The Dream of a Reader

So you are... Douglas Preto.

***

I woke up in the unfamiliar room once again.

Yesterday I did quite the work and I got a good weapon and stat increase from it, but I still have things to do. I thought about what to do or any items I can take without affecting the story too much so I can still guess the future and prepare for it accordingly.

I came up with nothing. Yeah,the author was kinda lazy and didn't come up with good items for people too much other than the main cast and I dont have the power nor knowledge to take the items he created for other people, so I decided I would take advantage of a place instead of an item.

Today I will fly over to Senath, a port city in Fretum Sea, a sea only the humans can use, but before going there I packed up a map, food rations that would be enough for two weeks, my bow and arrows and lastly a portable bed since I would stay for a whole week in the place I was planning to visit. I then realized that I needed to get a pass from the school since I'd be gone for a few days.

I went over to the secretary and told her that I'd be leaving to visit home for a week. I could hear her mutter "already?" under her breath. She warned me if I do not show up within one week I'd be declared as a missing person and if I stayed and didn't have a good enough reason I could be punished and even expelled in the worst possible case. I nonchalantly nodded my head at her words. She sighed and gave me a pass.

***

After handing the pass to the security I got out of the school and got on the bus to the airport. Bless students get special travel privileges like two times a year they can use a plane for free and they can use a fast pass to skip lines. I still didn't have any money to my name other than the bank account which contained only 1000 HC(Human Currency) If I had to compare it to my old world it would be 1 HC is about 2 dollars.

I looked out the window. Yesterday was our birthday but nobody called it seems I am an unwanted parasite in this life too heh. Life is too fast and you never know what will happen to you the next moment for all I know this could be one big dream I still haven't woken up from.

If you told me 2 days ago that I'd transmigrate into my favorite novel I'd call an ambulance for you, thinking you aren't in your right mind and might have hit your head.

***

I arrived at the airport got into my flight. It was nice and after 6 hours the plane landed in Senath.

It was still only 6 in the morning, so I set out. I had a basic map of the city, and I knew the training ground was hidden somewhere near the cliffs on the eastern side of Senath. I headed towards the port, blending in with the crowd of sailors and merchants.

Near the port was the eastern cliffs which was my true destination but since I came to Senath it would be a waste if I didn't get some fish. One of the hobbies I had in my past life was cooking. I learned it since most of the time my uncle and aunt made me cook for them but I liked cooking so it wasn't that much of a burden.

I made my way toward the outskirts of the city, where the cliffs began to rise up from the shoreline. According to the novel there was a barely visible path carved on to the cliffs which led to a cave filled with mana stones. It was honestly surprising this place hadn't been investigated until a year later since It was said a high ranking military officer felt the mana waves coming from there a little weird and went to investigate.

In the story Sauboro and Lena found this cave because Sauboto "Felt something was calling out to him" but when they got there, the military had found it too, but Sauboro still managed to get some mana stones while Lena argued with them and distracted them. Which he used later on in a fight by absorbing 5 mana stones at once. Keep in mind that absorbing even one is dangerous as there is strong side effects and it mostly is absorbed as a last resort otherwise they use it to power cities or make better training equipment.

Between elves dwarves and humans there is a long sea by the name Sea of calamities it has this name because in this sea there are countless mana islands which was created because the mana in that sea concentrated on specific places which resulted in mana islands being born.

As seen by the above example when mana is concentrated on a single place monsters are born in most cases, but there were no monsters there and a lot of mana which made it the perfect training ground as mana helped with growth of the body.

After searching for a few hours I finally found a path similar to what was described in the novel, but it led me to a dead end once again.

"How many paths is there in this godforsaken mountain?"

"A lot." A voice like an old melody yet stern like a powerful leader said.

I immediately turned around and saw an old man.

The old man seemed weak, with his bad posture and thin frame, his skin wrinkled and his gray beard long enough to reach his neck. Yet his sharp, gray eyes revealed a hidden strength. His slow, deliberate movements were controlled, hinting at power far greater than I could imagine. Despite his appearance, he radiated a quiet, dangerous aura, far stronger than he seemed.

"What are you looking for in this dangerous place, young man?"