Mad Hunt

"Magic Master's Staff"

"Quality: Fine"

"Reduces mana cost of spells"

"Special: Slightly increases maximum spell range (activated by Level 2 mages)"

This staff cost 50 silver.

It wasn't that Lu Cang didn't want to buy a better staff; there just weren't any suitable ones for sale.

Effects like reducing mana consumption, boosting mana recovery, or increasing casting speed were of little use to him.

The "Reduced Incantation Time" effect, hailed as top-tier, was even more useless to Lu Cang.

It was worth mentioning that... staffs with the Reduced Incantation Time effect could sell for over 20 gold.

Lu Cang almost wished he could turn his instant casting into a staff effect and sell it.

Perhaps that was what they called a top-tier affix.

The affix that slightly increased spell range wasn't bad, but compared to Reduced Incantation Time, it fell far short.

Lu Cang had bought both pieces of equipment with his own money.

Iz hadn't kept any equipment for himself.

Lu Cang pointed into the distance.

The other two teammates stood up as well.

You could tell just from their posture that their presence was completely different from that of the two Level 2 adventurers yesterday.

They seemed less cavalier and more dependable.

They looked as if they'd specifically trained to fight on a vehicle.

"I see it."

Between the trees in the forest, a spider with eight legs planted high into the ground appeared in everyone's field of vision.

"Ghostface Spider"

It was known for the pattern on its back, which resembled a huge ghostly face.

It was an exceptionally unusual spider, skilled at mental attacks...

The moment you saw the ghostly face on its back, you would immediately feel an overwhelming mental terror.

Buzz—

Almost the instant he saw the spider, terror welled up in Lu Cang's heart!

But before that fear could take hold,

he felt a warmth in his mind, and the fear that had just arisen was instantly dispelled.

Lu Cang looked at Loth beside him.

"Inspire Spirit (Tier 3) (LV: 2)"

This was what a Level 3 healer was like.

What a quick reaction. She'd immediately dispelled the abnormal status.

At almost the same time, Maizer drew his bow, pulling back an arrow that burst into flames against the bowstring.

"We're about to enter attack range."

But Maizer's arrow still hadn't reached its target.

Boom!

Five or six arcs of purple lightning flashed.

"Lightning Flash"

Twelve consecutive strikes—

Boom!

Boom, boom, boom, boom—

Thunder roared, and moments later, flames erupted!

"Earthfire Eruption (Tier 2) (LV: 115)"

A Tier 2 fire spell!

An evolution of "Fire Pillar," with far greater power!

Boom!

Flames erupted from the ground, instantly engulfing the [Ghostface Spider]!

Bang!

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

"Emergent Charge Pillar (Tier 1) (LV: 201)"

One charge pillar after another thrust up from the ground. This time, there weren't just three; nine pillars stabbed toward the Ghostface Spider from different angles, each branching into even more hard, pointed spikes.

After yesterday, Charge Pillar had reached Level 200.

Lu Cang had evolved it again.

The flames died down.

The Ghostface Spider was already impaled on the pillars, motionless.

A one-shot kill...

Maizer was sure it was dead.

But that had been far too fast.

He'd traveled with many adventuring parties, and he was sure that even the strongest Level 3 party he'd ever joined couldn't have dealt with a Ghostface Spider so effortlessly.

The Dragon Rhino was still charging toward it.

To one-shot a Tier 3 Lord without even needing to engage in a proper fight... That was the kind of strength only an elite Level 4 adventurer could have, at the very least.

Lu Cang stopped the vehicle about a hundred meters away.

He had Maizer go over alone.

Lu Cang really didn't want to get close to the corpse, especially since it was a spider.

Anyone from Earth would be terrified at the sight of such a huge spider.

Even if it was already dead.

Loth and Trand still hadn't recovered from their shock.

This mission really was much easier than they'd expected. No... not just easier. They hadn't done anything at all.

So this was Izpalut's legendary apprentice.

You had to admit... the legend lived up to his reputation.

This spider had been even more fragile than the [Hammer-tail Horned Bull] they'd killed yesterday.

Maizer brought back the spider's harvested parts.

He looked delighted. "This is a great haul."

"One of its legs has the Hatred trait."

"Used as a material, it can be made into a spear with a natural Hatred enchantment."

"Its eyes have mutated too, so they can be used as medicinal ingredients..."

All told, this Tier 3 Lord [Ghostface Spider] had yielded 20 gold worth of loot, leaving Maizer green with envy.

If this had been a fair party split,

he'd already have earned 5 gold.

But... that was obviously impossible.

After seeing Lu Cang's strength, Maizer understood that this was more like being "led" than being in a party.

"That's certainly a great haul."

Lu Cang put all the spoils into his Storage Ring.

Before he bought the Storage Ring, he'd had Zhou Er carry everything.

As a gatherer, it was standard to have a Storage Ring.

Twenty gold was a lot, even with the effect of the Harvest Moon. Could it be because he'd paid tribute to Yakartikto?

Did worshiping the gods really work?

Well, thinking about it, if it didn't work, why would people be so eager to worship them?

No, no... It was hard to say.

Lu Cang thought of believers back on Earth. They could be just as fervent.

Forget it. He wasn't going to find an answer anytime soon.

Rather than keep speculating, he might as well ask someone.

After they finished harvesting the spider,

everyone climbed back aboard and headed for the next Lord's location.

Lu Cang had taken ten contracts today.

Nine were to kill Tier 3 Lord-class monsters, and the last one... was to deal with a monster horde that had appeared somewhere.

Adventurers generally weren't allowed to take so many contracts at once.

It was simple enough: an adventurer might take every contract available, then never bother completing them.

The dungeons out there still had to be dealt with.

Otherwise, either disaster would break out, or someone else would solve the problem while the adventurer reaped the benefits.

So there was a limit to the number of contracts each person could take.

Strictly speaking, Lu Cang wasn't allowed to take so many commissions.

But the party Lu Cang was registered under belonged to Izpalut, and legendary adventuring parties had very high task privileges.

On top of that, the Demonic Tide was approaching, so Xili could authorize Lu Cang to take ten commissions.

The second Tier 3 Lord-class monster they hunted was [Yanweibahe]. It looked a bit like a gorilla with flaming fists, but the real threat was the burning tail on its back.

What the heck...

A Magic Flame Ape?

Chill gathered at the tip of Lu Cang's staff.

"Ice Shard"

Whoosh—

Forty-two ice shards shot toward [Yanweibahe]'s body from different angles.

The ice shards were incredibly fast!

Yanweibahe didn't have time to react before every shard hit!

The instant each shard struck, a brilliant ice flower burst open across its body!

Then bone-chilling cold drilled into it like an auger, freezing it from within.

It tried to turn around, but its movements had already grown incredibly stiff.

Crash!

A giant wave suddenly surged up from the ground—

and crashed down on [Yanweibahe]!

Boom—

By the time the wave receded, its body was covered in frost.

All over its body, bloody, icy holes gaped open.