"Ah... another busy day." Rhodes sighed as he stepped into his small home, stretching his sore muscles before taking a quick cold shower.
Thankfully, it was summer. Ever since he started using magic, he could feel his body becoming stronger. Otherwise, he wasn't sure if he'd have adapted so quickly.
He had considered taking a hot bath, but since he didn't have any magical heating equipment, boiling water with firewood sounded like too much trouble.
At first, he thought about investing in a magic-powered water heater, but after asking about the price, he decided to tough it out—at least until winter became unbearable.
After helping Warm bathe, Rhodes found himself missing the washing machines back at his school—just two coins, and the job was done.
Handwashing clothes was slow, tedious, and utterly boring.
No phone to pass the time, no videos to watch, nothing.
The only thing he could do was use the old-fashioned, hand-cranked phonograph in his room.
At first, he found the experience weird.
But as the music played, a thought crossed his mind:
"This feels kind of stylish, like those rich guys in those 19th century movies."
if only the record collection wasn't such a bizarre mix of pop, rock, and classical music.
Swish, swish, swish...
The washboard leaned against the basin, and Rhodes rubbed the wet fabric rhythmically to the music, creating small, white foamy bubbles.
He wasn't particularly good at using this old-fashioned method, but the repetitive motion and the gentle splashing were surprisingly relaxing.
Meanwhile, Warm had been staring at the bag of detergent for a while, curiosity shining in his big, round eyes.
Finally, unable to resist any longer...
Followed by a long, slow drag of his tongue against the powdery substance.
His face twisted in pure horror, and he violently spat out a mouthful of white powder.
Rhodes knocked Warm on the head and dumped him into the sink.
"Go rinse your mouth, genius."
Warm flailed around, but obediently started gargling with water.
After finishing the laundry and hanging his clothes on the tiny balcony, Rhodes finally noticed a few potted plants sitting there.
One looked like a succulent, while two others resembled orchids.
The soil was visibly dry, a clear sign that they had been neglected for the past couple of days.
"Looks like I have a few more lives to take care of now... great."
Sighing, he grabbed the nearby spray bottle, filled it with water, and gave the thirsty plants a well-deserved drink.
As tiny droplets glistened on their leaves, soaking into the soil, Rhodes could almost feel their vitality returning.
Without thinking, he muttered to himself:
"Alright, you'll be called Tatsuya. You—Ren. And you... well, in this other world, it seems Dad will have to take care of you three."
Warm, watching from the side, tilted his head.
Something about Rhodes' expression made him feel that, his master wasn't all that happy about this.
"Why are you making that face?"
Rhodes put down the spray bottle and picked up Warm, holding him up at eye level.
"Go clean up the mess you just made!"
Warm blinked in shock. Wait, wasn't he supposed to be a pet?!
How could his master expect him to clean the floor?!
"Don't look at me like that. What kind of pet doesn't help with chores?"
Before Warm could protest, Rhodes tossed him into the laundry room.
"You're responsible for cleaning up whatever you messed up."
Warm sat there, staring down at his tiny paws.
How was I supposed to clean anything with these?
Of course, that wasn't Rhodes' problem to solve.
Warm was smart enough to understand human language—he'd figure it out somehow.
However, as Rhodes thought about it, he started getting annoyed.
"Why does Warm, a creature from the Howling Abyss, automatically understand the language here, but I have to struggle to learn it?!"
Couldn't Mr. Hibyuki's language pack be shared?
Grumbling, Rhodes sat at his desk and opened the book he'd brought back from the guild.
It was a history book.
He wasn't exactly excited about it, but he figured it was important to understand the world he was living in.
To make studying easier, Levy had even lent him a pair of magic-enhanced glasses.
These weren't just any ordinary reading glasses—they were enchanted.
At their fastest setting, they could accelerate reading speed up to 32 times.
In other words, one minute of reading would be like studying for half an hour!
Rhodes felt like his time had finally come.
Even if he hated history, he could push through a few minutes, right?
The book slammed shut as its spine hit the desk with a loud thud.
The noise startled Rhodes awake—he'd dozed off.
He had completely miscalculated.
Sure, the reading time was shortened, but the amount of content was still the same.
And if he wasn't interested before, speed-reading didn't magically make history exciting.
"Even with magic tools, history books are still history books."
Rhodes sighed in frustration.
Some people, like Hibiki, had magic that could directly transfer knowledge into a person's mind.
Now that was a magic Rhodes could get behind.
Or better yet, he could just listen to someone like Levy tell historical stories.
After all, the way she described things made them sound so much more interesting.
"Alright, let's start the day with fifty push-ups."
Rhodes dropped to the ground and managed thirty in one go before his arms started trembling.
"Damn... this is harder than I thought."
"If you want to increase your magic power quickly, you can't just meditate," Master Makarov had told him. "Your body needs training too, or else... you'll regret it."
Rhodes had a feeling that when the old man said "regret it," he wasn't talking about missions.
He was probably talking about surviving inside the guild itself.
I mean, I don't even like fighting, Rhodes thought.
But after watching how chaotic things get in the guild every day, it's only a matter of time before I get dragged into something.
Even the girls in Fairy Tail were absurdly strong.
And if Natsu or Gray ever punched him by accident, forget it, he didn't even want to think about it.
Rhodes gritted his teeth and pushed on.
"To increase my magic power!" Get full chapters from 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⟡𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦⟡𝘯𝘦𝘵
"To avoid getting beaten up!"
"To be strong enough to fight back if I do get hit!"
Wait, why was this starting to sound more like survival training?!
For now, Rhodes' priorities were simple:
Exercise to improve his physical strength. Meditate to refine his magic. Read to understand the world better.
That last part, though, was a struggle.
Magic-related books were fine, but history and geography? Absolute pain.
"Maybe I should check if there are any newspapers or magazines in town," he thought.
Something lighter than ancient history textbooks might help him keep up with current events.
The morning sky was overcast, cloudy but not rainy.
Today, Rhodes decided to go to work in style.
Riding a Scuttle Crab.
As soon as the massive dark-green crab emerged from the street, it immediately turned heads.
The neighbors froze, staring at the unusual sight.
As the Scuttle Crab started moving through the streets with Rhodes riding on its back, the initial panic quickly faded.
"Oh, it's a mount! Looks weird, but kinda cool."
"Wait, isn't that a crab? Why isn't it walking sideways?"
"Hey, isn't that guy from Fairy Tail?"
"Must be a newbie. Another restless one, huh?"
A few sharp-eyed onlookers spotted the blue Fairy Tail emblem on Rhodes' arm as the wind lifted the sleeves of his shirt.
At this point, seeing something strange on Magnolia's streets wasn't unusual.
But if it came from Fairy Tail?
Well, that explained everything.
Unbeknownst to Rhodes, the emblem on his arm was providing him with a certain level of "understanding" from the townsfolk.
After all, Fairy Tail wizards were notorious for their eccentricities.
This? This was nothing compared to some of the chaotic things they'd seen before.
Rhodes, gripping the Scuttle Crab's long tentacles like motorcycle handlebars, could only hear the wind rushing past.
Moments later, it skidded to a stop right in front of the guild.
It was less than a kilometer away, so the ride was incredibly short.
Brushing his wind-blown hair back into place, Rhodes sighed.
"At least this thing has autopilot."
If it didn't, he was 90% sure he would've plowed through a few pedestrians.
Even so, he still wasn't convinced this Scuttle Crab was all that safe when running at full speed.