It's been about 5 minutes since I left the cave. Going by how fast I can walk now due to the presence of mana in my body, I should be seeing it right about no-.
Oh, here it is. The place where it all began. The field.
When Mai told me all about mana, I had a thought. When I first got mana, it seemed like some of Mai's memories had been unlocked. And it also seems that even more would be unlocked once I reach 99 and 999 MP.
Going by this logic, if I reach a high enough MP milestone, for example, 9999 MP, shouldn't he be able to also remember a bit about my past? So wouldn't it be beneficial to first try and get more MP? Granted, I am not really sure about this guess of mine, but I can always just go and find people. I should first go and fight some monsters while I'm in the forest.
'Hey, look there. There's still some blood left from your first fight with the wolves. Hahaha, I still remember that. You couldn't even walk properly.'
Oh shut up, you weren't any better yourself. You sounded like a grandpa on his deathbed with all that coughing.
'Humph, I ended up like that because I had to save your ass from being eaten. Anyway, let's forget about that. Just continue forward.'
Yeah yeah, sure. Though I really hope that a beast doesn't ambush me like last ti-
{Rustle.}
...A rabbit. It was a rabbit. Guess I got spooked for nothing. Man, I guess I was just unlucky the first time huh?
'That could be true, but I'm not so sure about that.'
Huh? What do you mean?
'It could be that the beasts just sense that you have mana in you. That makes them more wary of fighting you.'
Oh, so beasts won't attack me anymore?
'No, that's not true. They will attack you. After all, them eating your flesh would help them on their path to reaching Rank 1. Especially because you are the weakest possible Rank 1, having just become one today. It's just that they will be more hesitant and wait it out a bit, rather than jumping on you at first sight.'
I see.
It doesn't matter though, I didn't come here to hunt beasts. I'm only searching for monsters...there are monsters in this forest, right?
'There should be, going by the trend I've seen, it seems like the outer sector of the forest is the home of small and not deadly animals, then there's the inner sector with deadly beasts but no monsters, and then the center should be full with Rank 1 monsters. So just continue moving forward and you should encounter a monster soon.'
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It's been about 15 minutes since I crossed the field, and I have yet to see a sign of a beast, forget about monsters.
Mai, you sure there are monsters here? Or even beasts?
'Well I can't say I'm sure but...there has to be. Just continue moving forwa-oh. Speak of the devil.'
I was just about to get bored. Thankfully, 3 wolves just stopped me in my path. And they even look similar to those 3 wolves that attacked me 2 days ago. Must be from the same wolf pack.
It's time to get revenge.
'I'm not saving your ass this time. You can walk properly and you're even Rank 1 now, you should have no problem dealing with some measly beasts.'
Don't you worry.
Rather than being defensive and dodging like my first battle, I decided to be on the offensive this time. I broke into a sprint, directing myself at the wolf right infront of me and then once I was close enough, I lifted one leg and lightly pushed myself off the ground with the other, sending the wolf tumbling into a tree 5 meters away. It was as dead as one could be.
Huh, that was way easier than I expected it to be. As I backed off from the spot where I landed, dodging the other 2 wolves, I wondered, is mana really this good?
'Yes and no. Yes, mana really is very good and makes you way stronger, but the thing is, you were strong from the beginning. It's just you couldn't use your body well. You would easily be able to kill 3 wolves even without mana. And with mana added into the mix, there isnt even a question about capability.'
Good to know.
I punched the wolf on my left, sending it to the ground, but it immediately rose back up, although swaying a bit. How? Why isn't it dead?
'You didn't hit it in a critical spot. Focus, you see those glowing spots on it's body? Those are spots where injuries would deal way more damage. For a wolf, easiest spots to hit are right on it's forhead or beneath it's jaw, you hit the side of the jaw which didn't damage it as much. Try hitting a critical spot on the other wolf.'
Now that you mention that, I remember when you took control of my body you targeted these glowing spots. So that's what they're for, huh. Ok.
I dashed towards the only uninjured wolf. It attacked me with it's claw, but I dodged to the left and then delivered a punch to the bottom of it's jaw, sending it flying upwards and then falling on it's back. It died so easily.
Huh, it really is easy to kill them once you target their critical spots. Thanks, Mai.
'No need, it's my jo-BEHIND!'
I barely dodged forward, avoiding a fatal injury but still leaving a gash on my back, then with a 180 rotation delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of the head of the wolf behind me, killing it.
Fuck, I forgot that I didn't one-shot that wolf.
'Never lose focus in a fight. Although this is only your second fight so you still have a lot to learn.'
Argh, you're right. I think I learned my lesson with this wound though. So, what do I do now?
'Well you can't go fighting a monster with a wound like that. You still have that plant-bandage on you for those old wounds right? Use that to bandage the wound on your back, eat some meat from the wolves and wait a few hours. Your current wound is smaller than the wounds you had after your first fight and your body will recover faster now that it has mana, so after 2-3 hours of rest you will be good to go.
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Hey, Mai, just how much have I walked untill now?
'You've covered a distance of 150 km since the field.'
Fuck, just how big is this forest?
It's been about 8 hours after I took a rest and recovered my wound. I continued moving forward and had to fight quite a few beasts, with 2 fights being as hard as the one with the wolves, but after having learned about critical spots and not losing focus, I didn't get seriously injured from those fights.
I can already see the pale white sun steadily hiding behind the horizon and the 2 moons peaking their heads out, and after a whole day of non-stop running and fighting, I'm honestly very tired, so I guess I'll find some cave and sleep for the night.
'Most beasts that aren't nocturnal should've already returned to their bases so any empty cave you find will be safe to sleep in'
Good to know.
I wandered for a few dozen minutes, searching for some empty cave, and I finally found one.
Around 2 hours ago the beasts had started getting stronger and stronger, which should mean that I'm nearing the center with Rank 1 monsters. Hopefully, I'll reach it tomorrow.
I went into the cave and started dozing off, wondering just how much harder a fight with a monster would be.
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{Chirp!}
Yaawn~. Finally, today is the day I will encounter a monster!
'Wow, you're just brimming with determination first thing in the morning.'
To be honest, I found out something yesterday. All that fighting with beasts made me realize that...I actually like fighting quite a lot. It's fun. That's why I'm really wondering just how much different a fight with a monster would be as opposed to a beast.
'That's good and all, just make sure to not go overboard. I don't want to take control of your body and save your ass again.'
Don't you worry about that, I promise I won't be needing you to do that...yet. I can't say for sure about what will happen in the future.
I stretched for a bit and left the cave. Before continuing with my journey to the center of the forest, I first had to take care of my bodily needs. I detracked from the path forward to find a river, where I bathed myself and drank some water.I also decided to eat fruits rather than go hunt beasts for some meat. I ate way too much meat yesterday with all that fighting against beasts.
I walked forward for 2 hours, fighting a few beasts that got in my way. With all the battles yesterday, I had gotten way better at fighting, to the point where I'm certain that no Rank 0 beast could even scratch me, and no group of Rank 0 beasts could defeat me, as long as that group isn't too large. The largest group I had fought was 6 beasts, which was honestly very hard, I came close to being seriously injured a few times.
This monotonous journey came to an end though as something...different stood in my way.
Hey, Mai, is that...?
'Yes, you're right. I can feel mana from it. That's a Rank 1 monster.'