The group exchanged a few final pieces of information in low voices outside the cave, making one last check of their weapons and equipment before setting off.
Once everything was confirmed, they entered the cave one by one, maintaining formation.
Normally, the vanguard should be Laevin, the team's shieldbearer. But due to the narro...
Adventurers' Guild Hall
While the others picked out a quest, Gauss let his eyes wander around the hall.
He could tell—there were definitely more people here lately. Lots of new faces.
And it wasn’t just the rookie adventurers. What really stood out was the increase in pros, the kind who had enough rank to access the seco...
The Black Anvil Forge.
Returning to a familiar place, Gauss stood in front of the shop, feeling nostalgic.
The last time he came here, he was still a complete newbie—someone who had just completed his first quest.
Back then, he knew nothing about the life of an adventurer, let alone the supernatural framework of this world...
Gauss focused his mind, sensing how much of his Mage Armor had just been depleted. With this test, he gained a deeper understanding.
This time, the damage to the protective field was noticeably worse than the first.
The key difference was that the first time, he had only made a small, careful cut on his fingertip. This time, he sla...
Outside Grayrock Town, on an open patch of land.
Gauss gripped his staff tightly and closed his eyes, focusing his mind.
He was attuning himself to the new spell imprinted in his will—Mage Armor.
One major benefit of spells rewarded through the Adventurer’s Manual was that, compared to regular apprentices, they skipped t...
Gauss listened to his companions rambling, but didn’t offer any comment.
Right now, he wasn’t particularly short on money.
Of course, money is always a good thing—nobody ever complains about having too much of it. With enough, he could buy better clothes, boots, weapons, or even hire someone to train him.
But for now, ...
Near the doorway, the drunken man who had been dozing off suddenly sobered up. A chill ran down his spine in an instant. As fear took hold of his mind, the color drained from his face.
Gauss was still holding the man's wrist, not letting go.
He didn’t particularly hate the drunk—he was completely wasted after all. You couldn’...
“Watch out! A monster’s coming!”
The moment Gauss confirmed the approaching figure wasn’t human, he immediately shouted a warning to the others, who were still focused on looting the water ghoul corpses.
Meva was the second to spot it. After Gauss's alert, she quickly locked onto the figure approaching across the riverbank....
Thanks to Doyle "yielding" the final blow, Gauss rushed forward in a few quick steps.
A flash of cold steel—
His rapier pierced straight through the chest of the already exhausted water ghoul.
Squish!
Its slimy skin split open with a sickening sound, foul-smelling blood gushing out.
Without hesitation, Gauss ...
Under the watchful eyes of the entire team, the main group of water ghouls finally reached the trap. A few of them eagerly pounced on the rotting bait.
With long, clawed fingers, they scraped up the soft, slimy, bloodied meat and shoved it into their mouths, growling softly as they ate—clearly enjoying it.
Watching the scene, Gau...
After confirming they’d continue with the mission, the group grabbed a quick meal at the tavern and took a short break. Once the sun wasn’t so harsh, they headed to the riverbank to start looking for clues.
The afternoon sunlight danced across the water, casting a warm golden shimmer across the rippling surface. A gentle breeze rolled...
“Are we almost there?”
“Should be. Let me check.”
Under the blazing noon sun, a few figures trudged down an endless dirt path, trailing behind an old draft horse pulling a cart.
As he walked, Gauss kept scanning the area—not to admire the view, but to check against the mental map in his head.
Wherever he had...
“Finally cleared up!”
Gauss opened the window and looked outside, smiling as the sunlight streamed in.
A few days ago, after the team turned in their last quest and got paid, they had planned to pick up a new commission two days later.
But the weather had other plans—several straight days of rain pushed everything back...
The Next Day
When Gauss woke up, he sneezed several times in a row—clearly caught a bit of a chill.
Thankfully, with his above-average Constitution stat, it wasn’t anything serious. If it were his past self in his old, suboptimal health, he might’ve already been down with a fever.
“Whew...”
He drank a bit of...
After resting and regaining their strength, the group made their way back to Valencia Village.
They reported the successful elimination of the slimes to the village chief and showed him some fresh slime gel core as proof. Then, after a brief lunch break at the local inn, they packed up and departed from the quiet, slightly run-down villag...
Gauss was already preparing to test out the stun effect from his newly earned title, [Slime Hunter].
A special ability like this, tailored specifically against slimes, was practically made for this moment. If he wasn’t going to use it now, when would he?
Drawing his rapier, he stared down the slime in front of him.
As soon...
The sudden ambush shattered the peace of the slime colony in an instant.
“Blorp! Blorp!”
The startled, panicked slimes erupted into chaos, bouncing wildly around the muddy clearing. Every time their gelatinous bodies slammed into the ground, it made a squelching "blorp"—like someone squeezing wet rubber.
The whole area...
After spending the night at a cheap inn in Valencia Village, the party gathered the next morning at the village entrance with all their gear ready.
Valencia was a small, sparsely populated village. Aside from running a modest orchard, its main role was serving as a pit stop for passing merchant and cargo caravans. According to the village...
Under the sword-shield-staff banner flapping in the wind—
After some time apart, the Night Owl party was back together again.
Compared to the dirt-covered, dead-tired crew that finished the last mission, everyone now looked totally refreshed. A few days off had clearly done wonders for morale.
“Morning, Gauss,” Doyle g...
"Ow—"
Don’t be fooled by Andeni’s small frame—those punches to Gauss’s waist landed hard. He sucked in a sharp breath as pain shot up his side. His Mage Hand spell almost fizzled on the spot.
“Oh—sorry, sorry!”
Realizing she got a little too excited, Andeni licked her lips and gave an awkward grin.
“It...
Gauss didn’t have to wait long.
Andeni returned to the main hall, her arms full of staff-like objects.
“Good thing I have a habit of hoarding old stuff. Can’t believe I didn’t lose track of these,” she said proudly, placing the staves on the table and standing with her hands on her hips.
Gauss looked down at her.
"So, Gauss, what brings you to me today?"
"Don’t tell me… you're here to buy a magic wand?"
Andeni had clearly noticed how Gauss had been eyeing the wand rack ever since he walked in—with that unmistakable expression of longing all over his face.
"Uh, senior… could I ask how much they cost?" Gauss asked cautiously.
Burp—
Gauss stepped out of the inn, full and satisfied.
Once again, he confirmed it: the terrible taste of the previous meals really hadn’t been Sophia’s fault.
I mean, seriously—how do you make cheap black bread taste good when you’re working without proper ingredients or seasoning?
Probably only possible w...
Not much could be done about it.
Goblin gear—especially from small settlements like this—was always in rough shape.
Gauss didn’t know why this particular group of goblins had taken over the ruins, but most goblins preferred to live in caves or swamps. Damp, underground environments were just in their nature.
Unfortunat...
The battle broke out fast.
At the front of the formation, Laevin raised his shield and let out a powerful shout, charging toward the goblin formation.
Despite his bulky frame, he was surprisingly fast—white air trails even streamed off the edges of his oak shield.
He looked like a fully revved freight truck as he barreled ...
Hidden in the brush, Gauss had already quietly activated Mage Hand.
Because of concerns about scent detection, the rest of the party had hidden further away.
Only Gauss remained within ten meters of the bait due to the range limitation of his spell.
Fortunately, Meva had helped him find a hiding spot and masked his scent, so...
From beneath her cloak, Meva stepped lightly out from the shadows of the trees and silently returned to the group.
She barely made a sound.
"What did you find?"
The Night Owl party turned to her.
"Here."
Meva pulled a sheet of yellowed parchment from her cloak and laid it flat on a rock in the center of the gro...
After Gauss finished showing his skills—especially Magic Missile—the team’s attitude toward him shifted subtly but noticeably.
Though no one said anything directly, there was a clear change in how they looked at him. Their gazes now carried a bit more weight, more respect.
The following rounds of individual demonstrations and...
The joint training session began, naturally, with Gauss.
Everyone turned their attention to him.
“The spell I’m about to demonstrate is Mage Hand.”
“Mage Hand.”
As he spoke, Gauss smoothly activated the spell with a practiced mental cue.
A shimmering ripple of magic gathered before him, forming an inv...
Seeing how well-geared the rest of the team was, Gauss couldn’t help but breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
Good thing he upgraded his armor—otherwise, he would’ve looked like he didn’t belong in the same group. Even now, he was still clearly the most “budget” member of the party.
Fortunately, no one made a big deal about ...