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SLASH!

“One… thousand… and six hundred… OOF…”

Once I reached my goal, I dropped dead on the floor. Fortunately, the grass was soft, so it made for a pretty good bed despite this hard training.

While I lied down on the grass, I looked at the clean blue sky. There was the sun shining brightly atop the skies. All in all, it was a beautiful day.

I had taken around two hours to finish my training. I had woken up at around 8 AM, so it was approximately 10 AM. I should probably head back home to not worry my parents…

However… every time I finish practicing the blade before three hours, I go explore the forest for an hour! I don’t know if my parents know that I do this or not, or if they just allow me to do so.

Nevertheless, I’m allowed three hours of training in the morning. If I take only two to complete it, I get a whole hour to do whatever I want without them intervening!

So, of course, as someone that’s an avid explorer, I headed into the nearby forest as the beautiful trees greeted my sight, covering the forest from the sunlight while forming shadows beneath the treetops.

The forest of Cloudia could be said to be jungle-like in nature. The moment one enters the forest, they would immediately hear the sounds of countless birds and other creatures singing and roaring all throughout. It’s a wild place filled with nature at every step.

Well, I’ve been doing this sneaky exploration for a month by now, and I often take a single hour doing this. I’ve been using a special paper to make a map, which I got from stealing one of the magic items lying around the house. As it was with the other magic items, this paper was also a magic item.

It was called Memory Paper. It’s a special piece of paper that would register whatever I write permanently. With that, I can write many things on it and constantly recall them or bring them back into the paper. I’ve been doing this to draw the map of this jungle. I’ve been mapping certain routes where giant beasts don’t get too near, as well as special areas where there are lakes, rivers, and special plants that give very tasty fruit.

Like usual, I decided to rush towards the last place I managed to map yesterday. I was doing this mostly as practice for the future. That was because my parents had once told me that Memory Paper was used to map out dungeons.

Dungeons were special underground areas said to be made by the Gods, while others said they were made by the world. Either way, they serve as trials for the people that enter them. There are deadly beasts inside, but in exchange, there were also amazing rewards waiting for the one who entered it. Of course, many consider the monsters themselves the rewards as their Magic Crystals they held could be used for a variety of purposes, be it for alchemy, magic technology, crafting, or research. On the other hand, the monsters’ body parts were often used to make amazing equipment, such as their pelt, horns, hair, fur, claws, fangs, cartilage, bones, and so on.

Mom and dad told me that the way humans in this world were able to fight against the threats of dungeons and demons was by using the materials dropped by them to our benefit. With good enough equipment, a person could showcase several times their original strength and acquire all sorts of special abilities as well, which were essential to fight against high-ranked monsters and demons … and well, other people too, I guess.

So, for the purpose of one day exploring a dungeon with Aquarina and the other friends I’ll make along the way, I want to become good at mapping using the Memory Paper.

“Metabolism Acceleration. Bright Flash.”

I conjured the Life-attribute spell Metabolism Acceleration to make my body move faster and have faster reflexes. It’s said that this spell would reduce one’s lifespan if overused, but I highly doubt it would affect someone with endless HP. Then, there’s Bright Flash, which was a Light-attribute spell that covers one’s body with light and makes one move faster, like a flash of light.

FLASH!

I moved at an incredible speed across the jungle, evading all of the obstacles that I came across. I had been practicing this combination for a while as it could increase my speed to up to three times my original speed. In any case, it’s pretty nice to have.

I moved around, jumping, and doing all sorts of movements. At the moment, my body felt so light to the point it was incredible.

CLASH!

Eventually, I appeared at my final destination. Looking in front of me, there was a beautiful sight, a large lake. I called this lake the Lizard Lake because just like right now, there were a lot of giant lizards drinking water from it, sleeping around it, as well as eating prey they hunted.

Maybe their territory is this lake?

These lizards were called Six-legged Crowned Lizards. From what their names suggested, they’re the size of cows, with six limbs, blue scales, and a crown made of horns atop their heads. They look like mini dragons in a way, but were way less majestic compared to how I remember Ignatius looking. Well, they also lack wings.

Just as I was admiring the sight, I realized that something was wrong.

Something was terribly wrong.

“Grr…”

I suddenly heard a roar from a creature behind me, its nasty breath covering my entire head…

I slowly looked back, and there it was. In front of me was a furious lizard mama, with her three lizard babies by her side.

Hmm… did I mention they were very territorial?

“N-Nice to meet you…” I said with a smile.

“ROAR!”

CRUNCH!

I barely evaded the attack from the creature's massive jaws, jumping over her head before walking on her back, returning to where I came from.

There’s no way I’m staying here! Retreat! Retreat!

“GRRAAAAAARRR!”

Surprisingly, the lizards didn’t chase me, but instead called for backup. In just a few second, three lizards were on my tail.

“Alright then… I guess there’s no choice!”

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