop of a hat, but I wasn’t one of them.

Granted, becoming this strong in only a month was already abnormal, but I lacked the necessary "depth."

Meanwhile, depth was essential to Body Reformation.

That was the crux of the problem.

[Wild Grylls: What will happen if I leave things as they are?]

[Heavenly Demon: Your bones will most likely become deformed. If matters go awry, you could be left disabled.]

[Wild Grylls: Please save me.]

No matter what, I didn’t want to become disabled.

I had to struggle against it by any means necessary.

[Heavenly Demon: Of course. I would rather die than lose the benefactor who saved my life. Therefore, I shall teach you the third verse.]

[Wild Grylls: The third verse?]

[Heavenly Demon: Indeed. I originally intended to teach it to you once your cultivation had reached a more profound level... but your body can no longer endure, so there is no other choice.]

[Wild Grylls: There’s nothing we can do since I’m abnormal. Will you teach it to me right away?]

[Heavenly Demon: Once you have finished preparing.]

I asked the Heavenly Demon to wait and called for Ludwig.

Ludwig had been working outside, but he rushed over as soon as I called him.

"Sir, I need to undergo Body Reformation now."

"..."

I said it with the casual tone of someone announcing that he needed to relieve himself, and Ludwig’s reaction was quite a sight.

He looked as though he couldn’t decide whether to believe me.

Regardless, I was serious, so I made my request.

"I might not be able to get up for a while. You may also hear strange sounds coming from my body."

"Hmm."

"So please remain by my side. Tell Kkobong the same thing."

Ludwig was the only person here whom I could truly trust.

Kkobong was closer to a worker or porter than a companion, so entrusting this to him felt questionable.

After completing all my preparations, I took several heavy breaths.

Then I sent the Heavenly Demon a message.

[Wild Grylls: Everything is ready.]

[Heavenly Demon: Good. Do you remember the contents of the previous verses?]

[Wild Grylls: I recite them every time I circulate the cultivation technique, so I remember everything. The first is to sense the energy of the heavens, and the second is to surrender your body to the heavens.]

[Heavenly Demon: You remember them well. The third verse is to gather the energy of the heavens within your hands.]

[Wild Grylls: Doesn’t that seem like a sudden spike in difficulty?]

Sensing the energy and surrendering myself to it were already difficult enough.

Now I had to gather it in my hands?

It felt like being given a simple formula and then immediately being told to solve an advanced problem.

[Heavenly Demon: It is similar, yet entirely different. I do not expect you to hold the energy of the heavens perfectly within your hands. The same principle applies to this verse.]

[Wild Grylls: Then how does it work?]

[Heavenly Demon: The act of attempting to gather it within your hands is what matters. Even a bottomless reservoir has no possibility of filling if no water enters it at all. Likewise, opportunity shall never come to one who makes no attempt.]

[Wild Grylls: I understand exactly what you mean.]

[Heavenly Demon: There is no need to rush. The heavens are infinite, and so too is the energy you can gather within your hands. Do you understand?]

[Wild Grylls: As expected of you, Heavenly Demon.]

[Heavenly Demon: Those few words are enough to bring a smile to my face. Then I shall teach you the verse.]

After a brief silence, the Heavenly Demon sent me a verse far longer than the previous ones.

This verse was directly tied to my survival.

In a way, it resembled my own desperate struggle to escape.

I was employing every possible method to raise my chances—even if only by 0.00001 percent.

[Heavenly Demon: Hold the heavens within your hands. Gather them, then let them flow away. Harbor no attachment to what escapes your grasp. The heavens are infinite, and thus you too may obtain infinite strength. The opportunities bestowed by the heavens are eternal, and...]

I closed my eyes and began circulating my internal energy cultivation technique.

First, I recited the first verse.

Next came the second.

Finally, I recited the third, striving to allow my body to shed its old shell.

I combined the Heavenly Demon’s explanation with the verses and formed a clear image in my mind.

Crack!

A strange sound came from my body.

Cr-crack! Crack! Crunch!

Then came a series of grotesque noises, as though my bones and flesh were twisting out of shape.

"...!!!"

The pain was so severe that I couldn’t even scream.

But I endured it.

I forcibly suppressed the pain and concentrated on circulating my internal energy.

So much cold sweat poured from my body that I could vividly feel the moisture soaking me.

After enduring that agony—

"Gwehk..."

I made a bizarre noise and lost consciousness.

***

Crack! Crunch!

Ludwig couldn’t believe what was unfolding before his eyes.

A realm that even he had yet to reach was manifesting right in front of him.

Body Reformation—or Body Change.

It was a phenomenon resembling evolution, said to occur only to those who had attained a profound level of mastery.

’Just what is this man...?’

And that phenomenon was now occurring to Grylls.

According to Grylls himself, it had been only a month since he awakened to mana.

Yet now he was even undergoing Body Reformation.

It felt as though Ludwig’s common sense were being shattered.

’No. There was one other person.’

Ash, the Swordmaster praised as a once-in-an-era genius.

Ludwig had heard that she underwent Body Reformation in her late teens.

"Eeegh... Uegh..."

"..."

"Gwehk..."

That aside, the bizarre noises Grylls was making were... exceedingly unsightly.

The sight of him with his tongue hanging out certainly wasn’t pleasant either.

Body Reformation was normally accompanied by a solemn, dignified atmosphere, yet Grylls looked—

[He looks rather idiotic.]

[Yet the fact that he will become even stronger is truly peculiar.]

Cain had spoken aloud exactly what Ludwig had been thinking.

That was just how unnatural Grylls’s growth was.

Ludwig watched Grylls’s skeletal structure twist and shift, then scratched his head.

’Could he really be some invasive species from another world?’

It was becoming increasingly difficult not to suspect it.

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