In the darkness.
Red eyes stared silently at me.
It smacked its lips as if ready to devour me at any moment.
Does it want to eat me?
The eyes felt familiar.
They were identical to the eye on my arm—the one I'd named my Instant Death Magic.
But the creature couldn't approach me.
It simply sat there, watching me quietly.
What are you?
A monster?
Or something else?
Why are you coexisting with me like this, so uncomfortably?
The red eyes moved slowly.
As if fearing something.
Soon, it huddled its body tightly and turned away obediently.
What had terrified it so?
I had no way of knowing.
Flash—
My eyes snapped open, and consciousness returned.
A dull ache throbbed in my forehead.
A large lump had swollen there.
It was from the blow Draigen had landed right before I blacked out.
The old man had acted like he wouldn't hit me, but when he swung, he didn't hold back.
As my senses cleared, I took in my surroundings.
I realized where I was.
It seemed to be the rest room in the training camp.
I sat up slowly, my mind still foggy.
That's when I felt a gaze on me and turned my head.
Something caught at the edge of my vision.
Long hair.
A woman?
The moment our eyes met, she let out a squeak and fled.
I rubbed my eyes and blinked again.
Is there a ghost haunting this training ground or something?
I wasn't sure, but I pulled myself together and opened the door.
The sky outside had already darkened.
Instructors passed by, cleaning up.
As I stepped out, I sensed someone's presence.
"You're awake, huh?"
I looked down and saw a boy there.
The training camp director, Draigen.
He sat in a chair, smoking a cigarette.
His legs barely reached the ground.
Up close like this, he really did look like a small boy.
"What? Does my appearance strike you as strange?"
"Yes, a bit. I heard you used to be an enormous man."
I couldn't lie, so I answered honestly. Draigen took a deep drag on his cigarette.
"One day, I woke up in the morning and this is what I'd become."
Not magic? Is that even possible?
"I don't know the details myself. But I could tell my lifespan was starting to run out.
So I threw myself into training day and night. I wanted to reach the pinnacle attainable in a single lifetime."
Draigen tapped his cigarette ash.
The gesture didn't suit a child at all.
"And when I opened my eyes, this is what happened."
"Wasn't it some mage's prank?"
"Haha, looks like this or not, my detection skills are top-notch.
No mage could approach without me knowing, even in my sleep."
So it wasn't a mage after all.
"I may look young, but my body's as vital as ever. Feels like my lifespan got extended, too."
Lifespan extended, huh.
I opened my Third Eye experimentally.
My vision spun dizzily for a moment.
There burned a life force like the sun.
Beyond even a large monster.
Not quite mage-level, but an immense amount.
This really did seem like extended life.
Draigen's death was utterly unfathomable.
"Hm? Something up?"
Draigen raised an eyebrow in reaction.
He didn't seem to see the Third Eye, but he'd sensed the odd presence.
I quickly closed it.
Not for nothing is he called a monster hunter legend.
If he weren't from our village, he'd fit right in anywhere.
"Then, couldn't you become a monster hunter again?"
I broached the subject casually, and a smirk crossed his lips.
"Just to please those mage bastards? Monster hunters are nothing but mana stone miners for the mages in the end."
Doubt flickered in his eyes.
"No matter how much you grow as a hunter, you learn you can never match a mage."
What happened with mages in his past?
He clearly didn't like them.
"Then why train monster hunters?"
"What else can I do? Even if we can't reach the mages, we gotta eat.
Better to save even one more than let them all die."
The instructors had even advised weaklings like me to quit.
This camp truly taught survival as hunters.
Probably reflected Draigen's will.
"Still, meeting guys like you gets me excited now and then. Fresh sprouts, all green and promising."
Draigen chuckled at me.
A crotchety old man's laugh on a child's face.
Even with that personality, he was a legend.
For him to rate me highly sent a thrill through me.
Something I'd never imagined in my past.
Even if by trickery.
I wanted to grow stronger.
That entity from my dream.
Monster or whatever, it was part of me now.
I don't know what you want.
But if it let me grow strong, anything was fine.
A life upholding at least minimal justice over a wretched one.
"My training's brutal. Especially for promising lads like you—I torment them extra."
Draigen would train me personally.
The promise of hardship only made me clench my fists tighter.
No life harder than one as a weakling.
My eyes shone clearer than ever.
"Damn, you got some spark in those eyes."
Perhaps sensing my resolve, Draigen flashed a brief smile.
"Training starts tomorrow."
"Yes, but... I need to hunt monsters in between."
"Think I'd make you forget a hunter's duty? Go. But make up the missed time."
I'd secured time for hunting too.
Now I could train and hunt.
The perfect chance to change my life.
I'd seize it.
"By the way, there's a ghost in the training grounds, I think."
"What ghost?"
"Something with pitch-black long hair."
"Ah."
Draigen stroked his chin slowly, as if he knew something.
"Well, if it's a ghost, it's a ghost. Don't run into it. You'll die."
A ghost that kills on sight.
Does it have instant death magic too?
Whatever it was, I looked forward to the training ahead.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A month passed like that.
The spring weather was still chilly.
After a week of diligent training mixed with mid-size monster hunts, I'd gathered some data.
First, each mid-size monster yielded roughly 10 days' worth of life force.
This was based on my life force flame, daily consumption, and gains from absorption.
Slight variations per monster, but around 10 days.
So, I can't stop hunting monsters.
Additionally, life force and my body were linked.
The brighter the flame, the stronger my body.
If it dimmed, my strength waned.
Fortunately, physical decline lagged slightly behind the flame.
Probably residual effects from the flame that once filled my body.
But slack off on hunting, and it's back to the past.
Overcoming Mana Stone Hardening Disease seemed tied to physical reinforcement too.
Stronger body slowed the disease.
Keep fueling the flame, and a cure might emerge.
But ultimately.
Without wielding mana like a mage, the disease wouldn't vanish.
To escape a terminal life, I needed to become a mage.
A mage.
Could I really become one?
Even growing this strong, mages felt distant.
Even mighty Draigen fell silent against them.
But without aiming for it, I'd never reach.
Even if mocked, I quietly vowed to become a mage someday.
"Brat, your stamina's improved even more, hasn't it?"
A voice came from behind.
Draigen rode a small pony.
I was circling the training camp field nonstop.
Iron weights dangled heavily from my arms and legs.
Just running drained my stamina fiercely.
"A month ago, you'd collapse after a few laps."
"Thanks to Master's excellent guidance, no?"
"Never took a disciple worth calling me Master."
Prickly as ever.
As he'd said, I'd collapsed during this training a week ago.
No wonder—running with iron on limbs was brutal.
So I'd hunted diligently in between.
Even coming to camp faithfully while hunting had been hell.
It tested my physical limits.
"Don't skimp on sleep, whatever else. Drowsiness is the top killer against monsters."
Guess I'll crash hard tonight.
Draigen's words carried weight.
Retired legend of monster hunting.
No greater expert on the subject.
"But is all this stamina training enough?"
For the past week at camp, all I'd done was run.
Even paying extra from my debt-ridden life felt wasteful for just laps.
"No mindset more dangerous than impatience. And running is the foundation—and most vital element—of monster hunting and everything else."
"To close in on monsters, right?"
"No. The opposite."
Draigen whacked my leg with a switch.
When stamina flagged and form slipped, he'd strike like this.
"For when you're hurt or face an unbeatable foe."
He aimed to make me able to run in any crisis.
The surest way to boost a hunter's survival.
"You should be able to run even in your sleep."
"Does hunting ever get that dire?"
"It does. At least on the capital's Monster Frontline, it's no surprise."
What kind of place is the capital?
Never been, but tales painted it as hellish.
"So run. Run till you drop, and enlightenment comes."
Today too, he corrected my form as I ran.
Until I'd poured out every ounce of stamina.
My legs trembled as I finished.
Tonight, I sleep no matter what.
With that resolve, I opened the training ground door.
"Ack."
A voice came from ahead.
I looked up to see a pitch-black figure at the door.
Long hair down to her legs.
Ah, the ghost from before.
The one Draigen said would kill me on sight.
The instant I saw her, I dropped into combat stance.
But as I did, my body toppled.
"Ugh."
I rolled onto the dirt with a grunt.
Only then did I realize my legs had hit their limit today.
"A-Are you okay?!"
A voice came from above.
Too refined for a ghost.
I looked up to see the long-haired woman from moments ago.
"Oh dear."
Another voice from behind.
Draigen stood there, arrived unnoticed.
"You went and met her."
His tone suggested he'd hoped to keep it hidden till the end.
"Ah, Grandpa."
Grandpa?
I glanced slowly at Draigen. He stood with hands behind his back, coughing.
"Let me introduce her. My granddaughter, Maria."
He had a granddaughter.
But why treat her like a ghost and react that way?
"And a heads-up: Maria's nickname is Rookie Slayer."
Then came the unexpected bombshell.
"A genius who crushes others' dreams."
What?