Chapter 52: On-Site Assessment, Future Planning, and Return Journey
Gauss listened to his companion's ramblings without offering any comment of his own.
He was not particularly short on money for the time being.
Of course, money was something where more was always better—no one would complain about having too much.
With money, he could buy better clothes, boots, and weapons, or hire instructors and so on.
But for now, he could get by without it.
After all, one of the main reasons he had been saving money was to purchase a wand, but that plan seemed to be on hold for now.
The bone wand was indeed in his possession, and it handled very well in his hands, almost requiring no adaptation, fitting him as if it were a natural part of himself.
But the issue was—even someone like Andini, a professional Halfling, had yet to find a compatible wand core after so many years, so Gauss doubted he could just buy one with money.
Moreover, even without a wand core, the bone wand was already more than sufficient for him at his apprentice stage.
Therefore, he was in no rush to complete this wand.
As he shoveled food into his mouth, Gauss began to consider his next plans and arrangements.
The total number of kills in the Monster Encyclopedia had surpassed fifty.
His next goal was to reach one hundred total monster kills.
It didn’t sound difficult, but it would likely take some time.
If he could kill ten monsters per mission, that would mean around five missions.
Once he reached the hundred-kill milestone, his physical attributes would get at least one more boost.
His current attribute panel looked like this:
Strength: 5
Agility: 6
Constitution: 6
Intelligence: 7
Perception: 5
Charisma: 5
Compared to when he first transmigrated, the changes were significant—at least he was no longer entirely in the “bottom-tier trash” category.
Intelligence, Constitution, and Agility had each increased by one point.
This had advanced his strength among low-level adventurers.
Previously, possessing Magic Missile had already made him a relatively combat-capable type among apprentices.
Now that he had acquired Mage Armor to shore up his obvious weakness, and coupled with above-average Agility, Constitution, and Intelligence attributes—
There were probably very few low-level adventurers who could beat him in a one-on-one fight.
Most apprentice spellcasters couldn’t even master three types of spells, and he also had three attributes above the norm.
So after this mission ended, his top priority upon returning was to train Mage Armor.
Gauss had temporarily elevated Mage Armor training to his highest priority.
Only by surviving could he continue outputting.
He didn’t even plan to take on another mission until he had thoroughly mastered Mage Armor.
At the very least, he needed to train it to level 2, because level 2 spell skills could be cast relatively smoothly.
Once he had mastered Mage Armor, then he could consider taking on a new monster commission.
He needed to collect five monster types in the Monster Encyclopedia to unlock the talent ability draw.
Right now, he already had four types of common monsters: Goblins, Slime, Skeletons, and Water Wraiths.
He only lacked one more type to be eligible for the talent draw.
As for what ability he might draw, Gauss had no clue yet.
To be honest, none of these four monster types were particularly strong in combat—one of them could almost be considered the shame of all monsters.
But the strength of an ability in battle wasn’t necessarily the most important thing.
If he could draw something more fitting, like a passive effect or something to help him train more efficiently day to day, it might be even better.
Lastly, there was the choice of his core skill.
Gauss felt the three spells imprinted deep within his will—Mage Hand, Magic Missile, and Mage Armor—and began to hesitate once again.
In truth, no matter which spell he chose, each had its strengths and weaknesses.
Moreover, Gauss was confident that with the Adventurer’s Handbook, no matter which spell he solidified as his core skill, they would all grow stronger in the future.
Mage Hand was highly versatile, Magic Missile had powerful offensive capabilities, and as for Mage Armor, it went without saying—it could ensure his personal safety at any stage of his career.
But it was precisely because of this immense potential and flexibility that he now inevitably fell into a dilemma of choice.
“Forget it, I’ll see how it goes later. Anyway, once I return, I must prioritize training Mage Armor to strengthen my survivability,” Gauss thought to himself after getting nowhere for a while, and simply stopped overthinking.
After the incident with the Ghoul, he placed even greater importance on his own safety.
You never knew what unknown enemies might appear even when accepting low-level commissions.
Gaining new abilities and digesting them promptly—internalizing them into combat strength—was the optimal path; rushing into the next mission without preparation was not wise.
“When I start training after returning, I’ll see how the progress with Mage Armor goes. If it advances quickly, I’ll designate it as my core skill. Logically, it should be easy to train since Mage Armor doesn’t depend on location and can be practiced anytime, anywhere.”
Even Gauss, who was usually cautious, had already leaned slightly toward Mage Armor, but the final decision still depended on training progress.
If Mage Armor’s training progress turned out to be disappointing and difficult to advance in the short term, then no matter how much he liked it, Gauss wouldn’t waste too much time on it.
Between the two Tier 1 spells, he would simply choose whichever one progressed faster.
After finishing breakfast—
Gauss found his thoughts much clearer.
The members of the Night Owl Team carefully made their way to the riverside from last night.
In the daylight, the riverbank showed nothing but a mess of flesh fragments, dried blood, and internal organs—the Ghoul had disappeared.
So had the Water Wraith corpses.
Considering that the Ghoul couldn’t have eaten so much “food” in one night, it was likely that it had dragged them back to its lair as backup rations.
Not long after, Harvey arrived with several strong men.
Seeing the devastation across the ground, Harvey—who had still harbored some doubts—immediately dismissed them.
The numerous corpse fragments at the scene confirmed that a great number of Water Wraiths had indeed been slain here last night.
During the subsequent, more detailed investigation, a few of the people accompanying Harvey found traces unique to Ghoul activity in some crevices.
These included hyena-like gray-white broken hairs, claw marks stamped into the earth, and semi-transparent membranous net-like sheddings.
These discoveries further corroborated that Levin’s group had not lied.
There was no need for them to go to such elaborate lengths to stage a scene after already slaying so many Water Wraiths.
As a result, Gauss and the others smoothly obtained a certificate of verification and departed from the fishing village.
As for whether Harvey and the other villagers would continue issuing commissions to the Adventurer’s Guild or cling to a fluke mindset—that was their own decision and no longer had anything to do with Gauss and his team.
On the way back—
Smiles once again returned to everyone’s faces.
Harvey ultimately handed over the promised bonus reward of 20 silver coins to the team.
Plus, the signed and stamped verification document confirmed the kill count of 20 Water Wraiths, which meant they could claim another 20 silver coins upon returning to Graystone Town.
The Water Wraith materials could probably be sold for a few more silver coins as well.
Adding it all up, each person could expect to pocket about 7 or 8 silver coins on average—it was quite a haul.
Gauss was equally eager to return to the safety of town, to train his newly acquired spell and quickly digest the improvements gained from this outing.
Amid everyone’s anticipation, the silhouette of the gray-brown border town gradually came into view.