I woke up feeling refreshed. It was still sunrise, but that's the perfect time to start my day when I'm in the wilderness. I got out of my tent, packed it up, and then took the map out of my backpack to determine which direction I should go. After glancing at the map, I can confidently say I should be heading the same way I was yesterday, which thankfully was north.
I started walking through the forest at a good pace. After several minutes, I began hearing creepy sounds that I recognized instantly; those sounds were engraved in my mind. However, they weren't really dangerous, so I continued walking as if I didn't notice them.
As expected, I felt the presence of multiple monsters behind me. They attacked, and I reinforced my speed with mana, propelling myself several meters forward to escape their reach. I turned around to see seven monsters. I had fought their kind before; these monsters were all crimson wolves, and I was going to kill them because their meat is edible and delicious. I still hadn't had breakfast, and even though I was quite sure this wasn't healthy as the first thing to eat in the day, it didn't matter.
I charged a strong fire attack at them, big enough to reach all of them and hot enough to kill them and make them edible. They didn't even react to their deaths because of how quick the attack was—they were pretty weak after all. I managed to beat one of them when I was three, and now I'm pretty sure I'm tens, if not hundreds, of times stronger than I was last time.
I pulled out my sword and cut a piece from one of their thighs and started eating. To my surprise, it was cooked because normally I fail to do that with magic and rarely succeed.
I used to want to take revenge against those monsters, but right now I'm killing them just for their meat, not for any other reason. After all, that's their instinct, just like the betraying instincts of humans.
That's why I'm not seeking revenge against Edward; I only want to meet him and listen to his actual reasons for committing that genocide. I can't do that without forcing him to answer, even though I don't want to meet him in any way.
Just as I began thinking of him, a memory came to mind—his betrayal. It repeats itself over and over again, and I can't stop it. It's painful, the worst memory of both my lives. It may not be the most physically painful, but it is mentally because it was the moment I lost the only thing I had in both worlds: a home.
Then the memory started fading away, and I didn't want to remember it ever again.
So I returned to eating the meat; it was delicious. I have a big appetite, but I never gain weight; I guess I'm quite lucky. After finishing my meal, I started walking again.
12 days have passed, and I've encountered all kinds of monsters: snake-like monsters, monkey-like monsters, bird-like monsters, and monsters that doesn't look like any animals. I fought them all, but none were actually a challenge for me, nor did they allow me to go all out; they were pretty weak.
It's morning now, and I put the map on the ground, feeling curious because I have two choices of where to go. I can go around the Frostvein mountains or through them. Crossing them will take around 15 more days to reach the city I want to go to. Normally, I would have chosen to go through without thinking, but it's dangerous in these mountains, not just because of the strength of the monsters—all of which are much stronger than the ones I find here—but also due to the dangerously low temperatures, especially since winter is starting. Furthermore, these mountains are inhabited by a strong species of monsters, extremely powerful—the snowy dragons.
A quick glimpse of their strength reveals that since the difference between the Grandmaster level and the zero level is vast, they are categorized into three tiers: low tier, mid tier, and high tier. It is stated that at least five high-tier Grandmasters are needed to have a chance against one of them, and these mountains are filled with these terrifying creatures.
Moreover, going to Dawnwick through them will only take two days, but I'll go around the mountains.. if I didn't need to go as quickly as possible. Instead, I'll go through the mountains as fast as I can; I probably won't sleep and will travel at night too. That way, I should manage to pass through them in a maximum of 30 hours.
Additionally, these dragons generally don't eat humans, so they won't follow me, but they will attack anyone in their territory. Thus, my plan is to travel morning and night as fast as I can, using as much mana as I can to reinforce myself while dodging anyone who tries to attack me, and while traveling I'll take multiple small magical pills that I found in the village, they completely fill my hunger. It's going to be truly fatiguing, so I started toward the mountains.
After a couple of hours of walking, I noticed that I was ascending more and more as it got colder. I decided to take a break for the rest of the day because tomorrow would require a lot of work, so I went to search for some monsters to eat and then set up my tent afterward.
I tried to sense any nearby creatures and felt multiple ones. The question was whether they were edible. I hoped all of them were crimson wolves because nothing in my area is as delicious and nutritious as they are.
I reinforced my speed and moved toward a creature I sensed; its presence felt like the wolves I desired. Yes, it was what I wanted. Strangely, it was alone; they usually travel in groups of three to ten, but it didn't matter. I had seen them alone before, so I just fried him with one fire attack.
Actually, my skills in cooking monsters alive with one attack have improved significantly, so I was confident he was edible right now. I ate parts of the delicious wolf, then set up the tent and went to sleep.
I woke up at dawn in good form and mood, thankful that I had gotten some rest last night because today would be tiring. I got up, packed my tent, and started heading toward the mountains as the sunrise drew closer.
After around an hour, I found myself at the foot of the mountain, and I decided I would start reinforcing myself now. I organized my mana usage well, so I'd reinforce myself with an amount that I could maintain for these 30 hours, also reserving some mana for emergencies.
After about 20 minutes, the sun began to rise. I noticed how the mountains are shaped—too curvy with steep slopes. I realized this journey would truly be fatiguing—that's probably why people call these mountains the border of Valoria. They divide the continent into a northern side and a southern side, being located in the middle of the country and extending from one side to the other. They are also very difficult to traverse; even I am in extreme danger right now.
Surprisingly, I know quite a lot about this place, but my knowledge doesn't extend to the other side of the country. People in the southern side don't know much about the northern side. After all, the south is mostly forgotten, lacking a capital, and is only facing the ocean, which is said to lead nowhere. Maybe this world is flat, unlike my last one—who knows?
After another four hours, my body began to tire before anything else, and my hunger grew, prompting me to take a magical pill. My energy came back instantly, and I felt refreshed.
I also noticed that my durability in this new life is much greater compared to my last one. This isn't just about me; everyone here seems physically strong even without any supernatural reinforcements.
Despite my newfound energy, I still couldn't move any faster; nutrition has nothing to do with magic. I encountered multiple monsters along the way, and they were incredibly strong. I didn't fight them, obviously; while I could probably kill them, that would waste a lot of mana, and they were mostly inedible, so I ran away. I'm not some kind of knight who will save the world and become a hero; I just can't be.
The terrain only worsened, and I found myself stuck several times, unsure how to proceed. The temperature was also brutal; I felt like I was freezing. I couldn't believe the speed I was maintaining was keeping me warm and protecting me from the cold. I was fortunate it was sunny; I would've just given up if there had been a storm.
A lot of time has passed. Luckily, I'll be out of this cursed place in a few hours at this pace. I feel like I'm nearing the end. Nothing out of the ordinary happened; I encountered stronger monsters and ran away, the terrain grew even worse, and the weather turned even colder, but thankfully it remains sunny. That was a while ago.
Now, the monsters were beginning to lessen, and it was getting less cold, but the terrain was still just as bad, if not worse. As I was approaching the foot of the mountains, the slopes became increasingly treacherous. I consumed several magical pills as well, and just as I closed my eyes to reflect on how nothing went wrong with this plan, I collided with something. I had no idea what it was—definitely not a wall, too soft to be one. It didn't hurt much, thankfully, so I decided to check it out. I wish I hadn't.
It was a monster I had never encountered before, but I recognized it instantly. After all, I had heard of it long before coming to this world; it was a dragon—entirely blue, a light one. It looked gigantic, around 20 meters long, just as described in the stories from my other life. It was awake; I hadn't recognized it because it was covered in snow, but my collision likely stirred it awake. I truly feared for my life. It looked at me with frightening eyes; I was terrified and wanted to run, but my limbs refused to cooperate. Then, suddenly, the dragon moved—not attacking me but running away instead. It looked back at me one more time, its eyes filled with fear. It was as scared as I was—no, even more scared. I don't understand why. That's not typical behavior for its species, which are usually brave and ready to fight anything and everything. Why did it do that? Just why?
So, I decided to flee as quickly as I could to get out of there. I should have kept my mouth shut about not finding anything out of the ordinary. If I use all my mana, I'll probably make it out in about three hours, which is exactly what I need. It was sunset, anyway.