Well, I decided to level up through real combat, but… I’m still just a child, barely over ten. For example, if I consult my parents about going far away to gain experience, they would naturally object, and even if I secretly went out, it would be bad if I didn’t return home… So, for now, I’ll earn experience around my house until I’ve grown to some extent—if there were warp-like magic, everything would be solved, but unfortunately, such magic didn’t exist, so there was no choice.

In parallel, I continued to acquire more knowledge about magic. Lower-tier magic could be learned through self-study, but learning intermediate or higher levels required certain conditions. I decided to at least acquire the knowledge for now, in preparation for that.

There were many spells in the spellbooks that weren’t usable in the game, but I didn’t have much time to learn them while also grinding for experience. So I decided to memorize the spells that seemed necessary in preparation for when the scenario began… Especially movement magic. There’s a wind-type magic that allows for high-speed movement. Using this would considerably expand my range of action… Also, if I could increase my magic power, which was called MP in the game… The more I used magic, the more its capacity increased, so I decided to train that along with grinding for experience.

By the way, when you defeat monsters, most of them turn to dust, but sometimes they leave items. These are material-type items that weren’t in the game, and the idea is to convert them into money. Well, I only need funds to replace my weapons, but… I decided to accumulate as much as I could for now.

And that kind of life probably continued for about half a year. Monsters gradually increased, perhaps because the Demon Race’s influence grew stronger, and I took advantage of this to hunt enemies relentlessly. It seemed that for most people… even mercenaries and soldiers, the general rule was to avoid monsters if possible, and there was no one in town like me who would fight continuously for half a year. During this time, I met the conditions to learn intermediate and higher-level magic… and I leveled up rapidly.

Perhaps because I was constantly swinging my sword morning, noon, and night, by this point, not only my peers but also no one among the humans in town surpassed me. Even weak enemies, like dust, can accumulate into a mountain.

Then, when my daily range of action expanded with High-Speed Movement Magic, I began to think about the future.

“I probably still don’t have enough…”

To avoid dying, I need to get even stronger… This game had a Free Scenario Format, and the growth of the Protagonists was quite flexible. That meant any character could use various skills and magic… If that still applied now that it was the real world, I should be able to confront powerful monsters alone. For now, I’ll seek out even stronger monsters and expand my range of action starting tomorrow.

Waking up early, I tried exploring the Ancient Ruins. The enemies here were now just fodder, no matter how many gathered, and taking attacks resulted in zero damage. In such circumstances, I sought even stronger foes, venturing into places where no one else went.

As soon as I left the inhabited area, the monster level instantly increased. I immediately began to defeat enemies, taking advantage of the situation. I remembered every type of enemy because I had played the game fifteen times. All the monsters were in my knowledge, and I could fight them without problems by countering their status ailments. And naturally, as monsters grew stronger, the experience points gained also increased… and after another six months, I had also learned intermediate-level magic and more.

Also, I wanted to do item synthesis and equipment enhancement… I had learned about such things from people in town, and they were possible, but there was no environment whatsoever to create them. In the game, you could rent a workshop if you went to a certain town, but there was no way such an event would occur if I went. I needed to think about it.

“Now, what should I do?”

I have a decent amount of money, so I can procure necessary supplies. As long as I secure space, I can manage somehow. But doing that in a town would be problematic, wouldn’t it?

While thinking, I continued to defeat monsters. Then, one day, I was wandering around the mountain range to the west of the city.

There were few monsters on the mountainside, and they weren’t very strong. Using wind magic, I climbed to the summit, and beyond the mountains, there was an endless forest. The first time I came, I was captivated, but after coming many times, I got used to it, and now it’s a very familiar sight. It was while I was thinking such things.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, I found a hollow in the steep mountainside. It was on a cliff, so of course, it was a place where one couldn’t go on foot. I casually headed that way and, floating with wind magic, entered inside.

It was a moderately large cave with an open mouth. I lit it with magic and explored the interior. There were no signs of monsters or creatures, and only my footsteps echoed around.

It was a decent size, with several branching paths. All the paths, without exception, were dead ends. The space was much larger than an ordinary house, and it felt like I could do a lot of things there.

I returned the way I came and looked outside. A forest spread out almost directly in front of me, and I could also see the town where I lived. The scenery was quite good, and I made a decision.

“I’ll make this my stronghold.”

I decided to make various modifications inside the cave to use it as a warehouse. It’s good that it’s not too far from town, and I don’t have to worry about being seen. I also liked the scenery.

So, from then on, I decided to save money to earn experience points and gather materials. That said, what I did remained basically the same. Every day, I relentlessly hunted monsters, and when I had enough money, I bought various materials. In the meantime, I leveled up further, moved to a different location, and fought even stronger monsters. As I repeated this, I also acquired equipment for making weaponry. Before I knew it, about a year had passed.

By this stage, I was able to use high-class magic and techniques and had reached a level that other adventurers couldn’t follow.

Was this because Ruon, this character himself, had power? However, there seemed to be other reasons. Even adventurers tend to avoid monsters. This might be because monsters are unknown entities, and they fear that they might die if they fight carelessly.

Considering that, I can fight aggressively because I have knowledge of monsters in my head and believe I’ll be fine. My biggest advantage might be in this area.