Chapter 3

And so, five years later...

I was still alive, somehow.

There were countless times I thought I was going to die.

"...Well, I think that's enough for now."

I was surprised when the Great Dragon Seiryu suddenly said this one day.

"What do you mean by 'enough'?"

"Your training, of course. You've become strong enough. Even if I trained you further, it wouldn't change the fact that there's no one in this world who can match you."

For these five years, my so-called training was a continuous series of life-threatening situations.

I can't count how many times I thought, "Did I just die!?"

The training with the dragon was essentially a mock battle where the dragon held back a little, but even a little mistake could easily kill me.

Dragons are generally rough, so they often miscalculated their strength, and each time, I suffered near-fatal damage and almost died.

Thanks to that, I feel I've become quite tough and strong.

I checked my own status.

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【Name】Ryuya

【Lv】8,347,917

【Skills】None

【Strength】27,493,300

【Speed】28,998,234

【Stamina】31,009,616

【Wisdom】25,444,671

【Magic】26,418,077

【Luck】21,560,111

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...Well, I must say, I've really trained myself well.

But even so, I can't feel at ease.

I'm still an incompetent guy who couldn't acquire any skills. To narrow the gap between those who have and those who don't, I think I need a bit more of a boost in my base stats, don't you think?

"No, it's enough. Let me tell you, the level of ordinary humans can only go up to <99>."

"Wh-What? No way!"

Then why is my level so far beyond the limit?

Because I trained with a dragon?

"That's the essence of your destiny. Anyway, our level cap as dragons is <10 million>. The closer our levels are, the harder it is to level up. This is the right time to stop if you want to get stronger against me."

"I see..."

As he said, a sense of loneliness began to overwhelm me.

I wanted to become strong.

Strong enough to overcome the disadvantage of not having any skills.

But I never thought I would actually achieve that, and now that I'm so close to that ideal, it's hard to believe.

"Great Dragon Seiryu, all my wishes have come true thanks to you. Because you trained me, I've come this far."

I bowed deeply.

"Thank you so much."

"I've told you before. We didn't give you anything. The strength you have is truly something you cultivated and harvested yourself. You grasped it with your own hands."

"Still, I was helped."

That's why I thank the Great Dragon.

As one would thank heaven and earth.

"Alright, that's enough. Your destiny has reached the next stage. Go forth and do as you please."

The Great Dragon writhed his long body in the air.

He was ascending to the sky.

The being I had spent so much time with was now leaving.

"Will we meet again?"

"We will, if your destiny decrees it."

And just like that, the dragon disappeared more easily than I expected, leaving only me behind.

The five years felt like a dream.

The training days where I almost died so many times, but now that the dragon is gone, it feels like those days were all a dream.

No, it wasn't a dream.

There's proof that those days were real, something that now lives in this body.

As soon as the dragon left, a group of unsavory characters entered the forest.

Goblins.

Monsters that resemble humans, troublesome when they gather in groups, but not that strong individually, as I can now see.

The goblins laughed, "Hehehe," and surrounded me.

They probably thought I was an easy target, being alone in this dense forest.

"..."

In an instant, I closed the distance to one of the goblins and punched it casually.

That alone was enough to make the goblin's body vanish into thin air, leaving no corpse behind.

I hoped the other goblins would run away in fear, but they seemed confused and continued to point their weapons at me, showing no sign of holding back.

Without a corpse, they can't confirm if their comrade is dead.

I made a mistake by turning it to dust.

Around the time my level exceeded 10,000, I started to shatter monsters with full-force punches, making corpse disposal easier, but... in some cases, it might be better to leave some traces.

Despite my efforts, the other goblins still attacked me with their cruelty intact, so I had to take care of them all, leaving no survivors.

If any of them survived and attacked innocent people elsewhere, it would be as if I had killed them myself.

"Phew..."

Now, with things settled, I thought...

What should I do from here?

After five years of training, I have some confidence that I can do things even without skills.

I used to have thoughts of rising to power with my strength or getting back at the people who abandoned me, but now, I'm not that passionate about it.

"I was too preoccupied with those things..."

Every day of training was a matter of life and death, and small grudges and vanity were quickly washed away.

Looking back, I realize I was focusing on trivial matters.

Training is not just about strengthening the body; it's also about removing small attachments and grudges from the heart.

"But I can't just stay here..."

I recalled my past.

Back then, I planned to join the Adventurer's Guild and make a living as an adventurer after receiving a skill during the blessing ceremony.

Of course, that was based on the assumption that I would receive a useful skill...

"Maybe I should try to realize that plan again...!"

After enduring five years of training with the Great Dragon, I should be able to make it as an adventurer, even without skills.

I won't say I'm going to "conquer the world" or anything grand, but I should be able to take on simple quests and make a living.

"Maybe I'll become an adventurer."

A debut as an adventurer, five years late.

I need to return to the city first. It's been five years; how much has it changed?

With a sense of accomplishment and a tinge of nostalgia, I left the forest where I had spent my training.

◆

I continued on my way.

The city was quite far from the forest where I trained, and I had to cross mountains and valleys to reach it.

While I was walking through a deep, dense valley...

"Stop right there."

Suddenly, a few men blocked my path ahead.

They looked vicious, their faces were not normal, and they were armed.

There were about five or six of them.

And the same number of men with similar appearances were waiting behind me.

I was surrounded.

"Are you by any chance a bandit?"

In such an isolated place, being surrounded by men who clearly don't look like decent folks, there's no other possibility.

I didn't encounter any bandits when I went from the city to the forest five years ago, but maybe this area has become more dangerous over time?

"Hehe, buddy, isn't it a bit careless to walk alone in such an isolated place?"

A dirty-looking man with a bandit-like appearance grinned mockingly.

"I was just thinking that."

"Right? How about we take you to a safe place? It's a kind of fate that we met here, you know?"

Thinking they might be good people despite their appearance would be too naive.

The fact that they're trying to take me away, not just rob me, suggests...

"Kidnapping?"

"Hey, don't say such a bad thing. We're just ordinary, kind people, you know?"

The bandit laughed lewdly.

"Of course, if you have any good skills, skill-holders can fetch a high price from slave traders. Even we kind people might be tempted, you know?"

The other bandits started laughing loudly.

There were at least ten of them. They probably think they can't lose, even if I have hidden weapons or powerful skills.

I don't have either, though.

"So, buddy, if you don't want to die, come with us quietly. Don't worry, we'll negotiate a good price and sell you for the highest amount. Wouldn't you be happy to have a high value on yourself?"