Shin Buki had a full backpack and a suitcase worth of things on his person

His master packed more lightly, only carrying a large suitcase.

On this day, they would say goodbye to the dojo they had lived in for their entire lives.

Shin and his master waited alongside a dirt road a few yards from their residence.

A hallow look emanated from the student, and no words were exchanged.

Beside the residence, where the wheat fields had been, dead sickly yellow crops drooped as though they had fermented into discolored vines.

The traces of red had disappeared, along with the vitality of the crops. The pair could no longer sustain themselves here.

A dark looking carriage rolled up with a scruffy one-eyed man as it’s rider. It made a ruckus as it barreled down the dirt path.

Shin opened the door and helped his master inside.

“Just as fast as they came, they left equally hastily,” Nagai spoke after a while, once inside the carriage.

‘Where did they even originate from? The townsfolk spoke of rumors that it came from the Provinces’ Shin thought.

Noticing Shin In deep thought, Nagai said “Don’t get stuck up on a small chapter of your life. We may have lost a home, but we cant still survive through our skills. I feel for the poor townsfolk whose livelihoods depend on the crops…” Nagai trailed off.

“It may be a small chapter for me, but it was your life’s work” Shin spoke under his breath.

“Huh?”

“Nothing. Say, where are we going, master? The selling price of the dojo wasn’t much, we cant be any more well of than the townsfolk.” Shin spoke after a moment.

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“Don’t worry about funds, young one. The world has gone crazy, and we can no longer rely on hard physical labor to support ourselves, so we’ll live freely through the land”

“You don’t mean—”

“That’s right, the Dragon Mountains” His master cut off.

“I must warn you, Shin. The Dragon Mountains are exactly as dangerous as the tales I’ve told you. If your skills hadn’t improved to what they are today, I wouldn’t feel comfortable taking you there.”

“Sounds dangerous, but I’m strong. Anyway, what, we live by hunting game? We don’t exactly have long-ranged weapons”

“Haha, still so unknowledgeable. I know you partially don’t believe in mystical creatures, but the beasts are what’s going to fill our stomachs. We won’t need to hunt them, for they’ll already be trying to hunt us.”

“Sounds like the perfect conditions for training.”

“Exactly.”

A few thousand uncomfortable bumps of a carriage later, they had arrived.

The Dragon Mountains were a collection of mammothly over sized rocks, parting the passing clouds thousands of feet in the sky.

Fog blanketed the surrounding hills, growing as it thickened with the graduality of the mountains.

The entire landscape was shaped in a bowl formation, with hills slowly turning into slopes and slopes eventually entering mountains. In the center, white covered moutains reached far into the clouds.

Underneath the skyline, two figures sprinted.

Shin Buki ran alongside his master. They curved between hills as the dirt path zigzagged between rocks.

“I thought you were an elderly, tired-out-old-man,” Shin Buki said exhaling heavily.

“I’m holding back young buck!” Nagai proclaimed, at a steady breathing rate.

Just as he’d said, the Master soon ran off in the distance, his speed too fast for Shin.

‘I’d better pick up the pace’ Shin thought noticing his master slowly disappearing.

His master sharply turned a corner, and eventually, Shin caught up.

Barging around the corner, still assuming his master was ahead, he was surprised to see Nagai crouching at the side of a hill. then a second later his momentum had come to a halt.

“Shhhhh” His master whispered, so quietly that the ‘s’ sounded harsh.

Jun Nagai had grabbed Shin by the shirt, suspending him in mid-air. A second later he yanked him back.

A deep growling sounded, and it was aimed at the direction of where he was just at.

It sounded throaty, dry, and it echoed easily.

“A beast?!” Shin mouthed silently. He couldn’t believe it.

A quick nod was the response.

Now crouching beside his master, he carefully peered around the corner.

An eight-legged creature, looming a dozen feet in the air met his gaze.