Inside the bluish flames, yellow-green viscous blood sprayed from the charred wounds. The moment it touched fire, it ignited into a thick, choking green smoke.
Cracks in the shattered chitin spread rapidly under the heat, making brittle crackling sounds like glass under stress.
The once-impenetrable exoskeleton began to flake away,...
The mantisfolk was without question the strongest enemy this party had ever faced in a dungeon—maybe even in their entire adventuring career.
The last few days had gone way too smoothly. Everyone had gotten a little too relaxed, even Lawrence. Sure, he’d voiced some caution, but deep down, he too thought this run would be no big deal....
The night sky was clear and full of stars. With no clouds in sight, the silver moonlight spilled freely across the land.
In the clearing, orange flames roared in the fire pit. The burning wood cracked and popped with sharp snaps.
The firelight stretched the shadows of the group sitting around the flames.
Liam poked the coals...
BANG!
The Myconid’s body splattered across the ground.
With the last of the adult Myconids defeated, the metal gate behind them groaned and lifted back up.
At the same time, the purple mushroom mats growing across all six walls suddenly began to wither and die in rapid succession. As if tied to the creatures’ lives, the ...
In Lawrence’s mind, spellcasters—especially apprentices—had one golden rule: never rush into the front lines.
You were supposed to keep at least 20 feet between you and anything with a sword.
Getting up close and personal? That was a warrior’s job.
As a mage, your role was to control the field, support the team, and...
Lawrence hadn’t just found out about the micro-dungeon in the past couple of days.
In fact, it had been more than a week since he first learned about it.
He’d been preparing ever since—gathering supplies and gear for the expedition, including (but not limited to) silver-plated weapons for undead enemies, crossbows, lighting e...
Gauss continued browsing a few more similar stalls and shops, and overall, he could only describe the offerings as a mixed bag.
Some vendors were a bit more "honest," selling cantrip scrolls for just 1 or 2 silver coins—some even for a few dozen copper. But when Gauss tried asking whether they were authentic, the shopkeepers would alway...
Gauss looked at the crowd blocking the doorway, then turned to Lawrence with a puzzled expression.
He was pretty sure Lawrence had gone to help him find a few apprentices to train with, right?
Why were there so many people all of a sudden?
Was this a gang fight? A bunch of them versus just him?
“Uh… everyone heard...
"So, Gauss, you’re here to train your defensive magic, right?" Lawrence asked with visible excitement.
"Yes."
That was exactly why Gauss had come—to train through mutual practice with other members. Originally, he'd planned to pay someone in town to help him, but now that there was a free option, even better.
To improve ...
"You can take a look first," the child said, sensibly handing Gauss a sample booklet.
Gauss took it and flipped through it. Although he couldn’t confirm the accuracy of all the contents, it was well-organized and full of illustrations—it looked fairly legit.
There was a basic map of the town marking important shops and district...
The entire caravan, counting all personnel, had about fifty people, including fifteen guards.
In Gauss's opinion, a group of goblin “bandits” numbering in the dozens shouldn’t be that hard to deal with.
But after listening in for a while, he was surprised at how cautious the caravan was.
The caravan planned to set up c...
"Something bothering you lately? You've locked yourself in your room the past couple of days."
Sophia’s curiosity had been piqued by Gauss’s unusual behavior.
Gauss shook his head.
"Just reading and thinking about training."
As soon as she heard it was about training, Sophia had nothing more to add.
Though ...
"Just as I suspected—Gauss, your magic is truly special!"
"This phenomenon, according to recorded cases in magical literature, is extremely rare, and only occurs in individuals with particularly unique mana."
"To put it simply: your mana is more active than that of other spellcasters."
"Your Mage Armor must have reached a ...
Gauss browsed through the general goods store and ended up buying quite a few things.
A few sets of spare linen shirts and trousers.
A black cloak, neat and functional—good for sun and rain, and in a pinch, it could double as a blanket when spread out.
A pair of polished, black leather boots with sturdy wooden soles, faste...
Name: Gauss
Strength: 6
Agility: 6
Constitution: 6
Intelligence: 7
Perception: 5
Charisma: 6
Skills:
Cantrip: Mage Hand lv3 (3/50)
Level 1 Spell: Magic Missile lv2 (17/20)
Level 1 Spell: Mage Armor lv2 (19/20)
Swordsmanship Basics lv1 (9/10)
Traits:
Quick Digestion
Mag...
After wandering through the forest for most of the day...
Gauss finally found signs left behind by goblins in the afternoon.
On a gray stone were several dried-up small footprints.
“Total Monsters Killed: 94.”
After killing those five goblins the previous night, he was now just six away from his goal of reaching 1...
In the depths of twilight...
Under the old pagoda tree outside the village fence, several villagers waited with torches in hand.
"Why haven’t they come back yet?"
"Maybe the guy didn’t save him and ended up getting himself killed?"
"Shh! Don’t say things like that!"
"Taylor, you should go home and sleep. ...
“Come on! Bring it on!” Randall rasped hoarsely, shouting threats.
Suddenly, one of the goblins on the far left—slightly larger than the others—let out a piercing shriek, then lunged at him like a bolt of lightning, brandishing a heavily rusted dagger.
It’s over! I can’t scare them anymore!
Randall’s mind went ...
Gauss obtained the signed quest completion document from the village chief.
The chief originally thought he would leave quickly like most adventurers, but when he heard Gauss say he intended to stay in the village for a while longer to clear out more nearby goblins, his face immediately lit up with a warm smile.
And when Gauss aske...
Opening the Adventurer’s Manual, Gauss realized it was his goblin-related title that had upgraded.
[You have slain 50 goblins. The title ‘Goblin Hunter’ has been upgraded to ‘Goblin Slayer’.]
With the title upgrade, the perk effects had also changed significantly.
[Current Title Effects: Bane – +20% damage agains...
The goblin stood over a stone pot, stirring it continuously with a wooden stick.
Inside the pot simmered a thick, unidentifiable concoction—visible ingredients included wheat grains, berries, grass seeds, beetles, fat green worms, and more.
As the fire heated the mixture, strange chemical reactions gave rise to an odd, pungent sm...
Among the five party members, Rogue apprentice Meva and Cleric apprentice Daphne were least affected by him, simply because of the type of skills they practiced.
But for Laevin, Doyle, and Oliver, it was a different story. Gauss's efficient monster kills meant their own combat abilities had little opportunity to be used. Like him, they ne...
Two hours after nightfall was the busiest golden hour of the town.
Inside a two-story stone tavern with smoke curling from its chimney, the place was packed. The wooden door constantly creaked open and slammed shut as people came and went, carrying the din of the tavern into the streets.
"You should’ve seen it! My weapon may’ve...
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
After the first goblin summoned the courage to rush out, the others finally realized the enemy wasn’t going to enter the cave. They started organizing to fight back.
A flurry of wooden arrows shot from the depths of the cave.
The party quickly retreated from the entrance, dodging the first wave o...
Noon. Forest.
The cicadas were in full chorus. A gentle breeze stirred the trees, rustling the leaves with a soft whisper.
“Looks like they’re all napping in the cave.”
“Watch out for goblin scouts,” Gauss added.
It had been a while since they’d last encountered goblins, but he hadn’t forgotten his very ...
Gauss didn’t know what the kids around him were thinking—if he did, he might’ve laughed.
The truth was, being able to train under a proper swordsmanship instructor already put these kids far ahead of most lower-tier adventurers. With that kind of foundation, their odds of becoming full-fledged professionals were way better than some...
At a resale shop near the Adventurers' Guild, the Night Owl party offloaded all the miscellaneous loot from their kobold extermination quest.
Most lower-tier adventurers sold their spoils at these nearby shops—the pricing was generally fair.
And this time, they actually earned more than expected.
The total haul came out to...
“No, no—definitely not,” Laevin chuckled. “If that had been a challenge-rated kobold, even just Level 1, there’s no way we would’ve dodged that fireball.”
Gauss felt a twinge of disappointment.
He’d really thought he had just taken down something stronger—something worthy of a proper monster rating.
But thi...
The old kobold died so quickly—no one in the party even fully registered what had happened before it blew itself up.
But thinking it through, most of them figured it was probably Gauss's doing.
They didn’t understand how exactly, but when something weird or magical happened, assuming the party mage did it was usually a safe bet...
BOOM!!
The brilliant blue magic missile smashed straight through the first kobold’s chest the instant it fired—clean, brutal. Its momentum carried forward, slamming into the second, thinner kobold standing behind it.
BAM!!
The poor thing was sent flying several meters, screaming as it went. Blood and gore sprayed across ...