Before the body of Motaro, Renji couldn't help but heave a sigh. Simultaneously, he rubbed the scar on his chest-a scar which had nearly taken his life. "Compared with Noria, you are far too inferior," Renji said, shaking his head and sighing. In fact, Motaro hadn't been more than a temporary travel companion whom Renji had met on the road. Yeah, right; like Renji was just going to trust him that easily. After what happened with Noria, how was Renji going to turn his back to people that easily?
"Squeak squeak!" The little Umbramouse, Echo, scurried over, carrying the pack that was initially on Motaro's back. He used his telepathic link with Echo to beg him, "Boss, please hurry and count how much magicite cores are inside. All the other assassins put together this month didn't even have as much magicite cores as that first assassin did.".
Kaiya Tanaka appeared beside Renji. "Renji, it really seems like this little Umbramouse that you have here reared really loves magicite cores in its countings," Kaiya Tanaka chuckled.
"It does seem that way, just a bit," Renji replied. He took the backpack and opened it, teasing Echo, "Echo, when you had killed that Motaro fellow, I think you used your claws instead of that set of sharp teeth. Why didn't you use your fierce little teeth?
Echo sat up straight, let out a few arrogant squeaks, and then said mentally, "Boss, I, Echo, have incredible prowess. My sharp claws are no less fierce than my teeth. And that Motaro fellow was too vile. Biting him would sully my teeth." After saying this, Echo intentionally put on a display of 'spitting' out a mouthful of saliva.
Renji burst out laughing as the little Umbramouse spat out a mouthful of saliva; it was just too human. "Alright, alright, Echo. See, that Motaro guy had many magicite cores in his backpack. There are about thirty here. He didn't waste too much time this month. However, the best core out of these thirty is just a core of the fifth rank." Renji carefully started to examine the cores. Within the last month, he killed many magical beasts and several people who tried to kill him; put together he had close to three hundred magicite cores, worth approximately forty thousand gold coins in total!
"Forty thousand gold. If father knew… then…" Renji was fantasizing about his father's expression when he got all that gold, feeling so joyful.
"It makes sense you were able to gain so much," Kaiya Tanaka explained. "Aside from those magical beasts you killed, nearly all of those three hundred magicite cores came from other people's backpacks."
Renji nodded his head, as the very first assassin had given him 15,000 gold coins' worth of magicite cores, with the others combined having a little bit more than the first assassin. "The Mountain of Magical Monsters is really dangerous, so most people here have grouped up with others. But assassins seldom assault groups because, usually, they specialize in killing someone instantly, which is why they prefer to fight one on one."
Kaiya Tanaka suddenly burst into a fit of laughter; his white whiskers wiggled about. "Renji, look at yourself. Yes, you may be tall and strong, but your face still has a childish air. And that fuzz above your lips? All of that proves something…
"You're just a kid!" Kaiya Tanaka laughed uproariously. "In this huge mountain range, when those assassins find a kid like you for his first training exercise, with such a childish face, how could they not make their move against you? That's why, in a single short month, you've run into so many assassins."
"But those people traveling in groups might not encounter a single assassination attempt in a month. Of course, those five people we ran into that first day were exceptions. First of all, they were too weak. And secondly, their killer was really strong. But in the end, that assassin died by Echo's claws." Renji laughed and nodded. He was only fifteen years old this year. Although he was 1.8 meters tall, anyone with a good eye could tell he was just a kid.
"Most magi of the fifth and sixth rank would probably only acquire a few thousand gold coins' worth of magicite cores in a month here. And all those cores would be acquired through life-and-death struggles. After all, the Mountain of Magical Monsters is extremely dangerous," Kaiya Tanaka let out a poignant sigh.
Renji nodded his head in confirmation. "It's dangerous. All this while, I have been staying at the edges, and at most, I have encountered magical beasts of the sixth rank. However, I have already been injured several times. If it weren't for the Celestial Dragon Ring, if it weren't for the fact I was a dual-element magus of the fifth rank as well as a warrior of the fourth rank, and if it weren't for Echo here, I'd probably be done for, wandering around all alone like this. He turned to look at little Umbramouse, Echo, playing with a magicite core. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Renji gathered all of the different cores before continuing on his way with Echo, once more returning to Mountain of Magical Monsters for training. After all, he had planned on staying here for two months if everything went smoothly.
Every day, Renji confronted the local magical beasts, and his skills in combining the skills of a magus and a warrior improved. Besides, he obtained practical experience in using earth-style and wind-style magic during fights. Of course, little by little, Renji received fewer and fewer wounds in battles. As Renji approached the core regions, naturally, more and more magical beasts of the sixth rank appeared, which made Renji more and more cautious.
On the 46th day of Renji's entry into the Mountain of Magical Monsters, "Swish!" Ripples appeared on the surface of a quiet little lake. A human figure emerged from within. That was Renji, using a piece of cloth to casually wash himself. The little Umbramouse, Echo stood on the shore, watching Renji bathe with an envious look. After squeaking a few times, Echo started hopping up and down before diving directly into the lake.
Seeing this, Renji couldn't help but laugh and continue to bathe. "Haha, that's enough, Echo, haha, that's enough!" At this moment, Renji suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"Oh, boss, are you afraid of being tickled?" The little Umbramouse rose to the surface, his guileless black eyes gleaming with a hint of mischief.
Chuckling, Renji hopped onto the lakeshore. He took a fresh set of clothes out of his knapsack and changed. Changing into a clean set of clothes after a good warm bath felt decadent. Then he plunged the clothes he had just taken off into the lake and draped them over a tree limb to air dry.
With a leap, Renji landed on another branch of the tree. Lying down, he watched Echo play in the water. Sometimes Echo would dive to the bottom of the lake, while other times Echo lay on his back upon the surface of the lake.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble." Sudden ground trembling began. From the rhythm with which it rumbled Renji judged that it was produced by something walking. He looked in a southern direction where the rumbles were coming from.
From within the southern side of the lake he saw the appearance of a big, vague shadow. Soon afterwards Renji clearly saw the figure:
It was at least two stories high, its body large, flame-red, shield-like scales that continued over its four limbs like scaly armor. Its long tail was about half as long as its whole body, lithe and agile as a whip. Two sinister eyes, ruby-like, as big as a lantern each, stared at the surface of the lake. Continuous wisps of white smoke curled out of its nostrils.
Renji was in total shock, his body frozen even as his heart was racing. "Dragon King. Magical beast of the seventh rank - Dragon King!"