The Sunset Mountain Range stretched across the southern Yulan Continent, bordering the southern Rhine Empire.
On his way there, Jason had taken care to write a letter to his older sister Yunika in his capacity as a member of the Rhine Clan. He told her what had happened to him, asked her to persuade the empress not to make things difficult for the two maids, and promised that he would obediently get married when he returned from his training and give the two maids a proper status as well.
Yunika was thoughtful and mild-mannered, and she would handle the matter well.
After that, Jason arrived at a small town north of the Sunset Mountain Range.
He had now realized how poor his practical combat ability was, so he planned to practice on some weaker magical beasts in the outskirts first.
He wore a very ordinary suit of leather armor and a helmet sheathed in iron, both bought on the road. When his weapons were made, the craftsman had taken their appearance into account and given them all a matte finish.
Combined with Jason's age of eighteen, he looked like a young fourth- or fifth-level warrior who had just completed his training and come out to gain experience.
Good thing I look inconspicuous. Otherwise, if people heard that I, a dignified prince of the Rhine Empire and a seventh-level warrior, was hunting third-level One-Horned Wild Boars on the outskirts of the Sunset Mountain Range, they'd probably laugh their teeth out.
As Jason thought this, he crouched and crept forward.
He was practicing his stealth. Otherwise, no matter how poor a seventh-level warrior's combat ability was, he wouldn't need to go to such lengths to deal with a third-level magical beast.
Just as Jason reached a point five meters from the One-Horned Wild Boar, it sensed something and turned toward him.
"I've been spotted." With one slash of his blade, Jason turned the One-Horned Wild Boar into his next meal.
It was Jason's first time cooking in the wild.
He had cooked before, and having grown up in the countryside in his previous life, he knew how to start a fire. But gathering firewood and starting a fire in the wild really was a first for him.
Following what he had seen on television in his previous life, he built a woodpile and added some thatch, only to discover that he had no matches.
Finally, Jason remembered that the One-Horned Wild Boar was a fire-element magical beast, and that a fire-element magic core would give off sparks when activated with spiritual energy or struck hard.
The fire was lit. Then Jason stared at the One-Horned Wild Boar's corpse beside him. "Should I have cut the meat first? I think I forgot to bring a skinning knife."
Jason managed to cut off a piece of meat with his one-handed saber. He couldn't eat it all anyway, and the rest of the boar would have to be thrown away, so he didn't worry about wasting it.
The first time, he burned it. The second time, he ran out of firewood halfway through. The third time, the outside was charred while the inside was still raw. The fourth time-a pack of Fang Wolves showed up.
Wolves were widespread across the Yulan Continent. The common varieties were Snow Wolves, Wind Wolves, and Fang Wolves, of which Fang Wolves were dark-element magical beasts and the weakest overall. Because the Sunset Mountain Range had a hot, humid climate, no Snow Wolves lived there.
"One fifth-level Fang Wolf, four fourth-level Fang Wolves, and two third-level cubs. Just right for some practice."
To make things harder for himself, Jason decided to fight with the fire poker he had just used.
"Get into position, raise the blade in both hands and gather strength, and face the enemy." Jason recalled his combat techniques. He couldn't help it; until now, he had been slaughtering third- and fourth-level magical beasts, and this was his first encounter with a pack.
But magical beasts didn't fight fair. While Jason faced the wolf king at the head of the pack, a Fang Wolf he hadn't noticed launched a sneak attack from behind.
As dark-element magical beasts, Fang Wolves were quite good at concealing themselves.
Fortunately, Jason's perception was on par with that of a normal seventh-level warrior. He narrowly avoided a strike to his lower back, but the Fang Wolf's claws left a gash across his backside.
"**" Feeling where he had been hurt, Jason let out a shout and swung the poker in a wide arc, striking the Fang Wolf squarely in the lower back.
With an "aow" of pain, the poker, coated in lightning-element battle aura, snapped on impact, and the Fang Wolf collapsed to the ground, unable to get back up.
But the wolf king in front of him was already right on top of him.
Holding half the poker, Jason thrust with all his might. The powerful battle aura made the wolf king's pupils contract, and it immediately turned its body, taking Jason's hate-filled blow on one shoulder blade.
The tremendous force sent the wolf king flying, but it saved its life.
After tumbling sideways across the ground several times, the wolf king whimpered and fled toward the nearby bushes without looking back. Seeing this, the Fang Wolves behind it also turned and ran.
Only the one at Jason's feet remained, barely clinging to life.
Jason picked up his curved saber and ended the Fang Wolf's life with one stroke, then dug out a black magic core the size of a fingernail.
After examining it, Jason packed up his things, put out the fire, and turned to leave.
He still had some dried meat in his pack, enough to last a day or two.
From that day on, he began his life of trials in the wilderness.
Jason had been in the Sunset Mountain Range for thirteen days, and his combat ability had risen rapidly. After returning to town for supplies yesterday, he had begun making his way toward the middle reaches of the range.
Jason planned to train for another ten days or so, then head west through the middle reaches of the range. Once he entered the Dark Alliance, he could try to reach the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.
And today, Jason encountered his first assassination attempt by humans.
He had seen humans in the woods several times before, both alive and dead, and some had been in such a miserable state that Jason had thrown up on the spot. After all, this was the outskirts of the Sunset Mountain Range, and there were plenty of signs of human activity.
But this was the first time anyone had approached Jason in the mountains, and they were hostile.
Before him stood a group of "bandits"-bandits for the moment, at least. At other times, they might have been a law-abiding adventurer party.
Jason had just put some effort into killing a sixth-level Bloodthirsty War Boar.
Bloodthirsty War Boars were usually only fifth-level, so when he happened to encounter a sixth-level one, Jason had felt an itch to fight. He had held back his strength and sparred with it, borrowing some ingredients from it while he was at it.
Then, after Jason had taken out the magic core, the six people before him had surrounded him.
The two sides faced off.
Four fifth-level warriors, one sixth-level warrior, one fourth-level mage, and another person hiding in the grass whose strength is unknown. I can't take them on head-on.
Jason suspected that this party had entered the Sunset Mountain Range to try to gang up on a seventh-level magical beast. With that lineup, they could already kill a seventh-level Velociraptor at the cost of minor injuries.
"Leave the magic core and the greatsword on your back, and we'll spare your life." The sixth-level warrior leading them seemed to know his goods; he could tell that the long saber on Jason's back was something valuable.
Jason frowned and continued the standoff.
Only when the man raised his weapon did Jason finally take a step back. He showed them the magic core in his hand and threw it to the ground.
Then he reached for the two-handed saber on his back with his left hand.
But just then, a feathered arrow shot straight at Jason's face. Clearly, they had never intended to let him go; they had only asked him to hand over his belongings to lull him into complacency.
Jason turned his head to dodge it. Seeing them charge, he grabbed a potion bottle from his shoulder and quickly threw it at them.
With a hiss, smoke tinged an eerie green spread out, making the men who had instinctively given chase stop in their tracks. Only an arrow wreathed in wind-element energy shot out from the bushes behind them. But judging by the sound, it had clearly missed.
"Damn it," the sixth-level warrior leading them cursed, but there was nothing he could do.
Those below the seventh level had very little resistance to poison, and the green mist before them was clearly no ordinary thing.
In the distance, Jason was hiding in a treetop, watching them.
As they had expected, Jason had bought the smoke-producing potion bottle in town after seeing other adventurers use one from afar. It contained poison refined with necromancy.
He hadn't expected to use it only a day after leaving town.
As Jason thought this, he took out another smoke bottle and tucked it into a small pocket sewn onto his shoulder. He found the position very convenient.