Chapter Summaries

Gauss bought a scrap containing the Light cantrip and learned it with the Bone Staff’s help. After improving his Mage Armor through several days of training, he agreed to join Lawrence and other apprentices on an expedition to a newly discovered miniature dungeon.

• Gauss bought a scrap of the Light cantrip after the Bone Staff warmed near it.
• The Bone Staff mastered Light while Gauss studied the scrap, then helped him understand the spell.
• Gauss learned Light and saw it listed at Lv1 (5/10) on his Attribute Panel the next morning.
• Gauss trained Mage Armor with Lawrence and raised it to Lv3 (23/50) over four days.
• Lawrence invited Gauss to explore a newly discovered miniature dungeon with a small group of apprentices.
• Gauss agreed to join the expedition after weighing its risks and possible rewards.

Gauss joined Lawrence and four other apprentices to explore a miniature dungeon, where the party navigated traps and entered its underground passages. After Gauss effortlessly defeated five skeletons, the group continued into the dungeon, and Lawrence was stunned by how the Spellcaster fought.

• Lawrence introduced Gauss to the five other apprentices who would join their dungeon expedition, and the group trained together before setting out.
• Lawrence led the party from Wormwood Town to the dungeon, where Edith scouted the entrance and mapped its first section.
• The party entered the dungeon, and Gauss cast Light on Sok's shield while Edith warned them about traps along the passage.
• The party reached an entrance hall, where five skeletons rose and Gauss quickly killed them with his sword.
• Gauss hoped the dungeon held more weak enemies to add to his Monster Kill Count, while Lawrence wondered if this was how Spellcasters fought.

Lawrence's party explored the dungeon's left passage and became trapped in a mushroom-filled room with poisonous gas and hostile Adult Myconids. Gauss discovered that destroying their heads stopped their regeneration, and the group killed the monsters.

• Edith dismantled the traps at the dungeon entrance before the group chose the left passage.
• Gauss warned the others not to stare at the strange runes lining the passage.
• The group entered a room covered in purple mushrooms, put on gas masks, and faced Adult Myconids as a grate sealed the way back.
• Liam and Sok attacked the Myconids while Gauss killed one with Magic Missile, earning the Myconid Hunter title and discovering the monsters' head weakness.
• Gauss destroyed a second Myconid's head, and the rest of the group finished off the remaining Adult Myconids.

Gauss and his companions cleared the myconid room, collected Spore Bombs, and continued exploring the dungeon. Gauss discovered that clearing rooms increased his skill proficiency, and after several days of fighting zombies, the party rested before entering the dungeon’s remaining central route.

• After the adult myconids died, the room’s fungal growth withered and a pillar rose bearing three Spore Bombs, which Edith stored carefully.
• Gauss saw that his Mage Armor and Magic Missile proficiency had increased after the room was cleared, though his companions showed no sign of noticing similar rewards.
• A few days later, Gauss used his Bone Staff’s holy Light spell to weaken a group of zombies, and the party decapitated them.
• Gauss earned the Zombie Hunter title, while the party collected potions from the cleared room and rested.
• Gauss checked his skills, noting his progress toward Mage Armor lv4 and his goal of 200 monster kills, as Lawrence warned the party about possible special rooms ahead.

On the last night of the dungeon expedition, Gauss shared food with Sok and fretted over Lawrence’s premature victory celebration. The next day, the party survived a rolling boulder but encountered a deadly Slikrin Mantisman, which wounded Liam and fixed its attention on Gauss.

• Lawrence hosted a meal around the bonfire, and Gauss gave Sok extra food before learning Sok sent his earnings home to support his siblings.
• The next day, a huge boulder chased the party down a passage, and they escaped into a vast chamber before a stone door sealed their way back.
• A Slikrin Mantisman emerged from a stone cage, and Bianca’s arrow failed to hit it as it dodged with startling speed.
• The Mantisman struck Liam with one blow, leaving him badly wounded, while Gauss’s Magic Missile staggered the creature but did not stop it.
• The party rallied against the Mantisman, but it evaded their attacks and singled out Gauss as the only adventurer who seemed capable of threatening it.

The party fought the Mantis Person, whose speed and strength overwhelmed them even as Gauss and the others found ways to wound it. After it killed Bianca and nearly killed Edith, Gauss exploited the creature’s sensitivity to sudden light and detonated Edith’s Spore Bomb beneath it, leaving the Mantis Person engulfed in flames.

• Adrian stabilized Liam with Life Sustaining Technique and gave him a Healing Potion while the Mantis Person charged at Gauss.
• Gauss dodged the Mantis Person’s strikes, and Sok attacked it with Leaping Slash while Lawrence slowed it with Cold Touch.
• Gauss hit the Mantis Person’s vulnerable abdomen with a Magic Missile, wounding it as Bianca and the others rallied.
• The wounded Mantis Person killed Bianca and then pursued Edith, who threw a Spore Bomb but failed to hit it.
• Gauss used a Magic Missile’s flash to blind the Mantis Person, then detonated Edith’s discarded Spore Bomb with another missile, engulfing the creature in flames.

Gauss and his companions defeated the Slikrin Mantisman, and Gauss gained Perception, Enhanced Leap, and the Mantis Hunter title. After learning more about the elite monster, the party discovered a new reward platform bearing an Indestructible Scepter.

• Gauss kept shooting the wounded Mantisman from a distance until the panel confirmed its death and awarded him Perception +1, Enhanced Leap, and the Mantis Hunter title.
• Gauss checked his updated attributes and skills, then read the newly revealed Slikrin Mantisman entry in the Monster Codex.
• Gauss told his shaken companions the Mantisman was dead, and they relaxed as he noticed a passage leading upward.
• Edith spotted a platform rising from the floor, and the party gathered around its Indestructible Scepter reward.

Gauss claimed a sturdy metal scepter from the dungeon, and the team returned with a valuable haul after the dungeon collapsed. At the tavern, the survivors discussed Bianca’s death and Gauss’s near promotion to professional status.

• Gauss took the metal scepter, confirmed his magic worked through it, and tested it by casting Light.
• The dungeon began to collapse, so the group escaped with the injured Liam and Bianca’s body before the entrance vanished.
• The team spent two days sorting the loot, valued at twenty-seven gold coins, and divided the proceeds according to their agreement.
• Lawrence said he would deliver Bianca’s body and belongings to his family, while Edith noted that Bianca’s share would provide them with a substantial inheritance.
• Gauss confirmed he was one point away from advancing, and the others discussed the challenges of becoming professionals before Lawrence turned to him with a new thought.

After Gauss’s Mage Armor reached level 4, he began condensing his Class Rank in the association’s cultivation chamber. The Awakening drove him to consume an enormous amount of food before falling into a deep sleep as his body and magic power rapidly changed.

• Lawrence offered to buy Gauss nourishing supplies for condensing his Class Rank, and Gauss accepted.
• Edith offered to pay for the team’s meal and thanked Gauss for saving her.
• Gauss’s Mage Armor proficiency advanced to level 4 after several days of practice.
• Gauss entered the cultivation chamber and began the Awakening, which rapidly increased his attributes and Mage Armor proficiency.
• Overwhelmed by hunger, Gauss consumed the chamber’s food and supplements, then went to sleep.
• While Gauss slept, a white glow shielded him as his magic power surged and the surrounding space became distorted.

Gauss woke after advancing to Class Rank 1 as a Magic User and discovered that his magic, attributes, and spells had greatly improved. He renamed his strengthened Core Skill Mage Armor to Gauss Field and sensed the conceptual core anchoring his power.

• Gauss awoke from cultivating in seclusion and found his senses and magic greatly enhanced.
• Gauss read that he had advanced to Magic User and gained the Spell Mastery class feature.
• Gauss tested his magic and found he could cast a much stronger Mage Armor almost instantly.
• Gauss checked his updated attributes and skill proficiencies, then renamed Mage Armor to Gauss Field.
• Gauss sensed a conceptual core at the source of his magic and realized it improved the power of his spells.

Gauss emerged from his five-day advancement as a professional and returned to Grayrock Town to pursue Bronze Adventurer status. At the Adventurer's Guild, Petra recognized him but only suspected that he had changed.

• Gauss completed his advancement, learned he had spent five days in the private room, and reunited with Lawrence.
• Gauss and Lawrence traveled to Grayrock Town, where Gauss planned to qualify as a Bronze Adventurer and gain access to higher-level quests and Guild benefits.
• Gauss found Petra at the Adventurer's Guild and told her he had recently been in Wormwood Town.
• Petra sensed that Gauss seemed different, but dismissed the possibility that he had become a professional so quickly.

Gauss asked Petra to let him take the evaluation quests for Bronze Rank, and she discovered he had met the requirements despite completing two gathering quests by buying the materials. Petra warned him about the danger, then brought him to Shirley, who recognized that Gauss was already a newly advanced professional; Petra returned with a quest crystal to begin the evaluation paperwork.

• Gauss showed Petra his badge, and she confirmed he had completed ten ordinary quests and could take beginner evaluation quests.
• Petra warned Gauss that the solo quests were dangerous and tried to dissuade him, but he insisted he was ready.
• Petra took Gauss to Shirley’s office to request the evaluation documents, and Shirley pointed out that Gauss was already a professional.
• Gauss introduced himself as a Spellcaster and kept his specific profession secret when Shirley questioned him.
• Petra returned with the quest crystal and led Gauss to the VIP room to handle the evaluation paperwork.

After becoming a Professional Adventurer, Gauss visited the Guild’s VIP room and selected his first beginner quest. He accepted a commission to exterminate a tribe of more than fifty Red Cap Goblins in the Emerald Forest and planned to prepare before setting out.

• Petra took Gauss to the Guild’s VIP room and explained that Shirley was kind despite her intimidating presence.
• Petra showed Gauss how to use a Quest Crystal, and he found that most One-Star beginner quests involved large numbers of low-level monsters.
• Gauss chose the Red Cap Goblin Tribe Extermination quest, hoping to improve his kill count and advance his Rapid Digestion Talent.
• Gauss accepted the quest through the crystal, and Petra took his badge to register it manually.
• Petra gave Gauss a Record Crystal to carry during the quest, and Gauss decided to rest, gather supplies, and buy equipment before leaving.

After returning to the inn, Gauss restocked his equipment and set out for the Emerald Forest to carry out commissions. He entered the forest alone, following his mission map toward a location beyond the relatively safe outer zone.

• Gauss returned to the inn, where Sophia suspected he had fallen for a girl after noticing his changed appearance.
• Gauss spent more than a gold coin upgrading his equipment and replenishing his adventuring supplies.
• After resting for two days, Gauss left Grayrock Town by carriage for the Emerald Forest.
• Gauss rode with a pair of Warriors, a white-haired youth, a blue-haired woman, and a black-robed man, then entered the forest alone.
• Gauss cast Armor Spell and followed the mission map deeper into the forest toward his destination beyond the outer zone.

Gauss traveled through Emerald Forest, killed monsters along the way, and reached the Goblin tribe he had been sent to find. He spotted a village enclosed by a low stone wall and prepared to investigate its population of more than fifty adult Goblins.

• Gauss killed an attacking Slime Slime and continued deeper into Emerald Forest.
• Gauss rested for lunch, then killed five Goblins with Magic Missiles after they ambushed him and damaged his tarp.
• Gauss replenished his mana and followed the map to the quest location, marking it as First Beginner Quest—Goblin Tribe.
• Gauss tracked Goblin footprints to a developed village enclosed by a low wall, where numerous Green-skin imps moved about.

Gauss scouted a goblin village and identified its Red Cap Goblin chieftain, guards, and water source before deciding to weaken the tribe with poison. He sneaked up to the village and began moving the poison sac toward the pool with Mage Hand, but a drowsy goblin briefly stirred.

• Gauss observed the village and noted the Red Cap Goblin chieftain, four unusually large goblins, and the pool that served as the village's water source.
• Gauss chose to poison the pool with a slow-acting laxative to weaken the goblins without alerting them.
• After the goblins finished lunch and rested, the Red Cap Goblin assigned sentries before returning to its tent.
• Gauss used odor remover and the sentries' inattention to sneak through the open ground and crawl along the filthy low wall.
• Gauss sent the poison sac toward the pool with Mage Hand, stopping when a nearby goblin stirred; the goblin soon fell asleep again.

Gauss poisoned the goblin village’s water with a laxative, then attacked while the weakened goblins struggled to fight back. He killed the Archer goblins and many others, but the red-capped goblin chief remained hidden among its troops as the battle continued.

• Gauss used Mage Hand to release poison into the village pool, then watched as the goblins drank from it and began suffering severe diarrhea.
• Gauss entered the village and killed a sentry, then charged the weakened goblins and raised his Monster Kill Count to 190.
• The red-capped goblin chief shot an arrow at Gauss, but his Armor Spell blocked it, and the chief retreated into the goblin ranks.
• Gauss killed all eight Archer goblins with Magic Missiles before the goblin ranks could reach him.
• Gauss knocked back charging goblins, dodged their spear thrusts, and killed two more, bringing his Monster Kill Count to 200.

Gauss reached 200 monster kills, gained a point of Strength and a Sub Core Skill Slot, then returned to the goblin village and used his enhanced Magic Missile to kill more goblins. As the terrified goblins began to lose their will to fight, the Red Cap Goblin continued forcing them forward.

• Gauss reached 200 total monster kills and received Strength +1 and a Sub Core Skill Slot.
• Gauss's Strength rose to 7, and he assigned Magic Missile to the Sub Core Skill Slot, improving the spell's power and mana efficiency.
• Gauss returned to the goblin village and killed three goblins with a three-missile volley, bringing his total to 203.
• The Red Cap Goblin rallied the goblins and ordered them to charge again, but Gauss killed three more with another volley, raising his total to 206.
• The blast and sight of their comrades' deaths caused several goblins to collapse in fear as the rest began losing their will to fight.

Gauss wiped out the goblin tribe, using a massively empowered Magic Missile to kill its Redcap leader before pursuing the survivors. After killing the Goblin Cubs as well, he reflected on how violence could deepen the hatred between humans and Demonic Beasts.

• The Red Cap Goblin rallied its tribe for a third charge, but Gauss smashed the goblins that reached him with the Indestructible Scepter.
• Gauss hit the leaping Redcap Goblin with a critical, fully empowered Magic Missile and killed it instantly.
• With the leader dead, Gauss used his rapier to defeat the remaining goblins and chased down those fleeing toward the forest.
• Gauss killed the adult Goblins, then slew the Goblin Cubs despite one cub kneeling and pleading for mercy.
• After exterminating the tribe, Gauss considered how such bloodshed could foster hatred and produce dangerous enemies in the future.

After destroying the Goblin village, Gauss collected the commission proof and valuable spoils, buried the human remains, and camped in the forest for the night. He noticed that Rapid Digestion seemed stronger after his many Goblin kills, though his handbook still listed the Talent at Initial Grade.

• Gauss cut off the Goblins’ ears, searched the village for survivors, and found none, then buried the human remains he discovered.
• Gauss gathered weapons, supplies, two unusual scrolls, and books from Redcap’s tent, estimating his total earnings at over two gold coins.
• With dusk approaching, Gauss set up camp away from the Goblin corpses and prepared dinner.
• After eating, Gauss felt a powerful warm current in his body and wondered whether killing roughly a hundred Goblins had strengthened Rapid Digestion.
• Gauss checked his kill count, hid his spoils, and climbed into a sleeping bag on a tree branch to sleep.