Instant Kill

It wasn't unusual to encounter monsters you had seen before in different dungeons.

There were indeed many kinds of monsters.

But their appearance also followed the rules of dungeons.

Shadow Cave was prone to spawning shadow-type monsters.

In Guishe Forest, naturally, the vast majority—and perhaps even all—of the monsters were snakes.

And the final dungeon lord—

Without a doubt, it would also be a snake, a second-tier snake monster...

"But what a coincidence."

Bang!

The moment it met Lu Cang's gaze, the giant snake's body shot straight toward him like a spring!

[Headbutt]

A plain, unadorned physical attack.

Since this snake had almost killed him, Lu Cang had even gone out of his way to look up its monster entry in the library.

He already knew all about its habits, where it might appear, and how it attacked.

"Captain!"

"Look out! There's a Dark Crystal on its head! It's an evolved species!"

Behind Lu Cang, Jidi called out a hurried warning.

Lu Cang hadn't even reacted, but Gaiton's face had gone deathly pale.

Still, as the party's defender, he raised his shield and braced himself in front!

"My Body is Iron!"

[Second-Tier Combat Skill—Hardness]

"Take Root!"

[Second-Tier Combat Skill—Immovable]

Oh?

So this was what combat skills looked like?

It was Lu Cang's first time seeing a skill other than magic. He had heard that Warriors, defenders, archers, and assassins didn't use spells, but combat skills.

As he spared a little attention for Gaiton—

BOOM!

Three thick, towering walls burst up from the ground!

At the same time—

Pfft!

Before the giant snake could even hit the first wall, hundreds of huge, bone-deep wounds suddenly appeared across its body.

"Cutting Wind (Second Tier) (LV: 121)"

The sudden wind magic made it writhe in midair in pain.

After a few days of studying under Izpalut, Lu Cang had mastered more than six second-tier spells.

At the same time, a massive stone spike shot up from the earth!

BOOM!

"Piercing Pillar (First Tier) (LV: 175)"

The tip of the pillar was black and hard, and it shot up at tremendous speed!

Pfft!

Blood sprayed as the giant snake was pierced straight through, skewered in midair like meat on a spit.

Then a second and a third pillar appeared in quick succession!

The three piercing pillars pinned the giant snake firmly in the air. It struggled and thrashed, but there was no chance of escape.

Lu Cang rubbed his index finger and thumb together.

A condensed ball of flame formed at his fingertip.

"Flame Ball (First Tier) (LV: 167)"

Evolution path—Power.

This was one of the few skills Lu Cang had evolved for greater power.

With a casual flick, he sent the Flame Ball, already combined into one, drifting toward the giant snake.

The instant the Flame Ball touched its body—

BOOM!

The entire giant snake burst into blazing flames!

It writhed and struggled in unbearable pain, but there was no way for it to break free!

At last, under the scorching flames,

it stopped moving altogether.

It was dead—

It was... dead?

The other three members of the party stood frozen in place.

The entire battle had been over in almost an instant.

All they had seen was the stone walls rising, followed by three enormous spikes thrusting up from the earth one after another.

Then a ball of fire drifted over, and the skewered snake had been roasted to death.

Rumble—

The sound of earth and stone crumbling rang out.

The three piercing pillars vanished, and the giant snake fell from the air.

A fragrant, foul smell wafted out.

It smelled delicious, and yet awful... a strange odor.

Still, Lu Cang called to the uncle behind him.

"Sorry for the trouble. Could you harvest it?"

The uncle finally came to his senses and nodded. "Ah, oh... I'll do it now."

Lu Cang knew, of course,

that roasting the lord with fire magic might reduce the amount of loot they got.

But...

He had a grudge against this snake. Even if it wasn't the very same one, he still couldn't stand the sight of it.

So he wanted to make it suffer a little.

A snake that big,

and so little of it was actually useful... Otherwise, it wouldn't have sold for only 70 Silver Coins before.

Its meat was bitter and contained a small amount of poison, so it couldn't be eaten.

No one had yet discovered any medicinal uses for it, either. Only its skin and venom sac could be sold.

Altogether, they were worth just 70 Silver Coins.

But there was indeed some extra loot.

Jidi had just called out that it was an evolved species. Sure enough, there was a raised Dark Crystal on its head.

And it was quite large.

Uncle Zhou Er harvested the Dark Crystal and brought it back.

It was bigger than the one they had found in Shadow Cave before, about the size of a bowl. He could hold it in his hands.

Zhou Er estimated, "It should be worth 1 Gold Coin."

Zhou Er couldn't help sighing. "I suppose this is what makes it the Harvest Moon."

"The loot from this dungeon is already worth nearly 6 Gold Coins."

Lu Cang felt a little moved as well.

A second-tier dungeon that had originally earned only 1 Gold Coin and 26 Silver Coins, not counting the commission fee,

could now bring in 5 Gold Coins.

More than three times as much... and yet the cost of supplies and wear and tear hadn't gone up by much.

The profits each person could take home from a dungeon really could be much higher.

"Captain, I've looked around this forest too. There shouldn't be anything else valuable."

Lu Cang nodded. "All right. Let's head back."

Treasure chests appeared randomly in dungeons, but they weren't there every time.

Back at the Adventurer's Guild, they turned in the commission.

They received 6 Gold Coins and 82 Silver Coins.

After paying the three of them their wages, he still had 6 Gold Coins and 22 Silver Coins left.

This money really was easy to earn.

Lu Cang held up a Gold Coin and couldn't help marveling.

Sure enough, no matter which world you were in, people with ability could make money with ease.

Heh, where had that old-man-like sentiment come from...

Jidi, who had received her pay, was also holding up a Silver Coin.

She had gotten 20 Silver Coins so easily.

She had followed him the whole way, done nothing at all, and earned 20 Silver Coins just by standing around...

If only making money were always that easy.

The mage Desa, who had been in her previous party, flashed through Jidi's mind.

It took a second or two of chanting for her earthen walls to rise, and her earth spikes weren't very powerful, either. They also missed easily...

Compared to Lu Cang, Desa was like heaven and earth.

It wasn't that Desa had any particular problem. This was how an ordinary level-two mage was.

Mages seemed like an all-around class, with both utility and versatile ways to fight. They seemed capable of doing just about anything.

They could attack with magic of various elements, cast defensive spells such as earthen walls and barriers, and even disperse mist or illuminate the darkness.

Compared to mages, it seemed as if every other class fell short.

But once you actually teamed up with them, you had to listen to them chant away at a crucial moment in battle before they could finally cast a single spell... Then you'd understand how exhausting it was.