Magic Missile

When he finally got to eat meat, Gauss was so moved he nearly cried.

The rich meaty flavor made the taste buds on his tongue and every cell in his body cheer with joy.

His body was satisfied!

The time spent enjoying good food passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, he was full and content.

After letting out a satisfied burp, Gauss's mind went completely blank.

"Sir, sir."

Just as he was about to fall asleep, a gentle, sweet voice called in his ear.

He opened his eyes blearily.

"Could you please settle the bill? Your total is 2 silver coins and 50 copper coins."

"Huh? How much?" Still a little dazed, Gauss asked without thinking.

"2 silver coins and 50 copper coins." The beautiful waitress repeated herself politely.

"Was it really that much?" Gauss wasn't trying to skip out on the bill; he was simply wondering if he even had that much money.

2 silver coins and 50 copper coins! Just a few days ago, he'd been shocked when Hailiel treated the group to dinner and the four of them ran up a bill of 3 silver coins and 40 copper coins.

And now she was telling him that he'd nearly spent as much on a meal all by himself?

So he was the one living in luxury?

Yikes! One meal had cost him 0.03 of a room. Gauss's heart bled.

"You can check the menu. These are all the dishes you ordered." The waitress remained perfectly composed as she handed him the menu.

Fish and chips, air-dried ham with cheese, thick-cut steak grilled over high heat and seasoned with salt and olive oil, borscht...

The menu was filled with all the dishes he'd checked off himself.

He remembered now. At some point during the meal, he'd ordered more dishes because he still wasn't full.

So he'd just kept ordering more and more.

He silently added up the prices and reluctantly realized that the total was correct.

He really had eaten a 2-silver-and-50-copper feast.

The stack of plates beside the table was further proof.

Even after paying and leaving the tavern, Gauss still felt the sting of the bill.

It made perfect sense for his spending to rise as his income increased, but this meal had been an awfully steep jump.

"That inexplicable, ravenous appetite earlier must have tempted me." He sighed.

But honestly, aside from the pain in his wallet, he felt great all over.

It was as though all that meat had replenished the nutrients his growing body had been lacking.

"Never mind. I'll think of it as an investment in myself. Investing in myself doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt."

Gauss managed to convince himself.

Current cash: 28 silver coins and 52 copper coins

Gauss quietly calculated his savings.

He couldn't help marveling at the greed of human nature. As income rose, spending crept up with it, often before you even noticed.

His savings looked like a lot, but they wouldn't last long at all.

Knowing how hard it was to go from luxury back to frugality, Gauss felt even more driven to make money.

Before he knew it, the next day had arrived.

"Morning, Sophia." Gauss came downstairs and greeted Sophia, who was mopping the lobby on the ground floor.

"Morning, little Gauss. Want some breakfast?"

At the sound of Gauss's voice, Sophia paused and leaned on her mop as she asked.

"Uh..."

Gauss pictured the black bread and pickled vegetable soup he was nearly sick of, then compared them to the feast he'd had yesterday.

The memories kept flashing through his mind. After a moment of reflection, he realized there was no going back.

His stomach had been spoiled by good food—or was that just the price of getting stronger?

"Hehe. Maybe next time, Sophia. I'm not very hungry today." With an awkward smile, Gauss waved her off.

Under Sophia's resentful gaze, Gauss left the inn with a spring in his step.

Sophia was left behind, questioning her cooking and silently pondering.

Had her cooking gotten that much worse? But none of the other tenants had complained.

The question would probably bother her for some time.

The morning bell rang, and Grayrock Town was already awake.

Breakfast stalls lined the streets.

Gauss spent 4 copper coins on two meat-filled pies.

Sorry, Sophia. I'm a meat-eater now.

The meager black bread and vegetable soup couldn't provide the nutrients my body needed anymore.

"I didn't expect a street stall to make such delicious pies." Gauss chewed heartily, savoring every bite.

Of course, he'd never admit that remembering the black bread had made the pies taste even better.

The freshly awakened body quickly regained its energy under the nourishing meat juices.

His plan for the morning was to practice Magic Missile.

Mage Hand would have to be put aside for now, and he also needed to use it less often.

The thing he feared most right now was using Mage Hand so much that its proficiency reached the required level and triggered the Professional Path guidance.

By then, it would be too late to change course. If the 0th Ring cantrip Mage Hand became his Core Skill, he'd be left crying with regret.

Mage Hand proficiency: Level 2 (15/20). Since he didn't know whether Level 3, Level 4, or some other level would meet the requirement, he was already in a bit of danger.

After breakfast, he headed for the town exit.

There was nowhere in town for him to practice casting, so he had to go to the vast wilderness outside.

Of course, he wasn't the first to do so.

In fact, many adventurers had a habit of training there. The plains outside town were large enough to accommodate them, with room for everyone to practice without getting in one another's way.

After walking for a while, he found an empty spot with no one around.

Gauss began his training in earnest.

He closed his eyes and meditated, searching for the feeling he'd had the last time he successfully cast the spell.

Several days had passed since he'd last cast Magic Missile successfully, and back then, he'd been in an unusually focused state.

Now that he was back in town, rested and relaxed, it wasn't easy to recapture that feeling.

"Magic Missile!"

Blue light shone in Gauss's palm, but quickly faded.

He wasn't too disappointed.

It was just as he'd expected. 1st Circle Spells were a little harder.

But judging from his experience training Mage Hand, as long as he put in enough time and effort, he shouldn't run into too much trouble at Level 1.

After all, the spell had already been imprinted into his consciousness. The Adventurer's Handbook had spared him the long process of learning and meditating to construct the model.

All he had to do was practice.

Once his proficiency began to increase more slowly, he could make plans for what to do next.

"Magic Missile!"

"Magic Missile!"

He got tired and rested for a while.

"Magic Missile!"

"Magic Missile!"

After practicing for a while, Gauss realized that this 1st Circle Spell really was different from a 0th Ring cantrip.

When he'd practiced Mage Hand a few days earlier, failed attempts hadn't affected him at all. But with Magic Missile, even without successfully casting it, too many attempts still left him feeling mentally exhausted.

Fortunately, the fatigue wasn't too bad.

Perhaps he had his unusual 7 points of Spirit to thank for that.

All he needed to do was lie on the grass and rest in the sun for a little while.

At last, after practicing patiently, Gauss rediscovered the feeling of casting the spell.

It was an indescribable moment, as if inspiration had suddenly struck him.

A gentle breeze passed, and the magic within his body stirred.

It swiftly gathered in his hand, intertwining and concentrating, then emitted strange waves of energy. The natural magic energy around him stirred as well, and finally, the magic wove together in his palm and took shape.

A Magic Missile condensed in his hand!

Magic Missile! He'd done it again!

This time, there was no enemy charging at him, so he had plenty of time to examine the spell in his hand.

It was a crystal-clear sphere of energy, wrapped in a pale-white shell. The magic inside surged rapidly, like countless tiny streams of water intertwining.

The Magic Missile wouldn't hurt him.

And, vaguely, he felt he could control its trajectory with his mind.

He focused his thoughts and discovered that the Magic Missile really did shift slightly in his palm—about the width of a fingernail.

It seemed he really could control the Magic Missile with his will. He just wasn't proficient enough yet to move it however he pleased.

After examining it, Gauss hurled the Magic Missile toward an empty stretch of ground in the distance.

The moment it left his hand, the Magic Missile accelerated in a straight line!

The spell sent it to top speed almost instantly, leaving a brilliant blue trail through the air in his field of vision.

"Bang!!"

A thunderous explosion rang out.

The Magic Missile exploded the instant it hit the ground.

Blue magical energy burst open like fireworks. Even in broad daylight, its beautiful magical glow was clearly visible.

After a long while, the magical ripples faded and the dust settled.

The grassy ground was left with a shallow, web-like crater several dozen centimeters across, with a fist-sized depression at its center.