One day, Rio heads to the beach because he’s been craving salt lately. But instead of seasoning, he finds a wrecked ship washed ashore. He checks for survivors and finds a body—but the guy’s already dead. Just then, he hears grunting from the other side of the beach and, to his relief, discovers someone actually survived!
Turns out, the ship was destroyed by a giant sea monster during a massive storm. The survivor, Abel, was sure he’d die, but instead wakes up in a warm bed with all his stuff neatly placed nearby. He heads outside to get his bearings but is met by Rio, who casually says he’s glad Abel is up and about. Abel is surprised—he didn’t even sense Rio approaching—and thinks his fashion sense is… weird. But instead of being rude, he thanks Rio for saving him.
Rio admits all he did was drag Abel’s body back, and sadly, he was the only survivor. But Abel isn’t too broken up—everyone else was an illegal smuggler anyway. Rio, still new to the concept of smugglers, offers to make lunch since Abel must be starving.
Over lunch, Abel asks why Rio is only wearing a loincloth. Rio shrugs—he’s broke, plus there are no towns nearby to even buy clothes. Abel’s impressed by how well Rio is surviving alone. When he asks if Rio hunts with that tiny knife on the table, Rio casually shows off his water magic instead, filling a jug to demonstrate. Abel is amazed; on the central plains, only about half the people can use magic, which shocks Rio—Michael told him only 20% could! Someone’s been giving outdated stats.
After lunch, Abel asks Rio to take him back to the wreck since he needs to check something. On the way, he wonders why Rio doesn’t use a magic staff, but quickly figures it’s a money problem. To make up for his insensitivity, he insists on handling any monsters they encounter. Rio says that won’t be necessary, but Abel wants to feel useful.
When they reach the wreckage, all the bodies are gone—probably eaten by monsters. Abel’s lucky Rio found him when he did. After searching, Abel can’t find what he was looking for and decides to regroup with his friends, though he has no idea how far he is from the town of Lon. He fears it’ll be a long, lonely journey, but then invites Rio to come along.
Rio, curious about the world and with no real reason to stay, agrees—though he needs to handle some things first. They plan to leave the next morning.
That night, Abel notices Rio heading into the forest, claiming he needs to meet someone. Suspicious but polite, Abel doesn’t pry. Rio meets with the Dullahan, telling him he’ll be leaving the forest soon—so this might be their last spar for a while. They fight hard; Rio has improved enough to push Dullahan back slightly, but the skill gap is still massive. Eventually, Rio collapses in defeat.
As Dullahan walks back to the lake, Rio thanks him for all the training. Seeing Rio as a precious student, Dullahan gifts him a special robe—Rio’s first proper clothing upgrade!
The next morning, Rio and Abel set off on their journey. Rio takes one last look at his home before stepping into the wider world. But of course, no journey starts easy—soon after, they encounter a boar monster.
Abel asks Rio to stand back while he handles the boar. He draws his sword, shouts “Total Impalement!”, and instantly blows a clean hole through the boar. Rio, stunned, asks what that was, and Abel explains that people who can’t use magic rely on combat skills—techniques that let them pull off flashy moves like that.
After a day’s trek, they reach a marsh crawling with lizardmen. Not keen on a fight, Abel suggests sneaking around, but Rio senses they’re being followed. When the lizardmen emerge, Abel prepares to fight, but Rio tells him there are too many—and then casually obliterates them with a barrage of icicles. Abel is speechless but saves his questions until the fight’s over.
Afterwards, Abel asks what spell Rio just used. Rio shrugs—just regular icicles. But Abel insists mages can only cast one spell at a time—at least, that’s what some wind mage told him. Rio figures this must be a wind magic limitation since he’s always been able to multitask with water. Later, Rio even conjures water for Abel, using a totally different incantation—because honestly, he just says whatever sounds cool.
Eventually, they wander into a rock golem field, getting pelted with boulders. Abel uses his Total Impalement again, but the golems just heal instantly. Rio decides it’s time for a new strategy. He asks Abel to back off, then summons a massive ice cube and crushes the golems with it—one by one. Only one golem is left, but it’s not moving. They figure the golems drain energy from the ground, so when they fall, they’re done.
Inside the last golem, they find a massive magic stone, though it’s a shame the others got smashed to bits. That night, while camping, Abel mentions that golems can also be found in dungeons. Rio’s eyes light up—dungeons?! He’s pumped, but Abel didn’t mention them before because he didn’t think Rio would care. Lucky for Rio, the only dungeon in the Central Plains is in Lon, their destination.
Rio also asks about dwarves and elves. Abel explains: dwarves are short, strong, great craftsmen, and plenty live in Lon. Elves? They’re more reclusive, living deep in forests, and Abel only knows one elf in Lon.
The next morning, they continue north. Rio confidently says that past the mountains lies human civilization. Abel’s curious how Rio knows this, having never visited a village. Truth is, a dragon told Rio, but he keeps that to himself—Abel would probably freak out.
Suddenly, Rio senses danger. A giant griffin appears. Neither of them can win this fight, so Rio quickly tosses his stored meat to distract it. Abel follows suit, and thankfully, the griffin takes the offering and leaves.
Abel remarks that monsters like griffins haven’t been seen near humans for centuries. That means these mountains are keeping the worst creatures away… but also means they’ll face even more beasts. And he’s right—next up, a pack of wyverns.
Abel suggests sneaking past, but Rio is confident this time. He charges in, firing off ice spears and taking the wyverns down with ease—something that usually takes 20 adventurers! Abel is floored, but hey, he’s not complaining.
They keep fighting their way through and eventually make it to the other side of the mountains—one step closer to reaching civilization.
