After about thirty minutes of walking and enjoying the scenery—still missing a sandal—Dawn arrived at the base of the mountain. The mountain was quite steep and rocky, but luckily there seemed to be a small trail nearby. There was also a small cave not too far from him, but he chose to ignore it for the time being.
Dawn headed to the small trail and began to slowly scale the mountain. The rocks and gravel were a bit tough on his feet, but strangely he didn't seem to be getting any cuts or bruises. Also, he didn't feel tired at all. If this was Earth-version Dawn, he would be huffing and puffing and ready to faint. Dawn thought it was peculiar, but just shrugged it off at his Skill doing its job.
After walking up the trail for a while longer, Dawn saw a spot where the main trail split off into a second trail that led to a flat area. Judging that it would be a good spot to get a good look at the surrounding area, Dawn headed to the second trail and walked towards the flat area.
"Ok, now let's see if there's any civilization nearby. Hopefully I'm not just in the middle of nowhere or on some uninhabited island by myself…"
Now at a high vantage point, Dawn looked in front of him. In front of him was a sea of trees that went on for miles in all four directions and never seemed to end. Far into the distance, he could faintly see a giant tree that seemed to reach the clouds. It was so much larger than the already abnormally large trees of the forest, that it seemed almost unreal. Both westwards and eastwards, far into the distance where the trees eventually cut off, he could see a hilly grassland—Eastwards also seeming to be the same.
Huh. That giant tree is really fantasy-looking. …Maybe there's a spirit dwelling inside…? Oh! And maybe beautiful elves live in this forest! …No, no, no! I've become too jaded by light novels!
In the light novels that Dawn read on Earth, it was common for spirits and elves to live in a vast forest near a giant tree. So, his light novel infected mind couldn't help but run wild the moment he saw the giant tree in the distance.
In the end, Dawn was a little disappointed because there didn't seem to be any immediate signs of civilization nearby, but there was still a possibility of there being a village hidden somewhere beneath the trees, so he tried to not feel discouraged.
Dawn gazed at the scenery from the mountain for a bit longer before he noticed the sun beginning to set. He couldn't sleep in the forest since he knew that there were monsters inside of it, so he decided to head towards the small cave at the base of the mountain.
By the time Dawn reached the base of the mountain, it was already getting dark. He tried to recall the location of the cave and walked towards it. As he approached the cave, he noticed a small light coming from the inside.
Hm…? What's that light? A fire?
Dawn cautiously tip-toed to a boulder near the cave entrance and hid behind it. He peeked over the boulder and saw three green short creatures in the cave. They were sitting around a fire and seemed to be cooking some kind of meat.
I'm pretty sure those are goblins… Well usually in light novels goblins are pretty weak, so I think I should be able to beat them. I mean, I've already killed an orc after all. …The way I killed it was a little embarrassing though…
Judging that he was strong enough to fight the goblins, Dawn left his hiding spot behind the boulder and stepped into the cave.
Noticing him, the three goblins immediately picked up their wooden clubs from the floor and prepared to fight. Dawn rushed towards the goblin nearest to him with absurd speed and threw a punch at its torso.
Wham!
Dawn's punch connected with the goblin's torso and it exploded, sending blood and guts all over the cave walls.
Ahhhh no, no…! I'm gonna make a mess of my cave!
The other two goblins—noticing Dawn's otherworldly strength—immediately began to run towards the cave entrance, hoping to escape.
Deciding that using a punch to kill the remaining two goblins would only dirty his cave more, Dawn picked up two pebbles from the floor. He aimed for their hearts and threw the two pebbles with all his strength. They shot forward like bullets and pierced the hearts of both goblins, who fell to the ground limply.
"Hahhhh… Well that's taken care of." Dawn heaved a sigh.
Hmm, I should probably throw out these goblin corpses. Wouldn't want to wake up staring into the face of a dead goblin after all. Dawn thought as he walked towards the two goblin corpses.
Dawn grabbed the two dead goblins by their legs, and flung them into the forest like he was throwing out the trash. He assumed some monster in the forest would eat their corpses and walked back into the cave.
The meat that the goblins were cooking was still roasting over the fire, looking a bit burnt. Before he died in his previous world, he hadn't eaten in a day and was severely dehydrated. Strangely enough, right now he didn't feel anything but a bit peckish.
Hmm, it kinda sucks going to bed on an empty stomach. Should I eat this meat…? For all I know it could be something disgusting like orc meat… Eh, what's the worst that could happen? Dawn thought as he grabbed the mystery meat and took a generous bite.
The meat wasn't terribly bad, but also wasn't very good. Some salt and pepper would have definitely made it taste much better, but otherwise it just tasted like unseasoned chicken.
Dawn finished the mystery meat and decided he ought to get some sleep. Dawn put out the fire and laid down on the cave floor. It was a bit cold and the cave still smelled of goblin blood, but he tried his best to ignore it.
After two fights, I feel like I'm pretty strong. No, no. I shouldn't get ahead of myself. Ill have to be a lot stronger to conquer the world.
After testing his capabilities against an orc and three goblins, Dawn seemed to be pretty strong but he didn't want to get full of himself. After all, in light novels, goblins and orcs were usually only low to mid level monsters. Since he only had fought a small sample size of enemies so far, he couldn't say with confidence that he was actually strong enough to conquer the world.
I mean, my physical capabilities don't seem all that bad. But is that really enough to conquer the world..? I still feel like I'm forgetting something. Dawn thought, cupping his chin with his hand.
"Oh...! That's right! I didn't try to use magic! Ugh…! I'm such a dumbass! How could I forget about magic in a fantasy world?!" Dawn shouted and shot up into a sitting position.
So far, Dawn had tested out his physical strength, but he forgot to try out the thing most unique to fantasy worlds: magic. All of the light novels Dawn read in his previous life featured protagonists wielding incredibly cool and powerful magic. All dawn could do was bury his face in his hands and blame himself for forgetting such an important thing.
"Wait… But how do I even find out what magic I can use…? Ah…! The Skill Sheet I got from the Bitch Goddess!"
Dawn felt around in his back pocket and was relieved to find that the Skill Sheet was safe and sound. Just earlier, he had become a human rocket and shot through an orc and multiple trees, so he was lucky that the Skill Sheet was still in one piece. Looking relieved, Dawn sighed and laid back down on the cold cave floor, staring at the ceiling
"Forgetting such important things on my first day here… Can a dumbass like me really conquer the world…?" Dawn asked the cave ceiling.
"Hmph, whatever… I'm going to sleep." The cave ceiling gave no response so Dawn pouted before closing his eyes and drifting to sleep.