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 form...
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 adventur...
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,...
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 differenc...
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 ...
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, ...
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...
“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 t...
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 s...
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 ...
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...
“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 ar...
“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 ...
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...
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 brie...
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...
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...
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 m...
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...
"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!”
Rea...
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...
"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...
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...
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 ...
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...
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 limitati...
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 pul...
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 c...
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 ...
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 ...