Moon Star

"Harvest Moon?" Lu Cang asked in a puzzled tone.

Iz looked at Lu Cang, surprise on his face...

"You don't know about the Harvest Moon?"

This was bad. It seemed he had accidentally asked something far too strange.

He still wasn't being cautious enough.

Just as Lu Cang was thinking of how to cover it up, Iz stroked his chin thoughtfully. "That makes sense... Perhaps there are places in this world beyond even the reach of divine authority."

"You actually came from somewhere that far away..."

Iz let out a soft sigh.

That was close...

Looks like I managed to bluff my way through. He might be a good person, but if he found out I didn't actually belong to this world, that probably wouldn't end well...

At least until I was thoroughly familiar with this world, it was best to keep being a transmigrator hidden.

"The Harvest Moon's full name is the Lucky Harvest Moon."

"It often occurs in the ninth month of the year, when the Moon Star is Yakartikto."

What was a Moon Star...

And what was Yakartikto?

Lu Cang was curious about those questions too, but he would save them for when he had time to read.

What Iz had said should be common knowledge.

It should be easy enough to find in books.

Iz continued explaining, "During this month, resources from all sorts of sources become more plentiful. High-value treasures are easier to obtain, and even ordinary monsters may drop rarer items they normally shouldn't have."

"So during this season, large numbers of adventurers usually pour into dungeons to explore."

It sounded like some kind of drop-rate bonus...

But it also seemed to hide plenty of danger.

It stimulated adventurers' desire to explore dungeons. Their greed might very well get them killed...

It felt like some kind of trap, too.

"If the Harvest Moon comes early, we'll need to prepare to explore a large dungeon."

"But of course, not now."

Iz put all the Shadow Leopard corpses back into his storage space.

Lu Cang continued deeper with him.

This dungeon was different from the one he had encountered when he had just transmigrated.

So far, he hadn't seen a single fork in the road.

The dungeon he had entered right after transmigrating had been a sprawling maze, filled with intersections in every direction. Just looking at it had made his eyes spin.

This dungeon, on the other hand, was almost a straight passage. Under Illumination Technique, the traps were clearly visible.

After exploring farther inward, Lu Cang and Iz encountered more monsters.

Eight Shadow Leopards.

Two Shadow Spiders...

Spiders... The first time Lu Cang saw a spider several times larger than himself, he had jumped in fright.

But the next second, he raised his hand and fired seven Fireballs at the spider's body at once.

Explosive flames engulfed it.

The spider was burned straight into charcoal.

The Fireball Technique Lu Cang cast was far more powerful than an ordinary mage's.

So far in this dungeon, Lu Cang had yet to encounter a monster he couldn't kill in a single spell.

It seemed...

As his proficiency level rose, the boost to his magic's power was considerable as well.

According to Iz, if an ordinary level-one mage encountered this Shadow Spider,

they would need at least thirty to forty Fireballs to kill it.

Yet Lu Cang's seven consecutive Fireballs could instantly kill it.

The second time he encountered a Shadow Spider, Lu Cang deliberately controlled the number of Fireballs that hit it.

One Fireball...

It didn't kill it instantly, but it set its entire body ablaze, and it howled in agony.

When it shot Shadow Spider Silk at Lu Cang with its tail, Lu Cang's second Fireball immediately followed.

The spider silk touched the Fireball and was instantly burned away.

The Fireball's remaining force did not diminish as it continued crashing into the Shadow Spider.

Boom!

The Shadow Spider fell backward in flames under the blow and stopped moving completely.

Two Fireballs...

Could take down a Shadow Spider.

Other level-one mages probably needed thirty to forty shots.

In other words, one of my Fireballs is on average equivalent to fifteen to twenty of theirs. Seven in a row...

Lu Cang calculated silently. That was roughly equivalent to the power of ninety-five to one hundred and forty Fireballs.

And it seemed the first Fireball had nearly killed it already. The second had merely finished off the last bit of damage, so the actual estimate should be even higher.

That meant a single cast from him had over a hundred times the destructive power of other mages at the same level.

Was this the benefit of a God-Tier Talent?

Lu Cang sighed inwardly.

Come to think of it, he still hadn't learned much about talents.

When he had first changed classes, Kumiloni had implied that talents had a more complicated system.

I'll look into it when I have time...

If he couldn't find any relevant records, he could ask Kumiloni and the others.

Lu Cang still didn't want to casually expose his shortcomings when it came to "common sense."

Besides, asking about everything would probably make him seem annoying. Lu Cang wanted to trouble Iz and the others as little as possible.

Shadow Spiders, Shadow Leopards, and beyond those...

They also encountered a Shadow Demon.

It was nothing but a pure shadow, a patch of darkness clinging to the wall even under Illumination Technique.

Rather, it was fortunate they had Illumination Technique. Otherwise, it would have blended completely into the shadows and been impossible to notice.

"Shadow Demon."

"A second-tier monster. While it is in its shadow state, physical attacks are completely ineffective against it. Magic attacks meant for solid targets cannot harm it either. Only light-based attacks can work."

"But while in its shadow state, it cannot threaten physical beings like us either."

"Only when it leaves our sight will it emerge from the shadows and attack us."

The shadow clung to the wall and followed Lu Cang as he walked.

It occasionally circled behind Lu Cang, but Lu Cang's gaze always followed it, keeping track of its presence.

It did not move quickly, so it was easy to notice.

Iz said, "That is to say, as long as you keep watching it, you'll be safe even if you can't hurt it."

"But in actual combat, an enemy like this is still a threat."

"Come, chant after me."

"Lord of dawn's light, I pray for a ray of light to pierce the darkness for me."

Lu Cang chanted in Izpalut's language.

A cross-shaped sword of light condensed in his hand.

Light Cross (LV:5)

Lu Cang felt that he could briefly hold this cross-shaped sword of light in his hand... and use it as a weapon.

Or he could throw it directly.

Lu Cang gripped the light sword and hurled it at the Shadow Demon!

Clang!

"Ah—!!"

The cross-shaped light pierced the Shadow Demon's body, and the shadow let out a pained howl.

Immediately afterward, two shadowy hands stretched out from the shadow and shot toward Lu Cang!

Lu Cang quickly stepped back.

"I pray for light to pierce the darkness."

Another light sword condensed in his hand!

Clang—

The light sword pierced one of its arms. Once struck by the light, that arm could no longer move.

"Light."

Buzz—

A cross condensed in Lu Cang's hand again, brighter and larger!

But this time, the shadow suddenly expanded and instantly reached beneath Lu Cang's feet.

Tiny dark hands suddenly erupted from the ground!

Lu Cang leaped backward, driving the light downward at the same time!

Light Cross (LV:10)—No chanting, larger cross

Unlike Illumination Technique, this Light Cross could be cast without chanting.

Whoosh!

Bang!

Bang bang bang!

The shadow began chasing Lu Cang at high speed, and Lu Cang started running as well, hurling crosses of light behind him as he ran!

The shadow continuously stretched toward Lu Cang, but every time it was struck by a cross of light, it had to pause.

And each time Lu Cang cast Light Cross, it was far more powerful than the last.

Soon, the Shadow Demon, pinned to the ground by thirteen crosses of light, stopped moving completely.

The shadow kept shrinking until it finally became a pitch-black hide and fell onto the cavern floor.