Log Horizon Book 3 prologue

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Prologue

The hunter stopped in his track, concentrating on the far away cries of the birds.

While listening to the wind of the mountains, what he hears if the approaching footsteps behind him.

There is nothing strange, just the footsteps of the hunter's student.

"...too, too fast... huff, huff... Master you are too fast."

"Catch your breath."

The student complains, he is still growing, his frail body trembles from fatigue.

He is now 14, and has been training for 1 year.

Compared to the hunter who have been doing this for 30 years, he is still a young hachling.

It is not the difference in body strength. In fact, if you compare pure physical abilities, this beardless youth might be stronger than this old man who is nearly 50 with graying hair... The hunter thought.

In short, there is a technique in hiking.

The way to shift your center of gravity, looking for stable foot holds, the length of your strides, your body movements.

There are techniques in all areas, not grasping them will result in unnecessary loss in stamina.

The mountain top is different from the village, it is a cruel place, not meant for human to enter. Differing from the village suitable for human use, man in this green lush world is just another living thing, forced to fight in the same conditions as other animals.

In this cruel world, if you use up all your strength, the only thing waiting for you will be death. Just surviving is a challenge in the deep mountains.


But this only applies to people of the land.

For adventurers who has limitless stamina, this is not the case. The hunter saw an adventurer younger than his student humming a song while 'running effortlessly up the steep hill'.

This incident made him realize that adventurers are a different kind of beings.

The hunter is different from the villagers, opting to live in the mountains. He is moving into his twilight years, but in his village, he has a reputation as a strong and powerful man.

His thick and powerful limbs along with his sturdy jaw line, he has the air of an experienced master. In fact, he have never lost a drinking match or a fight with anyone before.

The panting youth besides him also aspire to be a hunter because of his exploits. Being able to hunt for deer and boars to provide the village with valuable meat just by hiking up the mountain, this is an important profession for the cold village.

And because of this, he understand what is his limits.

No matter what happens, he can never win against adventurers. They are like a hurricane or an angry storm, almost as if a dragon (which the hunter have never seen before) is compressed into the size and shape of a human being.


"Let's move."

The man says indifferently and started walking.

A groan for sympathy came from behind him, but he ignored him. He was also trained in a similar way by his master. to learn the techniques in hiking, he need to experience it himself. If he gives up so easily, he won't be able to grasp the technique. The youth's load is only half of what the hunter is carrying anyway.


Bypassing the forest, and moving towards the ridge of the mountain.

He maintained a rhythm in his steps out of habit, and appears to be walking casually. But the hunter's eyes are always carefully scanning the vegetation. Their travel routes are not the same as the deer and boars, but you still need to maintain your vigilance to be a hunter.

It is summer now, and the mountain is full of life, with the bears coming out of hibernation. He wants to avoid meeting them.

"Mas... Master, where are we going?"

The east mountain ridge."

The mountain they are traversing is  known as Awyu mountains, a vast zone in the crescent island of Yamato. But the unnamed village the hunter lives with is surrounded by mountains. Mountains is just something all around them, they will not differentiate which is which, they are all just mountains to them.

The streams with monkeys, the mountain peaks with boulders, the giant trees on the ridges... in technical terms they understand, naming places by their land marks is enough for them.

The hunter plans to reach the ridge with kite rocks, then make a detour to the streams.

But judging from the youth's condition, he may have to alter the plan. The hunter planned to stay on the mountains for a week anyway, and have made the preparation to do so.


(Since we won't be accomplishing much today, I should teach him some basic skills.)

The hunter decided quietly to make just the ridge his objective for the day, and he relaxed his emotions.

Even if he do not have a strong bow like the hunter, the youth still has a working short bow. It will do him good to work on his marksmanship in the mountain for the time being. The youth seemed to be practicing in the village, but no matter how good he is there, he will all be for naught if he don't do that in the mountains.

Skills learned by shooting at straw man targets on the even ground is just child's play.

You have to practice in the  mountain and shoot downwards into the valley, taking out prey hiding in the bushes with only its head protruding out, or it will be meaningless. The hunter's breath is short and curt, the youth pants loudly behind him.

He hack away the branches with his knife occasionally as he make his way up.

On the mountains, you cannot go directly up towards your destination. The ability of man in opening up new paths in the wild is limited, if they don't take the route they can travel on, they won't be able to go anywhere. Even though they are hiking upwards, they will need to go the long away around or even walk downhill.

Amateurs might feel frustrated by the constant change in directions, and maybe lose their sense of direction. The forest enveloping the two is very deep, the untamed wild forest can even block their view of the horizon.

But the hunter uses his years of experience and his keen sense to make steady progress to the ridge.


The hunter noticed the abnormality and stopped.

"Master, what is the matter?"

"Shhh..."

The hunter stopped the youth, holding out his palm towards him. He changed his casual pace and moved up the ridge speedily, even barging through the thick undergrowth. He reach a position where he can see the ridge of the neighboring mountain.

With the rugged mountain surface akin to a wrinkled table cloth, you cannot gaze afar from a high vantage point, but the angle from this position is just right.

You can see the stream flowing, and the restricted upper river zone.

Beyond their view is what the hunter call 'monkey stream', it's one of the wider stream in this region. Including the boulder and the bank of the stream, it carves a line through the lush green mountain and split endlessly down.

"That is..."

The youth stopped midway.

Because he do not know how to describe this scene.

That is only natural, because the hunter who is 3 time his age and 30 times more experienced than him is also seeing this for the first time.

The stream bank is jam pack.

It is full of a certain black, rough and squirming beings.

It is alive.

Because the distance is too far, the number too large, it cannot be seen clearly, but it is obvious that they are living things. It is not demi-humans, and they are marching in great numbers downstream. From the number, they are not only traveling down the river, but also in the surrounding forest as well hidden by the trees. He is unable to see them clearly, but the forest is probably full with a terrifyingly army of creatures as well.

The hunter stares at the scene as if he has lost his soul.

This is a crushing end, a sense of impending destruction.

No matter what the creatures are, the hunter is certain that there is nothing he can do to stop them.

Even if he is an adventurer.

The army continues its march beyond the view of the hunter... a restricted zone named by the hunters as 'seven falls'. Their overwhelming numbers made the two of them stare at this scene for a very long time.