Chapter 48

A Wise Man Approaches Danger

“Mmmm….aaahh…morning…”

I watch the morning light slowly illuminate the forest as my consciousness take its times to awaken. Ah, nature really did offer the best views. This wasn’t a world full of artificial things like j.a.pan. And so I really enjoyed these sights. I had never been to any national parks…

Great, I’m wide awake now. I untied the rope that was binding me and fixed it to a tree branch. And with that, I slid down the tree. I would just leave it there, since I’d be camping out here tonight as well. However, I would put all of my tools and belongings in the hollow bag and keep it up in the tree. I don’t know what I would do if I came back and it had been stolen. It was an important, vintage item that Russell gave to me.

I put everything that I would needed to take with me in a different bag. Breakfast would be dried meat that could be chewed as I walked. It would be difficult to move if I ate too much anyway. I remember watching a diet show on tv that said you would feel like you were full if you chewed a lot. And they must be right!

Alright now, I had my weapons. My belongings. The important stuff is up in the tree. The fire is put out. Good. Let’s go!

And so started my second forest training camp. It was currently the second day. Yesterday, I had hunted goblins. I had now acc.u.mulated over fifty weapons from them. They practically infested this forest. Not that they all carried weapons, but I definitely killed more than fifty of them. In any case, killing a bunch of mob creatures wasn’t exactly going to make my level go up much, but you needed to think of the big picture. I’m sure that at least one stat went up, maybe.

Regardless, I was overflowing with weapons at this point, so I decided to go to the plains. There were no gra.s.s wolves around here yesterday, probably because of the wyvern. But what about today? I use presence detection to find out. By the way, I had been using this skill pretty much constantly the other day, so I was starting to get the hang of it. I had a better idea of measuring distance now. As far as numbers went, that was still a little hazy, but I was no longer likely to just b.u.mp into an enemy anymore. Thanks to that, my hunting was going very smoothly.

And now I was out in the plains. I was relieved to see that the gra.s.s wolves had returned. They seemed to be just a little ways off. I didn’t know how many there were…yet. They were behind the shadow of a great rock that was further out past some bushes.

I slowly pull out the steel sword that Aragira had fervently crafted, and slowly approached while erasing the sound of my footsteps. They may be monsters, but they were like dogs. And so I was careful about my scent. I wasn’t new to this business anymore, kinda. Now, slowly, but nimbly, I make my way towards the rock. I climb up without making a sound and look over the edge. Bingo. There were several gra.s.s wolves lying in the gra.s.s. Perhaps they had just finished eating? There were bones lying around that looked like they were from a rabbit. Then they would have their guard down. I had no choice but to hunt them now.

I slowly unsheath the short sword at my belt. I had to use ‘Jack of all Trades, Master of None’ to throw it at one wolf, as I was not accustomed to doing that yet. Unsurprisingly, the skill led me to success, and the blade sunk deep into the gra.s.s wolves brain. I wanted to do a fist pump, but this was not the best time to do so. The pack immediately became panicked as I slid down from the rock and slashed with the steel sword. I ignore the spray of blood as I continue to swing the sword, hurling the dead gra.s.s wolf into the air and into its companions. Once they tripped and fell, all I had to do was cut off their heads.

Chop. The blade slides between the joints and the head is severed. Just then, another wolf jumps at me, and I roll out of the way. Of course, I do not forget thrust my sword upward when I do so. The gra.s.s wolf lands with streams of blood running before collapsing on the ground. And before I knew it, I was the last one standing.

“Phewww…”

I sigh and catch my breath. Looking up at the sky, I can see it’s not quite at the highest point yet. I wanted to hunt at least twenty more before it was midday. Next up, removing the claws. I lifted a dead wolf’s paw and used my short sword to dig into the roots. Now, if I can just take them out cleanly, my work would be done. The bodies would regress naturally if you left them alone, so I moved them to the side.

Now we were done with this pack. I take out a water bottle from my bag and drink. The cool, clear water rehydrates my throat. In fact, this water was made with magic. The bottle itself had magic cast on it to keep it fresh. It wasn’t quite cheap, but it fit within my budget for this outing, so it was fine.

Once I was finished resting, it was time to go to the next pack. I spread the area of presence detection and discover something a little ways away by the border of the forest and plains. Since it was close to the forest, I couldn’t tell whether it was goblins or gra.s.s wolves. The number of enemies was also a blur, but the presence seemed large, so there was probably more than a few. I better be careful with this one.