Becoming The Strongest Using My Would-You-Rather System!-Chapter 20 - Rapidly Gaining Strength

Two days passed by in a flash.

Compared to the first day, Theo’s shifts were far calmer. He looked over his assigned sector along the shoreline with ease, no longer too scared of what was in the water.

Occasionally, a few F-rank creatures would crawl onto the sand and try to attack, but their numbers didn’t even get close to the first day.

The long stretches between encounters gave him time now that he’d adapted to the sudden attacks.

He used this time to cultivate his core, improve his spells, and even exercise lightly.

By the end of the second day, he had completely mastered the ability to summon two lightning bolts at once. The instability that once accompanied the technique had completely disappeared.

"Ugh," Theo stretched and cracked his neck. "Let’s take a little break again."

Now, halfway through his shift, he sat on a foldable chair he’d placed in the sand, overlooking the ocean.

It only took a second before a thick carrot cake appeared on top of his hand.

Theo took a bite, his thoughts wandering back to his core.

’At my current pace, I think I can reach Bronze Core in two more weeks.’

That was fast. Really fast.

’That’s when spells really start,’ he thought, a light breeze brushing through his hair.

Bronze Cores didn’t awaken another affinity. Instead, their cores made a great leap in how much mana they were able to use.

"Ugh," Theo muttered, letting out a deep breath. "I need more money... way more money."

Alas, there was nothing he could do about that at the moment.

After a moment, he tilted his head back slightly and glanced up at the sky.

A faint blue panel appeared in front of his eyes in an instant.

[Cooldown: 09:00:00.]

"Nice. Nine hours on the dot," he said, appreciating the round number.

As the time slowly continued ticking down, Theo smiled and closed the blue panel again.

He couldn’t wait to see what the system would offer him this time.

"It might be my only hope for some quick money," he mused, shaking his head. "Another ridiculous ability sits fine with me too."

Theo took another bite of his carrot cake, relaxing as he stared back out over the ocean.

Just then, a familiar voice echoed out behind him.

"Are you... eating cake right now?"

Theo froze mid-bite.

He slowly turned around, finding a familiar girl standing there with a shining spear in her hand and one of her eyebrows raised.

"Uhm," he said. "Yes?"

Iris stared at him for a second longer, then glanced at the thick slice of carrot cake in his hand, completely speechless.

"You’re on patrol," she said slowly. "Monsters could pop up any second..."

Theo swallowed and nodded calmly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, turning to look at her again.

Iris looked out over the ocean for a moment.

"I wanted to go out again," she said. "And get actual experience."

Theo raised an eyebrow and stared up at her. "Then what are you doing at my sector?"

"Well..." Iris smiled awkwardly.

"They won’t let me go out alone anymore," she admitted, her tone slightly annoyed. "After... last time."

Theo took another bite of his cake, nodding slowly.

"So I told them I’d join someone."

"And that person is me?" he asked.

"Yes," Iris nodded, a faint smile on her face.

Without hesitation, she threw her spear into the sand and sat down on the ground beside him.

Theo just looked at her, speechless.

"Are you sure?" he asked after a moment.

Iris met his gaze calmly.

"Absolutely," she said.

"Besides..."

She lifted her wrist slightly, revealing a small metallic device strapped around it.

"They’re making me carry an emergency recall button this time," she added. "If anything goes wrong, reinforcements will be dispatched immediately."

Theo looked at her strangely. "You didn’t have one last time?"

Iris shook her head calmly, as if it was normal. "I snuck out last time."

Theo just nodded, glancing back at the ocean as he stuffed another slice of cake into his mouth.

For the first few minutes, neither of them spoke.

The only sounds were the waves rolling gently onto the shore and the faint crunch of carrot cake as Theo continued eating.

Iris stayed beside him, her gaze nervously shifting between the ocean and Theo every few seconds.

Theo, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content.

He slowly finished the entire cake, feeling himself regain his energy after his workout.

Iris cleared her throat once after seeing the water bubble and gripped her spear tightly.

Theo also narrowed his eyes for a moment, prepared to form a lightning bolt in an instant.

But nothing happened.

’Just another false alarm,’ he thought, relaxing again.

Just then, Iris spoke up beside him.

"Aren’t you too relaxed?" she asked, uncertainty in her expression. "Especially after what happened two days ago."

Theo didn’t respond immediately.

"I’ve gotten pretty used to it over the past few days," he finally said, smiling. "Also, remember, I’m here twelve hours a day. If I’m going crazy from nerves the entire time, I’ll be a wreck."

Iris nodded slowly, letting out a deep breath as she let go of her spear.

He paused for a moment. "And if no one baits over a big group, I’ll be more than fine."

Hearing that, Iris’s face flushed red immediately.

"It was an accident!" she said, pressing her lips together.

Theo chuckled, shaking his head lightly.

"See, now you’re relaxed too," he said, standing up.

Iris shot him a glare, though her face remained red as she looked at him.

"What are you going to do now?" she asked, also standing up.

"Some killing," Theo replied simply, stretching his body.

He raised a hand, summoning two large, yellow thunderbolts in three seconds.

Iris’s expression changed, her gaze darting to the water.

Three creatures slowly crawled onto the shore, their shells a deep gray color and two massive claws dragging across the sand.

"Ironclaw Crabs?" she muttered. "Since when?"

Theo didn’t hesitate, launching the thunderbolts at the creatures.

Both thunderbolts shot through the sky, leaving a yellow trail behind wherever they went.

They collided with the front two crabs without giving them the chance to react, disintegrating massive holes through their bodies.

The creatures collapsed without even the chance to let out a sound, yellow lightning still rampaging through the remains of their bodies.

"That’s two," Theo muttered.

The remaining crab didn’t hesitate. It crawled through the sand as fast as it could, as if it had completely been taken over by some kind of madness.

But alas, another yellow light flashed through the air.

The final crab collapsed on the sand, twitching slightly as lightning crackled through its body.

But even as it died...

Its eyes were still locked on Theo and Iris.