Iya Continent: Card God

“You’ve already developed basic arm strength from the previous carrying training. Now, you need to make good use of that arm strength and solidify and strengthen it,” Jin Gong explained.

As he spoke, he picked up a specially crafted iron hammer from the shop and handed it to Lin Ta.

Linta took the hammer, and his entire arm immediately slumped downwards, falling with the force of the hammer.

"Why is it so heavy!"

This hammer looks no bigger than a few eggs, but its weight far exceeds its size.

Kim Gong laughed and said, "This was specially made for you."

Linta forced a smile and said, "Thank you so much."

Hou Ya was surprised, and with veins bulging on his arm, he struggled to lift the hammer.

Jingong picked up the tongs and took a piece of red-hot refined iron from the blazing furnace. He then said, "Next, you will hammer this iron until it becomes a thin sheet. If the iron becomes difficult to hammer, you will put it back in the furnace, pull the bellows to reheat it, and then take it out to hammer again."

Linta nodded.

Naturally, I have no doubt about this training method, but I am not yet prepared to start suffering all over again after finally getting comfortable.

"Clang!" "Clang!"

Inside the blacksmith's shop, amidst the sweltering heat, the thunderous sound of hammering increased from one strike to two, continuing incessantly.

The hammering didn't stop until sunset.

“Drink…drink…”

Linta put down the hammer, panting heavily. His arm, which had been swinging the hammer, was now as useless as if it were broken and could no longer be lifted.

Fortunately, the hammered iron had been hammered into a thin sheet.

"It's all done in one day, alright?" Linta said to Jingong with satisfaction.

Jin Gong picked up the tongs and threw the thin sheet back into the mold of the furnace. In just a few breaths, the sheet melted into molten iron, flowing into the mold and returning to its original shape as an iron block.

Linta was a little confused, "Huh...?"

Kim Gong calmly said, "It's just scrap metal, nothing to brag about. Let's keep fighting tomorrow."

Linta looked distressed and pointed to his already "useless" arm with his other finger, saying, "My hand won't be better tomorrow."

“Don’t you have another one? Use the other one to fight,” Kim Gong said, raising his eyebrows.

"I..." Linta hesitated, then decided against it. She had chosen this path, and she had to grit her teeth and bear it.

"Do we need to play again tonight? I don't think so, right?" Linta changed the subject and asked about tonight's training.

Jingong said, "Why not use it? Do you think your future enemies will wait until you're fully recovered and in top condition before trying to kill you? On the continent of Iya, who doesn't have some kind of injury? Who doesn't have missing an arm or a leg?"

Linta was speechless; that made sense.

The night was shrouded in mist, and layers of dark clouds obscured the starry sky.

The courtyard of the house Linta rented has been the location for nightly fights since training began.

First, the place is secluded, with no neighbors around, so no matter how much he screams, it won't attract attention. Second, after being knocked down and unconscious, Jingong can easily throw Linta back into the house.

"Haha, come on, come and defeat me!" Kim Gong laughed heartily as usual, his arms supporting his hips.

At this moment, Linta's right arm was completely weak from a day of swinging the hammer. This arm would be useless in the upcoming battle.

“Brother Linta, don’t think about what you don’t have, think about what you have. What have you gained after all this training?” Jingon said solemnly.

Linta understood what the other person meant.

He still had a pair of legs and an arm, and these legs and arms were not weak and powerless at the beginning. Rather, they had been strengthened through training. They already possessed strength that ordinary people did not have.

Moreover, this is a physical struggle; the opponent doesn't use magic. The Gingon before me is just a strong dwarf; there's no such thing as invincibility.

"call……"

Linta took a deep breath, leaped forward, and charged towards Jingon.

Unable to use magic or the magical power of cards, Linta's every move was not agile and was entirely within Gingon's sight.

Linta was aware of this as well, and his leap immediately transformed into a detour. Taking advantage of the darkness and the blind spots of the opposing dwarves' vision.

A sweeping kick that strikes directly at the lower body.

In their long and drawn-out battle, Linta had launched countless direct attacks, but none of them could harm this robust body. Linta also realized that he could no longer defeat his opponent through physical strength alone; he could only resort to tricks.

"boom!"

After the sweeping kick struck GimGoon's knee, his short thigh was forced to move away, but his body still did not collapse.

Jingong turned his head and laughed, "After running around the cities for so long, you do have more power, but it's still not enough."

"Aha!"

Jin Gong immediately retaliated, leaping up and stomping down on Lin Ta.

The dwarf, as large as a wine barrel, leaped down, the consequences of which were devastating. Linta dared not think too much about it, reacting in time, rolling several times on the ground, kicking up dust, and dodging the attack.

"Sliding shovel!"

Jin Gong reacted swiftly, sliding in and kicking Lin Ta in the direction he was rolling. He moved like a rolling boulder, unstoppable.

Linta had no time to dodge and stared wide-eyed at the oncoming Jin Gong, facing him head-on.

"Oh!"

……

"Forehead……"

As I opened my eyes, the darkness before me dissipated.

Linta felt the familiar hard bed and groaned, "I've been knocked unconscious again..."

Without a doubt, in last night's fight, he was knocked unconscious by his dwarf friend and finally thrown back into the house.

The opponent's physical strength, honed from childhood training, is exceptionally robust, far surpassing anything I could achieve in just a few months of training.

"What if we use other powers?"

Linta's eyes narrowed slightly, his thoughts wandering to other possibilities.

In terms of pure physical strength, the outcome of a contest is quite obvious. However, if weapons are used, the difference in outcome diminishes.

However, when magic or other supernatural powers are used, it becomes difficult to judge victory or defeat based on physical size or strength. This is true of the continent of Iya; you can never determine a person's strength or weakness based on their appearance.

"Hey, it's too early to think about that. Today, I still have to run five laps around the city before dawn, and then ten laps later..."

Linta's thoughts shifted, and he became distressed.

The days that followed were filled with the same old, repetitive torment.

I started running through the city, within a time limit. Afterwards, I went to the blacksmith to forge iron. My right hand was still sore and weak from yesterday's iron-wielding, so today I could only rely on my left. At night, exhausted and aching, I was subjected to a beating. A beating with no chance of winning.

However, despite her outward complaints and dejection, Linta remained resolute and determined in her heart, never giving up.

He could actually feel that he was indeed, truly becoming stronger!

Whether it is physical or mental strength.