"Hehehe, I can soon afford a new staff, maybe I should also buy a set of robe...Hehehehe."
The young maid was giggling with her sparkly eyes that reflected the bright glowing hue of the gold coins in her leather pouch.
'This...Hopefully, we get there soon...'
I was on my way to a new hunting ground that was filled with stronger monsters than those midget goblins and blind dogs, the kobolds.
'But...Who would have thought she would start laughing like a maniac after obtaining some few golds... Is the pay at home not good enough?! You practically do nothing at home other than playing pranks on people!'
If she's not cleaning, then she is training.
If she's not cooking, then she is training.
If she's not doing any kinds of chores, then she is training.
Every excuse was training, training, and training...But my parents didn't mind at all because they were the same as her, maniacs.
I even heard some villager slipped the words Devil and some Fire when they saw my mom, the elderly were trembling in fear while the younger folks who could move their limbs ran for their lives.
'Fire Devil...? My mom is?'
I rubbed my chin as I pictured the gentle mother smiling at me with her bright, innocent eyes.
'No no... Think of how many times did she set my dad on fire...'
The picture of a charcoal man with an afro emerged in my head, and finally, after an 8 hours ride on the carriage, we finally arrived at the so-called danger zone.
"We are here Sei! This is it!"
Lin Lin hopped down the two-wheel carriage and untied the horse before giving it a good slap to the side.
"Go back home."
The horse fulfilled its task, so she decided to let it go free, but it will most likely just go back to the town.
"So this is the so-called Hunting Ground One-...Ah nevermind."
I noticed a small broken down wooden sign that was planted in the ground beside the dirt road that went straight into a thick forest.
"Mhmm! It's filled with a dozen different monsters unlike the weak forest surrounding the village."
Lin Lin told me what I already knew since I didn't waste my times and gathered some information in the town while she was selling some monster materials and herbs.
"Alright then, let's find a quiet place to set up the portal and go back home."
Lin Lin nodded and went ahead on the dry dirt path.
'We were traveling for almost 12 hrs and covered 30 KM of land... So I need to summon about 15 Gates...'
After leveling Dark Gate to level 2, it also added an additional 1 KM to the initial range which extended to 2 KM in total and 15 Gate was pretty much my limit, so it was perfect.
'But casting 15 Gate nonstop and tiring myself is a no go... So I should rest in the town first, mhmm.'
"How about here Sei? It's not quite in the hunting ground so there shouldn't be many roaming monsters."
I was blindly following the maid, so I failed to realize how tall the tree in front of me was right away.
"Oh my goodness, is this the tallest tree ever?"
'It was like...Even taller than the Tokyo tower...'
"Huh...Little Sei, this is just a typical forest oak tree..."
Her words went right through my ears as I admired the tall tree that towered even above the sky.
'Wait...How did I not see this during the ride?'
Lin Lin noticed my puzzled expression and started to laugh.
"Hehehe silly Sei, there is a reason why monsters cannot leave the hunting ground, but that will be up for the teachers to teach you."
The maid nodded proudly as she felt happy after seeing my face.
"Fine, then you will walk home, hmmp."
"Ah no, wait! I am sorry little Sei, please forgive big sis okay...?"
'Kukuku'
I walked along the trunk and decided to set a point right beside a big root that stretched out toward the hunting ground.
"Let's go home."
"Mhmm!"
The reason why I didn't do this earlier was because of the 1 gate limit.
I registered the coordinate along the road and cast the spell by rotating my hand and then when the black hole emerged from the void, I felt like I was already at that location.
'And what does that means? It meant that in reality, if I open a gate at the maximum distance, my range technically doubles because the first one act has an entrance point while the second one act has an exit that is to say because I have two gates now.'
As soon I stepped into the gate, I immediately connected the second one and created like a never-ending black tunnel.
If I only had one black gate, then I would have to step out of the first one before re-casting it.
That was the reason why I decided to travel further to find better materials and herb, connection a gate to another gate.
'Kukuku, I am so smart, a genius!'
.
..
...
"*Huff* *Huffff*."
I laid on my back against the grass on the backyard as Lin Link looked at me worriedly.
"Are you alright little Sei, do you want me to bring you some water?"
"Mhmm, please..."
Instead of feeling sleepy, I felt like my body went dry and exhausted while my mouth felt like the desert.
'That's what I get for looping my gates...'
Shortly after, Lin Lin slammed the back door open and ran to me with a cup of water.
"That boy...Only 5 years old and he is working so hard *sniff* mak...me....so prowd...."
The fierce-looking man, who was my father started to shed some tears after seeing my damp sweaty me laying on the grass.
"It's alright dear, don't cry..."
.
..
...
I finally managed to gather some stamina to stand up after drinking 10 cups of water and received a scolding from my mother.
"You are still a child so don't practice too hard, I know you want to be like mother, but most of the children only develop their talents at 6 during the awakening ceremony..."
The conversation gave me lots of insights and ended with one casualty when my dad interrupted her by saying
"What about like father?"
"Rest in peace father."
I clasped my hands together and bowed down to the cracks in the burnt wall before returning to my own room that was right in front of theirs on the upper floor.
.
..
...
I felt like I recovered most of my energy after supper and decided to sneak out during the night.
'This time, I will rest in the town for a bit.'
Not wanting to experience the dry desert feeling again, I warped myself into the closest town that was 16 KM away, which was like a 4 to 5 hour single carriage ride at the maximum speed.
After 8 gates later, I landed directly in a dark alley and made my way into the inn to recover my strength.
'Ugh...Just sitting here is a waste of time, is there any other way to recover faster.'
Oblivious to the so-called system they use in this world that was different from earth and the dream world, I merely sat quietly on the bed in my room and rested for 2 hours before feeling rejuvenated again.
"To the hunting ground...Why didn't I think of that..."
I saw a group of carriage leaving the town's gate and thought of a better resolution.
'If I rested on a carriage...It would shorten my distance to the destination so I can save up at least one gate or two...'
Disappointed at myself, I shook my head and opened a gate in the alley.
.
..
...
"You saw that?!"
"What kind of speed is that? That agility doesn't belong to a native monster..."
"Could it be... A daemon!?"
"You idiot, if it were a daemon then we wouldn't be alive!"
"But still...What native monster could have done this in a short amount of time then?!"
"That...I..."
A group of adventurers was filled with horror as witnessed a dark shadow flashing above the tree branches.
At first, they were curious and decided to run after it but could barely catch up with the fast shadow.
After a long change, they saw a mountain of monster corpses laying on top of other, the young adventurers were petrified and ran out of the hunting ground.
"Hmmm? Wasn't that the group I met at the entrance... Bunch of weirdos but they are luring the monsters away."
The short Sei popped his head from the back of the corpses after the commotion and kept collecting material from the monster's nails, scale and skins that could be used for many things.
"Oof, finally done."
I nodded and smiled after seeing the dozen of different materials on my leather bag.
"I wonder how much gold will these fetch me, hehehe I can buy a new dagger and and..."
Just like the rest of his family, the little Sei laughed hysterically as he drooled and scared off some of the clueless adventurers.
"What was that?!"
"A monster...No, a ghost?!"
"Kyaaa a ghost?! Let's run, we have to leave right now!"