After months of rigorous training, I finally felt satisfied with my current abilities.
I could now launch more than fifteen attacks with the Daggers of Divinity before my body finally gave out and I lost consciousness. Compared to when I first arrived at the mountains, when a single attack had nearly shattered my entire body, the improvement felt almost unbelievable.
Still, I knew fifteen attacks were far from enough to call myself powerful.
For now, however, it would have to do.
I packed my belongings and remained with the dwarves for several more days, waiting for a traveling merchant who could take me farther into the world. I had no idea where I would go after leaving the mountains, nor did I know how I would find the settlements that needed to hear about the Entity.
Eventually, after several days of waiting, the merchant finally arrived.
He was accompanied by his partner, Plium, a massive beast standing nearly twice my size. Its enormous body carried the merchant’s supplies with surprising ease, while its calm expression made it seem almost harmless despite its intimidating appearance.
The dwarves immediately approached them and introduced me.
"This is Retian the Chosen."
I lowered my head slightly upon hearing the title. I still wasn’t accustomed to being called that.
Every time someone introduced me as the Chosen, I couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed.
The merchant looked at me with curiosity before breaking into a friendly smile.
"Oh, you must be Retian. Greetings. I am Pero, the merchant."
I shook his hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
After exchanging greetings, I explained my situation.
"This will be my first time traveling beyond my settlement. I was wondering if you would allow me to accompany you for a while."
Pero chuckled. "Of course. I mean, this must be part of the Entity’s plans, right?"
I wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that, so I simply smiled.
I remained with the dwarves for another few days while Pero finished trading his goods. Once everything had been loaded onto Plium, the time finally came for me to leave.
I turned toward the dwarves and bowed deeply.
"Thank you for everything." Several of them smiled.
"May the Entity guide you, Chosen."
Their words filled my chest with warmth. I waved goodbye before joining Pero on the road.
As we traveled across the unfamiliar landscape, I found myself staring at everything around me. Every tree, every hill, every distant mountain seemed different from what I had known in my settlement.
Eventually, curiosity overcame me.
"Hey, Pero."
"Hm?"
"What are you going to do with all those materials?"
Pero glanced toward the supplies packed onto Plium.
"I’ll trade them for various materials in the settlements ahead. But mostly, I’m looking to get gold."
"Gold?" He laughed.
"Hoho! You’ve never heard of gold?"
I shook my head. "No."
"Well, you’ll learn soon enough. Gold is currently one of the most sought-after materials across the continent."
I stared at the piles of supplies. So gold must be something extremely valuable. I made a mental note to remember that.
As the journey continued, I began asking Pero question after question.
I wanted to know everything. What creatures lived beyond the mountains? Or how many settlements existed?
Pero patiently answered what he could.
He told me that countless creatures inhabited the world, some so enormous that they were several hundred times larger than a human, while others were no larger than a fingernail yet possessed enough power to kill an unsuspecting traveler.
That information alone made me reconsider my confidence.
I had spent months training my body, yet the world apparently contained creatures that could crush me without even noticing my existence.
Pero also spoke about the scenery he had encountered during his travels.
There were vast plains stretching farther than the eye could see, enormous forests untouched by civilization, towering mountains covered in snow, and strange landscapes that he could barely describe with words.
Yet there was something interesting about the way he spoke about them.
"I’ve seen quite a few places," Pero said, "but I’ve never explored the entire world myself. There are still countless places I’ve never visited."
"Then how do you know about them?"
"I hear stories from other merchants and travelers. Some things are passed from one person to another until everyone knows about them." He smiled.
"But if you really want to know what the world looks like, you should see it yourself."
Pero himself came from a settlement located far from mine. He explained that he had chosen the life of a merchant because he needed to support his family, even though the occupation required him to constantly risk his life traveling between settlements.
According to him, a single round trip usually took around thirty moons.
"Thirty moons?" I asked.
"Sometimes more, sometimes less. Depends on the route and the weather."
"And you do this constantly?"
"Not exactly. I only need to make these journeys every ninety moons or so. The rest of the time, I stay home with my family."
Despite all the dangers, Pero continued doing it because his family depended on him.
I began seeing merchants differently after hearing that. They weren’t simply people carrying goods from one settlement to another.
They were travelers who willingly placed themselves in danger just to make sure their families could live comfortably.
After traveling for some time, Pero suddenly looked toward me.
"Tell me, Retian."
"Hm?"
"What was it like meeting God?"
The question brought me back to the day I first encountered the Entity.
Even now, remembering that moment gave me an unsettling feeling.
"It was... strange."
"Strange?"
"He told me that he is someone, that he is something, and that he is everything."
Pero’s expression slowly changed. "So he’s really God?"
"I don’t know what he truly is."
Pero remained silent for a moment before smiling.
"During my travels, I’ve met plenty of people who doubt his existence. Some believe the stories are nothing more than rumors, while others think the Entity is simply a powerful creature that people have mistaken for a god."
He looked toward me.
"But after seeing you, I don’t think you’re the type of person who would lie about something like this."
I let out an awkward laugh.
"I’m not sure whether that’s supposed to be a compliment."