The Arcana Continent, where Johan had been reincarnated, had enormous differences in civilization from country to country.
The Kingdom of Asep, which contained the Barony of Raks, possessed a typical medieval civilization. Nobles held immense authority, and residents of a territory were treated as property.
No noble was pleased to see their property leave.
Among ordinary commoners, most people went their entire lives without ever visiting another city, and rumors from territories even slightly farther away were passed around almost like legends.
But the Empire was different.
By cultivating mages, the Empire had built a civilization that other kingdoms could not even begin to compare with.
To reach the Empire, Johan headed for the territory of a margrave located a week's journey away.
He intended to use the Teleport Gate installed under an agreement between the Empire and the kingdom—written as "friendship," read as "vassalage."
One week to reach the gate.
After using it, another four days of travel would bring him to the Academy Special Territory.
He had already spent one day dealing with Mana Rampage, so if he took the examination on the final day, he would use up all the active time available to him in this life.
'That should be enough for this run.'
Having left his territory, Johan did not feel excited by the scenery outside the carriage.
Instead, he struggled to endure the boredom.
This was his first journey made of his own free will, but in his previous life, he had already experienced the trip to enroll at the academy.
'This is seriously boring.'
Even in the modern world, sitting on a train or plane for a few hours had been painfully boring.
Being trapped inside a carriage without any entertainment was enough to drive him insane.
For a while, Johan practiced Mana cultivation so he would not lose the feel he had developed while overcoming Mana Rampage.
Then he grew sick of that too and decided to plan for the future.
First, he would enroll in the academy and make sure auto-progression focused on his studies.
Beginning with the next run, he would use the knowledge gained at the academy to travel around the continent.
He would gather the twins and claim the reward…….
'Right. I still have to take revenge on that killer horse.'
Calling revenge against a mere horse such a grand thing made him feel pathetic, but he had no intention of giving it up.
'More importantly, it didn't even give me an Achievement.'
If the System had at least given him an Achievement like [Fell from a Horse], he might have forgiven the beast.
But the horse owed him his life and had not even given him an Achievement.
That only strengthened Johan's determination.
Of course, he had awakened at nineteen in this life, so revenge would have to wait for the next one.
If he ever regressed to age twenty, he would hunt down that killer horse.
'Will I have enough time? I really need to increase my active time.'
If he could see a list of every Achievement, he would know which ones could increase his active time.
But because he had not purchased the Full Version, he had no choice but to discover them through direct experience.
'No matter what, I'm not buying the Full Version.'
He was not going to sell his soul for a little convenience.
Having decided that much, Johan tried to enjoy the carriage ride.
"Rock, paper, scissors! Ah! Right hand, you idiot! Why do you keep throwing scissors?"
"You're one to talk! Left hand keeps throwing rock!"
After playing rock-paper-scissors against himself, Johan was overwhelmed by another wave of self-loathing.
'I should just practice Mana cultivation.'
The carriage rattled enough to disrupt his concentration, but it was still better than the violent flow of Mana Rampage.
Around the time he had completed several cycles of what martial arts stories called the Small Heavenly Circulation, the coachman suddenly shouted in alarm.
"Young Master! We have a problem!"
"What is it?!"
Johan leaped out of the carriage in delight.
His heart, cooled by the monotonous journey, burned hot again.
Nothing had happened during Womanizer Johan's trip.
Maybe this run would finally be different.
"What kind of event is it? Bandit attack? Monsters? Anything, just tell me!"
"Uh……. A tree fell and blocked the road."
"Seriously?"
He had expected some grand incident, but it was only a tree.
"What are the odds bandits knocked it down?"
"There aren't any bandits around these parts, sir."
"That's a shame. Anyway, we only need to move this thing, right?"
"What? Can you actually do that?"
The tree was thick enough that three grown men would barely be able to wrap their arms around it together.
The coachman tilted his head as Johan confidently stepped forward.
But Johan was the man who had overcome Mana Rampage.
He might not compare to a formally knighted warrior, but moving one tree was well within his capabilities.
"Just get ready to leave again."
Johan rolled his shoulders to loosen himself up, then grabbed the underside of the trunk.
RUMBLE—
He circulated Mana and pushed.
The massive tree shifted.
"Uh, uh, uhhh!"
"Phew. Not a bad workout."
Johan acted cocky, but in truth, it had been difficult.
It felt like going from bench-pressing 50 kilograms to suddenly lifting 80.
As he worked out the stiffness in his muscles, applause rang out.
Clap, clap, clap—
"As expected of a man once called a prodigy. Even after becoming ordinary, you can still manage this much."
"Who are you?"
SHING—
Johan drew his sword and scanned his surroundings.
There had definitely been no one nearby a moment ago, yet ten figures in robes had appeared.
The person standing opposite Johan wore a sly smile.
"Someone curious about how you overcame Mana Rampage."
"I was a baby. I don't remember it."
That was the excuse auto-progression Johan had always used.
It had worked perfectly well with House Raks.
It did not work on the robed man.
"That is your problem. We are very interested in your body. What secret could it possibly hold, for you to recover from Mana Rampage by yourself when normally several high-ranking mages are required to treat it?"
"Interested in my body?"
'Hmm.'
In all sorts of media Johan had consumed back on Earth, organizations conducting human experimentation appeared as regularly as seasoning in food.
He had assumed that sort of thing had nothing to do with him.
Apparently, rumors from his childhood had come back to bite him.
"What organization are you with?"
"Pfft! Puhahaha! Organization? Do I look like someone from some little organization?"
The robed man shook with laughter.
The others did not move at all.
"You will find out eventually, so I might as well tell you. I am a mage of the Gorai Magic Tower."
'But they're supposed to be respectable, aren't they?'
Johan had heard of that Magic Tower.
It specialized in researching life magic.
Even Johan's mother regularly used anti-aging cosmetics made by the Gorai Magic Tower.
"A Magic Tower that makes cosmetics is trying to kidnap me?"
"Cosmetics are merely what we produce publicly. The great aspiration of our Magic Tower is eternal life. A body that overcame Mana Rampage will make an excellent test subject."
"Y-Young Master……."
The terrified coachman trembled.
When the mage noticed him, he snorted.
"We do not need witnesses. Kill him."
The figures who had remained perfectly still began to move.
Johan instinctively tried to protect the coachman, but he was too late.
SLASH—
A Chimera struck before Johan could intervene, killing the coachman instantly.
The motion knocked its hood back, revealing a grotesquely inhuman face.
"A Chimera……!"
"A young master from some backwater territory even knows about Chimeras? Good. That makes this easier. Do not resist. Come quietly. If you do, I will not torture you."
Johan was in danger, but he did not feel nervous at all.
If anything, he was excited.
'Would Chimeras count toward an Achievement?'
Magic Towers were places open only to mages.
Even if Chimeras did not grant him anything, there was a high chance he could earn some other Achievement there.
Especially one related to magic.
The mage mistook Johan's thoughtful silence for fear and twisted his lips into a cruel smile.
"Good, good. Stay exactly where you are."
Johan did not mind being captured, but he decided to resist as much as possible first.
Killing a Chimera or mage might earn him an Achievement.
Pretending to cooperate in order to make the robed man lower his guard, Johan asked,
"Were you lying in wait here? You could have kidnapped me back in the barony."
"We could have acted inside the territory, but it would attract too much attention. We waited for you to leave."
"If I kill you, will another mage come after me?"
"Haha! You kill me? Unfortunately, that is a hopeless fantasy. You are not even knight-class. Do you really think you can defeat a Chimera? Give up and come quietly. I cannot exactly call it compensation, but I will knock you unconscious as painlessly as possible."
"Sorry, but I like pain."
"What?"
It was obvious that the mage and Chimeras were stronger than Johan.
If he was going to be captured anyway, he might as well resist as hard as possible.
'It might give me an Achievement.'
After overcoming Mana Rampage, Johan had learned to handle a little Aura, so he had at least some confidence.
Before the mage could give another order, Johan swung his sword at the neck of the nearest Chimera.
"Die!"
SWOOOSH— CLANG!
He even infused the strike with Aura, but it was useless.
The blade failed to pierce the Chimera's skin and bounced away.
"Grrrk."
"Uh……? You're pretty tough."
"SKREEE!"
The enraged Chimera screamed and swung its arm.
WHOOSH—
Johan swiftly dodged and slashed with enough force to try to sever the limb.
Once again, the strike was stopped.
CLANG!
Simply reinforcing his sword with Aura was not enough.
He would probably need to be at least an Aura User capable of producing Sword Aura to cut through it.
Thanks to his Mana Utilization Adjustment, Johan could control Aura smoothly.
But Sword Aura was still beyond him.
That was the exclusive domain of people who were truly called geniuses.
'Phew…….'
If there had been only one Chimera, he might have had a chance.
But there were more than ten.
With neither allies nor sufficient strength, Johan had no hope of fighting them.
After watching Johan's futile resistance, the mage spoke with apparent disappointment.
"I thought you were reasonable, but perhaps not. Subdue him. Damage to the body could create variables, so keep all four limbs attached."
"SKREEE!"
"SKRAAA!"
The Chimeras rushed Johan from every direction.
He raised his sword against the claws of the closest one, only to be forced backward by the strength behind the blow.
Watching the Chimeras close in, Johan suddenly pointed behind the mage.
"Braham! Run!"
"He had an escort knight?!"
The mage whipped around in alarm.
No one was there.
He had fallen for Johan's lie.
'He actually fell for that.'
By the time the mage realized his mistake, Johan had already hurled himself through a gap in the Chimera encirclement.
"Looks like you're the sheltered one, not me!"
"Catch him!"
As he fled, Johan even smacked his own backside.
Naturally, it only made the mage angrier.
'Is there an Achievement for provoking a mage?'
He had messed with them plenty.
If he was caught now, there was no telling what the furious mage would do to him.
Better to run.
"SKREEE!"
"Damn it, he's too fast!"
"SKRAAAA!!!"
"Huff!"
The Chimeras were slightly faster than Johan even after he strengthened his body with Aura.
But they were not intelligent.
Whenever Johan ran around trees, they slammed into the trunks while chasing him, or their claws ripped through wood when they tried to grab him.
BANG! CRACK— RIIIIP!
'A bear can barely leave claw marks on a tree, but these things just cut straight through them. If you put one of those in a village, you wouldn't even need lumberjacks.'
SLASH—!
"Argh!"
While Johan was distracted, a Chimera's claws grazed his leg.
The cut was shallow, and he kept running through the pain.
Fortunately, it had only sliced the skin.
If it had torn into the muscle, he might have collapsed mid-stride.
'If only I still had the Speed Adjustment!'
He had no intention of escaping just for the sake of survival, but he could not help missing it.
It was the sense of loss that came from having gotten used to something better.
To overcome Mana Rampage, he had been forced to replace the Speed Adjustment with the Mana Utilization Adjustment.
'How do I increase my Achievement Slots?'
While Johan worried about the future—
"Stop right there!"
WHOOM—
The furious mage launched a Fireball.
Johan's eyes widened as he darted behind a tree.
BOOOOM!
The Fireball slammed into the trunk.
"You fucking bastard! You said you wanted me alive!"
"You will not die! We can heal you afterward!"
"Bullshit!!"
After running for his life, Johan reached a ravine.
He barely stopped before plunging over the edge and tried to change direction, but the Chimeras surrounded him.
There was nowhere left to go.
"Huff……. Haa……. There is nowhere left to run."
The mage, having finally cornered Johan, stopped to catch his breath.
The Chimeras slowly closed in.
Johan searched desperately for an opening, only to realize the cliff was his only option.
'In martial arts stories, protagonists always find a fortuitous encounter after falling off a cliff.'
Maybe fantasy worlds worked the same way.
The thought occurred to Johan, and he took a step backward.
Loose stones tumbled over the edge.
Seeing Johan on the verge of falling, the mage panicked.
"Stop! If you step back any farther, you will fall!"
"Do you know the strategy of fighting with your back to the river?"
"I do not know what that is, but stop moving! Surrender now, and I will not punish you for making me work so hard!"
"Is there no Achievement for fighting with your back to the river?"
"What?"
Johan chose the only escape route left.
"N-No! Catch him!!"
The Chimeras and mage rushed after him, but they were too late.
For one absurd moment, Johan still hoped the cliff might hide the sort of fortuitous encounter common in martial-arts stories.
'No luck.'
The world went dark.
[Achievement Acquired!]
[There Are No Fortuitous Encounters at Cliffs]
[Returning to 1 hour ago.]